As promised, we present today the second of the sauropods in Favorite’s ‘soft model’ collection – Apatosaurus, a real dinosaur toy staple. (For more Apatosaurus, see here (Schleich Replica-Saurus), here (the old Wild Safari), here (Great Dinos Collection) and here (Invicta).) Insert a line about “Brontosaurus” here as is obligatory. This Favorite toy is at a teeny-tiny 1:80 scale, which still makes it almost as long as my UK size 10 Converse All-Stars. I don’t have a ruler handy.
Here again the neck is held horizontally with a slight curve and the head is facing downwards. Given the nature of the beast, this doesn’t look as awkward as with the “Brachiosaurus”; it appears less stiff and more natural. Again, as per the “Brachiosaurus” it’s tempting to presume that this posture is based on the belief, popular for some years, that the neck couldn’t be raised much above horizontal. This may put some people off, but to me it simply gives the animal the appearance of bending down for a drink or to pluck some tasty fronds.
Posture aside the model is pretty well proportioned, if a little on the skinny side. The neck’s an appealing aspect here, as it seems to represent the nutty nature of Apatosaurus vertebrae rather well, but perhaps could do with just a little more flesh hanging from the bones. (As an aside, should the professionals stumble upon this blog entry – presumably by accident – then I welcome any and all corrections to my amateurish remarks, ta.) In general this toy fits a modern skeletal reconstruction quite nicely – right down to the neural spines rising up in the right places – but the animal looks like it’s going through a rough patch. This may be a matter of personal preference, however, as I’ve always seen Apatosaurus and its cohorts as the Giant Haystacks of the diplodocid world.
Still, for all sauropod foot fetishists out there Favorite have been uncommonly accurate in that department. Just compare the feet on this Apatosaurus with the hefferlump plodders of Schleich’s. The detailing, with all-over scales, skin folds and musculature, also compares favourably with any effort from other manufacturers. The end of the tail isn’t as whip-like as it might have been, but then I imagine Favorite are wary of it snapping off easily, as has happened with various old Diplodocus toys over the years.
Rendered in earthy browns and striding forward with intent, this Apatosaurus is another Favorite I’m quite fond of, but if you prefer a little more meat on your sauropods you may wish to wait for this year’s new Wild Safari sculpt.
Review & photos by Marc (‘Horridus’)
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Thanks for the compliment, although I must say that I didn’t buy this in a box set. In fact it came individually card-backed.
My Favorite Apatosaurus has a much longer tail than the one shown above. I believe the above version has a shorter tail so it can fit in the box set “Dinosaur soft model set B” which contains 6 Favorite dinos, and comes in a handy see-thru plastic crate. Check out the Favorite website to see what I mean.
Great review! IMO the Favorite Collection dinos are the best ever sculpted. The sauropods are small at 1:80 scale but I guess that makes them more affordable.
The 1:50 scale dinos like Stegosaurus and Triceratops are as big as the 1:40 scale versions by Carnegie or Battat.
Something new? Seriously dude practically as soon as a new figure is available in stores there is a review of it up here. The Wild Safari Braciosaurus and Lioplurodon as well as the Carnegie Cryolophosaurus are all up here just to name the 3 most recent, plus all the models that came out last year. Look around a little harder.
The blog.
There are several blog entries in the pipeline. Remember, we write, edit and post these reviews in our own time (for free) – sometimes our jobs and real lives get in the way 😉
When are you ever going to review somthing new!!!
Who, me or the blog in general? Because the Carnegie Cryolophosaurus was reviewed quite recently.
Nice blog! Thanks for the SV-POW! link. Although this Apatosaurus model is better than most, it still doesn’t go nearly far enough in giving us a fat neck, and especially in making the neck triangular in cross-section. I’d love to see a model maker really commit to doing this right — it would be pretty shocking for most people.
To Mike Taylor,out of curiosity,where would you say is the most likely position of the fleshy nostrils in diplodocids,near the top of the head where the bony nares are located or down closer to the front of the snout as suggested recently by Witmer?
I don’t really have the anatomy to comment intelligently on that; but colleagues who know more all seem happy with the Witmer-compliant placing.
Thanks for the response.I know that it is from an unrelated family,but I wonder if the mummified specimen of Brachylophosaurus nicknamed “Leonardo” could shed some light on this subject,as the specimen shows among many other things,the placement of the fleshy
nostril,which is far down and to front of the bony opening in the skull,much closer to what Witmer suggested than what most older restoration would show.
Really nice blog! Thanks for that!! I collect dinosaurs figures too, and it’s a pleasure for me to read your articles.
i’ve made pictures of my “Papo”‘s dinosaur a long time ago, if you wanna see it, i’ve made posts on my blog
http://babs.mabulle.com/index.php/2007/08/26/83736-maman-ya-un-dinosaure-dans-le-jardin
and this one :
http://babs.mabulle.com/index.php/2006/11/27/2589-se-mettre-au-vert
I’m sorry if you don’t understand because i’m french! :p
Thanks
I understood you perfectly. Another great review Marc.