Anomalocaris (Song Kong - Dino Mecard)

This is a review of the Anomalocaris figure in the Dino Mecard line by the Korean company Sono Kong, in conjunction with Choirock. Figures in this line appear to be based on a TV show and corresponding card game, similar to Dinosaur King or Pokemon. I must admit, I collected this figure for taxonomic reasons, and I am not familiar with the line, card game, or TV show.

This is an edit of a post I wrote for the Dino Toy Blog, but sharing here too.

Anomalocaris is a genus of Cambrian animals that are part of a sister group to or, more likely, nestled along the arthropods. They were believed to be predators and specialized on trilobites and other hard-bodied marine invertebrates. For several years, the only representatives of this genus in toy form were the original Kaiyodo Dinotales figure and the Lost Kindgom Figure by Cadbury for the Yowies line. Since 2013, several other figures have hit the market including those by Safari LTD, an additional figure by Kaiyodo, and several by Favorite Co.

The figure is one of the miniatures in the line and comes in a blister pack with two ‘mecards’ and a plastic egg that contains the paper describing the figure/animal. The figure itself is articulated at the head, lobes, and tail and can fold into the egg (I wonder if other figures in the line have this same collapsible feature?).

The figure itself is highly stylized but it is something a completist like me cannot turn down. It is small, measuring 6.0 cm not including the mouthparts (see the last image for a comparison with similarly-sized figures). It is made of a hard plastic and comes pre-assembled. The colors are rather gaudy and unnatural, but for some reason appealing to me (such colors on a more realistic model might come across as less desirable but it works given the stylized nature of the figure).

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Comparison of other figures by Kaiyodo (Great Leap Forward), Favorite LTD (Cambrian Creatures Mini Model - Burgess Shale Series), Cadbury (Yowies - Lost Kongdom), Safari LTD (Cambrian TOOB), and Colorata (Paleozoic Creatures):

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Congratulations, nice catch :)

It is quite interesting that an anomalocaris is one of the choices for a tv show children oriented as this one is. Watching some videos of other figures, mostly dinosaurs, I can see they're naturally stylized what is expectable. However, I think it was a good decision to rescue such an unusual release and, afterall, that's a rendition of a unusual creature and surely a perfect complement to your collection.

It's so cute!