baryonyx toy

1
Baryonyx

• Baryonyx is the quintessential British dinosaur.
  Perhaps a more classic taxon like Iguanodon or
  Megalosaurus really deserves the top. There is
  something about Baryonyx that stands out in my
  mind as inescapably British. I think this is very
  likely to do with the fact that, for a long time.
  The best Baryonyx toy available was the classic
  monochrome rendition which produced by Invicta
  Plastics for the British Museum. These days,
  possibly due to Old Heavy Claws recent role in a
  Jurassic World film. A few more of these plastic
  piscivores have surfaced, including the subject
  of todays review, which, suitably enough. Comes
  from another ostensibly British producer,
  CollectA.

2
Accurate Size

• At about 3 ¼ in. (8 ? cm.) in height and 10 ¼ in.
  (26 cm.) in length, this Baryonyx is reasonably
  close to its advertised 140 scale. Contributing
  to that height is a robust, sandy-coloured base.
  It gives the animal support and allows it to have
  a natural-looking pose and accurately-sized feet.
  Opinions tend to be strong on the subject of
  bases like this. I am in favour of the idea in
  general. his one is well-executed. Like most
  CollectA bases, it could use some paint, but its
  quite sturdy and has some nice details. It is a
  separately-cast piece from the dinosaur itself. A
  steady hand and a craft knife could help those
  who want to have a go at building a new base or
  finding some alternative method to keep the
  creature upright.

3
Divisive Feature of Head

• Another potentially divisive feature is the
  articulated jaw, something Im not usually too
  keen on. This one is a little rough, with some
  pretty visible seams and even a small gap where
  the pieces of plastic connect. It does lend a bit
  of playability and poseability, but the jaws
  dont exactly come together very closely. Theres
  some ongoing discussion regarding exactly how
  spinosaurid jaws fit together anyhow, so perhaps
  its best to display this figure with its mouth
  agape.
• Despite these issues, Baryonyx skull is pretty
  impressive. Baryonyx had a rather distinctive
  head which reflected well in this sculpt. The
  snout and jaw are long, narrow, and extremely
  shallow. The gap between the maxillary and the
  premaxillary tooth rows is illustrated properly.
  The distinctively procumbent array of teeth at
  the end of the mandible. The eyes are suitably
  tiny. The nostrils are correctly retract from the
  end of the snout. Theoretically enabling the
  dinosaur to lower those fish-catching teeth into
  the water without drowning. 
• The postcranial anatomy is quite good too. The
  neck is relatively straight and quite bulky. The
  proportions of the arms, legs, and tail all
  correspond to typical skeletal reconstructions
  fairly faithfully. The animals namesake, those
  hook-like claws on the forelimbs, are nicely big
  and sharp. Typically, Baryonyx is restore without
  much in the way of a neural sail. This
  reconstruction does show a distinct ridge or hump
  along the back. Evidently inspired by some
  isolated vertebrae recovered from the Isle of
  Wight. Tentatively attributed to a baryonychine
  theropod. 

4
Structure

• In terms of soft tissue elements, my impressions
  are largely, but not entirely, positive. Its
  almost universal that spinosaurid reconstructions
  include very crocodylian-like skin. Fortunately,
  CollectA havent gone too far in that direction
  here. Big, gravelly scales make up the bulk of
  the integument, with some flat scute-like
  structures on the ventral surface. Some larger,
  rounder structures appear in lateral lines along
  the flanks, which lends some nice variety to the
  overall texture. Big, triangular spines line the
  back in three rows which converge at the base of
  the tail. Baryonyx skin itself is sculpted to
  wrinkle and stretch in logical places. Though it
  probably conforms to the musculature of the upper
  legs a little too closely. A minor holdover of
  the shrink-wrapping practise which CollectA
  have in other ways avoided brilliantly here and
  in most of their other work in recent years. 

5
Colour

• Baryonyx paint applications are reasonably sharp.
  The issues are minor and mostly appear around
  those extremely small teeth. The eyes are done in
  CollectAs usual beady black, which always looks
  pretty good to me. The claws have a muddy brown
  color. The main piece is cast in a muted orange
  plastic. Decorated with some dark reddish spots,
  a sandy yellow underside. A bright orange
  highlight for that sharp crest on the skull.