Battat Third Series (1998) 1:40 dinos
• new dinosaurs for 1998 •
Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
Acrocanthosaurus looks to have come out of a four-segment mold - left, right, ventral, and at least one segment for the inside of the mouth. Although to casual glance this figure looks comfortably parked on two feet and the tip of his tail, that's more due to my ingenuity as a photographer than to Chinese skill in molding vinyl. He's actually too nose-heavy to stand like that. He seems to have been intended to stand rocked forward a bit, with the tail clear of the ground. But he just can't do it unassisted.
Acrocanthosaurus, a Lower Cretaceous allosaurid of one known species, has been found in Texas and Oklahoma and was described in 1950. Only two partial skulls and some postcranial bits are known, but they're enough to show that he had relatively tall spines running down his neck, back, and tail. The Battat figure depicts these spines buried in substantial amounts of skin and muscle so they're not particularly prominent, but they're definitely there.
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© 1994 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE BOSTON
MS220 ACROCANTHOSAURUS ATOKENSIS
BATTAT INC. MADE IN CHINA
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Nice detail on the dentition ... but why are the juicy parts purple, instead of the more traditional red?
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Well, no wonder he can't stand .... his feet aren't even co-planar.
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Carnotaurus sastrei
Now, this guy is supposed to be standing on two feet and the tip of his tail. His mold was a four-segment one, with the conventional left - right - ventral segments, and at least one more segment for the inside of the mouth. The teeth are small but the undercuts behind them are substantial. I'll bet somebody at Battat enjoyed sculpting those backwoods-ballerina legs. The color scheme, albeit imaginary, is sharp.
Carnotaurus had several odd features which seem faithfully replicated in this figure. A complete skeleton and skull were discovered in Mid-Upper Cretaceous strata in Argentina, and described in 1985. The very high, narrow, and short skull with the two prominent ridges or mini-horns over the eyes, and the very short arms, seem to be well-rendered here. The fossil find also included fragmentary skin impressions, providing the basis for the knobby lumps on the Battat figure's back and sides.
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© 1994 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE BOSTON
MS250 CARNOTAURUS SASTREI MADE IN CHINA
BATTAT INC.
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Euoplocephalus tutus
Wow, is this guy a porker.
Because of all those spikes, the mold was a complicated one. There were conventional left and right halves, and a segment for the ventral surface extending from the lower jaw, along the spikes on the side of the neck, between the legs, and along the spikes on the side of the tail, almost back to the club at the tip of the tail. A fourth segment extended along the dorsal surface between the two central rows of spikes, from the neck to the tail, stopping short of the club. This all made for a very nice molding job.
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© 1994 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE BOSTON
MS210 EUOPLOCEPHALUS TUTUS
BATTAT INC. MADE IN CHINA
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Maiasaura peeblesorum
A conventional figure from a conventional three-segment mold. I note without further comment that Battat resisted the urge to squeeze a baby maiasaur (or at least some eggs) in there somehow.
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© 1997 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE BOSTON
MS230 MAIASAURA PEEBLESORUM
BATTAT INC MADE IN CHINA
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Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis
By posing Pachycephalosaurus with his head turned to one side, Battat not only made him look relatively alert, but they were able to make the figure in a relatively simple three-segment mold. The entire face is part of the left-side segment, and the back of the head is part of the right-side segment. Otherwise, all those spikes on the back of the head would have presented a difficult molding challenge. This figure stands well on two feet, too. In all, an excellent job by Battat.
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© 1997 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE BOSTON
MS240 PACHYCEPHALOSAURUS
BATTAT INC. MADE IN CHINA
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Parasaurolophus walkeri
Another perfectly good figure with no outstanding features. It was made in a conventional three-segment mold.
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© 1997 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE BOSTON
MS260 PARASAUROLOPHUS WALKERI
BATTAT INC MADE IN CHINA
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Dilophosaurus wetherilli, third try
Circa 1998 Battat released a Dilophosaurus without the little square base, bending the tail downward instead to give the figure additional support. I don't have one, but alert reader Dan Humar does, and he has sent these photos, noting that the figure "stands 3.5 inches tall, and both feet and the tail are on the ground. The figure stands upright on its own."
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Tyrannosaurus rex, third try
Finally, the only Battat T. rex variant I happen to have. After the Diplodocus, this is the most imposing of the Battat dinos. Note that rex retains his original 1994 copyright date, although that's actually the date of the first variation. The turned-down tail isn't entirely convincing but it does make him fairly stable (although he does still have a tendency to tip forward). It looks like rex came from a five-segment mold - left and right sides (which include the bottoms of the feet), ventral/medial side of legs and arms, and another two segments for the inside of the mouth. The undercuts behind the teeth are so severe that I don't think one mouth segment would do.
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© 1994 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE BOSTON
TYRANNOSAURUS REX
BATTAT INC
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More nice carnivore dentition, and again the gums and tongue in a strange purple color.
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Reader Dan Humar has sent some notes, comparing the second (1996) and third (1998) versions of T. rex -
I have managed to collect both the second and third versions of the Battat T-Rex, and after comparing them I can report that there are many differences. In fact they appear to come from two different molds. Overall length is identical.
To clarify, version 2 is the snowshoe version, .... and version 3 has the downturned tail and stands on its own 2 feet ....
V2 is fatter, with more lumpiness on its torso - the sides, backbone area, and underbelly. V3 is noticeably slimmer and less lumpy. I measured both models around the barrel of their chests, and V2 came in at a 6" circumference, while V3 measured only 5.5". V2 even has a bigger head, measuring 3.5" circumference at the widest part of the open jaws, while V3 came in at only 3".
V2 has more teeth as well, I counted 22 teeth in its upper jaw and 20 in its lower jaw. V3 had 20 teeth upper jaw and 18 teeth lower jaw. V3 has a tongue that sticks up more from the bottom jaw than does V2.
Version 2 has its legs spread more widely apart, with one foot firmly on the ground while the other foot is partly lifted up as if in midstride. It also holds its front arms in tight to its chest. The tail is held well off the ground, and curves at the end like the letter "S". And of course it has those snowshoes on both feet. The figure stands, but reels drunkenly to one side, as if ready to keel over. From a bird's eye view, the spine is not on center, and only one leg can be seen.
Version 3 has its legs closer together, with both feet flat on the ground (no snowshoes). The front arms are held out as if T-Rex is getting ready to grab its prey. The tail curves downward, almost touching the ground at the tip, but is otherwise relatively straight. The figure stands perfectly on its own two feet, and from above the spine is centered, and both legs can be seen from directly above (bird's eye view). Version 3 also has a more sharply angled neck than version 2.
It seems to me that many of the changes in version 3 were done as a weight saving measure to help correct the problem of the model not being able to stand on its own. (No I didn't weigh the figures). I hope this information and the attached pictures can be of use to collectors of the Battat line of dinosaurs.
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Ceratosaurus nasicornus, second try
I was unaware of the existence of this figure, but Dan Humar has one. He notes, "The figure stands upright on its own only because of the tail touching the ground. In all other respects it seems identical to the 'regular' Ceratosaurus".
I am assuming Battat did this about the same time as the mods to Dilophosaurus and Tyrannosaurus, and so have put the modified Ceratosaurus in here with the 1998 figures.
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