Elasmosaurus was a magnificent and charismatic marine reptile that had an incredible neck. This sea dragon reached an estimated length of 43 feet (13 meter). The head and neck comprised half of its length. It might not have been the most powerful animal in prehistoric seas but it is one of the more elegant and recognizable plesiosaurs.
Author: Laticauda
My name is Rob but I go by Laticauda (which is a genus of Elapid “Sea” snakes) on both the Dinosaur Toy Blog and Forum. My dinosaur collecting journey began when I discovered the Carnegie line as a kid. They amazed me and I didn’t look at them as toys but as art. By the time I headed off to college I no longer collected prehistoric toys as I had moved on to new collecting pursuits. This all changed the day when my first child was born as it rekindled my passion for the prehistoric world. Now I have two kids and I enjoy sharing the hobby with them.All reviews by this author
Giganotosaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
2.9 (26 votes)
Kids perspective by William, edited by Laticauda
Young and old gather around and see the new king in town. I present the highly anticipated 2017 Safari Ltd. Giganotosaurus. Why do I call it the new king? Sure it doesn’t have the name rex in its name, and its not because it was one of the largest known carnivores the world has seen, in which some estimates have it bigger than the almighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Kentrosaurus(Mini, by Schleich)
3 (3 votes)
Schleich has changed their typical toy dinosaurs lineup over the past two years. They have added new playsets and sizes for their prehistoric line of toys. The mini sized dinosaurs were introduced in 2015 with eight figures. Due to their low cost, different sculpts, and new paint jobs that differ from their bigger brethren, the minis were quite popular.
Compsognathus longipes(Sentry, by Rebor)
4 (6 votes)
To get in the right state of mind for this model lets take a quick stroll down memory lane. While vacationing on the beach of Isla Sorna a young girl makes a startling discovery. Out of the foliage and onto the beach hops a cute, small, chirping, green dinosaur.
Kentrosaurus (the Lost Kingdoms series C, by Yowie)
3.5 (2 votes)
Despite it being smaller and less grandeur in size when compared to its contemporaries Stegosaurus and Tuojiangosaurus , Kentrosaurus’s look is snazzy enough for the major dinosaur toy brands to show it some love from time to time. As with many of its fellow sterosaurids it had a small yet narrow skull that ended with a beak which would have been useful while sniping off plant stems and leaves.
Lufengosaurus (CollectA)
1.7 (6 votes)
Lufengosaurus lived during the early Jurassic period and is a primitive sauropodomorph from China. A full osteology of Lufengosaurus was done in 1941 and was the first complete dinosaur skeleton mounted in China. Fortunately, much is known on its size and shape as there is quite a lot of known material.
Rebbachisaurus (CollectA)
2.2 (6 votes)
In the 1950’s some fragments of an interesting sauropod with tall neural spines was discovered, unfortunately, unlike many other dinosaurs with tall neural spines, it has not captured the imagination of others in its family. The name of this animal is Rebbachisaurus. It is unknown if it supported a sail or a hump, though the trend is to show it with a sail.
Utahraptor (Wild Safari, by Safari Ltd.)
2 (6 votes)
The first specimen of Utahraptor ostrommaysorum was found in 1975. In 1991 further remains were found, and like its fellow dromaeosaurids, it also sported a large, nightmare inducing, “killing” curved claw on its toe. Thanks to its size being comparable to the over sized Velociraptors in Jurassic Park, and starring in a popular book written by paleontologist Robert T.
Liopleurodon (Bullyland)
2.8 (5 votes)
Kids perspective by William, edited by Laticauda
My first experience with Liopleurodon came in 1999 while watching the original telecast of Walking with Dinosaurs. I remember sitting in my dorm room with a box of thin mint cookies eagerly awaiting the next episode to begin. It started with a scene showing Eustreptospondylus standing by the waters edge, looking into the shallows.
Ceratosaurus (original version)(Wild Safari by, Safari Ltd.)
2.6 (7 votes)
With a long wiggly tail, nasal horn, preorbital horns, bony scutes along the back, and large blade like teeth, Ceratosaurus was a spectacular animal. This medieval dragon was not the biggest predator during the late Jurassic epoch, but with jaws designed for slicing, it was an active predator that struck fear into the Jurassic herbivores.
Carcharodontosaurus (original version) (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
1.9 (10 votes)
When a dinosaurs has a name that means “shark toothed lizard”, you would probably expect the toy depicting that dinosaur to be scary and intense. Carcharodontosaurus was an apex predator and carnivore that frightened most of the local fauna in its day. Its enormous jaws were filled with long, serrated teeth that were designed to rip and tear apart the flesh of its prey.
Smilodon (Prehistoric Mammals by Schleich)
3.2 (5 votes)
Around 2003, Schleich released six prehistoric mammals, two Woolly Mammoths (adult and calf), Megatherium, Machruchania, Cave Bear, Glyptodon, and Smilodon. Some of these figures appear to be modeled after the BBC show, Walking with Prehistoric Beasts. Most of the figures in the line are rather nicely done, but a couple of them are really interesting.
Triceratops (original version)(Wild Safari by, Safari Ltd.)
3.4 (7 votes)
When it comes to iconic dinosaurs, even after the rise of Velociraptor and Spinosaurus from Jurassic Park fame, Triceratops is placed towards the top of the list along with Tyrannosaurus Rex and Stegosaurus. In fact, if I did a Greek Pantheon of Dinosaurs and replaced the top twelve Greek gods with Dinosaurs , Triceratops would get a top spot.
Triceratops (Mighty Megasaur by, Dragon-i / Adventure Wheels)
2 (4 votes)
There are many different tiers of dinosaur toys on the market. There are high end brands with exquisite detail and accuracy, and some brands that just make toys to be played with and have very little attention to detail or accuracy. This Triceratops falls closer to the latter category and is probably not destined to be on the display shelf.
Carcharodontosaurus 2016(Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
3.9 (12 votes)
Kids perspective by William, edited by Laticauda
In North Africa 96 million years ago during the Cretaceous period there lived a large theropod named Carcharodontosaurus. It was one of the largest carnivores; its skull alone was around 5 ft (1.6 meters) long. This “shark toothed lizard” had long, sharp, serrated teeth that would slash through the flesh of its prey.