Mattel’s previous large sauropods made sense. Brachiosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Dreadnoughtus all had significant screen time in the Jurassic franchise. And even though Mattel dutifully, and shockingly, made toys of them all, fans wanted more. Yes, among the Jurassic fanbase there was a subset of collectors yearning for the Mamenchisaurus, which featured briefly enough in The Lost World to allow a motorcyclist to drive between its legs. A scene my father scoffed at for its ridiculousness. If only he had seen where the franchise would end up! Don’t get me wrong, I understand the desire to have EVERY dinosaur featured on screen in this immensely popular franchise. Personally though, I never felt the need to own a 49” Mamenchisaurus that had a blink-and-you-miss-it scene in a subpar sequel, especially since I have so much shelf space now taken up by the previous large sauropods. I’m not one to turn their nose up at a deal though, so when I saw the Mattel Mamenchisaurus on clearance for $20 at my local Target there was no hesitation. Someone, save me from myself.
Although advertised as being 49” (124 cm) long, that’s a straight-line measurement, and when measured along the curves of its neck and tail the toy comes out to be 56.5” (143 cm). There are many described species of Mamenchisaurus and they come in a range of sizes. We don’t know what species Mattel’s is, but we get a scale of 1/18 if we use the 85’ (26 meters) length of M. sinocanadorum, the largest Mamenchisaurus species.
We must address the sauropod in the room. This toy is all wrong in depicting an actual Mamenchisaurus with even a sprinkling of accuracy. Mamenchisaurus had an absurd neck to body ratio, with the neck accounting for nearly half the length of the body. The proportions of this toy match closer with something like Diplodocus than Mamenchisaurus. It does match decently close to what we see in the movie but even then, the neck is still too short, or the body and tail too large, however you want to slice it. But the one we see in the movie is also, literally, just a stretched out and slightly modified version of the Jurassic Park Brachiosaurus. So maybe we shouldn’t get too critical. Other proportions are a bit rough on this toy also. The neck is too thin, legs too robust, and feet too large.
Like Mattel’s other large sauropods this figure comes packaged in a windowless box with some lovely Kenner inspired artwork depicting the dinosaur’s scene in the film. The toy comes unassembled and once the pieces are snapped in place they cannot be taken back off. The head is on a ball joint and can swivel around and the jaw is also articulated. The neck is articulated about halfway down its length and can rotate around. The neck can move up-and-down at its base and rotate around as well. The wheel that allows the up-and-down motion can be rather stiff at first so be careful with it. The legs can rotate forward and back but not completely around, and they don’t pivot outwards. The tail is articulated at its base and about 2/3rd the way down its length.
Aside from some proportional issues the toy is otherwise great. It has the same level of detail that we’ve come to expect from Mattel. Overall, it is more detailed than the Legacy Brachiosaurus but not as overdone as the Apatosaurus. The toy has a rough, wrinkled texture that at least conveys the idea of scales where they aren’t apparent. What scale detail it has is most evident on the torso and legs. The head sculpt is a bit derpy but a vast improvement over the stoned looking Apatosaurus with its thin flappy jaw. It has the inaccuracies you would expect it to have, like nostrils on top of the head, but it represents a 27-year-old creature design.
The toy is medium brown in color with faded dark brown bands running down the neck, body, and portion of the tail. Creamy white runs from the lower jaw, down the neck, and ends at the chest. The toy has random brown swirls mixed into its base color. This marbling technique has been used by Mattel since their Dominion wave. A cost cutting measure to add color, no doubt. The eyes are hazel with round, black pupils. The inside of the mouth is pink, and the teeth are white. The claws are unpainted. The color is a decent enough match to the movie design, but a mottled brown color would have been preferable to the brown banding, I think.
If I were to rank the big mainline Mattel sauropods, I would put Dreadnoughtus on top, followed by Brachiosaurus, then Mamenchisaurus, and the Apatosaurus last. After getting the Dreadnoughtus I told myself that I wouldn’t get anymore big Mattel sauropods, and I was not too impressed with the Mamenchisaurus initially. Having it in hand my opinion of it has improved and I’m happy to have it, but I’m glad I didn’t pay full price for it. It’s a must have for fans of The Lost World or collectors that want all the large sauropods but if you already have a couple of these shelf-hogs and space is limited then you can probably skip on this one.
Whatever my opinion of this toy is, I still must praise Mattel for making these big sauropods, we’re spoiled as collectors. The Mattel Mamenchisaurus retails for about $65 and is a Target exclusive but since it’s now showing up on clearance it would behoove you to acquire it sooner than later. Now, excuse me while I figure out where to put this thing…
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