I’m fascinated by how depictions of prehistoric animals change over time in the face of new evidence. This is the theme of my recent children’s book, The Tyrannosaur’s Feathers, which focusses on T. rex as a case study for this ‘make-over’ phenomenon.
Review: Diprotodon (Deluxe by CollectA)
4.3 (30 votes)
The very first Australian prehistoric mammal to be named and described (by Sir Richard Owen back in 1838), Diprotodon is by far the biggest marsupial that we know of. A mature male would have been over 4 metres long, 1.8 metres tall at the shoulders, and weighed at least 2800 kg, which is heavier than a male hippopotamus and rivalling a male white rhinoceros.
Review: Polacanthus (Deluxe by CollectA)
4.2 (38 votes)
The very first time I laid eyes on the Early Cretaceous ankylosaurian known as Polacanthus was at a birthday party when I was only four or five years old. I can’t rightly recall if it was my own or some other child’s, but I’ll never forget that wrapping paper.
Review: Giganotosaurus (Jurassic World: Dominion, Hammond Collection by Mattel)
4.1 (51 votes)
Opinions about Jurassic World: Dominion and its Giganotosaurus design aside, if you wanted a decent action figure of this animal upon the film’s release, you were SOL. Mattel only released one Giganotosaurus in the mainline and although it had some cool action features it resembled the animal in the movie about as much as the movie animal resembled the real Giganotosaurus.
Review: Dinosaur Fossils (Ideas by LEGO)
3.5 (17 votes)
Review and photos by Harper Bloomingdale, edited by Suspsy
For those of you not into LEGO, LEGO Ideas is a website where users share their builds and, provided the goal of 10,000 supporters is achieved within a time frame, the build has a chance of getting put into production.Â
Review: Cynognathus (Marx)
4.2 (17 votes)
Cynognathus is not a very common choice for toy producers. This Cynognathus was part of Marx’ first wave, produced from 1955 onwards, so it may be not surprising that it is a comparably weak representative of the real animal, even with its outdated history in mind.
Review: Dimetrodon (small version) (AAA)
3.2 (17 votes)
There are at least five different AAA Dimetrodon sculpts so I’m calling this the “small version” to differentiate it from the others. This one is from the 1980s and there are a handful of interesting aspects that make this figure stand out from other similar cheap Dimetrodons.
Review: Majungasaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
Review: Smok (Deluxe Prehistoric Collection by CollectA)
Review: Velociraptor (Jurassic Park, Hammond Collection by Mattel)
Review: Therizinosaurus (Jurassic World: Dominion, Sound Slashin’ by Mattel)
4 (28 votes)
The Mattel Therizinosaurus we’re looking at today is among the most highly anticipated toys of the Jurassic World: Dominion line, and it makes sense. Although we’ve only seen fleeting glimpses of it, we know the herbivorous theropod will have a starring role in Jurassic World: Dominion.