Fembrogon's Bestiary (post-2020)

[Gwangi]

Thanks for the MPC posts. Once my Marx collection is complete (2 more to go!) then I'll start collecting the MPC toys.

[Fembrogon]

MPC COLLECTION BREAKDOWN - PART 2/2

MPC released a second series of dinosaur-etc toys the year following the first series, with three new mold groups. This series is where the MPC line gets more interesting, because MPC began producing more original molds for unique new genera. The Marx-copied figures also seem better-made, to the point that some of them honestly look just as good.
( @CARN0TAURUS, I believe you had requested a couple of close-ups from these groups?)

Series 2, Mold Group 4 (1962)
(Ceratogaulus, Dire Wolf, Glyptodont, Struthiomimus)



In contrast to the very first mold group, three out of four of the figures in this group are brand-new to MPC - and quite the interesting choices, too! I don't think I've ever heard of another dire wolf toy produced up until now, and I honestly had to look up Ceratogaulus to even remember what it was. The Glyptodont is also quite good, albeit completely hollow to the point it almost feels cheaper than the rest. The Struthiomimus is virtually identical to the Marx.
...Also, trying to light and photograph these pure-red miniature toys is hard.
The individual genera:

Spoiler

Ceratogaulus - in hindsight, this is a pretty neat little critter. I wonder if this genus ever made it into an Ice Age film?


Dire Wolf - kind of a generic wolfish minifigure, to be honest, but it's still cool to have an official toy of it. Another addition to the Ice Age roster.


Glyptodont - in contrast to the prior two figures, which tend to be rarer, I almost have more of these than I know what to do with.


Struthiomimus

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Series 2, Mold Group 5 (1962)
(Diatryma, Moschops, Smilodon, Styracosaurus)



Only one of this set is unique to MPC, but all four figures were produced pretty well.
The individual genera:

Spoiler

Diatryma - a brand-new mold. It's actually a pretty modest depiction of the bird compared to the big-beaked renditions I'm used to seeing.


Moschops - not quite as good as the Marx it's imitating, but pretty close.


Smilodon - almost a perfect ringer for the Marx, detail-wise. I only have a couple of Marx saber-tooths, but this MPC pride makes up for it.


Styracosaurus - this one looks as good as the Marx, in my opinion. I like the range of colors I've acquired; the purple Nabisco one is also interesting because it appears to have been molded without its horns. I'm guessing that's an unusual case.

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Series 2, Mold Group 6 (1962)
(Machrauchenia, Megatherium, Parasaurolophus, Wooly Mammoth)



The final set and the final new mold. By chance I've managed to get all of these in about the same metallic blue hue, distinct from all the other MPCs I have.
The individual genera:

Spoiler

Macrauchenia - the unique mold of the group.


Megatherium - almost as good as the Marx.


Wooly Mammoth - exactly as good as the Marx, I dare say.


The mammal trio together:


Parasaurolophus, all by its lonesome - not as good as the Marx, generally flimsier-looking in build. Sorry, fella!

[close]

Bonus photo:

WINNECO



As "justice" would have it, MPC ended up with its own share of imitators, one of which was the company Winneco. This Tyrannosaurus and Styacosaurus are two of the few figure Winneco released, all of which were  takeoffs of MPC molds but with tweaked poses and no engravings. They're curious enough that I've chosen to keep them as a "compliment" to the MPC figures.

[Crackington]

I enjoyed your photos of the MPC figures, those glyptodonts must be breeding like, well, glyptodonts!

As for the Winneco copies, well justice indeed 

[Shonisaurus]

Nice figures from MPC the prehistoric mammals look great especially I really like the megatherium and the macrauchenia, the latter is a great "retro" prehistoric mammal figure from my point of view.

[Fembrogon]

2022 - INVICTA (updated)



Thanks to a few chance listings and some belated overseas deliveries, I've added a few more models to my Invicta lineup; in fact, counting the figures in storage, I think this is as complete as my Invicta collection is ever going to be. I'm not concerned about hunting down the Lambeosaurus, Stenonychosaurus, or colored variants at the prices they usually demand.
I really do like the Invicta line; they're probably one of my favorite dinosaur toy lines. Invicta models were beautifully sculpted, yet attractively minimalistic at times. It would have been neat to see what more the line might have accomplished if they had kept producing new models a few years longer.

