Review and photos by Torvosaurus, edited by Suspsy
Howdy from wonderful, windy Wyoming! Today we’ll take a look at the Honorable Lead Boiler Suit (HLBS) Stegosaurus. Stegosaurus, with the large plates on its back, is probably one of the most recognizable dinosaurs along with Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Brontosaurus.
The model is approximately 5-1/2 inches (14 cm), placing it at 1/48 scale using a maximum length of 25 feet for Stegosaurus. This fits well with most HLBS figures, but it is small compared to other toys, and small compared to many dinosaurs offered by other companies. It does fit well with many smaller CollectA figures, as do most HLBS figures. This figure was produced in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
The figure is posed walking with its head and tail straight out from the body. The head should be lower, while the tail should be raised. The body has large scales all over, which give it a nice texture. Based on the closely related Hesperosaurus, however, the scales should probably be smaller with larger tubercles scattered throughout, surrounded by additional small scales to form a rosette. When viewed from the front, the body is narrow with dermal plates held almost straight up and aligned. This was cast in one piece, nothing to assemble, so the narrow body was made for casting the figure all at once.
This Stegosaurus has three toes on the back feet and five on the front feet, exactly as they should be. All these toes have short blunt claws, when only the inner two toes of each foot should have blunt hooves. This isn’t a reason to avoid this model, but is a strike against it for accuracy.
The thagomizer correctly has four spikes, which stick almost straight up with nearly no space between the two pairs. Thagomizers on stegosaurs have been found to face back and outward, with some even protruding out to the side in certain species.
This Stegosaurus has 18 dermal plates that start at the base of the skull, increase to the highest plates over the hips, and then decrease in size toward the thagomizer. A Stegosaurus has between 17 and 22 plates, so that is accurate. The half inch of bare tail between the dermal plates and thagomizer should be covered with more dermal plates, however. The plates are arranged in alternating rows instead of in matched pairs. The hind legs should be longer than the front legs, but the front legs are moving and they would be close in size to the hind legs when straightened out.
The head has very little detail. It is definitely too large for the figure. It is also basically a rectangle with rounded edges, a layer of scales, eyes, and a kind of “beak.” A long line marks where the mouth would be. Add to that the odd throat pouch just behind the head, with no sculpting into the throat of the figure, and the overall appearance of the head is odd.
This toy came complete and unpainted. It is fairly heavy, weighing maybe a quarter of a pound. It is a gaming piece and is a “big boy” toy, not for younger children. Thus figure is no longer produced by HLBS, but can occasionally be found on eBay.
In spite of its oddities and errors, I like this Stegosaurus. After reviewing it, it actually came out a bit better than I expected. If you’re interested in stegosaur figures, in the history of dinosaur figures, or are a completist, then this dinosaur may be for you.
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