Time to look at another single, kind of special figure. This time another very unique model from the French company Starlux, but how often does a company make a dicynodont? And even more, how often does a company make a kind of aberrant dicynodont like Endothiodon?
Starlux was always great for the huge taxonomic variety that they released as part of their prehistoric line. Most people that are familiar are especially in awe of animals like the ‘agnathans’, weird reptiles, and mammals. But there are a few other even stranger ones, like this odd dicynodont. Of all the types of dicynodont that could have been produced, Starlux chose to make one that doesn’t even have the characteristic large upper teeth (the 2 large canine-like tusks that give the group its name). Instead, they released FS40092 in 1981, the weird and hippo-like Endothiodon. Which admittedly does have fairly larger canid teeth in the lower jaw but those weren’t made visible on the figure.
So how is the figure? Well, it’s kind of in the tradition of Starlux reptiles and dinosaurs–kind of there, but not quite. One of the funniest things is that the real skeletons of these beast shows that the head show almost be even more exaggeratedly large. The figure already looks kind of like a hippo…with a bigger head it would be even harder to miss! The eye also seems a bit too far forward. The figure is decently sculpted, even with all kinds of wrinkles and even little skin tubercles, and the paint job is acceptable for what is kind of an analogue for a mega-mammal. It is of course questionably applied, and one of my models is clearly more worn than the other. The feet do seem a little too elephant-like, as the skeletons seem to show a more splayed foot. But why not…smaller toes would probably have broken off a lot more.
For what they are, this Endothiodon figure is a pretty good model. I was fortunate to get my first one from a friend that had a spare–yes, the leg was broken, but hey, I didn’t have any dicynodonts at the time (the only other dicynodont figure I knew of was a Nayab Placerias figure, which I hadn’t yet found…but found eventually) and the appearance was a little confusing at first–but I did get to learn more about dicynodonts. Also fortunately, I later made another (internet) friend with some real sculpting skills and he was able to fabricate an oak prosthetic for the figure; the dark wood is a pretty decent match, and yes, I considered painting it to match better but I kind of like the way it looks. Plus, of course, I was able to get another copy, this one being complete and with slightly better paint! So that’s great. I would definitely recommend trying to find one to add to a collection…but of course it’s long out of production and as hard to find as any other Starlux…maybe more so (since I imagine it wasn’t particularly popular with children in the early 80s). Still, you should try and find one, I think the weirdest Starlux figures are the best ones!
