Boki's Collection: A short goodbye (until we meet again) 3/7/23

[Bokisaurus]

Well,  another week, so lets' get started with this weeks theme.
This week I figured I will share my Invicta and Invicta-like figures.

I'm sure all of you are now familiar with the Invicta, also knows as the British Museum Of Natural History set, of figures. This is is the grandfather of all the museum lines, as well as popularizing the scale figures.
The collection is old, older than many of our members here They were released in the early seventies, from 1972- 1993, so a good run.

My introduction to the line came much later in life. Before I started my collecting journey, I had no clue the line even existed.
Way back, in my early 20's, I was watching a show about dinosaurs. One segment was about weight, and there was a clip of this scientist calculating sauropod weight by water displacement. He used a sauropod for the experiment.  This turned out to be the Invicta mamenchisaurus, of course I was to aware.
Back then, before my collecting days, I was more focused on the partying and going clubbing with my friends. My collection consisted of the lates fashion and the latest VIP card to the hottest new club  in town
Then I met my partner. While we were dating, I visited his apartment. One visit, I noticed a box hidden behind a couch. Out of curiosity, I pulled it and looked.
To my amazement, it was full of toys! There were GI Joes, Barbies, animals, and Marx figures, Carnegie dinos, and some unpainted figures I have never seen before. What caught my eye was the sauropods. There they were, the Brachio, Mamenchi ( which I recognized from the show years back), and Apatosaurus. I was amazed! It turns out, he kept this box of toys for friends who have kids. When they visited his apartment, he will have toys for the kids to play with.

Despite the overwhelming desire to take those sauropods, I kept my cool It will be another year and half , after we moved in together that, that I will once again be acquainted with the Invicta figures.
If you remember from my Battat Diplodocus review on the blog, you will recall my search for the Battat line and my travels to different toy stores in the city in my quest for them.
What was left out was, during this quest, I also found the Invicta dinosaurs. So, in addition to spending my whole weeks food budget on those first Battat figures, I also spent a good chunk of my bills fund to purchase my very first Invicta figures

Of course, I started out with the Sauropods In later years, as I built up my collection, I tried to complete the series. To date, I managed to get all of the original unpainted ones, but pretty much only half of the painted ones.
I no longer chase after the missing unpainted figures, simply too many to try and get, but I will  not turn down a good opportunity if they ever arise.

So, Let start with the unpainted set As you can see, my marine reptiles and blue whale is missing from the unpainted set, I have them but they are currently misplaced
The sauropods. To this days, these guys remain on of my favorite figures. There is just something elegant about them. What an amazing lineup of different species, and this was the  first time we see Mamenchi and Cetiosaurus in toy form, with the latter still very rare in in toy for even today. I think only CollectA released one in their earlier days.


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The others
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The odd ones: Troodon ( Stenonychosaurus) was embroiled in some controversy and for a while was pulled from production due to copyright issues. It is also the few figures from the set that was not really to scale.
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The Mammoth and Glyptodont are the only prehistoric mammals in the set. I read somewhere that a wholly rhino was originally planned as a later addition, but it never came about.

Now, the painted ones: Not all of the figures have been repainted.

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Painted and unpainted versions
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Clear ichthyosaurs and Darker blue plesiosaur (Right side). These two are samples of the different materials that Invicta used for the figures.
The Clear one is unpainted raw form of the clear material. The Plesiosaur is another material. It is made of really hard plastic that for a long time many believed it was made out of metal, sure sounds and feel like it though.
[
And this was a repainted pliosaur from nearly 10 years ago The figure was so badly scratched.


Most of the figures I got were loose figures. However, they were also sold in box sets. Some were box set of four figures, others were were the complete set. There is a posted that came with the set as well.

The collection


Okay, there, hope you enjoyed a little bit of vintage charm. Despite the overwhelming choices these days, the Invicta line still remains as one of my favorite line. It simple and elegant style gives us a  break from todays detail and accuracy obsessed quest for perfection. One day I hope to complete the set, one day.
Hope you enjoyed, till next time, cheers!

[ITdactyl]

'Can't describe how the Invicta series can be so outdated, and yet remain so very aesthetically pleasing.*  Their sauropods are just so weirdly graceful and elegant.
*grammar redundancies were deliberate

And yes, that is an awesome collection.

[Nimravus]

Hi Boki,
Congrats for your collection. It is amazing. Btw, you missed your personal label on the pictures this time!
I fully agree with Boki and many of you that even if Invicta produced their set more than 20 years ago, their figurines are still elegant and not at all outdated. Their sauropods are between my favourites and the Baryonyx is, under my personal opinion, the best one in the market (eagerly awaiting the one from Möjo though).

[Shonisaurus]

Even figures like the cetiosaurus or the mamenchisaurus of Invicta are for me the best there is in the toy market. Even the muttaburrasaurus of Invicta believe that it will be very difficult for any company to exceed its quality.

Honestly is not outdated no figure are still as exciting as the first day I bought them in my case.

