Wellden Medical Full Disarticulated Skeleton, Human Anatomical, Life-Size, 170cm

This is the perfect reference skeleton! It got me through my osteology course in school years ago, and I continue to use it now as an archaeologist. A few ribs were a little warped in shape, but it is an incredibly accurate and cost-effective model

I'm a 3rd year PT student, and my friends and I bought this to study for our anatomy practicals. All the landmarks were anatomically correct, and worked great for us. The skull is impeccable, and it even came with cartilage in the temporomandibular joint so the mandible doesn't fall out! I also liked how they gave one hand and foot that were articulated. This was the cheapest model I could find online, and it exceeded my expectations. Definitely would buy again.

This is the only *complete* disarticulated full skeleton I've been able to find for under $500, and I was expecting it to be rather poor quality, but since I plan to use it for an exercise in assembling a skeleton from the bones, with the risk of damaging parts in the process, I didn't want to spend a lot. If you are looking for an affordable, complete and well-detailed set of bones & major structural cartilage, you will probably like this product.Good points:+ Low price. Only Anatomical Chart Company's is lower, but their skeleton lacks several parts, as noted below.+ The bones are quite well-detailed. They are cast in a hard plastic or PVC, not the soft melty PVC that 3B Scientific uses.+ The skull is really, really well made. It actually makes the rest of the skeleton look a bit shabby in comparison. The calvarium is held on by magnets, not fragile little hooks, and the jaw articulation includes cartilage and springs mounted where the masseter muscles are.+ This set includes all the intervertebral discs and the pubic symphysis in clear rubber (but see below), as well as the hyoid bone. This is in marked contrast to the disarticulated skeletons made by 3B Scientific (no discs) and Anatomical Chart Company (no discs, pubic symphysis, or hyoid!).+ While all the bones came lumped together (except the tiny hand & foot bones, which were each in their own bags), the ribs and intervertebral discs are subtly numbered so you can figure out which ones go where (but the vertebrae themselves aren't).+ The coccyx is a separate bone from the sacrum, which to me is a plus.+ The skeleton came with a very nice color embossed poster of the skeletal system. (Unfortunately it got a little extra embossed—that is, dented—in shipping, but oh well!)Bad points, mostly minor:- The right femur is obviously cast from a bad or misaligned mold—the head of the femur has a ridge going round instead of being a smooth ball. I may be able to file this down, but it's an unfortunate flaw in an otherwise nice product.- The foraminae of the cervical vertebrae, where the vertebral artery runs, are filled in with plastic. This is the only real detail flaw I've noted, and I can probably drill them open.- While the intervertebral discs are numbered, my set had a couple of duplicates—several #2s, but no #1 or #3. The #2s seem to fit fine in the first 3 spots, however. There was also no #7, but two #6s.- The vertebrae aren't numbered, as far as I can tell, so it was an exercise figuring out the order. Similarly the hand & foot bones aren't marked in any way so you have to figure out which little bit belongs to which finger or toe.Odd points:• Although the vetebral bodies are solid, the intervertebral discs have holes in the middle. Hey, at least you get them with this set!• The last two bones of the little toes are fused on both the left & right foot. Maybe their model had fused bones, or maybe they did that in manufacturing because the bones are just so darn small.• The scapulae are surprisingly small compared to other (articulated) skeleton models I've seen, and the ribs much thinner. I suspect that the makers of those other models made the ribs bigger so that they will hold up better. For me, this is a small problem as I won't be able to drill holes as large as I wanted to in the ribs. Probably not an issue for you!Alternatives I've found under $1000 (yes, that's three zeros) are:• Anatomical Chart Co. Full Disarticulated Budget Skeleton With Skull Item #: CHA5/1: Selling for about $110 on Amazon as I write this review, but does not include the hyoid bone, any intervertebral discs, nor the pubic symphysis.• 3B Scientific A05/1 Disarticulated Full Human Skeleton: A shocking $400 from Amazon—more expensive than their articulated models, which come with stands! Includes hyoid and pubic symphysis, but no intervetrabral discs.• Denoyer-Geppert disarticulated skeletons: Not available on Amazon as I write this review, and costing $500 and up from the maker. They include lots of extras that you may or may not want, such as both hands & feet disarticulated *plus* one of each strung on wire or nylon, and study kits.

I bought this model as a study tool for my undergrad anatomy, forensics, and archaeology classes. The detail is amazing for the price--it's obviously not quite as nice as the thousand dollar models in my school's lab, but it's accurate and very well detailed. It's also really heavy-duty, so I don't worry have to worry about carting it around or letting my classmates use it.Just be aware that it doesn't come with a great deal of informative material about identifying the bones or how they articulate. Mine came with a small poster/diagram, but I was really glad I had a big textbook already.Overall, I thought this model was exactly what I needed for my situation.

Worked alright for most of my anatomy class needs. But unfortunately there are some major anatomical irregularities. For example, there are 2 extra condyles on the sacrum. It's a great reference and supplement, just don't use it unless you already know what is and what is not supposed to be there.

This is a surprisingly good cast given the cost. It's not "grade 1" or BoneClones quality but you'd have to pay 10x more for that. So I view this as a bargain. This is good for anyone who wants to review general osteology of the postcranial skeleton (the detail on the skull is not quite as fine). Keep in mind that there are casting lines and little nibs, particularly on the small pieces of the hands and feet. The only other issue is that the alae of the sacrum seem particularly small; the ankylosing/fusion of one intermediate and distal phalange of the foot is normal. Wellden was also very helpful in providing information: The postcranial is skeleton is male, middle age adult from Henan Province or Hebei Province, China. The skull is from a different individual--a male European, no other data available. They also shared that they cast the skeleton at 1:0.96 --4% is due to natural shrinkage during mold making process.

As stated before, this product is wonderful for the price. There are the random scratches and cuts made during the molding process but they are not too distracting and if you know what you are looking at, they are easily discernible from the actual features. I just finished my human Osteology course and I found that the amount of details on the bones to be impressive for the price I paid. The only down side is the the skull's features can be hard to see and the mandible is polished over on many of the features. Other than this issue they were very detailed. I also found that I was one tiny intermediate pedal phalanx short of a full set but I have already contacted the seller and I have no concerns about getting this last piece sent out.

I bought this set to study for my lab practical in Anatomy and Physiology. I was happy until I realized there is a bone missing...I believe it is the Humerus, there was only one in the bag. Very disappointed.