Titanosaurus (Jurassic World: Rebirth, by Mattel)

Titanosaurus is a dubious genus of titanosaur described in 1877. It would have lived during the late Cretaceous in what is now India. Named after the Titans of Greek mythology, it is the first dinosaur described from India. Two species have been named: T. indicus is known from a single vertebra and T. blanfordi is known from two caudal vertebra. The remains of both Titanosaurus species were lost for many years and then rediscovered in 2012. Titanosaurus is considered nomen dubium by some because its remains cannot be distinguished from those of related animals. Despite this, Titanosaurus is the type genus for the entire Titanosauria clade.

Because of its scant remains and dubious nature it seems odd that Titanosaurus would get a starring role in the Jurassic World franchise. The director of Jurassic World: Rebirth, Gareth Edwards, seems to have drawn inspiration from the kaiju character also named Titanosaurus and that’s reflected in some of the design choices used for the dinosaur. Gareth Edwards also directed 2014’s Godzilla and the 2010 kaiju film, Monsters.

Today we’re looking at Mattel’s Titanosaurus action figure, part of their line of gigantic sauropod toys. I have a love/hate relationship with these toys because while they’re magnificent to behold they are preposterously large and hard to display. They’re expensive too, and I always tell myself that I’ll only get one if they go on sale and they inevitably always do. They’re also a pain to photograph for these reviews! For this one I had to rearrange my entire dining room! I used to haul them outside but that was even more of a hassle.

Mattel advertises this toy as being 59” (150 cm) long and 33” (84 cm) tall. That’s an inch less than the length they advertised for their Dreadnoughtus but my own measurement along the curve of its neck, body, and tail give me a length of 70” (177.8 cm), which makes it longer than the Dread. A lot of that length is tail though. In Jurassic World: Rebirth, the Titanosaurus measures 144’ (44 meters) and scaled down from that length the toy comes out to be 1/24.

Of course, we don’t actually know the length of the real Titanosaurus, so we won’t bother trying to scale the toy down from the actual animal. It wouldn’t have been as large as the Rebirth version though, we know that much. We also can’t really discuss the accuracy but suffice it to say that some liberties were taken here. For example, the tail is way too long for a titanosaur of any genus, but it was deliberately designed this way for the scene it was featured in. The feet are also the generic elephantine feet that sauropods are often plagued with. Titanosaurs in particular had a highly derived manus, even among other sauropods, with some entirely lacking phalanges.

The figure comes in four pieces that once together cannot be taken back apart. The toy has an articulated jaw, and the neck can swivel around at its attachment point. The neck can also rotate around at its base and can be lifted up and down thanks to a rotating wheel within the torso that it attaches to. The limbs can rotate forward and back and thanks to the length of the tail the toy can be positioned bipedally, although it is precarious. The tail can also twist around at its attachment points.

The entire figure is covered with scaley cracked skin, and wrinkles. The detail work isn’t as strong as on some of Mattel’s other offerings but it’s good enough considering the size of the toy. The head has a bulbous nasal sac that the film’s Titanosaurus had, and I think it looks neat. Decently rendered, peg-shaped teeth can be seen inside the mouth along with a tongue.

The neck thickens as we get closer to its base and thick necks on sauropods have always been my preference. Plenty of loose sagging skin folds can be seen cascading down the neck and continuing along the limb joints, torso, thighs, and base of the tail. The limbs are decently proportioned and muscular.

Translucent, rubbery red fins can be seen running down the nape and along the base of the tail. These are controversial among fans but are a direct nod to the Titanosaurus kaiju, which possesses similar adornments. They’re nicely sculpted, with veiny skin running between stiff spines. They’re rather fish-like and seem very unlikely for a sauropod. In the movie they could be relaxed and held against the body or erected to stand up. Again, like a fish.

The figure has a black head and neck, with white over the cranium, yellow eyes, white teeth, and pink tongue. Further down the neck, the black overlays a white throat and chest in a striped pattern. The black continues down over the shoulders and torso, with stripes bleeding down the sides. The rest of the body is gray until we get to the tail tip, which is painted in alternating bands of black and white. The toenails are not painted.

This paintjob doesn’t quite match what we see in Jurassic World: Rebirth, where the Titanosaurus have a mostly white neck with dark stripes along the sides, are more mottled in color, and have more banding along the tail. It’s close enough though, and rather striking! As far as paintjobs on Mattel sauropods go, this might be my favorite.

The Jurassic World: Rebirth Titanosaurus is basically a made-up sauropod possessing a heavy dose of artistic license. For that reason, you’re likely to either love it or hate it. If you’ve been collecting Mattel’s sauropods thus far, I can think of no compelling reason to skip this one… unless the liberties taken with it have gone too far for your tastes. It’s an enormous, cool looking, nicely detailed action figure. A toy in the truest sense of the word. If you like toys, and I mean actual toys, you’ll love this one. The Mattel Titanosaurus is currently available at Target and retails for about $75 but sales on it are frequent. It has been available for roughly half a year though, so I wouldn’t wait too much longer.