Unidentified Found Objects revisited: Late Nineties Star Wars bootleg ships???

 

As I write this, it's time for a weekend post and still actually the weekend, and it happens that I still have a loose end from  previous post on Star Wars ships. I mentioned in the course of that post that I had recently acquired certain kind-of bootleg ships from that franchise. This will be my follow-up report, which fell under a feature that never got off the ground: Unidentified Found Objects (see the first and last posts), dedicated especially to the realm of strange and often all but untraceable "generic" and bootleg/ knockoff spaceships. This lineup in particular might be the most egregious case of all. To get into things, here's another pic of the core group in full, ah, glory...

As usual, my experiences with these begin a long time back, though still pretty late in my life. Right at the end of the 1990s, when I was just out of high school and beginning to experience public transportation, I wandered into a dollar store near the site of a long-defunct mall and saw something odd that I did not buy at the time. They were cheap pullback toys (also the genre of the Spiff ship and its Gobot-adjacent adversary), at least some of which were clearly based on Star Wars. These had been a fairly routine sight in my experience from the 1980s through the '90s, with something of an increase in the Nineties. These, however, were a bit different. For one thing, they were actually pretty good, both in faithfulness to the franchise sources and overall quality. For another, they covered a wider range than usual, with several that had been portrayed relatively infrequently, like the A-Wing seen here, and certain others that didn't appear to be Star Wars ships at all. (I will get back to that...) Finally, several of them still had very odd features, and not just the kind that would be thrown in as a defense against being sued (my area of expertise, in theory). To give a frame of reference, here's one more pic of the group.

"George Lucas's lawyers are incoming, prepare to retreat!"

And an extra A-Wing in the lot...

Inevitably, one issue that can't be avoided is where these fall in the bootleg/ knockoff/ ripoff spectrum. As I have said before, I prefer to avoid the "ripoff" designation as negative and usually useless. The vast majority of the time, "knockoff" and "ripoff" can be used interchangeably. Furthermore, for toys in particular, the issues that I would see justifying the "ripoff" label are issues that can apply in any line: Poor or entirely dangerous quality; misleading packaging and advertising; and especially prices that far exceed the overall value of the product. The last is obviously not an issue when you are down to this level. The "bootleg" label, by comparison, is not "judgmental" but still can be problematic. By the strictest definitions, it means an unauthorized and direct copy of an original product, like the infamous Turkish "Uzay" line (see the Star Wars Collector Archive page). It can broadly apply to a product that is made to resemble an authorized product, which these do come close to. Sure, the X-Wing is simply cartoonish, and the Millennium Falcon has a second cockpit and other extra junk, but it's quite obvious what they are based on and that the designers imitated them in ways far beyond general inspiration. In a crowning irony, the case for a "bootleg" is strongest for the A-Wing, specifically because the size and quality is actually competitive with authorized toys at the time. And that brings us to the crown jewel, a Rebel/ Mon Calamari cruiser.

"It's a- actually pretty good toy???"

Now this is truly a weird pinnacle of knockoff/ bootleg toys. It's an accurate representation of the ship to anything but scale-model standards (even there, I've definitely seen worse), and it's big to boot. In fact, it could very well be the largest representation of any of the Mon Cal ships I have encountered, definitely bigger and in many ways better than the 1990s Micro Machines versions which were otherwise the only game in town for secondary Star Wars capital ships. Then there are a few things only obvious on inspection that turned out in the toy's favor. Even after this much time, the friction mechanism works when tested. Also, though the sculpt and paint look like they belong on a cheap toy, a good part of it is made of diecast metal as advertised on surviving packaging. Here's a few more pics of the awesome.

Naturally, there are plenty of mysteries around this line (investigated most thoroughly if at all by Youtuber Mighty Jabba's Collection), which have contributed to the cost and difficulty of collecting. It has been confirmed that these ships were sold under the name Star Force, though only specimens in original packaging are particularly likely to be listed under that name. No reports have confirmed their first or last production, beyond the general 1990s-early 2000s range. A significant proportion of surviving specimens are from the UK and/ or Europe, which may mean they were sold in greater numbers there. The most significant datum is that they were sold both on card like the ones I encountered and in boxed sets, the latter still under the Star Force name and with the brand name Knight. These sets, in turn, give our best clue to the full extent of the line. From pictures and listings, there were additional ships based with wildly varying accuracy on Darth Vader's TIE fighter, Jabba's sail barge, the speeder bike, Cloud City (!) and Slave One. For maximum confusion, I have encountered several pictures of boxed sets that include completely prosaic military planes, which I suspect means that these were a late attempt by the manufacturer or an intermediate distributor to sell off a substantial quantity of backlogged stock in one go.

