Placerias (Deluxe Prehistoric Collection by CollectA)

Before we begin the review, I would like to extend my gratitude towards Happy Hen Toys for sending this figure along as a review sample. Happy Hen Toys is a U.S. distributor of animal figures and one of the only places in the country where you can get CollectA figures at a reasonable price. Check out their selection by clicking the banner below.

Placerias is a genus of dicynodont that lived in the Triassic Period 220-250 million years ago. It was thought to have been the last surviving dicynodont until the discovery of Lisowicia, which is known from the late Triassic Period, 210–205 million years ago. Placerias is known from Arizona’s Chinle Formation where it lived alongside other notable animals such as Coelophysis and Postosuchus. The Chinle Formation and its fauna were featured in BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs, bringing these fascinating Triassic animals some much needed awareness.

Despite being brought to the spotlight via Walking with Dinosaurs, Placerias has remained largely obscure and ignored by toy companies. There’s the vintage Tyco Placerias that was part of the Dino-Riders line, as well as a once sought-after cheaposaur that until the release of today’s review subject was the best representation of the genus available. I suppose the demand for that toy will be dropping now that CollectA has produced a Placerias that makes that one obsolete.

Placerias would have been one of the largest herbivores of its time and place, measuring 11’ (3.5 meters) in length and weighing 1,800–2,200 lbs. (800-1,000 kg). CollectA’s figure measures 7” (17.78 cm) long and stands 3.5” (8.89 cm) tall at the top of its head. This puts the figure at 1/18 in scale. I display all my synapsids together, so this figure does look odd when scaled against most mammal figures, but it does scale well with figures representing its contemporaries, which I suppose is preferable.

CollectA’s Placerias is presented in a running posture, with its right forelimb stretching forward and right hindlimb pushing back. The head is lifted high with its mouth open. Maybe it’s a cantankerous male defending his turf, or perhaps it’s a frightened individual fleeing a predator. It’s a dynamic and versatile figure.

Anatomically, things look rather sound. The body is appropriately barrel shaped with stout five-toed limbs, a short tail, and thick neck. A sort of crest can be seen at the back of the skull that would have anchored neck muscles in life. Some reconstructions thicken the neck even more, so that the crest is less visible than what we see here. I tend to favor those but I’m not going to complain about the route CollectA took. All bodily orifices are present, including a cloaca and earholes.

The beak is toothless with a short tusk on either side. It is thought that these tusks were used for sexual display and interspecies combat, since specimens exhibit two different tusk lengths which suggest sexual dimorphism. Placerias is thought to have lived in shallow wetlands where it would feed on vegetation along the shoreline, and it wouldn’t surprise me if those tusks were also used to dig and forage.

CollectA has given their Placerias a wrinkled skin texture with a patch of sparse hair running along the back. Hair for Placerias is speculative but preserved hair in Permian coprolites suggests that dicynodonts might have had it. Thick sagging skin folds and rolls can be seen along the nape, lower torso, and limb joints. Small bumps can be seen randomly scattered across the hide. The skin is similar to what we see in mummified Lystrosaurus specimens.

The figure is painted brown with a pale underside and pink running along the sides, around the orbits, and along the flanks. The brown body has a dark wash over it that brings out the details of the wrinkles while there’s a gray wash along the underside. The claws are black, and the beak and tusks are tan. The eyes and nostrils are black with a glossy sheen. The cloaca is highlighted in black, continuing CollectA’s dirty cloaca trademark. The paintjob is conservative but naturalistic with excellent gradients and transitions. It works well.

The CollectA Placerias is an excellent and long overdue model that is essential to any prehistoric animal collection, it was also my most anticipated model from CollectA this year. Thanks to CollectA and Jurassic World merchandise I’ve been able to amass a nice little collection of dicynodonts over the last few years, but I want more. Since this is CollectA’s second dicynodont in recent years hopefully that means we’ll see more in the future. The CollectA Placerias is new for 2024 and currently available. If you live in the United States then Happy Hen Toy would be the best place to acquire one, here.