Prehistoric Panorama Figures

[ZoPteryx]

The Prehistoric Panorama was a collection 6 different series of 3D puzzle figures, each line containing 6 individual figures.  Often called the Tedco Prehistoric Panorama series, these figures were actually produced (I think) by COG Ltd and distributed in the US by Tedco.  While not as detailed or showy as similar Japanese brands, these figures are commendable for their general accuracy (with some exceptions) and, perhaps most excitingly, the diverse array of genera they portray.  The series were as follows: Pterosaurs, Prehistoric Marine Life, Early Reptiles (with a few amphibians ), Prehistoric Mammals, Dinosaurs, and Early Life.  Figures ranged from 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) long (although the pterosaurs have a 4 inch wingspan) and came unassembled in a small plasic box color coded to the series it belonged to.  Sadly, they are no longer in production.

So, let us see the Panorama, starting with Early Life.




Hallucigenia:  Slightly outdated, but good.


Trilobite sp.: A fair model.


Opabinia: Very good, but those bumps on its head should be its eyes!


Aysheaia: Excellent


Ottoia: Excellent


Pikaia: Not bad, eyes are a little googly looking.

Now to balance out those nice inverts with some not-so-nice dinos.




Tyrannosaurus: Why smooth amphibian skin?


Styracosaurus: Wishing he'd used more sun-screen!


Stegosaurus: Not the worst I've seen.


Brachiosaurus: What's with its toes?


Euplocephalus: Probably the best dino of the bunch.


Giganotosaurus: Like the DK Giganoto, but not nearly as good.

Now for something a little bit more interesting, mammals.




Arsinotherium: Pretty good


Megacerops (Brontotherium): Good, but what's with the heart shaped ears?


Coelodonta (Whoolly Rhinoceros): Pretty good


Mammuthus (Whoolly Mammoth): Not bad, body seems a little long.


Paraceratherium (Indricotherium): Odd feet.


Smilodon: Could double as any saber-toothed cat.

That's half of the collection, the second will come shortly!

[ZoPteryx]

Look!  It's here already!

Next up, the early reptiles, and a few amphibians:




Desmatosuchus: I think this one's better then the Safari figure, but only by a little.


Ichthyostega: Very nice.


Scutosaurus: Safari version is much better, but it's bigger too.


Dimetrodon: Certainly not the best.


Diplocaulus: Not bad at all.


Lystrosaurus: Seeing as it's one of the few Lystrosaurus figures out there, it's very good!

And now for the marine life.




Ichthyosaurus: Way better then the Safari tube figure!


Bothriolepis: Superb, especially considering how few placoderm figures there are.


Stethacanthus: Dorsal fin seems too far forward but detailing is very good, equal to Safari figure.


Liopleurodon: A nice little pliosaur figure.


Ammonite sp.: Very good, but nothing special.


Dunkleosteus: Pretty good for such a small figure.

Now for what I consider the the best series, the pterosaurs!




Pterodaustro: Very good, and the only one out there as far as I know.


Dsungaripterus: Excellent!


Dimorphodon: Posture unlikely, but good otherwise.


Quetzalcoatlus: Simple colors, yet elegant.


Ornithocheirus (Tropeognathus): Excellent!


Pteranodon: The poorest of the pterosaurs, but still pretty good.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at the Prehistoric Panorama series, if you'd like to purchase figures from this exotic collection, your best bet is too look on Ebay, because I'm keeping mine!

[Horridus]

A real mixed bag. Some of these aren't too bad, especially given their tiny size, but the dinosaurs are predictably shocking! That Giganotosaurus might be the worst I've seen...even worse than the Schleich!

Still, thanks so much for sharing these, I wasn't at all familiar with them.

[tyrantqueen]

ZOMG finally someone actually made a Dimorphodon toy? Although it looks a little bit too David Peters influenced.

That Quetzalcoatlus looks like a copy of the Schleich one

[DinoToyForum]

Brill topic. Great to see some obscure taxa. I've been after the ichthyosaur for some time but to no avail.

[SBell]

Their dinosaurs are overall the worst of the lot. And the 'smilodon' can't be one, or any other sabre-tooth cat, the tail is way too long.

