Review and photos by Paul Carter AKA Carnosaur, edited by Suspsy
Styracosaurus, the “spiked lizard,” has long been a popular dinosaur. Thanks to its distinctive arrangement of horns, any depiction of it is easily recognizable. Indeed, it sparked the imagination of filmmakers during the earliest days of motion pictures, which has led to numerous film appearances ever since. Notable among them are The Son of Kong (1933), where a Styracosaurus battles the movie’s heroes; The Valley of Gwangi (1969), where Styracosaurus is pitted against a carnivorous dinosaur; The Land That Time Forgot (1975), where two animals are shelled by a German U-boat; Disney’s CGI film Dinosaur (2000), and Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur (2015). The genus also appeared in the novel of Jurassic Park, and in the list of dinosaurs present in the park, but was not seen in the film adaptation.
In 2017, CollectA released a 1:40 scale Deluxe Styracosaurus, and it is easily one of their best ceratopsian models to date. The figure’s length is approximately 23.5cm and its maximum height is around 14 cm thanks to its frill horns. This makes it one very large and impressive figure! The tan hide, with its rust-coloured highlights, is nicely detailed with small scales and larger scutes that run the length of the animal’s body. Its underbelly is nicely blended, fading into a cream colour.
The horns, spikes and beak are a bone colour highlighted with black tips, which is reminiscent of some bovine horns. The figure has the correct number of grey-painted toes on its feet, and there is no “shrink wrapping” present. Indeed, it appears quite robust. The mouth is open and features a visible tongue. But the eyes are particularly arresting, as they are painted red with solid black pupils which gives them a bloodshot appearance seen in some large herbivores today. Both the eyes and the nostrils have a glossy coat that make them look even more lifelike.
The figure is nicely posed with both its head and tail turned towards the right and the legs spread out in a very stable position. Although there is no supporting evidence for the row of filaments seen on this Styracosaurus‘ rump, they are known on its older, more primitive relative Psittacosaurus, and they do not detract from this figure at all. And with the recent reordering of the clades Ornithischia and Saurischia, it may be even more likely that Styracosaurus had this feature.
If you are a fan of Styracosaurus, or ceratopsians in general, then this is a figure you shouldn’t pass up. It looks great amongst my other Styracosaurus figures, and I highly recommend it.
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I think it’s closer to 1:17 scale?
Great figure and review. It’s about 1:20 scale.
Then the scale is 1:20. I thought it was done without scale.
I love this figure, but the one thing I’m not overly fond of is placement of the the red markings, they look a little awkward. Other than that, awesome sculpt, great detail, another great figure from Collecta!
Very nice review of a great looking figure. My only complaint (and it is the most minor of complaints) is that the red splotch on the right torso and leg looks strange, almost like irritated skin. That particular paint application just doesn’t look well thought out.
Great review, Paul! I’ll pick up this titan eventually, but at the moment I lack space in which to display it.
Poor Tyco Styracosaurus, almost completely hidden behind that giant.
First of all, I congratulate Paul Carter who reviewed this article
Styracosaurus is perhaps one of the best styracosaurus figures to date. It is truly a work of art both scientifically and paleoartistitically speaking I fortunately I have that figure and I am totally bewitched by its beauty. Apart from that it is a figure without scale (which I applaud) and that other ceraptósidos should do if in the future they make a chasmosaurus, arrhinoceratops, torosaurus, pentaceratops, protoceratops, centrosaurus or anchiceratops to put some examples of figures that I would like them to realize In the toy market by the brilliant company Collecta. On the other hand this extraordinary figure is of a soft and malleable material and the most important (yes with all respect to the rest of internauts) is a figure that is not articulated fitness that I applaud too.
On the other hand its beauty is comparable to the styracosaurus Favorite version of resin and is even much more improved than this one.
Collecta is already one of the best dinosaur companies as far as Western companies are concerned.
Congratulations to Collecta!