Here’s a bit of an experiment – our first ever video review. So, I’ll stand back and let the youtube video do the talking (video also embedded below). I will note, however, that I’m a complete novice when it comes to recording and editing, so there’s a lot of room for improvement! Nevertheless, I’ll be interested to see how this goes down, and to learn whether readers are also interested in becoming viewers!?
Transcript of the video review:
0:14 Oh! So, this is the Favorite Plesiosaurus skull,
0:19 It’s half natural size, consists of the cranium,
0:24 and also the lower jaw.
0:27 For display purposes it’s attached to this false wooden base,
0:33 It’s actually not wood, it’s some sort of plastic I think
0:37 and it is detachable so we’ll take that off now
0:39 and have a look.
0:42 So, here we are, Plesiosaurus, distinctively so as well.
0:45 Plenty of details. You can see on the top of the skull
0:49 two little opening there, they’re the external nares or nostrils
0:53 er, the orbits – openings for they eyes – and they have
0:58 sclerotic rings inside them – a little ring of additional bones
1:01 that help support the eyeball.
1:03 This opening on the top there – a pineal foramen.
1:06 And then these two large openings in the rear of the skull.
1:09 They’re the temporal fenestrae, and they are, erm,
1:13 openings that housed the muscles for closing the jaws.
1:18 There are details on the underside as well – the palate.
1:22 But something that is missing is the braincase
1:26 You can see here I can poke my finger straight through the braincase.
1:31 Now, I think that the error comes from the source material,
1:35 which is this reconstruction of the Plesiosaurus skull
1:38 by Glenn Storrs in 1997, and this is still the most recent reconstruction
1:43 of this genus, but you’ll notice in side view the braincase is missing,
1:48 it’s in shadow, and I think that this is why the reconstructed skull model is also missing the braincase.
1:54 While it’s intended to look like bone, it actually isn’t very bone-like at all,
2:00 The individual bones as well are separated with suture lines,
2:05 but these have simply been marked in.
2:07 The teeth are incredibly delicate as well, er,
2:12 particularly fragile and easy to break, and this has
2:15 actually happened – one of the teeth here at the back has come off,
2:19 and that happened in transit before my figure arrived
2:23 so you do have to be careful.
2:25 It’s also a bit scruffy in places, especially where the
2:28 top of the skull is attached to the lower part, the lower jaw.
2:32 These bits are particularly crudely done and it looks
2:35 like they’ve been splodged together.
2:38 To conclude, this is a good but not brilliant statue
2:42 It’s the only one of its kind, so that’s definitely a positive.
2:47 Erm, and for the price I’d actually recommend it,
2:51 and i’d give it, say, 8 out of 10.
2:54 So, that’s my first video review for the Dinosaur Toy Blog,
2:57 very much an experiment, let me know if you like the style,
3:01 like the tone, think there’s something that should be added or removed,
3:04 and we’ll take that on board in the future.
3:07 Thank you for watching.
Disclaimer: links to Ebay and Amazon on the DinoToyBlog are affiliate links, so we make a small commission if you use them. Thanks for supporting us!
I personally prefer written reviews, but I also enjoyed this. 🙂
Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated.
Note, I’ve added a transcript of the review to the blog entry.
Points for the new approach! I actually quite like it because it reveals the size of the models better than photos. I think a mix of these methods would be awesome! Thanks for the good review btw. 🙂
I’m with you. The normal text format is can more descriptive, but the video also can show more dimensions of the figure. 😉
So do I. Also, do any of you know where I can get one of these?
I prefer the normal, text format.
Me too.