Dakosaurus (Planet Wow by Blue Ocean)

The last Planet Wow figure that I can review is the Dakosaurus. In addition to their crocodylomorph figures I’ve reviewed so far, the company also released a Sarcosuchus, though as a secret figure or something like that. But unfortunately, I don’t have that one. Everything you need to know about the relationship between Blue Ocean and Planet Wow and who Blue Ocean actually is, you can find in my review of their Simosuchus if needed. One thing’s for sure, the discovery by our forum hasn’t been that long ago, and their peculiar selection of published recent and extinct crocodiles has caught quite a bit of attention. But the more people get their hands on these figures, the more they complain about the easily rubbed-off paint on the pretty squishy rubber that the figures are made from. So my concerns were about product safety, in case paint rubs off and gets into a kid’s body. After the first elephant in the room, floppy rubber and its possible toxins , had been well cleared away by Mr. Sonneck from the company, I also asked him about the recently discovered paint wear. In my opinion, he was also able to handle this second elephant in the room quite well, too. Here is what he wrote me after I wrote him about my concerns:

I discussed the issue of paint rubbing off with the colleague who oversees the crocodile series. There are indeed batches in this production that have this problem. That of course shouldn’t happen, and my colleague is still checking why some parts of this production are affected. We suspect that the primer and/or protective coating used was either not applied in some areas or applied too thinly. However, we can only confirm this once the inspection with the producer is finished. Even though it’s obviously annoying, we can rule out any health risks. The figures were tested, among other things, for EN 71-3 (migration of chemical elements). This test checks whether any health-relevant substances (e.g., heavy metals, plasticizers, etc.) could leach out from the paints or materials if a child puts the figure in their mouth or swallows it. So, the test doesn’t primarily measure paint rubbing off, but the chemical safety of anything that does rub off or leach out.
As with the other tested parameters regarding the toy safety guideline, the tests were passed without any issues.
I have attached the corresponding test report for your information.
TPR is generally critical when it comes to colors/paintings. The material is soft, the colors are rather firm, which leads to lower paint adhesion compared to hard plastics.
Since we are aware of this, we pay special attention to abrasion resistance with such materials, but unfortunately, it seems this hasn’t worked consistently here…
I hope this helps you.

Help me it did. Honestly, I’ve never experienced such good public relations when it came to complaints or concerns. To his mail he even attached a 58-page TÜV report! For context: The TÜV (“Technischer Überwachungsverein” means Technical Inspection Association) is THE authority in Germany when it comes to product safety – and you know us Germans! They work with European standards, too, and you know us Europeans: We have a regulation for the allowed curvature of bananas and cucumbers! Everything has to be checked here, from apple peelers to trucks. And they are basically – you know us Germans- incorruptible. I have to take my cars there every two years and they basically always have something to complain about, and back then they even once took a car that was still in perfect condition off the road.

After this long-winded but important introduction, let’s now get to the figure itself. It depicts a Dakosaurus, which, despite of its name, isn´t a dinosaur but a marine crocodile with an unusually short snout that lived from the middle Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) to the Early Cretaceous (Aptian). Fossils have been found in Europe and Argentina. The larger of the two valid species, Dakosaurus andiniensis, was found in 1996 by students from the University of Buenos Aires in the Argentine part of Patagonia. Among the finds was a fully preserved fossil skull. The researchers involved in the study nicknamed it ‘Godzilla’ because of its unusually short snout for a crocodile. In 2006, it was scientifically described in the journal Science by paleontologist Zulma Gasparini from the National University of La Plata, along with D. Pol and L. A. Spalletti. The skull and teeth suggest that D. andiniensis, unlike its contemporaneous relatives, didn’t hunt fish, but rather marine reptiles like Ichthyosaurs. In its lifestyle, it probably resembled other big-prey-hunting sea creatures like the Great White Shark or the Orca. It was approximately between 4 and 5 meters long.

Blue Ocean gave this 17 cm long and 3 cm “tall” figure a light blue paintjob while the belly remained unpainted. The base color was complemented with black stripes, probably to represent camouflage. The mouth is actually pink on the inside, the eye is yellow and highlighted with black-slit pupils.

Our figure doesn’t look as threatening as in the live depiction on the mandatory accompanying sheet. Like many other Blue Ocean crocodiles, it seems to smile at us rather friendly. As for the detailing with the tooth in the jaw and the claw details on the limbs, you could call it average. The rubber the figures are made of obviously just doesn’t allow for much more.

However, I don’t really find that a big deal. I’ve already mentioned about the other characters that they serve to encourage kids to collect, marvel, and compare. In this way, they might serve as an entry point for further engagement with paleontology. So we’re well advised to look at the Planet Woe series as what it is: a small series of lovingly made gimmicks—nothing more, nothing less. PNSO might have released a significantly higher-quality version, Matell´s version might look much more threatening – but we definitely shouldn’t mix up the leagues in which the respective representations play.