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Jurassic World Primal Ambush · Gigantic Thrashers
Daspletosaurus Gigantic Thrashers First look at the Primal Ambush Daspletosaurus — a sandy orange tyrannosaur with feathery quills on its head, back and tail
Daspletosaurus, the older cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex, joins Jurassic World Primal Ambush, Mattel’s 2027 toy line, in the first wave of the large Gigantic Thrashers assortment. The figure is not out yet, so this is a preview built from the official packaging: what it looks like, what it does, and the story of the real tyrannosaur behind it. The full hands-on review, DNA scan code and photo gallery will be added here once it is released.
⏳ Preview · not yet released⭐ New to the lineGigantic Thrashers · Wave 1💥 Thrashing actionMattel · 2027
▲ First Look
Gigantic Thrashers are the big figures of Primal Ambush, and Daspletosaurus is one of the two that launch the assortment. The packaging shows a long, low tyrannosaur in sandy orange with rust-brown patches, a red face, and tufts of feathery quills on the back of its head, over its shoulders and at the tip of its tail. It is boldly stylised, in keeping with the exaggerated look of the line, and the quills are part of the action feature. Everything below comes from the boxed figure as shown on the official packaging, so treat it as provisional until we have it in hand.
🔬 Why This Species Is Worth Knowing
Daspletosaurus was ruling North America about ten million years before Tyrannosaurus rex appeared. It was a heavily built tyrannosaur with a deep skull and some of the largest teeth of any member of the family, and many palaeontologists think it was a close relative of T. rex, perhaps even part of the lineage that led to it. A 2017 study of the species Daspletosaurus horneri found a pattern of small openings in the face bones similar to those of crocodiles, and suggested its snout was covered in flat scales and was highly sensitive to touch.
Paint Scheme — From the Packaging
The body is a warm sandy orange, broken up by large, soft-edged patches of rust brown along the back, flanks and thighs. The face is the darkest part of the figure, a brick red across the top of the snout and around the eye, set against a cream lower jaw and throat. The eye is yellow. The quills on the head, shoulders and tail are a matching rust brown, so they read as part of the animal rather than an add-on. It is a warm, desert-toned scheme that is quite different from the greens and greys usually given to tyrannosaurs.
Unlike the Wild Roar figures, the box shows no light or sound icons, so the paint and sculpt have to carry the look on their own.
Sculpt & Detail — First Impressions
Head and Jaws
The head is the classic deep, boxy tyrannosaur shape, with a heavy brow over the eye and a broad snout. A fan of long, feather-like quills sweeps back from the rear of the skull like a crest. The lower jaw is thick and squared off, and the skin on the face is sculpted with small bumps and wrinkles.
Quills, Neck and Back
A second cluster of quills rises from the back over the shoulders, and this is the one the packaging tells you to press. The body between the tufts is thick and barrel-shaped, with visible seams where the neck, torso and tail sections meet, which hints at how the thrashing action moves the figure. Whether real tyrannosaurs of this size had any feathers is still debated, so the quills are best seen as part of the line’s exaggerated styling.
Arms, Legs and Tail
The arms are small with two-fingered hands, as they should be on a tyrannosaur. The hind legs are short and stocky with a large rounded thigh, and the figure is posed low and horizontal in the box, with the tail stretched straight out behind. We will cover the feet, claws and underside properly in the full review.
Features & Articulation
✓ Press-activated action feature✓ Try-me packaging? Jaw — to be confirmed? Arms and legs — to be confirmed? Tail — to be confirmed✗ No light or sound icons on the box
Gigantic Thrashers is the large-figure assortment in Primal Ambush. The inset picture on the box shows a finger pressing down on the quills over the shoulders, with a “Try me” arrow pointing to the same spot, so the feature is worked from the back. The name suggests the body thrashes when you do, but the packaging does not show exactly what moves. We will test the feature and every joint and add the results here.
Size & Specs
Daspletosaurus ships in the first wave of Gigantic Thrashers alongside Shunosaurus. The assortment comes in a wider box than the standard figures, so expect something noticeably longer than a Wild Roar or Strike Attack dinosaur. Mattel has not published measurements, and we will add the length and height as soon as we can put a ruler to it.
Early Verdict — One to Watch?
On looks alone, yes. A big tyrannosaur that is not a T. rex is always welcome, and the warm orange colours and quill tufts give this one a look of its own. The feathers will divide opinion, and collectors who want a clean, scaly Daspletosaurus may be put off. Whether it is worth buying depends on things we cannot judge from a box: paint quality on the production figure, how well it poses, and whether the thrashing feature is fun or gets in the way. This is not a review yet, and we will give a proper verdict once we have the figure.
✦ What We Like So Far
- A large tyrannosaur that is not T. rex
- Warm sandy orange and rust colours
- Brick-red face against a cream jaw
- Distinctive feathered tail tip
- Large Gigantic Thrashers size class
- Press-activated action feature
✦ What We Don't Know Yet
- Exactly what the thrashing feature does
- Exact size next to other figures
- Number and range of joints
- Paint quality on the production figure
- Price and exact release date
- Stylised quills rather than an accurate hide
About the Daspletosaurus
Daspletosaurus was a large tyrannosaurid from the Late Cretaceous of western North America, living roughly 77 to 74 million years ago in what are now Alberta and Montana. The first species, Daspletosaurus torosus, was named by the Canadian palaeontologist Dale Russell in 1970. The name means “frightful lizard”.
It grew to around 9 metres long and weighed two to three tonnes, which made it a little smaller than T. rex but more heavily built than the other tyrannosaurs it lived alongside, such as Gorgosaurus. Its skull was deep and strong, with large teeth suited to biting through bone, and its prey would have included horned dinosaurs and duck-bills.
Further species have been named since, including Daspletosaurus horneri in 2017 and Daspletosaurus wilsoni in 2022. Some researchers see them as successive steps in a single evolving lineage that may eventually have led to Tyrannosaurus, though that idea is still being debated.
How to Unlock
How to unlock Daspletosaurus from Gigantic Thrashers in the Jurassic World Primal Ambush Collection?
Once the figure is released, open your Jurassic World Play App (previously known as the Jurassic World Facts App), press the Scan button and point it at the DNA code. The Daspletosaurus scan code is not available yet. We will post it right here as soon as we have the figure, so you can scan it straight from this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Daspletosaurus is part of Jurassic World Primal Ambush, Mattel’s 2027 toy line. It is in the first wave of the Gigantic Thrashers assortment. Mattel has not confirmed an exact release date or price yet, and we will update this page when it does.
Gigantic Thrashers is the large-figure assortment in Jurassic World Primal Ambush. The packaging shows a press-activated action feature worked from the figure’s back. The first wave contains Daspletosaurus and Shunosaurus.
They were close relatives. Daspletosaurus lived about ten million years before Tyrannosaurus rex, and some palaeontologists think it belonged to the lineage that led to T. rex, although this is still debated.
Daspletosaurus means frightful lizard. It was named in 1970 by the Canadian palaeontologist Dale Russell.
Once the figure is released, open the Jurassic World Play App, tap the Scan button, and point it at the DNA code on the Daspletosaurus figure. The code is not available yet, and we will add it to this page on release.