Then, of course, there is one more twist. Do these look familiar?

If you haven't placed these, I will admit that I can't remember for sure if I recognized them back then, either. If you got it or just aren't sure, these are indeed the escape craft Narcissus and the freighter Nostromo (or part of it) from Alien. The striking thing is that notwithstanding the plastic junk on the underside (Mighty Jabba theorizes these were meant to be an "action" feature...), these are probably the most screen-accurate and well-done of this whole motley group. Given that fact, these are also definitely the ones that definitely push furthest into the actual "bootleg" zone. One might wonder why anyone thought they could get away with this. One fairly obvious consideration is that this franchise's merchandise was always centered on the monster rather than the ships. Another is that Fox had already faced controversy whenever franchise merchandise that appeared aimed at kids came out, so there was tactical sense in presenting themselves as disinterested in the toy scene. The bigger picture is that the Eighties and Nineties were simply a different and mindboggling time, where any number of litigation-worthy antics were tolerated or ignored, as witnessed by any number of the films in my Space 1979 files (see Deep Space egregiously). While I'm at it, here's a few more pics.

"I don't care if you aren't technically in this movie, PUNCH IT, BISHOP!!!"

So, that ends this tour of my memories. All I can say is, if I remember something nobody else seems to know ever existed, never put the odds against me. I will also admit, even as proof of my own sanity, I'm glad I got these for as low a price as I did. That's enough to wrap things up. To better things ahead!

The Horrible Horror Vault: The one that's a threequel

 

 

Title: Final Destination 3

What Year?: 2006

Classification: Weird Sequel

Rating: What The Hell??? (2/4)

 

With this review, I am three years into doing movie reviews and finally definitely past the 300 movie count. For me, this has simply been another case of looking through a few options with nothing in particular in mind. It happened that that brought me to this revived feature and a movie and franchise that was never really on my radar before, except as a footnote to another movie that it might or might not have ripped off. As advertised, it happens to be the third entry in the franchise, which is exactly where things tend to get weird if they weren’t ready. I present Final Destination 3, a threequel whose good points can be as frustrating as its bad ones.

Our story begins with an introduction to our heroine Wendy, her boyfriend, and an assortment of teenagers that includes a reasonable percentage of actually likeable characters plus a couple jerks who often have a point. A premonition saves the young lady and several of her peers from an accident on a rollercoaster that apparently was last serviced when Zardoz was in theaters, but her guy is among the casualties. Soon, the survivors start to be killed off by strange accidents, and one of the jerks remembers a similar case involving a certain plane crash (because apparently even the characters would rather ignore number 2). That’s enough to convince the grieving protagonist that the unseen forces of fate are killing off her friends and frienemies- and it won’t be long before she is next!

Final Destination 3 was the third entry in the franchise of the same name. The film saw the return of director James Wong and writer Glen Morgan from the first film. The story did not feature any characters from the previous films, though Tony Todd (see Night of the Living Dead 1990) provided the voice of an announcer at the beginning and end of the film. The film starred Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Wendy, with Ryan Merriman as the helpful jerk Kevin and Kris Lemche as (spoiler???) the eventual human antagonist Ian. The soundtrack was composed by Shirley Walker (see Willard),  who had scored both of the previous films. (You really can’t win them all…) The film was a commercial success, earning a worldwide box office of about $118 million against a $25M budget. It received mixed to negative reviews, with more favorable comments singling out Winstead’s performance. Two additional sequels were released in 2009 and 2011. A sixth entry was in pre-production as of mid-2023.

For my experiences, this film came up before simply because of similarities with Sole Survivor (see my re-review, which includes comments that make no sense because I hadn’t decided what feature to put it under while writing it, and my “best” list), which I took a benign view of. As I commented previously, what both films really make me think of is the Change War series by my all-time favorite writer Fritz Leiber, which I have no illusions of being a likely influence on either. As for the present franchise, I was intrigued when the first film came out and impressed when it came my way on (network!) TV. I was interested enough to follow the sequels through 4, and found the present film to be the most interesting and flat-out good by far. If anything, it’s good enough to have a shot as a singularly rare threequel better than the original (compare with Day of the Dead). But, as I already alluded, the things that are good and actually improved are in direct conflict with a great deal that is particularly egregious, and my personal irritation is already going up after confirming that this is essentially from the same people as the first one.

