1993 Bandai Big Vinyl Dinosaurs

[Blackdanter]

I don't think anyone has ever created a thread for these big vinyl figures and, since I've been sorting through my collection and doing a bit of cleaning and reorganising, I thought I'd get one out there.

These figures are from a short lived and three figure only range produced by the Bandai company in Japan in 1993. They are seldom seen outside of Japan but occasionally pop up on Ebay with rather silly price tags. I picked mine up on Jauce many years ago. I would imagine that they still pop up in that arena every now and again but I have no current knowledge of this nor what the current price would be.

As far as is known, these figures were all issued as pre-made models. There is no evidence of them ever having been issued in kit form.

When I acquired mine they certainly weren't common figures but did trickle through Jauce every now and then. The Triceratops was by far the commonest figure (as rare things go), followed by the Stegosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus which does seem to be the rarest (that said, when I got mine four had passed through Jauce in the preceding 2 weeks).

Little seems to be known about this set. They were presumably produced to cash in on the then Jurassic Park movie craze however, Bandai are well known for big vinyl Godzilla figures so it's feasible that this collection was a brief sideline to their usual fare.

Each figure is impressed with 'Bandai 1993' and 'Made In Japan'.

The figures themselves are very retro in appearance, quite 'chunky' looking and seem to have an air of grumpiness about them. I like them for their big size and big personality. 

Here are the figures:

Triceratops



With HG Sega 'UFO Catcher' Triceratops for size comparison.



Stegosaurus



With HG Sega 'UFO Catcher' Triceratops for size comparison.



Tyrannosaurus



With Kaiyodo 1/20 Bellowing Rex for size comparison.



Tyrannosaurus box packaging.

   

[postsaurischian]

  Ha, ha, those were the days! Even I didn't know about these and in 1993 I had already been collecting for years.
    _{..... but of course there was no internet and Japan was far far away.}

[Renecito]

Awesome I love big vinyl figures. Thanks for sharing!!!

[Gwangi]

These are really cool, thanks for sharing. I love that Triceratops and I think I've seen that T. rex around before, online anyway.

[Over9K]

That Tyrannosaurus really reminds me of the Kaiyodo Dinoland 1/20 "Striding" T.rex. I wonder if we're looking at the same sculptor (Shinobu Matsumura?) here...



(Photo borrowed from @RobinGoodfellow's Flickr)

[EmperorDinobot]

Oh wow these are cool!

[Gwangi]

That Tyrannosaurus really reminds me of the Kaiyodo Dinoland 1/20 "Striding" T.rex. I wonder if we're looking at the same sculptor (Shinobu Matsumura?) here...



(Photo borrowed from @RobinGoodfellow's Flickr)

That's where I recognize that T. rex from. The Dinoland one.

[Blackdanter]

Ha, ha, those were the days! Even I didn't know about these and in 1993 I had already been collecting for years.
    _{..... but of course there was no internet and Japan was far far away.}

I miss discovering the wonders of Japan dinosaur figures. Exciting times! I just don't get the same thing with the Chinese stuff which I think is down to the fact that I'm more drawn to personality in figures rather than the current trend in hyper realism/accuracy.

[Blackdanter]

That Tyrannosaurus really reminds me of the Kaiyodo Dinoland 1/20 "Striding" T.rex. I wonder if we're looking at the same sculptor (Shinobu Matsumura?) here...



(Photo borrowed from @RobinGoodfellow's Flickr)

That's where I recognize that T. rex from. The Dinoland one.

I do have that figure. It's very large and quite gnarly. I love knowing who sculpts what, especially with the Japan figures. If anyone comes up with anything for the Bandai line I'd be pleased to know.

[Blackdanter]

That Tyrannosaurus really reminds me of the Kaiyodo Dinoland 1/20 "Striding" T.rex. I wonder if we're looking at the same sculptor (Shinobu Matsumura?) here...



(Photo borrowed from @RobinGoodfellow's Flickr)

I have both figures and never noticed the similarity at all!

[Halichoeres]

Funny that it's the same three dinosaurs as the Sega ones. No Amargasaurus, though, I'd bet.

[Blackdanter]

Funny that it's the same three dinosaurs as the Sega ones. No Amargasaurus, though, I'd bet.

The holy trinity! Only the three known I'm afraid.

[BrontoScorpio]

These are quite impressive models and they don't get their fair Attention.
Bandai Soft Vinyl Super Dinosaur Series Figure  ( バンダイ ソフビ 超恐竜シリーズ フィギュア )
I acquired some loose and boxed items and innitialy was not sure how much I like them - but I kind of grown into it ...
2 of the 3 got the highest perch - up over the kitchen oven cabinet :




Decided to leave out the Rex - enough Rexes allready ... :



Just a final note : with Bandai ( バンダイ ) my favorites are the biggest ( those ) and smallest - Dinosaur Complete Works ( 恐竜全集  ).