Author: Gwangi

My name is Arthur but I go by Gwangi on the blogs and forums, as homage to the old dinosaur and monster movies I love so much. In addition to writing about and collecting toy animals (extinct and extant) I also share my home with a variety of living animals, mostly reptiles but a little bit of everything. I have a lifelong interest in all things nature and natural history and most of my hobbies can be linked to those things in some way. I currently live in Maryland with my wife and daughters. In addition to writing on here I also write magazine articles, typically about local wildlife and aquarium fishes.

All reviews by this author

Review: Carnotaurus (Mini Dinosaur Collection by Schleich)

3.1 (15 votes)

Schleich is a company that many of us love to hate. Although all Schleich models are of pretty high quality, especially in the detail work, they’re usually too garish and inaccurate for most of our tastes. This makes Schleich a frustrating company to get behind because with a bit more attention to anatomical accuracy they could be a stellar company.

Review: Carnotaurus (Terra Series by Battat)

4.4 (17 votes)

One of the last models released by Battat for the Boston Museum of Science collection was the Carnotaurus back in 1998. Now, 17 years later it’s back and with a shiny new paint job too. Many Carnotaurus have come and gone since this one was originally released but this one still remains one of the best.

Review: Acrocanthosaurus (Deluxe Prehistoric Collection by CollectA)

3.6 (32 votes)

This has been a good year for fans of the early Cretaceous allosauroid, Acrocanthosaurus. Battat re-released their classic model, Rebor is getting in on the action with their own representation and CollectA has come out with their deluxe version of the theropod. Critics of the CollectA model point out that it looks awfully similar to last year’s Carcharadontosaurus.

Review: Tyrannosaurus (King Kong 1933 by X-Plus)

4.7 (13 votes)

After roughly four years of blogging and collecting I’ve reached my 50th review for the DTB. For this special review I wanted to do something offbeat and distinct. In seeking out a unique subject I came across a figure that merges my love of cinema with my love of dinosaurs, and I knew this was the model I would have to review.

Review: Pteranodon (Invicta)

4.8 (13 votes)

Released in 1978 the Invicta Pteranodon has a very vintage look to it, almost like something out of a Ray Harryhausen picture. Unlike Harryhausen’s stop motion marvels this Pteranodon doesn’t have bat wings though, which is a relief. But much like bats, we know that pterosaurs adopted a similar posture when on all fours, with the wings folded and tucked back.

Review: Acrocanthosaurus (Terra Series by Battat)

4.5 (24 votes)

The wait is finally over folks, and the triumphant return of Battat is underway. Late last summer we were both shocked and thrilled to learn that Battat was back with a new series of dinosaur figures sculpted by Dan LoRusso for the Terra line, exclusive to Target stores in the United States.

Review: Woolly Mammoth (Invicta)

4.8 (13 votes)

Mammuthus primigenius, the one Cenozoic animal that’s been done to death. Every company has tackled this classic Ice Age proboscid. It’s not a particularly strange animal; in size and general appearance it matches closely with extant elephant species and it’s not nearly as bizarre as other genera such as Platybelodon.

Review: Glyptodon (Invicta)

4.8 (14 votes)

For my last review I tackled the Schleich Glyptodon with a pretty obvious hint regarding what I would be reviewing next. Well here we are, reviewing another Glyptodon and transitioning back into my Invicta reviews. There aren’t a lot of models in this classic line left to review.

Review: Glyptodon (Prehistoric Mammal Series by Schleich)

4.9 (8 votes)

I want you to close your eyes, close your eyes and travel back, back to a distant era. It’s 2002; Spider-Man is #1 in the box office, the X-Files broadcasts its two hour finale, the UK is declared free of foot-and-mouth disease and Schleich, a company now notorious for its abominable depictions of prehistoric life was actually a competent company worth collecting.

Review: Tanystropheus (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd.)

4.3 (12 votes)

One of my favorite critters from the Triassic period has to be Tanystropheus. In a period renowned for its strange non-dinosaur Archosauromorphs the Tanystropheus is certainly among the strangest. Superficially similar to a plesiosaur this animal appears to have been semi-aquatic, with webbed feet instead of flippers.

Review: Plesiosaur (Invicta)

5 (13 votes)

It is with much trepidation that I attempt to review my next figure. It’s actually one I’ve intended on reviewing for years but when you write for a blog owned by a plesiosaur expert you’re naturally a bit hesitant to review a plesiosaur model, especially based on accuracy.

Review: Scelidosaurus (Invicta)

4.7 (15 votes)

Back in April of 2009 the creator of this dear blog posted two pictures of the Invicta Scelidosaurus model with the promise that “a full review of this figure will be added at a later date”. Well that later date is here folks, probably a bit later than originally anticipated but better late than never eh?

Review: Iguanodon (Invicta)

4.8 (18 votes)

The Invicta line of prehistoric models is an interesting one. Spanning the years between the early 1970’s and early 1990’s it is a company that was producing dinosaur figures right on the cusp of the “Dinosaur Renaissance”. As a result we have some models from the company that are downright retro in appearance, along with some that in terms of accuracy stand up reasonably well, even today.

Review: Nasutoceratops (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)

4.9 (17 votes)

Although I’m sure most of you reading this blog keep up to date with the latest in dinosaur discoveries, the ceratopsian our review tackles today was only recently discovered and so it seems prudent to give a brief overview of that animal itself. Dinosaur lovers have been blessed with an abundance of new ceratopsians out of North America lately and among them is the increasingly popular Nasutoceratops or “large-nosed horn face” and while the nose is indeed large, the pair of “Texas long-horns” on the head also helps make this a unique looking dinosaur.

Review: Euoplocephalus (Galileo Hernandez)

5 (5 votes)

Alright, it’s confession time. I really have a thing for ankylosaurs. Or at least, toys and models of them. Generally speaking, I’ve never really been a big fan of the group, not that I had anything against them, I think they’re an underrated group of dinosaurs overall.

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