It’s time to continue our series of pliosaur figure reviews and this time we will look at the Walking with Dinosaurs Liopleurodon toy by Toyway. The WWD line has been out of production for some years and was only available locally for a short period of time, so this rare figure is quickly becoming a ‘holy grail’ for dinosaur collectors.
It is a spectacular figure and is by far the most accurate pliosaur toy reviewed on The Dinosaur Toy Blog so far. All of the Walking with Dinosaurs figures are almost perfectly symmetrical, which is a let down in most of the figures which appear to be just ‘standing around’. However, this is not so much of an issue in the aquatic Liopleurodon. The figure is 24cm long.
The triangular-shaped head is good. The eyes are in the correct place (so often in plesiosaurs they are positioned too far back) and the little external nares are retracted close to the eyes as they should be. There are other accurate details – the mandibular symphysis and tip of the rostrum is slightly expanded and the teeth are enlarged and slightly procumbent, there is even a short diastema (gap) in the tooth row where the premaxilla meets the maxilla. The mouth is slightly open but there is no detail in the mouth, no gullet or obvious tongue, for example. The eyes are yellow and inexplicably framed above by what appears to be a delicate eyebrow – perhaps this is supposed to be a beautiful female? I’m sure I don’t need to explain that pliosaurs almost certainly never had eyebrows 😉 I guess it is supposed to be a ridge.
The neck is short but distinct and the body is long and quite narrow, rather too narrow I think, with four long broad flippers. The body region is actually deeper than wide whereas the opposite should be the case. There is a ridge running along the spine. The limbs are beautiful with a rounded anterior edge and a sharp crenulated trailing edge, perfect for producing lift. The hind limbs are noticeably larger as is typical among pliosaurs. The limbs are expanded where they meet the body to accommodate all that strong musculature associated with swimming. The tail is short and laterally compressed slightly.
The texture is quite rough which contrasts with the smooth skinned pliosaurs previously reviewed here. The flippers appear cracked and the tummy area is covered in irregular large scales, all nice details. The colouration is taken directly from the Walking with Dinosaurs TV series – it is speckled deep blue and white on the back and all over the flippers, the tummy is countershaded in white. It is a stunning and distinctive colour scheme and one that has shamelessly been duplicated by the new Procon Liopleurodon (review coming soon…). The WWD Liopleurodon is an amazing figure and one of my favourites.
It is rare but sometimes available here
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[…] by the Liopleurodon in Walking with Dinosaurs and therefore similar to the Toyway Liopleurodon (reviewed here). It differs in that the mouth is closed and so the teeth (which are individually sculpted) […]
[…] to use the WWD depiction as a standard template for their figures (see previous reviews of the WWD, Procon and Chap Mei Liopleurodon figures). So, let’s see if the 2010 Wild Safari […]
I have one of the walking with dinosaur figures a liopleurodon boxed as new. Being sold on ebay what sort of price should I expect? Also few other boxed figures. Paula
O come on i would give anything to have one of these!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have one for sale on ebay new in box and another i have just found but not in the box!
Yeah! I have it! 😀
[…] have bottomless wallets). It’s available on eBay occasionally, and isn’t one of the rarer ones, but due to the mad popularity of the range it can be hard to find it going for a sensible price. […]
[…] marine reptiles and I’m probably not alone as they tend to command quite high prices today. The WWD Liopleurodon is probably the most sought after figure in the line (except for the illusive Ornithocheirus), but […]
Can i buy this item and can you tell me where to get it thank you.
aww i want this so badly!
where did jou buy?
[…] to use the WWD depiction as a standard template for their figures (see previous reviews of the WWD, Procon and Chap Mei Liopleurodon figures). So, let’s see if the 2010 Wild Safari […]
Hi vaggelis, ebay is right now the only way, the figure has been discontinued. You can visit our forum and see if anyone has it available.
hi.i’m vaggelis from greece.i’d like to ask how can i be possible to buy this figure of the liopleurodon by toyway.i found it in e-bay but it’s too expensive there.i’m a collector and as you understand i want too much.please let me know.thank you.
Dinosours happen to be a perplexing creature. their gargantaun size, their genetic history, their disappearance has always been a topic of interest among scientists.
for more information about dinosaurs fossil log on to DINOSAURS FOSSILS
Nice review. Your level of detail is beyond me, I missed several items. It would be a nice piece to anyone’s collection.
[…] by the Liopleurodon in Walking with Dinosaurs and therefore similar to the Toyway Liopleurodon (reviewed here). It differs in that the mouth is closed and so the teeth (which are individually sculpted) […]
haha great toys cool dinoos
Beautiful pics & review Dr. A. 😀
I had always wondered if that gap between the maxilla and the premaxilla was correct, I haven’t seen it in actual fossils.
Hope you can review the Invicta Liop!
I wish i’d find it someday…