Dreadnoughtus (CollectA)

Review and images by bmathison1972; edited by Suspsy

Dreadnoughtus schrani is a titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian) of present-day South America. Remains of only two individuals have been described to date, both from the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in Argentina. Dreadnoughtus was one of the largest dinosaurs; estimations put its total length at approximately 26 meters and its weight at 49,000 kilograms, although the holotype is believed to have not been fully grown at the time it died. The habitat of D. schrani probably consisted of open forests mixed with riparian areas and seasonal floodplains. Soft tissues and collagen were discovered on the holotype specimen, suggesting it was killed in and, or shortly after its death, became trapped in a rapid burial event, such as a fluvial avulsion event or a break in a levee resulting in flooding. Today we will be looking at the 2024 model of this species produced by CollectA. To the best of my knowledge, this is only the second figure of this species, at least in a relative standard size, following the behemoth produced by Mattel in 2022 for the Jurassic World line.

The maximum dimensions of this figure are approximately 31 cm long and 23.5 cm tall. Interpreting where bones begin and end can sometimes be challenging in a fleshed out model but using the ulna as a metric (n=2.0 cm) the scale comes to 1:50.5. Using the femur as a metric (n=3.0 cm) scale comes to 1:63.7. Using the tibia as a metric (n=2.5 cm) the scale comes to 1:48. Of these three, I found the femur the hardest to interpret length so using the other two features, the scale comes to roughly 1:50 for the holotype specimen MPM-PV 1156, which puts it as twice as big as the advertised scale of 1:100 per CollectA website. I have to admit, it was a bit smaller than I expected, but it works fine for my collection. It’s also noticeably smaller than CollectA’s 2023 Ruyangosaurus, which, based on a tibial length of approximately 3 centimeters, scales at 1:42.

Speaking of CollectA’s Ruyangosaurus, this Dreadnoughtus parallels it in several aspects. It is also sculpted in a gentle, neutral pose, in stride with its head and neck held high (it’s tail tapers downwards, however, unlike the Ruyangosaurus which lifts upwards). It has fine texturing all over, but not as pebbly as the Ruyangosaurus. Like the Ruyangosaurus, however, it is sculpted with armature running down its back. Such armor is speculative in Dreadnoughtus, but is seen in other titanosaurs, such as Ampelosaurus, so it’s not entirely unlikely. The color is a forest/army green, with a paler green-yellow venter. There are some dark green bands on the tail and the armature is grey-brown.

One of the most striking aspects of this figure is the presence of a large thumb claw. It is generally believed that the thumb claw was lost in Titanosauria. The 2023 Ruyangosaurus has a small one, but this 2024 Dreadnoughtus has a very large and pronounced one. Now, very few titanosaurs have their front feet preserved, so we don’t know for sure, but if the trait was lost early in the evolution of the clade, it is unlikely that Dreadnoughtus possessed them.

The head is sculpted with its mouth partially open, exposing the teeth. Most titanosaur heads are missing in the fossil record, although the holotype material of D. schrani does include a jaw fragment. That’s not enough for us to know what its head looked like overall, but still, the CollectA reconstruction is quite plausible.

Overall, this figure comes recommended to collectors of interesting dinosaur taxa. It might scale a bit too small for some collectors. However, the only other option, the aforementioned version by Mattel, is enormous (scaling to 1:16, per Halichoeres’ collection thread on the Dinosaur Toy Forum), requires assembly, is articulated, and is based on what’s essentially a movie monster. Titanosaurs are getting quite the attention lately, including by companies like PNSO and Haolonggood, so it’s quite possible we will get other options for this genus in the near future, especially with it being featured in the Jurassic Park franchise.