Pack of a dozen Chinasaurs

[Hermes888]

I'm on vacation in Massachusetts with my family, and last time I found a pack of a dozen Chinasaurs in our local Stop & Shop. There was one Uintatherium figure in the batch that really piqued my interest, among other really bizarre creatures. Today when we were in the store, I bought them (they were $2.99, a quarter a piece) and brought them home. They all only say "China" on them, so I identified all of them by sight. Here are the contents:
-An orange-red Uintatherium
-A pure grey Triceratops and a pure orange one, both different models
-A pure yellow Styracosaurus
-A pure yellow Dimetrodon
-A pure blue ankylosaur
-A pure grey sauropod
-A yellow-green Stegosaurus
-A grey-brown Parasaurolophus
Then there are three that I can't really identify too specifically:
-One is an orange theropod that's really weird, it has two hands with three digits each, one foot with three toes, and another with four toes splayed out. It doesn't stand too well because of its awkward feet, but it drags its tail for support.
-Another one is a pure-grey small theropod dragging its tail.
-The last one seems like an attempt at a pterosaur or an attempt at a bird. It has a white belly, yellow feathers on top, and red wing and tail tips. Its head is white and has a crest, making me think they were trying to go for a Pteranodon.
The packaging says "Explore Planet Earth - Play Dinos."
I took some photos of all the figures and the packaging, but can't upload them at the moment, I'll post them later.

Does anyone else have any experience with these bizarre Chinasaurs?

[sauroid]

will eagerly wait for pictures.

[Hermes888]

will eagerly wait for pictures.

I hope these don't disappoint.

Here are all the Chinasaurs together (I hope you don't mind the strawberries in the background):


And here is the packaging:


If you want any in more detail, just ask!

[Gwangi]

Those are all over the place around here. Even grocery stores have them! It is cool how they have the Uintatherium.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

They somewhat mimic the old marx plastic dinosaurs in style and design meaning the grey theropod is meant to be an allosaurus and the orange one is intended to be tyrannosaurus

[Hermes888]

Those are all over the place around here. Even grocery stores have them! It is cool how they have the Uintatherium.

This Stop & Shop is the only store I've seen with the figures, but I was intruiged because of the Uintatherium, it's the only figure of the genus I know of. Are the figures themselves common, or are the packages with all twelve the ones being sold in grocery stores?

They somewhat mimic the old marx plastic dinosaurs in style and design meaning the grey theropod is meant to be an allosaurus and the orange one is intended to be tyrannosaurus

If that's the case, it's the worst Tyrannosaurus I've ever seen. Three-fingered hands and inconsistent toes, and in case it's too hard to see in the photo - the figure has mammalian ears.

[tyrantqueen]

That Tyrannosaurus with the deformed foot is a knock off of the Marx rex, right?



I also suspect that feathered Pteranodon is a JaRu knock off.

[Hermes888]

That Tyrannosaurus with the deformed foot is a knock off of the Marx rex, right?
*snip*
I also suspect that feathered Pteranodon is a JaRu knock off.

That's the exact same one as the weird one I have, but mine is all orange. I looked up the Marx Tyrannosaurus and now I can see what they were trying to replicate (though they did a really bad job of it).
Can you provide a picture of the JaRu Pteranodon? I tried searching for it, but I found one result which was the same figure I had in a different color (unless the one I have is a direct bootleg copy).

[SBell]

Those were originally produced by JaRu. As is obvious, most were MPC or Marx knock-offs. They did, however, make a few unique figures--the Uintatherium, the Pteranodon and a Macrauchenia.

Of course, half of the original set were just made up monster-things, that later got included as D&D monsters (owlbear, rust monster, bulette, etc).

[Hermes888]

Those were originally produced by JaRu. As is obvious, most were MPC or Marx knock-offs. They did, however, make a few unique figures--the Uintatherium, the Pteranodon and a Macrauchenia.

Of course, half of the original set were just made up monster-things, that later got included as D&D monsters (owlbear, rust monster, bulette, etc).

I feel a bit dumb now - the packaging says "JaRu" on it.

What a pity the package didn't come with the Macrauchenia, none of them did (there were three packs in the store, all with the same figures).

So that is a feathered Pteranodon figure? Do they know what a Pteranodon looks like, save the crest? It's fully feathered and has a long, feathered tail!

[SBell]

Those were originally produced by JaRu. As is obvious, most were MPC or Marx knock-offs. They did, however, make a few unique figures--the Uintatherium, the Pteranodon and a Macrauchenia.

Of course, half of the original set were just made up monster-things, that later got included as D&D monsters (owlbear, rust monster, bulette, etc).

I feel a bit dumb now - the packaging says "JaRu" on it.

