When it comes to pterosaur toys the companies that make them have two options; make it in a flying pose or make it in a standing pose. Since kids play with them, most pterosaurs are in flying poses, but there have been many standing pterosaurs over the years going all the way back to Marx in the 1950’s with their Pteranodon. Sometimes you get figures that straddle the line and are positioned in flying poses that also stand decently, like the most recent Schleich Anhangeura, which stands on its wingtips, and Invicta Pteranodon, which rests on its belly. Sometimes companies make two versions of the same figure to cover all their bases, like Bullyland did with their Geosternbergia (Pteranodon).
Recently, toy companies have tried to make a singular figure that can both rest on all fours, as pterosaurs did, and fly. Schleich did an admirable job of it with their recent Quetzalcoatlus, which has wings that are articulated at the shoulders and wrists, and pliable wing membranes. Mattel did it too with their Hammond Collection Geosternbergia, which has bendable wires in its arms. But none have done it as well as the toy we’re looking at today, the Aerial Ambush Quetzalcoatlus, a true marvel in pterosaur toy engineering.
The Aerial Ambush Quetzalcoatlus is Mattel’s third Quetzalcoatlus toy and was released alongside Jurassic World: Rebirth. What makes this toy special is that it can be posed standing or soaring. The shoulders and elongated fingers that support the wings are articulated. When the arms are pulled down the elongated fingers automatically fold and the shoulders lock into place. The wings membranes are made of fabric and fold easily in an accurate way. A button on the back snaps the wings back open in dramatic fashion. The only thing that is missing is a flapping action, but it was worth sacrificing.
Although the feature is innovative to be sure, it’s not without its flaws. Many collectors have reported that the locking system in the shoulders is inefficient and sensitive to the slightest touch, making the wings snap open by themselves. You’ll notice that in my pictures I have the toy positioned on a white piece of cloth. This is because I couldn’t get the toy to stand on the smooth surface that I normally take pictures on. The limbs would start to slide apart until the locking system failed. This was an immensely frustrating toy to photograph. Other collectors have reported that they don’t have this problem and more recent production runs may have it resolved. As I type this review, I’m happy to report that the toy is standing soundly next to me, but who knows for how long.
The toy is articulated in other places too. There is articulation just past the base of the head, allowing the head to be positioned facing forward or looking down and slightly to the left and right. The range of motion isn’t great, but the head is also tied to an action feature, so it makes sense. A second button on the back opens the beak and emits various screeches and squawks. The three small fingers on the wrist are also articulated and can swivel around. It now occurs to me that when I took my pictures the hands were incorrectly facing palms-up. All well, I’m not taking new pictures! You can’t make me! The legs are articulated at the hips and ankles, which allows the figure to stand and hold the legs out behind it as it sours. There is no wing membrane connecting the legs to the tail, as there would be in nature, but that’s alright.
The Rebirth Quetzalcoatlus differs greatly in appearance from the one we saw in Dominion. This makes sense in the franchise as Dominion’s was a genetically pure animal cloned by Biosyn while the one in Rebirth was cloned by Ingen. Rebirth’s is far less scientifically accurate, but we won’t get into that here, it still looks cool and despite some unbelievable azhdarchid physics it had one of my favorite scenes in the film.
I do need to point out that the toy is not film accurate though. The Quetzalcoatlus in the movie has a shorter and wider bill that’s orange. It also has blue markings running down the neck and the wing membranes are blue on the outside surface and red on the inside. The toy more closely matches the render concept of the animal and since toys are often put into production before designs are finalized, inconsistencies in design are to be expected. Considering that the wings are fabric, I don’t think we should have expected them to display two different colors anyway.
The Aerial Ambush Quetzalcoatlus is a massive toy that absolutely dwarfs its Dominion counterpart. It has a 24” (60.96 cm) wingspan and measures 13.5” (34.29 cm) from beak to tail. In a resting pose it stands 10” (25.4 cm) tall to the top of the head. The Rebirth Quetzalcoatlus is reported to have had a 39’ (11.8 meters) wingspan and to have stood 16’ (4.8 meters) tall. Using wingspan, we get a scale of 1/19.5 and using height we get a scale of 1/19.2. This is sufficiently close in scale with Mattel’s generally 1/18 humans, vehicles, and canon dinosaurs.
The detail work on the figure is excellent, as usual for Mattel. The beak is smooth with a bit of a rippled texture close to its base, and the addition of the “gut hook” on the beak is an admittedly cool one. The eyes are tiny and sunken within wrinkled sockets. The tiny piercing eyes and grin in the beak give it an eerie appearance. You couldn’t reason with this animal, it would just eat you without concern.
Aside from the head, hands, and feet, the rest of the toy is covered in beautifully rendered pycnofibers. A sculpted membrane stretches between the shoulders and what I assume is supposed to be the location of the pteroid bone. This bit of membrane is not painted to match the fabric ones though. A crest of long pycnofibers runs down the nape.
The fabric wings are thin and flexible but don’t appear delicate or easily torn, although I’m sure there are some kids out there trying their best. The membranes are sewn directly into a small flange of plastic running along the arms, fourth digit, and torso. This flange is only visible from the underside.
The toy is almost entirely black with the only color on the plastic portions being on the head and neck. The upper mandible is gray with black along its edges and orange spots highlight the hooked crest atop the beak. The orbits are airbrushed in red and there’s a red spot on the throat. The eyes are yellow with black pupils. White stripes run down the nape and are replaced by a pair of white stripes along the throat. The wings are blue with black stripes bleeding down from the arms. The wrinkled tongue and inside of the lower jaw are pink.
Although its reluctance to stand makes me want to throw it against the wall, the Mattel Aerial Ambush Quetzalcoatlus is objectively one of the best pterosaur action figures ever made. The action feature is state-of-the-art and fun, the toy is large and impressive, and the details and color palette are superb. I gave high praise to Mattel’s last Quetzalcoatlus, but this one makes it look pitiful by comparison. If I could only have one pterosaur action figure in my collection, the Aerial Ambush Quetzalcoatlus would be it. Definitely one of the highlights from Mattel this year.
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