Moving in, the good points of the movie are what we had so far been able to take for granted: Effective cinematography, good acting and dialogue, and a smart, genre-savvy story. On the acting front in particular, Winstead handily delivers what is easily the best performance of the whole franchise, at least outside of Todd’s comic-relief coroner. (Now that is suspiciously close to Sole Survivor…) She gets capable support from Merriman, while Lemche comes from behind as the one who truly and understandably slips into insanity. One can draw a thematic parallel in what is otherwise a weaker point in the story, the heroine’s growing preoccupation with “clues” to coming deaths that stretch things enough to be considered ambiguous in-universe. It all adds up to a story that delivers real emotional weight rather than running through interchangeable cannon fodder. On that point, further mention is in order for the macho minority character, played by Texas Battle (I literally double-checked that this is the actor’s name, not the character’s), who provides poignant bravado leading into the most well-executed death.

The ”but” that’s coming is the kills themselves. If you were willing to go along with the lethal-Rube Goldberg chain reactions of the first movie, there’s no point complaining now. However, as I ranted in a review thread long ago, several of the sequences here are particularly bad. To start with, the opening incident simply shouldn’t have happened, at least in the same way, once one particular character is out of the equation. The first two deaths (apparently done somewhat better in an alternate cut) are clearly a strained attempt to turn an especially stupid urban legend into a sensible scenario, which suffers further from contrived staging and uncharacteristically overt exploitation skin. Then there is the one that has always been my breaking point, an otherwise effective and believable workplace death that mines for redundant shock value with a gore shot that only make sense if a nail gun is loaded with literal nine-inch nails. The bigger “problem” is the definitely cumulative effect of making what would otherwise be an intelligent entry in an already thoughtful franchise feel like the dumb slasher movie that hostile mainstream observers were expecting. That, in turn, could have “worked” if there was an honest attempt at an energetic over-the-top/ “so bad it’s good” revamp (the closest thing to an excuse for 4), but with everything else at baseline, it’s just another case of too much and not enough.

That leaves the “one scene”, and I’m going with my pick for the best scene in the film. After the double funeral of the first two casualties, Kevin finds Wendy off by herself in the cemetery, shot to look sunny and peaceful. As they start into a typically engaging conversation, she says out of the blue (I can at least paraphrase), “Nothing makes me believe there isn’t an afterlife like being in a cemetery.” As the scene progresses, we get a sense of their relationship before and since the original events. It is and will remain emphatically non-romantic, yet there is a distinctive honesty already growing between them. In the midst of it, Wendy comments fatefully that she thought she has been feeling the presence of her lost love, but now thinks it is something different. Right about then, the sunny scene does change as clouds and distant thunder approach. What absolutely works is that even now, the pleasant environment of the cemetery does not feel like mockery or a fake-out; it’s just two sides of nature, mortality and grief. It’s a further reminder that this is a franchise conceived as a story with emotional and philosophical depth. Which, by my running rant, will be a further reminder that this movie is already slipping below its potential.

In closing, I will also acknowledge that I was taken off-guard in the course of this review by just how lonely I am in speaking as well as I have of this one. The first movie deserves to be remembered as a “classic” of 21^st-century horror, and it was already well on its way to that status by the time I got to it. The second was an inevitably divisive entry that tried to develop new ideas and directions, which I personally just find too unpleasant to appreciate. The present film is the one that at least looked for the right balance. It sounds little more than a do-over of the first movie, which in cold blood is exactly what it is. What the creators recognize is that telling the same story isn’t an excuse for also using the same characters. The final product proves that the same premises and situations can in fact lead to something very different, as long as it’s done with real thought and care. For that, I have absolutely no qualms standing by it. That’s enough to end on what I can call a high note.

Fiction special: Retro gaming fan/ parody novel announcements!

 As I write this, I'm at the start of a week I had planned to get in 3 posts for, and I've had a rough day. To fill out the lineup, I decided to post a few announcements about my novel. First, I have indeed finished a complete novel for about the last month (see the fourth demo), which I am currently trying to lock down from further revision I have also submitted the book to the two publishers I could find with an online submission process, which indicated that I should be notified of acceptance or rejection sometime in August. That gives me a couple more months to obsess over the book.

