Review and photos by Loon, edited by Suspsy
Concavenator was an Early Cretaceous carcharodontosaur hailing from Spain. The beautifully preserved holotype fossil possessed a set of extended vertebrae that formed a triangular ridge in front of the hips. This bizarre feature has caused the species’ star to grow quickly, causing it to receive several toys and even cameo in the second Jurassic World movie. Safari’s own 2013 Carnegie Collection version was retired in 2015, so, it makes sense that they would reintroduce the animal into their lineup.
The 2020 Wild Safari Concavenator is a fine little model, with emphasis on the “little” part. Measuring only 6.63″/16.84 cm long, this replica of the 20 ft long theropod is roughly 1:35 scale. Despite its size, this figure packs a lot of nice detail. The body is covered in tiny scales and is well-muscled. I love how this figure isn’t depicting the animal as roaring or charging. Instead, it’s simply strolling around with its mouth closed, as it would be most of the time.
Along with its release partner, Qianzhousaurus, this figure suffered noticeable paint downgrades from the promo pictures. Fortunately, the final version’s not too bad, if a bit bland. The head crests are painted red, denoting their function as display features. The shades of cream and brown work well together, giving this figure the vibe of some European chocolate bar you’d find at Aldi.
As for accuracy, this figure, like all recent Wild Safari models is top notch, at least in a reserved sense. This is because the form and function of several features of the fossil are not settled. For example, some researchers believe the extended vertebrae could have supported a fatty hump, like today’s zebu cattle. However, this figure’s crest is rendered tall and narrow, stopping at the sacrum and beginning again the base of the tail.
Another subject of debate are structures resembling quill knob anchor points on the ulna. Some researchers disagree with this idea, contending that these are scars left from a muscular attachment. In the end, both ideas require further evidence. The sculptor, Doug Watson, has decidedly gone with the latter idea, leaving the arms bare of quills.
Overall, the Wild Safari Concavenator turned out to be much nicer than expected. Other than my copy’s warped feet causing it to tip over a little too easily, this is a very decent little model.
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Honestly, to me this is the perfect Concavenator figure and I quite like your review. The Favorite one is too shrinkwrapped, and the Carnegie whilst a beautuful sculpture also suffers a little.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this figure!
The hump with fat is much more likely. And the shape of the head simply doesn’t make me feel like a concavenator or even a charchadorontosaur. And well I think Safari has suffered a lot in recent years with detail.
Honestly, the Carnegie one is miles away better
In and by contrast, I like the 1/35 scale and have no problem with the coloration. I have both of the Favorite and older Carnegie interpretations and am glad to welcome this new one into the fold.
I agree, I like that this scales well with many of my (roughly) contemporaneous dinosaurs.
Fantastic review. The more I see the Safari Concavenator, the more I want to get the Favorite one. The Safari rendition is has no appeal to me and the final coloration has sentenced it. I really like the real size sculpture of “Pepito” in Museo de la PaleontologÃa de Cuenca, with its fantastic colored sail and arm quills. I find it very difficult to believe that the real dinosaur had that mountain on the back without no connection to the elongated apofisis of the tail vertebrae.
The sculpture of the Safari concavenator is excellent and perfect what spoils the figure is its paint varnish and sincerely as a personal opinion I would have liked that concavenator in a larger size and without scale. The big thing is beautiful especially in the toy figures and / or collection of prehistoric dinosaurs and animals.