For folks that have read a number of my previous reviews, then one should know that I am quite fond of the Dinosaur Park Formation fauna. Ever since getting my hands on the pair of Dromaeosaurus albertensis (in goshawk and American kestrel colors) from the Beasts of the Mesozoic 1:6 scale Raptor Series, I’ve longed for more from that formation. Thankfully with the Ceratopsian Series which followed it, we did get Centrosaurus (in two body types, and the smaller in both green or brown), Chasmosaurus, and Styracosaurus, which then fueled my desire for the apex predators of the ecosystem to serve as rivals, which were none other than the tyrannosaurids. Of the two present in the Dinosaur Park Formation, Daspletosaurus and Gorgosaurus, it was the latter that had interested me the most, and long before it would make its debut in the eventual Tyrannosaur Series. In fact I had quite the hope for a Gorgosaurus to go alongside the Styracosaurus I pledged for while the Ceratopsian Series Kickstarter was still underway. If I had to guess why I was more in favor of that one, it might be that it is closely related to Albertosaurus, if not its depiction in the 2013 Walking with Dinosaurs film.
Of course it was love at first sight once I saw the prototype for the beautiful Gorgosaurus first unveiled in September of 2021, shortly prior to the Tyrannosaur Series Kickstarter campaign’s launch. The Gorgosaurus was one of the later stretch goals, but like all of the figures planned for the Tyrannosaur Series Kickstarter, it was successfully funded thankfully. Ever since then I had been dying to get my hands on one. Despite backing the campaign, I was on a tight budget and went with the Wave 1 figures (the exclusive 1:35 T. rex, the Guanlong and Yutyrannus). Still I had hoped the day would come when I could get this. I was lucky enough to see the prototype back in Legions Con in 2021 (can be seen here), and the paint sample back there in 2023 (and here). Well it finally came into stock in early 2024, along with the rest of the wave 3 figures, but I couldn’t afford it then, and it soon sold out after. It did thankfully receive a restock during the first wave of the Cyberzoic figures in March 2025. With most of the tyrannosaur series figures selling off and being discontinued I jumped on it this past November, during the Black Friday sale on Creative-Beast. Between the sale, and some points stashed away from some prior purchases (such as the Qianzhousaurus I plan to review next), I was able to get this beauty after such a long wait. I am very glad to finally have this beautiful Gorgosaurus figure in my hands now, and I am so happy to be able to share it here with you all. First a little history lesson though.
Gorgosaurus is one of the best understood theropod dinosaurs thanks to a number of near complete skeletons ranging from juveniles to adults. The first specimen was discovered by Charles M. Sternberg in 1913 during an expedition by the Red Deer River in what is now the Dinosaur Park Formation (then thought to be part of the Belly River Formation), of Alberta, Canada. The first material was described by Lawrence Lambe in January 1914. It consisted of the now familiar two fingered forelimb that characterizes this group of animals. It was the first time a complete forelimb from any tyrannosaurid was yet discovered, shedding new insight on the unique anatomy of these animals. A few months later he named the beast Gorgosaurus liberatus in another publication, the species name in reference to its balanced gait. He would then write in more detail on the specimen (published in 1917), and provided detailed illustrations of the skeleton and skull (and photos of the expedition), and some adorable in-life reconstructions of it. More near complete specimens would soon be published upon by W. D. Matthew and Barnum Brown in 1923. Among those was the first juvenile specimen, which was discovered by Charles H. Sternberg (the father of Charles M. Sternberg) in 1917. However it was not recognized as such at first, and was treated as a different species, “Gorgosaurus sternbergi” until a 1970 paper from Dale Russell (where he also synonymized the genus with Albertosaurus, as “A. liberatus“). Many specimens of varying degrees have been discovered in the time since, including one recently published upon in 2023 (Therrien et al), a juvenile with the hindlimb remains of two juvenile Citipes, an oviraptorosaur.
I’ve already mentioned that Gorgosaurus is from the Dinosaur Park Formation, and quite a few of the dinosaurs from it, but others still include hadrosaurids Corythosaurus, Gryposaurus, Lamebosaurus (named after Lambe mentioned above), Parasaurolophus, and ankylosaurs Edmontonia and Euoplocephalus, the troodontid Stenonychosaurus, and another dromaeosaurid Saurornitholestes (which the latter two also have figures in the 1:6 scale Raptor Series). The other fauna consisted of animals like fish, amphibians, crocodilians, pterosaurs like Cryodrakon (relative of the more famous Quetzalcoatlus), a freshwater plesiosaur Fluvionectes, birds, mammals, turtles, lizards, insects, freshwater mussels, and snails. Flora included various ferns, horsetails, conifers, Sequoia, ginkgos, and a variety of flowering plants from trees, aquatic plants, and even grape vines. The Dinosaur Park formation was set during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, 76.5 to 74.4 million years ago. Gorgosaurus was present during the lower (oldest) middle part of the formation, from 76.5 to 75 million years ago, and would have been lived alongside (if not preyed upon) the dinosaurs Centrosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Corythosaurus, Edmontonia, Euoplocephalus, Gryposaurus, Parasaurolophus, and of course fellow tyrannosaurid Daspletosaurus. As much as I desired to use the Gorgosaurus in a face off with the Styracosaurus, it’s worth noting that the latter was from the upper/later part of the formation, and might have lived after Gorgosaurus, and perhaps not necessarily alongside it. That said Styracosaurus is my favorite ceratopsian from the formation (if not in general), and Lambe did name it a short bit prior to his description of the Gorgosaurus forelimb in 1914 for what it is worth (see the paper linked above, and scroll up).
