Review and Photographs by Dilopho, edited by Suspsy Good day, DinoToyBlog readers! Today, I have a very old figure that you may remember fondly from your childhood- the old Tyco Triceratops! Now, before I begin this review properly, I have to tell you one thing: There were two main versions of this figure, a motorized one and a non-motorized one....
Saurolophus was a genus of late Cretaceous hadrosaur that had a large distribution, occurring in both North America and Asia. Despite its wide range, and thus the large assortment of material we have for it, Saurolophus has never been a popular dinosaur. With only a few exceptions the hadrosaurs aren’t terribly popular as it is and those that are popular...
A couple days ago I received a package in the mail. I could start off a lot of reviews this way but inside this package was something special, an old friend I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. This package might as well have been a time capsule. I couldn’t unwrap the layers of news paper and plastic fast enough...
Review and photos by Lanthanotus, edited by Suspsy Some Saturday back in the late 1980s’, my parents dragged me to a big mall (by 80’s European standards) in a nearby city to buy those things that boys age 11 or 12 like most: clothing, shoes, and such. Naturally, I had to steal my fair share of time to search through...
Review and photographs by Paleona Back in the late 80’s / early 90’s, pre-Jurassic Park, the Tyco dinosaurs were among the first dinosaur action figures. Tyco first released their dinosaur toys as a Dino-Riders toy line, but the Smithsonian Institution later hired Tyco to release a museum quality line of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals under their name. Among these toys...
Review and photographs by “Paleona” Another gem from the Tyco Smithsonian line of toys is the Dimetrodon. Everyone’s favorite synapsid features a simple, but fun action feature and a charming disposition. This squatty little creature measures about 7.7″ (19.5cm) long and 4.5″ (11.4cm) tall. In hand, it feels like it’s just the right size; not too big and not too...
Although the Dino-Riders line consisted mostly of familiar faces like Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Diplodocus, and, of course, Tyrannosaurus rex, there were a few obscure animals tossed into the mix. I had never heard of Placerias until I came across it on the shelf at Toys R Us. Placerias was a large dicynodont hailing from the Late Triassic. Like today’s hippo, it...
Time now to jump into the WABAC Machine and take a trip to 1988. It was a good time to be a kid or a collector. GI Joe and Transformers were still going strong, Barbie and Lego were around as always, and TMNT was taking its first steps towards iconic status. And then you had Dino-Riders. HARNESS THE POWER! Regrettably,...
If your average person were hard pressed to name every dinosaur that came to mind we all know the names that would crop up; Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and since 1993…Velociraptor. I can’t think of many genera that achieved so much fame so fast, at least not since the so called golden age of paleontology in the late 1800’s and early...
Protoceratops was a smaller more primitive ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia. Size wise it is most commonly compared to a sheep and many fossilized specimens of this dinosaur have been discovered from tiny eggs and hatchlings all the way up to full grown adults. Little proto, despite being adorable, was...
Any child of the eighties can recall the baritone jingle of “Dino-Riders!” in their incessant TV spots. Their adventures could be found in comics and television, but what really mattered were the dinosaurs. The story pitted two factions against one another in high-tech, futuristic battles with armored archosaurs donning heavy armor and weapons. Aside from being the center of the...
Review and photos by Griffin. Struthiomimus isn’t really the first dinosaur that comes to mind upon hearing the word “theropod”. It has no giant mouth full of killer teeth. It sports no set of shredding claws. Instead, this quirky animal bears a striking resemblance to the modern day ostrich complete with long slender legs, swan-like neck and...
