This page is dedicated to reviews of various figures, scale models, miniatures, and toys of Triceratops which I collect. The reviewer (that is, me) is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers of these figures and does it purely for fun and love for Triceratops, hoping to find the perfect Triceratops figure.

Triceratops is a genus of horned dinosaur (family: Ceratopsidae) that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous, about 68–66 million years ago. Its name means "three-horned face" derived from ancient Greek: τρί- (tri-) meaning "three", κέρας (kéras) meaning "horn", and ὤψ (ops) meaning "face".

Triceratops was armed with three sharp horns and a solid bony frill which could serve as a shield to its neck.  The brow horn cores measured 90-115 cm long and may have been longer when covered with keratin sheath while it was alive. They were sharp, strong and robust, perfectly suited for combat. Combined with its bulk, this bulldozer, built for a frontal attack, could stand up to the power of T-rex and defend itself successfully in combat. There is even a documentation in fossils record for a Triceratops surviving an attack by a Tyrannosaurus rex . Although an herbivore and usually peaceful, when Triceratops was disturbed or provoked it was a very dangerous animal, capable of both impaling and trampling whatever stood in its path.

Triceratops was one of the largest Ceratopsians, measuring 8–9 meters long and weighing about 6,000–12,000 kg. It stood up to a height of 3 meters. It was as big as a bull African elephant.  It was a quadruped herbivore with a very efficient digestive system which included a dental battery and a sharp horny beak that could handle even the toughest vegetation. There were probably two species of Triceratops: T. horridus and T. prorsus. They are known mainly from the Maastrichtian layers of the Lance Formation and Hell Creek Formation in the northwest United States, but were also discovered in other places such as Alberta, Canada. Had they have not been confined by oceans and the Western Interior Seaway they would probably expand even further.

Triceratops was one of the most successful dinosaurs of its time (and the most common in its habitat) and the last to stand before the K-Pg extinction wiped out all dinosaurs (excluding the avelians, a.k.a birds). Today it is one of the most famous, popular and well-known dinosaurs, rivaled only by the fearsome Tyrannosaurus and the huge Apatosaurus. It was named and described by Prof. Othniel Charles Marsh, with the help of fossils hunter John Bell Hatcher. 

Triceratops is my favorite dinosaur, and this why I have created this webpage. An emphasis was made on reliable and scientifically accurate information, but as paleontological research advance, our body of knowledge and general view of dinosaurs, and in particular, Triceratops, may change rapidly. 

Schleich's 2014 Triceratops. This is an old model of Triceratops by Schleich and not only it is a very inaccurate depiction of Triceratops, but it also looks bad. They got the head all wrong with a very unnatural and incorrect frill. The legs have clumsy feet with the wrong digit arrangement. The new 2018 model is much much better.  Conclusion: a downfall, highly unrecommended. Mark: 2/10. Length ~20 cm.

Accuracy: 2. Details: 5. Color: 8. Pose: 5. Playability: 8. Wow-effect: 4.

Safari's 2018 Triceratops. The new Safari Ltd Triceratops is better than what it seems from this photo, it is reasonably accurate (for example they got the feet right) and the skin texture is based on the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences "Lane" specimen, for which a petrified skin fossil was discovered. The details are high and include ear holes (behind the epijugals) and a cloaca. The major issue with this model is the brow horns. I can't say they are not accurate - because there are some skulls with such curved horn cores - but I don't like them, I think they are too much curved and lack the mild S-recurved tip at the end, and they should have been longer, too. But as I said before, the 2D image does a bad service to the 3D model. As for the coloring: I didn't like the creamy shade for the horns and beak. But the rest of the body is colored just fine. Conclusion: it is of high quality and accurate but the horns need improvement, but overall it is highly recommended. Mark: 9/10. Length ~21 cm. Link: https://store.safariltd.com/collections/wild-safari-prehistoric-world/products/triceratops 

Accuracy: 9. Details: 9. Color: 8. Pose: 9. Playability: 10. Wow-effect: 7.

Bullyland Museum Line 2010. This Triceratops is from Bullyland's "Museum Line" of 2010 and in the information papers, they wrote it was prepared under the supervision of paleontologists from Stuttgart's Nature Museum. Is it accurate? Not fully. For example, they got the hooving of the forefeet wrong though they got the right number of digits in each foot.  And the ventral side is lacking details such as the cloaca. The skin texture is correct, though with a coarse finish. On the upside, the head is stunning with impressive long horns and a big solid frill. The coloring is good as well. Overall, it is a big stocky Triceratops, weighing 10 metric tonnes (the body is "fat" and massive). This was one of my first quality Triceratops figures and I was really impressed by it when I bought it. Today, the standards are higher, though.  Conclusion: Although not perfect it is still impressive and thus recommended. Mark: 8/10. Length ~22 cm.

Accuracy: 6. Details: 8. Color: 9. Pose: 9. Playability: 10. Wow-effect: 9.

