Parasaurolophus is perennial favorite among children and adults. It is one of the most recognizable Hadrosaurid to the general public. 75 million years ago, in what is now North America, it was part of a diverse family of Cretaceous herbivore dinosaurs known for their bizarre and strange head adornments. The one thing people forget, is even though it had an interesting head, if a six foot human or 1.83 m, stood next to it, the top of the persons head would barely reach its shoulder. It was one big herbivore.
The Mojo Fun Parasaurolophus rests on all four limbs in a way that it makes it look like it is only on two. Its mouth is open a little bit and the head is staring straight ahead. The eyes are expressionless and the crest goes way back and over the body. The limbs are long, with the rear limbs being longer and the body is rather skinny. The back is rather round with some small subtle vertebra bumps. It ends in a thin, rather stubby looking tail. I would speculate that this model would be representing P. walkeri.
The skin on this model reminds me of cracked earth. The cracked skin texture is small on the head and gets larger as it moves down the animal. There are some skin folds, muscle bulges, and a hint of a rib cage.
Its colorization is truly interesting. Inside the cracked skin, the color is a strange light green beige color. The head is a dark maroon red while the nasal and along the crest is brushed on beige. The eye is a bright orange with a black pupil. Stating on the back of the head, along the spine in a zig-zag pattern is black. The rest of the major parts of the body are orange with hints of red shading. The underneath the hands and tops of the feet are brushed on beige.
What I like about this model is its uniqueness. The colorization and skin texture just pop and say look at me. Unfortunately, that leads into what I don’t like. It looks like an underfed zombie Parasaurolophus. There are many small scientific inaccuracies, which would probally not bother me that much if it was robust, with a interesting pose. It is almost skin and bones, no fat deposits, not much there for a predator to eat. It does not convey the true size and majesty this animal would have looked like in real life.
For kids, I found out that scientific accuracy does not matter, and they like this toy. There are no sharp edges, it is bright and is visually appealing. It works in the sand box, and in herds moving across the living room floor. The paint can wear off real easy though.
Overall I feel like this is a miss for collectors and educators. If you love Parasaurolophus no matter what, kids, and anyone who likes strange and interesting dinosaur toys, then give it a try.
Available from Ebay.com here
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Is it…knuckle-walking?!
More like Knuckle-dragging, I think? Another reason to why I call it a Zombie Parasaurolophus.
This is also the only Mojo fun toy that I own, due to its interesting look. There are many things scientificly wrong with this model including the skin. Even though the skin is wrong, I still found it an interesting skin texture choice. The paint on mine is orange as well, but in brighter light looks more yellow.
Nice review. Clearly the skin is wrong as there are several hadrosaur “mummies” with excellent skin impressions available to emulate. Also, for me at least, that huge crest screams for some kind of “banner” ( http://www.kidsdinos.com/images/dinosaurs/Parasaurolophus1145484817.jpg ) to be hanging beneath it, or at least some bright color to highlight what makes parasaurolophus distinct from other hadrosaurs, assuming at least part of its function is for display/herd recognition.
That said, it is the only Mojo Fun figure I have purchased, mostly for its size as it fits into a display (atop a large painting with a flat frame) featuring other hadrosaurs and iguanodonts roughly the same size or in scale to one another.
Mine, by the bye, is orange where yours is yellow, unless that color is due to your camera.
Cheers.