Camarasaurus (Haolonggood) – Dinosaur Toy Blog

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Review and photographs by Henry, age 12, edited by Suspsy

Camarasaurus was a basal macronarian sauropod that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic. Although there have been quite a few figures of it over the years (and most have been incredible), there are few that are as impressive as Haolonggood’s 2024 take.

I was originally planning to get PNSO’s massive Camarasaurus figure, but when I remembered that Haolonggood’s was equally huge (not to mention £15 less), it was a definite purchase. Overall, it is an incredible figure, but I do have some minor critiques that I will touch on later.

The figure itself is 47 cm (18.5 inches) long, not accounting for curves, and stands 21.5 cm (8.4 inches) at the top of the head. Scaling down from a 15 metre (50 feet) C.lentus, that would give us a scale of 1:32. However, given a possible length of 20-23 metres (65-75ft) for C. supremus, that would put it in a range of 1:43-1:49 scale. It could easily fit in with most of PNSO’s sauropods, as well as any true 1:35 collections. I will note that Haolonggood gives an official length of 45 cm. A minor difference, but something you may want to factor in before you buy it.

The head is very nicely detailed, as is Haolonggood’s usual standard. The nasal openings are thankfully in the correct place for a macronarian and the ear is nicely defined. The presence of the ramphotheca (keratinized bill) is a now widely accepted feature of Camarasaurus and other sauropods and is depicted here. Unfortunately, it is wasn’t very well defined in the paint job, so I have gone over it with a dark wash to make it clearer. The eyes, though nice, are large and blue and end up looking quite cartoony. This is something I’m very glad that Haolonggood seems to have stopped doing on their figures more recently. Unfortunately, the head does suffer with a minor case of being emaciated, which is a trend that really needs to go away. I mean, the Safari Ltd. Camarasaurus was made six years ago now and its head is less shrink wrapped than this!

The bottom of the neck is very wide and beefy, which is somewhat strange in contrast to the emaciation of the head, but suits the bulk of the body very well. The legs are tall and pillar-like, almost like tree trunks, quite fitting considering how many sauropod fossils have been mistaken for petrified trees. Both the front and back feet have the correct amount of toes, with the back feet having only three nails on each foot.

The underside is nicely detailed and consistent with the rest of the body, and from below, you can really appreciate the massive gut that enabled sauropods to get so gigantic. There is also the Haolonggood logo and the “Made in PRC” stamp that thankfully isn’t too noticeable, although there is one heck of a seam line underneath. It is barely noticeable from the front, back, and sides, but as soon as you flip this guy over, you just cannot unsee it. I don’t know why there is a massive seam there, but at least it is basically invisible from most angles.

The back is littered with sparse osteoderms in a very natural and satisfying pattern, and the bulk of this thing is incredible and outweighs the PNSO Alamosaurus by almost 100 grams! The tail is incredibly muscular and curves nicely into a flick at the end.

Overall, the scalation detail is nice but it is very granular, reminding me almost of PNSO’s earlier figures. It isn’t awful, but I would have liked something a bit finer, maybe closer to their Stegosaurus and less like the Eofauna Tyrannosaurus rex. The pose is very nice in general, not too exciting at first glance, but when posed next to something like the PNSO Allosaurus, it looks almost like it’s being pursued by a predator. It’s trying to escape, but encumbered by its own weight.

The colour scheme is beautiful, but it is also where my main gripe lies. The complementary colours of red and green are a huge win in my book and I think the desaturated yellow and the dark stripes are executed very well, but it is the application of the red that bugs me the most. The red goes along the bottom of the neck, across the chest, and onto the bottom of the tail, but it looks like Haolonggood applied a white or light grey undercoat, then put on a very thin red paint that went into the recesses and tinted everything. But the effect is almost like the paint was rubbed off, and it just bothers me. But don’t worry, we do have the Haolonggood signature coloured tail tip! As always, there are two colour variants. This one is the Peng Qi variant, while the Han Tao variant has a more brown and orange colour. Had the latter been in stock, I may have chosen it instead!

Despite my gripes with this figure, it is a truly stunning piece. It is imposing, even next to the PNSO Alamosaurus and the Invicta Brachiosaurus and it makes a great counterpart to the Safari Ltd. Camarasaurus. Though it is only my first Haolonggood sauropod, it definitely won’t be my last (looking forward to that Brontosaurus!) and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to get a large 1:35 sauropod for their collection at a good price. It is widely available on most online shops and is sold for around £43.99 ($59.52 US).