A firm from the German Democratic Republic, VEB (Volkseigener Betrieb) Plaho, released a series of highly collectable dinosaur figures in 1967. They were sold in the Museum of Sena in Thuringia, Germany until the mid-1980s. The follower firm to Plaho, Marolin, re-released them in 1990. Plaho / Marolin did not only make dinosaurs but produced the complete span from wildlife animals to domestic animals, this broad span making it something like “East German Schleich”.
Type: Monochrome
Brontosaurus (Marx)
3.7 (7 votes)
Before we begin the review, I would like to take a brief aside and recollect for a moment, as the date of this posting has some significance to me personally. Today, July 16th, 2021, is my 10-year anniversary writing for the Dinosaur Toy Blog. It was on this day in 2011 that my first review was posted here, the AAA woolly rhinoceros.
Brontosaurus (MPC)
2.7 (11 votes)
This classic little sauropod is best viewed today as a relic, a curious piece of memorabilia nestled between more interesting figures which came before and after it.
If you were to ask a veteran toy collector about vintage dinosaurs, you’d probably hear Marx cited first. Marx was a pioneer in the 1950s, producing the first-ever widespread plastic dinosaurs for kids (and maybe their parents).
Brontosaurus (Sinclair Dinoland)
3.8 (6 votes)
Sinclair’s Brontosaurus and its plastic compatriots are time capsules to a moment of zeitgeist in paleo pop-culture, and stand as charming testaments to the evolving nature of paleontology and memorabilia.
Brontosaurus is one of the quintessential icons of dinosaur pop-culture imagery. Described by the famous paleontologist Othniel Marsh, the “thunder lizard” became immortalized with the first skeletal mount at the American Museum of Natural history, and further entrenched by the likes of artists such as painter Charles R.
Camarasaurus (DinoWaurs Survival)
1 (3 votes)
Once again, I venture into the world of blind bag dinos to see if they are worth the hunt. This time, I am looking at one of the sauropods of the line, Camarasaurus. Being some of the largest animals to have ever existed, it’s only natural a few would be put in.
Ceratogaulus (MPC)
3.8 (18 votes)
A truly rare genus in the hobby to this day, MPC’s vintage figurine marks a bold move from a company most famous for its imitations – although the toy is perhaps showing its age with some design choices.
MPC (Multiple Products Corporation) is a well-known brand among experienced dinosaur collectors; their prehistoric line from 1961 and 1962 was widely sold through stores and catalogs for decades.
Ceratosaurus (DinoWaurs Survival)
1.5 (2 votes)
Once again, I am going to dive into the world of blind bag dinosaur figures, this time with a Theropod from the Jurassic of the Morrison Formation: Ceratosaurus. This meat eater was famed for its distinctive nasal horn, which gave images of battling the other Theropods (and indeed, other Ceratosaurs), though is now considered to be more for display than headbutting.
Cetiosaurus (Invicta)
4.9 (9 votes)
Review by Dan, Photos by Boki
Ask someone to name a sauropod, and “Apatosaurus” will often be the first species to come to mind. Consequently, this prototypical animal will often be the answer if you ask “What was the first sauropod ever discovered?” In fact, that title belongs to a relatively obscure creature known as Cetiosaurus.
Ask someone to name a sauropod, and “Apatosaurus” will often be the first species to come to mind. Consequently, this prototypical animal will often be the answer if you ask “What was the first sauropod ever discovered?” In fact, that title belongs to a relatively obscure creature known as Cetiosaurus.
Compsognathus (Dinowaurs Survival)
1 (2 votes)
Greetings Dinowaurriors! For a dinosaur made popular by the Jurassic Park franchise, appearing in several films and having one of the most gruesome entries in the book series, it’s odd that Compsognathus hasn’t had as many figures as one may suspect. A few of the big names have done a rendition, and it is, of course, a staple of Jurassic Park and World lines, but not as many as co-stars Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus.
Cryolophosaurus (DinoWaurs Survival)
1.3 (3 votes)
Greetings DinoWaurriors! Once again I delve into the world of blind bag collectables to see what comes from it! This time, Cryolophosaurus is our focus, a great reptile of Antarctica’s Late Jurassic period. Let’s see if this edition of ‘Elvisaurus’ is a big hunk o’ love, or if we will return to sender.
Diatryma (MPC)
4 (27 votes)
MPC’s fifth group of prehistoric animals included one truly original mold in the form of Diatryma (ie Gastornis), one of the earliest plastic representations of this icon from the post-Mesozoic age.
During the 1950s and 1960s, interest in paleontology was starting its climb back to mainstream interest, and companies like Marx took the initiative to start producing dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures in small plastic fashion for the first time, encouraging kids to create prehistoric worlds in their own homes.
Diceratops (DinoWaurs Survival)
1.3 (3 votes)
Greetings DinoWaurriors!!! This line is like the science of palaeontology, full of surprises. It has several surprises, from lacking things like Velociraptor or it’s choice of pterosaurs. Here, we see a ceratopsian, and a nomen dubium: Dicaeratops. This animal is actually Nedoceratops, as named by Othniel Marsh, but he died before the work was completed, and it was named Diceratops later, though this was taken already, so was changed to Nedocaeratops.
Dilophosaurus (DinoWaurs Survival)
1 (4 votes)
Greetings DinoWaurriors! While being a great medium to introduce the masses to dinosaurs, films can have an awful effect on people by presenting inaccuracies and people drinking them in as fact. Such is the case with Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park. In the film, it was presented as a small predator, venom spitting with a frill, when in fact it had no frill, no venom sacs and was seven meters in length.
Dimetrodon (Invicta)
4.9 (8 votes)
Ah, Dimetrodon – where would any dinosaur toy line be without this oddly anachronistic sail-backed pelycosaur? And where would I be if I didn’t drop names that I semi-understand? In similar places, one would imagine. Almost every dino toy company has churned one out, from Carnegie (ugly) to Bullyland to UKRD to Carnegie (better) to Inpro.
Dimetrodon (Kellogg’s, cereal freebie)
2 (4 votes)
Ah, another Dimetrodon! This Permian synapsid belongs to the group of usual suspects in the competition for the most popular prehistoric animal. It is well-known, highly popular and long ago iconic. So nothing has to be written about the species itself here anymore, I guess.
Still there are many surprising figures of it out there, and this Kellog´s cereal freebie is one of them.