Now the ambush! Ademir explodes from his hiding spot in the tall grass and flings himself upon his unsuspecting quarry, which bellows in fright and pain as his claws easily puncture its skin and dig deep into its flesh.
Now the coup de grace! Ademir opens his mouth to its very widest and swings his head down. But the frantic toxodont lurches to the left and the deadly fangs plunge into its heavily muscled shoulder rather than its neck as intended, with the result being a bloody, but non-lethal wound. Immediately, Ademir pulls out his fangs for a second attempt, but the toxodont bucks furiously and his claws lose their grip.
Now the pursuit! Ademir sprints after the toxodont, seeking to drive his claws into its rump and drag it down to the ground by brute force. But again he underestimates the resolve of his prey. The toxodont abruptly spins around and charges straight at him with mouth agape, exposing its own set of enormous teeth.
Now the retreat! Ademir hastily dodges the attack and turns tail, with the trucculent toxodont thundering after him . . .
Smilodon is far from the biggest Cenozoic land carnivore and it may not have even been the biggest felid of all time, but the good ol’ sabre-toothed cat will always be the most famous, the most popular, and the most charismatic prehistoric predatory mammal. It was always a given that it would be included in Creative Beast’s Beasts of the Cenozoic line, and indeed, there have been multiple versions. You’ve got the standard one, the melanistic one, the Cyberzoic set, and the Kickstarter exclusive Cyberzoic set, all done in 1/12 scale. And for those wanting something smaller and cheaper, but no lesser in quality, there is the 1/18 scale version right here. I named mine Ademir, which is a popular Brazilian name that means “glorious.”
But as always, we’ll start with the packaging. The front of the box identifies the toy as Smilodon populator, the largest of the three described species, and the artwork by Gabriel Ugueto depicts it standing majestically in the grasslands. The back lists the essential details about the animal and the features of the toy, and images of other BotC toys currently available.
The painting on the box insert is of a typical Pleistocene South American environment: grasslands, rocks, palm trees, and a tepui in the distance.
Finally, the collectible information card has a catalog photo of the toy and an abridged description on one side. The other side features a more complete Ugueto painting. As you can see, the Smilodon is in fact sneaking up on some unknown prey animal, possibly a toxodont like in the opening vignette.
And as always, once you’ve got your Smilodon out of the packaging, you need to patiently administer a hair dryer on high in order to safely loosen up all of its joints. Mine had particularly stiff ones in its feet.
Ademir measures about 14 cm long and stands 7.5 cm tall at the shoulder, which puts him at around the same size as quite a few Smilodon toys that have been released over the years. His colour scheme is clearly based on the African lion. The main colours are an attractive ocher brown on top and sandy light brown on bottom. The paws are ocher with beige claws and very dark brown footpads. Very dark brown is also used for the tail tip and for the fur on the back and sides of the neck.
Ademir’s head is painted ocher and dark brown with white patches on the muzzle, a very dark brown nose, and golden eyes ringed with white. Dark brown also lines the philtrum and the mouth, the inside of which is a glossy shade of glossy pink. And lastly, the teeth are light beige. It is all a fairly simple colour scheme, one devoid of spots or stripes, but it looks beautiful and it certainly is plausible for a very large felid that inhabited grasslands and plains.
Ademir’s fur is also very similar to a lion’s. For the most part, it is not thick and shaggy-looking, but rather short and sleek. There are, however, thicker patches of fur growing on his upper arms, elbows, chest and belly, and the backs of his thighs. His short tail is also fairly fluffy. The soles of his mighty paws are, of course, protected by thick padding. Oh, and there is a scrotum visible beneath Ademir’s tail, leaving no doubt as to his intended gender. Although if you wish to ignore that and envision your Smilodon as a female instead, I say go right ahead.
Long, bushy fur is growing all around the back of Ademir’s head, rather like what you would see on the head of a tiger rather than a lion. His eyes are wide open and his ears are perked; he is alert and in tune with his surroundings. Naturally, he does not feature moulded whiskers, but there are rows of pores on his muzzle that denote where they would be. The glossy, moist-looking inside of his mouth features a finely ribbed palate as well as the famous fangs. Overall, the sculpting is exactly what we have all come to expect from Creative Beast Studio: magnificence.
