Tuatara (Dinotales Series 2 by Kaiyodo)

Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972

Despite its long and interesting history, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) keeps a surprisingly low profile among modern fauna. That may be because of its unexciting lifestyle, which renders the reptile a less sought-after star for modern media. Right in line with that is its rarity in the toy or model world. There are a handful of figures, but the quality varies from cartoonish to mediocore. Not surprisingly, Kaiyodo surpassed all those others and delivered a near perfect model for its size.

The tuatara is endemic to New Zealand and, despite its superstitious similarity to iguanid or agamid lizards, is the only remaining genus of the old and once numerous lineage of Rhynchocephalia. Depending on the source, one or two species are accepted. Both are threatened by invasive species today, after being eradicated on the mainland by the Maori and almost tipped to extinction on the few offshore islands by European settlers. If you are seriously interested in the biology and ecology of the tuatara, I highly recommend the monographic tome by Alison Cree.

Kaiyodo’s tuatara is the “secret” figure of Series 2 of their famed Dinotales line. It is the only figure representing an extant animal. I am unaware what “secret” means, probably that this figure was more rare than the other models. The series was released in the 2000s and is long since discontinued. You may be able to hunt it down on eBay for as low as 20 bucks (but be prepared for more) or contact brettnj of the forums.

The figure measures 6.8 cm in direct line and around 8.5 cm along the body (scale roughly 1:9). The proportions are accurate, short strong legs sprawl from a thick and high body, the triangular head is broad and high, and the tail strong and comparably short. A medium high ridge on head, back and tail is present as well as the unusual horizontal bulges along the flanks and the vertical divisions in the tail. As usual with Kaiyodo, the detailing is very nice, although not as intricate and fine as in some of their other models. A weak point are the eyes, which bulge out a lot, but at least are nicely painted. Overall though the paint job is very simple, especially compared to its comrades in the Dinotales figures, but accurate enough to make this figure a fair representative for its species. All in all this little lizard model is a serious addition to any reptile model collection and highly recommended.