The individual models:

Blue Whale (1973). I realize a properly-scaled whale whale have been prohibitive, but I do find it funny how very little the final figure ended up being. It's even smaller than the Ichthyosaurus.


Scelidosaurus (1975) - not too many toys of this dinosaur anymore.


Plesiosaur (1978) - has it ever been determined if this model depicts Plesiosaurus specifically, or another genus instead?


Ichthyosaurus (1986). Invicta liked big marine reptile toys, it seems.


Apatosaurus (1987) - also labelled as Brontosaurus underneath. Toy Companies were coming a long way since the Marx line.


Baryonyx (1989). It's funny to recall how old the "quadruped spinosaur" depictions really are; even so, this is a very dynamic-looking model. It's remarkable how long it took companies to produce a legitimately nicer figure.


Dimetrodon (1993) - the detail on this little figure is kind of amazing.


*EDIT* Stegosaurus (painted version) - here I thought my Invicta collection was done, and then this fellow showed up in a cheap lot with another desirable item. My first painted Invicta!

[Gwangi]

Awesome! I adore the Invicta line so much, it's easily my favorite vintage line. The Baryonyx and Dimetrodon are still among the best figures of those animals. Of those you shared I still need to get the Apatosaurus. I guess I need the blue whale too but I'm not as worried about that one.

[Duna]

That's a wonderful collection, almost complete (you have the sauropods, too, haven't you) ... and two of the most difficult, the Blue Whale (which still are some on sale) and the Dimetrodon (no more on sale for almost a year and probably won't be more).
By the way, why do you have only those on display? Or are just the latest you have adquired and storaged the first?
I was as happy as you when suddenly the oportunity came to buy two Lambeosaurus and two Stenonychosaurus from the same seller, so don't ever lose hope and keep watching, even in other eBay (I got them in eBay.de). And then I was superhappy with my collection when I decided to get some painted ones ... and little by little, I have almost got all of them, but that was a hard work searching and more expensive.

[Libraraptor]

Invicta! Still my favourite line of all time for me!

[Shonisaurus]

Nice additions to your Invicta collection, by the way do you have the Invicta lambeosaurus? I tell you about it because it is the pearl of the crown of said collection due to its rarity when it comes to finding it.

[Fembrogon]

That's a wonderful collection, almost complete (you have the sauropods, too, haven't you) ... and two of the most difficult, the Blue Whale (which still are some on sale) and the Dimetrodon (no more on sale for almost a year and probably won't be more).
By the way, why do you have only those on display? Or are just the latest you have adquired and storaged the first?

The blue whale was very much a surprise to find, and for a low price too. I suppose it balances out what I paid for my Dimetrodon (chuckie).
I do indeed have the other 3 sauropods - Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus and Cetiosaurus - but they're part of my pre-2020 collection, which is boxed up in a storage facility for the foreseeable future. 

Nice additions to your Invicta collection, by the way do you have the Invicta lambeosaurus? I tell you about it because it is the pearl of the crown of said collection due to its rarity when it comes to finding it.

I do not have the Lambeosaurus, nor do I have the Stenoch. I don't really expect to, either, considering how expensive they tend to be when they pop up.
Still, I won't say never; I've been surprised before!

[Fembrogon]

I edited my last collection review post to add the painted Invicta Stegosaurus - surprise! I wasn't expecting that one.

2022 - FAVORITE

After a couple of hauls from HobbyLink Japan & Amazon Japan in 2020, and a variety of orders made with Brettnj's help in 2021, I replenish my Favorite collection after the few I owned got locked away in storage. While their figures can be hit or miss, I still think Favorite is a solid company that deserves more distribution.

Here's a (cramped) group shot of all the Soft Model Series figures I currently have with me. Most of these are more recent additions to the Prehistoric and Dinosaur lines from the past few years.



Here's an extra shot of the Large Vinyl Model Dunkleosteus (whom I accidentally left out of the prior group shot) with the Soft Model version for comparison. I don't think the Vinyls get much attention here compared to the Soft Model line, but I was pretty pleased with this one at least.



