“It stinks!” — Jay Sherman
Most of the toys reviewed on this blog have been purchased by the reviewers. There are rare exceptions, and while I can’t speak for other reviewers, I’m always careful to disclose if I’m reviewing a complimentary copy. But by and large, they’re figures we liked enough to spend money on, and so reviews tend to be more positive than negative. Not today! I bought this toy, and it is total garbage.
Earlier this year, Rebor, with its predilection for pop culture rip-offs, released a Carnotaurus designed in the style of the one from Disney’s 2000 Dinosaur movie, but with a few tweaks to make it a little more monstrous and excessively textured. Then they cut off the horns, repainted it, and called it Ekrixinatosaurus, which is one of the many, many abelisaur genera that no company has ever seriously attempted to depict, because they’re all too busy making umpteen Carnotaurus figures. Ekrixinatosaurus was not an especially close relative of Carnotaurus, living 27 million years prior alongside Giganotosaurus. The two abelisaurs were separated by more accumulated evolution than, for example, a caribou and a muntjac. Imagine cutting a caribou’s antlers down to nubbins and calling it a muntjac, and you have a pretty good idea of what Rebor has attempted here.
Is this an accurate figure? No. Is it a well-made figure? Also no. Let’s start with the feet. Making bipedal toys stand is a genuinely difficult problem, because a toy can’t make the constant fine adjustments that actual bipedal animals make to stay upright. I’m pretty tolerant of the various approaches that toy makers take to this problem: I don’t mind bases, permanent or removable; I don’t mind poses stabilized with a forelimb or tail, provided it’s within a plausible range of motion; I don’t even mind leaning a figure with correctly-sized feet against a more stable figure or a piece of scenery. My least favorite solution is oversized feet, but I’ve been known to overlook even that, if it keeps the figure standing. This figure has wildly oversized feet, which is at least partly defensible because the Disney design that Rebor has stolen also has oversized feet. But in the six months or so that I’ve owned this figure, the toes on the leading foot have warped so much that it no longer stands unaided. This is at 41°N latitude, in a cool room with only north-facing windows, in the corner at the farthest possible point from any heat source. You’d think that after seven years in this business, Rebor could have figured out how to make their bipeds stand.
The tail is a detachable piece and made of a bendable material. I’m not sure if this is the same material as in their infamous Titanoboa, which some collectors have been reporting develops cracks and splits after less than a year. So far I haven’t seen any sign of damage, but I’ve been pretty careful not to adjust the tail’s position much.
The figure features Rebor’s trademark overwrought texturing, the comical apotheosis of the detail-for-detail’s-sake pioneered by Papo. Companies keep trying to outdo each other’s extraneous detail, and a certain strain of collectors keeps conflating it with realism, in a tragic feedback loop of ignorance.
There are three points of articulation on the figure. The jaw opens, but only a bit, exposing the teeth. The teeth actually look really nice; it’s too bad they’re surrounded by such a hot mess. The arms also pointlessly rotate.
Rebor sells this as 1:35 scale, but based on known remains of Ekrixinatosaurus, it’s about 1:18, fully twice the purported size. It scales well with the Beasts of the Mesozoic ceratopsian line, but I find that the ceratopsians recoil from it, probably because of the stench of failure.
All in all, this is a pretty bad figure and I’d advise you to skip it. If it weren’t for the detachable tail, I could recommend it as a light melee weapon, but a good swing would just send the rest of the body flying, so it’s more like a single-use atlatl. If you try it as a missile, maybe you’ll get lucky and it will fly into a garbage truck or a bonfire. Then you can use the tail to gouge your eyes out.
Parts of this review were adapted from a post in my collection thread on the forum.
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RÖHÖGÉS ez a figura!!!!
Bruhahaha…,vicces értékelés a totális Rebor kudarcról!!!!!!!!!!
Its worth noting that “REBOR” spelled backwards is “ROB(B)ER”, which is about how you’ll feel about them after plopping down $69 and getting THIS …. THING …. in the post.
Their Carnotaurus was at least defensible (because it was, after all, a fairly cool rip-off of the iconic Disney movie monster), but this …. I have no words to add to your thorough review. ;>)
On a serious note, there is a simple fix to the “falling over” tendency of both this figure and the Carnotaurus (which is the first Rebor figure I have ever bought – big fan of the ‘Dinosaur’ movie).
If you pose these figures on a SLIGHT incline (on a base to mimic the critter moving uphill) – it WILL stay up. I say this with confidence as my Carnotaurus has not toppled over since I posed it in that way despite being in the garage the past 6 months – in the subtropical climate of South Texas.
BTW, it was not my original idea to do this – someone posted a photo on the DTF of their Carnotaurus on just such a base, so I pass it on to y’all.
That may be my favorite review ever! I can’t count the times I laughed out loud, and when I read excerpts to my wife, she did the same. Good stuff. If more reviewers had a fraction of your honesty, the hobby would be that much better. Thanks for making my day.
Thank you so much, I’m glad that you enjoyed it!
