There are quite a number of fossils that stun the layman aswell as the professionell for their quality of preservation. Finds enclosed in Burmese amber, Chinese or German limestone come to mind, revealing large numbers of numerous species in outstanding quality. In common they have, that most of the species preserved are comparably small….
Author: Lanthanotus
Lanthanotus goes by the name Dennis in analogue life and lives with his small family in Germany. His serious interest in dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures began in early primary school when he either got a dinosaur book for birthday or found some dinosaur book in the school library – whatever came first. As with a lot of things that caught one’s attention during childhood or youth, the interest slumbered for many years before coming back with force. Lanthanotus joined the Dinosaur Toy Forum in 2015 and ever since enjoyed catching up with recent scientific findings and collecting and reviewing toy figures. Outside the computer Dennis works as an educator and frequently travels the world with his family to contribute to his other passion: herpetology. He published several articles and holds lectures on monitor lizard biology.All reviews by this author
Review: Allosaurus (Protocasts)
4.8 (8 votes)
I guess there`s not much to say about the “Lion of the Jurassic” that hasn`t been covered in one or more of the three dozen reviews to this species before, so let´s get straight to the figure.
“Protocasts” is the brand name of our forum member Kayakasaurus, under which he releases figures since 2016.
Review: Pinacosaurus (Protocasts)
Review: Zhejiangosaurus (Vitae)
4.9 (9 votes)
While a lot of dinosaur names are quite a challenge for the laymen to be read and correctly spelled, the ones inspired by Chinese locations and names may even be a serious challenge to the dinosaur expert. Zhejiangosaurus comes as one of the easier names, but maybe one you do not really need to remember…..
Review: Stegosaurus (Horizon)
4.1 (8 votes)
As far as my “knowledge” goes, Horizon was a small model making company of Chinese origin located in California. It ceased production in the late 90`s or early 2000´s and was famous for making high detailed models of movie characters, like Terminator, Robocop, classic monsters or Jurassic Park.
Review: Lisowicia (CollectA Deluxe)
5 (24 votes)
Time has eventually come, for one of the most impressive CollectA figures of 2020 to hit the European continent. And fittingly, it represents a European species.
In 2006 paleontologists Jerzy Dzik, Tomasz Sulej and Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki discovered large bones in a clay pit in Poland. What was initially considered to be sauropodomorph dinosaur, was later recognized to be a massive dicynodont synapsid.
Review: Anatosaurus (Kleinwelka)
4 (8 votes)
With more and more Marx figures dropping in, I want to add something vintage from a German line that also calls for being completed on the blog. The history of Kleinwelka figures has been thoroughly told at least as far as my knowledge goes, so let`s get straight to the figure.
Review: Dimorphodon (Dinoreplicas)
4.9 (10 votes)
Papercrafts are not the usual type of collectible models, nevertheless there`s quite a number of models out there made from that versatile but often underestimated material. A few already have reviews here on the blog and it`s about time for a new one.
Forum member Dinoreplicas recently provided a free template to make your own Dimorphodon.
Review: Tyrannosaurus and Diplodocus (H.S. Brumm)
Review: Placerias (unknown company)
3.7 (14 votes)
Today I`d like to review a figure that is a quite uncommon in several ways. First of all, it technically already has a review on this blog as part of a box set, but I felt it deserves its own entry.
Secondly, it is a Placerias, a species that, despite its certain popularity for appearing in the BBC series “Walking with Dinosaurs” is neglected by almost any toy company you can name.
Review: Ridgeheaded Mekosuchine (Yowie)
3.7 (6 votes)
Science counts around 25 species of recent crocodile species and all – maybe with the exception of the African Dwarf Crocodile – live an aquatic life and use the land mainly to bask and nest. In their long history the group we accept as “crocodiles” has seen quite a variety of crocodilian forms, not few of them terrestrial more than aquatic, a trait that showed off in their morphology.
Review: Dromornis (Yowies Lost Kingdom)
4.7 (7 votes)
Travelling through the wonderful world of Oz (as the Aussies tend to call their country) one sure plans some things before starting. I deceided to cramp a few toy figures into a box to take on the chance to shoot some of them in their “natural environment” – at least kind of, Australia sure changed a fair bit since most of the represented animals went extinct.