Dimetrodon (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)
The distinctive sail-back ‘mammal-like reptile’ or basal synapsid, has always been a favorite for dinosaur toy companies, even though its certainly no dino. I wrote a very brief blog on this figure back in July 2007 but I have since managed to acquire a figure for myself and can thus indulge you in some of the details.
This 18cm long model is one of the best Dimetrodon figures. Like most of the Carnegie collection figures, the head suffers from a little deformation and a scruffy paint job, but the. overall shape is good: the deep short skull, highly situated eyes, and premaxilla notch, all contribute to the accuracy of this figure. The mouth is open and there has been some attempt to sculpt some of the larger teeth separately. The lips on the left hand side or contracted into a sort of grimace, but whether this is intentional or accidental is not clear.
There is a dangly pouch, or perhaps it should be called a wattle or a dewlap on the neck, which I think is a nice touch; too often sculptors stretch the skin around the skeleton with little though or the flippy-flappy soft anatomy typically present in living organisms. The tail is held off of the ground, I’m not sure how accurate this is - I would have thought that the tail dragged in this species, and the creature is striding forwards with purpose.
The overall colour scheme is pleasing, being made up of natural shades of tan and yellow but the painters have done a messy job with some of the highlight, which are quite obviously crude brush strokes. Maybe my figure was produced at the end of a long working day 
? The eyes on the other hand are a work of art - extremely precise. The claws are not painted separately.
This toy review was sponsored by Dinosaurs at Atomic Elephant
It is available here
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This is an excellent specimen- and reviewed nicely. I agree though, that this guy’s tail might be a bit too heavy to be sticking straight out like it is in the model. And great photographs!
Comment by Matt — April 18, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
This is one hell of a Dimetrodon…In a good way,obviously
Only one thing,i have noticed…The model i own has a much better painted head,for example,the teeth are almost all white and more pronounced,so the snout,which in my figure is slightly more slender…All in all however,aside the little differences between singular Dimes,this is one of the best Safari replicas ever!
Comment by Alessio — April 18, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
About the lips, it’s only in yours, mine is normally positioned. But I’ve got to admit that yours look very monstrous, in a good way. Production standards in this kind of figures tend to be… heterogenous. All in all, a very decent replica, perhaps the best Dimetrodon so far?
Comment by tomhetleere — April 19, 2008 @ 6:24 pm