Having been described in 1908 and being the eponymous ankylosaurid, Ankylosaurus has long been a staple of dinosaur toys. Originally known from rather fragmentary material, reconstructions of this dinosaur historically evolved from Stegosaurus-like before the tail-club was known, to the version that was made familiar by Rudolph Zallinger’s 1947 Age of Reptiles mural and the 1964 World’s Fair model, with...
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy This blog is increasingly focused on newer products, which makes sense since the pool of charming retro-dinosaurs to review can only decrease, but there are still notable omissions, so I’ve made it my mission to break the endless combo of Jurassic World toys and hyper realistic figures. I hereby present you with...
This small Plesiosaurus toy belongs to the first line of dinosaur figures produced by Bullyland beginning in 1980, a few years after the German toy company was founded in 1973. The line of seven miniature dinosaurs (and other prehistoric creatures) is informally known as Mini Dinosaurs I, to separate it from a later line of mini dinosaurs released by Bullyland...
If we were handing out awards for ‘chonkiest Stegosaurus toys’ this one would surely be in the running. When I first embarked on this review I had assumed it would be a simple matter of specifying this as the Bullyland ‘mini’ Stegosaurus, but I quickly realised it isn’t that simple. There are several variants of this figure, since Bullyland tweaked...
Review and photos by Prehistory Resurrection, edited by Suspsy The most recent news that we have of Bullyland is that the company entered bankruptcy in 2019. They were thought to be definitely out of business, but in January 2020, the company reemerged with a repaint and seven mini figures. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, distribution for the 2020 releases has...
A new pack of Dire wolves have claimed this stretch of territory just on the edge where the forest meets the open plains. The pack, numbering seven animals, is led by a young pair of Alpha male and female, both just recently left their old packs to form their own. The rest are made up of relatives of the female...
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. To anticipate my conclusion, this is a decent, charming...
Review and photos by ‘Prehistory Resurrection,’ edited by Suspsy Spinosaurus was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs, probably exceeding Tyrannosaurus rex and Giganotosaurus in length, but not mass. Other factors which have contributed to Spinosaurus‘ fame apart from its huge size are its signature dorsal sail, its well-known (but inaccurate) appearance in the movie Jurassic Park 3, and the many figures...
When most hear the words “sabre tooth”, they would think of Smilodon and no others. But no species gains anything as unique as sabre teeth that large over night. It takes millennia of evolution from one species to another, and many of the steps can be found in the fossil record. Take Machairodus, a Miocene relative of Smilodon. Though not...
EU government could still not agree on aborting the change to summer time, so this very day is an hour longer and so gives me some time to wirte another review after quite a long break….. Today we gonna take a look on a probably not very popular figure, though the species is known by anyone who ever had a...
Review and photographs by Funk, edited by Suspsy To the general population, plesiosaurs are mainly known as “that prehistoric animal which the Loch Ness Monster might be,” though they were, of course, a very distinct group of reptiles with a long and important role in the history of palaeontology. Plesiosaurus itself was the first named plesiosaur, lending its name to...
Many of Bullyand’s figures have yet to be covered here on the Dinosaur Toy Blog as of this writing. The subject of this review, their 2000 Allosaurus, is actually my first piece from the company. Allosaurus remains a mainstay in dinosaur merchandise today, with a wide range of pieces in varying degrees of quality, but at the turn...
