Young Children & Outdated Dinosaur Toys

[australovenator]

Question is what and when will change come.

That's a tricky question. It seems to me that we're trapped in a bit of a cycle where, the only way for change to happen is for accurate dinosaurs to appear in pop culture, but they don't because for some reason the "general public" doesn't think, say feathery raptors or Tyrannosaurs are "cool" or "scary" so such depictions don't sell, but they sort of don't sell because people aren't being exposed to them enough to become familiar with them.

But we could just message say safari or collecta for more accurate models to be more widely available.

I mean you could, but I feel both of those companies are doing very good work already, so it seems maybe a little pointless.

[Gwangi]

The irony is that the original Jurassic Park is what brought modern dinosaurs into the public eye 25 years ago and now it's Jurassic Park sequels holding the science back. Even in the 70's and 80's when people like Greg Paul and Bob Baker were writing about and illustrating active, even feathered dinosaurs you still had movies like The Land Before Time using outdated depictions. Basically what I'm saying it that it will probably take another big block-buster movie or critically acclaimed documentary series (like Walking with Dinosaurs) to truly get people on board with modern science regarding these animals. At least kids shows are doing a better job.

[ITdactyl]

I think:

1. There should be more manufacturers churning out simple, [very] inexpensive dino toys with up to date shape/form (of the animal) aimed for very young children - like a commercial version of David Krentz' chubbies (on Shapeways).  This should be a good starter.
2. Home Media should have a paleo week similar to Shark week.  There's a risk that this will be littered with schlock - BUT - similar to the film industry, with schlock comes more money, enabling [income-centric] producers to fund BETTER material/documentaries.
3. There should be another line similar to Dino-Riders of the 80's where relatively high quality dinosaur toys are being sold to the general public - but with added [awesome] features to attract other demographics (aside from dino enthusiasts).  The current JW:FK line is a good example, but the figures are [unfortunately] required to retain the "quirks" of their movie monsters.
4. There should be more options similar to BOTM.
5. Companies like Safari and CollectA should keep the practice of updating their popular models.  This is probably not a financially sound move [initially] but it sets a good precedent and keeps them ahead of the pack (sorry, bad pun).

6. Companies should stop recycling retrosaurs, unless they have a line that is specifically for retrosaurs.

but I'm just a fan/collector.

[australovenator]

The irony is that the original Jurassic Park is what brought modern dinosaurs into the public eye 25 years ago and now it's Jurassic Park sequels holding the science back.

It's kind of sad, really. They put a lot of time and work into making the animals largely as accurate as they could at the time, obviously with some liberties taken for the sake of "drama". But then never bothered to keep up as the science evolved, sort of like a "it's good enough" kind of approach.

[Federreptil]

I think dino-lovers – like myself – look to the first Jurassic Park movie with a candy coat. We were all astonished and fascinating about this great dinosaurs acting so vibrant and agile. And ignored the fact, that these are only the half truth. Feathered Dromeosauriae were still in discussion at this time and Jack Horner said later: A part of his job was to prevent the filmmakers to create even more monsters instead of animals. Indeed put the whole smoke of PR aside, Jurassic Park is no scientific dokumentation but a clever exercise about a postmodernism view to the movie history and the topoi of public imagination of Dinosaurs. It contains a reflection about King Kong, the Harryhausen movies, Arthur Canon Doyle and Edgar Rice Burroughs and some classics of the horror movies. A good scene and the right kick in storytelling was so important as a maybe accurate prehistoric animal. So the Jurassic series developed in a logical way and this is not the first choice for us dino-fans. May be we get an impressive representation of our beloved species. Most of the time they are just products from the retort of economics.

[Fembrogon]

I think:

1. There should be more manufacturers churning out simple, [very] inexpensive dino toys with up to date shape/form (of the animal) aimed for very young children - like a commercial version of David Krentz' chubbies (on Shapeways).  This should be a good starter.

6. Companies should stop recycling retrosaurs, unless they have a line that is specifically for retrosaurs.

I particularly agree with these two right now. Affordability/accessibility was mentioned before; a lot of those cheap dollar brand toys at Walmart, etc. still rely on designs that are obsolete or just plain sloppy. Even companies like Battat are still using models that have been done to death, without any regard to what they represent (I'm referring to the mins they currently sell, not Dan LoRusso's models). This is probably a grass-roots-level issue that needs addressing, but of course it likely can't/won't be, since there just isn't enough demand for it.

[australovenator]

This is probably a grass-roots-level issue that needs addressing, but of course it likely can't/won't be, since there just isn't enough demand for it.

Yeah, I'd agree, I just hope that sometime in the future something happens, perhaps something like Walking with Dinosaurs for a new generation, that attempts to address the problem, and hopefully help create that demand. Maybe that's just wishful thinking though.