Customer Reviews

Budget Life-Size Skull

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Don't expect this skull to look beautiful like the professional models, but for a quarter of the cost it is still accurate. I am using this model to study in a pre-med biology class in college and it works fine. All of the small details present on real skulls are there, just a little rougher around the edges, plus some of the holes are not punched all the way through. The mandible is removable and inside the skull has the same anatomical details you would expect. This is great to study with at home without paying over $100 for the professional quality models.

My first impression upon seeing the skull was that it was very shiny. This itself would be ok, however the top of the skull did not fit on correctly. The proportions otherwise are correct though. It does not have great detail, but is useful for gaining an understanding of the basic proportions of a skull for the beginning art student. Those who want something a little more detailed though, would be better of paying a pit more for a nicer model.

I bought this skull in hopes of using it for practicing drawing, but the seams between the plastic were so poorly aligned that I had to return it. Many of the pieces wiggle around and don't sit snugly. You may also need to trim some excess plastic off from the molding process, as the one I recieved did not look very clean-- particularly between the teeth. I find the removable teeth annoying just because they don't stay in very well, but they are properly formed and would be great for demonstration. I don't mean to just bash the product though; this skull would be great for a classroom where one was trying to give people the impression of what a skull is, how it functions and the volume inside the skull.

The saying is "you get what you pay for", so if you want a skull model as good as the $90 models, don't get this. However if you do not feel like plopping a lot of money down, this is a great option. Mine was clean, the jaw functioned properly and it looks fine. At closer inspection the nasal septum and vomer are deviated and the piece that contains the medial and lateral pterygoid plates are overlapped a little at the seams, but this is pretty minor. The deficiencies would not have hindered me when studying for anatomy or for reviewing before disection lab. The occlusion of the teeth is off, and the removable teeth are O.K. (fairly anatomically accurate) but they do not stay in the socket well. Overall, a good buy unless you are used to working with the really nice models and are annoyed by the minor imperfections.

I'm a medical student. Let me precede my review with an explanation of why I purchased this skeleton, and what I had in mind when doing so.

I wanted:
A) something cheap
B) an accurate representation of the skull
C) I wasn't looking for a ton of details, or perfection. I wanted something to hold in my hand while I read through my anatomy text and/or atlas, to help myself get 3D oriented.

In all these aspects, this model is perfect and I couldn't be happier. A lot of nuanced details are missing (e.g. no separation btwn nasal conchae, no visible separation btwn sphenoid and ethmoid, no obvious vomer, no obvious separation btwn median and lateral pterygoid plates, etc). However, all 8 cranial foramen are prevalent (some more so than others, and some are just large indentations and not actually foramen).

Also, one of the hinges holding the cranium onto the facial skeleton broke. However, the pegs that hold them together are stong enough, and I really dont even see a need for these hinges...so whatever :) Also, the mandible is on there good. Kinda wish it could be removed without unscrewing the anchor for the spring (to get a perfect inferior view), but it is easily moved out of the way, so that's ok.

In summary, if you're looking for something cheap and accurate to get yourself 3D oriented, buy this. If you want a perfect, very detailed representation, I think you're going to just have to shell out $90+ for the legit ones.

I purchased this skull to help me study for my Anatomy & Physiology class because I was finding it difficult to visualize the structure without a 3D model. It was better quality than I thought it was going to be and quite heavy. It has 3 removable teeth and the mandible has springs on it so it can move up and down. I found it to be anatomically correct and a great study guide (I aced my exam in case you were wondering!)

great for study purposes for classes such as anatomy. Has every part of the skull to know.

I'm a 1st year medical student and I bought this skull to study from home. It's pretty good for the price...most others are over $100. It is, however, not totally accurate - for those interested, there are no mandibular foramen, a poorly defined pterygopalatine fossa,very short styloid processes, and some of the other foramen appear more as indents rather than full holes (carotid canals,optic canals). It is helpful for tracing nerve pathways as long as you can get over the fact that some of the foramen aren't really foramen. I would recommend this to study anatomy at home at a reasonable price as long as you have access to better study materials to get a more accurate view of the skull.

you could spend $100+ and get a better skull, but why bother? I'm using it for graduate level anatomy and it serves its purpose well.

The biggest problem with this item is that it differs from the picture.

I needed something that would be anatomically accurate enough on the surface. Figured for the price it would probably be that, but suffer inaccuracies with the inner-details. But this wasn't the case. Even the surface anatomy is very wrong.

For starters, the skull looked like it was molded from an adult, yet the mandibular looks like it came from an infant or a young teenager at best. As if the thing was Frankensteined. The Zygomatic was completely wrong, which made it useless for studies. Brow ridge had hardly any of the features needed. Eye sockets were shaped all wrong and placed wrong. Overall just a bad model. There's no point studying from a model this bad, as you can find much better reference on the internet.

The only saving grace for this thing is the price. So I guess if it's used for theatre or as a prop it could possibly work. But for any kind of anatomical study, stay away.