Author: Marc Vincent

My name’s Marc Vincent although I go by ‘Horridus’ on the forums. My interests include current affairs, dinosaurs (naturally!) and drinking myself to an early grave. Being a shameless populist my favourite extinct dinosaur is Tyrannosaurus; out of those extant it is surely the European magpie, Pica pica. I collect figures in a vain attempt to fill the awful, aching void in my soul and also because, you know, they’re cool to look at, and I find extinct animals fascinating – dinosaurs in particular

All reviews by this author

Review: Velociraptor (Museum Line by Bullyland)

3.5 (8 votes)

Given the preponderance of bald dromaeosaurs that still stink up dinosaur toy stores, it was nice to see Bullyland step in two years ago with a Luis Rey-inspired feathered version of that perennial favourite, Velociraptor. Unfortunately the results are a little mixed – a figure with great potential let down in a few key areas.

Review: Tyrannosaurus (The Great Dinosaur by Sega)

4.8 (19 votes)

Normally the choice for dinosaur figure collectors is a simple one – it’s either small, perhaps not-so-accurate but cheap plastic figures, or large, stunningly detailed resin statues that will make your PayPal account beg for mercy. However, here we have a compromise – a fairly large model (similar in size to the JP ‘Thrasher’ T.

Review: Velociraptor (other one) (Jurassic Park by Kenner)

4.6 (11 votes)

Since I reviewed both Jurassic Park Dilophosaurus figures (the electronic one here and the other one here) it seems only right that I take a gander at the standard JP Velociraptor now that I’ve got my sweaty mits on one. I’ve already embarked on a mini-rant over the JP raptor’s odious influence over people’s perceptions of dromaeosaurs when I reviewed the electronic version, so this time I’ll just get on with it like.

Review: Stegosaurus (Invicta)

4.8 (16 votes)

Some dinosaurs have undergone quite radical image changes over the years – sauropods moved out of their swamps and got into shape and theropods went from blundering tail draggers to sleek, deadly (and quite horizontal) predators – some of then even gained feathers. It might be tempting to presume, however, that Stegosaurus has remained much the same – slow, stupid and stacked with plates like a big reptilian dishwasher.

Review: Tyrannosaurus (Invicta)

4.5 (37 votes)

The Invicta dinosaurs are well-known for being quite anatomically accurate for their time, and especially when compared with contemporary competition. Here, then, we have their rendering of the most famous dinosaur of all, and while it’s not bad – especially when it comes to superficial details – it’s certainly not Invicta’s finest hour.

Review: Velociraptor (Jurassic Park by Kenner)

2.6 (12 votes)

Lock up your annoying grandchildren – it’s time to look at the Jurassic Park Velociraptor. Well, one of them – the electronic ‘Dino Screams’ version.

Ah, the Jurassic Park Velociraptor – you have a lot to answer for. Unfortunately you made such a lasting childhood impression for a lot of people that when it was revealed that Velociraptor, their favouritest dinosaur, was actually feathered, many of those people simply refused to accept it.

Review: Dilophosaurus (other one) (Jurassic Park by Kenner)

3.7 (10 votes)

Following yesterday’s review of the electronic Jurassic Park Dilophosaurus, let’s look now at its more basic counterpart in the line – the classic ‘water pistol’ Dilophosaurus, among many people’s earliest and most fondly remembered dinosaur toys. It was the first JP toy I owned, actually.

Review: Dilophosaurus (Jurassic Park by Kenner)

3.5 (10 votes)

More Jurasic Park I’m afraid – although here we have a figure of an animal actually featured in the franchise. Dilophosaurus was last seen giving Wayne Knight a good seeing-to in the first movie, but proved so memorable that Hasbro were still releasing figures of it for the Jurassic Park 3 line.

Review: Chasmosaurus (The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Kenner)

3.4 (14 votes)

Chasmosaurus is surely one of the strangest additions to the Jurassic Park toyline. Although it was at least a dinosaur (unlike Dimetrodon, Estemmenosuchus etc.) it was never mentioned in the books or movies, and isn’t the sort of dinosaur that your ordinary MOTGP (Member Of The General Public…nothing to do with the Moto GP, hail Rossi) could recall from memory.

Review: Baryonyx (Invicta)

4.6 (20 votes)

The spinosaur Baryonyx was big news when it was unearthed in England in the 1980s, so it’s understandable that Invicta would have wanted to produce their own model of ‘Claws’. This 1989 plain-coloured toy is (sadly) still one of the best spinosaur toys yet produced, in spite of its outdated posture.

Review: Mamenchisaurus (Invicta)

4.9 (21 votes)

Here it comes, straight from Bob Bakker’s 1970s fever dreams – the infamous banana flavour Invicta Mamenchisaurus, surely among the stranger serious sauropod toys.

As any kid with a dinosaur book will tell you, Mamenchisaurus is best known for having an extraordinarily long neck, making up half of the animal’s overall length.

Review: Triceratops (Invicta)

4.2 (19 votes)

Ah, the Invicta dinosaurs – every one a retro-tastic delight, and every one now sadly out of production (and replaced at the Natural History Museum (London) by a piece of Toyway tat not worthy of the museum’s seal of approval…BAH). Triceratops here is one of the earlier figures in the line, and it shows – which is not to say that it isn’t a delightful figure, like the majority of Invictasaurs.

Review: Young Tyrannosaurus rex (Jurassic Park by Kenner)

4.8 (45 votes)

Following yesterday’s look at the queen of the Jurassic Park toyline, here we present the pretender to the throne. This ‘young’ Tyrannosaurus rex (also known by the cutesy if nonsensical name of ‘Junior’) is about half the size of its big red sister, but is no less mean-looking for its diminutive stature.

Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Jurassic Park by Kenner)

4.9 (72 votes)

Much as I feel bad for peddling nostalgia yet again, here’s a real classic – a toy that will be instantly recognised by anyone who grew up during the 1990s and loved dinosaurs. Just as the movie dramatically raised the bar when it came to on-screen dinosaurs, the original Kenner action figure line was, as my fellow reviewer Dan might say, “a slap in the face” for anyone used to small, poorly-detailed dinosaur toys.

Review: Edmontosaurus (UKRD)

4.2 (18 votes)

The blog’s gone all grown-up recently with resin kits and limited-edition statues – leave it to me to lower the tone and introduce a mere toy. What we have here, then, is what is known among collectors as a ‘Chinasaur’ – cheaply made and featuring little more identification than ‘Made in China’.

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