Vol. 69 Abelisaurid Figure Encyclopedia: The Ceratosaur Family - Year-End Edition
It seems that the release of new figures for "Dominion" has finally settled down, and I'm thinking of making the Liopleurodon I bought on Yahoo Auctions my last purchase. It's still hard to predict what else might be released, but I've already set up a JW3 corner in my room and even displayed the oversized Dreadnoughtus...
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The "Dominion" corner, and the surprisingly cool Liopleurodon (holding a CollectA Xiphactinus) for which I took two photos. And the last? JW gashapon "Stand Figure" from Takara Tomy, which was disappointing because it didn't look very similar.
By the way, as I mentioned in Vol. 66, what caught my attention recently with Mattel's JW figures was the mass appearance of abelisaurids, like giant locusts. Of course, Carnotaurus is already a major leaguer in the dinosaur figure world, but four other unnamed abelisaurids were released for JW3, bringing the total to six when combined with those from the previous "Primal Attack" and "Dino Escape" series. One has to admit that this number for a single series is an abnormal situation. (Incidentally, PNSO, which consistently releases Tyrannosauroid dinosaurs with great care, has only six varieties so far.)
Although these JW abelisaurids have never appeared on screen, they are said to have provided genes for the hybrid dinosaurs, Indominus Rex and Scorpius Rex, which appeared in the Netflix CG animated series "Camp Cretaceous." Now that you mention it, both certainly have abelisaurid-like faces.
This time, I will introduce figures of these minor abelisaurids and the Carnotaurus, which has now risen to become the second most popular carnivorous dinosaur after T-Rex. Next time, spanning into the new year, will be a special feature on the "Ceratosaurus Family," including the Ceratosaurus, the progenitor of the Ceratosauria, which includes the Abelisauridae.
If you search for Abelisauridae on Wiki, it looks like this. There is a cladogram of Abelisauridae from 2014 and a cladogram of Ceratosauria from 2008. However, abelisaurid dinosaurs are relatively new in history, with the oldest ones, Abelisaurus and Carnotaurus, described in the mid-1980s, and their classification still varies slightly among researchers. What surprised me was Deltadromeus, which I found in the 2008 cladogram of Ceratosauria. The Deltadromeus I knew was a sharp-faced medium-sized coelurosaurian from the 1998 "Great Dinosaur Exhibition - Dinosaurs of the Lost Continent Gondwana," but at some point, it became a ceratosaurian, and in this 2016 cladogram, it's classified as a noasaurid within Abelisauroidea, and in 2017, it was even reclassified as a herbivorous dinosaur. Since I can't make sense of it anymore, I'll just include the only Deltadromeus figure (a 1997 Safari model, representing its cool carnivorous form of yesteryear) among the abelisaurid relatives for now.
First, from the minor league.
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Abelisaurids from Jurassic World. The top row and the leftmost one in the bottom row are new releases for JW3. From top left:
It is believed to be the prototype of Scorpius Rex, a hybrid dinosaur that appeared in "Camp Cretaceous." Their faces are identical. In the film, Scorpius Rex is portrayed as a failed experiment created during the development of Indominus.
In "Jurassic World," it seems that DNA from this dinosaur was incorporated into Indominus's genes.
Appears in the Jurassic World game.
Quilmesaurus
An ultra-minor dinosaur not even found on Wiki. I barely managed to find this site.
I was surprised by the image on the Jurassic Park Wiki.
The names of Quilmesaurus and other gene-donating dinosaurs are on what appears to be a monitor screen in the movie. I tried searching for it in the video but couldn't find it.
A relatively well-known dinosaur among these.
Appears in JW only by name, similar to Quilmesaurus.
This dinosaur is not an Abelisauridae, but a Noasauridae within Abelisauroidea.
In the JP series, it only appears in games and on websites.
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Before Mattel started proliferating them, minor abelisaurid figures were few and far between, with only a few Majungasaurus models. However, there are signs of an increase recently.
The top row features Majungasaurus. On the left is a 1/35 model by Vitae, a Chinese manufacturer, purchased at Wonder Festival in 2018. Come to think of it, Vitae was a pioneer among the high-quality Chinese manufacturers like PNSO and Nanmu that now dominate the internet. On the right is a product from Sega's Dinosaur King: Dinosaur King Retsuden. It's about 15 years old. Other Majungasaurus figures are available from Schleich and CollectA.
The bottom row features CollectA's Rajasaurus and Safari's Masiakasaurus, which just appeared in Vol. 66, and, unexpectedly, Aucasaurus.
It's a trivial rubber toy that "stretches and plays" by DeAgostini, sold in bookstores recently, but what on earth is up with this selection?!
And then there's the problematic Deltadromeus. The latest reconstruction is similar to an ornithomimosaur. However, there are still many carnivorous reconstructions on the internet, and "teeth" from Morocco are also sold. Since no skull has been found, the true nature remains unknown.
Also available online, such as on Amazon, is Rebor's Ekrixinatosaurus, which I had never heard of, but at about 8,000 yen, I'm hesitant to buy it.
Now, for Carnotaurus.
Despite its relatively recent debut, the number of Carnotaurus figures is now second only to T-Rex among carnivorous dinosaurs. I can't keep track of all of them, and I don't have that many at home, so I can only introduce a small portion. However, I'd like to boast a bit about some things that are now unavailable, drawing on my long history as a collector.