There are companies that although they spend thirty or twenty years are still companies of a spectacular quality and beauty is the case of Invicta, Battat or Carnegie to give some examples.

In particular, I liked Invicta's quality and good taste.

[Bokisaurus]

Hi Boki,
Congrats for your collection. It is amazing. Btw, you missed your personal label on the pictures this time!
I fully agree with Boki and many of you that even if Invicta produced their set more than 20 years ago, their figurines are still elegant and not at all outdated. Their sauropods are between my favourites and the Baryonyx is, under my personal opinion, the best one in the market (eagerly awaiting the one from Möjo though).

Good catch on the name! The photos were taken early this year in January, before I started using the name. I just held off posting in the hopes that I would find my marine reptiles, but it was taking too long for the search so I went ahead and posted.
It take too much work to have to dig them all up and redo the photo shoot

[Bokisaurus]

Next up, we have the replacement for the Invicta line. After the demise of the Invicta line, the BMNH did not have any official line of figures for a long time.
Then, a few years ago, in the early 2000's they commissioned Toyway, the same company that produced the WWD figures, to create a new line of prehistoric to replace the Invicta line.
To be honest, these new set of figures were not as good as the old Invicta line despite being produced decades later. The sculpting are not what you would expect from a top museum line.
I don't really know how many figure were produced as I was not too impressed with the line to try and get them.
However, there was a diplodocus in the set, so naturally I had to try and get that to add to my sauropod herd.
Back then, I had to call ED to arrange a purchase since it was difficult to ge the figures as they were not readily available ( this was before eBay was the place to shop). The diplodocus is not the best, however it was the first figure to show the spines not he back, and not all the way up like many depicted, but only starting at the base of the tail. This was based on the location of the spines were when they were found.
Anyway, the rest of the figures were opportunity catch, they were added much later after the diplodocus , and mostly as a chance purchase.
The Kentrosaurus is the only other figure I would one day want to get if the opportunity arise, but for now, I am not really searching for the rest of the figures.
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To-date, I have five of the figures. I believe the figures were sold as sets that came in two in a box.
Unless you are a completist, these guys are easily skipped unlike the Toyway WWD figures. So that concludes the Invicta/Toyway BMNH figures. The two sets is an interesting contrast in style, unfortunately, the latter replacement did not live up to it's predecessor.
Next, I will post two other lines that really goes well with the Invicta series. Hope you all stay tune, thanks for checking, cheers!
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[Shonisaurus]

According to you Boki. I have all the Toyway figures of the British Museum and I can say that they do not resemble in genius the legendary company Invicta, I have all the figures but unfortunately they are as I say very far as those beauties of more than thirty years ago.

[Bokisaurus]

Today we look at a collection that had the same look and feel of the old Invicta figures.
This set is from he Royal Ontario Museum, also known as ROM for short. perhaps inspired by the success of the Invicta BMNH figures, the ROM museum in 1976 wanted to produce their own exclusive line of dinosaurs.
They have enlisted the artist named Fred Kay to sculpt the figures. He is know most for sculpting toy soldiers, so this venture was a new thing for him.
There were 8 original figures total produced for the series, and as far as I know, there were no later addition to the set. The unique thing about the set is that all of the species chosen were animals that were found in in Canada, a novel idea a nd something that would be interesting for today's companies to try and duplicate.
The 8 species chosen were Albertosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Diplodocus, Lambeosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, Pteranodon, and t he marine reptile Stenoptergius.
Size wise, the figures are smaller than the large Invicta figures. And just like the Invicta figures, t hey, too, came is different colors, although one solid one. Of the colors I have only the gray, tan, green, and red. I'm not sure what other colors are out there.

From what I read, the pteranodon was drastically resculpted after the artist was finished to "conform" with the what the museum retail believed was more playability.
The diplodocus also was slightly changed as well, the head was made larger as they felt that the original small head was "snake-like and scary"
The figures , surprisingly, were sculpted in active poses.

To-date, I have 7 of the 8 figures, I am missing the Pteranodon unfortunately. It has proven to be hard to find and expensive. One day, maybe I will find one.
My Stego is misplaced at the moment, so he is MIN for this post I will add him later when I locate which bin he is hiding 
Here they are


This figure, the Ichthyosaur Stenoptergius, was, despite looking really beautiful, was a poor seller. AS a result it was produced in much limited number making it the rarest of the group to find, especially in good condition.


Well, there you go, the ROM set. I love this set, just like the Invicta figures, they are full of charm and simple beauty. Sometimes it's nice to get a break from todays "busy and hyper-detailed" figures, and pause to admire such simple yet enchanting figures from the old days.
In the 1990's, there were knock off of these figures, and you can still find them today. They came in assorted colors.


Hope you enjoyed this post, next time we will take a look at one more figure that goes well with the ROM and Invicta collection, till then, thanks for checking, cheers!

[suspsy]

I used to have a bunch of those ROM figures when I was a kid. Tragically, my Lambeosaurus fell behind a dresser, landed on the radiator, and got melted!

Needless to say, you really need to review these, Boki. They're an essential piece of dinosaur toy history.

