Tyrannosaurus Skeleton Educational Toys/Kits By Edu-Toys & Geoworld

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**MODS: After some thought, I put this here, rather than the model kit section, due to the products being marketed at young children as "educational toys", rather than what we may think of as "model kits."



For many years now, I've wanted to add a decent size Tyrannosaurus skeleton to my collection. Over the years, I have resisted over and over the urge to spend the big bucks on either the Favorite or Dinostoreus completed polystone resin skeletons, or try and track down the gorgeous old Kaiyodo Dinoland skeleton model kit. Any of these options requires several hundred dollars, but if one wants a T. rex skeleton, decent budget options are limited... or are they...

Was visiting a friend and his family recently, and spotted what I thought was the Dinostoreus polystone skeleton in their son's playroom. When I took a closer look, Dad proudly shows me the Edu-Toys box, tells me he got it off Amazon for $50, and he and the boy put it together in 20 minutes. This shocked the hell out of me.

Here was the $350 skeleton I've resisted buying for years, cheap, easy to find and so easy to assemble, I bet if you shake the box a few times when you get it, it will assemble itself. I couldn't even wait to get home, I borrowed their laptop, and started searching Amazon and ended up buying two skeleton kits, from different manufacturers.

The first was the Edu-Toys T.rex 36" Skeleton kit. I paid $58 for the kit, from Amazon, Prime Eligible. Those of you familiar with, or fortunate enough to own, the Dinostoreus T-rex skeleton display model will immediately recognize this skeleton. Other than slight changes to the legs and feet, in order to help the completed model stand without a chest rod, this appears to be identical to the much more expensive model.

Assembled without conventional instructions, just a simple diagram and numbered PVC parts, it actually helps to be armed with basic knowledge of how a T.rex goes together. Comprised of 51 pieces, you get an aluminum armature running the length of the spine of the rex, upon which you hang 33 "vertebra", the faces of which feature small hemispheres and corresponding divots on the opposing parts for them to slide into, which prevents mistakes, if one is paying attention.

I completed the entire 36 inch model and set it into it's base in around 5 minutes, once I had laid the parts out. Not the most challenging build for an adult, but for a child, this must blow minds when completed!





I'm considering a repaint, as the price point is visible in the paint application from the factory. The parts are molded in black, and then heavily "drybrushed" with that terracotta-esque Black Hills/Hell's Creek ruddy tan that you might recognize if you've met Sue, or Stan in person. I will definitely be painting the teeth (Update: Painted the teeth a dark "wet slate" grey, see below for result). It's not that the paint is bad, per se, just that it would not be difficult at all to make it even better, more consistent over the entire model, etc.

If there are any other complaints, it's that the skeleton is just set into the base, the feet held by some tightly fitting "footprints", not the most stable situation, and I recommend a display placement where the skeleton is out of reach of touchy-feelies. That said, the pieces are very strong and I would assume a falling model would disassemble itself, rather than actually shattering. The one other complaint is that this rex is a bit soft on the textural detail of the "bones", betraying that this is an artist's rendition of bone. I don't know if this is a result of the original Dinostoreus skeleton being similarly detailed, or if some detail is lost in the conversion from polystone to PVC.


The second kit I bought was the Geoworld/Dr. Steve Hunters Paleo-Expedition 1/15th Scale T.rex skeleton, another bargain at $43, again from Amazon, Prime Eligible. Assembled in a similar manner to the Edu-Toys kit, following a simple diagram, this kit does not resemble the building of an actual skeleton as much as the Edu-Toys version does. The education really only comes in the form of some literature included in the box. With just 21 pieces, this kit went together even faster than the Edu-Toys rex, because it was so obvious how it went together just looking at it, that I never even set the parts out, I just threw it together. I think I looked at the diagram once. The neck is one piece, the ribacge and forward spine are three pieces, and so on. Assembling this kit felt more like assembling a toy, where the Edu-Toys rex felt more like you were building a model, even if only slightly.

The completed Dr. Steves model presses into the base solidly, and once it's on there, it's not coming off unless you want it to. The paint here is better than the Edu-Toys rex, party because they used a lighter base color, and partly because the kit is molded with greater, more realistic texture to the parts. It is still obvious that this is a sculpt, rather than based on actual fossils, but better than the Edu-Toys rex.

The proportions are a teeny, tiny bit off in a couple places, with Dr. Steve's rex. The legs are very slightly short to my eye and the feet are definitely a touch large, as is the skull.

Still, at 30 inches, this is an impressive display piece once completed, and similar with the Edu-Toys kit, will definitely draw the eye of anyone that sees it.





Of note is the fact that the Edu-Toys rex is 36inches long, 13inches to the top of the hip, and scale is not given on the box, and the Dr. Steve's finished skeleton is 30 inches long, 12 inches to the hip, and sold as a 1/15th scale T. rex. If that scale is accurate, I'd estimate that puts the Edu-Toys rex at 1/12th scale perhaps.

Of course, the centerpiece of any T. rex skeleton is the skull.  Comparing the two, Dr. Steve's rex wins this comparison, with deeper detail, looking more like an actual fossil and greater accuracy, due to having parts of the inner skull and pallet represented. If I were to make an overall comparison to other manufacturers, the Edu-Toys rex is like a Shleich figure, and the Dr. Steves is like a Mojo figure. You feel like the Edu-Toys overall kit is "better", but the Dr. Steves rex kinda looks "cooler", if that makes sense.  Have a look...




Edu-Toys


Dr. Steve Hunters


At the end of the day, considering the target audience, the price point, the ease of assembly and the finished products, dinosaur collectors should take notice of these two skeletons. While certainly not museum-level accurate, with soft details and paint application that could be improved, the Edu-Toys skeleton IS good enough to ask several hundred dollars in a fragile, finished form, definitely well worth getting this nearly identical kit at 1/10th the price, and the Dr. Steves Tyrannosaurus makes just as impressive a display piece, despite the slight proportional flaws. 

I'm very pleased. For under $100, and 30 minutes time total, I have two Tyrannosaur skeleton sculptures, that I am not at all ashamed to display next to my Mattel Jurassic Park stuff, my Rebors, my Papos, or even my Eofauna figures.

I did notice, one of the reviewers on Amazon made reference to Edu-Toys also making PVC kit versions of the Dinostoreus Velociraptor skeleton and the Brachiosaurus skeleton, but I have not been able to track them down to buy yet.

But you can buy these two T. rex skeletons, and if you'd like to, here are the relevant Amazon links:

Edu-Toys 36" T. rex Skeleton Kit ($57.85): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CP0BSQ

GeoWorld/Dr. Steve Hunters 1/15th Scale T. rex Skeleton Kit ($42.89): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DYK3LCH

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After I noticed the two skulls were very close in size, each being bigger in some dimensions, I swapped the skull from the Dr. Steve Hunter's skeleton onto the Edu-Toys, as well as completed a full repaint and I think the result is pretty good.





After some color tests, I repainted it in Krylon Gloss Leather Brown, gave it a matte top coat, and then I rubbed it liberally with Tamiya Weathering Masters pastels, using Rust Orange, before a final matte topcoat to seal the pastels down. I can't really get my camera to accurately portray the way the detail now "pops" in person. These are the best photos I could get.






I was trying to get a color somewhere between 5027 in New York, and the Chicago Field Museum's Sue. I think I got there.





Here are a couple Before & Afters...