Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
It may seem odd to think that whales are artiodactyls, or even-toed ungulates, the group of mammals that includes hippos, pigs, antelopes, deer, giraffes, sheep, goats, and cows. Obviously, modern whales don’t walk around on land, but, around 50 million years ago, their ancestors did.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
If you’ve ever scoured through dinosaur toy lots on eBay, you’ll probably be familiar with a seemingly ever-present cast of figures. Vintage Carnegies, K&M figures, and Battat Edmontonia bootlegs are numerous enough that they should really be classified as vermin. However, you’ll occasionally find a figure unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
We return to the land apart from time to review the second Dinotopia plush released by Accent International in 1993, “Lil’ Hadro.” This is certainly an odd choice by Accent, as no character named “Lil’ Hadro” appears in any of the books.
Review and photos by Loon, edited by Suspsy
Released in 1992, James Gurney’s book Dinotopia follows the shipwrecked scientist Arthur Denison and his son Will as they journey through the titular island, where dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals escaped extinction and coexist with humanity.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
Given their inability to articulate, most dinosaur figures are often posed neutrally. After all, there are only so many adventures a kid can take a sleeping dinosaur on. Luckily, the Paleo-Creatures line isn’t aimed at kids, so just like PNSO, they have released a resting Mei long.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
Dino World was a line of small models similar to Kaiyodo’s Dino Tales. Unlike Dino Tales, these toys are sold by the Japanese candy company Kabaya and came packaged with candy. This review will be looking at #12 of 24 in the series, the hatching Protoceratops.
Like Dino Tales figures, this toy is very small.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
When I got back into dinosaurs in the mid-2010s, there were really only two criteria for becoming a paleontological sensation: having feathers and being big. Aside from having both, Dakotaraptor steini also lived alongside the famous fauna of the Hell Creek Formation, making it quite the superstar for a while.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
Ever since it was discovered by Francis Tully in 1955, Tullimonstrum has both intrigued and confused. The animal’s common name, “Tully Monster,” is a reference to its confusing collection of body parts. With its bizarre appendage ending in a claw-like mouth and simple eyes at the end of stalks, this doesn’t look like anything alive today.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
Too often, I see people dismiss Archelon as “just a large sea turtle.” Understandably, this makes many toy companies shy away from producing figures of it, since any modern sea turtle figure could be used as a substitute if that were really the case.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
Phytosaurs unfortunately suffer from their superficial resemblance to crocodiles in that they rarely get the level of representation that their more “charismatic” archosaur cousins enjoy. When they do show up, they are usually represented by the late Jurassic Rutiodon, the subject of this review.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
Protoceratops figures tend not to be very large, most likely to better communicate the real animal’s small size. Breaking with tradition, CollectA has decided to create this figure in 1/6 scale, to go along with their Deluxe Velociraptor.
Review and photos by ‘Prehistory Resurrection,’ edited by Suspsy
Spinosaurus was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs, probably exceeding Tyrannosaurus rex and Giganotosaurus in length, but not mass. Other factors which have contributed to Spinosaurus‘ fame apart from its huge size are its signature dorsal sail, its well-known (but inaccurate) appearance in the movie Jurassic Park 3, and the many figures of it that were released from different companies in 2019.
