Review and Photos by Dan of DansDinosaurs.com
Safari Ltd. released their first Brachiosaurus figure in 1989, and it remained the largest prehistoric figure in their entire collection for two decades. Despite the changes in paint application, its mold has been unchanged to this very day. Our image of the Brachiosaurus has changed a bit since that time, and thanks to the animal’s appearance in Jurassic Park, it has become a popular species among casual collectors.
Type: Figurine
Review: Parasaurolophus (Papo)
3.5 (21 votes)
Until the release of their Allosaurus, Papo’s prehistorics garnered attention mainly for being remarkable facsimiles of their Jurassic Park counterparts. However, even before Papo’s own Big Al hit the scene the company had released a sculpt not obviously based on a JP creature – this often-overlooked Parasaurolophus (dated 2005) at about 1:35 scale.
Review: Spinosaurus (Kabaya)
3.1 (7 votes)
Review and photos by Brandon. Edited by Plesiosauria.
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, the “Egyptian Spine Lizard” is the largest known theropod that ever existed to be known thus far, surpassing Giganotosaurus at both weight and length! The “Spine Lizard” is one lucky dinosaur, it was once found in 1912 and named three years later by Ernst Stromer Von Reichenbach but its remains were destroyed during bombing in World Ward Two.
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, the “Egyptian Spine Lizard” is the largest known theropod that ever existed to be known thus far, surpassing Giganotosaurus at both weight and length! The “Spine Lizard” is one lucky dinosaur, it was once found in 1912 and named three years later by Ernst Stromer Von Reichenbach but its remains were destroyed during bombing in World Ward Two.
Review: Maiasaura (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)
4.6 (14 votes)
The discovery and description of fossil hadrosaur nesting grounds in the Cretaceous of North America provided some of the best evidence for parental care in dinosaurs. The association of fossils at the so-called ‘egg mountain’ site in Montana included eggs, babies and adults of a single species of dinosaur; crushed egg shells indicated that the babies spent time in the nest after hatching and were probably looked after by adults of the same species.
Review: Allosaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
3.2 (20 votes)
This little Allosaurus comes from Safari’s ‘Wild Safari’ line which, although not intended as a museum-quality line (and not set to a certain scale), has seen a huge leap in the quality of its prehistoric creature toys in recent years. Models like this one, the Stegosaurus, Dunkleosteus and Postosuchus have become very popular with collectors as they feature excellent detailing at a very low price.
Review: Tenontosaurus (Collecta/Procon)
2.4 (14 votes)
Review and photos by Griffin
Tenontosaurus was an Iguanodontid ornithopod dinosaur that lived in the Western United States during the early Cretacious period. In life it would have co-existed with dinosaurs like Iguanodon, Dienonychus, Utahraptor and Acrocanthosaurus. Thanks to a Tenontosaurus skeleton discovered with Dienonychus chew marks on its bones in addition to Dienonychus skeletons nearby, the idea of pack-hunting Dromaeosaurs is now widely accepted. Unfortunately this has also lead to the image of poor Tenontosaurus to ALWAYS be the prey item for Deinonychus. (Seriously, google image search “Tenontosaurus”. Like 80% of the images that pop up will be of it being attacked and/or eaten by the Deinonychus.) Medullary bone tissue, which is used by modern birds for laying eggs, has also been found on the bones of Tenontosaurus fossils.
Tenontosaurus was an Iguanodontid ornithopod dinosaur that lived in the Western United States during the early Cretacious period. In life it would have co-existed with dinosaurs like Iguanodon, Dienonychus, Utahraptor and Acrocanthosaurus. Thanks to a Tenontosaurus skeleton discovered with Dienonychus chew marks on its bones in addition to Dienonychus skeletons nearby, the idea of pack-hunting Dromaeosaurs is now widely accepted. Unfortunately this has also lead to the image of poor Tenontosaurus to ALWAYS be the prey item for Deinonychus. (Seriously, google image search “Tenontosaurus”. Like 80% of the images that pop up will be of it being attacked and/or eaten by the Deinonychus.) Medullary bone tissue, which is used by modern birds for laying eggs, has also been found on the bones of Tenontosaurus fossils.
Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (red version) (by Kabaya)
4.2 (6 votes)
Review and photos by Brandon. Edited by Plesiosauria.
The red Tyrannosaurus differs greatly compared to the Kabaya green T. rex (reviewed here) for three major reasons. One is that it seems to be paying homage to a classical standing posture. Second is the main color scheme which is red – the overall sculpt resembles Diablo, the red Tyrannosaur of Primal Rage, the great Atari Probe video game of the 1990s.