Meanwhile, I did something actually fun. I found a website called Fiver where you can hire freelance artists. I got a black-and-white illustration done by an artist named Nekosa who looked like a fit for my style, based on a scene about halfway through the book. Here, for the first time, is what I got out of it. I feel like this is what would happen if this was a 1980s video game and this was the box art; it doesn't literally represent the scene (which I willingly departed from to show all the characters really doing something), but it gets the idea and essence. Needless to say, I ask that all readers refrain from reposting or circulating this image except as links to this post.

And here's what I could come up with for an actual cover. This was the original title I replaced in the drafts I have circulated so far, because at least one person beat me to it on the Amazon Kindle platform alone. After further assessment, I decided I could use it without legal risk or creating problems for the other author, whose work as advertised is not within the fantasy or parody genres or otherwise directly based on the source material. And, of course, the powers that be can't sue me without suing the other guy first...

So, that is where matters stand. I will be waiting for input and checking out one more legal issue involving the use of song lyrics. If no route to mainstream publication materializes, I plan to put this up by September of this year. I am considering options for getting feedback and maybe a little money while this is still in limbo. Meanwhile, I will be busy going back to actual work. That's all for now, more to come!

Movie Mania Special: "Realistic" Star Wars ships???

 

It’s the off-week on this blog, and I have again decided to do something a little different. It’s time for Star Wars, which I really cover a lot less than might be expected, and this time I’m doing a research piece that I already put out there as a Youtube rant. We’re going to be looking at the urgent question of whether any Star Wars ships are “realistic” as spacecraft. Along the way, we will be considering the nature of the franchise and where it’s been over 4 decades and counting. So to hold momentum, I’m starting with my rating/ category system.

 

Not That Bad: I’m using this especially for ships that are already criticized both for “real world” science and “in-universe” considerations. I give this to ships that meet two minimum criteria: They “look” designed for what they are doing on-screen, and they have some features that would work on a “real” spaceship.

Mostly Good: This is for ships that meet the above criteria and go a little further. In particular, they have distinct parts with definite functions that all fit the ship’s indicated purpose. A further criteria is simply that these look interesting, attractive and generally “cool”.

Actually Okay: The highest level, these are ships that would “work” in reality, with certain “fudge factors” for in-universe things like deflector shields, hyperdrives, etc.

 

So, here are the ships in approximately chronological order.

 

Blockade Runner: This one gets to a major rabbit hole in the lore, as the design and actual models were originally intended for the Millennium Falcon. My guess as to why this quite late change was made is that Lucas simply chose to move away from realism toward the “science fantasy” of the pulps and serials. There can be no argument that this marked a profound decision in the aesthetic of the franchise. What we got was one of the most functional designs in the franchise. It’s laid out in a linear form that has so far dominated “real” spacecraft design, with several discrete parts that have clear and rational functions. As a bonus, the final design and implied scale fills an actual gap between the fighters and enormous capital ships, which is reflected by frequent appearances in the later films. Meanwhile, the original design was immortalized in the Marvel comic, and finally got an authorized release when Hot Wheels released a line based on the models of the late Colin Cantrell (shown below with the Kenner diecast Falcon). If I would have one wish, it would be to have seen the unmodified model in action. We can still dream…

Rating: Actually Okay

 

Y-Wing: This is the SW fighter that has always intrigued me the most. What I find most noteworthy is that it has been consistently portrayed as a multi-role ship, broadly comparable to fighter-bombers like the P61, which in turn make sense for an in-universe workhorse. It also offers a modular design that could easily be modified, and individual parts that have clear and realistic functions. It could easily make the highest tier except for those weird cages at the back of the nacelles. You can impose some reason on it if these are assumed to be capable of accelerating the propellant like an actual railgun, but the rudders would simply be parts to overheat. Overall, it’s a sensible design that would benefit from just a few tweaks.

Rating: Mostly Good

 

TIE Fighter: This is the big target, literally, having long since gone through the cycle from a credible threat to disposable targets several times over. My big rant here is that the whole original point of the concept and design was to throw out Earthly analogies in favor of something that would only make sense in space, and in the original trilogy consistently remained there. (I know, Cloud City, I covered that in the video.) In those terms, there is at least enough functionality to discuss how well it would work whether than whether it would work at all: There are the solar panels for power, weapons shown to fire rapidly, and the combination of computerized sensors and targeting and a large cockpit window. Overall, these are lean and mean ships that were built for blowing Rebels to junk and would continue to do so until and unless the Empire’s good pilots were already dead.

