Monolophosaurus (Jurassic World, Dino-Rivals by Mattel)

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Monolophosaurus is a genus of theropod from China that dates back to the middle Jurassic period. At 15’ (5 meters) long it was a modest sized theropod known for a distinctive singular crest on its head, the name Monolophosaurus actually means “single crested lizard”. Only a few mass produced figures of it exist; Safari has an excellent rendition that has been floating around for some time now and then there are the action figures by Mattel. Mattel first produced a Battle Damage Monolophosaurus that came with the Wal-Mart exclusive Tyrannosaurus, now new for 2019 we have another for the Dino-Rivals line. You would be forgiven for thinking that the Dino-Rivals Mono is just a re-paint of the Battle Damage toy but aside from the paint job there are quite a few other differences as well.

First off, there is no Battle Damage on this toy, which I personally prefer for aesthetic reasons. Instead it has a new action feature all its own where the tail serves as a lever for opening and closing the mouth. For play purposes this is an improvement over the other Monolophosaurus. This toy however is more limited in its articulation in that the head and neck don’t swivel up-and-down as with the Battle Damage version. Also, the default position of the mouth on this toy is open instead of closed which I’m not a fan of. So while the action feature on this toy is an improvement over the last the rest of the changes are less appealing.

Of course the most noticeable difference between these two Monolophosaurus is the paint job. The previous offering was green; a pale green body with dark green stripes. This toy is a rusty brown color with dark red stripes and orange crest. Which one is better is all up to personal preference of course. I find the green version less garish, but also boring in its subtlety. This one has a striking appearance but it’s somewhat obnoxious.

There are some proportion issues with the toy of course, as one would expect. The feet are enlarged for stability, the tail is somewhat reduced in size but not dramatically so, and the arms appear smaller than they should. The head sculpt and crest are quite good but the jaw hinge is unattractively obvious and the thickly painted white teeth are off putting.

In other Mattel reviews I’ve stated that I’m fairly selective about the Jurassic World toys I choose to buy. In spite of this I ended up buying the Monolophosaurus despite not being entirely thrilled with it. It’s a fun toy, as it should be, but it lacks any kind of wow factor or personality that makes it a must have. That said; it’s great to see Monolophosaurus get some attention. If you missed out on the Wal-Mart exclusive or wanted the Mono without having to buy the T. rex than this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Off the shelf this toy cost $10.00 and online it seems to be going for twice that much, even on major retailer web sites. I personally think this toy has a value equal to the Attack Pack range and would have preferred to have seen it priced similarly, this toy is not worth overpaying for but is a fun addition to the Jurassic World collection.