CollectA  2022. In 2022 CollectA released a new Delux "1:40" Triceratops horridus model, based on the latest paleontological research. It is modeled after the "Lane" specimen, using its fossilized skin print to design the integument of this figure: it is a scaley skin with large black scutes on which there is a process, maybe a short spike. The model includes speculative quills on the dorsal surface of the sacrum and high tail, although a recently published paper raised doubts about this speculation (but it was published only after the model was designed and released). The head is very impressive with long horns and a brightly colored frill. The articulated jaw has very little movement range, so it doesn't add to the model. The toes in the legs are correct as well (3 hoofed out of 5 in the front legs and 4 hoofed in the hind legs).  The coloration is good (although a bit sloppy), with counter-shading on the belly and a bright frill, which both are supported by research. The ventral side also has a cloaca. This is a terrific model, big and highly detailed, and very accurate. The posture is active and mostly symmetric (enabling view from both sides), it shows Triceratops threatening an opponent, getting ready to charge. It is made of unbreakable PVC and is therefore suitable for educational playing by children. Nevertheless, it is also a great display figure. I liked the long horns and active symmetric pose and accurate design. I wish the horns were sharper and stiffer, but this is probably a limit to make it suitable for small children. Note that although it is branded as a "1:40 scale" it is actually more of a 1:32 scale if it represents the largest known Triceratops individual which is 9 meters long (the model is 28 cm long). Review by Everything Dinosaur blog can be found here and high res photos I took can be seen on Flickr: [1], [2], [3], [4]. Conclusion: This is one of the finest toy-level Triceratops models, if not the finest. Accurate, detailed, up-to-date, and affordable. Highly recommended. Mark: 10/10.  Length: 28 cm. Link: https://www.collecta.biz/en/collections/prehistoric-world/age-of-dinosaurs-1-40-scale/item/88950 

Accuracy: 10. Details: 9. Color: 9. Pose: 10. Playability: 9. Wow-effect: 9.

CollectA  2023 Melbourne Museum Exclusive. In late 2022 and early 2023, CollectA released a new repaint of its Delux "1:40" Triceratops horridus model, based on the latest paleontological research.  The color scheme is based on Raul Ramos's 3D CGI reconstruction, which is featured extensively in the museum's publications and media. The sculpture is the same as the original figure and is excellent so I will focus on the coloring. The coloring is great, it is both realistic and vivid. It is inspired by the colors of Psittacosaurus which were determined by analyzing fossilized melanosomes. The colors of Psittacosaurus were brown on the dorsal and lateral surface while the ventral surface (belly) was light brown to cream-yellow, a pattern known as counter-shading, which helped camouflaged the animal in varying light-and-shadows scenarios. Conclusion: Like the original figure, the sculpture is great, detailed, and accurate. The coloration is stunning and has the 'wow' effect.  Highly recommended. Mark: 10/10.  Length: 28 cm.

Accuracy: 10. Details: 9. Color: 10. Pose: 10. Playability: 9. Wow-effect: 10.

Haolonggood Triceratops 2024. This model is very impressive, very accurate, and highly detailed. You can actually see the detailed work given to every scale including the large tabernacle scales with a short cone as seen in the "Lane" skin print. The fine details also go to the legs and underside, with small scales, hooves on the right digits, and a cloaca. The only place they neglected was the back of the frill. 

The color scheme is solid and pleasing: the skin is colored grey with stripes of very dark grey covering the dorsal and lateral surface of the body and tail, and the ventral side is colored light grey with a light brown or pinkish hue, fitting the camouflage pattern known as "countershading". The vibrant colors are concentrated in the frill, the Triceratops' main display feature. The coloring work is very fine and precise, showing smooth transitions and care for details. 

The walking pose is solid and good, however - the head's pose is what I like less about this model.  The head is lifted high with the horns pointing almost directly upwards and I would prefer it was tilted at 45 degrees which was the Triceratops' usual head posture. The horns are long and pretty sharp, features I like in horns, but the tips are curved inward (i.e. to the medial direction) while they should be straight (pointing rostrally) or point outward (laterally). The head is also turning a bit to the left, making it the preferred side for display and play, while I prefer a symmetric head orientation. The frill has two large groups of round scales colored in bright red, which might suggest that they cover fenestrae (holes in the frill) - which I dislike - because Triceratops did not have a fenestrae: its frill was solid. One can give them the benefit of the doubt that these "fenestrae"-like scales cover a solid bone, so I have taken only 1 point off the accuracy score. Other than that, the head is highly detailed and well-sculptured. The front-pointing nose horn implies this is probably a Triceratops prorsus, though the long brow horns were borrowed from Yoshi's Trike, which may represent a new species of Triceratops.

Conclusion: Overall this model is very impressive and of very high quality and details, and it is highly recommended. Mark:  9/10. Length: 23 cm.

Accuracy: 9. Details: 10. Color: 10. Pose: 7. Playability: 9. Wow-effect: 9. 

2022 Cretaceous Creations of America 1/20 "Big Mike" Triceratops. This is a resin kit model of Triceratops by Shane Foulkes and Passion Charger. It was sculpted after the latest paleontological research, including on aspects of skin texture, which is highly detailed and includes larges scales and hexagonal scutes with spikes. The head is impressive and highly detailed, and the horns are long enough. The legs seem correct. The musculature and skin wrinkles are super-detailed and the pose is active and interesting. The size is around 40 cm long and 20 cm tall. Overall it is a great display figure and a desktop statue.