Return to the Crackington Formation

[BrontoScorpio]

... An interesting group of Inpros in very good condition ...

Excellent find! Congrats! Especially on landing the Saltopusuchus, very rare, only available I believe on the Chivers foldout promo cards (as was the Trachodon), ...

Congrats !
I was lucky enough to snatch one of those Chivers foldout promo cards.
I didn't know though that the Saltopusuchus was only available in the foldout- Just that it is very expensive  buying it on it's own.

[Fembrogon]

Happy birthday, Inpro! While the Pteranodon is familiar to me, for the most part my knowledge of this line is lacking. Congratulations on finding this lot; I concur with the others that the Saltoposuchus is especially neat. Salto is another one of those genera that seems to have fallen totally into obscurity in the 21st century.

[Gwangi]

Love the Inpro toys, and I'm happy to see that I'm not alone. I have a few of them myself and I also have a weird obsession with the Inpro Ankylosaurus. I might track down the rest, eventually.

[Shonisaurus]

Hats off to Impro, it is a vintage company worthy of praise as it made figures of prehistoric animals based on ancient paleoartists which made it ahead of its time. For their time they were fine. I am glad that you have those figures that are inspired by the art of Charles K Knight that you mention that he was a legendary paleoartist with a lot of art and whose merit was much greater due to the visual defect that he suffered from.

[Halichoeres]

That Saltoposuchus really is wonderful. It hews pretty closely to an old skeletal diagram. I wonder if any company will ever attempt one again.

[Duna]

Inpro saltoposuchus is an accurate depiction of Zallinger's drawing:



That collection is really cool! I specially love the hard plastic version.

[Crackington]

Thanks for your comments everyone, I think it's great that Inpro are getting some love fifty years on!

@Duna thanks for posting that Zallinger picture of the Saltoposuchus. Your digging into where these old figures came from is truly excellent and adds to the enjoyment of the models.

The Chivers Jelly promotion is really interesting, J @japfeif and @BrontoScorpio. I also didn't realise that the Saltoposuchus and the Trachodon were only available through that.

I had both toys as a kid along with most of the others, but as I said have no recollection of where I got them (I was more focused on the Auroras!). I know my family didn't take part in the Chivers promotion though, so perhaps got them through swaps.

Anyway here's another pic of that brown coloured Smilodon. The one from the new lot is a much lighter shade than the other one, so some variation in the Inpro colours.

[japfeif]

Thanks for your comments everyone, I think it's great that Inpro are getting some love fifty years on!

@Duna thanks for posting that Zallinger picture of the Saltoposuchus. Your digging into where these old figures came from is truly excellent and adds to the enjoyment of the models.

The Chivers Jelly promotion is really interesting, J @japfeif and @BrontoScorpio. I also didn't realise that the Saltoposuchus and the Trachodon were only available through that.

I had both toys as a kid along with most of the others, but as I said have no recollection of where I got them (I was more focused on the Auroras!). I know my family didn't take part in the Chivers promotion though, so perhaps got them through swaps.

Oh yeah, I think the Inpros are cool, and yeah they don't seem to get enough recognition! And yes, as far as I know (of course I could be mistaken) the only way to get the Trachodon & Saltoposuchus was thru the Chivers promo. Actually, that was the only way I think to get the remaining 4 figures (Pteranodon, Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, & Dimetrodon) in the super hard original plastic (all of the figures on the Chivers card were made in the very hard original brittle plastic, before the dinos were re-molded in the familiar softer plastic). So if you come across a very hard Pteranodon, Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, or Dimetrodon, you'll know they originally came from the Chivers card!  )

Here's my complete set of Inpros, and my Chivers promotional display:

[BrontoScorpio]

Here's my complete set of Inpros, and my Chivers promotional display:

I sometimes see the Plesiosaurus introduced as Inpro -
But, on other occasions as Toyway and, when ever looking for markings - it says 'Dinocrats' not Inpro.
Do you know what's the story behind the origin of this perticular Pleasiosaurus ?

[Crackington]

Not sure that's quite right about the hard Inpros only being available through the Chivers promotion. All of the ones I had as a kid in the late 1970s were hard plastic and I must say not brittle. The Inpros were in fact hard as hell 

Not sure how wide-spread that Chivers promotion was.The labels I showed earlier and got with this current lot, indicate 1970s shop sale. I wish I could remember where I got them back in the day!

I only saw soft ones when I started collecting again in late 1990s and then only the Heteredontosarus, Corythosaurus and Protoceratops. In fact, I thought they were knock offs when I first saw them.

I don't recall the Plesiosaurus being part of the line back then. It's so similar in style and type of plastic though that it looks like it came from the same manufacturers.

[UK]

Here's my complete set of Inpros, and my Chivers promotional display:

I sometimes see the Plesiosaurus introduced as Inpro -
But, on other occasions as Toyway and, when ever looking for markings - it says 'Dinocrats' not Inpro.
Do you know what's the story behind the origin of this perticular Pleasiosaurus ?

They are iterations based on which company now owns the moulds. Dinocrats were a Toyway release. The earlier versions were harder plastic and the narrative on the underbelly varied depending on the release. There was also a rarer blue version too.

[BrontoScorpio]

I could  not understand from your answer if this Plesiosaurus is 'Inpro' or not ?
Is it 'Inpro' only when it says so on the bottom ? was there ever 'Inpro' written on it's belly ?

[Duna]

I have 3 Toyway plesiosaurus, and in 2 says China and in 1 says Hong Kong. I have other Inpros and in the harder ones says Hong Kong but there are others, hard but less hard that "Hong Kong" is erased, probably when the molds were in China. There are softer ones too.

