Tyrannosaurus rex (Corpse by CollectA)

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Review and photos by Bokisaurus, edited by Suspsy

No matter who or what or how powerful you are, sooner or later, all living things will face the same inevitable end: death. In the long history of toy figures, death is something that you won’t see addressed often. Death is best left out in the shadows, left to our own imagination.

As a kid, when I played with my dinosaur toys, it was always the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex that won any battle and dispatched all other predators. It was he who always ended up with a full belly after successfully hunting down poor Triceratops and other helpless plant eaters. In my young mind, it was hard to imagine the mighty T. rex on the other end of each fight or hunt: the loser or even the prey. Mr. T is always the champion.

Of course, this is not how nature works. Truth is, even the biggest, most powerful, and most fearsome predator will eventually meet its match, and the end result is clear. Death, especially a violent death, is not something that you would typically associate with toys. There are only a handful of toy companies, mostly Japanese ones, brave enough to attempt to show death by predation in toy form (if you can call them that).

Enter CollectA.

The company CollectA is determined to bring us figures that are out of the ordinary. In 2012, the company added the prey series to their line with the introduction of a Dead Triceratops figure complete with open wounds, blood, and bite marks. This was a novel idea and could possibly represent the first of this type of figure in any major toy company. A Stegosaurus Corpse figure quickly followed in 2014. Two more years later and yet another corpse has been added to the line. This time around, it’s not another plant eater that ends up dead. No, this time it’s a predator who meets a violent end. Again, CollectA has given us a big surprise!

Meet the 2016 Tyrannosaurus Corpse figure from CollectA, our subject for this review. Note that the due to the nature of the corpse, this figure is not for everyone.

Well, what can I say, it sure is a daring choice for a corpse. Of all the different species of predators, it is the most famous and beloved T. rex that ends up dead this time around. I’m actually happy that CollectA has chosen the iconic T. rex as their next corpse. It makes the figure more interesting, and shows a different story for a species that is often depicted as top predator snarling away and scaring off rivals and prey alike.

The T. rex corpse is part of the feathered tyrannosaur series that began two years ago with the introduction of the fully feathered juvenile. The T. rex corpse is fully feathered and share the same colors and patterns of the other figures from the series. The corpse is curled up backward in post rigor mortis.

Attention to detail on this figure is exceptional. The head is beautifully sculpted. The mouth is wide open (see, even in death, Mr. T can’t escape the open mouth pose!) and clearly shows individually sculpted teeth that are well defined and sharp. The tongue hangs out to one side, and its eyes closed. From the multiple bite wounds, it is obvious that this particular animal died a violent death, perhaps from another, much bigger T. rex.

The figure’s left side is virtually intact, although you can clearly see a huge bite wound on the neck. The right side gives you a full view of just how much damage this poor animal sustained. There are huge open wounds with missing chunks of flesh all over the the abdomen in addition to the bite marks on the neck and leg. As you can see, there are rib bones and vital organs clearly visible, including could of intestines. Look a little closer and you will also notice that the right hand is bitten off, leaving just a bloody stump. If that wasn’t enough gore, there is also an open wound on the cheek with fully exposed bones, three large lacerations on the thigh, and a bite mark near the base of the tail. It is clear from the lack of blood on this animal’s mouth that it didn’t have much time to defend itself and inflect some damage on its attacker. Poor thing. Let’s just hope it was a quick death.

So there you have it, the death of a tyrant. This figure may not be for everyone, but it sure is a unique one. Not only is it well-crafted, but it also tells a very good story on how it may have died. This is up to you to fill in. Hint:

In closing, I really love this figure despite its visually disturbing appearance. It is not that often one finds a dead dinosaur toy. The figure also gives us a rare glimpse of the violent nature of how this top predator may lived and met its demise.