Megasaurs "retro" dinosaurs (PICTURE HEAVY)

[Dilopho]

To start off with: I guess this counts as a review? It certainly doesn't belong on the main blog though, as it's not a true review, more of just my thoughts on a group of figures. I guess anyone outside of the UK probably hasn't heard of Megasaurs- a toy line in the UK that produces dinosaurs. They're nothing really special- they are absolutely everywhere. Pharmacies, post offices, hospitals, corner shops, and of course toyshops. Pretty much anywhere that kids go. Most of their lines consist of chinasaurs repainted to add details the originals wouldn't have. They're really neat. But, of course, they have their own original lines. You may have seen their Saurophagonax in the bootleg thread (it looks a lot like Papo allo) and they recently released a bunch of dinosaurs molded to be eating plants and corpses. Really cool, huh?
This is one of their "original" lines: A bunch of dinosaurs that are designed to look like the retro tail-draggers of the 1900s. That doesn't sound very good, but there are some nice ones. I'll just get on with showing you them now:

Plateosaurus
The first one in the line is this Plateosaurus. It's something that strikes you as interesting, I think it's neat. It's really tall, too!


Triceratops
Is it just me, or does this look more like a Torosaurus? I do like it, but it could have been painted better.


Baryonyx?
In my mind, this is a Baryonyx, the only one I one. It could've been a Velociraptor, but it has no sickle claw. I think it's more likely to be a Baryonyx, because here in the UK it's a really popular dinosaur. But it seems strange to include a fairly recently-discovered dinosaur in a set of retro-saurs.


Iguanodon
You know, even though these are supposed to look outdated but cool, I'm glad they went with an 80s Iguanodon and not a crystal palace one. This one looks very cool, although a bit carnivorous.


Brontosaurus
You can't have a retro dinosaur set with out Bronto! It wouldn't be right! I think they were trying to remind us of those old lizard-legged lumberers, but the back legs seem more modern. I like the wrinkles.


Saurolophus
I'm not sure what to say about this one. It's very charming, but the crest is too small even for a retro-saur.



Ooh! This one looks quite modern, actually! It's not perfect, but that's the point. If you want a more accurate one, you'd get one from their normal line. I like the mossy colour. In fact, all of these dinosaurs have that swampy 80s feel that old dinosaurs had.


Brachiosaurus
This one is cheekily inspired by a fairly common chinasaur- and why not? The chinasaur was quite outdated and retro-looking. Why change something if it's not necessary? Another plus is that these aren't painted with toxic chinasaur paint they all seem to have.


Dilophosaurus
Hey, it's me! No, not really- I'm not this outdated. This is obviously one of my favourites from the set. It depicted the old version of Dilophosaurus quite nicely- every time it appears in one of my old dinosaur books or magazines, it either in this pose or looking down at some meat. It looks like it's singing, to me!


Euoplocephalus?
Oh no. TOO RETRO! TOO RETRO! Actually, I was always fascinated by the old 80s Ankylosaurs- why were they always so tiny? This one does look as if it is going to clamp itself onto the ground like in an old dinosaur book. It's paddle-like club is interesting, too- I've seen a book where it had a club like that! That image actually gave me nightmares. No joke. It was scary!

Ceratosaurus
This one just screams "carnivore". Megasaurs has sort of combined the old tail-dragging star of caveman movies with some more modern ideas, such as the scutes and gigantic teeth. My friend said that the red eyes add to the carnivore feel, and they do!


Tyrannosaurus
My friend also pointed out that old Trixie is the smallest carnivore of the set. Why? Anyway, this Tyrannosaurus does look straight out of a Charles Marsh painting (but stopped at the gym to lose a few pounds). I like the lizardy scales. Is that even a word? It is now, I guess.


Megalosaurus
Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear. While good old Trixie wandered out of a Charles Marsh painting, Meg came out of the Neave Parker one at the other end of the art hall. What have they done to you, Meg? It's better than the Crystal Palace one, sure, but not by much. A question I've been wondered about this figure is how could it be that...fat, but still have visible ribs? This is one of the figures that tell you you've definitely picked up the "retro" set and not the normal ones.


Pachycephalosaurus
Oh my, have you joined the carnivore team, Pachy? I really, really like this figure. It's completely terrifying. It's not often a Tyrannosaurus looks friendly than a herbivore. I'm not sure which rendition of Pachy the teeth came from, but I recognise the face from some old dinosaur books. I like the lizardy scales (Deja Vu, much?)(Deja Vu, much?)



This didn't seem appropriate in the trees, so it's in my grubby kitchen sink. I'll clean it one day, I swear! Anyway, this pot-bellied Plesiosaur is really nice. My sun-attacked photograph doesn't show the lovely detail. For such a small figure (only the size of the wild safaris) it has lots of detail, even small scars. I like it!

And that's it. There are some more in the set but I couldn't find them. What do you think? Would you pick up this time-capsule boxset or stick with the more modern ones?

[sauroid]

the Plateosaurus looks interesting

[Dilopho]

the Plateosaurus looks interesting

Oh, sorry! I didn't mean it's not interesting, just not anything....noteworthy. I like it, though!

