I first heard of Inostrancevia in a 1994 episode of Paleo-World titled “Tale of the Sail”, about the synapsids that dominated the Permian period. It has been one of my favorite prehistoric animal names ever since, with a pleasant mouthfeel even if the name sounds cooler than it is.
Classification: Therapsid (non-mammal)
Review: Guanlong vs. Lystrosaurus (Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, Epic Evolution Danger Pack by Mattel)
4.1 (23 votes)
Recently, Mattel has started dabbling with small-figure two packs, first with an Eoraptor vs. Stegouros pairing and then with the set we’re looking at today, Guanlong vs. Lystrosaurus. I think these two packs are a fantastic idea and hope that Mattel will produce more of them in the future.
Review: Placerias (Deluxe Prehistoric Collection by CollectA)
4.8 (49 votes)
Before we begin the review, I would like to extend my gratitude towards Happy Hen Toys for sending this figure along as a review sample. Happy Hen Toys is a U.S. distributor of animal figures and one of the only places in the country where you can get CollectA figures at a reasonable price.
Review: Cynognathus (Marx)
4.2 (17 votes)
Cynognathus is not a very common choice for toy producers. This Cynognathus was part of Marx’ first wave, produced from 1955 onwards, so it may be not surprising that it is a comparably weak representative of the real animal, even with its outdated history in mind.
Review: Kannemeyeria (3D Print by Mike Eischen)
3.8 (18 votes)
Dinosaurs weren’t the first giant plant-eaters to roam the Earth; that frontier was pioneered first among vertebrates by the dicynodonts, a group of tusked therapsids (the clade which includes modern mammals) which survived the Permian Mass Extinction and lasted to the end of the Triassic period.
Review: Lystrosaurus (Jurassic World: Dominion, Captivz by ToyMonster)
4.2 (33 votes)
One of the positive outcomes from the release of Jurassic World: Dominion was its launching of the generally obscure Lystrosaurus to stardom. Although relegated to what was basically a cameo appearance in the film it was enough to give the little synapsid far more public attention than it would have otherwise received.
Review: Lystrosaurus and Velociraptor ‘Beta’ (Jurassic World by Mattel)
3.6 (20 votes)
Review and photos by Faelrin, edited by Suspsy
In 2022, the last of the Jurassic World films was released, ending the trilogy that started back in 2015, for better or worse. While I didn’t enjoy the film overall, I did enjoy some aspects of it, one of those being the batch of new creatures.
Review: Estemmenosuchus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
4.7 (110 votes)
My introduction to Estemmenosuchus came from the 1994 episode of Paleo-World titled “Tail of a Sail”, which was about Dimetrodon and other synapsids, their evolution, and how they relate to mammals. Estemmenosuchus was only featured briefly via images of its skull and a couple pieces of paleoart but that was enough for me to become enamored with this animal and to help broaden my appreciation for prehistoric life beyond the Mesozoic.
Review: Jurassic World Dominion Minis part 2 (Jurassic World by Mattel)
4.1 (17 votes)
Well, I’ve shown you the worst of this line, let’s waste no time and get straight on to the best of them!
Starting off the top half is everyone’s favourite three horned herbivore Triceratops. This features one of the best poses of the lot (something I haven’t talked at length about as most the figures are in a generic standing pose), an aggressive fight pose, all the better when you have two to joust with.
Review: Lisowicia (CollectA Deluxe)
5 (25 votes)
Time has eventually come, for one of the most impressive CollectA figures of 2020 to hit the European continent. And fittingly, it represents a European species.
In 2006 paleontologists Jerzy Dzik, Tomasz Sulej and Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki discovered large bones in a clay pit in Poland.
Review: Moschops (Paleo-Creatures)
4.4 (7 votes)
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy
I’ll be honest: before I bought this figure, I had no idea what Moschops actually was. I mean, I somehow knew of it, but what type of animal it was or where it was from were mysteries to me.
Review: Placerias (unknown company)
3.7 (14 votes)
Today I`d like to review a figure that is a quite uncommon in several ways. First of all, it technically already has a review on this blog as part of a box set, but I felt it deserves its own entry.
Secondly, it is a Placerias, a species that, despite its certain popularity for appearing in the BBC series “Walking with Dinosaurs” is neglected by almost any toy company you can name.