In memory of EmperorDinobot (Luis Perez) who tragically passed away earlier this year. He wanted to review this figure originally.
The figure in question is of course the Beasts of the Mesozoic Dilophosaurus. Right off the bat I’m going to say that this is easily one of my top favorite theropods in the line so far, if not in my collection altogether. The brilliant coloration, the loads of articulation, among being one of the most iconic theropods out there, has made this a must have for me. While Dilophosaurus has long been a favorite dinosaur of mine thanks to growing up with Jurassic Park, this take on it is such a breath fresh of air, and has easily become contender for my favorite depiction of this animal (well in addition to another I’ll shortly get to). Considering the loads of reviews for this animal on the blog, I’m not sure it needs more of an introduction then it probably has had in the past. If not, then I’d perhaps suggest checking out the 2020 paper from Adam Marsh and Timothy Rowe, this video from paleo artist Brian Engh, or perhaps from the man himself (Samuel P. Welles) who originally named this animal, including his original publications if you can access them (1954, 1970, and 1984).
As I mentioned earlier, while this beautiful figure is one such contender for favorite take on this animal, the other is from the “Dinosauria Series: Hunted by Moonlight” by Dead Sound, released back in late October. It’s also a good introduction of sorts to the ecosystem Dilophosaurus lived in (albeit a fantastical take on much of it), that being the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation. While the Kayenta Formation is spread across many states, all currently valid specimens of Dilophosaurus have been discovered within the Navajo Nation, of Arizona. For those who have watched the short film, then you might be familiar with the other strange fauna that either coexisted directly alongside Dilophosaurus, or were present within the Kayenta Formation. The largest of these was the sauropodomorph Sarahsaurus, which both the holotype and paratype spcecimens were found alongside Dilophosaurus specimen TMM 43646-1. The protagonist of the aforementioned short film was a trio of the tiny thyreophoran Scutellosaurus. This was an early member of the group that would eventually give rise to animals like Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus. There was also another theropod within the formation, smaller than Dilophosaurus. You might know it by the classic “Syntarsus”, among other names. There was also a number of invertebrates (freshwater snails and ostracods), fishes, and amphibians (such as Eocaecilia and Prosalirus), various reptiles such as Kayentachelys (turtle), Kayentasuchus (crocodylomorph), Navajosphenodon (sphenodontid, related to the extant tuatara), Rhamphinion (pterosaur), and some synapsids. Flora included ferns, cycads, conifers, and bennettitales, a group of extinct seed plants. There are also a number of ichnofossils, some of which may have been made from Dilophosaurus possibly.
Moving on, here’s a look at the packaging. You have some lovely artwork of the Dilophosaurus from paleo artist Gabriel Ugueto on the front (with a “flying don monster” behind it), and some wonderful toy photography on the back from David Silva, and a look at other figures in the wave. On the bottom of the package is text crediting everyone involved in the design of the figure and the packaging. Inside there are two plastic trays, a bag with the collector’s card and instructions, and the background insert. The first tray contains the figure, minus the tail, and some of the spare accessory feet (running, resting, whatever). The second contains the parts for the included stand, and the tail. Attaching the tail is much like any other Creative Beast figure. Get it warmed up either with a hair dryer or some hot water first (the latter method is what I used). As usual it’s also recommended to warm the joints up before moving them if they are tight, so that’s also what I did, as mine were (mostly the knee joints). The stand was also easy to assemble, and can be adjusted pretty easily as well.
Right, so on to the star of this review. As I mentioned earlier, this is easily one of my all time favorite figures the team behind Creative Beast Studio has put out thus far, which is saying something considering the tough competition out there for me. Right off the bat I want to address the incredible paintwork, and color scheme design. It was taken from the double crested cormorant bird (Nannopterum auritum). This does include the absolutely wild, nearly bio-luminescent bright blue coloring of the mouth (something that shows up on the birds during breeding season). When I first saw it I actually thought it was a callback to Otachi from Pacific Rim, which David Silva had sculpted a figure for NECA back in the day. Aside from the eye catching mouth, there’s quite a bit more coloring going on here than what is present on the extant bird, and man does it offer so much eye candy. The crests are this gaudy teal color, with brown striping present. The plumage covering parts of the back, arms, and legs is black (although there is a bit of grey dry brushing on the hips and legs), while the rest of the body is covered in orange scaly skin. There is some brown striping present on the tail. The eye color is a pale blue, and there’s also some blue spots behind, and around the eyes, and brown stripes down the jaws. Overall, it is so very pleasing to look at.
