Baryonyx (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)

Baryonyx figures have a tendency to be produced in a quadropedal posture, this is most notable in the Schleich version (reviewed here) and the Invicta version (reviewed here), and almost the case in this, the Carnegie Collection version by Safari Ltd. I say ‘almost’ because one hand contacts the floor but the other one is marginally lifted.

This is a lean, almost malnourished version of Baryonyx - clearly this individual has gone for a number of days without a fish supper. The animal is leaning forwards with the tail high in the air and the legs spread wide, it makes a nice fishing pose for those interested in dioramas. The neck is raised but straight (not ‘S’-shaped as in other theropods) and the mouth is wide open with a tongue flicking up.

The enlarged thumb claw, the ‘heavy claw’ from which the name Baryonyx derives, is clear in this sculpt. The sculptor should also be commended for the head which although quite roughly done, is accurately narrow and bears a single crest on the midline in front of the eyes. Many figures of spinosaurids get this area wrong because they only see pictures of the skull in side view and presume there are two crests, one above each eye. This mistake is present in the Papo and new Schleich Spinosaurus figures (reviewed here). There are openings for the ears and the eyes are big and deathly black.

The colour is quite a stunning green with chocolate brown bands on the flanks. The claws are white, the eyes black (with no pupils) and the mouth is pink and the teeth are highlighted in white. The figure is smallish at about 18 cm long.

This review was sponsored by Atomic Elephant who kindly provided us with the review figure.

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Apatosaurus (Galaxy/Safari, ‘Great Dinos’ Collection)

We reviewed this figure briefly before (here) but thanks to Atomic Elephant who sent us a review sample, we can now give this hefty figure a little more attention. There are two versions with differing paint schemes, a blue design and the grey/blue design, which we present here (although it look blue in our photos because of the lighting!).

As I have said before, I am rather keen on the Great Dinos collection because they combine large size and quality sculpting with very reasonable prices. At about 40cm long, the Apatosaurus is one of the largest in the 8-part set, but the hollow lightweight nature reduces the impact of high shipping costs often associated with sauropod figures. The tail curves at the tip so the figure is not as long is it could have been but the twist at the tail tip adds to the fluidity of the pose.

All four feet are in contact with the ground but the front left foot is in the process of being lifted creating a dynamic pose. The neck is positioned quite high forming an ’s’ shape and the tail is raised above the ground. There is some nice attention to detail, the claws are distinct with the thumb claw enlarged, the hip bones and spine jut out and there are wrinkles and muscle blocks running along the length of the animal, especially the neck. However, these details are often lost, or their impact is reduced by the rather crude paint job.

The claws are sprayed in light green tones, as is the belly, the back is sprayed with darker grey in wide bands on the neck and tail. The head is quite nicely sculpted but unusually coloured – the eyes are blotchy and bloodshot and for some reason the teeth in my figure have been neatly painted onto the right side of the mouth, but omitted completely from the left side. Perhaps this reflects poor quality control, which again links to the cheaper tag price. Overall, this is a nice figure, just don’t get too close – the details don’t stand up to scrutiny.

This review was sponsored by Atomic Elephant who kindly provided us with the review figure.