Utahraptor (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)

Review and photos by bmathison1972, edited by Suspsy.

In 2016, I moved from the hot and humid deciduous forests of Georgia to the hot and dry high deserts of Utah. It wasn’t a stark change for me, though, as I grew up in the hotter and drier Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Utah has produced many spectacular dinosaur species, especially those from the Cedar Mountain Formation in the southern part of the state. The formation boasts one of the world’s most diverse assemblages of Early Cretaceous dinosaurs, everything from the diminutive raptor Geminiraptor suarezarum to the monster sauropod Cedarosaurus weiskopfae. Included among this assemblage is the topic of today’s review, Utahraptor ostrommaysi, which, as one of the largest dromaeosaurs, was probably the apex predator within its range.

Being such an impressive creature, Utahraptor is no stranger among toys and figures, with at least 17 other figures of the species having been produced (based on Dinosaur Toy Blog and Toy Animal Wiki data). Today we will be looking at one of the most recent incarnations of the species, the 2023 model by Safari Ltd. This figure is a major upgrade from Safari’s original Wild Safari Dinos figure from 1997, which was followed up with a baby in 1998.

As mentioned earlier, Utahraptor was one of the largest dromaeosaurs, possibly the largest. Because of its large size, it may not have been as fast as its smaller cousins and some researchers have speculated that it might have been an ambush predator. The largest specimen is BYUVP 15465, with a femoral length of up to 60 cm and an estimated body length of up to 5.6 meters. Unfortunately, the femoral length is difficult to measure on a fleshed-out model like this. Luckily, the way this figure is sculpted, the body length is easy to measure, so at approximately 24.5 centimeters long, it scales at about 1:20-1:23.

The design, created by my favorite theropod sculptor Doug Watson, is nothing short of spectacular. The figure is displayed bipedal; its long tail serves as support but doesn’t come across as a typical ‘tripod’ pose. It is robust and stocky, as Utahraptor is believed to have been. The forearms are extended, and its mouth open, as if it was about to pounce on prey or maybe fight off a rival for a mate or food. Most of the body is covered in feathers, each of which is individually sculpted (Utahraptor fossils have not yet been found with feathers, but phylogenetic data suggest it probably had them). Teeth are sculpted in both the lower and upper jaws and the hand and foot claws are sharp!

One of the most striking features of Utahraptor is its boxy skull with a thick lower jaw full of forward-projecting teeth when the mouth is open. When I first got this figure, I thought the lower jaw was too long, but I think that’s just an illusion of the way the head is sculpted with the mouth open. The jaw appears slightly misaligned when viewed close up and directly from the front, but it’s hardly noticeable overall.

I really like the paint job on this figure, too. If I remember correctly, it was inspired by the peregrine falcon. Much of the dorsum is a cornflower blue and the venter tan. It has a black cap and black highlights on the tail and arm feathers. The neck and throat are white. The fleshy parts are a goldenrod yellow. The inside of the mouth is pink with white teeth and the claws are jet black. The eyes are a similar color to the fleshy parts with black pupils. I know some folks would have preferred a darker wash over the blue sections, but I don’t mind the crisp demarcations. Many extant birds have bold, crisp solid colors with defined edges next to their other colors.

I would love to say, in my humble opinion, that this is the best Utahraptor figure out there, but around the same time this one came out, Creative Beast Studio also produced one for their Beasts of the Mesozoic line. I don’t collect BotM figures, so I cannot compare the two, but I know they are heavily articulated which I personally don’t like. Looking at pics online, however, it looks like an impressive model! I should also point out, if price point important, the Safari figure is nearly ¼ the price of the BotM model (depending on the seller). So, if you want a really nice Utahraptor figure, and don’t want to shell out a ton of dough to get it, this 2023 figure by Safari Ltd. comes highly recommended.