Within the unfortunately short time of its existence, Chinese company PNSO released two products in collaboration or commission for China Post. One is their glorious Mamenchisaurus, the other is a boxed set of “Seven Little Dinosaurs”. Unlike the “Six Little Dinosaurs” the seven do not depict juvenile dinosaurs but rather adult ones, though they are indeed not big figures.
Classification: Allosaur
Review: Sinraptor (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)
A particularly pleasing aspect of this figure is the raised tail – the body is held horizontally and stands on two feet without requiring support from the tail.
Review: Sinraptor (Vitae)
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy
Vitae was a company that, much like PNSO, busted onto the dinosaur toy scene with some fantastic figures only to disappear entirely after a couple of years. Unlike PNSO, however, Vitae hasn’t made a comeback. After only releasing a resin model of Teratophoneus last year, Vitae now seems to be completely defunct as a company.
Review: Xuanhanosaurus (Jurassic World Dino Trackers Danger Pack by Mattel)
I, Emperor Dinobot, recently posited a question around, and it was the following: Could Mattel be designing dinosaur figures and naming them afterwards? We already have an example: Roarivores Sinoceratops is actually a Pachyrhinosaurus, but it got a name change due to the fact that Universal wanted to market Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom to the massive Chinese audience, and Pachyrhinosaurus was substituted by Sinoceratops, a dinosaur which represented China.
Review: Yangchuanosaurus (Dapeng) (Prehistoric Animal Models by PNSO)
Review: Yangchuanosaurus (Dinosaur King by Sega)
When companies add dinosaurs to a franchise, be it a game, show or book, they often want to make them as bright and eye catching as possible so that people will buy the merchandise. This often ignores any colouring that may be what they actually looked like, as it would be too subdued.
Review: Yangchuanosaurus (Dinosaurs of China by Safari Ltd)
Review: Yangchuanosaurus (Jurassic World: Dominion, Massive Action by Mattel)
Yangchuanosaurus is a genus of metriacanthosaurid that lived during the middle and late Jurassic in China. In appearance it would have looked very much like Allosaurus. Yangchaunosaurus shows up in the collectable market periodically and several figures represent the species, including the Safari Dinosaurs of China figure and a recent model by PNSO.
Review: Yangchuanosaurus and Chungkingosaurus Diorama (PNSO Scientific Art Models)
Review and photos by Bokisaurus
An air of nervousness engulfs the once serine scene at the forest edge. Herds of herbivores that just minutes ago were busy playing, eating, and calling to each other now stood silently still, on high alert. Their sudden change in behavior is warranted.
Review: Z-Cardz Dinosaurs Series 1 (California Creations)
A relic of toy trends from the 2000s, these cheap assembled models make for a decent little novelty item, as long as you’re delicate with them.
I’ve never been much of a “card” collector, so I’ve never followed the hobby closely, but I do recall a time in the early 2000s when 3D card models like Z-Cardz and Star Wars Pocketmodels became all the rage, at least within my own friend circles.