The Identification thread

[Saarlooswolfhound]

My immediate reaction was it resembles a Safari Ltd. product. How long has he had it?

[crazy8wizard]

My immediate reaction was it resembles a Safari Ltd. product. How long has he had it?

I want to say somewhere between 10 to 15 years but it could be up to 20.

[Halichoeres]

I wonder if this was an in-store promotional piece. The Toys R Us/Macy's near me has an oversize (granted, not this oversize) Schleich rex atop their dinosaur section.

[Primeval12]

I wonder if this was an in-store promotional piece. The Toys R Us/Macy's near me has an oversize (granted, not this oversize) Schleich rex atop their dinosaur section.

OH THE HORROR!!!

[Halichoeres]

Ha! Next time I go I'll get a photo to inflict on everyone.

[crazy8wizard]

I wonder if this was an in-store promotional piece. The Toys R Us/Macy's near me has an oversize (granted, not this oversize) Schleich rex atop their dinosaur section.

According to him he got it from another museum owner. I did see an identical statue on a tripadvisor pic for another museum so maybe it's a gift shop promotional piece? It seems a little stylized to be specifically an educational museum model though.

[Halichoeres]

I wonder if this was an in-store promotional piece. The Toys R Us/Macy's near me has an oversize (granted, not this oversize) Schleich rex atop their dinosaur section.

According to him he got it from another museum owner. I did see an identical statue on a tripadvisor pic for another museum so maybe it's a gift shop promotional piece? It seems a little stylized to be specifically an educational museum model though.

It's really similar to the Safari Tyrannosaurus that was in production 10 or 15 years ago, so for the time maybe it wasn't quite so stylized. I wouldn't be surprised if Safari furnished them for museum shops that carried their products. I dunno, that's my best guess, but it is definitely a guess!

[Dinoguy2]

I wonder if this was an in-store promotional piece. The Toys R Us/Macy's near me has an oversize (granted, not this oversize) Schleich rex atop their dinosaur section.

According to him he got it from another museum owner. I did see an identical statue on a tripadvisor pic for another museum so maybe it's a gift shop promotional piece? It seems a little stylized to be specifically an educational museum model though.

It's really similar to the Safari Tyrannosaurus that was in production 10 or 15 years ago, so for the time maybe it wasn't quite so stylized. I wouldn't be surprised if Safari furnished them for museum shops that carried their products. I dunno, that's my best guess, but it is definitely a guess!

One other possibility I can think of, though less likely, is that the Safari figure could have been based on a museum piece, or the same sculptor was responsible for both? There are examples of Safari turning museum sculptures directly into figures, like some of the Dino Discoveries series. And Greg Wenzel and Dan LoRusso were responsible for both the Battat figures, and the sculptures at the Boston Museum of Science which are basically the same designs with the same colors but in different poses.

[Dinoguy2]

I have a tricky one I'd like some expert opinions on. Not sure if it belongs in this thread since it's more of a production/prototype ID question. Anyway. Someone sent photos of this, presumably prototype sample of the Carnegie Australopithecus that he bought from a shop in Germany. It looks obviously like a prototype, unpainted model, but the catch is that the info text is totally different. As far as I know the text is not usually included on the initial sculpt, but is added to the mold. I have lots of examples documented on my website that show changes to the text involve physically changing the mold, and usually it's obvious where the text was changed as there is a raised welt in the final figure resulting from physically scraping out the old text and replacing it with new text.

There's no such evidence here, and in all my years I've never seen any Carneige figures with text like this, let alone Australopithecus. Not only is it different text, it's in a different position. This would normally indicate a completely different mold (sometimes more than one were in use at the same time). Would someone really have produced a mold and never used it? Could this prototype have been made not from a finished metal mold, but maybe from the plaster mold that would be used to make the metal one, cheaper to replace before final tooling? Was this part o an aborted plan to give Schleich it's own set of molds for production in Germany? Any theories welcome.

[brontosauruschuck]

Hey there, I found this little toy on the ground yesterday. If it hasn't been reviewed yet I'll review it, provided someone knows what it is.

[Justin_]

D @Dinoguy2

I'm guessing this was done because the text in the prototype isn't very well positioned. Obviously on a bipedal creature like this there's nowhere really unobtrusive, but it is better on the second one. Also, it is easier to read sideways text from top-to-bottom (as is usual on book spines) than bottom-to-top.
If it was a metal mold, although an expensive error, I expect the metal could be recycled.
I'm not sure how easy it would be to engrave the text on a plaster test-mold.

[Halichoeres]

B @brontosauruschuck is it from this set? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Animal-Planet-Dino-Discovery-Play-Set-5-Pack/695646800

[Deinonychus!]

Any idea what brand this guy is? The text on him just says "TYRANNOSAURUS MADE IN CHINA" which isn't very helpful.

[Libraraptor]

Yeah, but that´s exactly what it is: A generic dinosaur toy "Made in China" of no particular brand A big factory produces toys like these in tons and sells them to distributors worldwide.

[brontosauruschuck]

B @brontosauruschuck is it from this set? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Animal-Planet-Dino-Discovery-Play-Set-5-Pack/695646800

That looks about right. Thanks for the help!

[Halichoeres]

B @brontosauruschuck is it from this set? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Animal-Planet-Dino-Discovery-Play-Set-5-Pack/695646800

That looks about right. Thanks for the help!

No sweat!

@Deinonychus! Yeah I don't know if it's going to be possible to nail that one down. I see from the condition of the tail that you've had it a long time...