Axis Scientific Flexible Life-Size Human Skeleton, 5'6"

This is Axel. He arrived in my life September 18, 2018, and it's been a real pleasure to work with this skeleton. At first, I was afraid to move him much, because I didn't want to break him. I've accidentally broken pieces off Halloween skeletons, and this is an order of magnitude more in terms of price, but also in quality, something I'd hoped for, but couldn't know immediately. I had to save up for him so I could study the real bones of the human body, rather than just looking at pics in text books or buying a stiff-bodied skeleton. He was also a bit stiff initially, so I was super careful. I wasn't going to let him come to any harm. It soon became apparent that all those worries were unfounded. This is a fantastic skeleton. The build quality must be experienced in person to appreciate. I can sling a life-size Pose-and-Stay skeleton over my shoulder and carry him to the cashier, which I actually did when they were on clearance around Halloween. Not so with this skeleton. Axel has real heft, owing to his far denser bones. This is a skeleton a student can buy in school, use as a model at the hospital or private practice, bring home at retirement, and then pass on as an heirloom. This skeleton is easily serviceable by the owner. Axel has had a couple dome-head screw tops come off that had simply loosened up with movement and they were easily put back on without the use of any tools, although I did need to use a Phillips-head screwdriver in a couple places to tighten up some parts I felt were too loose. With the exception of the scapula, the skeleton is fully articulated, and has little balled up steel wire at the ends of the distal phalanges. These wires can sometimes snag on things, but with just finger strength, I've been able to coil them up like new. I own several different brands of Halloween skeleton, and none of them compare to the scientific exactness of this skeleton. The ridge detail is amazing. Working from actual human bones to mold the pieces for this skeleton has resulted in build quality that I have never experienced before. I have done professional-level research of medical literature in the past, and while it could be seen as a blessing to be so thorough, it's also extremely time-consuming. I had started looking for a skeleton like this in April 2018. I spent five months doing research (part-time, of course--I do have a life, lol). When I first selected Axis Scientific for my flexible skeleton, it was after going over the details of all medical skeletons in its price range, reading every single review, looking at all the pics, going outside Amazon for additional info, and once I had placed my order, I was confident I had made the right choice. I know I sound really excited and gushing like a little girl at receiving a new doll, and in a way, that's a good analogy to how I feel about Axel. It's always a good feeling to have done extensive research on a product, then buy it and feel satisfied at having purchased a quality item. The time spent researching paid off. I hope this review helps you in your own decision-making process. (Please note: in the picture of Axel fishing, I used a roll of steel wire from the dollar store to loop through the ends of his fingers to make them grip the rod and reel, and then tie them back behind the chair to raise the pole and hold it in place. He is articulated, but he doesn't hold a pose. Fortunately, that was easily remedied.)

Axis has some of the best customer service I have had to work with. They stand by the quality of their products 100%. I purchased this skeleton and though the assembly was a bit difficult particularly due to the weight of it (and there were no instructions) I was still able to figure it out. Upon assembly, I had a hard time moving the femur around the hip bone. It would scrape and get stuck. When I got an email from the company checking on my satisfaction, I brought up the issue but didn't want to make a big deal of it because overall, if I had to, I could make it work. However, the company immediately placed a new order for me and checked it before shipping it out. I shipped back the first one. When I received the new one, the hips were great but unfortunately, there was an issue with the new stand not keeping the skeleton stable. Living in California, this could be an issue due to earthquakes. I brought it up with company and they immediately sent me back the stand from the first skeleton that was working properly. I got the old stand, hooked in the new skeleton and everything is as it should be. Although, it took a few tries to get it right, I give this skeleton and Axis 5 stars because of their amazing customer service. They were on top of it at all times. They responded to messages within 24 hours and were quick to make amends. I would absolutely order from them again! Thank you Axis!

Looks great and will be a huge boost in studying the skeleton. Surprisingly easy to put together, in fact the instructions had around 15 steps, but many of them had already been done, so I only really had to put the femurs on the innominate, and the skeleton on the stand itself. Bonus points for freaking out my family when they come to visit.

I love this skeleton so much. I am an RN and also teach anatomy for yoga teacher trainings and workshops. It is as if this skeleton was made for my personal educational needs. This company, Axis Scientific, has very well made products. I purchased a full skeleton that was a bit cheaper elsewhere a couple of years ago and sadly saving that $20-30 was a big mistake as slowly, that skeleton began to fall apart. The Axis brand took the extra time to make the joints much more secure and stable. I also really like that the skull is now bolted on top to keep the skull where it should be. My last skeletons head fell off so many times that I had to zip tie it together. That was the beginning of his demise. So take it from my past mistakes, if you are shopping for a anatomy model, don't go for the cheapest, go for the best. You won't be disappointed with this one. And he rides shotgun. I could not be happier with this purchase.

I really wanted to like this skeleton. I received it with a piece missing so I couldn't mount it to the stand, and customer service sent me a replacement part right away. But when I was finally able to get him upright, I noticed that his spine is ram-rod straight. There is absolutely no spinal curvature, no cervical, thoracic, or lumbar curves. I wanted to use the model as an anatomical model for my students, so it's really useless for that. The skeleton does bend side to side, but you can't bend it forward and backward, so you can't add the curves that way. I'm disappointed. Otherwise, he looks great.

I’m a photographer and ordered two of these recently (the second is being delivered in a couple of days). I was nervous because some of the reviews said the skeleton was not flexible as stated in the product description. I’m not sure what everyone is talking about, because it’s SUPER flexible and holds the pose perfectly. I bought these to use in photos- pictured is a few cell phone shots of the skeleton in a set I built at my studio. I just wanted to come here to say the item is 100 percent as described, and the only flexible skeleton I’ve found! 10/10 would recommend

First off this seems to be a pretty decent skeleton. It seems to pose fairly easily, and the bendable rod in the spine allows you to fairly easily pose the skeleton and it will retain its position. There is one notable difference between the photographs and the actual product: the inclusion of nerves has been added coming off the spine. This detail is reflected on the manufacturers site in the text of the description, but not on the photograph. I had no interest in the nerves, but fortunately after an hour with needle nosed pliers I was able to more or less get them out. There are some parts of the construction which are fragile. The shoulder blade is attached via screws into the ribs, however the screws are almost the same thickness as the ribs themselves so the connection is very weak. My shoulder blade broke off on the first day, most likely due to the fact I wasn't aware of the fragility of that part. I think I should be able to super glue it back on fairly easily so it's not a big deal, just be careful. The metal pieces connecting the legs to the hip are also easy to bend. In short, handle it carefully. Finally, be careful when disassembling because no instruction manual is included. I took the head off and I'm not sure I got it back together correctly. In retrospect I should have taken pictures with my phone as I disassembled it but it's a little late for that. All of these issues are fairly minor annoyances. Overall it seems like a good product and with proper care it seems like it will last a while.

I've wanted one of these skeletons for many years, and I'm used to seeing skeletons with a flexible spine more in the $600 range, so when I saw this one, I was skeptical about it's quality. I had already bought just a regular skull and skull with an anatomically correct brain I was very happy with, so decided to take a gamble on the whole thing. Now, I'm not a medical student or professor, but I'm very happy with the quality of this skeleton. It looks great in real life. Very easy to take off the stand in case you need to, and the skeleton has some weight to it. The stand rolls around fairly easily, and is also good quality. Very happy with my purchase. In my opinion, it is worth every penny, as are the other products I've bought from them. If I ever need anything like this again, they're the first brand I'm going to go to when making my purchase.