Today, dinosaurs have become a permanent fixture in our pop culture, from toys to multi-million blockbuster movies, dinosaur seems to be everywhere. But there was a time when dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals were confined to the sterile walls of museums, a scientific curiosity that were outside of the mainstream. With the staggering and often overwhelming toy and models choices...
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...
Nearly 60 years after Mold-A-Rama imprinted itself as an icon of American toy memorabilia, The Field Museum of Chicago collaborated with Mold-A-Rama to produce a brand-new prehistoric creature in classic plastic form. Mold-A-Rama figures have been an icon of dinosaur toy collecting for decades. Originally conceived in the 1950s by Tike Miller for personal use, the first official molding machines...
You’d think a creature like the dire wolf would have a few more toys to its name. Canis dirus (now reclassified as Aenocyon dirus) is almost unheard of on the prehistoric toy market, even though the genus made its introduction to paleo merchandise over fifty years ago. A contemporary of famous Ice Age beasts such as woolly mammoths and saber-toothed...
One of the oldest toys of an iconic extinct mammal family still holds up pretty well, especialy alongside its more derivative contemproraries. MPC (Multiple Products Corporations) toys are known in some circles as the “poor man’s Marx”; many of the prehistoric creatures represented in MPC’s lineup were lifted from the older Marx line, often sacrificing size and sculpt quality for...
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...
I’ve been meaning to plug some of the gaps in our Marx review series for a long while, so thanks to the other reviewers who have been most patient with me. The Marx Iguanodon toy under review today was part of the Second Series Mold Group, PL-1083, first released in 1961. Obviously, there’s little point in reviewing these 60-year-old figures...
This unique independently-produced model is a delightful throwback to older days of dinosaur art and collecting. One of the various treats we have in this modern-day bounty of dinosaur collectibles is the increasingly easy access to many of the tools and supplies needed to produce toys, allowing a number of independent artists to pursue their own ideal collectibles where established...
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...
Sinclair’s unique figurine was probably one of the finest renditions of the tyrant lizard king a child could ever hope to own in 1964, and remains a delightful piece of vintage memorabilia to this day. In 1933, in conjunction with the Chicago World’s Fair, Sinclair Oil company commissioned an exhibit of life-sized dinosaur models for display. Built with rubbery...
With an estimated length of 24.3’ (7.4 meters), shoulder height of 15.7’ (4.8 meters), and neck length of 6.6-8.2’ (2-2.5 meters), the Paraceratherium is believed to be the largest land mammal that has ever lived, or at the very least among the largest. Despite this astonishing fact, this gigantic hornless rhinoceros has been largely ignored in our hobby until recently....
Before we begin with the review, I want to ruminate on some things, because this review is significant in a couple of ways. For one, it’s my 200th review for the Dinosaur Toy Blog. I’ve known it was coming for some time now and over the course of several months deliberated over which figure should be selected for the occasion....
