So, friends, here I am again. It took a little longer, that’s for sure. I was busy writing and marketing my first book about my own and other people´s fascination for prehistory (The Dinosaur Toy Blog and Forum play a big role in it!) and had the usual private and professional struggles.
Author: Libraraptor
- Hi, I am Stefan Schröder aka ‘Libraraptor’ and I am a faithful soul on both the Dinosaur Toy Blog and the Dinosaur Toy Forum since 2008, when I stumbled upon the forum looking for the Invicta blue whale in order to complete my Invicta collection. I found friendly people there and open ears and eyes for my growing collection. Later I began reviewing toys and figures here on the blog. I'm certainly not the most diligent reviewer, but when I do, I really enjoy reviewing a figure from my collection.
- I am so happy to still be a part of the big DTB / DTF family! In the meantime, I am one of two administrators of the forum belonging to this blog. Fortunately, both still enjoy great popularity in times of Instagram, TikTok and Co.
- I come from Germany, was born in 1977, I’m married and I have a daughter and a son. I am a full-time social worker, working at schools for children with special educational needs. In summer I take part in the dinosaur excavations in Balve which are led by the LWL-Museum für Naturkunde in Münster and enjoy finding bone or tooth fragments from the Lower Cretaceaous deposits of Germany.
- My collection is sometimes said to be somewhat quirky, I review what I like with no special goal or focus. I am mostly into vintage and monochrome figures and museum exclusives.
- Here’s a video (on the Dinotoyblog Youtube channel) showing my collection, it’s a little outdated, but still shows the main part of it.
- In 2024 I finally published my first book dealing with people´s passion for prehistory. If anyone is interested, you can order it
- HERE (US)
- HERE (UK)
- and HERE (Germany)
All reviews by this author
Review: Iguanodon (Marolin / VEB Plaho)
3.8 (44 votes)
Can you detect the tiny ear conches?
A firm from the German Democratic Republic, VEB (Volkseigener Betrieb) Plaho, released a series of highly collectable die casting plastic dinosaur figures in 1967. They were sold in the Museum of Sena in Thuringia, Germany, until the mid-1980s.
Review: Dimetrodon (Kellogg’s, cereal freebie)
2.5 (11 votes)
Ah, another Dimetrodon! This Permian synapsid belongs to the group of usual suspects in the competition for the most popular prehistoric animal. It is well-known, highly popular and long ago iconic. So nothing has to be written about the species itself here anymore, I guess.
Review: Mammoth (Cuddly toy giveaway by Mammut)
3.9 (11 votes)
A Swiss company which produces outdoor clothing and equipment named itself „Mammut“ after the iconic Mammoth, probably because the prehistoric giants were as well equipped against cold and rainy weather conditions as you are supposed to be if you wear a Mammut product.
Review: Protoceratops (“Ersthornsaurier”) (Margarinefiguren by Wagner)
4 (9 votes)
Five or so years ago I introduced to you a line of so called „Margarinefiguren“ (meaning margarine figures) which had been produced by or for a German food company named „Wagner“ 60 or so years ago. The company added them to their food packages as little collectibles for kids as a buying incentive for their parents.
Review: Minmi (Science and Nature, Pty Ltd.)
4.1 (9 votes)
Today I´d like to introduce to you Science and Nature Minmi. The company did it as a part of their signature line of figures, “Animals of Australia Realistic Toy Replicas.”
Minmi is the name of a small herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous Period of Australia, about 119 to 113 million years ago.
Review: Iguanodon (2001) (Bullyland)
4 (8 votes)
For some reason the 2001 version of an Iguanodon by Bullyland has not been reviewed yet. This text is going to change that.
I guess I don´t have to tell anyone here anything about lower Cretaceous ornithhischian Iguanodon, one of the most widespread, best known and best examined dinosaur species ever.
Review: Agustinia (Schleich)
Review: Postosuchus (Schleich)
3.6 (21 votes)
Traditional pose
Postosuchus, meaning “Crocodile from Post“, is an extinct genus of rauisuchid reptiles comprising two species, P. kirkpatricki and P. alisonae, that lived in what is
now North America during the Late Triassic. Its name refers to Post Quarry, a place
in Texas where many fossils of the type species, P.
Review: Animantarx (Schleich)
4.3 (17 votes)
A great dinosaur figure is a figure I can´t take my eyes off.
A great dinosaur figure is a figure I want to hold in my hand again and again, just to enjoy how it feels. The texture of the skin, ist detail, the spikes, the pose: Everything has to appeal to me surpassingly.
Review: Utahraptor (AAA)
3.8 (26 votes)
Okay, let´s take a closer look at AAA Utahraptor today. After a long break, welcome to another Libraraptor review of a quirky figure!
By now, Utahraptor is a well known genus belonging to the group of Dromaeosaurs. Its size of seven meters in length makes it the biggest of the tribe.
Review: Pelecanimimus (De Agostini)
4 (6 votes)
Back in the 1990s there was a publication called “Dinosaurs!”. Publisher De Agostini would introduce to us the dinosaurs and their world in many issues. One special dinosaur would get a titlee story, there were stories about other dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts, a 3D – poster in the middle of each issue and on the last side my former idol Dr.