Review and photos by Faelrin, edited by Suspsy
In 2022, the last of the Jurassic World films was released, ending the trilogy that started back in 2015, for better or worse. While I didn’t enjoy the film overall, I did enjoy some aspects of it, one of those being the batch of new creatures.
Finally! Roughly 6 months after acquiring it I’m getting around to reviewing the Hammond Collection Pachycephalosaurus. In this review you’ll see outdoor pictures that were taken in March, when I originally wanted to review it! They’ve been sitting on my computer, taunting me, reminding me to get around to this toy.
Triceratops is, as we all know full well, the most familiar and famous of all the ceratopsians by far. Here on the DTB, it is the second most reviewed genus after Tyrannosaurus rex. And, of course, its appearance in the original Jurassic Park film is quite unforgettable.
Review and images by Cretaceous Crab, edited by Suspsy
Since the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in 2018, Mattel has practically exploded in terms of the diversity of prehistoric genera it has offered, many of which are the first of their kind to be represented in toy or figure form.
The late Triassic Herrerasaurus is one of the oldest dinosaurs known from the fossil record. So old and primitive is Herrerasaurus that there is still debate about where it fits in the dinosaur family tree. At various times it has been proposed that Herrerasaurus was a basal theropod, a basal sauropodomorph, a basal saurischian, or not a dinosaur at all.
Ever since I, Emperor Dinobot, managed to get most of my Jurassic pterosaurs on the ceiling, I made the reealization that doing so would make it impossible for me to review certain individuals, especially many of the repaints and retools Mattel has released in the last few years.
Nothosaurus is a genus of Triassic marine reptile that belongs to the Sauropterygia clade, along with other weirdos like placodonts and plesiosaurs. Aside from the plesiosaurs all members of the clade would go extinct by the end of the Triassic. Looking at Nothosaurus it is easy to see the relationship between it and plesiosaurs but nothosaurs were a distinct group with their own unique features and did not give rise to plesiosaurs.
It all began with a friendship, an illness, and the return to my favorite franchise. It is actually a sad story, but I feel like I must tell it because today is the 22nd anniversary of Jurassic Park III’s release in the United States, which is where I am writing this review from.
Megaraptorans are an unusual clade of theropods that are all presently known from incomplete fossil remains, yet are generally characterized by powerful arms terminating in frightfully huge claws. Just where precisely they fit into the greater theropod family tree has been an ongoing debate for years, but there is a growing consensus that they are either nested within Tyrannosauroidea, or represent a sister taxon to it.
Here I am, Emperor Dinobot, offering thee another Mattel pterosaur review, this time of Tupandactylus.
Tupandactylus, formerly known as Tapejara, hails from the Cretaceous fossil rich Brazil. It was reclassified into Tupandactylus imperator and T. navigans in 2007 as it was found to warrant its own genus.
Last year, when I wrote my review for the Hammond Collection T. rex I stated that, “I can finally say with some degree of confidence that I will never buy another Mattel T. rex, certainly not from the main line.” Well, I guess I’ll have to eat those words, because here we are.
Review and photos by Faelrin, edited by Suspsy
Since 2018, when Mattel got the Jurassic World license, I’ve been wanting and waiting to see if they would make a Jurassic Park III Ankylosaurus, which has always been my favorite take on this animal in the franchise.
The ending of Jurassic World opened a can of worms to a world of possibilities as to where our favorite sci-fi dinosaur franchise was going. Luckily there was a ton of lore to draw from, whether it was from the books, game or other media, though maybe not as deep as Star Wars, but just like the Star Wars sequel trilogy, there was not much of a plan going forward in terms of movie-making.
Once in a while, Emperor Dinobot, who is me, will go to discount stores such as TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Ross and others to find stuff to eat, like veggie chips and so forth. Sometimes, some bargains are too cheap to leave behind, and that is…what this review is all about.
Coming up with something to review for Jurassic Park’s much hyped 30th anniversary was no easy task, simply because we’ve been reviewing Jurassic Park toys on this blog steadily for the last five years, thanks to Mattel. What could we possibly feature on the blog that would live up to the grandeur of toys like the Legacy Brachiosaurus and Hammond Collection T.
