The Vintage Schleich Diatryma is a nice little figure to have! It is brightly coloured (although I know of monochrome ones being out there) and looks as if it is smiling at you. Looking at this figure, one can’t believe it was a more or less aggressive Eocene omnivore, lurking for prey in the Messel woods, not even avoiding small horses.
The most eye-catching features of this little fellow are the clumsy feet, both of which are fashioned much too big in relation to the rest of the body. Such massive feet need big muscles, and they have been sculpted this way, too. One can see feather or filament covering scratched into the sculpt, but don’t ask for real detail. The head seems a little too wide and compact.
On its right leg it says “Urvogel”, which is a little misleading, for the German term “Urvogel” is nowadays directly connected to Archaeopteryx only. Along with the Diatryma came some other prehistoric animals with obsolete German names such as “Kammsaurier” (combed lizard) for Stegosaurus or “Königsaurier” (king lizard) for T.rex or “Panzersaurier” (tank lizard) for Ankylosaurus. This Schleich line was discontinued in the 80s, which makes this bird figure quite popular and rare.
Don´t confuse this Schleich Urvogel with their even smaller release, the Micro Diatryma shown in the last picture! This very small fellow is definitely worth an extra review that will follow soon.
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Lovely blog, very entertaining. Just two things I want to add: “Kamm” does mean “comb”, but also “crest”, and “Panzer” stands not only for “tank” but “armour” as well. “Crested lizard” and “armoured lizard” would be more appropriate, IMO (even though I love the idea of a tank lizard).
Undeniably charming!