Despite being the most complete abelisaurid known, Aucasaurus is not a terribly popular dinosaur. Described in 2002, it wouldn’t get a toy until 2025*, and with their fondness for abelisaurids well established, it’s no surprise that Mattel would be the first to tackle the genus. Initially, the Mattel Aucasaurus didn’t appeal to me much but upon closer inspection, and with the realization that it was the first Aucasaurus toy, I decided that I needed it.
*It looks like there’s an Aucasaurus for the DinoWaurs line but it’s pretty rough looking.
Aucasaurus lived in Argentina during the late Cretaceous and its name means Auca Mahuevo lizard. It is known from a single specimen that is complete to the thirteenth caudal vertebra, carrying on the abelisaurid tradition of having only a single but well preserved specimen.
Aucasaurus was a mid-sized predator with an estimated length of 18-20’ (5.5-6.2 meters) while the toy measures 13.5” (34.29 cm) long and stands 5” (12.7 cm) tall at the hips. This puts the toy at 1/17 in scale. The toy is part of the Wild Roar line, which means it makes sounds. The tail controls the head and pushing it up and down lifts and lowers the head and closes the mouth, and twisting the tail tilts the head side-to-side. The arms can swing in and out and rotate around and the legs can rotate forward and back.
In overall shape and proportions, the toy is a decent abelisaurid. The head and feet aren’t obviously oversized, the arms are small and lack elbows, and the tail has a decent length to it. The head is not as deep and short as on a Carnotaurus, which is accurate, but it is perhaps a bit shorter than it ought to be. The ridges over the eyes are also accurate but the small horns overtop of them are not. Aucasaurus possessed four metacarpals but the first and fourth digits lacked fingers while the second and third lacked claws. On the toy there are four clawed fingers but at least they’re appropriately small. This toy’s wave mate is an Abelisaurus with large, allosaur-like arms, which is far more egregious. I didn’t purchase that one, although I like its paintjob more.
The toy is detailed with a covering of small, pebbly scales, and larger, interspersed feature scales. Scutes run down the back over overlapping pieces of plate-like ridges. Labial scales are sculpted around the mouth, and the teeth are fine and rubbery. The tongue has a pitted texture while ridges are sculpted over the roof of the mouth. Scutes run down the toes and loose fleshy skin sags along the throat. There’s a lot of detail without too many exaggerated bells and whistles, which I appreciate.
So far, we’ve looked at a highly detailed, acceptably accurate, and conservatively styled Aucasaurus toy but unfortunately the paintjob leaves a lot to be desired. The toy is entirely blood-red colored save for a cream colored jaw and throat, and some purple splotches on the face, back, and thighs. Lazy paintjobs are to be expected from Mattel, but this toy strikes me as particularly unfinished looking. Enough so that it was one of the reasons I was initially not interested in it. The claws aren’t painted, the teeth are white, the inside of the mouth is red and glossy, and the eyes are yellow with red elliptical pupils. Not even the pupils are painted.
Lazy paintjob aside, this toy has enough redeeming qualities to make it worth seeking out. I suppose my initial disinterest in it was due to its lackluster paintjob combined with the fact that we just came off of an excellent first wave of Rebirth toys, and that I just have too many of these Mattel dinosaurs. If you have a particular fondness for abelisaurids though, it is not to be missed.
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