The DinoToyBlog has evolved over the years, much like the prehistoric creatures we review. Articles here are more substantial now than ever before. The average word count has increased, the number of photographs has gone up, and the scientific vigour has shot through the roof. It’s fantastic!
Author: DinoToyBlog
Dr Adam S. Smith (aka 'DinoToyBlog' here, and 'DinoToyForum' on the Dinosaur Toy Forum) is a curator and palaeontologist at the Nottingham Natural History Museum, Wollaton Hall, UK. Adam launched the Dinosaur Toy Blog in July 2007 and followed it up with the Dinosaur Toy Forum in January 2008, and the Animal Toy Forum in December 2012. He is particularly interested in marine reptile figures, especially plesiosaurs. Adam also runs The Plesiosaur Directory website and has published several popular articles and technical papers on fossil marine reptiles. He is a children's book author with 'The Plesiosaur's Neck' (2021) and 'The Tyrannosaur's Feathers' (2023).All reviews by this author
Review: Plesiosaurus (Mini Dinosaurs I by Bullyland)
3.5 (17 votes)
This small Plesiosaurus toy belongs to the first line of dinosaur figures produced by Bullyland beginning in 1980, a few years after the German toy company was founded in 1973. The line of seven miniature dinosaurs (and other prehistoric creatures) is informally known as Mini Dinosaurs I, to separate it from a later line of mini dinosaurs released by Bullyland in 1993 (Mini Dinosaurs II), and other separate Bullyland dinosaur lines.
Review: Stegosaurus (Animal World Dinosaurs by Bullyland)
2.5 (22 votes)
If we were handing out awards for ‘chonkiest Stegosaurus toys’ this one would surely be in the running. When I first embarked on this review I had assumed it would be a simple matter of specifying this as the Bullyland ‘mini’ Stegosaurus, but I quickly realised it isn’t that simple.
Video: Top 10 New Prehistoric Animal Figures of 2023
3.7 (10 votes)
Video of the ‘Top 10 New Prehistoric Animal Figures of 2023’, as voted by the DinoToyForum community. Edited by Sim and DinoToyBlog. Title graphics by Patrx
Review: Spinosaurus (Monster In My Pocket by Matchbox, Series 6)
2.6 (21 votes)
After four series the Monster in my Pocket line began to run out of actual monsters to make, and began to take inspiration from the real world instead. Series five was a line of ‘Super Creepies’, essentially an array of extant bugs and other creepy crawlies, and series six turned its attention to dinosaurs in 1993 – that’s the line we’re all interested in here.
Video: The Birthday Liopleurodon
3.3 (13 votes)
In which I unbox ‘the birthday Liopleurodon’, a gift from mum and dad, and recount its epic journey from bondage to freedom and onto my display shelves. The toy is the Jurassic Clash action figure by Lanard Ltd.
A version of this video was originally uploaded to Youtube on Sep 18, 2018. Title graphics by Patrx.
Video: Top 10 New Prehistoric Animal Toys of 2022
4.4 (8 votes)
A compilation of the top 10 new releases in 2022, as voted by the Dinosaur Toy Forum community. Main video content edited by Sim.
Video: DinoToyBlog Channel Trailer
5 (5 votes)
The Dinosaur Toy Blog Channel is now directly here on dinotoyblog.com. We’ll be migrating all our legacy video content from Youtube over here in time, and new video content is being posted here instead of Youtube. View all the DinoToyBlog Channel content here.
Title graphics by Patrx (check out his own channel on Youtube).
Video: Top 10 New Prehistoric Animal Toys of 2021
3.8 (10 votes)
A compilation of the top 10 new releases in 2021, as voted by the Dinosaur Toy Forum community. Main video content edited by Sim.
Review: Dimetrodon (small version) (AAA)
3.2 (17 votes)
There are at least five different AAA Dimetrodon sculpts so I’m calling this the “small version” to differentiate it from the others. This one is from the 1980s and there are a handful of interesting aspects that make this figure stand out from other similar cheap Dimetrodons.
Review: Struthiomimus (Marx)
4 (25 votes)
Review and Photos by BlueKrono and DinoToyBlog.
Struthiomimus, the ‘ostrich mimic’, was named in 1917 for a species (S. altus) originally referred in 1903 to the closely related genus Ornithomimus. Despite the history of ornithomimosaurs spanning back to the late 1800s, they are relatively rarely made as toys.
Video: Sega Miniature Dinosaurs Unboxing
3.9 (16 votes)
In which I unbox some teeeny Sega miniature dinosaur figures acquired in a recent trade on the Dinosaur Toy Forum.
Originally posted on Youtube 13 Sept 2020.
Video: Dinosaur Toy Forum Diorama Contest 2023 – all 34 entries
3.1 (11 votes)
This video showcases all 34 entries in the Dinosaur Toy Forum Diorama Contest 2023. You can view all the entries in detail and see the results of the winners’ poll on the DinoToyForum here.
Review: Iguanodon (Marx)
4.2 (16 votes)
I’ve been meaning to plug some of the gaps in our Marx review series for a long while, so thanks to the other reviewers who have been most patient with me. The Marx Iguanodon toy under review today was part of the Second Series Mold Group, PL-1083, first released in 1961.
Review: Prehistoric Animals (Panini, review part 2)
4.3 (10 votes)
In part 1 of this review we looked at 12 dinosaur toys (and one pterosaur) from Panini’s Prehistoric Animals line. In part 2 we pick up where we left off to complete the full set of 24 toys.
Figure numbers 13 to 15 are a trio of marine reptiles, and their dark blue colour works very well for aquatic animals.