Soft Models - Prehistoric Series

I'm gonna say it - the Prehistoric figures are better than the Dinosaur figures. So there.
group shot:



Individual figures:

Spoiler

Anomalocaris (2014)


Dunkleosteus (2014)


Archelon (2015)


Carcharodon Otodus Megalodon (2015)


Dimetrodon (2015)


Opabinia (2015)

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Soft Models - Dinosaur Series

I still question the choice to deliberately include non-dinosaurs in this series when the Prehistoric line also exists; but at least the Plessie and Mosa came out pretty well for it.
I'd like to see the Prehistoric line's sculptors do a take on a pterosaur, though.
group shot:



Individual figures:

Spoiler

Plesiosaurus (2013)


Mosasaurus (2019)


Diplodocus (2020)


Quetzalcoatlus (2020)


Iguanodon (2020)


Tarbosaurus (2020)


Giganotosaurus (2021)

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Admittedly, despite my compliments to the line, I don't feel nearly as compelled to catch up on all the offerings of Favorite the way I often do with some other lines like Safari ltd. Unless Favorite has some bigger surprises in store for the future, this collection of mine probably won't be growing much more for a while.

[Concavenator]

Those Favorite look nice, in particular, the Dimetrodon and Otodus are some of the nicest I've seen yet.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

The Favorite and Invicta acquisitions are lovely, nice to see how big the Favorite Dimetrodon and New Iguanodon are as well.
Glad I git the Invicta Lambeosaurus and Stenonychosaurus before they surged in price and all.
A small bundle including an Invicta Lambeosaurus and a couple of others with some cheapasaurs did go for £50ish a couple of weeks ago, I was wondering whether anyone on this site was the winner, doesn't look like it yet.

[Shonisaurus]

Honestly nice figures you have of prehistoric animals, Favorite figures are a gift for any serious collector of quality scientific toy figures of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. The Giganotosaurus from Favorite does not have to envy other figures from other companies and with a more than acceptable size such as the Nanmu Giganotosaurus. Beautiful and exceptional photos. Favorite figures have come out very well this photo session.

[Fembrogon]

It appears I accidentally omitted Battat from my 2021 bestiary gallery; oops!! I've corrected my earlier post to include them now.

2022 (spring) - BATTAT

Here's another branch of my bestiary I hadn't expected to be growing so soon. When the Terra line began releasing back in 2014, I eagerly began collecting each of the new & repainted figures. I still lament how the brand has foundered since Dan LoRusso's passing - especially now that I've ended up with a few of the classic figures in my hands. Safari ltd & the Carnegie Collection were always the bar-setters in my mind for top-notch dinosaur toys; but Battat was without a doubt Safari's equal (or even superior) in just about every way.



Getting these theropods to stand for 10 seconds felt like corralling live animals. Whew!

The individual figures:

Spoiler

Ceratosaurus (mini):


Dilophosaurus (1st ver):


Edmontonia:


Styracosaurus:


Utahraptor:


Cryolophosaurus (Terra):

[close]

[SidB]

Good to see that you're reveling in your classic Battats. They do indeed represent the very best of the 90's. Well done!

[Shonisaurus]

Nice collection of Battat dinosaurs. Honestly, for me they are the favorite dinosaurs even if they are figures from the 90s, these figures are still valid in terms of genius and beauty and are comparable to companies such as Marx, Sinclair, Invicta or Starlux. Dan LoRusso always did an outstanding job.

[Gwangi]

For me, Battat was without question the best of the 90's. I've kind of pulled back on collecting them though. I say that having just acquired the Styracosaurus, haha. I used to want to collect the whole set but that's no longer an aspiration of mine. I do have all the Terra releases though and it still pains me that that project fell through with Dan's passing. Would still love to see his new (and last) sculpts become available.

[Fembrogon]

LARAMI, PREHISTORIC MUSEUM COLLECTION SERIES 2 (1992 reissue)



I don't think I ever owned any Larami toys myself as a kid, but I recall playing with some toys like these, probably belonging to friends or family members; so there's a smidgen of nostalgia for some of this line. As a matter of fact, it was probably the figures from this particular reissued set that I remember - a happy coincidence in this chance discovery. I don't know if I'll be adding any more Larami figures to my bestiary in the foreseeable future, since... Well, they're just not all that good; but I rather like this set, at least, and it's neat to see the whole package they originally were sold in. Here are a few extra photos I took since preparing the review I published for the Blog:

Apatosaurus


Plesiosaurus


Triceratops


Tyrannosaurus

[Libraraptor]

Very cool Larami stuff, very cool Review on the Blog!