It’s time for our annual review of a large Mattel ceratopsian. Every year since 2018 Mattel has released one of these and they always end up being among my favorite toys from Mattel. This year it’s a Diabloceratops, part of Mattel’s Dino Trackers line.
Author: Gwangi
All reviews by this author
Review: Albertosaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
Seventy-one million years ago what is now Alberta, Canada, would have been located next to the Western Interior Seaway with various coastal habitats including swamps, marshes, tidal flats, lagoons, and estuaries. Familiar faces would have swum the aquatic ecosystems, including gar, bowfin, and sturgeon that are all present in North America’s freshwater habitats today.
Review: Majungasaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
Sixty-six million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous, Madagascar had already been an island for about 20 million years. And just as today, the island would have boasted a unique assortment of organisms isolated from most of the outside world. Thanks to fossils preserved in the Maevarano Formation we know the region was home to Beelzebufo, the world’s largest known frog, the theropod Masiakasaurus with it’s strange, forward projecting teeth, the herbivorous crocodylomorph, Siamosuchus, and the 8-meter sauropod, Rapetosaurus.
Review: Dilophosaurus (Jurassic Park 25th Anniversary, Pop! Movies by Funko)
Review: Cooperoceras (Prehistoric World by CollectA)
Over the last 3 years CollectA has produced FIVE extinct cephalopods spanning the geologic ages between the Ordovician and the Cretaceous. A magnificent achievement that appears to have come to an end, for alas, no cephalopod has been announced for 2023. But do not despair, with figures of Koolasuchus and Anomalocaris on the horizon CollectA is continuing their streak of releasing the most diverse and interesting assortment of prehistoric critters of any mainstream company.
Review: Smok (Deluxe Prehistoric Collection by CollectA)
As a person of Polish decent with a love for Triassic fauna I was elated to see that CollectA was producing a figure of Smok wawelski, a Triassic archosaur found near Lisowice village in Poland. And hot on the heels of their excellent Lisowicia too, another Triassic animal from the same fossil site.
Review: Genyodectes (Jurassic World: Dominion, Extreme Damage by Mattel)
Genyodectes serus (Greek for “late jaw bite”) is a genus of theropod belonging to the Ceratosauridae family and lived in South America during the early Cretaceous. It is only known from an incomplete snout described by Sir Arthur Woodward in 1901. Genyodectes was the second dinosaur ever discovered in South America and despite its fragmentary nature, would remain the most complete theropod known from South America until the 1970’s.
Review: Wiwaxia (Paleozoic Pals)
Review: Edmontosaurus (Jurassic World, Basic 12” Figures by Mattel)
The Basic line of Mattel Jurassic World figures is a line of budget friendly toys that are trimmed down in virtually every aspect. They don’t have any action features, the articulation is exceptionally limited, and the paintjobs are typically simplified. So far, they don’t have a presence on the Dinosaur Toy Blog, but today we’re looking at one of the line’s standout figures, the Edmontosaurus, new for 2022.
Review: Dreadnoughtus (Jurassic World: Dominion by Mattel)
Dreadnoughtus schrani was a species of titanosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous in what is now Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It was discovered in 2005 in the Cerro Fortaleza Formation by Kenneth Lacovara and described in 2014. The name Dreadnoughtus translates to “fears nothing,” and what an apt name it is.
Review: Ampelosaurus (Jurassic World: Dominion, Massive Action by Mattel)
Review: Ceratosaurus (Jurassic Park 3, Hammond Collection by Mattel)
Gripe all you want about Jurassic Park 3 but we must give credit where credit is due. The movie featured a diverse assortment of dinosaurs with arguably the best color schemes in the franchise. Gone were the dull grays and browns of the first two films, JP3 went wild like a kid with a coloring book and the movie was better for it, though not by much.
Review: Gallimimus (Jurassic Park, Hammond Collection by Mattel)
Review: Triceratops (Jurassic Park, Hammond Collection by Mattel)
Review: Styracosaurus (Jurassic World Dino-Escape, Fierce Force by Mattel)
Does Mattel release too many repaints? Yes. Is there value in these repaints? Also, yes. Case in point, this Styracosaurus. This figure is the 3rd release of this toy. The first two times it was released I ignored it. I was disappointed by how much smaller it was compared to Mattel’s other ceratopsians.