Rating: Not That Bad

 

Executor: I already covered this in a post on the toys, this is Darth Vader’s flagship, estimated as either 8 or 19.6 kilometers long. In many ways, it exemplifies even more than the Death Star the ability of the franchise to write its own rules and still manage a semblance of logic. When you have a ship with the dimensions of an asteroidal moon, practicality is already out the window. Yet, it has a sleek and appealing design, with no canonic weaknesses besides the exposed bridge common to the franchise. Even there, we actually see the pros and cons of protection versus situational awareness and the psychological effects of visible vulnerability. What I love (already a long rant in the video) is the hangar bay. Even for Star Wars, it is too huge for comprehensible function, but here, that lends itself to imagination. It could hold a regular cruiser, for rescue or capture. It could drop prefabricated fortifications from orbit. If there wasn’t a war on, it could reel in asteroids and mine them. It’s just cool, and that’s what has made the franchise last.

Rating: Mostly Good

 

TIE Bomber: When it came to the TIEs, I was able to lump them together in the video in a way that wasn’t going to work here. For a second round, I’m covering the bomber, my personal favorite Imperial ship after the Executor. Famously conceived as an unused shuttle concept for the first movie, this one takes the TIE concept and gives it a lot more space for the parts that would really matter. As a bonus, it offers a multi-role design that could do quite a few things beyond dropping munitions and carrying troops. The only real downside is that we didn’t see more of it.

Rating: Actually Okay

 

A-Wing: Now getting into the third film, this one got an iconic turn taking out the Executor. It has the benefit of a compact and streamlined design that looks like the fast, light interceptor it is supposed to be. If there’s a “problem”, it’s that it still isn’t that aerodynamic for a craft that seems designed for the possibility of atmospheric flight, and the broad, flat body would limit visibility from an otherwise well-designed cockpit canopy. The apparently mobile weapons are also iffy, though they at least offer a real compromise between fixed guns and a full turret. It’s decent if you don’t ask too many questions.

Rating: Mostly Good

 

B-Wing: Now we get to one that feels intended for a bigger role than it ever got, either in the original films or the wider mythos. It’s the most heavily armed Rebel fighter, with the possible exception of the Y-wing, with a very modular design that would presumably allow for a range of missions. The most interesting element is the rotating cockpit, which offers an actual solution to the problem of disorientation during maneuvers. Its implied upright orientation offers a further departure from the plan-in-space paradigm. The big bonus is the attractive and not quite Earthly design, which often comes out as far more prosaic in the models and toys. It’s a nice ship that deserves more attention.

Rating: Actually Okay

 

The Mon Cal cruisers: These ships are my favorites of the capital ships. What they accomplish is to create an aesthetic that is non-human but appealing, in keeping with the franchise theme of casting aliens in “friendly” rather than villainous roles. (Must suppress Yuuzan Vong rant…) They look both organic and adaptable, and present a further contrast with the Star Destroyer’s angular form. As much as a spaceship the size of 3 or 4 aircraft carriers can make sense, these are a functional and truly attractive design. By my further rant, there are ample indications that Home One is quite a bit larger than either the regular cruisers or the Star Destroyers. Without these, the Rebellion clearly wouldn’t stand a chance.

Rating: Actually Okay

 

And here’s a bonus round of ones that didn’t get their own spot in the video…

 

Imperial Star Destroyer: This is the definitive franchise capital ship, literally a mile long with oddly limited armament. For all its issues, it is at least a linear and well-differentiated design. The one really problematic point is the unnecessary division between dorsal armament and ventral fighter bays. It doesn’t help that the main guns are shown with superstructure across half their arc. However, there is room for debate whether the underbelly is as defenseless as it looks, while the topside guns do defend the easiest routes of attack against the bridge and engines. One more rant in order, it was always absolutely clear that these are not meant to enter an atmosphere. All in all, it could have been worse for a ship originally intended to have just a few minutes of screen time.

Rating: Not That Bad

 

Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter: This one did get in the video, as the excellent Action Fleet version. It shows the TIE design filled out to more functional proportions, if anything more than was strictly needed outside the Expanded Universe narrative that standard TIEs have almost none of the things that Rebel ships do. It’s a cool ship that shows that the base design can be adapted.

