Mattel - New for 2023

[Stegotyranno420]

Honestly these newer ones, especially the irritator, are decent. Now my cup of tea, but I can see the appeal. Certainly better than some of their other ones.b

[Pliosaurking]

Besides the Irritator the rest are eh... I mean I've seen worse from them but still...
The Regaliceratops looks like a chap mei toy.
The Okoraptor is rather chunky, and I not a fan of the colour scheme.
And the Bistahievestor is alright, although the tail spikes are a bit odd.
Overall it's definitely an interesting set of reveals from them.

[Faelrin]

Bistahieversor:
Yikes. Not a fan of it at all. Easy pass and money saved. No idea why they gave it stegosaur like spikes. Coloration is bland too.

Irritator:
Sculpt is definitely an improvement over the original one, especially with the post 2020 Spinosaurus tail they gave it, but I do prefer the original's colors. It's a bit too similar to the Herrerasaurus coloration now that I think about it.

Regaliceratops:
I don't mind it. The head sculpt is pretty good, and distinctively Regaliceratops. The quills I'm not a fan of, but I'm also not a fan of that paleomeme in the first place (such as on CollectA's figures). Not a fan of the coloration either. It would look much better if it gets repainted in the future (to hopefully something more eye pleasing). But well it is one of my favorite ceratopsians, and it could have been done worse I suppose. Then again, like with the Diabloceratops, I do also have David's wonderful BotM figures, so like, I don't really need to bother with either of Mattel's.

Orkoraptor:
Another easy pass. Sculpt isn't bad, but colors are bland as could be. Last year's Megaraptor was so much more pleasing to the eye.

Lots of weak colorations this time around, and ugly sculpts. Definitely their weakest year yet (which I'm sure I've said before), and I say that as a long time collector of the brand. Oh well, can save my money for PNSO, BotM, etc.

Anyways I'll get the op updated with these.

[suspsy]

The Bistahieversor reminds me of a famous quote from Mark Twain: I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[Gwangi]

I think this is a solid lineup. I already praised the Irritator but as for the others...

Bistahieversor: Forgetting about the quills for a second, this might be Mattel's best tyrannosauroid. Look at the length and girth of the tail, MUCH better than many of Mattel's older theropods, like the Albertosaurus. It also looks less cartoony than  the Tarbosaurus. I like the paint app too, it's unique, something different from tiger stripes or some other common design. I wish I could see it without the tracking gear to assess it better.

Orkoraptor: I love the lipped look Mattel has now given to some of its theropods, it does wonders for the toy not having oversized teeth hanging out of the jaw. The coat of feathers is interesting, it looks like the back is scaly and the underside is shaggy. The paint app also looks good to me, I dig the dark green and black contrasting with the red eyes and white stripes and speckles. Again...it's different.

Regaliceratops: Not in love with the paint app but it's a solid sculpt and hey...all the frill horns are painted. 

Overall, I like all of these. In fact, I'm pretty impressed with a lot of the Dino Tracker toys. I don't think Mattel is close to Hasbro's level and I honestly don't think Mattel's quality is diminishing, as is so often claimed. There are some bad paint apps, sure, but I don't think any of these suffer from that and other recent toys like the Kronosaurus and Sinotyrannus look great too.

[EmperorDinobot]

I like their colors. I see a pattern with these.

[PrimevalRaptor]

That Irritator is very snaggletoothed but in itself pretty fun, really good color scheme even if it's similar to the Herrerasaurus.
Regaliceratops is nice, I feel it'd be better recieved if the yellow was a bit more subdued.
The arms on the Orkoraptor look a bit off/short but I assume it's the angle. I do really like this one, the feather placement seems a bit odd but that and the lips add a good bit to it, may pick that one up.
That Bistahieversor...the sculpt itself is neat, the colors look great and I think those spikes/quills are an interesting speculative feature but...I really don't like that action feature of it, pretty stupid imo.

[Flaffy]

Oh boy these look fun.

If they're resculpting the Irritator, why not go all the way and completely redo the head as well? Never been a fan of that snaggle-tooth look, but I guess they at least gave it a more obvious notch this time. Bonus points for the paddletail, minus points for unfortunate urine-stains on it's head. IG if anyone's still looking for a Siamosaurus from Mattel, here's your chance . It can easily stand in for any generic spinosaurid (JP-style) like PNSO's Sinopliosaurus. Will wait and see how the HC version turns out first though.



