PAPO CARNOTAURUS figure

I recently picked up an amazing dinosaur replica made by the French company Papo. Actually, I picked up several! They are so good, it's hard for me to express in words how amazed and blown away I was when I opened the package. I got that joyous, giddy feeling that's the reason I collect toys, but which too often doesn't come with a given purchase. I'm going to begin a series of overviews with the Carnotaurus, the "bull-headed" baddie from Disney's "Dinosaur"...

The Carnotaurus was the smallest of the models I picked up. He measures about 2 & 1/2" to the top of his hip, and he's 7" from nose to tail-tip. He's in a fairly dynamic (if not a bit contorted) pose, where his snout is down low and his tail extends up high behind him. His awkward and very stubby arms are thrown back on shoulders that nearly look inverted. He's also got some balancing issues because of the way his feet are splayed. He can stand ok, but it's a little precarious (I may heat one of the legs and adjust the stance a tad).

The sculpt and paint on this little guy are really spectacular. They are the things that set this apart from "toy" to "replica model". Honestly, it's the same kind of impression I get when I examine an X-Plus Godzilla figure, only on a much smaller scale. So much care and attention has been put into giving the skin layers of texture, from smoother scales outside the thighs to lots of thick ridges along the back and tiny pebbly bumps atop the snout and crest. The horns look great, and even the belly, throat and underside of his feet are sculpted with fine detail.

The paint is gorgeous. There's a fantastic base coat that does nothing to conceal the sculpt detail, and then several layers of airbrushed color that makes Carnotaurus look unbelievable life-like. The pictures can't really capture just how intricate all of this work is. They've even hit the top of his back with a splash of glosscoat to add some shine- it looks fantastic!

The figure has an opening jaw, which I understand is fairly standard for Papo dinosaurs. He looks great with the mouth open or closed, and the seam is really only pronounced underneath the jawline, which won't be visible ordinarily.

Papo's Carnotaurus is an excellent figurine. He's in a bit of an awkward pose, maybe a little too dynamic for his own good, totters slightly and has some really painful looking arms, but overall it looks like a museum-quality replica and is fairly inexpensive, as well. If you have a dinosaur-lover in your life, you can't go wrong here. Honestly, I'm totally hooked, and really glad of it!

Size Comparison: standard Playmobil figure