Frilled Lizard (Little Wonders by CollectA)

Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972

The frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii), also known as the frill-necked lizard or frilled dragon, is one of Australia’s most famous animals, right up there with the saltwater crocodile, dingo, wombat, koala, and kangaroo. Active in the daytime, it spends most of its time in the trees foraging for insects and other small animals. Its frill is normally kept folded up around its neck, but can be quickly erected to intimidate snakes and other predators.

Here is the 2014 frilled lizard toy from CollectA’s Little Wonders series. It is sculpted sitting up with its long tail raised high and swinging to the left. Its mouth is wide open and its frill is erected to the maximum extent. Wouldn’t make much sense to make a frilled lizard toy that didn’t showcase the frill, after all! This one measures a little over 12 cm long, 7 cm high at the tail tip, and also 7 cm wide at the frill.

The lizard’s main colour is medium brown with large dark brown and tiny black markings. Its underbelly is light brown with small grey markings. The eyes and nostrils are glossy black, the teeth are white, and the mouth is pink. The frill features white markings and black spots, and is lined with beige. Real frilled lizards come in a variety of brown shades, with some being much more brightly coloured than this toy, and some being much duller. It looks decent on the whole. But the eyes should not be solid black; they ought to be brown with round black pupils.

The lizard’s diamond-shaped scales are nicely defined, as are the tiny teeth lining the mouth. A small row of osteoderms runs down the back and along part of the tail, which is made of softer plastic to prevent breakage. The frill has a jagged edge save for around the gaps at the top and the bottom, and the folds are sharply defined. It certainly does look like a scary beast this way.

The head on this toy has the correct triangular shape when viewed in profile or from above. The neck is long, the body is flattened, and the tail is very long and whip-like. The legs are the right size, but the toes ought to be longer, especially the hind ones. Aside from that, however, this is a pretty accurate toy and I can’t imagine anyone not being able to tell what it is.

So yes, the CollectA frilled lizard is a rather pleasing toy overall, and an appropriate one to review for the month of Halloween. It can be purchased at online stores like Happy Hen Toys and Minizoo.