Return to the Crackington Formation

[Crackington]

Haven't posted on my collection thread for what seems an age!

I have few bits and bobs to bring up in the near future though, starting with my lovely Xmas present from Mrs Crackington and my girls.

We spotted painted Invicta Icthyosaurus and Plesiosaur going for a reasonable price and they duly obliged!

I've been after the painted Icthyosaurus for a while now, so great to add it to the Formation:

[Concavenator]

Congrats! What plesiosaur genus does it represent? And what scale is it in? I'm not familiar with Invicta (or vintage figures in general). Just asking out of curiosity.

That Ichthyosaurus' coloration could be called "accurate" nowadays, so they predicted it! Similar situation with Eofauna's Diplodocus.

[Crackington]

Thanks @Concavenator - the Invicta models were made in conjunction with the London Natural History Museum (then the British Museum (Natural History) which many of the models are labelled.

Many were were sculpted by the brilliant model maker Arthur Hayward, with guidance from the Museum's palaeontologists, such as Alan Charig and Angela Milner. In the 70s and 80s this was game-changing and they were the most accurate dinosaur toys/models of their era.

I believe the scale is mostly 1/45 though there were some outliers like the Stenonychosaurus and a Blue Whale which were in different scales, the latter understandably so!

The painted figures came later, in response to the Carnegie Collection models, in the 90s. It's a bit unclear which species the Plesiosaur represents. It's labelled "a plesiosaur"  though most folk think it's Elasmosaurus.

I loved the orca like colouration of the Icthyosaurus and was really pleased when the recent research revealed that they were likely dark- skinned.

Invictas are a very addictive line if you start collecting them, but great fun!

[Concavenator]

@Crackington I appreciate the background info. 

Interesting they were mostly made in 1:45 scale! As far as I remember, the earliest popular scale for prehistoric animal figures was 1:40, which could already represent a size increase coming from the 1:45 Invictas. Afterwards, the most popular scale increased to 1:35, and currently I wonder if that is still the case, because frequently figures advertised to be in 1:35 scale are closer to 1:30. But then there are also collectors who notice the discrepancies and skip said figures if aren't actually accurate to the advertised 1:35 scale.

there were some outliers like the Stenonychosaurus and a Blue Whale which were in different scales, the latter understandably so!

Nowadays, Haolonggood would read that and say something like: "You know what? I don't care, let's make the blue whale in 1:35 too". 

[Crackington]

Interesting point on the scale - I think it was good that Invicta largely stuck to it as you do get an impression of relative sizes when you see them together*. I last posted some photos of my ones a couple of years back on page 8, so if you'd like to see how a good number of them look together see page 8 (Invictas' Assemble!).

A blue whale on that scale would be one humongous chunk of plastic! Would love to see it, but I'd never be able to sneak it past Mrs Crackington 

*I.e. as broadly understood in the 70s and 80s!

[Elengassen]

Nowadays, Haolonggood would read that and say something like: "You know what? I don't care, let's make the blue whale in 1:35 too". 

PNSO already beat them to it (although theirs is resin).

[Halichoeres]

Their marine reptiles are quite elegant, especially the ichthyosaur! What a great Christmas present.

[Crackington]

Thanks @Halichoeres and @Elengassen Wow, I  guess someone was going to make a scaleable Blue Whale one day, but they are going to need a bigger shelf!

Time for more cards following on from the promos for tea, baked beans, milk, unchewable 1970s chocolate bars etc. What's next you might ask? Well sausages obviously- UK company Wall's Magi-cards from 1971.




This set has six beasts: Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Dimetrodon, Sabre-tooth Tiger (not "cat" back then!) and more interestingly Cetiosaurus and Edmontossurus. I think the latter is meant to be climbing up over some rocks, but it looks more like a big lizard than a hadrosaur:



Also interesting is there is no T-Rex as a featured dino, but there is one lurking in the background of the Triceratops card.

So why "Magi-cards"? Well the cards are designed with the background landscapes able to match up seamlessly with any of the other cards. Meaning you can create multiple dioramas out of them, so hours
(ok, minutes!) of fun for bored kids. This does work remarkably well and the landscapes are nicely done.



Overall a fun set still available on ebay etc. Kudos to anyone who can tell us how many combinations are possible from the six cards!

[ceratopsian]

Great fun - and they never came my way! I think the Edmontosaurus is leaning on the rocks to have a rest rather than engaging in anything as strenuously active as climbing!

[ceratopsian]

And the Stegosaurus looks remarkably like a camel with too many humps!

[Crackington]

Yes agree on the Stegosaurus (presumably set up for desert travel!)and the Edmontosaurus does look in resting pose, almost like its looking over the garden fence 

Apologies also for the sonewhat unfortunate mis-spelling of it in the earlier post!

[ceratopsian]

Great minds think alike! I'd also thought of leaning on fence to chat to neighbour!

Yes agree on the Stegosaurus (presumably set up for desert travel!)and the Edmontosaurus does look in resting pose, almost like its looking over the garden fence 

Apologies also for the sonewhat unfortunate mis-spelling of it in the earlier post!

[Crackington]

Been getting some pics together of Dinowaurs Survival figures and ephemera which I'll post soon.

In the meantime here's two little figures I caught as by-catch which I've since identified as Topps figures from the late 80s - Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus:



Looks like the Anky is having a sly chuckle at the Stegosaur's turtle beak, but he shouldn't get too cocky!

Strange figures, but charming in their own way.

[DinoToyForum]

I like these Topps figures! I think I have the plesiosaur in the same series.

[Crackington]

Yes, I've seen that Plesiosaur, it has the old swan (snake?) neck pose. Looks like the Starlux one doing yoga!

[DinoToyForum]

Yes, I've seen that Plesiosaur, it has the old swan (snake?) neck pose. Looks like the Starlux one doing yoga!

That's the one! Very long tail, too, for some reason: https://plesiosauria.com/wp-content/uploads/plesiosaurus_topps.jpg

[Crackington]

Fantastic Dr Admin, thanks for sharing the link.

Its like the sculptor was inspired by Thomas Hawkins' "Sea Dragons" art but forgot this was the 1980s, not the 1880s!

[DinoToyForum]

Yes! I also feel it has a touch of 'Viking ship' about it. 

[Crackington]

When your short of space for your collection, small is beautiful, even when they're ugly – and Dinowaurs Survival sure aren't the most aesthetically pleasing figures!



The figures were released in 2012 and I came across them in a local supermarket so picked up a few. I found them to be rubbery, rather coarse figures, some – particularly theropods – often with twisted legs that made them look diseased. The blind bag format was also a bit off -putting, especially when you got the same figure twice (I have spares!). You might ask how I've now amassed around two thirds of the 35 or so creatures some 10 years later? Well, they do have some redeeming features...



They are very collectible with a wide range of figures and were very well packaged, not too expensive and aimed at the card and games kids' market, a bit like Sega Dinosaur King. There are nicely produced cards for them and I think the game could be fun (never played it though!).



The figures were actually the weakest part of the series in many ways. So why did the Forum get interested in them? The answer lies in the rarely/never produced species they chose alongside the usual cast of T-Rex, Stegosaurus etc. In 2012 this was attention grabbing to collectors, with species such as Aucasaurus, Dorygnathus, Saurolophus and a jewel in the crown, the Permian synapsid, Keratocephalus. Here's the full cast:





More soon....

[BlueKrono]

For those into tapinocephalids like Keratocephalus, sculptor Shane Foulkes makes a fantastic Stuthiocephalus. It is a resin model moreso than a toy, but some of us do both.