If this figure looks familiar that’s because it was reviewed here before! The original review of the Schleich Baryonyx was one of several interesting reviews here by former dinosaur toy blogger Tomhetleere. Sadly, Tomhet left the Dinosaur Toy Blog earlier this year and, to everyone’s dismay, removed his valuable dinotoyblog contributions on his departure.
Before Spinosaurus was all the rage, and before we even had a good grasp of what Spinosauridae was as a family, Baryonyx was the bizarre piscivorous theropod that was capturing the public imagination. In much the same way modern companies try to keep up with new discoveries, Invicta Plastics was able to produce a Baryonyx in 1989, only 3 years after it was fromally described.
“Hello, fellow dinosaur lovers. Dr. Bella Bricking here, along with Beth Buildit. The holiday season has arrived once again and needless to say, we are very happy and thankful to be back here on the Dinosaur Toy Blog.”
“It’s been one heckuva lousy year, hasn’t it, Doc?”
“It certainly has been a most difficult and trying one, my dear Beth.
For many years, the only described spinosaur from the United Kingdom was the famous baryonychine Baryonyx. That finally changed in 2021 with the announcement of two additional species: Riparovenator milnerae and Ceratosuchops inferdios. Both were discovered in the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight, both are estimated to have been around 8.5 metres in length, and both have been determined to be more closely related to Suchomimus than Baryonyx.
The final set of Safari’s first forays into dinosaur miniatures features a charming blend of aesthetics, and also serves in retrospect as a tribute to a dawning hobby and its burgeoning artists.
In 1994, Battat was commissioned by the Boston Museum to produce what would become one of the most praised toy lines in dinosaur collecting.
CollectA’s 2014 Ichthyovenator measures 18 cm long.
Brazilian paleontologist Tito Aureliano published the time-travel dinosaur adventure novel Dino Hazard: Realidade Oculta (English subtitle: Hidden Reality) in 2015, and since then he and a team including other paleontologists and artists have been spinning off paleo-themed merchandise and media, including a video game.
As it stands there is only one review for Irritator on the blog, Irritator being an early Cretaceous spinosaurid from Brazil. That toy is by CollectA and it’s pushing a decade old and quite clearly “early CollectA” in terms of quality. There are a few other Irritator out there but none that are as accessible or as mass produced as that one.
The Jurassic Park/World has had it’s fair share of miniature dino models, from the original metal ones to hard plastic. Now Jurassic World Dominion brings hard (ish) rubber, safer for siblings, and we see one and two packs of minis, giving plenty of material to review. But how to cover them?
