A tale of three Tyrants

[Bokisaurus]

As most of you already know, carnivores are not my thing; I prefer the big lumbering herbivores. That said, however, if an opportunity to acquire something that is unusual or rare, I tend to jump on it 
This is the case with all of these T-rexes, all part of SEGA's larger line of dinosaur figures, and I assume all designed by Araki Kazunari

In the beginning
Years ago, I got my first large SEGA T-Rex , along with its constant companion, Triceratops. This pair was often sold as a set. Both were robust and brightly colored.
A few years later, I got my second large SEGA T-Rex, this time without his Triceratops buddy. This version is not as brightly colored as my first. Instead, it sported a more conservative brown color scheme.
This year, I acquired a gray T-Rex. When I first saw the photo, I thought that it was a rare X-plus figure (not really sure if there is even such as thing as X-Plus T-Rex), so I got it since it was reasonably priced. I was thinking that it would give my Albertosaurus some competition.

When the figure arrived, I was convinced that it was indeed an X-Plus figure due to its striking similarity to the mentioned Albertosaurus! My excitement was short lived after I noticed that on the bottom of the base, the name SEGA was printed.
That prompted me to bring out my first two SEGA T-Rex figure and compare them with each other.

The trio of large SEGA T-Rex
The evolution of style
Of the three amigos, the gray and the brown are closest in style and size. And as it turned out, they are also only a year apart in production. The third one, the red version, is a much newer version and is sculpted differently than the other two.

T-Rex the Gray (2003 version)
Of the three figures that I have, this one is the first, released in 2004. The figure is comparable in size to the brown version, and first glance, they look almost the same.

There are two big differences between these two versions, mainly in the head and body size.

The head – proportionally, both version are almost the same size. The biggest difference is in the mouth. On both figure, the mouth is wide open (standard T-Rex pose) as if roaring or about to bite.

On this figure, the mouth extends all the way to the back, almost to the base of the jaw, and has a pointed tip. And the blood red paint did not help at all; it made the inner cheek flesh look more like a big gaping wound.

The body – viewed from the side, it looks normal. However, when viewed from above, this T-Rex looks like it's starving (another reason why I first thought it was part of the X-plus line of anorexic dino)!
The belly is so pinched in.

Front view


Viewed from above, notice the sunken waist

T-Rex the Brown (2004)
What a big difference a year makes! This figure was released in 2004, a year after its Gray predecessor.
In this reincarnation, some modification was made to the figure. The overall pose and size remains the same.


The head – Like its predecessor, the mouth is still wide open. However, it no longer extends all the way to the base of the jaw, but instead, stops a little after the halfway mark and is more rounded tip. The fleshy inner cheek was replaced by a full cheek cover. The inside of the mouth is a softer flesh/pink color instead of the blood red.


The body – in this version, the body was slightly modified. This T-Rex no longer has the starved look that its predecessor had. Although not fat, this bad boy definitely has had its share of triceratops and duckbill steak.

The body is much fuller in this version, although the waist is still sunken, but more normal looking when compared to the gray version.



Everything else on the body looks like it was left unaltered.

Of course, with its healthier figure, it is also natural that its body color reflects that. The uninspired ash- gray color of its predecessor is replaced with various shades of brown, it even sports tail bands.

T-Rex the Red (2007)
This is the newest of the three SEGA T-Rex I have, released in 2007, a good 3 years after the brown version. This version, unlike its gray and brown predecessors, did not come with a base. Its tail points down, however, this figure is able to stand perfectly balanced. This version is also the most flamboyant of the trio. In addition, this one is also the most bulky in built.


The head – unlike its predecessors, where only slight modification was made, and this one look to be an entirely new sculpt. The head is slightly larger, the mouth still is wide open, but the inner cheek's fleshy part is colored so it blends with the head's color.


The ridges on the nose are also more pronounced on this version.

The teeth on this version are larger and more pointed compared to the shorted and more rounded seen on the other two versions. Its tongue also sticks out.


The body – This guy is pump up! Its muscles are bulging and overall look fuller than the other two. Let's just say that it spent a lot of time in the cretaceous all you can eat buffet!


There are also spikes on its back, starting from the head all the way down to the tail, something that its predecessors lacked.


Oddly, despite its bulkier built, viewed from the top, this figure also have the pinched waist seen on the other two figures. Really, it looks like an hourglass! Not sure why the sculptor insists on giving these guys a very small waistline.


Lastly, this guy is the most flamboyantly colored of the three versions. The overall body is painted with maroon, with splashes/shades of yellow on the underside, the head, and on the side.


So there you have it, the tale of three SEGA T-Rex. I am not sure if these figures are still in production, or if there are color variant of each one. They are definitely worth adding to any collection. However, due to their large size, storage and display space can be an issue.

[Simon]

Boki - the two smaller TRexes were issued by Sega 10 years ago.  The brown one came first, the gray one is a repaint issued a few years later.  They were sculpted by Tokugawa. 

The Red TRex dates back to around 2007, and is sculpted by Shinzen.  Its colored to match the TRex from that dinosaur game that is so popular in Japan (as is the accompanying Triceratops). 

Hope this info is useful.

Personally I think that the Red TRex is one of the most accurate TRex sculpts made - right down to the muscular, though short, arms, and the massive thigh muscles that join with the tail muscle (which was the powerhouse that gave the animal its speed)....

[Blackdanter]

Boki,
There wasn't an X-Plus Tyrannosaurus if you're thinking of the vinyl Styracosaurus and Albertasaurus duo. The confusion arises because Happinet issued the same Styracosaurus figure in Japan in tandem with a Tyrannosaurus rather than the Albertasaurus. ;O)

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Boki,
There wasn't an X-Plus Tyrannosaurus if you're thinking of the vinyl Styracosaurus and Albertasaurus duo. The confusion arises because Happinet issued the same Styracosaurus figure in Japan in tandem with a Tyrannosaurus rather than the Albertasaurus. ;O)

There actually was an X-Plus T-Rex..there is an image of it in an old issue of PT but it was canceled before release. I think it looked a little bit like their Kong V-Rex..maybe it was resculpted into it ?

The Shinzen sculpt is my favorite and looks to be based on a model kit version he did as well.  I have the a much more lighter grey version of the other Rex and he has trouble standing up on his base due to some warping I can't seem to work out of him.

The smaller waist is there in skeletons, though taken to a bit of an extreme sometimes :

[Jetdin]

Hi boki!
Sorry for reviving an old thread, just wondering, what are the height and length measurements of all 3 figures respectively?

[Mirroraptor]

SEGA's big T.rex is design by Hirokazu Tokugawa and sculpt by Shinzen Takeuchi. The other two rexes also made by Mr. Tokugawa(I'm not really sure).
All of them are brillent collection. Congratulations!

[Shonisaurus]

Honestly, the one that I like the most, perhaps because it is better finished, is the red SEGA tyrannosaurus last edition, but for example the other two editions have better paint details with respect to the red tyrannosaurus of SEGA as I call it.