What a pity the package didn't come with the Macrauchenia, none of them did (there were three packs in the store, all with the same figures).

So that is a feathered Pteranodon figure? Do they know what a Pteranodon looks like, save the crest? It's fully feathered and has a long, feathered tail!

Well, the Pteranodon is unique to them (unlike most of their reptiles) but I didn't say it was well-made!At least I don't think it has teeth (looking at you, Papo).

[Roselaar]

My my, these are still being re-released over and over again?! My mother bought a pack of these for me some 22 years ago, and even then they had already been done before. I must applaud JaRu's longevity, but it's dismaying to see they haven't improved their product in all those decades.

Incidentally, here's my old sets which I kept to this day. It includes the Macrauchenia and the silly monsters:

[Brontozaurus]

Oh wow, I've owned most of the Chinasaurs in this thread! The Parasaurolophus that Hermes has is even the exact same colours as mine, except mine has a red and yellow banded tail. I've even had that weird green thing next to the Uintatherium in Roselaar's box, except mine was black with red lips and was therefore fairly offensive.

[CityRaptor]

Chinasaurs never die. They just Repackage...and sometimes change colors. 

To quote myself from another thread:

Some classic Chinasaurs. Also check out the teeth of that "Parasaurolophus"...


Can you spot the japanese celebrity?


Ahhh, it's Gojira!


Honestly speaking, I might be willing to buy that bag at some point. You know, nostalgia as a I had some of these guys at a point, and you know, Godzilla!

Oh, and I did not buy it...was not willing to pay 10 Euros for it.

At least I don't think it has teeth (looking at you, Papo).

Blame it on JP3...Papo should have based it on the TLW one.

[Chad]

That Pterosaur was in every bag of dinosaurs I ever saw as a kid. It makes me feel all nostalgic seeing it again! The Tyrannosaur, Ankylosaur and Stego are very familiar, too.

[Gwangi]

This Stop & Shop is the only store I've seen with the figures, but I was intruiged because of the Uintatherium, it's the only figure of the genus I know of. Are the figures themselves common, or are the packages with all twelve the ones being sold in grocery stores?

It is the packages I see most often. I've seen them at more than one grocery store as well as some dollar stores and Walgreen's. I have a few myself I've gotten in lots but not that Uintatherium.

[Hermes888]

That Pterosaur was in every bag of dinosaurs I ever saw as a kid. It makes me feel all nostalgic seeing it again! The Tyrannosaur, Ankylosaur and Stego are very familiar, too.

I actually remember my friend having the dodgy Marx Tyrannosaurus knockoff as a kid, but with different colors, and another friend had the Pteranodon with different colors.


I'm a bit confused here - did Ja-Ru make all of these figures, or did they just package other Chinasaurs in the same lot?

[sauroid]

like all the people in this thread, i also have these Jaru chinasaurs, but the pack i got had the "Trachodon". w/the same fingers/toes as the T.rex

[japfeif]

Those are all over the place around here. Even grocery stores have them! It is cool how they have the Uintatherium.

Yeah these were all originally made by Ja-Ru back in the 70s. They actually were made in 3 waves. The original eight (T.rex, Trachodon, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Brontosaurus, & Dimetrodon) mimicked the revised Mold Group by Marx. Actually, all were done pretty good with the exception of the T.rex & Trachodon, with the funky hands & feet. A couple years later Ja-Ru came out with a second wave of I believe 9 additional dinos (A Styracosaurus, another Triceratops, etc) and a few were actually nice, proving that Ja-Ru WAS capable of good work. Their Uintatherium gets raves, and their Macrauchenia is quite nice, possible better than the only other one around at the time, the one by MPC. They had a Parasaurolophus that was nice also, and actually is presented in a more accurate horizontal-ish posture that the Marx one. But probably their crowning one, at least as far as longevity, was the large feathered Pteranodon (some folks consider it an Archeopteryx, but is so it's WAY out of scale with the rest!)....this guy has had tremendous staying power, being remade dozens of times the the years & showing up in nearly every cheap set of chinasaurs to this day!

A year or so later they added a THIRD set of figures that were basically just made-up fantasy creatures (which seveed as inspiration for Dungeons & Dragons sets years later!) that they added to their dinosaur sets. Over the years the Ja-Ru dinos have been recycled in many different colors & sizes, and still can be found in cheap dino sets at Walmart, Target, supermarkets, etc., although most have been phased out....I think the only ones e still regularly seen are the Stego, the funky T.rex, and the Archeopteryx (seriously, that one is EVERYWHERE!)

[Pachyallosaurus]

I see those all the time at my local Stop&Shop too, along with larger Ja-Ru dinosaurs (most of which are Imperial knockoffs). Did you stay in Pittsfield, or near it?