The red Tyrannosaurus differs greatly compared to the Kabaya green T. rex (reviewed here) for three major reasons. One is that it seems to be paying homage to a classical standing posture. Second is the main color scheme which is red – the overall sculpt resembles Diablo, the red Tyrannosaur of Primal Rage, the great Atari Probe video game of the 1990s.
Review: Apatosaurus (2008, Replica-saurus by Schleich)
4.3 (18 votes)
Photos by Philsauria
Size matters. Apatosaurus is the archetypical dinosaur, probably the most famous icon of palaeontology. Many companies have released it as a figure; Schleich did it for the third time now after their 1997 Apatosaurus, who was a blue, heavy, tail-dragging behemoth with a dull mien and its somewhat better baby.
Size matters. Apatosaurus is the archetypical dinosaur, probably the most famous icon of palaeontology. Many companies have released it as a figure; Schleich did it for the third time now after their 1997 Apatosaurus, who was a blue, heavy, tail-dragging behemoth with a dull mien and its somewhat better baby.
Review: Mosasaurus (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)
3.5 (15 votes)
If you like retro marine reptiles, this one’s for you. The Carnegie Collection Mosasaurus is clearly based on some archaic paleoart, so it really shouldn’t be taken too seriously – if you try to focus on every wrong aspect with this figure surely you will give yourself a headache!
Review: Liopleurodon (Invicta)
5 (21 votes)
Review by Cordylus, edited by Dinotoyblog, photos by Dinotoyblog
Ever since Walking with Dinosaurs came out a decade ago, Liopleurodon has been famous. However, this Liopleurodon figure by Invicta was made a good ten years before Walking with Dinosaurs, so, luckily for us collectors, it wasn’t ‘inspired’ by the WWD version like every other Liopleurodon on the market today (I’m looking at you, Procon and Safari Ltd…).
Ever since Walking with Dinosaurs came out a decade ago, Liopleurodon has been famous. However, this Liopleurodon figure by Invicta was made a good ten years before Walking with Dinosaurs, so, luckily for us collectors, it wasn’t ‘inspired’ by the WWD version like every other Liopleurodon on the market today (I’m looking at you, Procon and Safari Ltd…).
Review: Suchomimus (Dinotales by Kaiyodo)
4.6 (7 votes)
Suchomimus was a large theropod dinosaur that lived a few million years before one of it’s famous cousins, Spinosaurus. Considering how it’s closely related to such a famous dinosaur, I’m surprised more replicas of this really cool dinosaur haven’t been produced.
This Suchomimus by kaiyodo is easily the best on currently available.
Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Kabaya)
3.4 (5 votes)
Review and photos by Brandon. Edited by Plesiosauria.
We recently reviewed the Kabaya Deinonychus, well, next in line from this series is the Tyrannosaurus rex (Green Version)!
We recently reviewed the Kabaya Deinonychus, well, next in line from this series is the Tyrannosaurus rex (Green Version)!
Before the animal was officially known as “T.rex”, it was known as Manospondylus gigas and Dynamosaurus imperiosus, but when the animal’s true name was revealed along with better finds, this coelurosaurian became one of the most popular dinosaurs ever and most likely the most well known all!
Review: Iguanodon (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)
4 (15 votes)
Iguanodon was the second dinosaur ever to be recognized by science. The first fossils of the animal were teeth unearthed in England in 1822. Since then this iconic dinosaur’s image has undergone numerous changes throughout history as more discoveries are made about it. Iguanodon belongs to the extremely large and successful group of dinosaurs called the ornithopods which also encompasses the smaller hypsilophodonts as well as the later hadrosaurs.
Review: Desmatosuchus (Schleich)
4.1 (17 votes)
Review and photos by megaraptor1000. Edited by Plesiosauria.
The Schleich Desmatosuchus is a figure that has been retired for a while now. I don’t know why but it has been theorized that it was retired due to lack of sales or being an obscure genus.
The Schleich Desmatosuchus is a figure that has been retired for a while now. I don’t know why but it has been theorized that it was retired due to lack of sales or being an obscure genus.
Review: Stegosaurus (Favorite Co. Ltd.)
4.7 (12 votes)
Review by Marc Vincent (‘Horridus’)
Stegosaurus is one of the dinosaurs most frequently seen in toy form – although often cursed with any number of anatomical errors. Kinto have made a very decent stab at it with this model from their Favorite collection, which is quite possibly the best Stegosaurus toy currently available.
Stegosaurus is one of the dinosaurs most frequently seen in toy form – although often cursed with any number of anatomical errors. Kinto have made a very decent stab at it with this model from their Favorite collection, which is quite possibly the best Stegosaurus toy currently available.