Rating: Mostly Good

 

Medical Frigate/ Nebulon B: This is one I didn’t cover in the video, in part because the only physical representation I ever found in my usual price range was a Micro Machine. This was the first real Rebel capital ship we got to see, and it’s an appealing and functional design. A deceptive strong point is the narrow midsection, which gives ample room for ships of a range of sizes to dock. Its still unsung high point is exchanging shots with a Star Destroyer point-blank in RotJ, which I picture ending with the kamikaze crash recorded in the novel and script. There’s a little too much kit-bashed pseudorealism for the top tier, but it’s still a worthy part of the fleet.

Rating: Mostly Good

 

Cloud Car: Now the one that’s the actual joke, I just love this one and I will not be shamed for it. It may not do anything, it may not make sense, but it’s an attractive, streamlined design that at least would produce less drag than an actual brick.

Rating: Not That Bad

 

So, that’s my lineup. The real bottom line is that Star Wars always did have a unique aesthetic that usually gave some consideration to functionality. Even the franchise’s lesser efforts still stand above many others from before and long since. (My object lesson in the video, the Nostromo from Alien…) They might not work by “real world” physics, but they still capture our dreams. With that, I’m signing off. Here's one more pic!

The Legion of Silly Dinosaurs: Definitely Dinosaurs Psittacosaurus and Polacanthus

 

As I write, it's the start of a new week and a new month, and I still haven't filled out the previous week. I realized I also hadn't done an installment of this feature since the anniversary post. I seriously debated doing a fiction post to keep this quick, but in the end, I never regret taking a break for a cool dino. It happens that there was one particular dino that's been on my mind from what I have already praised as the greatest dinosaur line of all time. Here is the Definitely Dinosaurs Psittacosaurus, with a friend.

Now for the science, Psittacosaurus mongoliensis was a small herbivorous dinosaur that lived in Mongolia and China about 120 million years ago. It is considered an early and primitive member of the ceratopsian lineage, in some lights transitional between the horned dinos and their nearest relatives, the pachycephalosaurs. It was probably 2 meters long and 20 kg in weight, comparable to a large dog. Through the time this toy was made, it was portrayed as seen here, as nondescript but aesthetically attractive dino that neatly fitted into the most linear models of evolution. Beginning in the 1980s, however, a good deal of new material was discovered including a number of new species. Naturally, things got weird. That culminated in the discovery of evidence of feathers, the first to be found outside the therepods. Before we get to that, here's another pic.

And here it is with Sidekick Carl. The scale in this line was always iffy...

It will already be obvious that this is, at the least, a conservative reconstruction. More recent reconstructions have varied on two points. The first, of course, has been the extent of its protofeather integument, and for once, the consensus has probably not gone far enough. Most will show only a few quills where the tail meets the body, the only thing directly confirmed from fossils, but on any amount of consideration, it's more likely that there was integument over most of the body than that it was otherwise absent. The other extreme is "shaggy" restorations that have so far turned up mainly in amateur paleo art (see here for a gnarly example that seems to be circulating meme-style), which are at least useful for discussion. The second and in many ways more intriguing point is whether the dino had anything close to horns. So far, most reconstructions still show it without horns on the nose or brow where they would be on a full-sized trike, which lines up with what we know from Protoceratops. What deserves more consideration is some form of frill, especially around the rear of the skull, which is consistent with what we see in the pachys. A substantiated theory which has been catching on is that they had some kind of projections on the cheeks. This just might give us a new angle on how intraspecies combat evolved: Maybe grappling or simple display with cheek horns and frills was the ancestral condition of the broader pachycephalosaur/ ceratopsian lineage (I know, Marginocephalia), but was replaced by ramming and stabbing as the diverging lines developed more specialized headgear.

And that leaves us with the friend, the Polecanthus. This is definitely one of the best of an excellent line, and it still holds up pretty well. The real thing was a relative of the ankylosaurs would have lived around the time of Psittacosaurus. It would have been about the size of a hippo, so of course, the designers managed to make it and Psittaco nearly the same size. Beyond that, there's not a lot to say. Here's an extra pic of the pair together.

And a solo pic.

And a couple closeups. Behold the awesome!!!

And that's enough to wrap this up. As I have been saying regularly, this feature has been a big part of what I wanted to do when I set out with this blog. And it's always nice, amid the outdated dinos and wonky patchisaur fantasy monsters, to cover something good. To wrap this up, here's a sketch of a design that dredged this up.

The joke here, the chest is what it would actually take to support the muscles for those wings...

And that's all for now, more to come!