It was almost exactly a year ago when I reviewed the Safari 2020 Pachycephalosaurus, a much-needed modern rendition of the most popular of the bone-headed dinosaurs. In that review I declared the Safari Pachycephalosaurus the definitive figure of that genus, but now I’m back again with another Pachycephalosaurus, this time by PNSO.
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: Hadrosaurus (Marx)
3.9 (8 votes)
Although we are all familiar with the dinosaur family hadrosauridae it seems that the dinosaur that gave the family its name has been largely forgotten, despite being a historically important dinosaur. Hadrosaurus foulkii was first described by Joseph Leidy in 1858, from remains found in New Jersey’s Woodbury Formation.
Review: Sinoceratops (A-Qi) (Prehistoric Animal Models by PNSO)
4.6 (25 votes)
Growing up in the 90’s every dinosaur book I grew up reading liked to compare the Cretaceous dinosaur fauna of North America with that of Asia, highlighting just how similar they were. Both continents had representatives from the same major groups; dromaeosaurs, ornithomimosaurs, ankylosaurs etc. Some genera were remarkably similar, like North America’s Tyrannosaurus and Asia’s Tarbosaurus, and other genera could be found on both continents, like Saurolophus.
Review: Corythosaurus (Caroline) (Prehistoric Animal Models by PNSO)
4.1 (37 votes)
While many of us debate over which of the spectacular Tyrannosaurus toys released over the last couple decades are the best and most definitive, we can all pretty much agree on what the best Corythosaurus toy is or was. And while the 1993 Carnegie Collection Corythosaurus was the unquestionably best figure of that genus it is alarming to think that that particular toy had remained the definitive version of that genus for the last 27 years.
Review: Ankylosaurus (Marx)
3.8 (8 votes)
No collection of toy dinosaurs would be complete without the “great fused lizard”, Ankylosaurus magniventris, and it has been that way since 1955 with the release of the first dinosaur toys ever mass produced, by Marx. The Marx Ankylosaurus was included in Marx’s second wave of dinosaur toys, known as Medium Mold Group, PL-750.
Review: Trachodon (Edmontosaurus) (Marx)
4.1 (10 votes)
Trachodon is, or was, a genus of hadrosaurid described by Leidy in 1856 for which the only material known was a mix of teeth from both hadrosaurids and ceratopsians. That’s not much to go by and Trachodon is now considered nomen dubium. During its day however, Trachodon was a household name and the classic “duck-billed” dinosaur of pop culture.
Review: Allosaurus (Marx)
2.7 (7 votes)
Originally released in 1955 as part of Marx’s Medium Mold Group, PL-750, today we’re looking at the Marx Allosaurus. This group of toys included the Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Hadrosaurus, Pteranodon, Stegosaurus, and Trachodon and was Marx’s second set of dinosaur toys.
Review: Dinosaurs (Tim Mee Toys by J. Lloyd International Inc.)
4.4 (29 votes)
Back in 2012 a representative from the toy vendor VictoryBuy joined the Dinosaur Toy forum looking for member feedback with regards to reissuing the Tim Mee set of toy dinosaurs, originally produced in the 1970’s. Flashforward to 2014 and VictoryBuy once again stopped by the forum, this time to announce the actual release of the set.
Review: Sinoceratops (Jurassic World Sound Strike by Mattel)
3.9 (11 votes)
Back in 2018, when Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was released, a curious thing happened. Mattel, with their newly acquired rights to the Jurassic Park franchise began pumping out action figures for the movie’s various starring animals. But one of those animals was decidedly different from it’s on-screen counterpart.
Review: Baryonyx (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
4.6 (36 votes)
Before Spinosaurus was all the rage, and before we even had a good grasp of what Spinosauridae was as a family, Baryonyx was the bizarre piscivorous theropod that was capturing the public imagination. In much the same way modern companies try to keep up with new discoveries, Invicta Plastics was able to produce a Baryonyx in 1989, only 3 years after it was fromally described.
Review: Pleuroceras Ammonite (Prehistoric World by CollectA)
5 (18 votes)
Alongside trilobites, ammonites are far and away the most popular group of prehistoric invertebrates. These shelled cephalopods belong to the broader Ammonoidea, which evolved over 400 million years ago during the Devonian. Keep in mind that not all ammonoids are ammonites and actual ammonites from the Ammonitida clade lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, a time during which they flourished.
Review: Belemnite (Prehistoric World by CollectA)
4.7 (14 votes)
CollectA has long been at the forefront of producing obscure toys of prehistoric animals but by and large they’ve all been tetrapods; four legged vertebrates and their descendants. This includes a variety of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles, and mammals. But this year CollectA has raised the bar and released four prehistoric invertebrate figures: a trilobite (Redlichia rex), Orthoceras, Pleuroceras ammonite, and a belemnite.
Review: Tuojiangosaurus (Qichuan) (Prehistoric Animal Models by PNSO)
4.3 (28 votes)
For the last several months the Chinese company PNSO (Peking Natural Science-art Organization) has delivered upon us a glut of prehistoric animal figures that have shaken the fountain of our hobby and truly changed the game, or such is my opinion anyway. These figures are mostly in PNSO’s mid-range size of figures that retail for $20-30 and at this point I’ve frankly lost count of how many have actually been released.
Review: Irritator (Jurassic World Sound Strike by Mattel)
2.5 (11 votes)
As it stands there is only one review for Irritator on the blog, Irritator being an early Cretaceous spinosaurid from Brazil. That toy is by CollectA and it’s pushing a decade old and quite clearly “early CollectA” in terms of quality. There are a few other Irritator out there but none that are as accessible or as mass produced as that one.
Review: Mosasaurus (Jurassic World Snap Squad by Mattel)
3.6 (14 votes)
By and large the Snap Squad toys by Mattel have been frustratingly difficult to find. Nearly a year ago I managed to find a few at Wal-Mart, and foolishly didn’t buy them all. That was the first time I ever saw them “in the wild” and I wouldn’t see them again until April 2020, when for some reason they showed up at Aldi of all places.