Because the Jurassic franchise part of my collection is filled with action figures by Mattel, as well as older toys by Kenner, I never gave much thought to the Chinese company, Nanmu, who largely produces unlicensed Jurassic franchise dinosaurs. But when I caught wind of their Smart Series Allosaurus, new for 2026, I knew that I absolutely had to have it. Rather than another Jurassic action figure, this Allosaurus was designed after the star of the documentary series, Dinosaur Revolution. My favorite media depiction of Allosaurus, ever (sorry, Gwangi)!
For those not “in the know” regarding Dinosaur Revolution, it was a four-part American documentary series that aired on the Discovery Channel in 2011. The fanfare leading up to it was intense, as I recall, as it was during a lull in dinosaur popularity, before the release of Jurassic World and many years after the release of similar documentaries like Walking With Dinosaurs and When Dinosaurs Roamed America. As usual, studio meddling resulted in a show that was a far cry from the ambitious series it was originally supposed to be. Aside from being cut down in length, the show featured too many talking-head sequences and recaps and unnecessary narration. Additionally, a lot of the stories were downright silly with anthropomorphized characters. Eventually, the show would be recut into the documentary Dinotasia. Narrated by Wener Herzog, Dinotasia felt more in-spirit with the original intent of the show but also cut a lot of material seen in Dinosaur Revolution.
All that said, many of the stories in Dinosaur Revolution were fun and unique, and the designs of the creatures themselves were top tier and highly original. Several big name paleoartists were involved, including David Krentz, who was also one of the directors. Also involved were Ricardo Delgado and Angie Rodrigues. The best episode, by far, was episode two, “The Watering Hole”, which told the story of an Allosaurus living in the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal. In one of the most heartrending sequences ever to feature a dinosaur, the Allosaurus has its jaw broken by a sauropod tail-whip as a baby and is abandoned by its mother, forcing the audience to immediately rally behind this underdog character. Imbued with an abundance of personality, the broken-jawed Allosaurus made an impression that has stuck with fans of the show.
No official merchandise was ever released alongside Dinosaur Revolution, and 15 years after its premier I assumed it was largely forgotten. Rebor released a Tyrannosaurus loosely based on the one in Dinosaur Revolution, but it didn’t nail the look close enough for me to bother with it. The fact that this figure is unofficial and lifted from someone else’s work might rub some people the wrong way, but I think it’s nice to see these awesome dinosaur designs given fresh life. David Krentz’s reaction to the figure was positive on social media and in fact, as I was writing this review, news broke of a collaboration between Krentz and Nanmu on a new T. rex figure.
Nanmu actually made two Dinosaur Revolution Allosaurus figures. I got Crooked-mouthed Guy, modeled after the show’s main character. The other one is named Blade and mimics the look of Crooked-mouthed Guy’s mother, which means that the jaw is not broken. Her facial markings are also different. I have to admit, the name Crooked-mouthed Guy is kind of lame, especially when compared to a name like Blade. Both Allosaurus figures have 21 points of articulation, are made of PVC and POM, and measure 12.5” (33 cm) long and stand 3.5” (9 cm) tall at the hips. They come with a stand (which I haven’t assembled yet and seems largely unnecessary) and three sets of hands; a pair that’s clenched, a pair that’s open, and a pair that’s open with the fingers splayed apart.
Since “The Watering Hole” takes place in the Lourinhã Formation we can assume that Nanmu’s figures represent A. europaeus, but wait, not so fast! The episode was originally supposed to take place in the Morrison Formation and it is entirely possible the Allosaurus was designed before the featured formation was changed. What’s more, the story was influenced by a real-life fossil of a broken and healed Allosaurus jaw that’s attributed to Allosaurus fragilis.
What species the figure represents probably doesn’t matter to most collectors anyway, who are no doubt buying it because of the show it represents and not the actual animal. The Allosaurus design is dated in many ways too, presenting Allosaurus with exposed teeth and a good deal of shrink wrapping when compared to modern depictions. There are also artistic liberties taken with the design, such as an abundance of spikes on the nape, and even a knobby little club on the end of the tail.
Crooked-mouthed Guy comes out to be 1/22-1/29 in scale when scaled down from the estimated length of 23-30’ (7-9 meters) of the actual Allosaurus. For me, this means it doesn’t scale well with my generally 1/18 Mattel toys, but being articulated it doesn’t fit in well with my static figures either. I’ll have to shoehorn it in somewhere or find a separate display space for it.
