Since their discovery in the Antarctic and other parts of the southern hemisphere, penguins are seen as rather adorable creatures. In the past, there were many large examples of this family, with even a subfamily featuring these giant examples. Here, we see a figure of one such species, Anthropornis.
Classification: Bird
Review: Prehistoric Animal Set (The Ark by Joy City)
4.2 (6 votes)
Every now and again, something rather interesting pops up that you wouldn’t expect to be as good as you’d think. The toy sets you would see at supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl, often seen as cheap item makers, having something worth getting. Here, we examine the Joy City line on prehistoric animals, a counterpoint to there Dinosaur wave, which seems more typical chinasaur.
Review: Hawaiian ‘O’ o (Forgotten Friends Series A by Yowie)
3.5 (4 votes)
As a volcanic island chain, Hawaii is not known for it’s ancient fossil fauna, but it has a selection of modern extinct species. The ‘O’ o (or Moho, based on the scientific name) were a group of birds that were native to Hawaii, now all extinct, the last being recent enough to have recordings of it’s mating call (worth hearing, though prepare to be moved to tears).
Review: Dodo (Forgotten Friends Series A by yowie)
4.2 (5 votes)
The Dodo has quite the reputation among extinct animals, but the image has always been a bit skewed. Most portarits are based either on third or fourth hand accounts, and most European depictions are from obese specimens kept by gentry that didn’t know how to care for them properly.
Review: Dodo, pair (Noah’s Pals by Caboodle! Toys LLC)
4 (4 votes)
If something is “as dead as a Dodo”, it is very dead, gone forever, reflecting on the fate of said animal, the Dodo. From the island of Mauritius, these flightless pigeons roamed the land, eating fruit and shellfish and lacking fear. Then man came along and introduced new predators, ones that Dodo’s lacked, and soon they were gone from their native lands, never to return.
Review: Great Auk (Forgotten Friends Series A by Yowie)
3 (3 votes)
The tragedy of the Great Auk is a tale that covers much of the globe. These sea birds lived across the Atlantic, catching fish and having large flocks across islands throughout the Atlantic. They were killed for down in pillows, the bills for Native American charms and for fuel and food for sailors.
Review: Upland Moa (Forgotten Friends Series B by Yowie)
3 (3 votes)
When most people think of the Moa, it is likely they will only think about the giants of these birds, specifically the South Island Giant Moa. The reality is, however, that there were many Moa species across New Zealand, filling niches that in other parts of the world are filled by mammals.
Review: Brachiosaurus (Tamiya)
4.4 (9 votes)
Many toy or model kit lines have that one figure that is a centrepiece for the line, often far larger than the others, such as the Aurora Tyrannosaurus. If not a large predator, it will often be a sauropod, which makes sense given the enormity of many of that clade.
Review: Giant Moa (Signatu Studio)
4.9 (8 votes)
Back in 2015, after finishing my Palaeontology degree and wanting to keep a grip on news in that field, I discovered a toy site that seemed quite interesting. Several months later, I bit the bullet and posted my first review. The rest is history, and now I have reached a major milestone, my 100th review!
Review: Eternal lost breeds, Extinct animal (Takara Tomy A.R.T.S)
5 (7 votes)
Despite the progress we have made as a species, there is one fact we cannot change: extinction is forever. As a result of our hubris, many spectacular species have been wiped from the face of the earth. Takara have created quite an exquisite set, showing a selection of the species that have been lost of the centuries, each with a stand stating scientific names and year of extinction.
Review: Titanis (Jurassic/Primal Clash!)
2.6 (7 votes)
The idea of humans riding on the backs of prehistoric creatures is certainly an appealing one. Indeed, the Dino Riders line of Tyco made this a success, by not only having people and aliens ride them, but use them in battle (note: I do not condone weaponizing animals in any way).
Review: Dromornis (Yowies Lost Kingdom)
4.7 (7 votes)
Travelling through the wonderful world of Oz (as the Aussies tend to call their country) one sure plans some things before starting. I deceided to cramp a few toy figures into a box to take on the chance to shoot some of them in their “natural environment” – at least kind of, Australia sure changed a fair bit since most of the represented animals went extinct.