Review
Yuxisaurus - Strike Attack Jurassic World Rebirth Review
The Rebirth Strike Attack Yuxisaurus is genuinely one of the most distinctive quadruped figures in the Rebirth lineup. It has bright neon green armored scoots over a dark green and brown body, chips and damage detail throughout the armor, impressive fine nail detail, and a surprise bonus head joint that allows up/down movement and full swivel on top of the action feature.
A Genuinely Exciting Species Choice
🔬 Science Note
Yuxisaurus kopchicki was formally described only in 2022, making it one of the most recently named dinosaurs in Mattel’s entire Jurassic World line. It is the first valid thyreophoran dinosaur to be named from the Early Jurassic of Asia and Asia’s earliest known armored dinosaur, living approximately 192 to 174 million years ago in what is now Yunnan Province, China.
A distant relative of Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus, its discovery confirmed that armored dinosaurs spread rapidly around the world shortly after their first appearance. The name comes from Yuxi Prefecture, where the fossils were found in 2017. Most collectors will never have owned a Yuxisaurus figure before this one.
About the Toy
1. Sculpt and painting
The Yuxisaurus comes with such an unusual color scheme it made me raise both of my eyebrows in disbelief. It is very rare for Mattel to release such unusual color combinations, but not going to lie, it makes it stand out among the rest of its tanky relatives.
The entire body of the Yuxisaurus is dark green, and its armor scoots are rocking a neon green color, its eyes are green, and it almost looks like it comes from a completely different toy line.
The head sculpt is very well done, with multiple skin textures. The beak is painted and glassy and acompanied with the glassy eyes the face looks amazing.
The armored appearance gets much stronger you move away from the head as the neck and the back are covered with scoots and osteoderms. Here is where the actual paint contrasts are happening, as the base dark green is perfect for the shiny neon green armor elements. Top that with a lot of scars, chips, and scratches, the tanky look makes much more sense looking at the damage Yuxisaurus was able to deflect.
The skin texture throughout the body is vibrant and well-defined. Musculature is clearly defined in both the front and rear legs. The foot sculpts are clean with scoots down the toes. Leg articulation covers forward and back on all four legs, with the rear legs notably smoother than the front in the reviewed figure. The front legs are slightly stiffer but still functional.
The armored pieces continues along the top of the tail, with the neon green scoots right up to the tip. The tail tip features the most spectacular element of the whole figure: a very interesting structural end like a clump of spikes. It is very well shaped and sculpted, completing the armored look of the entire animal.
2. Action Feature & Articulation
The Yuxisaurus comes with a bidirectional strike head/tail. Moving the head triggers a tail strike, and moving the tail triggers a head strike. This bidirectional action is well-suited to a quadruped that would realistically use both ends of its body defensively.
But the genuine surprise is the bonus head joint: a separate articulation point in the neck that allows the head to move up and down and also swivel fully. This is independent of the action feature and adds real poseability.
- Head/neck (action feature: triggers tail)
- Bonus head joint (up, down, full swivel)
- Tail (action feature: triggers head strike)
- Front legs (forward and back)
- Rear legs (forward and back)
Verdict Should I buy it?
If you are into quadrupedal or armoured dinosaur figures, yes. The Yuxisaurus is a genuinely exciting species choice from Mattel, the neon green armor gives it a unique identity that nothing else in the Strike Attack line replicates, the damage detailing on the armor spikes adds real character, and the bonus head articulation with swivel is an unexpected and welcome plus.
How to unlock
How to unlock Yuxisaurus Strike Attackin Jurassic World Rebirth Collection?
Open up your Jurassic World Play App (previously known as the Jurassic World Facts App), press the Scan button and point it towards the DNA code here:
3. About the Parasaurolophus
"This is the first early armoured dinosaur to be named from the entire Asian continent and helps to show how the group spread around the world shortly after its origin just a few million years earlier."
Yuxisaurus kopchicki is an early thyreophoran dinosaur formally described in 2022 from fossils first discovered in 2017 in Yuxi Prefecture, Yunnan Province, southwestern China. It lived approximately 192 to 174 million years ago during the Early Jurassic period. A member of the thyreophoran group that later diversified into Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus, Yuxisaurus represents an early branch of this lineage: its closest known relatives are Scelidosaurus and Emausaurus, both from Europe, confirming that armored dinosaurs spread rapidly across the northern hemisphere early in their evolution.
With an estimated length of roughly 2 to 3 metres (6.5 to 10 feet), Yuxisaurus was a small to medium-sized armored herbivore that ate low-growing plants like ferns and cycads. Its body was encased in bone plates covering the neck, back, and limbs, with large spikes scattered across the armor. These spikes served a dual purpose, deflecting the jaws of predators and possibly signalling to other members of its species during territorial or mate disputes, in a manner comparable to modern porcupines or hedgehogs. The holotype specimen includes parts of the skull, several vertebrae, partial limb bones, and at least 120 osteoderms, making it one of the more complete Early Jurassic thyreophoran specimens known from Asia.
Yuxisaurus kopchicki is an early thyreophoran dinosaur (the same group as Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus) formally described in 2022 from fossils found in Yunnan Province, China. It lived approximately 192 to 174 million years ago during the Early Jurassic and is the first valid thyreophoran dinosaur to be named from the Early Jurassic of Asia. Most collectors will never have owned a Yuxisaurus figure before this Rebirth release.
Yes. The Rebirth Strike Attack is the first Yuxisaurus figure Mattel has produced for the Jurassic World toy line and almost certainly the first widely available Yuxisaurus toy produced by any major manufacturer.
Moving the head triggers a tail strike, and moving the tail triggers a head strike. The mechanism works bidirectionally. The figure also has a separate bonus head joint that allows up/down movement and full swivel, which is independent of the action feature and adds genuine poseability beyond the standard Strike Attack format.
No. The fossil record cannot tell us what color Yuxisaurus was. Mattel has made a clear artistic choice to use bright neon green for the armor scoots, which is almost certainly more vivid than any real animal would display. The reviewer acknowledges this but considers the visual result effective for shelf identity and display purposes.
Open the Jurassic World Play App, tap the Scan button, and point it at the DNA barcode on the Yuxisaurus Strike Attack figure’s foot.