Not sure how I feel about the Regaliceratops. Like many it looks far more like a Chap Mei toy rather than something that'll look at home in a JP/JW display. It also suffers from scoliosis not dissimilar to the Diabloceratops, having a mammalian-like dip in its back. Poor thing.



Orkoraptor's cool. It's colour scheme and design makes it perfectly at home in a dark fantasy show like "The Dark Crystal". Megaraptoran toys are scarce as is, so I definitely pick up the ones I can get. The feathering's a bit goofy but not implausible, Mattel's done worse (fully feathered abelisaur and allosauroid anyone?)



Bistahieversor. An action feature so unthinkably stupid for a Tyrannosaur that it wraps back to being cool. Minus the quills, it's a pretty alright tyrannosaur to my eyes. I'm with @Gwangi on this one that it's one of Mattel's better tyrannosaur offerings. Certainly more true to the animal than the allosaur-like Albertosaurus, or the anatomical mess that is the Sinotyrannus, that's for sure.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I'm good with them.  That Bistahieversor will probably stand out on a store shelf with those feather/quills. Orkoraptor has decent colors and sculpt though I know nothing of the species. The Regaliceratops is alright, I think it's that color and some sculpt elements that kind of scream "cheap toy" but I might get it anyway. I have all the others, they of course amassing their forces across from the BOTM Ceratopsians..might be a war brewing.. lol

The Irritator is definitely a step up I think. I like others have said am pretty curious about the HC version now. Which will we get?

[BlueKrono]

I'll definitely be snapping up any Irritator they put out, even if it is a hokey toy meant to appeal to wide-eyed children. I never thought a Bist would interest me, but the spines remind me of Amargasaurus's. I just may pick that one up too. Never seen another theropod quite like it.

[MLMjp]

The Orkoraptor mold isn't bad, but not even it's describers know this dinosaur exist.
Regaliceratops is alright...but I got my ceratopsian quota occupied by the new Triceratops and Diabloceratops already.
Bisthahiversor is the definition of business on the front (good headsculpt) party on the back (ugly spines).

Hard pass on these three.

[Gwangi]

Sure, All Yesterdays goes wild with their speculations and everyone cheers, Mattel does it and everyone loses their minds. 

[Lynx]

These newer figures are probably some of, dare I say, Mattels best dinosaur figures since the 2019/2020 days. I thought they would absolutely suck with what some people were saying, but oh my god. The Bistahieversor is a work of art. The speculative quills, the colors, everything. It has the prettiest color scheme I have EVER seen on a dinosaur figure, which is saying a lot.

The attention to detail with the paint and the capture gear that people have wanted for so long are all perfect. Mattel has done more than spoil both children and adults with these figures. These more than make up for the "hasbro-level" tyrannosaurus and dilophosaurus.

Don't even get me STARTED on the Orkoraptor, the feathering, the claws, the head, the tail, the colors, and the paint, EVERYTHING on that figure is just gorgeous.


I could ramble all day on how all these figures are plain masterful.

[MLMjp]

Sure, All Yesterdays goes wild with their speculations and everyone cheers, Mattel does it and everyone loses their minds. 

Not a fan of the more "extreme" speculation parts from All yesterdays, soo...

PD: the ones I have seen online, as I don't have that book.

[Faelrin]

@Gwangi I have to wonder what counts since I've only seen a few images from it. Like I don't have the book and never read it.

[EmperorDinobot]

I'm glad to see you like them too @Lynx . I love the Bistahieversor's colors. It should be a beautiful but deadly addition to Jurassic Park.

[Faelrin]

Some more reveals:



I like this one. Some more paint on the tail spikes and plates would have been nice but not bad. Tail is oddly stubby too. Better then last year's Miragaia though, and in line with the previous Chialingosaurus.




Why does this get to have better done quills then either of the JPIII raptors?



Again head sculpt is decent but that coloration really doesn't do it any favors. Hope both this and the Kosmoceratops get repaints with better color choices down the road.

[EmperorDinobot]

I really hate that Dilophosaurus mold.

[MLMjp]

Right now I am thinking: I want to get the Giganspinosaurus and try to repaint it like the beautiful blue skin from JW Evolution.

Then I remember that I said the same for a JP3 raptor about 4 years ago and I have barely practice 

[Pliosaurking]

My local Walmarts still only stock wave one dominion figures. It seems they only get the newest battle damage figures in. The only Hammond collection figure I have seen is the Rex, and no others. I really hope I can get access to newer figures, but I may have to order them online internationally...
On a side note I do quite like the Giganspinosaurus, although the other 2 I have zero interest in.