I’ll be honest, I initially planned to skip this figure back when it was originally announced in 2020 due to the animal in question’s fragmentary nature currently consisting of hind limb material for the most part. That’s despite the beautiful prototype it got later on, which was certainly tempting. Enter the “dragon prince” Khankhuuluu mongoliensis described just last year, which gave me a renewed interest in this figure. The fossil material now assigned to Khankhuuluu was formerly associated with Alectrosaurus, though the question remains, will this work as Khankhuuluu? So time for a little history lesson before delving on to the figure itself.
Alectrosaurus olseni was first named in 1933 by Charles W. Gilmore, and consisted of the two specimens AMNH 6368 and 6554, the former having material from a forelimb, and the latter from the hind limb, as well as the claws of the hand, and part of the pelvis. Both specimens were collected by paleontologist George Olsen in 1923 in the Iren Dabasu Formation, of Inner Mongolia, China. In 1977 the Mongolian paleontologist Altangerel Perle described and assigned the specimens MPC-D 100/50 and MPC-D 100/51 to Alectrosaurus olseni. MPC-D 100/50 consists of parts of the skull, spine and tail vertebrae, some of the shoulder, and some other fragmentary bones. The latter specimen MPC-D 100/51 includes parts of the skull, the pelvis, and the right hind limb. These two specimens were initially discovered in the Bayanshiree Formation of Mongolia. Later research (Mader and Bradley 1989, Carr 2022) suggested that the material from AMNH 6368 was not from a tyrannosaur, but instead from a therizinosaur, and that the hand claws originally associated with 6554 potentially do not belong to it either, leaving only the hind limb and pelvis material as the lectotype of Alectrosaurus olseni. Both MPC-D 100/50 and MPC-D 100/51 were assigned to Khankhuuluu mongoliensis by Voris et al last year, in addition to another skull bone MPC-D 102/4, a left frontal (top of the skull, above the eyes), originally described in 2012 by Tsuihiji et al. This bone was also found in the Bayanshiree Formation.
The Iren Dabasu formation is from the Late Cretaceous period, though there seems a bit of back and forth on the specifics of when. Fauna includes ornithopods Bactrosaurus and Gilmoreosaurus, the titanosaur Sonidosaurus, ornithomimid Archaeornithomimus, several oviraptorosaurs including the giant Gigantoraptor, therizinosaurs Erliansaurus and Neimongosaurus. Meanwhile the Bayanshiree Formation is from the earlier half of the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 96 to 89.6 million years ago (about Cenomanian to Coniacian). Fauna from it includes ankylosaurids Talarurus and Tsagantegia, the ceratopsian Graciliceratops (formerly associated with Microceratus, or “Microceratops” as it was named prior), a number of ornithopods including Gobihadros, the sauropod Erketu, the giant dromaeosaurid Achillobator, ornithomimosaur Garudimimus, therizinosaurs Duonychus (also named just last year), Erlikosaurus, Segnosaurus, and a number of other animals including the crocodylomorph Paralligator, a few pterosaurs, mammals, and a number of turtles. Of particular interest here is the Achillobator, as Creative Beast Studio has not one, but two releases of this animal in both the Beasts of the Mesozoic and Cyberzoic lines. Unfortunately I’m still behind on getting either, so I’m unable to get a comparison between the review subject and those.
Before finally addressing the figure, it’s worth mentioning the fantastic package artwork on the box from Raul Ramos depicting two Alectrosaurus fighting in that classic “Leaping Laelaps” pose. The background insert is of a lush forest background, like in the package artwork, and perhaps one of my favorites in the line. Like the other Tyrannosaur Series body 2 figures, it comes with a base and various posing rod parts, a collector’s card featuring the package artwork, and several alternate pairs of toes. Same sculpt as the one included with the Qianzhosaurus I reviewed prior, but different colors. Still nice for what it is though.
