Review and images by EmperorDinobot, edited by Suspsy
I, Emperor Dinobot, would like to quote, or rather, paraphrase what someone said a few months ago upon seeing pictures of Mattel’s Miragaia: “This is an evil-looking figure!” I am not sure whether they were referring to the paint job or to the lack of accuracy, but I have to disagree.
Gripe all you want about Jurassic Park 3 but we must give credit where credit is due. The movie featured a diverse assortment of dinosaurs with arguably the best color schemes in the franchise. Gone were the dull grays and browns of the first two films, JP3 went wild like a kid with a coloring book and the movie was better for it, though not by much.
Review and images by GiganotosaurusFan, edited by Suspsy
The year was 1969 and everyone was talking about the new show-stopping dinosaur movie made by Ray Harryhausen. It was The Valley of Gwangi, an epic tale of how the last living Allosaurus was found, captured, and eventually met a grandiose, spectacular, and tragic end after a cathedral crashed down on top of it with a bang. Naturally, the film was a success, and that iconic, menacing Allosaurus would remain in many people’s hearts for years to come.
In the immortal words of Monty Python “And now for something completely different”. Brands will often make a variety of small pieces for kids that are cheap, allowing adults to keep kids quiet for a short while. I happened to see one such on a recent shopping trip and decided to see what you get for a small sum of £3.
Sauropods are well known group of dinosaurs for good reasons: they are the largest land animals to roam the planet and their long necks and tails make them easily recognizable. But not all sauropods are created equal, some are small and don’t have the long necks that have defined the group.
Here’s an interesting rendition of what is probably the world’s most famous sauropod (judging from Brachiosaurus’ appearances in the JP franchise and the number of toys it boasts to its name on the blog) that I came across at Mastermind Toys here in Ontario.
This classic little sauropod is best viewed today as a relic, a curious piece of memorabilia nestled between more interesting figures which came before and after it.
If you were to ask a veteran toy collector about vintage dinosaurs, you’d probably hear Marx cited first.
Well, I’ve shown you the worst of this line, let’s waste no time and get straight on to the best of them!
Starting off the top half is everyone’s favourite three horned herbivore Triceratops. This features one of the best poses of the lot (something I haven’t talked at length about as most the figures are in a generic standing pose), an aggressive fight pose, all the better when you have two to joust with.
These six little dinos, sculpted by the Carnegie Collection’s own Forest Rogers, may look pretty dated today; but they manage to blend old and new aspects of science to produce a charming set as a whole.
Safari ltd. stands as one of the giants of educational, scientifically accurate dinosaur & animal toys today; but it’s easy to forget the company didn’t start out this way.
The Jurassic Park/World has had it’s fair share of miniature dino models, from the original metal ones to hard plastic. Now Jurassic World Dominion brings hard (ish) rubber, safer for siblings, and we see one and two packs of minis, giving plenty of material to review.
For decades, Stegosaurus was( and still is) the most famous of all the Stegosaurid family, its the first one that people know when asked to name one from this fascinating group. Over the last decade, some of it’s relatives started to gain some fame, species like Kentrosaurus has become a regular fixture in art as well as in the toy model world as well as pop culture.
Dilophosaur fans of multiple varieties get the best deal with this pair of charmingly well-constructed plush predators of semi-anonymous origin.
The realm of gray-market (dinosaur) toys is full of, well, gray areas to be cautiously navigated; in an online age it’s especially easy to get lost in a malaise of sketchy knockoffs and bootleg toys from unknown sources.