[Crackington]

I have the plesiosaur too. I don't think it's an Inpro, and by that I mean not part of the original 1970s set. It doesn't say Inpro either.

Inpros were made in Hong Kong and as Duna says, most have the word "Inpro" on their undersides, though not all! The Trachodon didn't for instance, though I had this as a kid and it was clearly part of the set.

I think UK is right about the plesiosaur, it was produced later for other companies (or at least companies with different names to Inpro). It's very similar in style though so I suspect had the same sculptor and team behind it.

[UK]

Hopefully this helps.

Some extracts from a Toyway catalogue. Shows the colour variation for the Ankylosaurus too.

I think the plesiosaur was definitely a later release, I don't remember seeing it for sale with the other. From memory the figures were 40 pence except the brontosaurus which was 80 pence. I'd say that'd be around 1975-76

[Crackington]

Wow that's really helpful @UK - good to hear you recall buying them. I think those labels I got with the eBay set with Zodiac Toys on them could well be from 1972 and the Inpros going then for 15p? Would make sense that they are a bit more a few years later.

J @japfeif excellent photo of his collection and the rarer Chivers display prompted me to get mine all out for some group snaps, I thought folk might like to see them. Here's the first with a couple of interesting imposter Inpro-like beasties in the mix!

[UK]

Great photos Rob.

Early 1970s UK inflation was pretty steep then. Plus the shop we used to get them was a rather posh department store with prices to match.

Inpro was the reason I got into collecting in adulthood. I wanted to re-establish my childhood collection and of course you'd find a lot inpros in with them. I'd sell off the extras and found I had a nice little sideline.

I paid for out wedding on the back of buying and selling dinosaur toys  😁

[UK]

One further observation, whilst the sculpts have dated, the quality of manufacturing can't be doubted given how many figures still remain and in good condition.

[Duna]

Thanks for your pictures! Those are the Inpro I consider recasts o China versions, they have the "Hong Kong" erased, made in soft rubber and different colours. I wondered what were the key rings I saw sometimes on eBay, I thought someone kept putting rings on the Inpro figures but they were indeed made like that??!! 

But as a serious UKRD collector I'm more intrigued by the fact that Dinocrats recast ALL UKRD figures (1991, 1992 even with the skeletons and 1993 large and small) and the AAA medium ones and the babies, too!  Now I know where those later UKRD recasts in shiny colours came from. I didn't know they were sold by this company. I won't mind having one of those boxes (I'm more interested in the box itself).

[japfeif]

Not sure that's quite right about the hard Inpros only being available through the Chivers promotion. All of the ones I had as a kid in the late 1970s were hard plastic and I must say not brittle. The Inpros were in fact hard as hell 

Not sure how wide-spread that Chivers promotion was.The labels I showed earlier and got with this current lot, indicate 1970s shop sale. I wish I could remember where I got them back in the day!

I only saw soft ones when I started collecting again in late 1990s and then only the Heteredontosarus, Corythosaurus and Protoceratops. In fact, I thought they were knock offs when I first saw them.

I don't recall the Plesiosaurus being part of the line back then. It's so similar in style and type of plastic though that it looks like it came from the same manufacturers.

Oh no, that wasn't what I meant...sorry, I think I wasn't too clear in my post! :-)
What I meant was that as far as I know the only way to get the Trachodon & Saltoposuchus was thru the Chivers promo, and also that all the dinos on the Chivers card were in the hard plastic. It was sort of 2 separate thoughts that kind of got jumbled! haha.

Yes, all the dinos on the Chivers card were in the original hard brittle plastic. But I didn't meant to imply that the ONLY way to get hard dinos was thru the Chivers promo. But no, when the Inpro dinos first came out, they all were in the hard plastic.

As I understand it, there were 12 in that set:
Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Brontosaurus, Dimetrodon, a Mammoth, Pteranodon, Saltoposuchus, Smilodon, Stegosaurus, Trachodon, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus rex. All these originals were made in the hard brittle plastic. 6 were used for the Chivers premium foldout card, and the Trachodon & Saltopuchus were in the card and ONLY came in the Chivers card (I may be wrong on that, again just how I understand it). All of these guys were marketed by Saftvale out of England and sold under the moniker of "Dinocrats, Lords of the Earth".

Then later they added to the line the Corythosaurus, Heterodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Protoceratops, and Styracosaurus. By now, around 1977 I believe, the dinos had all been reissued in the softer plastic that held up a bit better and was not so prone to breaking. So these last 5 guys were ONLY found in the softer plastic and that's why you don't see them in the really hard brittle plastic. 4 of the originals (Brontosaurus, Trachodon, Saltoposuchus, and Allosaurus) were not ever reissued so these guys are ONLY found in hard plastic (I *think*!).

So 4 of the original 12 can only be found in the hard brittle plastic, 8 of the original 12 can be found in either soft OR hard plastic, and the later 5 can only be found in the soft plastic! [whew!]

The early ones will say "Inpro 1972 Hong Kong" on them (I think that one or two actually don't have the inscription, but I forget which). By the time that the re-issuing occurred, manufacture had moved to China, so the later ones have "China" on them rather than "Hong Hong". And at some point here Saftvale seems to have been sold to (or bought out by) Toyway.

The Plesiosaurus is kind of problematic and things get fuzzy. The original Plesiosaurus figures had his name and "Dinocrats" on the belly (the only one to actually say "Dinocrats" I believe). The later issue ones after the sale to Toyway say "Toyway" on the belly (many also say "China" but I've seen a few that don't) and are made of even softer plastic than the original ones (remember, he was not part of the "original lineup" and never made in the hard brittle material).

Hope this helps a bit, and if anyone has any conflicting info don't hesitate to point it out! As I said, this is my understanding of the Inpro situation but I'm not 100% certain!