Now as far as the figure goes, only the head sculpt and arms are new, and were sculpted by Jake Baardse. The rest of it part shares with the juvenile Tyrannosaurus (or perhaps more appropriately Nanotyrannus lethaeus now, considering it appears to be based on the Jane specimen, per Zanno and Napoli, 2025). It appears the skull may have been based on material from either Alioramus or Qianzhousaurus, due to the proportionally similar snout shape, and the included nasal ridges and lacrimal horns, albeit smaller in comparison. Though it is still possible it could been based on the material from Khankhuuluu, due to its former association with Alectrosaurus. While there was yet another tyrannosauroid specimen (with skull material) discovered in the Iren Dabasu formation in the 1920’s (AMNH FARB 6266/6556), it was not described in full until 2022 by Thomas Carr, several years after the head was sculpted and revealed in 2020. Granted it was not assigned to Alectrosaurus, as without a specimen sharing both this skull material and the hind limb material of the lectotype specimen of Alectrosaurus, it is hard to say what animal it belonged to. Ultimately while this could work as Khankhuuluu, the skull shape on this figure differs slightly per the current reconstructions of it, though it isn’t too far off.
With no forelimb material outside of a hand claw for Khankhuuluu (as described by Perle, 1977, but potentially lost, along with some other material, so excluded in the 2025 description), and none currently associated with Alectrosaurus itself, the forelimbs as reconstructed on the figure are entirely speculative. Although there is a basis for it as the ancestral state was the three digit hand among the Tyrannosauroidea (and Coelurosauria), such as seen in the fossil material of Eotyrannus, Guanlong, and Yutyrannus for some examples. At some point this third digit was lost (with the exception of a vestigial hand bone, the third metacarpal) in the later diverging tyrannosauroids and tyrannosaurids in particular. Rather interestingly the skeletal included with the paper describing Khankhuuluu does include a third reduced digit like on this figure. Perhaps another point in its favor, although again it is still speculative.
Now the coloration of the figure was based on a juvenile green tree python (Morelia viridis), at least the red color morph (as they sometimes are also yellow), and what a striking coloration this is. Even despite my original hesitation due to the fragmentary nature of Alectrosaurus proper, the coloration of this figure was certainly enticing on its own. I do find it to be one of the more elaborate colorations in the entire Tyrannosaur Series as well. While the majority of the figure is a red color, the underside is a mix of yellow blending into a cream color. The back of the figure is decked out in pale yellow spots, ringed with a bright blue color. There’s a few solid black spots on the sides here and there, most numerous by the pelvis. As far as the articulation goes it is largely the same as it was on the Qianzhousaurus I reviewed prior, if not the aforementioned juvenile Tyrannosaurus it shares the body sculpt with, so I don’t feel I need to revisit that. Though I will say this body type is one of the best among the entire Tyrannosaur Series line when it comes to posing potential.
It is worth mentioning the figure measures about 32.39 cm (12.75 inches) long with the head, neck, and tail straightened out. The figure is about 12.07 cm (4.75 inches) tall at the hips with the legs and ankles straightened out (though feet flat on the ground). The head seems to be about 5.08 cm (2 inches) long, though the full head piece, which includes the base of the neck, seems to be just shy of 5.72 cm (2.25 inches) long. Scaling it to the skull measurements for Khankhuuluu, estimated to be between 60 to 70 cm long (23.6 to 27.6 inches long) per the paper by Voris et al, gives the figure a scale of about 1/11.8 to 1/13.8. Scaling it to Alectrosaurus estimated body size of 5 to 6 meters gives this a scale of about 1/15.4 to 1/18.5. Using Khankhuuluu estimated body size of 4 meters, gives a scale of about 1/12.4. As this was originally intended to be Alectrosaurus, it does fit nicely into that intended 1/18 scale. For use as Khankhuuluu though, it would perhaps fit better alongside other 1/12 scale figures (such as some of the recent Beasts of the Cenozoic figures). Though again do note proportions are using the juvenile Tyrannosaurus sculpt for most of the body, and while similar, could also be a bit different.
Unfortunately this figure, like most of the Tyrannosaur Series, is now out of stock. I got mine after it hit low stock back in early March, where it shortly went out of stock soon after. Everything Dinosaur and Speelboer both had a limited supply afterwards, which is also now gone. Your only chance of getting this one is keeping watchful eyes on the aftermarket, though expect it to cost quite a bit as recent aftermarket prices have been brutal. Alternatively one could wait for the upcoming Alioramus remotus that was revealed back in late 2024, and will share the same body type at least.
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