Otherwise it's a pretty brilliant series overall. It's too bad the line died not for lack of interest (it had just received record orders) but because of silly testing laws that were passed in the US that made the figures unreasonably expensive to produce.

I only curse that I didn't get more than one complete set when I had the chance.

[STORMnlNIJMEGEN]

OOOOh yeah ,i see some mammals i don't have,,

need to look ebay now,,
i like the prehistoric mammals

Martien

[SBell]

OOOOh yeah ,i see some mammals i don't have,,

need to look ebay now,,
i like the prehistoric mammals

Martien

Good luck with that--what few are usually there are usually very overpriced (considering that they were $2 each when they first came out).  And they don't show up much, having been discontinued 4 years ago (but actually out of stock 5 years ago).

[ZoPteryx]

Glad you guys like them!

And the 'smilodon' can't be one, or any other sabre-tooth cat, the tail is way too long.

Good point about the tail.  It reminds me a lot of the Bullyland Eusmilus, right down to the colors.

[SBell]

Glad you guys like them!

And the 'smilodon' can't be one, or any other sabre-tooth cat, the tail is way too long.

Good point about the tail.  It reminds me a lot of the Bullyland Eusmilus, right down to the colors.

It is too bulky for Eusmilus, I've always thought of it more as Nimravides--again, all speculation anyway as it is so wrongly done in light of their other non-dino figures (that set is pretty across-the-board atrocious). It really looks more like a heavy puma figure with added sabres.

As for the mammoth, I don't think it's actually a woolly, but it's also definitely not one like a Columbian or Imperial. Maybe an African or something.

[Brontozaurus]

ZOMG finally someone actually made a Dimorphodon toy? Although it looks a little bit too David Peters influenced.

That Quetzalcoatlus looks like a copy of the Schleich one

The bipedal Dimorphodon hypothesis is actually very old. If Wikipedia is to be believed, it was around in the 1800s when Dimorphodon was first described.

Also, the Quetzalcoatlus is pretty much a copy of some John Sibbick artwork.

[tyrantqueen]

ZOMG finally someone actually made a Dimorphodon toy? Although it looks a little bit too David Peters influenced.

That Quetzalcoatlus looks like a copy of the Schleich one

The bipedal Dimorphodon hypothesis is actually very old. If Wikipedia is to be believed, it was around in the 1800s when Dimorphodon was first described.

I know, but I'll never be able to look at a bipedal pterosaur again without being reminded of him Perhaps "influenced" was a bad choice of word.

[Crackington]

I purchased this series a while back and was a bit confused as they came in little boxes, with the T-Rex box I received containing the Giganotosaurus model and vice verse for the Giga box. I figured out that they must have got them the wrong way round, but wondered if anyone else had this problem?

I tend to agree with the above views that the dinosaurs were the weakest part of this series, but there are some really nice models in the other sets. The Icthyosaur, Burgess Shale creatures and pterosaurs are all commendable; overall a very underrated series.

[SBell]

I purchased this series a while back and was a bit confused as they came in little boxes, with the T-Rex box I received containing the Giganotosaurus model and vice verse for the Giga box. I figured out that they must have got them the wrong way round, but wondered if anyone else had this problem?

I tend to agree with the above views that the dinosaurs were the weakest part of this series, but there are some really nice models in the other sets. The Icthyosaur, Burgess Shale creatures and pterosaurs are all commendable; overall a very underrated series.

You mean the figures were switched? Because from what I could tell, they mislabelled the two theropods completely, i.e. the Tyrannosaurus was sold as 'Giganotosaurus' and the Giganotosaurus was labelled as 'Tyrannosaurus'. Not sure why though.

[Crackington]

Yes Sean, I wondered if it was just me and had received the two mixed up in error. However, if that's how you got them too it looks like they did mislabel them. I remember my first thought on seeing the "T-Rex" was that that it would make a nice Giganotosaurus!

[Paleo & Fish Collector]

I really want the ayeashia if you are willing to part from it I will take it.

[ZoPteryx]

I really want the ayeashia if you are willing to part from it I will take it.

Sorry, but they're all sticking with me.