Before moving onto the figure proper, let’s take a look at the packaging, and some of the contents inside. The artwork on the front was done by Raul Ramos, who also contributed to some of the sculpt work (more on that later). It depicts the Gorgosaurus hunting a young Centrosaurus, one of the figures from the Ceratopsian Series, and the colors of it were inspired by the “Monoclonius” from Phil Tippett’s fantastic short film Prehistoric Beast. Inside the packaging are two trays, the top containing the figure itself (which has the static standing legs attached), and the alternate toes, while the bottom one includes the base, the tail, and the pair of articulated legs, which is pretty typical for most figures in the Tyrannosaur Series. There’s also the background insert, which is of a forest clearing overlooking a waterway, and some mountains in the distance. A very nice bit of scenery. Lastly there is a collector card featuring the artwork as seen on the packaging. The base is nicely sculpted, colored simply in grey and green, and fairly typical of these figures. It’s usually only the colors that set them apart (with the exception of the smaller body types that get their own base type). I don’t think it was intended to, but I feel like the colors on it allow for it to make a nice companion piece to the base included in the 1:6 scale Raptor Series Mountain accessory pack. The tree in that pack would probably scale far better with the 1:18 figures anyways (if not some of the 1:35 ones). Unfortunately while I do own that set, no comparison here with it, or even the Styracosaurus I had dreamed of so long ago, since both have sadly been in storage for some time. In any case, one of the criticisms of the larger Tyrannosaur Series figures was the lack of a standing rod to allow for better support, which has now been rectified with the Medium Theropod Display Stand, released in late 2024. I made sure to order one of those alongside my Gorgosaurus late last year.
I think it might be safe to say that the Gorgosaurus is actually my favorite tyrannosaurid of the Tyrannosaur Series (while the Yutyrannus is my favorite non-tyrannosaurid tyrannosauroid), and a good part of that is owed to its beautiful coloration, beyond years of wanting one for my collection. In all the years I have desired one, long before there were plans underway for one, I have always desired it to be blue. No doubt inspired because of the gorgeous Gorgosaurus design (thanks to David Krentz), from the 2013 Walking with Dinosaurs movie. While this figure is not in any way based upon it, as its coloration was derived from a combination of the North American racer snake (Coluber constrictor), and Mako shark, it sure does go a long way to fulfill those long held desires. And aside from the animal inspiration, the final coloration does differ from the earlier concept art from David Silva, after Shane Foulkes painted the prototype up. While the majority of it is in various shades of blue (with some indigo spots), there are some beautiful yellow markings upon the sides, running from the neck down to the body, and continuing from the back of the thighs down the tail. There is counter shading with a cream underside, which also covers most of the head. The tip of the jaws end in a grey color, and the underside of the neck is colored in a salmon pink color. The lacrimal crests and nasal ridge are in a darker yellow orange, contrasting with the deep blue of the body, drawing attention to the head. The end result is so eye catching, and I’m not surprised it has gone on to earn the nickname “blue T. rex“.
