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: Ankylosaurus (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)

Genus: Ankylosaurus Brand: Carnegie, Safari Ltd Classification: Ankylosaur, Ankylosaurid, Thyreophoran Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

4.7 (27 votes)

I’m pleased to announce that the Dinosaur Toy Blog recently received a number of review samples representing the entire Carnegie Collection, courtesy of Safari Ltd. So, prepare yourself for a Carnegie Collection bonanza of reviews over the next few weeks! We’ve already reviewed the two exciting 2009 additions to the Carnegie collection, the Spinosaurus and Tylosaurus, so now it’s time to look at some of the other existing models in the line.

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Review: Tylosaurus (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)

Genus: Tylosaurus Brand: Carnegie, Safari Ltd Classification: Mosasaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

4.5 (25 votes)

The second new addition for the Carnegie Collection in 2009 is a mosasaur – the ferocious Tylosaurus. Mosasaurs are a real rarity in toy form so this is an exciting release! The figure might be considered a replacement for the now retired Carnegie Collection Mosasaurus.

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Review: Huayangosaurus (Dinotales series 7 by Kaiyodo)

Genus: Huayangosaurus Brand: Kaiyodo Classification: Stegosaur, Thyreophoran Age: Jurassic Type: Figurine

4.5 (11 votes)

This spikey Chinese stegosaur is hugely detailed for such a tiny figure (about 8 cm long). Kaiyodo has this down to an art and their figures are often tiny but very detailed and highly accurate. The Huayangosaurus figure is part of Kayodo’s Dinotales line, specifically from Series 7, the most recent release.

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Review: Pteranodon longiceps (Bullyland)

Genus: Pteranodon Brand: Bullyland Classification: Pterosaur Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

2.8 (8 votes)

One of several Pteranodon figures from Bullyland. This figure appears to represent P. longiceps and contrasts with Bully’s smaller P. sternbergi figures (one reviewed previously: here)

Notice the metal ring attached to the back so you can hang this figure for display.

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Review: Iguanodon (Walking with Dinosaurs by Toyway)

Genus: Iguanodon Brand: Toyway, Walking with Dinosaurs Classification: Iguanodont (basal), Ornithopod Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

4.5 (16 votes)

Although a full review will be added in time, I just had to highlight the hind feet on this figure. As you can see below, they look more like alien feet than dinosaur feet; the four pedestal-like toes seem out of place on an Iguanodon sculpt that is otherwise very accurate.

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Review: Plesiosaurus (Dinocrats by Toyway)

Genus: Macroplata, Plesiosaurus Brand: Dinocrats, Toyway Classification: Plesiosaur Age: Jurassic Type: Figurine

4.3 (7 votes)

This review is dated 2009 but that’s not really true at all. Sure, I clicked the publish button back in 2009, but the only content was some photographs and a promise to update the review properly later. A decade passed… no review. Still, the years continued to roll by… no review.

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Review: Micromachines dinosaurs (National Geographic Collection/ Micromachines)

Genus: Brachiosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Euoplocephalus, Pachycephalosaurus, Protoceratops Brand: Micromachines Classification: Ankylosaur, Ankylosaurid, Ceratopsian, Ceratosaur, Macronaria (basal), Pachycephalosaur, Sauropod, Theropod, Thyreophoran Age: Cretaceous, Jurassic Type: Figurine, Set

3.8 (5 votes)

Micromachines, a brand noted for their wide range of miniature automobiles, stepped outside the box when they produced a series of dinosaurs in association with National Geographic. Obviously they are all tiny, a bit smaller than the figures in Kaiyodo’s dinotales range, but they are quite nice and very collectible.

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Review: Liopleurodon (CollectA/Procon)

Genus: Liopleurodon Brand: CollectA, Procon Classification: Plesiosaur, Pliosaur Age: Jurassic Type: Figurine

3.9 (18 votes)

Pliosaurs again! This time we will sample Procon’s offering which is a Liopleurodon.

This is the second plesiosaur produced by Procon, the first one being the elasmosaurid Hydrotherosaurus (reviewed here), but this is their first pliosaur. Procon are tending to divide collectors with their new lines.

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Review: Baryonyx (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)

Genus: Baryonyx Brand: Carnegie, Safari Ltd Classification: Spinosaur, Theropod Age: Cretaceous Type: Figurine

3.1 (27 votes)

Baryonyx figures have a tendency to be produced in a quadropedal posture. This is most notable in the Schleich version (reviewed here) and the Invicta version (reviewed here), and is almost the case in this Carnegie Collection version by Safari Ltd.

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Review: Apatosaurus (Galaxy/Safari, 'Great Dinos' Collection)

Genus: Apatosaurus Brand: Galaxy, Great Dinosaurs, Safari Ltd Classification: Diplodocoid, Sauropod Age: Jurassic Type: Figurine

3.6 (18 votes)

We reviewed this figure briefly before (here) but thanks to Atomic Elephant who sent us a review sample, we can now give this hefty figure a little more attention. There are two versions with differing paint schemes, a blue design and the grey/blue design, which we present here (although it look blue in our photos because of the lighting!).

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Review: Liopleurodon (Walking with Dinosaurs by Toyway)

Genus: Liopleurodon Brand: Toyway, Walking with Dinosaurs Classification: Plesiosaur, Pliosaur Age: Jurassic Type: Figurine

4.9 (24 votes)

It’s time to continue our series of pliosaur figure reviews and this time we will look at the Walking with Dinosaurs Liopleurodon toy by Toyway. The WWD line has been out of production for some years and was only available locally for a short period of time, so this rare figure is quickly becoming a ‘holy grail’ for dinosaur collectors.

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Review: Spinosaurus (Famemaster)

Genus: Spinosaurus Brand: Fame Master Classification: Spinosaur, Theropod Age: Cretaceous Type: Construction, Figurine

2.4 (11 votes)

Since the release of Jurassic Park 3, Spinosaurus has become one of the most popular and infamous dinosaurs. However, there are still relatively few figures of Spinosaurus and even fewer good ones. The Famemaster 4D puzzle is one of the more reasonable ones.

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