Greatest by far of all recognized maniraptorans, bearer of the longest claws of any recognized animal, and simply downright rocambolesque to the human eye, Therizinosaurus is one really outstanding dinosaur. It’s been made right into a toy by many of the major companies, together with Safari Ltd. on two occasions beforehand. And now at very lengthy final we’ve got their third model, a part of the great Wild Safari collection. An enormous merci beaucoup goes out to the benevolent our bodies at Completely happy Hen Toys for this evaluate pattern!
This dinosaur is sculpted in an upright standing pose. At first look, it seems to be utilizing its tail as a 3rd leg for assist, however with mine no less than, the tip is in reality a millimetre off the bottom. Nearly all of Therizinosaurus toys are sculpted standing upright, and it is smart provided that the actual animal would have been ceaselessly rearing up tall in an effort to dine on greens rising from the bushes, to scan its environment, to intimidate predators, and to placed on mating shows.
The precise arm is dangling downward whereas the left one is raised larger and bending extra on the elbow. The top is turned to look to the fitting and the vast eyes and barely downturned mouth give off the impression that this particular person is feeling uneasy about one thing. Alternatively, it might simply as simply be feeling completely chipper. It scales very nicely with most 1:35 scale toys, measuring about 23.5 cm lengthy and 17 cm tall, together with 2 cm lengthy foreclaws. That makes it the tallest theropod dinosaur within the Wild Safari collection thus far.
The feathered portion of the Therizinosaurus‘ physique is painted darkish brown, which in flip has been painted over evenly with metallic gray to offer the plumage a little bit of an iridescent look. The scaly bits, in the meantime, are flat gray with brown wash and the claws are all beige with airbrushed brown. The neck is snowy white like a bald eagle’s and the naked head has been washed over with mild blue, together with orange eyes, pink nostrils, and a beige beak. It’s an excellent and really believable color scheme, and I particularly just like the blue head. I can simply envision this particular person being a male, with females having brown or gray heads as a substitute. Or maybe it’s a feminine and the males have combs or wattles, or heads colored midnight blue or burning crimson. All of it works.
This toy was crafted by that maestro of Mesozoic moulds, Doug Watson, so there might be little question by any means as to its high-quality. The feathers have been assiduously sculpted to seem shaggy and comparatively comfortable, relatively like these on emus and rheas. They cowl the whole thing of the neck, the arms, the thighs, many of the torso, and the dorsal half of the tail, with a large fan on the tip. The palms of the palms, the stomach, the shins and toes, and the ventral half of the tail are coated in scales. The scales on the legs are small and rounded, whereas those on the stomach and tail are bigger and extra rectangular-shaped. The toes are coated in scutes, the pinnacle has a bumpy, pitted texture, and the claws are easy.
This Therizinosaurus has a small head with a tapering snout ending in a tough, rounded beak. The neck is comparatively lengthy and skinny, very like that of ornithomimosaurs, oviraptorosaurs, and basal sauropodomorphs. It’s hooked up to a hefty, bulging torso during which the hips are the widest part versus the rib cage like with tyrannosaurines. Certainly, Therizinosaurus is estimated to have been 1.5 metres vast on the midsection, which might make it the second widest recognized theropod after the 1.6 metre vast Tyrannosaurus rex. The tail may be very quick and skinny, to the purpose the place it virtually seems unnatural hooked up to such a big theropod. The legs are stocky and stout-looking, nicely fitted to supporting the burden of a +5 ton animal. Not like the toes of most different theropods, the primary toes on these ones are each forward-facing and weight-bearing.
This brings us to probably the most well-known and interesting a part of Therizinosaurus‘ anatomy, these marvellous entrance limbs. Every huge arm terminates in three scythe-shaped claws, with the largest on the primary digit and the smallest on the third. These claws are noticeably smaller in proportion to the remainder of the animal than on the variations from CollectA, PNSO, and Schleich, however larger than the Papo one’s. This may be chalked as much as differing interpretations as to how large of a keratinous sheath coated every claw in actual life. Doug appears to have gone with a extra conservative one, which I do know is his type. They appear nice.
Nobody might be faulted for gazing on such claws and concluding that they had been employed for defense against Tarbosaurus and different predatory dinosaurs. It has additionally been recommended that the claws had been used as hooks for pulling leafy branches in direction of their proprietor’s mouth. Or as a mix of shovels and pickaxes to dig up roots. However a research study published in February 2023 dumped chilly water down on all these notions. It discovered that the claws had been simply too slender and weak to be used in digging, hooking, piercing, pulling, or slashing. So what use had been they then? The authors recommended that they might have been used for show functions. Competing males might need unfold their arms vast and waved their claws at each other in entrance of females to ensure that all to find out whose had been the longest and sexiest. Or maybe males waved their claws immediately at females as a part of a mating show. And one different chance is that the claws had been used for grooming feathers and scratching itches. However as Robert Stack would have famous, it stays an unsolved mystery.
And on that word, gauging the accuracy of this or another Therizinosaurus toy is relatively dicey, for regardless of its relative recognition, it stays a poorly recognized dinosaur. At the moment, its recognized stays include nearly all of the right arm, including the hand and shoulder blade, and part of the left arm, assorted claws, and most of the right foot. Restorations of its head, neck, torso, and tail have due to this fact been primarily based on those of its smaller and better known relatives, together with Alxasaurus, Erlikosaurus, and Neimongosaurus. On the one hand, it appears unlikely that Therizinosaurus was radically completely different in general construction and look from its brethren, however however, we once thought the same thing about Deinocheirus, and it turned out to have a duck-like snout and a hump on its back. Solely the invention of further specimens will say for sure. And as for all these great fluffy feathers, we’ve got no clue how a lot or how little integument the actual animal possessed–though most creative renderings these days go together with a feathered look. So for now, I reckon the fairest evaluation is to say that Safari’s newest toy is indubitably in step with our current interpretation of Therizinosaurus.
Which brings us ultimately to evaluating it with the standard and Deluxe-sized toys from CollectA.
Once more, I fairly like the dimensions of this toy; not too large and never too small. It actually beats out each CollectAs when it comes to accuracy and sculpting–though you’ll count on that given the latter got here out again in 2012 and 2014. Personally, I’m nonetheless very keen on the Deluxe one.
And right here it’s with the CollectA Deluxe Deinocheirus, one other favorite of mine. I reckon they go very nicely collectively.
I don’t personal the PNSO Therizinosaurus, however primarily based on the photographs and opinions I’ve seen, I do consider that the Safari one matches if not excels it in most classes, and it positively wins out when it comes to price ticket.
Total, this Therizinosaurus represents the easiest that the Wild Safari line has to supply. It’s sufficiently big to be imposing, however nonetheless sufficiently small to work together easily with many different dinosaur toys and never take up an excessive amount of room on the shelf. Its sculpting is second to none, its colouration is enticing and really believable, and once more, it’s in step with the present science. Granted, future fossil discoveries might nicely render it out of date, or might simply as simply vindicate it, however both manner, it’ll stay a terrific toy. It’s at present out there for buy at Happy Hen Toys; my thanks exit to them as soon as extra!
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