Mattel - New for 2025

[Faelrin]

Other then the weird beak and/or head shape, it looks pretty good. Green might be too dark, but I'm not sure, but otherwise the colors and markings are overall close enough and an improvement over the Legacy one. I think the area over the hips should be a little taller too? But minor things. I'm impressed that it is bigger too. I mean the mainline ones are decent sized for what it is worth. Looking forward to when it releases here. Will be nice to finally have the adult to go with the baby I got a while back. And with the Allosaurus I recently picked up.

How is the tail articulation? Is it that rubber skin and jointed skeleton underneathe like on the recent theropods?

[DavidJamesArmsby]

Other then the weird beak and/or head shape, it looks pretty good. Green might be too dark, but I'm not sure, but otherwise the colors and markings are overall close enough and an improvement over the Legacy one. I think the area over the hips should be a little taller too? But minor things. I'm impressed that it is bigger too. I mean the mainline ones are decent sized for what it is worth. Looking forward to when it releases here. Will be nice to finally have the adult to go with the baby I got a while back. And with the Allosaurus I recently picked up.

How is the tail articulation? Is it that rubber skin and jointed skeleton underneathe like on the recent theropods?

The tail is the same as all the recent theropods, yeah. It feels like it wants to return to a more neutral position after being pose for a few minutes, though. Probably because it's shorter and stockier with more rubber fighting against the wire. But you can definitely still get some decent poses out of it.
It's just not as stupidly good as the tail on the Allosaurus, for example.

[andrewsaurus rex]

the HC Stego looks pretty good, a little chubby perhaps and thick legged.  Nice size though; very 1/18-ish.  With a few tweeks to pose and paint it could be super.

[crazy8wizard]

That Stegosaurus is gorgeous (aside from the weird chubby cheeks as we all seemed to notice). Really excited to see if this can hold the DMNS pose so I can pair it with my Allosaurus!

[andrewsaurus rex]

chubby cheeks could be from having a mouth full of yummy cycads.

For decades the Royal Ontario Museum had a skeletal reconstruction of a pair of very dramatically posed Allosaurus attacking a Stegosaurus.  It was so impressive.  Sadly it seems to be gone now....i can't even find a picture of it online.

[Dilopho]

I'd rather it be chubby than skinny

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Trimmed a few extra teeth off the SC Rebirth Rex and the Lab Lockdown Rex. I think it looks much better.

[Gwangi]

Amazing the difference a few less teeth can make.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

It just looks more natural. I'm not sure why they feel the need to add so many to all these sculpts but at least it's ( moderately) easy to fix.

[andrewsaurus rex]

many teeth probably because kids like it

[Flaffy]

It just looks more natural. I'm not sure why they feel the need to add so many to all these sculpts but at least it's ( moderately) easy to fix.

Looks much more natural. May I ask how many teeth you removed for the Lab Lockdown rex? I was thinking 3-4 maxillary teeth per side needs to come out for a less JW look.

And what would be the best way to minimise the cut marks on the rubber.

[Dilopho]

With those teeth gone I can easily say the SC rex is the best T. rex head Mattel have ever sculpted

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

It just looks more natural. I'm not sure why they feel the need to add so many to all these sculpts but at least it's ( moderately) easy to fix.

Looks much more natural. May I ask how many teeth you removed for the Lab Lockdown rex? I was thinking 3-4 maxillary teeth per side needs to come out for a less JW look.

And what would be the best way to minimise the cut marks on the rubber.

Let's see, I removed 4 on each side, there is a smaller tooth there then the four start and they are longer. I removed those. You really need a something that can snip and very fine tipped. My exacto nicked the plastic of the mouth, too long, fingernail clippers work but it's hard to get them deep enough.

[andrewsaurus rex]

there are little fine scissors with a fine curved tip, used by women, they have a sharp point and would be perfect for removing those teeth....just a little snip with the tip of the scissors.  You can find them where ever there are women's beauty accessories like nail files, emery boards, eyelash curlers etc.  Not expensive.

[MLMjp]

Good news for me, sets are being released in my country. Amazon has the Matchbox Mosasaurus rescue boat set and the Distortus one as an exclusive (why does it tempt me despite hating that thing??).

No sight of the Spinosaurus one unfortunately. Hopefully it follows sooner or later.

[Primeval12]

Good news for me, sets are being released in my country. Amazon has the Matchbox Mosasaurus rescue boat set and the Distortus one as an exclusive (why does it tempt me despite hating that thing...).

No sight of the Spinosaurus one unfortunately. Hopefully it follows sooner or later.

It tempts you because it's actually awesome. When I saw the trailer, I HATED it! But, I've grown to love the thing!

[suspsy]

I came across the Tumourous Rex yesterday. When you push the button on its tail, its head vibrates as though it's experiencing a seizure. Or maybe that giant zit on its head is about the blow.

To quote Luke Skywalker, "What a piece of junk!"

[Carnoking]

I finally got my first taste of the new line this week and of course I was crouched in the aisle testing out all the action features as passerbys were shooting me all sorts of looks.

I gotta say, these are some of the best mainline figures Mattel has done since they first got the license! The sculpts are top notch, the paint apps are all pretty decent, and I enjoyed a lot of the action features. I had to really call upon what little self control I have to not just buy everything on my list right then and there as im sure a lot of these hero dinosaurs will see their fair share of sales down the line.

The Distortus rex action feature reminds me of the Epic Roarin' T. rex they put out in 2021(?) for Camp Cretaceous. That aggressive twitching has never been my favorite.

[crazy8wizard]

The aggressive twitching on the D. rex at least makes more sense on a shambling failed clone than on a regular dinosaur

[Primeval12]

The Distortus is cool TBH, I just don't 100% love the Mattel figure. I am likely going to get the smaller one with the boat set!