Today I would like to introduce to you the „Wangensaurier“ (literally meaning „cheek lizard“) from the “Wagner Margarinefiguren” series. When these figures were released sixty or so years ago, it was quite common in Germany to give prehistoric creatures German names and not to use the common species name.
Author: Libraraptor
Hello, my name is 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 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 - sometimes in a clumsy English, I must admit. But I still enjoy reviewing as much as I did in 2009.
I am so happy to still be a part of the big DTB / DTF family!
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.
My collection is sometimes said to be somewhat quirky, I collect and 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Here’s a video (on the Dinotoyblog Youtube channel) showing my collection, it’s a little outdated, but still shows the main part of it.All reviews by this author
Dimetrodon (Pelikan)
3 (2 votes)
Straight from the depths of my cabinet I present to you yet another oddity: A Dimetrodon figure that originally was intended to serve as a rubber. Pelikan is a German company making stationary such as pens, biros, ink erasers or – erasers. I have it since I was a schoolchild and saved it across the times from its fate, for to me it was too interesting to end as chips of rubber.
Dimetrodon (“Kamsaurier Permzeit” Margarinefiguren by Wagner)
4 (2 votes)
Just recently someone on the forum asked what would happen if there was nothing more to review, and I thought, well, this probably will never happen. Since there are still so many interesting old collectibles and oddities out there which could keep us busy for years. And do not forget about the new releases which seem to get more and better every year!
Dimetrodon (Linde)
4.5 (2 votes)
Linde is an Austrian company producing substitute coffee – at the beginning in the 50s, because real coffee was hard to get, later because some people really enjoyed this substitute from malt, barley, rye and chicory. Occasionaly the company would put collectable little plastic premiums into the packagings in order to promote their product.
Diplodocus (Kleinwelka)
4.8 (5 votes)
The reviewed replica lying on a brochure of the park.
Ah, a classic, monochrome tail dragging sauropod figure! Ah, a replica of a classic behemoth, exclusively released in one theme park in a single region! Ah, a legacy from those times when dinosaurs were regarded at as strange, clumsy foreign bodies.
Europasaurus (Bullyland)
3.7 (6 votes)
Europasaurus holgeri is a basal macronarian sauropod. It lived during the Late Jurassic (middle Kimmeridgian, about 154 million years ago) of northern Germany, and has been identified as an example of insular dwarfism resulting from the isolation of a sauropod population on an island within the Lower Saxony basin.
Brontosaurus (Inpro)
3.3 (3 votes)
Inpro Brontosaurus is a classic figure representing an iconic dinosaur, Brontosaurus. Back in 1972, English company Inpro produced a line of Prehistoric toys, among others amazingly including one of the rare representations of Heterodontosaurus as a figure. More information is available here .
Inpro Brontosaurus is 7,5 cm high and 13 cm long from the tip of its tail to the bend of its neck.
Camarasaurus (Tip Toi by Ravensburger)
3.3 (3 votes)
A TipToi is an orange electronic device by German company Ravensburger that looks like a gigantic pen. With its rays it scans micropatterns on fields triggering certain sound sequences the pencil reveals. Each program has to be loaded directly into the pen via USB link from the internet. There are books and jigsaws which can be played with the TipToi, telling children everything they want to know – from the beginnings of the universe to the landing on the moon.
Protochirotherium (Bullyland, exclusively for the Regionalmuseum Wolfhagen, Germany)
3.7 (7 votes)
Just recently I came across one of these figures which make a collector´s life so interesting. I was visiting the museum in Korbach with its great Procynosuchus exhibition when I saw this Bullyland Protochirotherium for sale in a cabinet among many other more common Bullyland figures such as their Apatosaurus or Tyrannosaurus.
Plesiosaurus (3D Puzzle by Fame Master)
3 (3 votes)
Hi folks! I´m happy to submit a brand new review, my first one for nearly a year. It is about the Plesiosaurus 3D puzzle, produced by Fame Master, which is being distributed by a company named Spiegelburg/Coppenrath in Germany.
It’s a nice figure, very easy to fit and makes a nice contribution to every collector’s shelf or cabinet.
Corythosaurus (Bernd Wolter Design)
4.7 (3 votes)
I do not know the exact history of this lovely lifesize Corythosaurus baby, the very proud of my collection. I bought it at a flea market in Münster four or so years ago. I had recognized it as at least related to the models of the Dinosaurierpark in Münchehagen, but I was more than just a little irritated to find such an item on a flea market.
Tyrannosaurus (Larami)
1.2 (5 votes)
Larami released eleven ugly prehistoric animal vinyl figures in the 1990, most of which were bad copies of the good old Invicta classics. The own designs, Parasaurolophus, Styracosaurus and Ankylosaurus, were simply horrible and cannot really be recognized as a dinosaur in the case of the Ankylosaurus.
But let us concentrate on the T.rex who may have served as a blueprint for the Toy Story Rex because of its charming smile.
Ornithomimid (unknown company)
2.8 (5 votes)
This little fellow is a good example of my preference of somewhat unusual dinosaur figures. It is a little ornithomimid and neither do I know the company nor its exact species description.
It represents a very old way of posing dinosaurs, kangaroo-style with a broken tail and hands that remind me at the paw of a rabbit when it is standing on its hind legs.
It represents a very old way of posing dinosaurs, kangaroo-style with a broken tail and hands that remind me at the paw of a rabbit when it is standing on its hind legs.
Therizinosaurus (Bullyland)
4 (7 votes)
Therizinosaurs were among the strangest dinosaurs ever, and I really like them very much. They were late Cretaceous theropods, yet herbovires, and their overall appearance is so strange and deviates from standard dinosaur scheme pretty much. Huge bellies, a beak and feathers make Therizinosaurs look like gigantic turkeys. Their lifestyle, however, probably resembled that of a panda or an also prehistoric ground sloth.
Velociraptor (World of History by Schleich)
1.9 (9 votes)
The last two reviews dealt with a Jurassic Park – inspired dinosaur and a new Schleich release. So here is your perfect synthesis, a review of Schleich´s new Velociraptor. It is way better than their last Velociraptor, but this was not difficult to achieve, to be honest. First Schleich Veliciraptor looked goofy and clumsy.