Dave's Toy Rant: Carnage: Action Figure Dinosaurs - Tyrannosaurs rex Oddly, while this was the first day I saw any Resaurus dinos in the store (one with the new packaging at Target, a pile of Carnage T-rexes at Meijer), I got this on clearance. Ah, the post-Christmas clearancing mania. CAPSULE: Good sculpt, fairly good poseability, although I don't think it would have killed them to have ball joints for the puny forearms. Not quite as good as the Deinonychus/Velociraptor, but still a good toy, and definitely worth the price I paid. $6.99 on clearance at Meijer (no idea what the regular price is...the one I saw at Target had no price near it). RANT: Before I go into this, I wanna point out that "Tyrannosaurus rex" is the proper name, abbreviated "T. rex." The word "rex" is not capitalized. Mind you, compared to mixing up Velociraptor and Deinonychus (they are two distinct species, from different parts of the world), this is a small thing. Card Text - TYRANNOSAURUS REX Known throughout the world as the most popular of all dinosaurs, the fearsome beast is as exciting now as when it was discovered in 1902. Combining immense size and strength, the Rex [sic] is considered to be the supreme specimen of predatory design. it had four foot long [sic] jaws that formed a dreadful maul [sic] armed with rows of thick, six-inch serrated teeth. Equipped with powerful jaw muscles for carving huge gulps out of its' [sic] prey, the Rex [sic] could inflict massive damage. Stereoscopic vision guided each bite, adding accuracy to this hunter's deadly assaults. All of this fire-power was propelled by two robust, striding legs. Whether downing a fleeing victim or competing for another hunter's food, T-Rex [sic] had no equal in his day. For years, T-rex [sic] has been enthroned as the largest meat-eater to have ever walked the Earth. Perhaps, though,there still may come a challenger that will dethrone the king of dinosaurs...[.] Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda Family: Carnosauria Size: About 12 meters (40') long Location: Western North America The sticker for the toy's base also adds that the toy is 1:25 scale, which is wrong. The toy is 1:40 scale, being about a foot long. Zero for two on scale labels (Velociraptor was listed as 1:40 when it's more like 1:10). Packaging: The toys come in boxes roughly 7"x11"x4.5" (18cm x 28cm x 11cm) with a plastic window on front and top, plus nice cut-out claw marks on the side panel with plastic behind them. Inside, the figure is twist-tied down to a plastic mold that holds it in a dramatic position (although I suspect the Stegosaur has trouble generatinf drama). Hidden under the toy is the claw-shaped stand, with prop and stickers (a choice between the scientific information and just the name). The side panel without the claw marks shows off the points of articulation, while the bottom panel has demonstrations of how those articulations work. I get the impression that the line has undergone several delays, because some of the text on the box is copyright 1997 and the webpage says the toys will be out late summer 1998. Oh, and for those who want to know what to look for in the store, the dominant colors of the box are tan and yellow for the Carnage assortment. There's another assortment out now with different colors, but I foolishly forgot to commit the appearance to memory. Figure: The dominant color of this foot-long figure is the classic green that every dinosaur was when I was a kid, but it's accented by a black and red pattern along the spine, ironically giving a sort of defensive coloration. Sort of a tiger-striping in a way, actually. The tail is bend-em, but since the main torso is hollow hard plastic, there's a tactile discontinuity between the tail and body. It's kinda weird- feeling. There's also a slight color difference between the rubbery plastic of the tail and the hard plastic of the body. Granted, making this larger dino out of solid plastic wouldn't have been cost-effective. Despite this, the center of gravity is still forward of the hips. Each leg has three joints...swivel hip, hinge knee and hinge ankle. The feet are fused in position so one has to be the leading leg and the other has to be the trailing leg (unlike the Raptor, which can position the toes). The puny forelegs are on swivel joints, moving up and down. They're too small to have joints inside them, however. The base of the neck moves up and down a little in a "lunging" motion, plus can be turned a little, but it snaps back to position when you let go. The head can swing back and forth about thirty degrees to each side, and the jaw opens nicely. Like the Raptor, the T.rex has cheek muscles as part of the lower jaw to give the opening mouth a bit more realism. The teeth are just pointy enough you can feel them biting down if you put your finger in the toy's mouth. Accessories: The toy comes with a footprint-shaped fossil bed base and a small black rod for a prop. This prop is vital, since the figure simply cannot stand up on its own, since the center of mass is a little too far forward. However, the fused positions of the toes makes it difficult to actually get both feet firmly on the base. The base is a somewhat more rigid tan plastic with airbrushed dirt and a space for the sticker mentioned earlier. The base is heavy enough and wide enough to keep the toy from tipping over (which I somehow doubt is a problem for the Stegosaur or the Terapsids). Overall: While not as good as the Raptor toy, it's still one of the best dinosaur toys I've seen out there. And it's definitely worth the clearance price I found it at. However, the box text writers could use A) an editor and B) a dinosaur expert to help clean things up. A friend of mine in the Biology department was practically livid over the errors in the Velociraptor box text, for instance. Dave Van Domelen, feels vaguely nervous with the T.rex peering at him....