Plesiosaurs: the long-necked variety

[DinoToyForum]

Ritvik Mega Bloks. Thats is a dinosaur from a lego type building set By mega bloks. Not sure what set it came with but it looks like all the dinosaur sets came with a buildable dino an environment and a mini dino. They are kinda hard to find


322297630760. Ebay item number to look up. Its a ritvik set with spare parts. Looks like the plesio there came with a stegosaurua kit based off the ritvik pieces in this lot.

Bingo! Thanks Archinto.

No problem! I love helping identify oddball figures. I wish i had some ritvik sets. I might have to take some of those instructionsand build em outta lego instead. The brach set is awesome!

Some great detective work there. I checked and the plesiosaur did come as an accessory to the Stegosaurus kit, you can make it out on the box. So, now we know.



edit - and the Tyrannosaurus:



edit 2 - and I just found one on Ebay.co.uk for £20 free shipping. Ordered! That's another figure ticked off the list, and I even get a bonus T. rex to build and (maybe) review on the blog.

[BlueKrono]

Thanks for the lead, Archinto! I wouldn't have made the Mega Bloks/ Ritvik connection. Upon further research, it looks like the Plesiosaurus was from the DinoBloks sets from 1992-93. It was released with the T-rex, Stegosaurus and Parasaurolophus sets, while the other three sets came with a Champsosaurus. It says the small dinos changed colors when dipped in water, from green to blue. I tried this (with both cold and warm water) and saw no noticeable change. It seems unlikely to be color-changing plastic since it's slightly translucent. Oh well.

[BlueKrono]

I figured out what the two on the right are. Turns out they are actually manufactured under the auspices of Geoworld. They seem to have at least been a part of the Dino Age Experience set. Joe DeMarco states that the dinos in this set are a "rebranding of Chinasaurs", so Geoworld may not have been their originator. The DAE set includes what I believe to be the most common color variant - the grey and sky blue one.

dinotoyforum: Let me see what I can pull up for you.


On these two they are indeed two different sculpts. Of the two on the left, the bottom (green) one is the original. It was first released in 1990 as a cereal prize for the cereal Wheetos/ Weetos. They also have a tylosaurus (as seen in my tylosaurs collection). Despite being over 2 decades old they are pretty common, though not always listed by brand. The neon colored one with the stripes are a later recast; some cheap bin dinos. The ones on the right are also cheap bin dinos. I don't know offhand what the brand is, but I see them all the time as prizes in arcades, in toy eggs, in cheap dino sets at Walmart, on eBay, etc. The one on top seems to be the most common - grey back with a sky blue belly.

[DinoToyForum]

I figured out what the two on the right are. Turns out they are actually manufactured under the auspices of Geoworld. They seem to have at least been a part of the Dino Age Experience set. Joe DeMarco states that the dinos in this set are a "rebranding of Chinasaurs", so Geoworld may not have been their originator. The DAE set includes what I believe to be the most common color variant - the grey and sky blue one.

dinotoyforum: Let me see what I can pull up for you.


On these two they are indeed two different sculpts. Of the two on the left, the bottom (green) one is the original. It was first released in 1990 as a cereal prize for the cereal Wheetos/ Weetos. They also have a tylosaurus (as seen in my tylosaurs collection). Despite being over 2 decades old they are pretty common, though not always listed by brand. The neon colored one with the stripes are a later recast; some cheap bin dinos. The ones on the right are also cheap bin dinos. I don't know offhand what the brand is, but I see them all the time as prizes in arcades, in toy eggs, in cheap dino sets at Walmart, on eBay, etc. The one on top seems to be the most common - grey back with a sky blue belly.

Thanks! I actually have some of the ones on the right, but I didn't know their origin, so that is useful. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for the weetos version - that's gone onto me 'wants' list. I'm also now on the lookout for the two erasers. I did a sweep of ebay but no luck yet. Luckily I'm patient.

I was surprised you were unfamiliar with the Kaiyodo Dinoland Plesiosaurus.

I'm vaguely familiar with it, but couldn't make it out in your photo because it is hiding at the back. I don't own it. It, too, is on my 'want' list, along with the Medicom figure. I'd forgotten about that one. The green Mega Bloks plesiosaur will be in my hands soon, so long as it doesn't go astray in the mail.

Inspired by your images, and because I thought you might be interested, I decided to dig out the few colour/sculpt variants of plesiosaurs I own. Here, I laid them out:

I haven't posted my flying lizards collection on DTF. Appropriate place?

I'm sure there's a thread for flying lizards somewhere on the forum - can anyone remember where (or am I misremembering)?

[Dilopho]

http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=729.0

[stemturtle]

I haven't posted my flying lizards collection on DTF. Appropriate place?

I'm sure there's a thread for flying lizards somewhere on the forum - can anyone remember where (or am I misremembering)?

The Leaping Lizards thread could do with some updating.