Longtime followers of the blog know full well that Smilodon is the second most reviewed mammal after the woolly mammoth, with this one being the 25th. And there are plenty of others yet to be reviewed here. But in terms of accuracy, it is fair and reasonable to say that the majority of these toys fall short. Oh sure, they are all immediately recognisable as the legendary sabre-toothed cat, but their proportions or overall appearances tend to be wanting. They have heads that are too big, or necks that are too short, or limbs that are not the right length. Or they just look straight up weird and over the top. There are exceptions, though, such as the ANIA one from Takara Tomy and the new one from Schleich–as surprising as that might seem.
Let us begin our assessment of Ademir’s accuracy with his head. It is fairly large, with a vaguely rectangular profile. His deadly canines are huge, blade-shaped, and very pointy at the tips, but the rest of his teeth are relatively small. Indeed, the canines could probably have been sculpted a little shorter and they would have looked just as good, perhaps even more realistic, but one could simply interpret Ademir as being a particularly toothsome individual. His lower jaw has defined grooves to accommodate his canines. It is often pointed out that Smilodon had a weaker bite than modern big cats (S. populator had an estimated bite force of 2258 N compared to a lion’s 4168 N and a tiger’s 3007 N), but it was clearly still strong enough to get the job done. And as I noted in a previous review, those canines were apparently not as delicate as once thought.
Ademir’s neck is appropriately long, and quite deep and muscular. There is a pronounced, but not overly huge hump of muscle over his shoulders. His torso is deep, sloping downward, and narrower than that of many other Smilodon toys, but hardly scrawny. One thing about Creative Beast’s products is that they are always in prime athletic condition, the better to accommodate all the articulation.
Strong, well-developed muscles are visible in Ademir’s properly proportioned limbs. The front limbs are longer and thicker than the hind ones, and the front paws are much more massive. The paws also have the correct shape and digit count. And finally, the little stubby tail is correct as well. Overall then, this is the most scientifically accurate Smilodon toy that I’ve seen yet.
And now let’s talk about Ademir’s articulation. His lower jaw is hinged, opening to about 90 degrees. His head, neck, and torso have double ball joints, his shoulders have ball and swivel joints, his hips have single ball joints, his tail swivels, his elbows and paws are hinged, and his wrists, knees, and ankles have universal joints. He comes with two sets of interchangeable paws: one with the claws unsheathed for action and the other with them sheathed for walking or running. Two mane pieces for the back of his neck: one with short fur and the other with long, swept-back fur. Both attach securely to the neck. I like the look of the shaggier mane better, but it does prevent the neck from raising.
Last and most impressive of all, there’s an alternative head with the ears swept back, the mouth open to a whopping 130 degrees, and the lips pulled back to fully expose all the front teeth. It is every bit as painstakingly sculpted and painted as the regular head and it really makes you appreciate just how frightening and lethal this animal was. Ademir is either about to plunge those fangs of his into the jugular of some poor, doomed prey, duke it out with another Smilodon, or simply indulging in a yawn. The mane pieces can be removed and attached with ease, and they stay in place securely. For the paws and the heads, it is recommended that you apply the hairdryer for a bit before trying to swap them out. I’ll be displaying Ademir with the unsheathed claws, the shaggy mane, and the wide open mouth head once this review is completed.
Due to the limitations of his design, Ademir is nowhere near as flexible as a real felid. He can’t spread his arms wide apart nor lounge on the ground with his lower torso rotated to one side. And due to how small his hind paws are, he can’t be stood up on two legs like Peetyuk can. Nevertheless, he can be put in a wide variety of active and realistic poses. Walking and stalking for starters.
Pursuing.
Lounging.
Contemplating.
Snoozing.
Stretching.
Confronting.
Showboating.
Frustrated by Doedicurus‘ defenses.
Dealing death to a young Megatherium.
Meeting Marbhtach. Play nice, boys.
Leaping into legend.
You can almost hear the roar.
And that about covers it for Ademir the 1/18 Beasts of the Cenozoic Smilodon. As you can plainly see, he is indeed a glorious toy. Expensive just like all other Creative Beast products, but well worth it for any prehistory buff. Superb sculpting, accurate proportions, realistic colouration, savage appearance, and of course, plenty of fun to play with. I will, as always, note that this is a product intended for older collectors and should always be handled and manipulated with care. It is currently available at Creative Beast’s website and at other online retailers.
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