[Roselaar]

Oh my, you have an amazing Invicta collection! And those ROMs are wonderful as well.

Still a few painted Invictasaurs to go, keep it up!

[Shonisaurus]

Boki, your collection is endless. What is said by other members of the forum continues with your collection, you will end up having one of the best collections of toy dinosaurs in the world.

Those figures from the Royal Ontario Museum or ROM are fabulous. I'm glad you have some very rare figures in the world of the collection.

[SBell]

I used to see the ROM figures all the time at the Calgary Zoo in the 80s...and never had a single one.

The only one I ever had was a Stenopterygius that I rescued from a basement (covered in glitter paint with a pierced dorsal) while doing my MSc. I later traded it away to someone else.

[Bokisaurus]

Thats everyone
@ Suspsy - I can't believe they are not yet reviewed on the blog.Maybe one day once I'm caught up with my planned reviews. It could be fun.
@ Roselaar - Yeah, a few more painted ones to hunt down
@ Sbell-  Glittered Stenoptergius! Yeah, they were once common, I like them, great reminds of the past

[Bokisaurus]

Okay, it's time yo wrap up this weeks post. Today will be the final installment of the Invicta-like figures.
So, besides the ROM figures, there was also a series that has the same feel and look of the unpainted Invictas, although these figures are more retro in style. Today we look at the set from the German company called Kleinwelka.
If I am correct, these guys are produced much later than the Invicta and ROM figures, I think they were released in the 1980?
These figures  are replica of the original sculptures that are on display in the Kleinwelka Saurier Park in Bautzen, Germany. They are look old school, but this is exactly what makes these figures so charming.
I believe the figure were sold exclusively in the park's gift shop. This is what makes them rare and very hard to find outside of Germany.
I became aware of the set years ago, and Libra actually got me my first one

After acquiring my first figure, I decided that I like theme and tried to hunt down more of the figures. It has proven to be difficult and potentially expensive. I was lucky enough to get the figures that I have at a reasonable price.
To-date, I have 4 figures. As far as I know, there were 8 figures total.
The species are Anatosaurus ( Trachodon), Brachiosaurus adult and baby ( small, what I have), Diplodocopus, Iguanodon, Parasaurolophus, and Deinosuchus. Bold names are those that I have. Figures are made of plastic and comes in gray and tan, not sure if there are other colors.


One day, I would love to complete the collection, but that is a BIG goal I especially dream about that beautiful diplodocus!


And just to compare with some of the other oldies. Invicta and Marx figures
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My personal favorite of the figures I got is the iguanodon.
Anyway, if you appreciate vintage or simple yet elegant looking figures, this series is definitely worth acquiring. The simple monochromatic colors is nice and gives you a nice break.
As I photographed these set, as well as the Invicta and ROM, I was reminded just how far prehistoric figures have come since these guys. I also took the opportunity to sit back and just enjoy these simple figures.
Hope you all enjoyed this weeks post, and thanks for looking Until the next series of post, cheers!

P.S
You will notice that most, except for one, of the photos do not have my name. This is due to these photos being taken back in January, way before I started tp use the name.

[Libraraptor]

I love the ROM and the Kleinwelkas !

[suspsy]

Thats everyone
@ Suspsy - I can't believe they are not yet reviewed on the blog.Maybe one day once I'm caught up with my planned reviews. It could be fun.

I double-checked the blog's contents before making my previous post. It's really surprising to me how none of them have been reviewed. As I said, they're an important part of dinosaur toy history. They need to be part of the DTB!

[Shonisaurus]

I never heard of this ROM company in relation to dinosaurs and I have to emphasize that their iguanodon, trachodon or brachiosaurus are huge.

I always thought that of the few toy brands that would exist in the 70s and 80s, I was only referring to Invicta and some more, with astonishment I observed that there were many dinosaur toy companies that I believed. Thank you Bokisaurus for your photos are fabulous as always.

[SBell]

I'm surprised you aren't including the Basel Tsintaosaurus in this photo series!? Unless...do you not have it? There was that brief period about 8 years ago when Libraptor discovered it, and lots of us rushed to find a way to get it!

[stegosauria]

Libraraptor's last post in his trade list that his last Basel Tsintaosaurus models were sold or traded. I can provide some photos of it but they won't be so perfect as Bokisaurus' photos.

[Bokisaurus]

I'm surprised you aren't including the Basel Tsintaosaurus in this photo series!? Unless...do you not have it? There was that brief period about 8 years ago when Libraptor discovered it, and lots of us rushed to find a way to get it!

😂 funny that you noticed that. It was actually part of my original plan to include that figure when I decided to do the series. No, I don't have the figure unfortunately. However, I was supposed to get it this year. I traded with Libra for the last figure he had . Stegosauria that last figure was supposed to be mine😃
Unfortunately, the figure seems to got lost during transit so unfortunately it never made it to me😒
Sad about it, but such is the risk.

It was also the reason why I waited to post this series, so in the end, no Basel figure.
Maybe one day.