In my last Takara Tomy review, I covered the ANIA Styracosaurus, the 17th figure in the AL line and a decent, but admittedly somewhat drab-looking rendition of the horned dinosaur. As if in full awareness of the latter fact, Takara Tomy’s 18th figurine of the AL line features a striking contrast in the elegant and brightly colored Parasaurolophus, the first ornithopod dinosaur featured in the series. This review also marks 20 complete Takara Tomy reviews for the Dinosaur Toy Blog, so that’s neat! (apologies to OCD readers for not covering AL-20 for this one, I didn’t think this far ahead)
The “Animal Adventure” Parasaurolophus was originally released late January of 2019, alongside the Styracosaurus. Like all ANIA figurines, the dinosaur comes in one piece, packaged securely in a small cardboard box decorated with photos on the front and a life illustration on the back, plus some facts about the animal and the usual product/brand information. Inside the box with the figurine are two fact cards, one in Japanese and one in English; it’s a nice gesture to encourage education for domestic and international kids, although the English version reads like a poor machine translation. The animal is described on the fact sheets as reaching up to 10 meters (~ 33 ft) in length, which puts the 12.5-cm (5-in) figurine at 1:80 scale.
In an amusing turnabout from many other dinosaurs in the line, the ANIA Parasaurolophus is actually more brightly colored than the life illustration on the box (although the illustration has more intricate patterning). Indeed, the hadrosaur is decked out in an almost neon lime green for most of the body, with an orange flush on the face and crest, and a thick stripe of teal running the length of the spine and tail. While the results might not be very realistic, it’s a welcome change from the browns and grays seen on many prior dinosaurs in the ANIA series. Successive dinos in the line have continued the trend of color and seem to have improved on patterns as well.
Anatomy is pretty good on the figurine; some proportions between the head, torso, and tail are a little off, but within reason for what is meant to be a child’s cheap play toy. The crest is, of course, diplayed in the fullest size, although a slight “fin” of soft tissue in the back hints at more dated reconstructions; indeed, the swan-like neck and head, despite popularity, were already on the way to getting phased out by paleontologists and paleoartists in favor of more robust, horse-like reconstructions. The ubiquitous “duck bill” is also underdeveloped, lacking the larger beak most hadrosaurs likely displayed in life. Elsewhere the feet have the appropriate digits for the 2010s, and the spinal ridge has a lumpy nature that could be an attempt to replicate the animal’s sloped back, plus maybe the famous spinal injury recorded on the holotype specimen. All in all, it’s a pretty decent likeness of the dinosaur at the given price range of 900 yen or less.
Parasaurolophus is one of the more articulated dinosaurs in the line; there are two hinges in the neck, a swivel at each hip, and two more swiveled hinges in the tail. The neck in particular adds a lot of personality when handling the toy, which can be posed grazing, bellowing, or strutting tall. Regrettably the figure can’t balance solely on it’s hind legs, though. The tail joints come set in specific directions, but with gentle handling one can reposition the joints to switch between up-and-down or side-to-side motion. Overall the articulation is pretty basic, but I think kids and idle collectors can get a satisfying range of play from the toy.
Takara Tomy’s ANIA creatures can be hit or miss, but I think Parasaurolophus is definitely one of the better efforts for what it is. It’s a satisfactorily charming little toy that can fit a variety of hand sizes for different ages, and should hold up to play and display perfectly fine. The figurine still appears to be in production, and can be found through a number of channels including Hobby Search and HobbyLink Japan.
Disclaimer: links to Ebay and Amazon on the DinoToyBlog are affiliate links, so we make a small commission if you use them. Thanks for supporting us!
Trending Products
