Diplodocus (Battat)

The Battat Diplodocus is what sauropod toys aspire to be. This imposing monster is the ultimate collector piece, and even if it still shows some typical (i.e. now questionable) conceptions of the 90’s, I’m tempted to say that this is the most spectacular replica ever released by a mainstream line (not that there’s anything wrong with the new Carnegie Diplodocus, it’s a very respectable effort)

The way I see it, the Battat line was the rightful heir of the classic Invicta set. The Bostom Museum of Science series (not Carnegie, mind you) really strove to offer an affordable modern collection that would result both highly detailed and accurate. The Diplodocus should be a shining example of what you can do with simple molds, competent sculpting and regular manufacturing.

As we already know, the Battat Diplodocus includes the name of the species, in this case, it’s the Diplodocus longus, the holotype named by none other than Marsh in 1878. Needless to say, the Dippy has become increasingly famous, evolving into one of the more emblematic dinosaur genus. It’s been studied over and over again, so it’s no surprise that even today many anatomical uncertainties still remain.

One debated issue has always been the positioning of the nostrils. For decades the consensus was that they were on top of the head, where the actual nasal openings are located. Now it’s been suggested that they were located at the sides of the snout after all. The Battat version still has the nostrils located at the top of the head, but the issue has not yet been solved as far as I know, so this could go either way.

I still frown at the position though. As dinamic and attractive as it may be, I don’t think it would be easy for such a large animal to rear up like that. The tail is here used as a support and is in complete contact with the surface on which it rests.

The front legs were shorter than the hind ones; the neck and the extremely long tail represent two thirds of the body (the tail alone had 80 vertebrae). The Battat toy reflects all this perfectly (the tail had to be done in two different segments) and the scale itself is right (the Battat scale was 1:40, if we consider that the average length of the Diplodocus is 26 mts, the body measures roughly 70 cm, incluiding the coil of the tail) Although this is supposed to be a light weight sauropod, the toy is quite massive and heavy.

The colouring is nothing otherwordly, it’s efficient tan becomingly mixed with brown but in this case, details are everything. The beautiful teeth, the vivacious eyes, the infinite skin pattern, the bulging musculature, the claws, I cannot begin to describe the sheer beauty of it all. Dan LoRusso must be really proud of this baby.

I won’t lie to you, this replica is almost impossible to find nowadays, but I still hope some other company decides to revive this set.

Currently Avaiable here

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