Out of all the exciting releases unveiled by Haolonggood in 2023, there were few I anticipated more than the nodosaur Edmontonia, which began arriving to vendors in June. Named after the Edmonton (Horseshoe Canyon) Formation in Canada where the type species was discovered, Edmontonia isn’t one of the most famous dinosaurs, nor even necessarily one of my own favorites; yet it’s known from enough substantial fossil remains to make common appearances in dinosaur literature growing up (especially in Dorling Kindersley publications, featuring the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s life model). This is a dinosaur with enough media presence to warrant a few toys; yet despite a few attempts from the likes of Schleich, Collecta, and even the classic Tyco “Dino Riders” line, for the past 20+ years Edmontonia’s best toy representation has been the rubbery 1994 Battat Boston Museum series model. A proper challenger has been a long time coming for collectors, and Haolonggood proved to be the first company willing and able to step up to the task and give the armored dinosaur its due.
The Haolonggood Edmontonia measures 16.5 cm (6.5 in) long, scaling at 1:40 for a full-sized living specimen of 6.6 meters (22 ft). As is standard protocol for the brand, Haolonggood released two paint variants of Edmontonia, numbered as HLG-024 & HLG-025. Each one also has a nickname, with the blue version called JieZhen & the red version named JieBao. Each figurine is boxed and sold separately, with a check mark underneath to verify which version is included inside. JieZhen was the first to catch my eye; the upper body is a cool grayish blue, while the belly is something of a flesh-tone orange, creating a nice countershading effect. Each scute and spike is given additional highlights that make the armor altogether visually pop with strength. Faint red spots adorn the ossicle layers between scutes, adding another layer to the color scheme of the armor. Larger brown spots also pattern the head, flanks, and legs; the face and feet also feature a darker brown wash.
JieBao features the same brown spots and washes on given parts of the body, as well as the faint red spot patterns over the armor; but the cool blue tones have been replaced with ruddy pinks, plus more saturated oranges underneath. Highlights to the ridges of the scutes and spikes are also retained, albeit less prominently. JieBao looks more uniform in color than JieZhen, but gains the advantage of the aforementioned darker spotted patterns contrasting more to break up the monotony. All in all, JieBao carries its color palette quite attractively in its own right, and the two figures make an excellent display pair together.
Not only do the Edmontonia pair carry their coloration well, they also carry themselves with much more graceful posture than one might be used to from those 90s-era toys and museum models. Like so many other dinosaurs, nodosaurs and ankylosaurs have received a fair share of continued updates and revisions to more accurately recreate how these animals would have really looked. The Haolonggood Edmontonias have shaken off the old hunched, squat pseudo-turtle gait of prior decades; these dinosaurs walk with their legs straight and their backbones level to the ground, but their bellies raised comfortably above it. Their eyes look bright and alert, heads gently dipped; and their tails are balanced straight out behind the bodies, gently swaying to the shifting footsteps and undoubtedly poised to deliver a well-placed smack against any nuisance. These are healthy-looking dinosaurs, with plump guts and toned muscles, tempered by folds of skin or slight rolls of fat along the neck, flanks, and hind legs. Haolonggood has delivered a fine likeness of the Edmonton armored dinosaur.
There’s just one catch to these figurines that should be addressed: which likeness, exactly, is being represented here? Edmontonia has something of a messy taxonomic history, but there are currently two species officially recognized: E. longiceps, the type species discovered in Horseshoe Canyon Formation, and E. rugosidens, a geologically older species from the Dinosaur Park formation. Between fossils of the two species, scientists have fairly substantial remains of the Edmontonia genus; however, being two separate species, there are certain traits which are unique to each of them. When Battat produced their Boston Museum line, their Edmontonia was specifically labeled as E. rugosidens, and most Edmontonia toys since then seem to have followed suit – until Haolonggood’s release. Based on at least a few of the distinguishing features described in armored dinosaur literature, Haolonggood’s Edmontonia pair appear to be more of a chimera between species. Allow me to elaborate…
JieZhen and JieBao have wedge-shaped skulls, which narrow gently and steadily going down the snout, and lack any prominently jutting postorbital armor (behind the eyes); these are traits reflected from E. longiceps. The distinctive shoulder spikes, however, are angled forward in a manner resembling E. rugosidens, in addition to the largest pair of spikes bearing a forked shape that’s almost certainly based directly on E. rugosidens fossil specimens – most notably being AMNH 5665, which is on display at the American Museum of Natural History. Still more confusing, the rows of scutes over the neck and back are ridged, but lacking in points like those seen in rugosidens armor; they seem closer in shape to E. longiceps again. It’s worth pointing out that fossils indicate there can be a fair amount of individual variation within both species; nevertheless, it seems most likely Haolonggood was mixing references from the two in crafting their figurines, so ardent purists for species accuracy may find this frustrating.
Haolonggood can be perplexing in their choice of attention to details, but at least there’s no denying they DO pay a lot of attention. Edmontonia is properly armored with rows of 6, 6, and 4 scutes behind the head, which are described as the cervical bands; the third and largest band should be spaced farther from the other two, however. Following the cervical bands, the back is adorned with 25 bands of small dorsal armor scutes, with correlating lateral spines/scutes running along each flank from behind the shoulder all the way to the end of the tail. The exact number and arrangement of Edmontonia’s armor is still unknown, but the Haolonggood did what looks like a fine job arranging it on their figurine pair. A layer of additional armor (called ossicles) fills in the blanks between scutes, with fairly even definition across the sculpt. Other scale details are similarly applied, with highlights on the face and upper limbs, where the variation in scale size and shape can be more appreciated. The front feet have five toes, although some literature suggests Edmontonia might have had as few as four or even three. All toes have painted claws/nails, although realistically Edmontonia, like any other dinosaur and extended archosauromorph, should not have claws on its fifth digit. The hind feet have four toes, and when inspecting the underside, one can find a cloacal slit, which is a minor detail but one a lot of companies have gotten pretty good about including.
When I first acquired my Edmontonia pair, I was delighted to have a proper, modern rendition of this childhood dinosaur in my collection. While I didn’t expect these figurines to be borrowing features from two different species, that discovery hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm much – although I do hope Haolonggood avoids this in the future and continues improving their diligence in scientific accuracy. JieZhen and JieBao are a splendid pair of figurines and some of the finest toy nodosaurs produced. If you’ve been on the fence about this pair, you can come down: Haolonggood continues to deliver quality dinosaur product.
As of this writing, JieZhen and JieBao the Edmontonias are still available through multiple vendors, including Happy Hen Toys, Everything Dinosaur, various AliExpress shops, and the official Haolonggood Amazon store page.
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