First, from the Jurassic series, of course.
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Surprisingly, its screen debut was in "Fallen Kingdom," making it a newcomer. The Mattel on the left and the Ania on the right are from that time. The Ania in the center is the Carnotaurus named Bull from Camp Cretaceous. Bull has many appearances and wreaks havoc in the "Camp Cretaceous" series. Mattel also released several figures, including a giant 90cm one. I skipped them all because they all looked similar. In "Dominion," aside from mini-figures and deformed ones, the only release was a small one (which I held off buying due to its high price, as it wasn't released in Japan) that came with Owen's motorcycle and two Atrociraptors, making it a rather lonely showing.
The boxed item in the upper right is a treasure introduced in New Treasure House Vol. 25, released in 1994, the year after "Jurassic Park" premiered. I had intended to take it out of the box for this photo, but it was buried deep in the back of my closet and I couldn't find it.
Other official JW Carnotaurus figures include expensive, collector-oriented items from Prime 1 Studio.
Next to it is the Carnotaurus that played the villain in the 2000 Disney movie "Dinosaur." It made a fleeting appearance behind an Iguanodon in New Treasure House Vol. 38. Regardless of the movie, the figure is better made than the JP one.
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When Carnotaurus appeared, I'm sure many dinosaur modelers were excited by its unusual appearance. Image 5 shows garage kits and other items I bought at Wonder Festival around that time.
The hunting trophy-style item on the left was probably acquired at Wonder Festival in the late 80s, shortly after its debut. I don't know the manufacturer. The one in the center is a product from Alucard, a garage kit manufacturer from the early 90s. (Treasure House Vol. 64)
The one on the right is not a kit, but a cold-cast finished product by Kaiyodo, sculpted by Shinobu Matsumura, released in 2004.
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These are out-of-production figures that are now unobtainable.
The top one is made by Safari and is a relatively new item from 2010, but it has since been replaced by a more realistic and subdued coloring, giving it the feel of an adult figure. The bottom left is also Safari, but it's a 1996 model designed for children.
Next to it is a Schleich model from 2000. The Carnotaurus models currently sold have, contrary to Safari, become more toy-like and are almost like monsters. The one on the far right is from the Boston Museum of Science, made in 1997.
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Currently, almost all manufacturers of dinosaur figures, including Safari, Schleich, CollectA, Papo, and emerging Chinese manufacturers, release Carnotaurus models. Of course, Favorite also has two types, a soft model and a vinyl model, but you can view those on this website. Here, I'd like to show you the skull and full skeleton, which are unfortunately out of print.
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Image 8 is a collection of other Carnotaurus figures I had on hand. The leftmost one is from Takara Tomy's "Gacha Action THE Dinosaur" series, released in 2019, and is a pathetic item with the same parts as the T-Rex released at the same time, except for the head and forelimbs. Behind it is Sega's Dinosaur King: Dinosaur King Retsuden. In front is a regular Ania series item. This means Ania has three types of Carnotaurus in total. The two next to them are old and new Kaiyodo models: CC Zaurus (2004) and Dinosaur Excavation Record 7 "Dinosaur Sculpting Frontline" (2018). And then there's the "Dinosaur Picture Book Stand Figure" gashapon from Qualia, released in 2021, which has excellent sculpting. The skeleton is from Geoworld, and the skull is from Safari's dinosaur skull tube. While the Geoworld item is generally good, it's a shame that the crucial caudal vertebrae unique to Carnotaurus, as seen here, are not reproduced. The hemal arches are also unnatural.
There are still countless Carnotaurus figures. Here are a few I don't own.
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Let's conclude the Carnotaurus with this showdown. PAPO, which pursues cool poses, vs. PSNO, which seeks biological realism. Both are modern manufacturers.
Next time will be a special feature on Ceratosaurus figures, a group with a long history and many quirks. Stay tuned.
...Just when I finished writing all that and breathed a sigh of relief, information about Mattel's JW series for next year came in.
A new series called "Dino Trackers" will be launched, introducing new faces, including two ceratosaurians: Elaphrosaurus and Genyodectes.
I don't know if they will be released in Japan, but I absolutely must get my hands on them. How long will the JW calamity continue...?
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Bs Lab, who we introduced the Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus skull magnets from in New Treasure House Vol. 67, has released these fun items. They are also skull magnets, featuring the entire Tyrannosaurus family. From top left: Sue, Stan, Jane. Middle row: Wankel, Tristan, MOR008. Bottom row: AMNH5027, Duffy, Bucky. They are sold individually for 1000 yen each, but once you start collecting, you can't help but buy them all.
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At the beginning of November, I went to the annual "4th Japanese Painting Dinosaur Exhibition." For some reason, I always buy paintings of skeletons, but this year's harvest was "Velociraptor Skull" by Rei Fujimaki.
Thank you for your readership this past year.
As for me, the annual Ikebukuro Mineral Show is coming up at the end of the year, and I'm very excited because foreign dealers will be returning this time. I'll report on my spoils next time.
Next year, there's the " Dinosaur Picture Book: Imagination/Creation of a Lost World " dinosaur art exhibition, in which I'm slightly involved, and the National Museum of Nature and Science's Ankylosaur exhibition, and I'm already looking forward to them.
May you all have a good dinosaur year.
Merry Christmas!
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