Since its release in 2018 one of my favorite dinosaurs in the Jurassic World: Evolution video game has been Dryosaurus. Nearly every park I’ve bult in all three Jurassic World: Evolution games has had a large flock of these cute and charming ornithopods mingling with the Morrison Formation giants. Of course, I’m also really into basal dinosaurs; the humble beginnings of the fantastic giants that would catapult dinosaurs to stardom, and those dinosaurs that would retain those primitive traits all the way to the bitter end. Unfortunately, toy companies are rarely interested in producing toys of these typically small, no-frills attached, basic looking dinosaurs, even if there’s beauty and elegance in their simplicity. Indeed, Mattel’s Hammond Collection Dryosaurus is the first toy of a genus that was described by science over 130 years ago!
Dryosaurus is about as basic as a dinosaur can get. At about 9.8’ (3 meters) long it wasn’t large, but it did rub shoulders with the likes of Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Brachiosaurus. That said, it is only known from juvenile specimens, so we really don’t know how big it got. The above is just an estimate. Regardless, this diminutive ornithopod had no flashy adornments, armor, horns, or unique features to make it stand out. It had a gracile build and long legs, so running away would have been its primary defense. Even as a basal dinosaur fan I must admit, it’s not the kind of dinosaur that kids are clamoring for in the department store.
In light of the above, the addition of Dryosaurus to the Hammon Collection is somewhat perplexing, until you realize that it is included in the Jurassic Park novels. This latest wave of Hammond Collection toys also includes Mussaurus and Ornitholestes, two other genera featured in the novels, so they seem to have stuck to a theme with the smaller figures this go-round. I’ll also be reviewing the Mussaurus but I have no interest in the Ornitholestes.
The Hammond Collection Dryosaurus has 14 points of articulation; the base of the head, the base of the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles, base of the toes, and base of the tail. The tail is rubbery with a bendable wire inside. The articulation works about how you would expect Hammond Collection toys of this size to work. In an attempt to make the feet more proportionate it seems that Mattel has crossed the line into instability. It is very difficult to get this figure to balance on its feet, even in a static pose. Getting it to stand on one foot is virtually impossible but it can be done, even if only briefly.
Notably, there is no jaw articulation. That’s because Mattel packages two separate jaws with the figure. One of them is closed and the other is open and they can be switched. Swapping out the jaws is a hassle and requires significant prying and pulling. While the toy looks like a respectable, docile herbivore with its jaw closed it completely transforms into a screeching hell beast when the jaw is open. The jaw is wide open to the absolute extreme and lined with sharp teeth, like the screaming dinosaur toys of old. It’s hard to tell if the dinosaur is screaming in terror, anguish, fury, or triumph, but you’ve got a real Dr. Jaeckle and Mr. Hyde thing going on with it, depending on which jaw you attach. On top of that, there’s an unsightly seam where the jaw attaches, which makes the open-mouthed version look even more frightening and does the toy as a whole no favors. Clearly, I don’t like it and would have preferred a traditional articulated jaw. I have no plans to snap the open mouth back onto this figure, except maybe around Halloween.
The figure measures 10” (25.4 cm) long and stands about 3.25” (8.25 cm) tall at the hip. Scaled down from the estimated 9.8’ (3 meters) length of the actual Dryosaurus, the toy comes out to be about 1/11 in scale. This is a ways off from the 1/18 scale that the Hammond Collection usually strives for.
In overall appearance and accuracy this is a pretty good Dryosaurus. It has the gracile build of Dryosaurus in addition to a beaked mouth. And although the teeth are horrific when the mouth is open you cannot see them at all when it is closed. The arms are accurately short and there are four fingers on each hand when there should be five, something I wouldn’t consider a big deal. I suppose some filamentous integument would have been appreciated but I’m not surprised that it wasn’t included. Skin detail mostly consists of fine cross-hatching and faint striations etched into the sculpt, as well as skin folds and sags where appropriate. Scutes are sculpted on the toes.
The figure has a beige head that transitions to dark turquoise along the neck, shoulders, and torso, and then olive green on the hindlimbs, hips, and tail. Gold and brown flecks and splotches run across the face, down the neck and back, along the flanks and thighs, and partway down the tail. It is a really lovely combination of subdued colors that reminds me of the Walking with Dinosaurs Leaellynasaura. I wonder if it was intentional.
The beak is black, the inside of the mouth is pink, the teeth are white, and the claws on the feet are black. The hand claws and hallux toes are not painted. The eyes are not the glass inserts we’re used to with the Hammond Collection and are painted on. This wave of Hammond Collection toys is the first to have painted eyes. They’re yellow with gold flecks and black pupils and are outlined in green. The glass eyes seldom had the desired lifelike effect and often looked black and vacant. These painted eyes are far brighter and more lifelike, so they’re a welcomed change.
The Hammond Collection Dryosaurus is a lovely little action figure of a dinosaur that has waited far too long for the toy treatment. That said, it looks downright nightmarish with the open jaw, and the seam around the mouth with either jaw is also unsightly. Hopefully this experiment from Mattel is short lived. That aside, I think the Mattel Dryosaurus should have wide appeal among those that appreciate dinosaur diversity and the elegance of primitive members of the dinosauria clade. This figure seems to be poorly distributed among Target stores and is not available on Target’s website but it does pop on and off of amazon and that’s where I got mine.
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