Styracosaurus (Jurassic World Dino-Escape, Fierce Force by Mattel)

Does Mattel release too many repaints? Yes. Is there value in these repaints? Also, yes. Case in point, this Styracosaurus. This figure is the 3^rd release of this toy. The first two times it was released I ignored it. I was disappointed by how much smaller it was compared to Mattel’s other ceratopsians. And it didn’t help that I didn’t like the paintjobs either. I guess the 3^rd time’s the charm though because with its muted, earthy tones, I found the Fierce Force iteration of the Styracosaurus finally worthy of my attention. You may recall that this has happened to me before with the Mattel Rhamphorhynchus, which I also reviewed.

Like the previous Styracosaurus toys by Mattel this one also proved elusive, and I never found it sitting on a store shelf. But, although this is a 2021 toy, for some reason it has recently become available for retail price on Amazon, along with its wave-mates like the highly coveted Tanystropheus.

The Mattel Styracosaurus measures 7” long and stands 3” tall at the shoulder. This means that the Mattel Styracosaurus is closer in size to their Protoceratops than it is to Mattel’s other ceratopsians. The actual Styracosaurus measured an estimated 18’ in length, so that puts the toy at 1/30 in scale. Obviously, this does not scale well with the 1/18 humans or with very many dinosaurs and vehicles in the Mattel line. The size of the toy is its biggest drawback, and why Mattel chose to make this iconic ceratopsian so small confounds me. A large Styracosaurus would have been an impressive toy, like all the other large Mattel ceratopsians.

Looking past the size of it this is still a great toy with some noteworthy attributes. The head sculpt is what really sells it and a lot of the finer details that were lost with its more garish, past paintjobs, standout nicely here. The head is detailed in fine scalation that is even present on the back of the frill. The eyebrows are covered in small, clustered bumps that give them a pleasant, rugose texture. Its small eyes are somewhat sunken and surrounded by wrinkles and along with the upturned corners of the mouth give the toy a pleasant, aged, relaxed expression.

The body of the figure is mostly detailed with a wrinkled hide and a bumpy texture along the back. A row of scutes run along the back too, and folds of skin run along the torso and sides of the tail. Musculature is nicely sculpted where appropriate and ribs are slightly visible under the skin. The sculpting of the digits is, unsurprisingly, completely inaccurate for a ceratopsian.

The toy has an action feature of course, pushing the tail down lifts the head. It’s the only action feature you really need on any ceratopsian toy. The forelimbs can rotate around and swing in-and-out while the hindlimbs can rotate around and pivot out slightly.

This Styracosaurus is mostly a naturalistic, dull pale green color with darker green flecks across the hide. This color brings out the fine details on a toy that in the past had louder paintjobs that took attention away from the details. A dark patch of green saddles the back, and the underside fades to a dull yellow color. On the head we have vivid yellow spots sat within orange circles, painted over the fenestra. They stand out as a visual display that compliments the rest of the toy nicely. Every horn, and the beak, is painted off-white and the tiny eyes are yellow with black pupils. As usual, the toe claws are unpainted. Compared to something like the recent Mattel Kosmoceratops, the paintjob here is exceptional.

The Mattel Styracosaurus is so small that it comes across as underwhelming and is easy to overlook and criticize. However, when judged on its own merits it makes for a charming little Styracosaurus toy with distinct personality. It also stands as proof that at least on occasion, Mattel repaints are worth keeping an eye out for. At this point there are some Mattel figures that I deliberately skip on in anticipation for a later release with improved paint apps. The Mattel Styracosaurus retails for about $10-12 and as of this moment is still available on Amazon for that price. How long it will stay that way is unknown, so get it while you can.