Released just last year is a wonderful pair of Beelzebufo from Rebor. They have really outdone themselves this time. I’ve collected quite a number of their models over the years, and honestly I think this one may just be my favorite yet (though the Deinonychus trio are still tough contenders). It was first revealed on their social media accounts back in June 2022, so it is nice to finally have it in hand after all this time. The figure is released in two color schemes, with the “Goo Goo Doll” based on the Prehistoric Planet design, with the other “Little Feet” one based on its depiction in Dinosaur Revolution. While the subject of this review is of the former, the latter is mostly the same, short of the coloration and different head sculpt. I don’t know what the names are in reference to, and I’m not really interested in doing digging on those anyways. It’s also worth noting that this is their first fully articulated figure, while most of their previous offerings only have the occasional jaw, and forelimb articulation, and typically with a bendy wire tail.
Beelzebufo is one of the most famous prehistoric amphibians, if in part due to its inclusion in a bit of media. Aside from the documentaries Dinosaur Revolution, and Prehistoric Planet, it’s also present in the children’s TV series Dinosaur Train, and the video game Ark: Survival Evolved/Ascended as a tame (albeit oversized quite a bit to ride on), if not some other media as well. The name Beelzebufo means “devil toad”, and alongside the earlier size estimate putting it above the largest extant frog, the Goliath frog/Conraua goliath, it helped it earn a reputation as being a dinosaur eating frog (which it still carries). It’s no surprise it has got its due in media, and is now up there with the likes of Diplocaulus, and Koolasuchus (and perhaps Eryops as well) as one of the most beloved, and perhaps infamous, prehistoric amphibians. In fact long before Rebor revealed their Beelzebufo sculpt was in progress, it was on mine, and many other people’s wishlists. Perhaps long overdue, but better late than never, and all the more reason I am very glad to have this one in my collection now.
As mentioned earlier, the initial 2008 paper by Evans, Jones, and Krause estimated the snout-vent length to be up to 42.5 cm (16.7 inches) long, with a skull width of 20 cm (7.9 inches) which helped play into the dinosaur eater reputation it gained earlier on. For comparison the extant Goliath frog/Conraua goliath can have snout-vent lengths ranging from about 17 – 35.6 cm (6.7 – 14 inches) long. A later 2014 paper by Evans et al have refined the estimate to be around 19.3 – 23.2 cm (7.6 – 9.13 inches), based on more complete material found after the initial publication, in addition to postcranial material from Ceratophrys aurita. The 2014 paper also mentioned that some specimens had open sutures on the skull, and may have been able to grow larger (although some specimens were fully mature at a smaller size). Skull width in the paper varied from 12.9 – 15.4 cm (5 – 6 inches). This smaller size estimate is still in line with some of the largest extant frogs, just not quite Goliath frog big. The Rebor figure is intended to be in 1/2 scale, and the snout vent length is approximately about 12.7 – 13.33 cm (5 – 5.25 inches) long (giving a range due to using a stiff metal ruler). Meanwhile the head is about 7.62 cm (3 inches long). Comparing my 12.7 cm (5 inch) estimate to the 2014 estimates, puts it at about 1/1.5 – 1/1.8 scale. Using my 13.33 cm (5.25 inch) estimate with those same prior estimates, would put it at about 1/1.4 – 1/1.7 scale. And for those curious, using the older estimate from the 2008 paper, and both my measurements, puts it at about 1/3.3 – 1/3.2 scale. Using the skull estimates from the 2014 paper with my measurement, the skull scales to about 1/1.7 to 1/2. Using the older 2008 estimate for the skull gives it a scale of about 1/2.6. So yeah I think it is safe to generalize that this figure is in the 1/2 scale, more or less.
