Review and images by Cretaceous Crab, edited by Suspsy
Since the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in 2018, Mattel has practically exploded in terms of the diversity of prehistoric genera it has offered, many of which are the first of their kind to be represented in toy or figure form.
Alas, poor Troodon. Beginning in the late 1980s and continuing all the way into the 2010s, it was widely hailed as the smartest dinosaur of them all. It became a fixture of books, documentaries, and films in which it was frequently depicted as a swift, graceful, big-eyed predator that hunted down small mammals in the night.
Although only known from 35 bones and some teeth from a single specimen, Hadrosaurus is more significant than its fragmentary remains would suggest. Hadrosaurus foulkii was first described by Joseph Leidy in 1858 from remains found in New Jersey’s Woodbury Formation.
Ever since I, Emperor Dinobot, managed to get most of my Jurassic pterosaurs on the ceiling, I made the reealization that doing so would make it impossible for me to review certain individuals, especially many of the repaints and retools Mattel has released in the last few years.
It all began with a friendship, an illness, and the return to my favorite franchise. It is actually a sad story, but I feel like I must tell it because today is the 22nd anniversary of Jurassic Park III’s release in the United States, which is where I am writing this review from.
Review and photographs by thunderlizard, edited by Suspsy
Kid Galaxy has released several dinosaur figure sets under the “Dinosaur Action” line. Most of these consist of Hasbro Jurassic Park III bootlegs. One of these sets, the Dinosaur Action 10 Pack, released in 2019, includes this Giganotosaurus.
Another Pachyrhinosaurus is not something I needed in my collection. I already have five of them. But Pachyrhinosaurus is a favorite ceratopsian of mine and none of the figures I own quite nail the look of it for me.
Megaraptorans are an unusual clade of theropods that are all presently known from incomplete fossil remains, yet are generally characterized by powerful arms terminating in frightfully huge claws. Just where precisely they fit into the greater theropod family tree has been an ongoing debate for years, but there is a growing consensus that they are either nested within Tyrannosauroidea, or represent a sister taxon to it.
Here I am, Emperor Dinobot, offering thee another Mattel pterosaur review, this time of Tupandactylus.
Tupandactylus, formerly known as Tapejara, hails from the Cretaceous fossil rich Brazil. It was reclassified into Tupandactylus imperator and T.
Review and images by bmathison1972; edited by Suspsy
Callichimaera perlexa is an enigmatic crustacean from the Middle Cretaceous. Fossils have been found in the Churuvita Group in Colombia and the Frontier Formation in the United States. C. perlexa evolved during the Cretaceous Crab Revolution, which was a major diversification of ‘true’ crabs during the Cretaceous.
Last year, when I wrote my review for the Hammond Collection T. rex I stated that, “I can finally say with some degree of confidence that I will never buy another Mattel T. rex, certainly not from the main line.
Review and photos by Faelrin, edited by Suspsy
Since 2018, when Mattel got the Jurassic World license, I’ve been wanting and waiting to see if they would make a Jurassic Park III Ankylosaurus, which has always been my favorite take on this animal in the franchise.
