Despite only featuring dinosaurs, this set still offers an interesting variety of genera; but how well do the designs hold up? Welcome to the fourth and final review for the Z-Cardz dinosaur figurines, part of the larger Z-Cardz line that began in 2001. Produced by a small company named California Creations, Z-Cardz were a pioneer brand in what are now...
Insular dwarfism is an interesting evolutionary phenomenon where a population of animal that find themselves marooned, separated from main landmass, start evolving progressively into smaller forms or size than what is seen on their ancestors in the mainland to adapt to their newfound restricted reality.This adaptation ensures that these population of animals did not outstrip the limited available food and...
The models in this set are a nice set of famous or classic prehistoric genera, but they definitely leave a lot to be desired as interesting renditions of said animals. Welcome to the third entry of the Z-Cardz review series! Z-Cardz were a constructible card game line by California Creations, which predated the more prolific game lines by...
The island nation of Japan is usually not on the top of the list when it comes to dinosaur discoveries, but in the last few years, that quickly changed as more dinosaur fossils are found especially those from the Cretaceous.One of the most recent and exciting discovery from the Land of The Rising Suns is a nearly complete hadrosaur skeleton,...
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...
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...
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. If you were a dinosaur obsessed kid during this time period you...
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. In my case, the discovery in question was the identity of three old dinosaur toys I had...
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. Here is one made...
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. It has...
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. Hadrosaurus is the first dinosaur ever discovered in the United States....
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. And while the 1993 Carnegie Collection Corythosaurus was the unquestionably best figure of that genus it is alarming to think that...
