For many collectors, young and old, part of the appeal of dinosaur figures – perhaps even their primary appeal – is that they help render long-lost worlds as exciting and vibrant as the one around us today. They bring to life creatures known only from rocks in a vivid, three dimensional, colourful and exciting way. Albeit in miniature, of course....
When it comes to dinosaurs, I believe there are essentially two attributes that attract us. They are either fearsome, or fancy. The fearsome ones are easy enough to spot, bearing a great deal of menace and lethality. Others may seem less terrifying, but fall into the “fancy” category. Exotic spiked frills, elaborate head crests, and armored plating all make for...
Review and photos by Nathan Morris (‘Takama’), edited by Plesiosauria. This familiar dinosaurian staple requires no introduction. Here we have CollectA’s standard-sized reproduction of this mighty horned hadrosaur, plus a baby for good measure. These CollectA figures were produced when the company was first venturing into the dinosaur toy market, so I’m willing to forgive many of its faults. Indeed,...
Review and photos by Nathan Morris (‘Takama’) It’s a well-known fact that CollectA’s prehistoric animal figures vary in quality. Some of them are good and incorporate current palaeontological knowledge, while others are poorly sculpted and sacrifice accuracy. The subject of today’s review belongs to the latter group, but to be fair, the toy was released when CollectA was just venturing...
Guest review by forumite Fooman666 – edited by Marc (Horridus) Seeing as CollectA have taken many of us by surprise this year I think it’s fitting that I review one of their 2011 figures for my first review in quite a while. Today I will be looking at the CollectA Lourinhanosaurus, which in some aspects I believe is one of...
I’m really starting to dig this dinosaur review thing. I’ve always enjoyed writing and learning about, and doing anything that involved dinosaurs, so naturally I would have to give this a try and as you can tell I’ve gotten fond of it. Hopefully my reviews are meeting the standards of the blog, feel free to let me know. Thinking it...
Review and photos by Nathan. Edited by Plesiosauria. Everyone here knows this dinosaur – he’s the king of them all and will eat you up if you don’t show some respect! The dinosaur I’m reviewing is, of course, Tyrannosaurus rex. In particular, CollectA’s 1:15 scale reproduction of this famous carnivore. As you can see, he is basically an...
Review by Nathan, edited by Plesiosauria. Rhoetosaurus brownei was an Australian sauropod that lived around the mid-Jurassic Period and is one of the oldest known sauropods. Little evidence has been found for this dinosaur, only a partial hind leg, some vertebrae, ribs, and pelvic elements are known, yet CollectA decided to release one as part of their standard collection back...
I know I’ve said it before, but Collecta really have upped their game this year, spurred on by what seems like a genuine urge to please us geeks. It’s much appreciated, as it’d be easy for a company to not give a stuff about accuracy/aesthetics as long as the products were selling (they ARE toys, after all). This mature Triceratops...
Review by Nathan Morris (Takama), photos by Bokisaurus and Simon. Edited by Plesiosauria. Concavenator corcovatus (meaning hunchback hunter from Cuenca). Was a 6-meter long, and primitive carcharodontosaurian that lived 130 milion years ago during the early Cretaceous Period. It was discovered last year [2010] at the Las Hoyas Plateau, and is notable for a hump that pertruded from its back....
This featured article comes from longtime forum member Boki, who shares his thoughts on the two major stegosaur releases of 2011. Thanks, Boki! (-Dan) In this year’s dinosaur lineup, we are offered two unusual late Jurassic stegosaurs. In the past, most companies have opted for the familiar stegosaur when choosing a species to add to their line of prehistoric figures....
Unfamiliar British taxa are the order of the day for UK-based company CollectA, and we can now add the relatively obscure plesiosaur Attenborosaurus to their list. Attenborosaurus is one of two plesiosaurs released by CollectA in 2011 (the other one being the Rhomaleosaurus, again, another relatively obscure British genus). Attenborosaurus is from the Lower Jurassic of Charmouth, UK, and the...
