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.
Review and photos by Charles Peckham, edited by Suspsy
Trying to find information about either the creator of these toys, a Chinese company named Yantai, or their American distributor, Learnplay Inc., isn’t easy. According to one of the few sources I was able to find, Yantai has been around since 2011 and their Halftoy line is just one of hundreds of designs they have made.
The Definitely Dinosaurs line by Playskool was a series of dinosaur toys produced in the late 80’s and early 90’s. For those unfamiliar with them they were basically the more toddler-friendly version of Tyco’s Dino-Riders. Some of them, like the Stegosaurus, were eerily similar to their Tyco counterparts.
Sinclair’s Trachodon captures a moment of history in dinosaur pop culture and science which is gradually growing farther and farther away, but its imagery remains pervasively iconic.
There’s always something new to discover in the collecting hobby – even when it’s technically old.
Of all the Hadrosaurs, Parasaurolophus is by far the most commonly produced in toy lines. It’s flashy headpiece is likely the main reason, as the rest of the body is somewhat lacklustre. Sizeable, but not the most interesting. The crest is where it’s at, with the function and skin attachments being a major source of debate.
Review and photos by Faelrin, edited by Suspsy
Parasaurolophus is easily one of the most recognizable and famous herbivorous dinosaurs, and ornithopods along with Iguanodon and Edmontosaurus. The long, hollow tube like crest is its most distinctive feature, easily recognizable, and setting it apart from most hadrosaurids, except for its close kin Charonosaurus and the newly described Tlatolophus.
Although we are all familiar with the dinosaur family hadrosauridae it seems that the dinosaur that gave the family its name has been largely forgotten, despite being a historically important dinosaur. Hadrosaurus foulkii was first described by Joseph Leidy in 1858, from remains found in New Jersey’s Woodbury Formation.
While many of us debate over which of the spectacular Tyrannosaurus toys released over the last couple decades are the best and most definitive, we can all pretty much agree on what the best Corythosaurus toy is or was.
Trachodon is, or was, a genus of hadrosaurid described by Leidy in 1856 for which the only material known was a mix of teeth from both hadrosaurids and ceratopsians. That’s not much to go by and Trachodon is now considered nomen dubium.
Back in 2012 a representative from the toy vendor VictoryBuy joined the Dinosaur Toy forum looking for member feedback with regards to reissuing the Tim Mee set of toy dinosaurs, originally produced in the 1970’s. Flashforward to 2014 and VictoryBuy once again stopped by the forum, this time to announce the actual release of the set.
Review and photos by Strawberry Crocodile, edited by Suspsy
Hadrosaurs are often relegated to the role of “supporting cast” in dinosaur media. Despite their success as a group, they simply don’t grab people’s imaginations as much as deadly theropods, record-shattering sauropods, or the absolutely bizarre shapes their ornithischian cousins have taken.
Within the last few years, the ornithopod group of dinosaurs has seen a renaissance after being neglected for a long time. It wasn’t always the case, in fact some of the first dinosaur toy figures were from this group. But despite having had early fame, the group would soon be relegated to the sideline as token prey species for the ever-popular throng of predatory theropods.
