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 the most impressive of any prehistoric Playmobil beast. Its body is a nice warm orange with a pale underbelly, black eyes, white teeth, and medium brown spots. But instead of leaving it at that, the designers have painted an elaborate series of medium and dark brown scutes on the Dimetrodon‘s back. The sail is chestnut with patches of beige and dark brown. The result is one surprisingly realistic-looking synapsid.
This toy also rates high on the scientific accuracy scale. The head has the right profile, the limbs are sprawled like those of a Komodo dragon’s, and the tail is more flattened than that of most other Dimetrodon toys.
The Dimetrodon’s lower jaw is hinged and its front limbs rotate at the shoulders. The sail is made of soft plastic to ensure safe play.
And here are the Dimetrodon‘s smaller neighbours/potential morsels. A black scorpion, a translucent blue dragonfly with light green wings, a black rattlesnake with yellow eyes and green and yellow stripes, and a yellow Kuehneosuchus with orange eyes and orange and blue markings. In reality, of course, Kuehneosuchus, Dimetrodon, and rattlesnakes were separated by millions of years, but keep in mind that this toyline is set in a “lost world.”
And speaking of worlds, let’s look at the playset. It consists of a grassy green base with a stream made of translucent blue plastic. There is a large two-headed cycad, a twisted dead tree, lily pads, reeds, moss, and a flowering plant. The dead tree is hinged at the base so that it can be collapsed over the stream. It also has a couple of posts for attaching the dragonfly and the Kuehneosuchus.
The Playmobil Dimetrodon and its playset rule. Period.
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Maybe the flying diapsid was meant to depict Coelurosauravus – not exactly contemporary with Dimetrodon, either, but at least from the Permian – and the snake-like critter could pass as an Aistopod? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aistopoda
I’m always amazed at how Playmobil’s craft has improved since I was a kid (where the animals were usually unpainted and often highly stylized, like those horses with the incredibly thin bodies).
It really is a highly educational toy for children, and beyond that is a surprisingly rare precision, for the audience it is directed.
My congratulations on the great suspsy publication.
Thank you!