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: Psittacosaurus (Funrise)

1.8 (5 votes)

This is the third ‘first’ for the Dinosaur Toy Blog this week. Having earlier cast our eye over Wenno and Timpo toys, this next review is prompted by a discussion on the Dinotoyforum about Funrise. Funrise were founded in 1987 and still seem to be going strong today (http://www.funrise.com), although dinosaurs apparently left their repertoire a long time ago.

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Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Timpo)

Genus: Tyrannosaurus Brand: Timpo Classification: Theropod, Tyrannosaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine, Monochrome, Oldies

1.7 (15 votes)

For some reason I’m in a mood for firsts. So, here’s another company that hasn’t been featured on the Dinosaur Toy Blog before – Timpo Toys. And about time, too, this line really deserves some attention. Timpo was founded in England by German refugee Sally Gawrylovitz (also known as Ally Gee, aii) in 1938.

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Review: Lambeosaurus (Wenno)

Genus: Lambeosaurus Brand: Wenno Classification: Hadrosaur, Ornithopod Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

1.8 (4 votes)

We haven’t talked about Chinese company Wenno (see their website) here before, so, let’s take a look. Wenno seem to sell their figures only in sets, not individually. They produce several modern animal sets representing different geographical regions (continents and oceans); a couple of endangered animal sets; and four prehistoric sets: Jurassic, Cretaceous, Herbivore and Carnivore.

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Review: Quetzalcoatlus (The Dinosaurs Gallery, Vol. 2, by Bandai)

Genus: Quetzalcoatlus Brand: Bandai, The Dinosaurs Gallery Classification: Pterosaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

1.9 (8 votes)

The Bandai Quetzalcoatlus is one of eight small toys released in the second instalment (volume 2) of The Dinosaurs Gallery series in 2006. The earlier Volume 1 consisted of five toys, and Bandai have also produced several other series of prehistoric animal models. Yet, somehow we’ve never reviewed a Bandai figure on the Dinosaur Toy Blog before.

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Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Boneyard Pets)

Genus: Tyrannosaurus Brand: Boneyard pets Classification: Theropod, Tyrannosaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Construction, Skeletal

1.3 (4 votes)

We’ve reviewed over 100 Tyrannosaurus toys on the Dinosaur Toy Blog, more than any other dinosaur species. T. rex is the dinosaur that keeps on giving! And so here’s one more for your consideration, the Tyrannosaurus ‘table-top’-sized skeleton by Boneyard Pets.

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Review: Triceratops (Boneyard Pets)

Genus: Triceratops Brand: Boneyard pets Classification: Ceratopsian, Chasmosaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Construction, Skeletal

1.5 (4 votes)

Earlier this year I unboxed a delivery of Boneyard Pets and subsequently filmed myself building them (see below). Now that I’ve constructed them, let’s take a closer look at one. A couple of years ago Dan previously considered the Tupuxuara in this line, so apologies in advance for belabouring some of his points.

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Review: Confuciusornis (Age of the Dinosaurs by PNSO)

Genus: Confuciusornis Brand: PNSO Classification: Bird Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

4.4 (16 votes)

Confuciusornis is a prehistoric bird from the early Cretaceous of China, named after the famous philosopher. This small toy by PNSO is one of a handful of examples of this species committed to plastic, and the first Confuciusornis model reviewed on the Dinosaur Toy Blog.

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Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Tyrannosaurus ‘Wilson’ statue by PNSO)

Genus: Tyrannosaurus Brand: PNSO Classification: Theropod, Tyrannosaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

3.5 (66 votes)

The PNSO produce everything from tiny miniature toys to giant life-sized museum sculptures, but this review is something in between – a sizeable 1:35 scale statue of Tyrannosaurus rex, dubbed ‘Wilson’. We previously unboxed him on our Youtube channel, now it’s time to take a closer look.

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Review: Triceratops (Age of the Dinosaurs by PNSO)

Genus: Triceratops Brand: PNSO Classification: Ceratopsian, Chasmosaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

4.1 (21 votes)

Review and photographs by Triceratops83 and Plesiosauria
Available from Amazon.co.uk here.
The PNSO brand has taken the dinosaur collecting world by storm, releasing within a year a respectable range of impressive figures and high end models. PNSO dinosaurs have become known for their realistic sculpts and the recently released Triceratops is no exception.

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Review: Glyphoderma (Age of the Dinosaurs by PNSO)

Genus: Glyphoderma Brand: PNSO Classification: Placodont, Reptile (other) Age: Triassic Type: Figurine

4.7 (17 votes)

Who here loves basal sauropterygians!? The Sauropterygia is a group of marine reptiles that include the well-known plesiosaurs and several other smaller-bodied groups, including nothosaurs and placodonts, which tend to receive far less attention. This is especially the case in toy form, which is unjust because these are fascinatingly weird creatures, well-deserving of a figure or two.

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Review: Pachycephalosaurus (Recur)

Genus: Pachycephalosaurus Brand: Recur Classification: Pachycephalosaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

4 (25 votes)

Thanks to Recur for the review sample.
Earlier this year I filmed myself unboxing a delivery of Recur figures on Youtube. The video received a whopping 5,000 views in two months demonstrating that unboxing videos really are popular, aren’t they! Suspsy has already reviewed some of these Recur figures on the Dinotoyblog, and he has more in the pipeline, so watch this space for more.

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Review: Six little dinosaurs (Tyrannosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Amargasaurus, Ankylosaurus, Spinosaurus, Triceratops) (PNSO)

Genus: Amargasaurus, Ankylosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Spinosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Brand: PNSO Classification: Ankylosaur, Ankylosaurid, Ceratopsian, Chasmosaur, Diplodocoid, Sauropod, Spinosaur, Theropod, Thyreophoran, Tyrannosaur Age: Cretaceous, Jurassic Type: Figurine, Set

3.8 (19 votes)

Enter the PNSO! I first became aware of The Peking Natural Science-Art Organisation in March 2016, when I visited their offices and workshop in Beijing on a work-related business trip. It was with great excitement that I discovered this blossoming company has its sights set not only on literature and 2D palaeoart (my expectation going in), but also on commercially available 3D art as well: dinosaur toys.

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Author: DinoToyBlog

All reviews by this author

Review: Psittacosaurus (Funrise)

Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Timpo)

Review: Lambeosaurus (Wenno)

Review: Quetzalcoatlus (The Dinosaurs Gallery, Vol. 2, by Bandai)

Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Boneyard Pets)

Review: Triceratops (Boneyard Pets)

Review: Confuciusornis (Age of the Dinosaurs by PNSO)

Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Tyrannosaurus ‘Wilson’ statue by PNSO)

Review: Triceratops (Age of the Dinosaurs by PNSO)

Review: Glyphoderma (Age of the Dinosaurs by PNSO)

Review: Pachycephalosaurus (Recur)

Review: Six little dinosaurs (Tyrannosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Amargasaurus, Ankylosaurus, Spinosaurus, Triceratops) (PNSO)

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