Tyrannosaurus Rex (DinoTales series 7 by Kaiyodo)

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Tyrannosaurus rex was a large theropod dinosaur that lived in north america from 68 to 65 million years ago. “Rex” is commonly called the “king of the dinosaurs”, so it surprises me how many models do not do justice to the “king”. This piece by Kaiyodo does it justice, and more.

The sculpt is very nice. It is adorned with wrinkles and bulging muscles; they make it look very real and natural. The arms are very tiny and are tucked under the body, unlike many versions inspired by Jurassic Park. It has no giant pyramidal osteoderms above the eyes, instead it has a smooth “brow” and a light bump in front of each eye, just like there should be. One thing that surprised me was how they managed to get the tooth number correct, while companies like safari and battat couldn’t. The teeth, also, aren’t oversized. Thick muscles sit at the back of the jaws, making it look crocodile-like. The head, body and neck are curved into an “S” shape, with one foot off of the ground, as it appears to be sprinting and roaring at some unseen dinosaur. The base is also very nice; where the right foot of the tyrannosaur lifts off, there is raised mud patches– very realistic. It’s probably the best T-Rex of all the Kaiyodo miniatures (they also released a T-Rex for series 1 and series 5 but are rather bland).

The color scheme is vibrant without being too neon. It is mostly blue and cream, with a light purple belly. The eyes are superb and are painted yellow with black pupils. The scales on the feet are highlighted in the same cream as the body, and there are lovely dark blue stripes on the tail. The tongue is dark pink. The paint is shinier than in other DinoTales series.

All in all, this sculpt is very great and is recommended for any collection. If you are hesitant about paying (relatively) a lot of money for such a small figure (after all, it’s less than 10 cm long), don’t be. I was hesitant about this guy too, but I am very pleased that I bought him. He can be very easy to find on ebay (and he is cheap too!), so get him while you can! It also comes in a light yellow version.