The jaw is articulated, of course, and the neck is articulated at three different points; the base of the head, halfway down the neck, and at the base of the shoulders. The arms are articulated at the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. At the shoulders the arms can rotate forward and back but cannot swing outwards. However, they can swing outward at the elbows via ball/hinge joints. The hands fit into the arms via ball and sockets and have hinges that allow them to swing in and out. The figure has mid-torso articulation, which allows a greater degree of up and down, and left and right motion. This, along with multiple points of neck articulation, allow for a decent degree of motion.
The legs can rotate completely around at the hips, as well as pivot inwards and outwards. The legs have ball/hinge joints at the knees, ankles, and at the base of the toes. The tail comes packaged separately and can be snapped on and off as desired. It is rubbery, with a bendable wire inside.
The articulation is fantastic but does have its limitations. In Dinosaur Revolution, the Allosaurus can be seen in a couple of distinct resting postures, in a stalking crouch, and in a territorial display pose. I tried to get the figure in all of those poses but couldn’t do it. Also, the head cannot turn far enough around to look over its shoulder. The figure is stable in a variety of poses though, thanks largely to the pivoting action in the hips and feet, and the articulation works smoothly. I do recommend heating up the joints with a blow-dryer before playing around with it though.
The figure has a lean, scrappy, muscular build that’s somewhat canon in my mind for Allosaurus. The head is truly a magnificent work of art. It is finely detailed with minute scales and creases of stretched skin that give it a somewhat gnarly, shrink-wrapped look. The nasal and lacrimal crests are asymmetrical and jagged in shape, and rough in texture. Folds of skin run down the nape and between the rows of irregularly sized spines.
The crooked jaw skews to the right and creates a slight underbite. In the show, the Allosaurus can move his jaw to skew either to the right or left but the figure cannot do that. The finely sculpted, sharply pointed, translucent teeth are among the most lifelike I’ve ever seen. Some of them on the lower jaw point out in wayward directions due to the animal’s injury. The inside of the mouth is detailed with a tongue, and grooves on the palate and rictus tissue.
The rest of the figure is largely detailed with fine, pebbly scales, some feature scales scattered throughout, skin creases stretched along the back, and sagging skin along the underside of the body, and around the joints. Tarsal scutes are sculpted on the fingers and toes. The claws are all finely and sharply sculpted but the thumb claw is not enlarged, as it should be.
A shallow line of spiky scales runs down the midline of the back and as noted before, the tail ends in a peculiar club. I never noticed this clubbed tail when I originally watched the show but upon rewatching it in preparation for this review, I was able to make note of it. I wonder what thought process motivated such a speculative feature as the club is never utilized in the show.
The figure is painted in various shades of drab green with the figure being darkest over the nape, back of the neck, and along the back, and more yellow-green along the flanks, and over the shoulders and hips. Exceptionally faint yellow-green banding runs down the tail, and the underside is dull gray. Below the knees the legs are dark brown and gray and so are the hands. The tail club, claws, and tarsal scutes on the toes, are black.
The head is painted with some orange highlights and black speckling around the lips and jaw, and a dark edged, white slash runs vertically down from the orbit. On the other Allosaurus, Blade, the white slash is horizontal. The eyes are lime green with black pupils. The teeth and inside of the mouth are glossy and the tongue and inside of the mouth are dull pink and red, absolutely nailing the look of wet flesh. A couple spots of exposed flesh are painted on the outside edge of the jaw.
It probably doesn’t need to be said but the paintjob is absolutely exquisite on this figure, among the best of any figure in my collection. It is both naturalistic and attractive, with subtle changes and blends in tone. That said, it’s not an exact match to the one in Dinosaur Revolution, which has a lighter, more yellowish color.
The Nanmu Smart Series Allosaurus is a pleasant surprise for fans of Dinosaur Revolution, and it’s iconic creature designs. Obviously, that makes it a very niche sort of figure but it’s also the one that finally got me to break down and purchase a Nanmu product. For me, this is a masterpiece, a gem in my collection, and what will likely be my favorite figure of the year. If Nanmu continues to take inspiration from Dinosaur Revolution then I imagine my collection of their figures will grow.
All articles on the Dinosaur Toy Blog are written without the use of ‘AI’
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