Stegodon (TNG)

Most prehistoric proboscideans followed the same basic body plan: a big body on big legs and a big head with big ears and a big nose. Even ones with comparatively small ears and noses like Deinotherium still had them bigger than any other group of mammals. Teeth are always a surefire means of distinguishing mammoths from mastodons or gomphotheres from deinotheres, but if they were all still alive today, the quickest way you’d be able to tell them apart would be their tusks. Take Stegodon, for example. While it resembled a modern elephant, to the point where it was formerly classified as part of Elephantidae before being reassigned to Stegodontidae, its spectacular tusks made it quite unmistakable.

This is the TNG Stegodon, released in 2023. And let’s just get the proverbial elephant in the room (heh) addressed and out of the way, shall we? TNG does indeed appear to have copied (some have gone so far as to claim bootlegged) most if not all of their items from existing sculpts, as shown here. For its part, the Stegodon looks very much like this high end statue from Dinone. But I’ll be completely honest as always: this really didn’t weigh on me at all when I purchased the toy from AliExpress. I just wanted to add another proboscidean to my collection without paying a huge amount.

Now then. The Stegodon is posed in a stable walking stance with its right front leg stepping forward and its left hind leg extended back. The head is held high and turning to the right. And finally, the trunk is draped over the tusks with the tip dangling down on the lefthand side. Not by choice, but by necessity, as you can plainly see. Stegodon possessed some of the biggest tusks of any proboscidean, with some approaching four metres in length. Moreover, some individuals’ tusks were spaced so closely together that it would have been quite impossible for their trunks to fit between them. The tusks on this toy are spaced about 4 mm apart at their roots, but then come closer together midway, leaving a distance of but 1 mm between them. They then finally branch out to a width of 2.6 cm at the tips. That’s pretty impressive work. Clearly, whoever sculpted this beast possesses immense talent.

The Stegodon measures about 10 cm tall and just over 25 cm long from its left hind foot to the tips of its tusks, making it just the right size for a prehistoric proboscidean, at least in my book. It is painted light taupe grey with some very pale pink patches applied behind the front limbs and in front of the hind limbs. The lower limbs and feet are dark grey with light grey nails and the tail tuft is dary grey as well. The ears have pink along their edges with tiny black freckles. The exposed tongue and the nostrils are pink and the eyes are very dark brown with black pupils. Finally, the tusks are white with beige wash. This colour scheme is very reminiscent of an Asian elephant’s, although all the ones I’ve seen at least are a slightly darker shade of grey.

As you would expect with any non-woolly proboscidean, the Stegodon‘s skin is very wrinkly and saggy baggy, even on the soles of its feet, and there is a sizeable tuft at the tip of the tail for swatting away flies. The head strongly resembles an Asian elephant’s, with relatively small ears and a raised cranium with twin humps. The tip of the super wrinkly trunk has a single prehensile finger, also like an Asian elephant. The way it’s draped over the tusks with the tip curling slightly upward makes it appear heavy and realistic. Incidentally, the Safari Ltd. Prehistoric Mammal Skulls Toob includes what is officially billed as an American mastodon skull, but in fact more closely resembles that of Stegodon.

The remarkable tusks have shallow grooves and are made of relatively soft plastic to help avoid imbalance and breakage. The legs look strong and sturdy and the prominent shoulder hump furthers adds to the animal’s powerful appearance. I reckon the real Stegodon bore a strong resemblance to this toy if not a perfect match. Oh, and this individual is clearly a mature bull.

And speaking of mature bulls, here’s what I know you’ve all been wanting to see: the Stegodon alongside the fabulous four from Eofauna.

It holds up pretty well indeed with them, wouldn’t you say? They make a nice quintet!

Overall, I reckon the TNG Stegodon is a pretty darned cool prehistoric mammal toy. It’s got great sculpting, it’s a good size, it’s reasonably priced, and it’s got the uniqueness factor going for it. Well worth acquiring, especially if you already own some or all of the other proboscideans shown in this review.