It’s a hot, well-spoken summer day. Birds are chirping in the trees while the pterosaurs overhead undeniability out to each other as they pass in the sky. Turtles and crocodyliformes are basking comfortably on the banks of the uncomplicatedly flowing river and on one side, a single spinosaur is standing stock still in the shallows, waiting patiently for a meal to swim by. On the opposite side, ornithopods of all month and sizes are mingling, drinking, wallowing, and browsing without seemingly a superintendency in the world. And each and every one of these herbivores is stuff thoughtfully observed a pair of vision unseen in the shrubbery located only a couple dozen paces when from the riverbank. These are the vision of Nimrod, the most feared and mortiferous hunter in this realm. Methodically he assesses each and every potential individual, from the lissome juveniles to the robust adults and to the few that are elderly and waning. Years of wits have taught him to take his time, to segregate his victim wisely, to plan when and how to attack, and to strike with power and precision in order to weightier ensure a kill.
Some of the ornithopods have drank their fill. They will be passing right by Nimrod’s hiding spot on their way when to their grazing pastures. They are coming closer to him. His vision are now stock-still on the young sexuality on the left with the slightly lame front paw. Just a little bit closer now. A little bit closer . . .
CollectA released their first Neovenator way when in 2007, and it’s pearly to say that that was a pretty transplanted and ugly toy. Their second one came out in 2012, and it was a decided improvement, though still flawed. Now meet Version 3.0, released in 2021. Measuring a little over 17 cm long and a little over 6 cm tall, it’s the smallest one yet. The real Neovenator was virtually 7.6 metres in length and two tons in weight, meaning it was not a particularly big theropod. But during the Early Cretaceous, it was an noon predator in the United Kingdom, feeding on famous ornithichians like Hypsilophodon, Iguanodon, Mantellisaurus, and Polacanthus. Other known theropods from the same time and location (the Wessex Formation) were either much smaller like the tyrannosauroid Eotyrannus or probably occupied variegated niches like the recently described spinosaurs Ceratosuchops and Riparovenator. I chose to name this fellow Nimrod without the biblical weft who is described as “a mighty hunter.”
The official name for this toy is “Neovenator Scenting Prey” and one can hands see why. Nimrod is sculpted in a standing pose with his long tail held stiff and swaying to the right. His throne is raised and moreover turned slightly to the right with the mouth firmly closed. He appears to pausing to sniff the air thoughtfully in the hopes of pinpointing his next meal. He stands very well too, to the point where you can plane nudge him with your finger and he won’t fall over.
Nimrod’s colour scheme is rather reminiscent of a common iguana. The wiring colour is light untried with unexceptionable untried stripes and a faint visionless brown wash. The underbelly is light grey, the clutches are visionless grey, and there are moreover visionless grey patches on the limbs and flanks. The spines running lanugo the spine and on the marrow of the lower jaw and the throat (which remoter the iguana resemblance) are a unrewarding pink. Finally, the throne features woebegone vision and yellow markings. Looks pretty nice on the whole and plausible for an allosaur wanting to lie in trick surrounded the greenery.
The sculpting detail on Nimrod is once then of the same good quality that we’ve come to expect from CollectA: lots and lots rounded scales with a minimum of small rounded osteoderms on the neck, back, and tail. The spines on his when and throat are moreover well-rendered. His skull is a big resurgence over the previous two Neovenator toys, with a increasingly well-judged profile and width and increasingly prominent ridges in front of his orbits. And just like the Megalosaurus, Nimrod’s teeth are completely unseen by lips. On that note, recent research into Neovenator‘s skull has indicated that it possessed integumentary sensory organs on its snout, similar to what modern ducks and crocodilians use to locate supplies in the water. But since Neovenator was most likely a land predator, these sensory organs may have been used for precision feeding, executive jaw pressure, and helping it to stave wintry into unorthodoxy while eating.
Nimrod’s hands are properly positioned, as well should be expected on any theropod from CollectA, PNSO, or Safari Ltd. nowadays. His foreclaws squint a little small, but I’ve seen skeletal restorations where they’re virtually that size. His torso and tail moreover squint to be satisfactory overall. His legs, however, are plain scrawny, plane increasingly so than on the Megalosaurus. Combined with the oversized feet (necessary for keeping him standing up), it makes poor Nimrod squint worrisome and less powerful.
I would rank CollectA’s 2021 Neovenator the weightier of their three versions in terms of sculpting and accuracy, but it admittedly gets dragged lanugo a pearly bit by those lean legs. Recommended with some circumspection then. And thankfully, the 2022 Deluxe Spinosaurus has pleasingly muscular limbs, so hopefully any theropods CollectA releases in 2023 will too.