The figure was sculpted by Raul Ramos, who has done fine work for the line prior. This is a true and proper post 2020 styled Dilophosaurus like the artwork of Brian Engh for the 2020 paper from Adam Marsh and Timothy Rowe, and others that followed. It has lips, feathers, big and bold crests, correct proportions including a long neck, the sausage shaped body, followed by a long tail. The full crest shape on the figure is of course speculative, due to the incomplete and damaged nature of those present on UCMP 77270, the only specimen to have been discovered thus far that has preserved them (and is also the largest specimen). The feathers are also speculative, but I don’t feel like really digging into that for this review. The neck has this interesting wrinkled skin. The digits on the hands and feet are sculpted with the correct number of phalanges (digit bones), and have delightful fleshy pads on them (yes it has the toe beans). The only thing I’d question is if digit four should be present or not on the hands. Not entirely sure if it would have been visible in life (a mere stub at best due to its vestigial nature), or embedded within the hand entirely. There’s a short metacarpal and a single reduced phalanx present on the holotype specimen UCMP 37302. In any case there is something on the hands that might represent this digit, or it may be feathering that’s been unpainted on the inside the of hands. I’m not entirely sure. Not a nitpick, I just straight up don’t know. I would have liked to see an additional accessory hand based on the unique pathology in the right hand that the holotype specimen had suffered from, where the third finger couldn’t flex (check out this 2016 paper from Phil Senter and Sara L. Juengst). However I’ve only started thinking of this while reviewing this figure, so not a big deal. Might not have been feasible anyways with how small the hands are on this figure. The figure itself is also about 15 inches (38.1 cm) long when stretched out, by 3 inches tall (7.62 cm; measuring from toes to top of the hips). Of course exact dimensions can vary depending on the pose of the figure. Scaling it directly to the 7 meter estimate of the largest specimen (UCMP 77270) puts this figure at about 1:18 scale, which is the intended scale for this figure.
Articulation on this figure is pretty decent, and among the best out there on any Creative Beast Studio release thus far. There is some great wide jaw articulation, and even the tongue is too, which is typical for any Creative Beast Studio theropod at this point. The neck has an amazing range of motion, and is divided into three parts (and at the base of the head). It can be moved quite a bit side to side, but also has some up and down movement, which can be expanded upon with the torso joint, which also has some decent range despite the weird sausage body proportions of the torso. The shoulders can rotate about 360 degrees, and can be moved up and down quite a bit. The elbows can be folded max at about 90 degrees, or straightened out at about 180 degrees. They can also be rotated nearly 360 degrees as well. The wrists can be rotated all the way around, but don’t have much in and out movement, at least from what I can tell. Regardless you can still get some interesting poses out of the arms, despite being on the small side. The only thing I think could have been better would perhaps be the hip and knee joints to allow for a proper sitting pose (such as on the reconstruction done by Heather Kyoht Luterman for the 2009 paper from Milner et al detailing a trackway made either by Dilophosaurus or an animal like it). You can get it into something of the sort, but not quite fully. The ankles can be moved up quite a bit, but not much in the way of rotation from what I have managed. The toes do have a good bit of rotation however, and can also flex up and down quite a bit. Swapping the feet off and on is really easy, with very little force needed, or warming up first. The tail is divided into three joints, the first of which attaches to a ball joint at the end of the torso. The last bit of the tail is a flexible bendy wire, and you can get some really good flexible posing out of it, with a little effort.
This figure is quite the banger, and unfortunately the bad news here is that it is sold out everywhere, and not coming back into stock again sadly (despite releasing in late 2024), especially not with the fresh Cyberzoic one. I got mine back in April from Everything Dinosaur after it was sold out on the Creative Beast website (which the Creative Beast warehouse managed to find more stock of after I bought it from ED, not that it lasted long after though). As far as the Cyberzoic one goes it is also currently out of stock on Creative Beast (despite going into stock back in late October), but will be restocked in Q1 2026 alongside the Andrewsarchus, Cryolophosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Stegosaurus, 1/18 Smilodon, and 1/35 Allosaurus pair, and can be back-ordered. It is currently in stock at Everything Dinosaur (UK) for the meantime. It is worth noting that aside from the obviously different coloration, the Cyberzoic one also features a brand new unique head sculpt. Seeing the success of both the BotM and Cyberzoic variations makes me hope some day we could see another partnership between Creative Beast Studios with Dead Sound, and based upon the wonderful “Hunted by Moonlight” design (perhaps with a corresponding Scutellosaurus prey pack, I mean that would be ideal). A 1/35 version of the BotM one would be very nice to see down the road, if at all feasible. There’s also a Sinosaurus in the works, another theropod with a similar body and head shape, which was long thought to be a species of Dilophosaurus.
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