Review and photos by Funk, edited by Suspsy
Yet another Tyrannosaurus toy review you say? Well, this one is unlike most others, and is rather baffling in some of its design choices, so there should be enough novel things to say about it.
Author: Funk
All reviews by this author
Review: Triceratops (Animal World Dinosaurs by Bullyland)
3 (22 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy
This blog is increasingly focused on newer products, which makes sense since the pool of charming retro-dinosaurs to review can only decrease, but there are still notable omissions, so I’ve made it my mission to break the endless combo of Jurassic World toys and hyper realistic figures.
Review: Diablo (Primal Rage by Playmates)
2.9 (31 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy.
As most dinosaur fans that grew up in the 1990s know, Primal Rage from 1994 was a fighting game pitting stop motion animated dinosaurs and apes against each other, with very violent and sometimes bizarre attacks that inevitably led to parental outrage.
Review: Armadon (Primal Rage by Playmates)
2.3 (63 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy
The 1994 Atari fighting game Primal Rage featured a roster of stop-motion animated dinosaurs and giant apes that battled it out on a post-apocalyptic Earth (or “Urth”), which seems like an irresistible concept for a toyline, with Playmates jumping to the task in 1996, possibly to coincide with the sequel of the game which never materialised (toys based on characters from the sequel were also produced).
Review: Talon (Primal Rage by Playmates)
3.4 (52 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy
Ever since I first saw preview pictures of the stop motion figures used to animate the dinosaurs in the 1994 Atari fighting game Primal Rage in a Nintendo magazine, I thought, “Wow, they would have made great toys.” Fast forward to a few years ago where I learned such toys were actually produced by Playmates of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fame, and I got a few of them used.
Review: Parasaurolophus (UKRD)
3.3 (4 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy
There are still plenty of UKRD toys from the 1990s left to review, so next in line is the mid-size Parasaurolophus from 1992. Due to its distinctive crest, Parasaurolophus is probably the most familiar hadrosaur, and therefore has a lot of toys to its name.
Review: Pteranodon (UKRD)
1 (7 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy
It probably wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Pteranodon is the most popular of all pterosaurs, and probably the one with most toys to its name. To this day, it remains one of the most recognisable pterosaurs, if not prehistoric animals in general, no doubt due to its very distinct head crest.
Review: Nothosaurus (Imperial)
1.4 (40 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy
Nothosaurus was a widely distributed Triassic marine reptile with about a gazillion assigned species. Though it lends its name to the wider group Nothosauridae, it is probably fair to say the genus is obscure to most people.
Review: Apatosaurus (Monster In My Pocket by Matchbox, Series 6)
3.7 (6 votes)
Review and photos by Funk, edited by Suspsy
Monster In My Pocket was a line of small collectible figures in bright colours, all depicting monsters of some kind. The line seems to have had several series consisting of or including prehistoric animals, and the one here, the Apatosaurus, is from Series 6, which appears to have been released in 1993, during the “Dinomania” craze that followed in Jurassic Park‘s wake.
Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Dino Quest by Chap Mei)
1.3 (14 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy
Can there ever be too many Tyrannosaurus toys? Chap Mei didn’t think so, and made several versions, that, while they differed in colouration and other details, all seem to have taken most of their anatomical cues from the way this genus was portrayed in the Jurassic Park franchise.
Review: Ouranosaurus (LGTI)
2.3 (7 votes)
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy
Large ornithopods without crests often look similar, with basically the same body plan, and hard to tell apart. One notable exception is Ouranosaurus, which, though named back in 1976, is still unique among ornithopods in having a tall sail formed by the neural spines of its back and tail vertebrae.
Review: Quetzalcoatlus (1990 Repaint by Tyco)
4 (6 votes)
Review and photos by Funk, edited by Suspsy
By now, most of Tyco’s classic Dino-Riders figures have been reviewed here, with a few notable absences, such as some of the Ice Age creatures. Another notable toy that was not covered up until now is the Series 3 Rulon Quetzalcoatlus, which, though just a repaint of the Series 1 Valorian Quetzalcoatlus, was radically different from its predecessor and most other toys of the line due to its vibrant colouration and unique armour and rider.