Can you detect the tiny ear conches?
A firm from the German Democratic Republic, VEB (Volkseigener Betrieb) Plaho, released a series of highly collectable die casting plastic dinosaur figures in 1967. They were sold in the Museum of Sena in Thuringia, Germany, until the mid-1980s.
I’ve been meaning to plug some of the gaps in our Marx review series for a long while, so thanks to the other reviewers who have been most patient with me. The Marx Iguanodon toy under review today was part of the Second Series Mold Group, PL-1083, first released in 1961.
The Naturecraft Ltd. company was founded in 1931 in Congleton, Cheshire, UK. It was one of Congleton’s oldest companies, and was headed until its buyout by Managing Director Peter Tomlins. Naturecraft England originally produced figurines such as dogs and other animals, as well as caricatures and other wall art.
Common legends says, that the first remains of Iguanodon were discovered in the heaps of a road cut by the wife of an English country doctor. Now, this may be true or not, but the doctor, Gideon Mantell, described the species in 1825 on basis of just a few teeth.
This is an overall pleasing and recognizable figure of the famous dinosaur, but it does have some setbacks in design for a 2020 rendition.
Iguanodon isn’t as flashy of a dinosaur as Tyrannosaurus or Triceratops, but its place in the roots of dinosaur history keep the genus as a staple in dino iconography.
Although a full review will be added in time, I just had to highlight the hind feet on this figure. As you can see below, they look more like alien feet than dinosaur feet; the four pedestal-like toes seem out of place on an Iguanodon sculpt that is otherwise very accurate.
Well, I’ve shown you the worst of this line, let’s waste no time and get straight on to the best of them!
Starting off the top half is everyone’s favourite three horned herbivore Triceratops. This features one of the best poses of the lot (something I haven’t talked at length about as most the figures are in a generic standing pose), an aggressive fight pose, all the better when you have two to joust with.
Panini’s Prehistoric Animals sticker album has been published in several editions over the decades going back to the 1970s.
Since they first started producing tube sets back in 2015, CollectA has covered a pretty decent variety of prehistoric life, wild animals, sea creatures, and farm stock. In 2021, they went back to the beginning with a third dinosaur (mostly) set consisting of ten figures, all based on previously released toys.
