During this seasonal, festive, frenzy of reviews, lets take a small time warp back in time and bring forth a toy that has been left behind by the relentless march of time. In 2009, Bullyland, the purveyor of goofy eyed yet expressive figures, released a interesting looking Pachycephalosaurus. It wasn’t a perfect figure in the time it was made, but looking back at the era in which it was released, it was a whole different world of dinosaur sculpts for collectors to choose from. Carnegie was still around, CollectA was still figuring itself out, and the dreaded tripod stance was popular. Its amazing how far toy companies have come since 2009. What passes as an average figure now would have been a good to great figures just seven years ago.
On top of that, Pachycephalosaurus is a strange animal in dinosaur collecting. I would doubt it would make many top ten popular dinosaur lists, but at the same time, it is easily recognizable to most adults and kids. Due to that domed skull, kids like to play with it as if it was Ram Man, head butting through obstacles and viscous predators. In JP the Lost World there is a popular scene showing it ramming one of the Jeeps, reinforcing the popular belief that these animals just head butted their way through life. In reality like many of the strange features we find on dinosaurs, like a Triceratops‘ frill, or Parasaurolophus’ crest, the domed skull was probably used as a display structure, sexual dimorphism perhaps, or other uses that we haven’t even come up with yet.
About the toy: According to the print on the bottom of the figure it is 1:30 scale. It is 4 in (10.16 cm) high and 9 in (22.86 cm) long. The pose is active with the head down and eyes looking forward. Pachycephalosaurus had a narrow face with a small muzzle which ended in a pointed beak. I think the head on this figure is too wide and big. The dome-shaped head is present and looks quite thick. All the way around from the snout to the back of the head it is covered by bumps and wart-like knobs, with a fringe of dull spikes. There is a bunch of small white teeth in the upper maxilla. In actuality the teeth should be less numerous and should look different by the beak.
The arms are short but beefy and spread out with the hands pronated. Each of the hands have five fingers, which is accurate. The legs are big and beefy and the figure stands on over-sized feet, in which all four toes touch the ground. That’s right, instead of standing on a three toed foot, they made the forth one long enough to help with its balance.
Accuracy wise this figure ends up being so-so. As it is thought that Pachycephalosaurus would have been similar to other ornithopods, this figure does have some of the features you would expect. Some of the positives are: it does have forelimbs with five-fingered hands, a long, heavy, fairly rigid tail, and a neck that is short yet thick. Its belly also appears to be enlarged and looks well fed.
This figure is painted as if it lived in an arid landscape with tan and black colors. A yellow color is dry brushed over the main colors. There is a little bit or orange mixed in the bumps around its head and on the under side of the tail and belly. The teeth and eyes are white while the inside of the mouth is black. Around the eyes it is very black almost like eye liner. All the claws are grey.
Overall: Bullyland figures tend to take a little getting used to. It is true that many of their figures are not one hundred percent accurate, but they do tend to have more of an persona and charm. It could be the goofy eyes, I am not sure, but they do tend to be expressive.
With that big head, beefy arms, thick tail, and those meaty thighs, it is quite a stout figure. I think a T-Rex would have loved to have this girl for dinner. This thick skulled Pachycephalosaurus toy does have some inaccuracies as I mentioned earlier. When making a decision on this toy you cannot discount that fact. Despite that, it also has some charm along with a active pose. I rate it as an average figure but one that I really like so maybe I’m a little biased. If you like how this figure looks than in my opinion, it is worth it. This figure is not for everyone and if you want accuracy you could check out the CollectA Pachycephalosaurus ,which is rather small, or the old Battat one if you are lucky enough to find it.
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What has been said is a figure that is average. It is not bad or good is in average. Honestly I like the pachycephalosaurus of Battat (very rare to find as it has been pointed out), the one of Collecta (magnificent figure) or Favorite (which has not been named and is magnificent).
I sincerely congratulate Laticauda for the magnificent article and magnificent critique of a figure that is very rare to find in the toy market.