Safari Ltd – The Remarkable Carnegie Collectibles Spinosaurus Reviewed

Spinosaurus Model (Carnegie Collectibles) Reviewed

A few weeks ago team members at Everything Dinosaur asked which of the vast array of dinosaur and prehistoric animal models, would our customers and blog readers like us to produce a video review of.  Our thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions, one of the most popular requests was for a review of the Carnegie Collectibles Spinosaurus dinosaur model made by Safari Ltd.

Carnegie Collectibles Spinosaurus

We obliged and produced a short (5.25 minutes), video review, which can be found on our blog here: Spinosaurus Model Video Review by Everything Dinosaur.

Ever since Spinosaurus appeared in the third of the Jurassic Park films it has become a firm favourite amongst dinosaur fans and a number of manufacturers of dinosaur figures and models have made replicas of this large theropod.  Fossils of this particularly large, sail-backed, dinosaur are extremely rare and the  first fossils to be discovered, those used to scientifically describe Spinosaurus over 100 years ago, have been lost, many scientists consider Spinosaurus as the largest carnivorous, land-living animal known.

An African Theropod Dinosaur

With fossils having been found in Morocco and Egypt, palaeontologists are fairly certain that Spinosaurus lived in a sub-tropical habitat which was dominated by many rivers and large bodies of water.   The skull of the largest specimen known has been estimated to have measured nearly two metres in length, longer than any Tyrannosaurus rex  skull material found.  The narrow, slender  dentary, lined with conical teeth help support the theory advanced by a number of palaeontologists that this dinosaur was a piscivore (fish-eater).  Although, in all likelihood this predator would have happily scavenged carcases and eaten any smaller dinosaurs that it could catch.

The Spinosaurus Dinosaur Model (Carnegie Collectibles)

Fearsome, sail-backed reptile.

This model (seen in the picture above), shows lots of amazing detail.  For instance, the prominent crest on the top of the skull which is painted a vivid, bright red colour and the subtle skin texture which has been created by the Safari Ltd design team along the flanks of the figure.  More than a third of the model’s length is made up of the tail.  Consequently, this replica has a more slender, lighter appearance than other more robust-looking Spinosaurus models that are available.  There is much debate as to the body proportions and the bulkiness of this dinosaur.

This Carnegie Collectibles replica depicts this dinosaur as a lighter, more agile hunter.  Estimates of the weight of this dinosaur vary considerably from around four tonnes to perhaps as much as twenty tonnes so it is not surprising that there is so much variation in  Spinosaurus figures that are available.

Spinosaurus Models

To help create a more complete picture of Spinosaurus, especially S. aegyptiacus, palaeontologists have based their work on comparisons made against more substantial and complete fossil material from related members of the Spinosauridae.  An example of this is, although no fossils of the arm bones have been found to date, most scientists believe that this dinosaur had strong, powerful arms, much longer than an equivalent sized carcharodontosaurid theropod.  In the model of Spinosaurus manufactured by Safari Ltd, the arms are indeed quite long.

A Number of Different Spinosaurus Replicas

Different interpretations of fossil material.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Carnegie Collectibles Spinosaurus dinosaur model measures approximately thirty-five centimetres long.  The hip height is about twelve centimetres and the height of the head approximately thirteen centimetres.  Safari Ltd state that this is a 1:40 scale replica, however, since the size estimates of Spinosaurus vary considerably it is difficult to give a precise scale to most models of this dinosaur.

To view Everything Dinosaur’s range of Safari Ltd models: Wild Safari Prehistoric World Figures and Models.

As with all Safari Ltd models, the Carnegie Collectibles Spinosaurus  is very well painted.  On our stock, the famous sail, has a dark brown fringe with regular orange coloured , triangular markings running down  the sides .  This artwork suggests that the design team at Safari Ltd have opted to depict this sail-like structure as a striking communication  device perhaps used to deter rivals in confrontations over feeding territories.

All in all, an attractive dinosaur model, one that is proving very popular with collectors and dinosaur fans.