With the announcement of the Hammond Collection Concavenator late last year it became apparent that Mattel had no intention of limiting their premium collector’s line to creatures with significant screen time in the Jurassic franchise. This revelation left many collectors feeling frustrated, hoping that the Hammond Collection line would at least tackle more important prehistoric animals first. For others, this was a good sign, as there are many collectors that want every obscure animal from the franchise represented, even if they’re something only mentioned by name, in the novels, or in the expanded universe. Keen observers will notice that the Concavenator is indeed a film canon species. It is displayed in one of the museum dioramas at the Lockwood Estate in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Concavenator was a carcharodontosaurid that lived in Spain during the early Cretaceous period. It’s only known from a single well preserved and mostly complete specimen. It was described in 2010 and has achieved a fair degree of popularity since then. Several figures of Concavenator exist, including those by Safari in their Carnegie and Wild Safari lines, CollectA, Favorite, and Papo. Several Mattel Concavenator toys exist too, in their mainline.
Concavenator‘s popularity probably hinges on its unique anatomical features. Concavenator had two tall vertebrae in front of the hips and some modestly tall vertebrae at the base of the tail. This is usually restored as a sail or crest, but this could have also supported a hump. Concavenator was originally said to have preserved quill knobs on its ulna, which in life may have anchored feathers, but recent research suggests that they aren’t quill knobs at all.
The Mattel Hammond Collection Concavenator is a reasonably accurate toy as Mattel figures go. The crest starts before the hips and continues in a downward arch to the base of the tail. A second, smaller sail is presented at the base of the tail. There are many ways to interpret this bizarre feature and nothing to take issue with here except that in the film the crest is presented as one continuous unit. But for the tail to be articulated the connection between sails had to be sacrificed.
The head is long, low, and somewhat triangular with shallow crests above the antorbital fenestra. Bodily proportions are all acceptable here. The feet are a bit large but not nearly as egregious as those on other Mattel theropods, like the HC Velociraptor and T. rex. The toy is presented as lipless, which is no surprise but probably still inaccurate. The only glaring inaccuracy is the addition of a fourth finger on each hand, but this is accurate to its onscreen counterpart.
Being part of the Hammond Collection this Concavenator benefits from increased articulation. Both the upper and lower jaw can open, and the head and neck can swivel at their bases. The arms are articulated at the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Being articulated at the wrists is noteworthy in that most other HC theropods lack wrist articulation. The legs can rotate around and pivot outwards at the hips, and the knees, ankles, and base of the toes are articulated. The tail is articulated at its base and a flexible rod inside the tail allows it to be bent into various positions. If you have the Hammond Collection Ceratosaurus or Baryonyx then you’ll know what to expect from the articulation here.
This Concavenator measures about 13” in length and stands about 5.5” tall to the top of the sail. The actual Concavenator is estimated to have measured about 20’ in length. This puts the figure at about 1/18 in scale.
The detail work is of the normal high quality that you should expect from Mattel. The figure is covered with a mix of fine wrinkles and scales. Clusters of feature scales adorn the shoulders and neck, and bird-like scutes run down the fingers and toes. The rubbery crests are nicely textured with fine bumps and vertical grooves. The crest above the hips has an obvious seam around it and looks like it was hastily placed there but I would consider that a nitpick. Other noteworthy details include a textured palate, folds of skin running down the neck, and defined musculature on the legs.
In addition to advanced articulation the Hammond Collection is also known for better paint apps than what the mainline toys normally receive and the paintjob here is a definite highlight. The figure is predominantly a dark gray blue with a creamy white throat and underbelly. Orange slashes run from the neck down along the torso. The sail is tipped in orange and transitions to a completely orange tail with brighter orange stripes bleeding down along the sides of an otherwise darker orange tail. Metallic maroon slashes are painted over the eyes, but this portion has that weird stamped on appearance that a few other Mattel toys have, and I don’t particularly like it.
Save for the dew claws all the claws are painted black. The eyes are yellow, with black slit pupils, the teeth are white, and the tongue and inside of the mouth are shiny pink. The paint application is good but do watchout for misprinted eyes, a common issue with Mattel dinosaurs. Overall, it matches closely with what we see in Fallen Kingdom.
