The Stegosaurus scene in The Lost World: Jurassic Park is pretty much that film’s version of the Brachiosaurus scene in Jurassic Park, and almost as impactful. Thirteen-year-old me was certainly wowed, right alongside the film’s protagonists, when Stegosaurus made its franchise debut. And like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park these were scientifically informed, with their backs arched high and the tail lifted well above the ground. I don’t think Stegosaurus was ever depicted in a movie in this way before. It’s a shame that the scene was then ruined by Sarah Harding’s terrible character writing, lecturing everyone about “observation without interference” after man-handling a baby Stegosaurus. I guess the movie didn’t have to be good in order to look good.
Because of the impact they had on me at a young age, The Lost World Stegosaurus has always been one of my favorite designs in the Jurassic franchise and I’ve long hoped that Mattel would make a Stegosaurus that resembled them. But even when Mattel released the Stegosaurus, baby Stegosaurus, and Sarah Harding set, they used the Jurassic World droopy tailed Stegosaurus. My last hope for a Lost World Stego was the Hammond Collection and Mattel finally released one in the collection this year.
The Hammond Collection Stegosaurus boasts 13 points of articulation. Ball joints at the base of the head and at the base of the neck allows for a wide range of movement but there is no jaw articulation. Aside from the Triceratops I think this is the only Hammond Collection figure to omit it. Ball joints are also present on the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The legs can rotate and pivot outwards at the hips and there are ball joints on the knees and ankles. The tail is packaged separately and is also on a ball joint. It is rubbery with a bendable wire inside. The torso is made of hard plastic and hollow, like the Carnotaurus, and the plates are rubbery inserts.
The missing jaw articulation is unfortunate. Trying to find a positive in a negative though, the jaw articulation on these figures is usually unsightly, so the head sculpt certainly looks better without it. The tail is a bit too stiff to function well, and it’s difficult to get it to stay in a desired pose. The figure also wants to tip backwards, lifting the front half off the ground unless the limbs are precisely placed. It is exceptionally frustrating, and you’ll notice in some of the pictures that it appears the figure is on all fours, but the forelimbs are still slightly lifted. It does mean that you can get the toy to stand bipedally though. The kneecaps also prevent the hind limbs from being fully erected.
The toy is enormous and Mattel’s second largest HC herbivore, after the Brachiosaurus, of course. It measures about 18.5” (46.99 cm) long and stands 8” (20.32 cm) tall at its highest point. To get a scale of 1/18 the figure would have to be scaled down from a 28’ (8.5 meters) Stegosaurus. The actual Stegosaurus reached a length of 20-23’ (6-7 meters) but it’s known that those in The Lost World were larger than their real-life counterparts.
In posture the figure elevates the tail considerably when compared to previous Stegosaurus toys from Mattel. The tail might not be lifted to the extreme we see in the film but it’s enough to evoke the film’s Stegosaurus. Twenty-two plates run along the back, which is movie accurate, but the real-life Stegosaurus had 17 plates. The plates and thagomizer spikes are beautifully detailed with ridges and grooves.
The rest of the figure is mostly covered in a rough, wrinkled texture, and cross hatching in place of scales. Some scales are present along the back, but a covering of pebbly, individually discernible scales would have been preferable. Even the Triceratops got that, but it was also much smaller. I find myself indifferent about it though, since what is there still looks incredible. I particularly like the sagging folds of skin along the torso and the skin folds rippling down the tail.
The toy is painted green over the back with a gradual transition to creamy tan colored flanks and underside. The cream-colored portions are flecked with green and a brown wash over the head, neck, back, and torso brings out a lot of the fine details. The plates are dark brown with a light brown wash, and the tail spikes are tan. The beak and all the claws are gray, and the glass eyes are orange with black pupils, and it looks like Mattel has finally nailed the glass eyes with this year’s wave of Hammond Collection toys.
The paintjob looks excellent and appears loyal to what we see on screen. That said, I have seen some copies where the green over the back doesn’t connect to the green on the shoulders. My copy doesn’t have this problem but if you’re fortunate enough to buy one in-store pay close attention.
The Hammond Collection Stegosaurus is an impressive figure in terms of size, detail, movie accuracy, and paintwork. That said, the missing jaw articulation, poor tail articulation, and being back heavy are all noteworthy flaws. Ultimately the toy looks better than it functions. The pros definitely outweigh the cons though, making it one of the best toys in the entire Hammond Collection. It seems that excitement over the HC Spinosaurus has caused some people to overlook this one, and stock is plentiful at the moment. Get it while you can because you’ll regret it later on if you don’t. The figure retails for about $43.
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