Before moving on the figure proper, size and scale estimates aside, it is worth noting that Beelzebufo was from the Maevarano Formation, of Mahajanga Province of Madagascar, and lived about 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period. Beelzebufo might have lived alongside quite an interesting assortment of animals that were also present in the formation. These include the toucan-like stem-bird Falcatakely, the second most famous abelisaurid Majungasaurus, the noasaurid Masiakasaurus, the paravian Rahonavis, the titanosaur Rapetosaurus, the adorable little herbivorous crocodylomorph Simosuchus, along with fellow crocodylomorphs Mahajangasuchus (relative to the more famous Kaprosuchus), and Araripesuchus. In addition to those were snakes like Madtsoia, turtles like Sahonachelys, mammals like Adalatherium, and a number of fish. Honestly it is one of my favorite Maastrichtian faunas, and as a result figures like this Beelzebufo figure hit a sweet spot on the market for me, as aside from the occasional Majungasaurus, and Masiakasaurus, figures of anything from this formation are pretty rare on the market (seriously how has nobody made a mass produced Simosuchus yet? It is practically begging for one, even more so after being in Prehistoric Planet Season 2).
Now as mentioned earlier, the coloration of this figure is based on its take in Prehistoric Planet, which is easily my favorite take on the animal so far. The colors of the design are wonderfully recreated here, with various shades of green, orange, yellow, and cream. Most of the figure is covered in a glossy coat, giving it a proper wet look, and the inside of the mouth is mostly pink, as expected. Worth noting is the fantastic translucent tiny teeth present, something that’s been a highlight on Rebor’s figures, that they’ve excelled in (and I honestly wonder why more companies don’t go this route). Although the eyes are clearly painted, the gloss and metallic gold for the iris almost gives it a glass eye look. The end result makes this feel very alive, like it could hop about any moment. I’m not sure if the original design was based on any extant frogs, but if one knows with any certainty, please leave a comment.
The sculpt of this one is mostly in line with the current fossil material, which I would expect assuming it was directly based upon the Prehistoric Planet design (which by the way was designed by paleoartist Gaëlle Seguillon). There’s lots of interesting bumps and wrinkles giving some great texture to the skin. I do think the shape of the mouth, or tip of the snout (dorsal side), could perhaps be a little bit wider though, when comparing it to the skeletal reconstruction from the 2014 paper. Most of the fossil material consists of fragments of the skull, but there is a little bit of the spine, and hind limb. The rest of the anatomy is your typical frog anatomy, with a large head, short torso and forelimbs, with long legs and feet. As there is no fossil digit material for Beelzebufo, I guess the generalized frog anatomy here is likely within reason. As far as articulation goes, there is the standard jaw, and there are ball joints at the wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. The hands have a bit of up and down motion, and can be fully rotated around, the elbows can be rotated, and the shoulders as well. The shoulders also have a bit of up and down motion. Each of the leg joints can move in any direction, giving a wide variety of posing options, from leaping, and sitting and such. It’s worth noting the shoulder joints on mine were really tight, almost like they were glued in, which thankfully a bit of scalding hot water poured over them helped loosen them up, along with moving them about. The ankle joints on the other hand are super loose. Might also be worth noting that if any of the joints pop out when posing they are pretty easy to pop back in, as I encountered myself while exploring the range of articulation.
All together this is a fantastic figure of one of the more famous prehistoric amphibians out there. I would highly recommend anyone interested in this animal, the Maevarano Formation fauna, or prehistoric amphibians to get their hands on this figure while it is still in stock at retailers. While this particular version is currently sold out at Big Bad Toy Store, it is still available at Happy Hen Toys (US), Everything Dinosaur (UK), Sugo Toys (Australia), Modellpferdeversand (Germany), Speelboer (Netherlands). Meanwhile, the Little Feet version is still in stock at BBTS, in addition to the rest of those retailers. Lastly for fans of Prehistoric Planet’s creature designs, Rebor has also offered a repaint of their “Kiss” Tyrannosaurus based on the design (the Island version), which released last year, as well as an upcoming pair of Quetzalcoatlus named “Lead & Zeppelin”.
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