As per the introductory convention, I should probably mention how T. rex is a popular dinosaur rarely done well, and the animal’s pop culture significance, and all that stuff. Sod it, though – just look at this beauty. That’s some serious tyrannosaur sexiness.
A little background: this model is rather scarce these days, and the specimen shown is not actually mine. Rather, a good friend of whom you might have heard (we shall call him ‘NP’) offered me the chance to review the figure, and also look after it for a while (presumably until he acquires a little more space). Once I’d finished dancing around the room with joy, I politely accepted. This is probably one of the best Tyrannosaurus figures out there, and it’s also huge, easily rivalling the larger Jurassic Park tyrannosaurs in size. As such, it has an awesome presence in a room, which is only helped by that rather showy pose.
What’s most impressive about this figure is how it rights so many of the wrongs that have been perpetuated in tyrannosaur toys and models through the years (which often take their inspiration from Jurassic Park). At a glance, the powerful appearance of the animal is what immediately strikes the viewer – the neck, often made too scrawny on Tyrannosaurus figures (a fault I found with the older Sega vinyl T. rex), is hugely muscular, as are the legs with their enormous drumsticks. Elsewhere, the sculptor hasn’t skimped on making this T. rex very barrel-chested, with muscles bulging from the stout forelimbs – worth contrasting with the spindly twigs affixed to JP-style tyrannosaurs (like this one). Admittedly, the arms are still, alas, a little too long, but they are nevertheless closer to reality than many models.
Overall the huge-hipped, barrel-chested, very toothy creature we are presented with is unmistakably Tyrannosaurus, and this is one of the few models that really gives the impression of just how awesome this elephant-sized predator would have been to behold in life. Of all the plastic tyrannosaurs that I’ve seen, this is probably the only one that really matches just how I’ve imagined this mighty theropod – a real predatory powerhouse. In terms of fine detailing, too, this figure has few equals. While most toys and models naturally make the eyes too large relative to the head (or else, on smaller figures, they’d be impossibly miniscule), the (slightly closed) eyes here are appropriately small relative to the head which, lest we forget, was bloody enormous in life. The animal is covered in very fine scales, and details such as claws and teeth are carefully painted. The row of spines adds to the threatening appearance. The raised tongue in the mouth is superbly pulled off, while the teeth are appropriate sizes, if a little ‘complete’ (although that’s typical).
Some people do have a problem with the colour scheme, which is a little bright for such a large, predatory animal. I’ll concede that an overall duller colour scheme would be more realistic, but the figure is very striking as is. The bright red with a yellow stripe will certainly ensure that it stands out among your Tyrannosaurus figures, particularly if you group them all together as I do. It’s not entirely perfect anatomically either – for example, the tail musculature could do with a tweak – although that’s being rather demanding (even for me). This figure was released in 2007, which means it predates W Scott Persons’ paper on dinosaur tails (basically, everyone’s been making them far too skinny – see this Archosaur Musings guest post.).
So yes, it’s gorgeous. Finding one is the tricky part, but if you do you will find that, as a hollow plastic figure, they are very reasonably priced – especially given that the level of detail can only really be matched by costly resin figures. Best of luck, and if you manage to nab one be sure to let me know!
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Scientifically speaking, this Sega T Rex figure is very good overall.. I do think it is one of the very best available. It is certainly one of the most impressive figures to look at. I also agree, that this figure corrects so many things that other T Rex figures do wrong. I think it especially does the broad barrel chested area quite well. I love this rendition.
I just scored the T-Rex, Stego and Triceratops from this series for roughly 8 bucks each.
The shipping will cost more than the figures.
https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1034662784&ref=list
[…] There’s no denying the high production values of this figure, and it’s certainly visually arresting. The sandy colour scheme (with fiery highlights) works very well, and the careful attention to detail outclasses even some resin figures that are notably pricier than the Rebor. The fact that it’s another all-over scaly T. rex is a bit of a shame – given the Yutyrannus that’s also in Rebor’s range, I’d have loved to have seen them stick a little plumage on their King Rex. The scaliness adds to the somewhat ’90s-retro feel of the model as a whole, although at least the integument is still handled with a little flair (the dorsal spines being very reminiscent of a certain sexy Sega). […]
[…] done a brilliant job reviewing the 2007 version of the Rex on a previous post which you can read here . The 2014 reissue appears to be exactly the same sculpt, but readers should be aware that the […]
[…] plain to see, the feathered beast on the left is posed in a manner rather reminiscent of the large Sega Dinosaur King model, its legs spread apart as it bellows to the skies for a reason that only tyrannosaurs and movie […]
This is a beautiful model. Anyone know where to find this? I can’t find it on-line either.
where did your friend find this. I looked everywhere one line. How much does it coast?
Foxilized: since writing this review I’ve managed to get hold of my own one. Hooray! Also, the ‘scavenger hypothesis’ is clearly balls and should not be mentioned again. Ever. I do agree that a darker red a la the JP T. rex would’ve been better.
Colour maybe too vibrant for a predator, though would match with a Hornerian scavenger as the man even imagined it with a bright red head like some vultures. Now, I am aware how impopular this scavenger thingy always was… As Calvin (from Calvin and Hoves comic-strip) says: “T-Rex HAD to be a predator, it’s simply cooler that way” ^_^
Colours are, still, a little too pinky to me… A darker red, more bloody, would be better, I think… But maybe that would have made a too disgusting model for kids.
Overall, the sculp is simply GORGEOUS. Such a great treasure, Niroot. 🙂
Jose: this dinosaur is overvalued in a sense, but it was still an impressive animal. In addition, although its size would of course have limited its speed, it was still far better built for fast movement than any other giant theropod – just look at the elongated legs, even in the largest individuals. Hadrosaurs wouldn’t have been slouches, either, and there is evidence that T. rex hunted them. Not the biggest, maybe, but still a highly evolved predator.
Short version: OMG T. REX WUZ AWSUM!!1! 😉
Dinosaurio archiconocido y a mi entender,sobrevalorado.Ni era el más temible,ni el más grande(Spinosaurus,Giganotosaurus y Carcharodontosaurus eran mayores que él).La figura,en general,está bastante bien.Si acaso los “gemelos” de las patas traseras me parecen un poco exagerados (parecen de un corredor atlético),cuando la mayoría de paleontólogos estima que no superaba los 20 kilómetros-hora.El color tampoco me agrada demasiado.
I luckly grabbed one of these two years ago for a very affordable price through a local toy store (which also carried some bigger Kaiyodo dinosaurs, X-plus Albertosaurus and Styracosaurus etc…I was too broke to get them all 🙁 ) and it’s a real beauty for sure. It also goes well along with the sideshow T.rex maquette, Kinto’s Trcic T.rex desktop statue, and 4D’s T.rex anatomy model. I think the forelimbs are just a tad longer and slightly more robust than it should have been, but overall, I agree that it’s one of the best T.rex toy out there.
What’s even more astonishing for me is the fact that a toy of this quality was consigned to the iniquities of a claw machine. It’s of a piece with the beautiful little figures from Kaiyodo, Yujin, etc being attached to bottles of soft drinks, chocolate eggs and what have you. Whilst here in the UK, the Natural History Museum still sells tragically inaccurate dinosaur toys that aren’t even redeemed by at least possessing some artistic beauty. Supreme irony.