CollectA nowadays is widely considered one of the top makers of high quality prehistoric toys, as demonstrated by their very awesome 2017 assortment. But that certainly wasn’t always the case. For this review, I’ll be taking another trip back in time to 2006, the year of CollectA’s humble beginning. Back then, of course, it was known as Procon, and its first wave of toys was . . . well, not exactly what you’d call spectacular.
Feast your eyes on the very first CollectA/Procon Tyrannosaurus rex. Measuring about 19 cm and slightly under 10 cm tall, it is posed in the much-reviled tripod stance with its massive head turned to the left and its mouth wide open. The main colour is pine green over dirty brown with darkened stripes, a pale underbelly, very dark grey claws, gold eyes, a pink mouth, and white teeth. This same colour scheme would later be reused for the Deluxe version and the titanic 1:15 scale version. And yes, it also bears a suspicious resemblance to the original Papo T. rex that came out the year before it.
The sculpting on this T. rex is decent if unremarkable. Its skin is scaly all over with thick wrinkles on the neck, belly, and flanks. The inside of the mouth has minimal detail and the tongue is barely more than a slab. The very high brow ridges give the animal an enraged appearance. The forward-facing orbits are sunken, but the fenestrae are actually not that visible beneath the skin.
And now let’s tackle the many inaccuracies on this poor fellow. First, of course, there’s the upright tripod stance. Then there’s the stumpy, too-short tail. The hind limbs look stiff and elephantine and the feet and claws are chunky. The arm are too long and the wrists are pronated. The neck is also too long. The lower jaw is too wide and the teeth are little more than generic rows of bumps. And perhaps most glaring of all, this poor T. rex is missing its nostrils! Oh, and the legs on mine are warped to boot.
Probably the best thing I can say about this T. rex is that, when compared alongside CollectA’s more recent toys, it certainly illustrates how much the company has improved over the last ten years. Truth be told, I bought this one strictly as a novelty, and because my ambition is to someday see the DTB’s CollectA page completed. If you don’t already own it, then seriously, don’t bother. Not unless you’re a die-hard T. rex fan like me.
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I do sincerely love retrosaurs mostly due to my own nostalgia while growing up. Definitely always happy to see them reviewed periodically. I know I never got this one though. I actually only got two CollectA/Procon figures in my dino collection. The Megalosaurus they came out with and the 2014/2015 Deluxe Spinosaurus modeled from the Ibrahim/Sereno paper.
Suspy thanks for your excellent comment. What is said is a figure based on the darkest time of Collecta, as you can see and also has been reflected reflects how a company can be overcome in a titanic way, serves as teaching to so many companies that unfortunately never learn the lesson at the time To make figures of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals and most important as it became a company of chinasaurus to a company of models and figures of collector within the world of dinoksaurios and toy animals.
Suspy thanks for your excellent comment. What is said is a figure based on the darkest time of Collecta, as you can see and also has been reflected reflects how a company can be overcome in a titanic way, serves as teaching to so many companies that unfortunately never learn the lesson at the time To make figures of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals and most importantly as it became a company of chinasaurus to a company of models and figures of collector within the world of the dinosaurs and toy animals at the global level.
I personally prefer the standing pose, as opposed to the walking/running pose. – but thats just me-lol