Schleich's new 2015 full-sized Giganotosaurus is a gorgeous dinosaur figure. Measuring nearly 7" tall and 8 & 1/2" long, it abandons the qualities that make the earlier version so drab and really goes for an exciting and eye-catching display.
Giganotosaurus is a thick and weighty specimen. In terms of weight and proportionality, it's quite similar to Papo's standing T-Rex. The details are crisp and nicely varied across the entire animal, brought out well with a wash. I particularly like the facial details and all the various crevices, scales and folds . There's some texturing to the ridges running down the spine and the teeth are beautifully sculpted and painted.
The jaw is articulated, though on mine it seems to be pegged in on a slight angle, and the figure looks great with the mouth opened or closed. The inside of the mouth has a great protruding tongue, and the roof is sculpted with ridges similar to the earlier Giganotosaurus release.
The pose is an interesting design choice. The left foot is raised up on its toes like its about to step down, or up, though the rest of the body doesn't show any indication of movement whatsoever. The claws are thick and prominent, as are the neck, hips and tail. The tail curls nearly straight down and is used as a supporting leg of the tripod stance.
The paint is excellent, with little to no slop, the previously mentioned strategic black wash to make the details pop, and wonderful transitions between the major colors. The figure is cast in a tan plastic with Schleich's new favorite trend of painting three colors laterally down the length of the figure in the form of rough "stripes". In this case, the colors are bright: orange, light green, dark green. The eyes are gloss black, the nails and claws are matte grey, and the ridges and teeth are bone.
That about covers it. The figure is simply great, in-hand. It's heavy and solid, much like Rebor's T-Rex, nicely sized and it's striking on the shelf. There's a lot here to like, though I anticipate that there are a ton of inaccuracies to the sculpt and design. The hands are going to be an issue for some, with the left turned palm-upwards and the right pronated downwards. I'm pretty sure the skull is too wide and I'm sure there are lots of other qualms one can have. My only real issue with the figure (besides the wonky jaw) is the pose it has been sculpted in. It does a nice job of showcasing the figure (and it really does look good from nearly every angle), but it's very unnatural and just seems a bit awkward. But overall, this is a terrifically fun looking dinosaur, and I'm satisfied with the quality and effort that went into its production!
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| Old Giganotosaurus and New |
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| Scaled alongside Papo's Standing T-Rex |
Personally, i see this as a missed opportunity by Schleich. I think they could of called this model an related species like Mapusaurus. instead of making another species they already had in there collection
ReplyDeleteSorry for mutiple comments. I think the original Giganotosaurus was fine and all they had to do was repaint it to a brighter color. This one could have been a great way to give collectors somthing obscure to collect instead of another Common dinosaur for there collections. Now sometimes I think these remakes are Necessary. I have the purple Spinosaurus because i think the original is a abomination.
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