Mattel loves Pseudosuchians, or so it would seem. Just this year they released five of these crocodile-line archosaurs. Not since Bullyland’s heyday have we seen so many representatives of the group made by a single company, and I think Mattel must surely win the award for most Pseudosuchians ever produced. Also, like Bullyland, Mattel has produced a lot of Triassic fauna. Today we’re looking at the Mattel Poposaurus, a figure that is both a Pseudosuchian and from the Triassic.
You would be forgiven if you had initially mistaken this toy for a dinosaur. Poposaurus was an obligatory biped that, like many Triassic Pseudosichians, had many dinosaur-like characteristics. It belonged to the Poposauroidea clade that included many unusual taxa, such as the sail backed Arizonasaurus, aquatic Qianosuchus, and the beaked herbivore Lotosaurus, which also possessed a sail. The entire group would go extinct by the end of the Triassic. Poposaurus remains have been found in the western United States and most of its skeleton is known with the sad exception of the skull.
The Mattel Poposaurus measures about 8” (20 cm) long, including the bend in the tail, and stands 2.75” (6.9 cm) tall at the hips. The actual Poposaurus is estimated to have measured 13-16’ (4-5 meters) so that would put the toy at about 1/19- 1/24 in scale. The head can move up and down at the base of the neck, the mouth can open, and the arms and legs can rotate around.
The overall look of the figure is excellent by Mattel standards. More like their Herrerasaurus than some of their goofier toys, like the Prestosuchus. I think this is mostly because it appears to have been directly copied from the first illustration of Poposaurus you find on a Google image search, a piece included in the Wikipedia article about Poposaurus and illustrated by Smokeybjb. They aren’t just similar in posture and proportions but even in the presence of a low sail running down the tail, the bend in the tail itself, and the color palette.
Being copied from a decent piece of paleoart means that the toy doesn’t just look good but looks sufficiently accurate as well. Even though we don’t have the skull of Poposaurus the head is restored as theropod-like, which is a safe bet. The arms are short and five-fingered, and there are five digits on each foot. Digit five should be greatly reduced but, whatever. The toy depicts Poposaurus as digitigrade, like a dinosaur, rather than plantigrade like other Pseudosuchians. We really don’t know which it was, and I’ve seen arguments for both. Personally, I lean towards plantigrade, but I won’t lose sleep over it.
The toy is detailed with polygonal scales of various sizes and large plate-like scutes running down the neck and back, and along the underside. Most of the tail is covered with overlapping, keeled, snake-like scales. The teeth are decently proportioned on this one but the paint application on them isn’t great.
The toy is painted in a kind of steely blue gray, much like the artwork it is lifted from. The lower jaw and belly are a creamy pale pink color. A dull red slash runs across either side of the face and some dull red bands are painted on the tail. The tongue is pink, and the teeth are white. The eyes are yellow, and the elliptical pupils are unpainted, making them red like the slashes across the face. Thanks largely to paint application on the tail the paint job here appears sufficiently complete, and I find the subdued color choices both attractive and believable.
Mattel has produced a large assortment of Triassic fauna and odd taxa like Poposaurus over the years, and that is to be commended. Unfortunately, most of them are rather silly looking and as a result, I have not bothered to collect them all. Figures like the Poposaurus stand above and beyond the rest however, and it is my sincere hope that Mattel leans more towards figures styled like this rather than their more cartoony selections. The decidedly cartoonish Epic Evolution line seems to indicate they won’t be going that route, but I suppose even just the occasional gem like this is enough to keep me satisfied. The Mattel Poposaurus has only recently begun hitting shelves and should be easy to find for some time to come. I highly recommend it, it’s one of Mattel’s best mainline toys of 2023.
Support the Dinosaur Toy Blog by making dino-purchases through these links to Ebay and Amazon. Disclaimer: links to Ebay.com and Amazon.com on the The Dinosaur Toy Blog are often affiliate links, when you make purchases through these links we may make a commission
If you’d asked me a couple of years ago who would be most likely to make a Poposaurus, Mattel wouldn’t have been among my top 5 guesses. But they did a reasonable job of it within the confines of an action figure line! I haven’t found any in my neck of the woods yet, but I expect they’ll turn up by and by.