One of my favorite critters from the Triassic period has to be Tanystropheus. In a period renowned for its strange non-dinosaur Archosauromorphs the Tanystropheus is certainly among the strangest. Superficially similar to a plesiosaur this animal appears to have been semi-aquatic, with webbed feet instead of flippers. Its taxonomic placement within Archosauromorpha indicates that despite their similar appearance they were...
The Velociraptor pack has come across an unguarded nest of eggs. But a hungry Deinonychus has also found the nest, and he’s not in the mood to share!
The Playmobil Deinonychus is a small figure, standing only up to 9 cm tall and measuring 14 cm long. That said, it is probably the scariest-looking dinosaur in the line. Like the...
Much to the delight of fans, Playmobil brought back its dinosaurs line in 2013. Although most of the prehistoric creatures were recolours from 2007, there were some new ones as well. These included the familiar and ferocious Dimetrodon.
The Dimetrodon measures a good 17 cm long and is 9 cm tall including the sail. Its colour scheme is hands down...
A Triceratops and her baby are munching on yummy plants. Suddenly the mother senses that something is wrong. Quickly she leads her baby to safety as the nearby volcano begins to rumble!
Playmobil’s version of the número uno ceratopsid measures 23 cm long and stands 9 cm tall at the hips. Its colour scheme is mustard yellow with brown spots,...
The ground is shaking. Is it an earthquake? No, it’s just Brachiosaurus! This gentle giant is hungry and looking for his favourite fruit tree.
Not surprisingly, the Brachiosaurus is HUGE. It stands nearly 27 cm tall and measures 51 cm long, making it the largest animal figure in any Playmobil line. Although its main colour is flat light grey, it’s...
From his perch atop the tree, a Pteranodon sights a fish swimming in a pond. Quickly he spreads his wings, swoops down, and snatches it in his bill!
It’s virtually unthinkable for a dinosaur toyline not to have at least one pterosaur and Playmobil has gone with that most familiar of flyers, Pteranodon. This one measures 12 cm long and has a...
For 40 years, Playmobil has been one of the most popular toylines in the world, famed for their simple yet elaborate designs and wide-ranging themes. Let us take a trip through their 2007 Dinosaurs line. We begin with Tyrannosaurus rex and a pair of Velociraptors.
This T. rex measures 32 cm long and stands about 13 cm tall at the...
Tanystropheus was one of evolution’s more bizarre concoctions: a carnivorous reptile from the Middle Triassic with a spindly neck longer than its body and tail combined. Like the Dimetrodon, it appeared several times in various JP lines. This particular version is from the 1999 JP: Dinosaurs line.
While this isn’t a large toy, it certainly is a long one! From...
Just recently I came across one of these figures which make a collector´s life so interesting. I was visiting the museum in Korbach with its great Procynosuchus exhibition when I saw this Bullyland Protochirotherium for sale in a cabinet among many other more common Bullyland figures such as their Apatosaurus or Tyrannosaurus. Besides the 2014 Bullyland figures for common sale,...
Having recently familiarised ourselves with the prehistoric sharks ‘toob’ by Safari Ltd, let’s now pour out the contents of a different toob. This time it’s the turn of the prehistoric crocodiles. Before we begin though, be aware that strictly speaking, many of the species in this set aren’t true crocodiles, as the toob contains a taxonomic mish-mash of non-dinosaurian reptiles....
Somehow, not a single Starlux figure has ever been reviewed on the Dinosaur Toy Blog! I don’t know how we omitted such an influential line all this time but it’s time to finally change that. The delightful line of prehistoric animals produced by French company Starlux, mainly during the 1960s and 70s, is highly collectible today. The interesting and diverse...
Review by Cordylus, photos and figure captions by Plesiosauria
This is truely a marine reptile lover’s dream come true. For years, Nothosaurus, Metriorhynchus, Basilosaurus and the like were all hard to find and expensive (if there were any to even be found) – until now.
Last september the dinosaur collecting community was stunned by the toys safari ltd was going...