[sauroid]

it stands out among the others

[Silvanusaurus]

Don't judge me too harshly but I adore the Megalosaurus... it's so pathetic and awkward looking it's beautiful. I've always had a soft spot for dated dinosaur designs as aesthetic peculiarities, but this is one of my favourites. I've got the one pictured here and also a bright yellow one that looks more like a banana than a dinosaur. I'm actually hoping to build a collection of different variants of this figure... I've seen a surprising vairety knocking about on ebay. This isn't even sarcasm.

[Roselaar]

The Plateosaurus is okay, the Megalosaurus is hilarious, and the rest is complete ignorable.

[Dilopho]

Don't judge me too harshly but I adore the Megalosaurus... it's so pathetic and awkward looking it's beautiful. I've always had a soft spot for dated dinosaur designs as aesthetic peculiarities, but this is one of my favourites. I've got the one pictured here and also a bright yellow one that looks more like a banana than a dinosaur. I'm actually hoping to build a collection of different variants of this figure... I've seen a surprising vairety knocking about on ebay. This isn't even sarcasm.

Aww, I like him too! I've called him Meg...

[ProSauropod]

Are these available in the US ?  Absolutely I'll go for the Plateosaurus and Megalosaurus ....

[Dilopho]

Are these available in the US ?  Absolutely I'll go for the Plateosaurus and Megalosaurus ....

I'm not entirely sure. I don't think so...

[LophoLeeVT]

i have repaintes pof them as chinasaurus

[Tyto_Theropod]

I picked up some of these last year, when I was quite new to the forum. They remind me of the majority of the models I had when I was a kid - small, cheap and with loads of inaccuracies, but somehow charming and full of character. I have the Plateosaurus for sheer charm value. I also have the Euoplocephalus, which I repainted. I actually think it's still pretty accurate today, but then I'm no expert on Ankylosaurs. The legs should probably be straighter but I like to think she's crouching down and raising her tail to ward off a predator.

Here's the image from my customs thread:

[Dilopho]

I picked up some of these last year, when I was quite new to the forum. They remind me of the majority of the models I had when I was a kid - small, cheap and with loads of inaccuracies, but somehow charming and full of character. I have the Plateosaurus for sheer charm value. I also have the Euoplocephalus, which I repainted. I actually think it's still pretty accurate today, but then I'm no expert on Ankylosaurs. The legs should probably be straighter but I like to think she's crouching down and raising her tail to ward off a predator.

Here's the image from my customs thread:

Hey, you made it look even better! Sometimes I think about painting them, too, but I've decided that it helps keep the retro feel if they stay swampy coloured. They actually do sell some of these in brighter colours though.

[Tyto_Theropod]

I picked up some of these last year, when I was quite new to the forum. They remind me of the majority of the models I had when I was a kid - small, cheap and with loads of inaccuracies, but somehow charming and full of character. I have the Plateosaurus for sheer charm value. I also have the Euoplocephalus, which I repainted. I actually think it's still pretty accurate today, but then I'm no expert on Ankylosaurs. The legs should probably be straighter but I like to think she's crouching down and raising her tail to ward off a predator.

Here's the image from my customs thread:

Hey, you made it look even better! Sometimes I think about painting them, too, but I've decided that it helps keep the retro feel if they stay swampy coloured. They actually do sell some of these in brighter colours though.

Thanks! I agree though, you've got to love swampy coloured retrosaurs. That wasn't the look I was going for, though, and I wanted to add a bit more detail (inside the mouth being the obvious example).

[CityRaptor]

i have repaintes pof them as chinasaurus

Or maybe those are the repaints and you own the originals. Or just another paint variant. Chinasaurs come in many colors. And Megasaurs are just overpriced Chinasaurs.

[stargatedalek]

I've been seeing these molds around various dollar stores and arcade prize bins since before I was in school (which would be 13 years ago now). So unless this line is at least 13 years old "Retro Megasaurs" is just another bootleg line pretending to be something it isn't.

My math is god-awful, edited.

[CityRaptor]

That's what I'm talking about. They just took a bunch of pre-existing Chinasaurs, give them a fancy brand name and are then selling them for lots of money, with ripped off Papo pictures on the package.  They also have some clear bootleg figures.

Their most original series seems to be the one with the Dinosaurs ( well, mostly Tyrannosaurus ) eating other creatures. But that is probably ripped off from japanese figures.

[tyrantqueen]

Pretty much typical chinasaurs in aesthetic and branding

[Lanthanotus]

Well, thanks to the Neave Parker painting (and the Crystal Palace Sculpture before) the Megalosaurus is somewhat recognizable, after all it wasn't a theropod with that particular features (like, let's say, Ceratosaurus for example). However that toy dino is a poor rendering of the obsolete, but muscular beast of Parker's painting with it's long legs and stride and elevated tail, let alone the even length jaws.

But I've to admit I also have a heart for those outdated models and chinasaurs and kinda miss my poor Marx Knockoffs (think they were Ja-ru's or so), so thanks for sharing your photos

[LophoLeeVT]

marx... knockoffs...ohh got lots of them....

[CityRaptor]

Doesn't surprise me. Those have been around for a few decades.