My sincere thanks to Happy Hen Toys for furnishing this review sample.
More Mosasaurus toys have been produced in the 8 years since Jurassic World than in the entire previous history of the toy industry. The majority of those toys have been influenced by the JW design, with spikes all over the back, cavities all over the head, and an old-fashioned tail.
Review and photographs by thunderlizard, edited by Suspsy
Kid Galaxy has released several dinosaur figure sets under the “Dinosaur Action” line. Most of these consist of Hasbro Jurassic Park III bootlegs. One of these sets, the Dinosaur Action 10 Pack, released in 2019, includes this Giganotosaurus.
Review and images by bmathison1972; edited by Suspsy
Callichimaera perlexa is an enigmatic crustacean from the Middle Cretaceous. Fossils have been found in the Churuvita Group in Colombia and the Frontier Formation in the United States. C. perlexa evolved during the Cretaceous Crab Revolution, which was a major diversification of ‘true’ crabs during the Cretaceous.
Review and photos by Faelrin, edited by Suspsy
In 1965, during part of a Polish-Mongolian expedition, a pair of giant enigmatic arms were discovered. The owner of these arms was then deemed Deinocheirus, meaning “terrible hand.” It wouldn’t be until 2014, nearly 50 years after the “terrible hand” was initially discovered when new, more complete material was described, showing the species was stranger than what had previously been envisioned for it.
My introduction to Estemmenosuchus came from the 1994 episode of Paleo-World titled “Tail of a Sail”, which was about Dimetrodon and other synapsids, their evolution, and how they relate to mammals. Estemmenosuchus was only featured briefly via images of its skull and a couple pieces of paleoart but that was enough for me to become enamored with this animal and to help broaden my appreciation for prehistoric life beyond the Mesozoic.
Review and photos by Kikimalou, edited by Suspsy
An emblematic figure of prehistory, almost as much as the Tyrannosaurus rex, the woolly mammoth has survived many extinctions in the toy world. The first versions are probably those cast in lead by CBG Mignot and in composition by Chilau.
My sincere thanks to Happy Hen Toys for furnishing this review sample.
Several other companies have made Mapusaurus figures before, including Bandai, Playmates, and CollectA. So far, however, we’ve only reviewed CollectA’s four (!!!) versions on the blog. A brief re-introduction might be useful, then: Mapusaurus hails from the Huincul Formation (English approximation: “ween-COOL”) in Argentina, just like its recently described relative Meraxes and the famous Argentinosaurus.
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Takara Tomy is a prolific toy manufacturer which has produced a number of dinosaur-related toys in the past. Most of these toys have been released under the ANIA (sometimes “Animal Adventure”) line, but some have received more unique lines of their own.
