By now most of you should know my preference for sometimes strange dinosaur models, alleged outsiders, often being sadly overlooked.
I would like to introduce to you the Bullyland “Micro Tiere” Apatosaurus. I don´t exactly know about the release date, even Randy Knoll´s site doesn´t give any information. But it must have been somewhere in the 90s. Bullyland released a confusing diversity of dinosaur toy lines, such as their minifigures, a midsized line and the popular museum line. And the “Micro Tiere” (Micro animals) series this little fellow belongs to.
It is only 7 cm long and 2 cm tall. And although it is that tiny, the overall sculpt represents a heavily built sauropod. Enlarged to a “usual” dino figure scale it would rather resemble Schleich new Apatosaurus with a compact build than a slender interpretation such as the new Safari Apatosaurus. Bullyland Micro Tier Apatosaurus is of a dark brownish colour, with an even darker brown/black tone on the ridge of its spine. Of course one can not expect much sculpting or skin detail, yet there are two wrinkles on each side where the belly begins and a correctly formed head with eyes, nostrils (!) and a muzzle.
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[…] in 2010 our own Libraraptor reviewed a little Apatosaurus, part of Bullyland’s Micro Tiere Collection released in 2005. Having found the same little figure […]
Sorry, johannes, for correcting. The micro animals you refer to were Schleich.
In the seventies and early eighties, Bullyland produced several micro dinosaurs – a prosauropod, raising on its hindlegs and tail, waving its arms in a defensive position, a pink, pot-bellied theropod (probably meant to depict a tyrannosaur, but actually looking more like an abelisaur), a blue, one-horned ceratopsian, an olive coloured *Gastornis* and an orange ankylosaur. They were made from a peculiar rubbery, rough-feeling material, somewhat reminiscent of an eraser, and the colour accents – black eyes on the prosauropod and the non-avian theropod, red spots on the heads of the ceratopsian and the bird, brown armour on the thyreophoran – invariably peeled off after a time.
Nowadays, Bullyland produces several micro dinosaurs – two different kinds of sauropods, a tyrannosaur, a triceratops, and a stegosaur – in a much better quality, see here: http://www.shop-016.de/shopamwald-s280h264-Micro-Tiere.html
That’s an interesting little figure. What others were produced in the set?
cute 🙂