[DinoToyForum]

That's the one! You guys know the forum better than I do 

[DinoToyForum]

I've updated my plesiosaur toys page, almost doubling the amount of figures listed (http://plesiosauria.com/toys.php)

[Halichoeres]

I've updated my plesiosaur toys page, almost doubling the amount of figures listed (http://plesiosauria.com/toys.php)

Outstanding! I'm very jealous of the Faunacasts Muraenosaurus.

The Yowie Leptocleidus was based on Eric the Pliosaur at the Australian Museum, correct? At the time the figure was released (2002 or so?), he'd been referred to Leptocleidus, but unless I am mistaken, he became the type for Umoonasaurus demoscyllus in 2006. Do you just have him listed under Leptocleidus just to avoid confusion, or have there been other taxonomic changes that I'm not aware of?

[DinoToyForum]

I've updated my plesiosaur toys page, almost doubling the amount of figures listed (http://plesiosauria.com/toys.php)

Outstanding! I'm very jealous of the Faunacasts Muraenosaurus.

The Yowie Leptocleidus was based on Eric the Pliosaur at the Australian Museum, correct? At the time the figure was released (2002 or so?), he'd been referred to Leptocleidus, but unless I am mistaken, he became the type for Umoonasaurus demoscyllus in 2006. Do you just have him listed under Leptocleidus just to avoid confusion, or have there been other taxonomic changes that I'm not aware of?

If the Yowie was based on Eric, then yes, technically it could be considered Umoonasaurus, but I always go with the toy name anyway to avoid confusion. Also, a valid species of Leptocleidus is also known from Australia (L. clemai) - are we sure the Yowie doesn't represent that?

[Halichoeres]

I've updated my plesiosaur toys page, almost doubling the amount of figures listed (http://plesiosauria.com/toys.php)

Outstanding! I'm very jealous of the Faunacasts Muraenosaurus.

The Yowie Leptocleidus was based on Eric the Pliosaur at the Australian Museum, correct? At the time the figure was released (2002 or so?), he'd been referred to Leptocleidus, but unless I am mistaken, he became the type for Umoonasaurus demoscyllus in 2006. Do you just have him listed under Leptocleidus just to avoid confusion, or have there been other taxonomic changes that I'm not aware of?

If the Yowie was based on Eric, then yes, technically it could be considered Umoonasaurus, but I always go with the toy name anyway to avoid confusion. Also, a valid species of Leptocleidus is also known from Australia (L. clemai) - are we sure the Yowie doesn't represent that?

The actual name of the toy is "Eric the Pliosaur" and the slip of paper included with the figure gives his taxonomy as "Leptocleidus sp." I agree it makes sense to use the name the toy was given, and at any rate at the level of detail that a Yowie figure has, the two genera are surely indistinguishable. I wasn't aware of L. clemai, that's good to know!

[DinoToyForum]

I've updated my plesiosaur toys page, almost doubling the amount of figures listed (http://plesiosauria.com/toys.php)

Outstanding! I'm very jealous of the Faunacasts Muraenosaurus.

The Yowie Leptocleidus was based on Eric the Pliosaur at the Australian Museum, correct? At the time the figure was released (2002 or so?), he'd been referred to Leptocleidus, but unless I am mistaken, he became the type for Umoonasaurus demoscyllus in 2006. Do you just have him listed under Leptocleidus just to avoid confusion, or have there been other taxonomic changes that I'm not aware of?

If the Yowie was based on Eric, then yes, technically it could be considered Umoonasaurus, but I always go with the toy name anyway to avoid confusion. Also, a valid species of Leptocleidus is also known from Australia (L. clemai) - are we sure the Yowie doesn't represent that?

The actual name of the toy is "Eric the Pliosaur" and the slip of paper included with the figure gives his taxonomy as "Leptocleidus sp." I agree it makes sense to use the name the toy was given, and at any rate at the level of detail that a Yowie figure has, the two genera are surely indistinguishable. I wasn't aware of L. clemai, that's good to know!

I don't have the slip so that's good to know!

[AcroSauroTaurus]

My plesiosaurs. I only have one pliosaur, and one dolichorhynchid, so they're included in the photo. And nothosaurs are the ancestors of plesiosaurs, aren't they?

Figures:
Safari Prehistoric Sealife Toob Nothosaurus (really wish they'd make a larger version!)
Green/yellowish green Chinasaur Plesiosaurus (needs ID'd)
Safari Prehistoric Sealife Toob Elasmosaurus
Unknown yellow Plesiosaurus x2 (needs ID'd)
Small Pink Plesiosaurus
Safari Prehistoric Sealife Toob Dolichorhynchops
Safari Prehistoric Sealife Toob Liopleurodon
Large Chinasaur Elasmosaurus (needs ID'd)

[RobinGoodfellow]

..some long neck:











Full Album:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140542@N03/albums/72157671169222185/with/30094951770/

[DinoToyForum]

All the deAgostini plesiosaurians: