Review and photographs by Indohyus, edited by Suspsy
Well, here we are. After several prehistoric mammal reviews, I’m reviewing my first dinosaur for the blog! As it is my first, I thought I’d start with a popular beast, the one everyone knows: Tyrannosaurus rex! While it may not be the biggest predatory dinosaur anymore (Editor’s note: T. rex was still probably the heaviest), there is no doubt it still has rex appeal (I apologise for the pun!). With hundreds of figures made over the years, one would think that companies would try to make their models as scientifically accurate as possible. Schleich evidently didn’t bother when they made the one I’m reviewing.
Before that though, let’s talk facts and figures on the toy. At 4.4” high and 5.3” long, it’s a middle size, neither big or small. It’s a brownish-beige colour, which looks rather boring. The scales are moulded well and look right for dinosaur skin. The pose is fairly static, and what exactly it is doing up to the imagination of the owner (I like to think it’s just trying to be intimidating. TRYING).
Right, accuracy. Anyone with a little T. rex knowledge knows the inaccuracies, so I will start with the good stuff (it won‘t take long!). As I said above, the skin texture is good and the arms and legs have the correct number of digits. That is it for good features.
Now for the bad stuff. The pose is upright, which is wrong as T. rex held its body horizontally, as further study has shown. If this was an older figure, say 80s’ or 90s’, this could be excused. It isn’t though. It was made in 2002, long after the horizontal stance of T. rex was shown to be correct. With plenty of films and TV shows depicting it like this, you’d think Schleich would have avoided this stance, but no. The legs are also slightly too thin, whereas the arms are far too long and stick out badly, making it look more like Barney (note to self, purple repaint). The tail is bent in such a way that muscles, ligaments, and bone structure would prevent this in life. The head is also too thin, goofy, and results in the eyes facing out to the sides, not straight ahead as they should be.
Overall, there are so many faults to this figure by modern standards, and even by the standards for when it was produced. As a result, despite being retired, it is easy to find and often very cheap. At this point I’d like to say I didn’t pay for this figure. I got it as a result of a mixup with an order, and was told I could keep it along with having my order re-sent (thank you, Dinosaur Time).
If you want a retro dinosaur or something for kids to play with, it might be worth picking up, but if you want an accurate T. rex, I’d avoid this eye-saur (again, sorry for the pun!)
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A pozíció abban az esetben megbocsátható-mondjuk-,hogy párzási pozícióban készítették el.Jó retroszaurusznak is.
I admittedly am quite fond of this outdated, awkward style of dinosaur, as long as they aren’t claiming to be accurate or naturalistic in any way. I find this figure much more preferable to the newer schleich T rexes, it has a more innocent naivety compared to the unsettling malformations of their current pieces. I still wouldn’t be bothered enough to spend money on it though.
One of my all time most hated figures. As for the “Intimidating look”, I think it is a true child of campiness. It looks like it is in a musical, I can here the choreographer telling the rex what to do, “turn, stop, smile, Jazz Hands. ” Not my cup of tea, but it does have a “B” movie quality and style about it, which I must admit, might be something some people look for.
I love these clunky dinos! …Wish it was big though. 2ft tall big.
2002? Yikes! I would have guess 1964! But it would be perfect if you were doing a diorama of retrosaurs.