Larami’s Museum set is looking pretty dated now, but it’s a charming playset all the same and one of the more memorable imitators out there.
It’s said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; by that metric the dinosaur toy industry has been incredibly generous towards the leading toy brands.
Diplodocus is without question one of the most famous dinosaur species, not least because its history goes a fair way back in the science of paleontology. In 1877 Samuel Wendell Wilson in company of his mentor Benjamin Franklin Mudge led an expidition for Othniel Charles Marsh (this name may ring a bell with a much wider range of people) and discovered first fossils of Diplodocus.
Once upon a time, there was a hadrosaur that was believed to have had a head crest that resembled that of the mythical unicorn. So unique was this head crest that it was affectionately dubbed the unicorn dinosaur and would be a source of inspiration for countless artist worldwide for decades.
In the world of paleoart and paleomerch, it’s very common to see artists and toymakers draw inspiration from the imagery of other creators. Often this can be a good thing and a chance to reinforce contemporary understanding – consider how many vintage toys drew from Charles R Knight and Rudolph Zallinger – but sometimes it ends up becoming flagrant theft of another’s hard work.
The last million years has seen the rise of one of the most successful mammals of all time: humans, now the last of the genus Homo. It wasn’t so long ago that this wasn’t the case, as 50,000 years ago humans shared the world with at least 3 other Homo species.
Approximately 73 million years ago, Shendong Province of China was a land of rich floodplains that abounded in dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. These included the ankylosaur Sinankylosaurus, the titanosaur Zhuchengtitan, the diminutive leptoceratopsids Ischiceratops and Zhuchengceratops, and the larger ceratopsid Sinoceratops with its royal frill.
In the last two decades many new and exciting discoveries have been made that added an impressive number of new ceratopsians. It seems as if each of the new species discovered and named are trying to outdo the other with each new one looking more exotic than the last.Names such as Medusaceratops, Diabloceratops, Regaliceratops and so on, all have that catchy ring to them that conures up exotic looks.As outlandish as these new ones are they still have a lot of catching up to do in the popularity department especially mainstream recognition.And when it comes to ceratopsians, two icons stand out over the rest both in popularity and recognition: Triceratops and Styracosaurus.
Guest starring Libraraptor
Indohyus: Hello and welcome to this review! When discussing reviewing this figure, the talk led to the idea of having multiple reviewers giving their opinions on it (for reasons you will see later). So joining me for this review, we have reviewer and Forum legend Libraraptor!
Interview by Scrat, edited and photos by Bokisaurus
Hiiiiieee blog readers, Scrat here! Yes, I’m filling in for Bokisaurus! He begged me claiming he is suffering from writers block and needed a break. Before he left, he went on and on and on about me having to be on brand blah blah blah until I finally hit him in the head with my acorn to shut him up!
Overall this appears to be a fine representation of Quetzalcoatlus in many details, but when it comes to some of this animal’s most integral and challenging features the figurine actually falls short.
Having grown up familiar with the titanic pterosaur being featured in books and television programs, it’s sometimes surprising for me to remember that Quetzalcoatlus is a relatively recent discovery in the history of paleontology.
Since getting into this hobby over a decade ago I’ve been patiently waiting for a model of one of my favorite ceratopsians, Centrosaurus. It has been a long wait, one that with every passing year has ended in disappointment. Look, I get it, Centrosaurus seems kind of boring compared to the likes of Styracosaurus, Triceratops, Kosmoceratops or the myriad other ceratopsians with their impressive headgear.
There are presently around 40 known genera of mosasaur, ranging from relatively small fry like Halisaurus and Kourisodon to frightening behemoths like Gnathomortis and Prognathodon. There were also some truly unique ones like Globidens, with its rounded teeth for pulverising ammonites, and Plotosaurus, the most advanced swimmer of them all.
