One of the earliest Carnegie figures made (it’s stamped ‘© 1988’), this Euoplocephalus is also the line’s very first ankylosaur figure. Remarkably, this review will also be this blog’s first to feature a toy that’s actually labelled Euoplocephalus, rather than simply de facto representing the genus (like the Favorite “Ankylosaurus” and original Schleich “Saichania“). So, how has this rubbery little fella aged over the years?
Not all that badly, as it happens, especially for a very early Carnegie. Many of the earliest Carnegie toys appear very crude to modern eyes – when compared with their modern counterparts, or even with the Battat range of the early ’90s, they lack fine detail and sculpting finesse. Subsequently, a lot of them have received resculpts (a process that is still ongoing), but some – like Euoplocephalus – were simply shelved. It’s a bit of a shame, as this sculpt shows great early potential.
Of course, we have since seen a pretty good Ankylosaurus (posed in a similar fashion to this figure), but Euoplocephalus was a rather different-looking animal. Apart from being smaller, it’s also somewhat spikier, as this model amply demonstrates – in fact, the pattern of scutes and spikes matches up closely with Euoplocephalus tutus, showing an attention to detail greatly exceeding that of the other early sculpts (block-head T. rex, anyone?). The aesthetic detailing overall is really quite good – the scutes are individually highlighted in a dark grey-green and the tiny eyes and mouth are very carefully painted.
Of course, it has its flaws (it’s from 1988! What do you want, blood?). Most notably, the proportions of the body are a little off – the torso and tail should be longer and the hips a little wider, while the body should be ‘flatter’ on top. The feet also suffer from what appears to be an issue in the moulding process, and two of them on my figure are quite badly deformed. Apparently, this was an issue that afflicted all of the Euoplocephalus figures made by Carnegie, and might have been a contributing factor to the toy’s retirement.
Overall, though, this is a nice little figure – well-made for its time and packing plenty of charm. Given Forrest Rogers’ (the Carnegie sculptor) previous good form with ankylosaurs, I really hope that there is another one somewhere in the pipeline – and if they’re looking for suggestions as to which species to go for, a Euoplocephalus tutus remake certainly wouldn’t go amiss!
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I bought one for $17 about a year ago. It is one of my favorite hardplastics, and I hope one is down the pipeline
It’s such a shame this was retired from production. It’s a great little figure, and Euplocephalus, despite having a great deal of art and papers on it, is surprisingly underrepresented with toys.
One of my favorites of the early Carnegie figures, but what that is often overlooked. Thanks for the review!
It should have dawned on me sooner that the Waiphoon copy was of this figure. It seems to have escaped my radar somehow (and I still don’t have it).