Troodon (Mojo Fun)

Alas, poor Troodon. Beginning in the late 1980s and continuing all the way into the 2010s, it was widely hailed as the smartest dinosaur of them all. It became a fixture of books, documentaries, and films in which it was frequently depicted as a swift, graceful, big-eyed predator that hunted down small mammals in the night. And who can forget the lovable and knowledgeable Mr. Conductor from Dinosaur Train? But all that glory came to a crashing halt in 2011 when it was determined that the holotype of T. formosus was undiagnostic, thereby reducing it to the limbo state of nomen dubium. Although on the plus side, Stenonychosaurus became valid again!

Here we have Mojo Fun’s 2020 Troodon, or Stenonychosaurus if you prefer to call it that (and you can easily get away with it given the fact that, unlike CollectA and Safari Ltd., Mojo doesn’t print the names on their animal figures). This individual is hunched over with its head turned slightly to the right, its right leg held slightly forward, and the tips of the primary feathers on its wings acting as supports. Better this way than using the tail for support, I reckon. It measures slightly under 23 cm long and is a bit more than 8 cm tall at the head. The mouth can open to about 20 degrees, but the jaw hinge is so loose that it has great difficulty remaining shut.

The plumage on the torso and tail is a shade of brownish-orange, rather similar to that found on the Safari Velociraptor, with dark airbrushing to give it a more realistic appearance. The larger feathers on the neck, arms, and the fan at the top of the tail are white and dull brown. The underbelly is white with orange scattered throughout and the lower legs are dark brown with black claws. The claws on the hands are also black, but the hands have been painted the same colour as the wings. Finally, the head is dark brown with yellow eyes, a reddish-pink mouth, and white teeth. Overall, it’s a fairly good colour scheme, nothing special, but perfectly plausible. Unfortunately, the paint job on this figure is pretty sloppy. The inside of the mouth is all smeared with white and brown and the claws on the left hand have barely been painted at all.

Sculpting-wise, the featherless head and lower legs have a wrinkled texture instead of a scaly one. The tongue is also wrinkled and the palate has a craggy texture. The various feathers covering the rest of the body are all reasonably well sculpted, but certainly not in the same class as Safari, CollectA, or Creative Beast Studio. I’d say roughly on par with Schleich instead.

The Troodon‘s hands are correctly oriented and covered up by the wings. The torso and tail appear to be of acceptable proportion, but the lower legs and feet are noticeably oversized, which strikes me as unnecessary given the figure’s stance. And then there are the two issues with the head. First, the snout doesn’t appear to be quite long enough. And second, troodontid skulls are known for their enlarged orbits, but the eyes on this one are downright miniscule. It ends up coming off like more of a generic dromaeosaur toy than a proper troodontid. Indeed, I’m thinking I might just tell my boys that this is a Velociraptor or a Dromaeosaurus when I give it to them and no one will be the least bit worse off for it.

The Mojo Fun Troodon isn’t what I’d call a fantastic toy, but it’s not a bad one either, and it stands as a testament to the company’s ongoing efforts to improve their prehistoric products. Here’s hoping that trend continues. And here’s to those fine folks at Happy Hen Toys once again for so very kindly sending me this review sample! The Troodon, or again, Stenonychosaurus if you prefer, is currently available for order on their website.