Despite only playing a bit part as a static sculpture in the franchise, the Mattel Hammond Collection Concavenator is a welcome addition to the line. The articulation works smoothly and with the addition of articulated wrists is an improvement on Mattel’s past efforts. The paintjob is overall quite unique and complex for a Mattel dinosaur and along with the Ceratosaurus represents one of the better paintjobs in the line thus far. The fourth finger, seam around the sail, and stamped face paint are the only minor complaints I have.
Despite being available for a while now, the Hammond Collection Concavenator has proven difficult to locate in stores, but it has recently started showing up in Best Buy. It can also be found on Amazon, and Entertainment Earth. The figure retails for about $21.99.
EDIT: The day I posted this review this figure started showing up at Target. Also, since writing this review it has become apparent to me that when the mouth is closed you can still see the pink tissue between the gaps on the rear portion of the jaw. It’s not enough to influence my opinion about the figure but worth pointing out. You can see this clearly in the above picture.
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Mine has pretty loose neck. But it is a nice figure once it is in your hands.
Mine doesn’t, but my Ceratosaurus has a loose tail.
Great figure! Great Review! Atrocious rating!
Thanks! Happy to know there are at least a few people that enjoy Mattel reviews and products. Keeps me motivated.
at the time of posting this comment this figure has a rating of 3/5, which I feel is unjustified. It’s really not all that bad and with a bit of work could be very decent. The 4th fingers can be removed and patched and touched up. The feet are too big of course but otherwise the head and tail sizes are fairly proportional (as opposed to the huge heads and stubby tails we often see from Mattel).
I give this a solid 4 out of 5.
I agree. For what it is (a movie tie-in action figure) this is a 4 star figure. When I review/vote on these things I try to be objective. I take what the figure is and what it’s aiming to be into context. I don’t review/vote for a Mattel toy using the same criteria I use for PNSO. But that’s the way things are on the Dinosaur Toy Forum and Blog, a place where actual toys are increasingly frowned upon. Not gonna stop me from reviewing them though.
THIS! Exactly this.
as a follow up, this figure has gotten RAVE reviews on Amazon, with many reviewers calling it the best Hammond figure so far.
I agree that it is one of the best HC figures so far. Not surprised that the figure is more highly praised on Amazon than here. Of course, most of the people voting on it here have no intention of every actually owning it. They just don’t like Mattel/Jurassic World dinosaurs.
in reality i’m not much of a fan of Mattel dinosaurs either. But once and a while there’s one I pick up. I collect only 1/18 dinosaur figures so that is part of their appeal. Brachiosaurus and Dreadnoughtus were must haves for me. I liked the Camp Cretaceous T Rex and I picked up a pair of Pentaceratops because I felt they were a better 1/18 size than the BOTM offering, while being decent enough figures. And now Concavenator i’ll be getting because I like that dino and there’s nothing else even close to 1/18 available.
That forth finger still bugs me to no end. Nice figure otherwise though.
It’s however screen accurate. And that is the kind of accurateness this figure should be judged for.
The Playability of this bugger seems to be “off-the-charts” and its “one-legged balancing act” is a revelation — as is its ability to twist the neck & head from side to side. A definite “must get” for the little kiddos – Great Job Mattel!
Great review. Such a massive improvement over its earlier 2019 Dino Rivals iteration, in both articulation and paintwork. Some of the most complex paintwork yet which is shocking with how many are getting less and less as time goes by. Even it’s wave mate the Ankylosaurus could have had more (claws and at the very least is missing the markings on its legs). Though I imagine they chose to sacrifice the paint apps for the added tail articulation to keep the cost the same. Still this Concavenator has a fully painted tail (or at least color matched plastic). Belly paint from neck to tail, painted claws. Four primary colors with the addition of the eyes, mouth, and claws. It’s almost as elaborate as a BotM figure (but with colored parts versus being fully painted in their case).
Thanks! This is an example of an HC figure that made me happy I never got the mainline version.