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

Stegosaurus (Kleinwelka)

3.5 (6 votes)

In 1978 Franz Gruß, a German sculptor situated in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), began to build life size reconstructions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in his private garden in Großwelka, Sachsen. The garden was open to the public and soon developed to a tourist attraction. Few years later the garden was enlarged by use of neighboring public grounds and thus the foundation was lain for the still existing Sauierpark Kleinwelka.

Chuanjiesaurus (Kaiyodo)

3.7 (3 votes)

If you never have heard of Chuanjiesaurus you’re probably not alone. Remains of this sauropod were discovered in 1995 near the village of – you guess it – Chuanjie in the district of Lufeng (where the more popular Lufengosaurus comes from too), Yunnan Province, China. The first scientific description was published in 2000 but criticized for its briefness and the fact that it was published only in Chinese language.

Belemnit (Bullyland)

5 (5 votes)

Roughly 300 million years a successful group of invertebrate animals roamed Earth’s seas in such numbers, that their fossil remains are used by geologists as index fossils, yet, the world of toy figures is lacking this group of animals almost completely. Several years ago the German company Bullyland remedied this lack and “released the kraken”,… well, more or less….… while the general appearance of a belemnite is reminescent of a modern cuttlefish and therefore its’ bigger relatives the octopuses aswell, the extinct group of Belemnoidea shows some remarkable differences from those recent animals.

Majungasaurus (Vitae)

4 (5 votes)

Few months ago the news about a new upcoming theropod figure by a yet unknown Chinese company stirred the DTB community. And while everybody and their moms talked about that awesome Giganotosaurus, its smaller and not very closely related compagnion went without much attention. For me it was this smaller theropod that excited me: Majungasaurus crenatissimus.

Seven Little Dinosaurs (China Post by PNSO)

4.8 (4 votes)

Within the unfortunately short time of its existence, Chinese company PNSO released two products in collaboration or commission for China Post. One is their glorious Mamenchisaurus, the other is a boxed set of “Seven Little Dinosaurs”. Unlike the “Six Little Dinosaurs” the seven do not depict juvenile dinosaurs but rather adult ones, though they are indeed not big figures.

Dinosaurs (LEGO Duplo)

4 (4 votes)

Thanks to the incredible team of Dr Bella Bricking and Beth Buildit most readers will be familiar with the certain incarnations of dinosaurs in the world of LEGO. Especially the figures released in the Jurassic World Franchise can achieve a serious price amongst collectors but there’s way more dinosaur figures in the LEGO universe than those.

Cycad Tree (Deluxe by CollectA)

5 (5 votes)

While retired plant toy models (for example by Schleich) achieve high prices on ebay and one could therefore be excused to think that there’s some demand, most companies seem not to care a lot about those sort of models. Though, prehistoric plants have quite a history in toy production.

Stegosaurus (Scout Series ‘Melon’ by REBOR)

4.6 (12 votes)

Stegosaurus is one of the most popular and recognizable dinosaurs and almost without any exception any given toy company or producer of prehistoric creatures has one or more of them in their line up. But as same as for other species, almost no company offers reconstructions of juvenile versions of this spectacular species.

Quetzalcoatlus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)

4 (9 votes)

With the full 2018 line up of Safari Ltd. on shelves for more than a month it’s easy to forget the lesser popular releases of 2017. So to remedy this, here’s the review of Safari’s Quetzalcoatlus for 2017.

Remains of what we accept as Quetzalcoatlus were discovered 1971 in North American Big Bend National Park by Douglas A.

Tyrannosaurus (Conquering the Earth by Schleich)

3.7 (31 votes)

While Barnum Brown is the name associated with the discory of the fossils that should be crowned Tyrannosaurus rex, it was in fact Edward Drinker Cope that dug up the first remains of our all beloved theropod. He described Manospondylus gigas from two fragmentary vertebrae eight years before Brown eventually dug up a partial skeleton.

Mononykus (MIXVS MINIMAX)

3 (2 votes)

More and more species of dinosaurs are discovered almost weekly and that pace easily outruns the capacity for toy companies to release new figures. That’s however not the only reason why some species probably will never find their way into kid’s rooms or even collectors’ shelves. Some if not most of them are simply not as awe inspiring or mighty as others.

Malawisaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)

4.6 (14 votes)

Review and photographs by Lanthanotus, edited by Dinotoyblog
If you looked out for toy figures of obscure species, CollectA would have been the choice for most collectors. In recent years, however, other major companies joined in and started to release sculpts of prehistoric animals that were or still are not known to many people, Safari Ltd being one of them.

Dinogorgon (Conquering the Earth by Schleich)

4.1 (11 votes)

Review and photographs by Lanthanotus, edited by Dinotoyblog
Permian synapsids are not a very popular group of animals and if a toy company does choose to create one, it is almost invariably a Dimetrodon. Few companies dare to make figures, let alone toys, of any other species from this ancient and fascinating group, despite the great variety contained within it.

Mamenchisaurus (Age of Dinosaurs by PNSO)

4.3 (14 votes)

Review by Lanthanotus, edited by Plesiosauria
It’s been several months since my last review for the dinotoyblog (Styracosaurus by Tyco) and although I still have plenty of photos ready for reviews I somehow couldn’t get my hindquarters up to do so. [Since you submitted this guest review in August and I’m only now posting it now in December, it is I who should be apologetic!

Styracosaurus (Tyco)

3 (5 votes)

Review and photos by Lanthanotus, edited by Suspsy
Months ago, there was a call for completing the Tyco page of the DTB and I replied that I’d add a review. I intended to have a look for the Pteranodon, a figure I just then had acquired, but couldn’t manage to write down a review in time and eventually this was done by Gwangi.