As far as the sculpt goes, most of it shares parts with the Tarbosaurus body, or body type #4 (sculpted by Raul Ramos, with part separation by Aaron Doyle), except for the head and neck (which was sculpted by Jake Baardse). In fact I have both figures in hand, and can say this is the case. I would expect some minor proportional differences with rest of the body then (like the forelimbs perhaps), as Tarbosaurus was larger, if not more robust. This body type was also used for Albertosaurus and Daspletosaurus, but I believe the latter did have unique forelimbs, aside from different head and neck pieces among all four. The head is based upon adult specimens like the holotype CMN 2120, if not others like AMNH 5458 (see the previous linked papers, and also Carr, 1999, Currie, 2003, and Voris et al, 2022 for more information on the various material, and comparison with other life stages). There is of course tissue (or “lips”) covering the teeth, and with the proportions of the skull, I can’t help but find it rather endearingly dog-like. Most of the body has been sculpted in fine scales, which is in line with the current evidence for tyrannosaurid skin. A specimen of Gorgosaurus does in fact have a section of scaly skin preserved (if not another, that was lost), and I imagine most of the sculpt relied on what little material was available from it, Tarbosaurus, and from other relatives such as Albertosaurus, Daspletosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus (see the supplemental material from both Bell et al, 2017, and Hendrickx et al, 2022). In any case it gives the sculpt a fine texture to hold in hand (or to look at up close). And for those curious, the cloaca is strangely absent. The sculpt is about 20 inches (50.8 cm) long from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail, more or less depending on the pose. Adult Gorgosaurus ranged from 8 to 9 meters (or 26 to 30 feet), which would put this figure around the 1:15 to 1:18 range, depending on the specimen used. Worth noting that the figure is intended to be in the 1:18 scale range, so the using the larger estimate of 9 meters (30 feet) puts this right on the mark for it. The head on the figure is about 3.25 inches long. The skull of CMN 2120 was measured to be 3 feet, and 2 inches by Lambe in 1914 (or 38 inches), or about 96.52 cm long, though is measured to be 100 cm in Voris et al, 2022. Meanwhile the skull of AMNH 5458 was measured to be 99 cm by Matthew and Brown in 1923, and it appears to hold up in that 2022 paper. Out of curiosity I wanted to compare the head sculpt with these measurements, and see how it scales, give or take. So using Lambe’s estimate of CMN 2120’s skull would put the head at about 1:11.6 scale. Using Voris et al’s would put it at around 1:12. Using the estimate of AMNH 5458 puts the head around that 1:12 mark as well. And comparing the figure to the classic AMNH 5458 mount, the head on the figure does appear to be a bit too large proportionally. Definitely rather curious, and is no doubt just the unfortunate result of sharing the majority of the body with the Tarbosaurus.
The articulation predates the advances made with the post Cyberzoic waves, and so is a bit more limited in the range than later figures like the Allosaurus, and Dilophosaurus. Of note in particular is the criticized neck hoodie piece. While this was particularly limiting on both the 1:18 and 1:35 scale T. rex figures, there were some improvements made for the wave 2 (body type #3) and wave 3 (body type #4) with cuts made to the neck piece to allow for more range of movement. Although not nearly as impressive as the later figures, there is a decent range allowing for some interesting poses with the neck and head. Okay but honestly it is still pretty limiting. Not much up and down, but just enough side to side (much better then the Yutyrannus for example). Like many in the Tyrannosaur Series, it has a pair of articulated and static legs (from the knees down). They are relatively easy to swap out. There’s also several pairs of toes that can be swapped out for the articulated legs, and those are not so fun to swap out (as far as putting them on, taking off is easier). Newer figures like the Allosaurus and Dilophosaurus have disc joints that are not only easier to swap out, but have far more range of movement. The feet are attached to a ball joint, and they absolutely need to be warmed up first before switching them out (or at least with mine), in addition to some brute strength. They obviously lack the range of the newer disc joints on the post Cyberzoic figures, and therefore the toes can only be posed up and down so much before they pop off.
That brings me to the next bit of articulation on the rest of the figure. As far as the head goes, the jaws can close flush, and can be opened rather wide as well. As usual there is tongue articulation, but it has never been something that interested me, although I suppose it is nice to have more options for those that want them. The arms have some pretty decent range at all joints, the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, allowing for a variety of posing options. Although they do feel rather delicate from how tiny they are, so best to be careful and gentle. There is a torso joint which also allows for a decent amount of range of movement (in fact more than the animal could do in life due to its gastralia, and stiff vertebrae. Also a little fun fact, Gorgosaurus was the first theropod in which a complete set of gastralia was discovered in, per the second 1914 paper from Lambe, and illustrated in the 1917 one). The rest of the hip and leg joints are similar to the smaller Dilophosaurus I reviewed prior. Combined with the ankle joints, you can sort of get the figure into a sitting posture, but it does require quite a bit of work between swapping the toes out (and hoping they don’t pop off), and working the joints in (which should be warmed up first if stiff). I think the biggest handicaps to the sitting pose is the hip joints and the bends at the knee which are a bit limiting than like the earlier Raptor Series. It’s another area I hope can be improved in future figures, especially since they’ve made excellent progress with the neck and feet. Lastly the tail has multiple joints, but there isn’t a whole lot of range due to the shape of the tail, though there is side to side motion at least. The tip does have a bendy wire.
Overall I think this is an excellent figure, and I’m pretty happy to have this in my collection after wanting one for so long. There is of course the limitations with the articulation, but there’s still enough to give a good amount of display options. If it were to ever get a parts upgrade kit in the distant future like the recent Dryptosaurus, and the upcoming Yutyrannus, I would be sure to scoop it up. However unlikely, I’d also love to see this in the 1:35 scale someday, as it would be quite fun to have a smaller version of this to toy around with (and perhaps much easier). And of course I still hope to see Corythosaurus, Lambeosaurus, and Parasaurolophus in the line as well. If anyone is also just as behind on this one like I was and still wants to get it, your only option (at least that I’m aware of) is through Creative-Beast. With how many of the tyrannosaur series that have gone out of stock everywhere, and with older figures being discontinued, including this one, best to get it before it goes extinct.
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