Most of us, if we’re familiar with Italian toy company Geoworld, are familiar with the extensive “Jurassic Hunters” line of dinosaur and Cenozoic mammal figures, or perhaps the “Jurassic Action” line of articulated figures. Many collectors have a low opinion of these figures due to their crude sculpts, uncredited accompanying artwork, or garish paint jobs.
Age: Jurassic
Review: Ichthyosaurus (Wild Safari Prehistoric World, by Safari Ltd)
4.7 (20 votes)
It was a hot July day. To beat the heat and to stay cool I headed off to a nearby creek to sit by the water. I found a tall tree by the water and walked into the shade. I slumped back onto the trunk, closed my eyes, and let my bare feet extend past the bank and dangle over the water.
Review: Brachiosaurus (Jurassic Park III Re-Ak A-Tak wave 2, by Hasbro)
2.2 (15 votes)
This was the first full sized Brachiosaurus in the Jurassic Park line and was released for the Jurassic Park III movie. This marks the begging of Hasbro’s full control of the Jurassic Park toy line after closing Kenner in 2000. It strays away from the playful but not always successful Kenner style and into a less interesting, boring, mass produced, and shall I say lower quality toys.
Review: Dimorphodon (Dinoreplicas)
4.9 (10 votes)
Papercrafts are not the usual type of collectible models, nevertheless there`s quite a number of models out there made from that versatile but often underestimated material. A few already have reviews here on the blog and it`s about time for a new one.
Review: Sinraptor (Vitae)
3.6 (12 votes)
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy
Vitae was a company that, much like PNSO, busted onto the dinosaur toy scene with some fantastic figures only to disappear entirely after a couple of years. Unlike PNSO, however, Vitae hasn’t made a comeback.
Review: Ozraptor (Lost Kingdoms Series B by Yowie)
3.8 (4 votes)
The preservation of fossils can be a truly amazing thing, giving us a precise look at the ancient world, with preservation of complete specimens and even organic material being kept. On the other hand, it can also only give us fragmentary fossils and nothing more.
Review: Tyrannosaurus and Diplodocus (H.S. Brumm)
4.6 (5 votes)
This may be the first review of peweter figures on this blog and if those peculiar kind of figures are really toys may be a point to discuss – not least because of their lead content – but they are indeed models and so here we are.
Review: Brachiosaurus (Tamiya)
4.4 (9 votes)
Many toy or model kit lines have that one figure that is a centrepiece for the line, often far larger than the others, such as the Aurora Tyrannosaurus. If not a large predator, it will often be a sauropod, which makes sense given the enormity of many of that clade.
Review: Gasosaurus (Jurassic World Battle Damage by Mattel)
3 (9 votes)
I am always impressed when toy lines, no matter how big or small, creates figures of species rarely seen or never before seen on the market. The Jurassic World/Park has done this several times, and continues to do so. Here, we are looking at one such recent example, Gasosaurus, a theropod from the Mid-Jurassic of Sichuan, and honours the gasoline company that found the fossil sight.
Review: Callovosaurus (Jurassic World: Primal Attack by Mattel)
4 (20 votes)
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy
There’s been a trend in Mattel’s Jurassic World line to not only include the various species from the films, but also ones that have only appeared in the books. This explains the inclusion of the obscure Callovosaurus, a dryosaurid known from fragmentary remains found in England.
Review: Ornitholestes (Jurassic World: Primal Attack by Mattel)
3.2 (10 votes)
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
Ornitholestes was a coelurosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America. It most famously appeared in the BBC Walking With Dinosaurs series and featured in the second Jurassic Park book, The Lost World.
Review: Mussaurus (Jurassic World: Attack Pack by Mattel)
3.7 (12 votes)
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
The first fossils of the Late Triassic sauropodomorph Mussaurus were discovered in the ’70s by an expedition led by the late Jose Bonaparte in Argentina. These consisted of eggs and juveniles small enough to fit in your hands; hence the name, meaning “Mouse Lizard.” However, this name isn’t particularly fitting given that in 2013, the first adult specimens of Mussaurus were described and estimated to reach up 20 feet in length.