I think, quite possibly, that “rebor” is a word in some as yet unidentified language, meaning, simply, “clown feet”…
Yeah; but dumpster-fodder aside, will you be keeping it on your dedicated Ekrixinatosaurus shelf until a better (ANY better!) example ambles down the path, well-balanced on its more standard-sized feet (or so it is to be hoped), or are you planning on discarding it outright? In either case, an excellent and well-crafted review, seasoned with refreshing honesty. Thank you for the labor, the humor, and the cautionary tip. I have ordered the Rebor Sarcosuchus because I can’t leave prehistoric crocodilians alone, regardless of quality. I hope it won’t be as disappointing for me as your representative abelisaur apparently was for you.
Thank you! I too am a fan of prehistoric crocodilians, and while I’m reserving judgment, I think Rebor will find it tough to surpass Safari’s Sarcosuchus.
As for the Ekrixinatosaurus, it’s currently lying on its side on my photography table, but I’m not discarding it. When/if a better version is made, I’ll resell it–there’s an endless supply of Rebor fans who will buy their out-of-production items.
I love REBOR with a deep passion but this figure- this figure makes the Papo Giganotosaurus look good!
Remarkable that this toy got the same rating as the Papo Giganotosaurus – I think it might be worse. 🙂
I agree it’s worse than the Papo Giga, how odd!
Thanks for all the kind comments, everyone! I confess I had started to believe that nobody reads these reviews anymore and I’m very happy to be proven wrong.
I’ve started believing that as well. Sometimes I wonder if I write these reviews mostly for myself. Honestly, I don’t read every review, it depends on who writes it, but I always read yours. Your reviews are what I consider among the highest quality on this blog.
Thank you, that means a lot coming from you! I always read yours also, even when it’s figures I don’t generally collect such as JW or Marx.
I mean, 41 people voted on this figure, so I think that means plenty of people have read your reviews around here.
Also, think of all the people who simply stop by this website from time to time. The Dino toy collecting community is very large, and it is only growing.
keep up the good work!
Now that’s what you call a really good roast!
I’m on board with your sentiments on this one, maybe someday someone will produce a respectable figure of this Dino.
That was quite enjoyable. I’ve always questioned the collecting strategy of spending money on things you don’t like just because of the name attached to it. In this case I am thankful for the suffering you endure for our amusement.
The way I see it, at least it gets a little publicity for the taxon in question. And let me tell you, there are few things more satisfying than replacing a crap toy with a high-quality one, for example when I ditched a rubber, bead-filled Pinacosaurus in favor of PNSO’s version. It’s like the relief you feel when someone stops hitting you with a hammer.
A very frank review. And I agree with everything you said.
As someone who collects animals to 1/18 scale, I was initially very excited about this release, because, as the review pointed out, it is pretty much 1/18 scale. Excited, that is, until I saw it.
This figure must have the largest proportioned feet of any dinosaur toy I have ever seen. They would be too big on a 1/10 sale figure.
Needless to say I gave it a hard pass….very disappointingly…
That’s one of the best reviews I’ve ever read. You’re a diamond!
Rebor’s such a bloody joke.
Super expansive **** wanna be genuine high quality figures…
Honestly, it is not an outstanding figure on Rebor’s part but nevertheless it has its charm, in the sense of its solid PVC size and also because of the second point that Rebor was encouraged to make an abelisaurid, what is not a carnotaurus! That is to be applauded. On the other hand, it is necessary to take into account the philosophy of Rebor, that is to say, the commercial philosophy when making his figures. On the other hand, regarding the titanoboas (I have two, one given by the beloved team at the Everythingdinosaurus Store, I can say that they continue just as well as on the first day I bought them and that I acquired free of charge for everythingdinosaur and the reason why titanoboas to other sellers / DTF members are damaged or broken, it may be because they force the figure a lot by adopting postures, I do not usually touch them but obviously I am aware that if I played with that figure or used it for dioramas with multiple prehistoric creatures it would be It would damage or break the figure.The solution with the titanoboa is not to move it since it is a collectible figure and not a toy from my humble point of view.
I’m glad to hear your Titanoboa remains intact–people’s experiences with it have definitely varied.
And I agree that a bright side to the existence of this figure is that more people are now aware that there are abelisaurs other than Carnotaurus.
Never liked anything that Rebor as put out. Always seemed like a cut rate Papo, which is saying a lot because Papo is hardly fantastic themselves. Nonetheless I was slightly tempted by their Carnotaurus due to growing up with the Disney movie, but missed out on it and in hindsight I’m glad I didn’t waste my money. This was a good laugh.
I had a good belly laugh. It was refreshing!
Well. Tell us how you REALLY feel about it! *LOL*. Yeah, I basically agree with your review. I got the earlier Carnotaurus strictly because I loved the movie, and found that if you plant it on a slight incline (say on a base or dio) it will not bend down and fall over. Otherwise – 3, 2, 1 weeks and – FACEPLANT!
This was a delicious read. Also, I’d love to see you review that beautiful Wendiceratops someday.
I’ll put it on the longlist! I have quite a backlog to get through so someone might beat me to it.