When it comes to large predatory theropods, it’s hard to figure out what exactly makes some genus/species popular while others not so. It’s not just the size or the active predatory lifestyle that propel certain species into stardom, in fact there are many equally large and fearsome theropods that despite seemingly having all the star quality, somehow languish in obscurity.Take the subject of our review today, Torvosaurus, a large apex theropod predator that despite having it all, even a catchy and easy to remember name, still ranks as one of those “obscure” names, failed to garner fame outside of the paleo world.
Age: Jurassic
Review: Triceratops with Stegosaurus (Jurassic World Hero Mashers by Hasbro)
1.8 (11 votes)
Triceratops, with its huge horned head, and Stegosaurus, with its thorny thagomizer, are something of an armoured tag team in dinosaur pop culture, bravely standing together against Tyrannosaurus rex, Allosaurus, and all the other meat eaters.
Review: Tuojiangosaurus (Age of the Dinosaurs by PNSO)
3.8 (12 votes)
What an impressive debut PNSO has made this year! From huge resin statues ranging from $500 to $2000(yowza!) to large vinyl figures and to a variety of finely detailed miniatures, it looks like this Chinese company is going to be causing us dinosaur collectors much joy and much lighter wallets in future!
Review: Tuojiangosaurus (Jurassic World Epic Evolution, Strike Attack by Mattel)
3.5 (29 votes)
Mattel really likes the Shaximiao Formation, a middle to late Jurassic formation located in China. They’ve released many dinosaurs known from the Shaximiao, including Chialingosaurus, Gigantspinosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Gasosaurus, and Yangchuanosaurus. Today we’re looking at their latest addition to this assortment, the Tuojiangosaurus, part of Mattel’s Epic Evolution line.
Review: Tuojiangosaurus (Qichuan) (Prehistoric Animal Models by PNSO)
4.3 (28 votes)
For the last several months the Chinese company PNSO (Peking Natural Science-art Organization) has delivered upon us a glut of prehistoric animal figures that have shaken the fountain of our hobby and truly changed the game, or such is my opinion anyway. These figures are mostly in PNSO’s mid-range size of figures that retail for $20-30 and at this point I’ve frankly lost count of how many have actually been released.
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: Ultrasaurus (Definitely Dinosaurs by Playskool)
3.5 (4 votes)
Review and photographs by dinoguy2, edited by Suspsy.
This toy is a monster. Is this the biggest dinosaur toy ever made? Probably not, but it’s definitely the biggest one I ever had. I still remember the first time I learned this existed. I saw the massive box, which had to be three feet long, on the bottom shelf of my local toy store, sometime back in 1988.
Review: Utahraptor (AAA)
4 (22 votes)
Okay, let´s take a closer look at AAA Utahraptor today. After a long break, welcome to another Libraraptor review of a quirky figure!
By now, Utahraptor is a well known genus belonging to the group of Dromaeosaurs. Its size of seven meters in length makes it the biggest of the tribe.
Review: Walking with dinosaurs miniature set (Quick/BBC)
4.4 (9 votes)
Review and photos by Bokisaurus, edited by Dinotoyblog
Greetings dinosaur fans! With the Christmas and the New Year upon us, this will be my last review for the year. To make it special, I have chosen to review a set of figures that I have been wanting to review for a while now.
Greetings dinosaur fans! With the Christmas and the New Year upon us, this will be my last review for the year. To make it special, I have chosen to review a set of figures that I have been wanting to review for a while now.
Review: Williamsonia (CollectA)
5 (15 votes)
Thought I’d take a stab at reviewing a prehistoric plant for the first time. Let’s take a look at Williamsonia, a member of the order of Bennettitales, or cycadeoids. Bennettitales were an order of seed plants that first arose during the Triassic and then flourished all the way until the end of the Cretaceous.
Review: Wuerhosaurus (Age of the Dinosaurs by PNSO)
3.8 (11 votes)
A wide variety of stegosaurs once inhabited North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, but Wuerhosaurus is the only one currently known to have survived all the way into the Early Cretaceous period. Unfortunately, few fossils of this intriguing Chinese animal have been uncovered to date.
Review: Wuerhosaurus (CollectA)
2.1 (10 votes)
When I place the 2009 CollectA Wuerhosaurus on the table in front of me, it is easy to see that the look of it is on the rather plain side. It is neither edgy or over stylized which is typical of CollectA prehistoric line up at that time.
Review: Wuerhosaurus (Vitae)
4.6 (8 votes)
Wuerhosaurus is one of those obscure names I often saw in books as a kid, but mostly just to complete an alphabet of dinosaur names. We don’t know exactly what this fragmentary stegosaur looked like, but Vitae’s model is well-detailed and adequately accurate for our current understanding.
Review: Xtractaurs (Mattel)
3 (5 votes)
Review and photos by Charles Peckham, edited by Suspsy
I don’t own all the Xtractaurs, and I’m not sure if anyone does, but I feel I’ve been able to amass enough to give a decent overview of the series. Anyone who wants to review an individual Xtractaur for the Dinosaur Toy Blog, included in this review or otherwise, has my blessing.
Review: Xuanhanosaurus (Jurassic World Dino Trackers Danger Pack by Mattel)
3.9 (38 votes)
I, Emperor Dinobot, recently posited a question around, and it was the following: Could Mattel be designing dinosaur figures and naming them afterwards? We already have an example: Roarivores Sinoceratops is actually a Pachyrhinosaurus, but it got a name change due to the fact that Universal wanted to market Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom to the massive Chinese audience, and Pachyrhinosaurus was substituted by Sinoceratops, a dinosaur which represented China.