Type: Monochrome

Review: Loch Ness Monster (Monsters in My Pocket by Matchbox, Series 2)

2.3 (6 votes)

Monsters in My Pocket was a toy franchise that started in the 80s that consisted of a series of small, rubber figures. These figures were each only a few inches tall and could each come in a variety of solid colors. What makes this toy line special is that each figure is modeled after a certain creature that exists in some sort of real culture.

Review: Dimetrodon (Invicta)

4.9 (15 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.

Review: Tyrannosaurus rex (Monster in my Pocket by Matchbox, Series 1)

2.3 (12 votes)

I thought I’d review something a little different for a change. As a kid I was fascinated by the original Monster in my Pocket and managed to collect them all. After the first couple of series the lines started to go downhill though and I eventually lost interest.

Review: Diplodocus (Invicta)

4.9 (18 votes)

Can you believe we haven’t covered this figure yet? One of the first truly lo-o-ong dinosaur toys, the Invicta Diplodocus dates back to 1974. It was a simpler time, when sauropods were kind enough to drag their tails around for allosaurs to snack on at their convenience, and some of our more aged forum members were yet to become the embittered, black-hearted old cranks that they are today.

Review: Tyrannosaurus (World’s Fair Mold-A-Rama model by Sinclair)

4.4 (14 votes)

By forumite Foxilized (edited by Horridus)

Historical background
The oil company Sinclair (USA) was, since its very beginnings in the new born 20th century, closely related to dinosaur imagery. They chose a “Brontosaurus” –yes, not the deceptive one but the thunder lizard instead- as the main logo to sell their oil.

Review: Stegosaurus (Invicta)

4.8 (16 votes)

Some dinosaurs have undergone quite radical image changes over the years – sauropods moved out of their swamps and got into shape and theropods went from blundering tail draggers to sleek, deadly (and quite horizontal) predators – some of then even gained feathers. It might be tempting to presume, however, that Stegosaurus has remained much the same – slow, stupid and stacked with plates like a big reptilian dishwasher.

Review: Tyrannosaurus (Invicta)

4.5 (37 votes)

The Invicta dinosaurs are well-known for being quite anatomically accurate for their time, and especially when compared with contemporary competition. Here, then, we have their rendering of the most famous dinosaur of all, and while it’s not bad – especially when it comes to superficial details – it’s certainly not Invicta’s finest hour.

Review: Baryonyx (Invicta)

4.6 (20 votes)

The spinosaur Baryonyx was big news when it was unearthed in England in the 1980s, so it’s understandable that Invicta would have wanted to produce their own model of ‘Claws’. This 1989 plain-coloured toy is (sadly) still one of the best spinosaur toys yet produced, in spite of its outdated posture.

Review: Mamenchisaurus (Invicta)

4.9 (21 votes)

Here it comes, straight from Bob Bakker’s 1970s fever dreams – the infamous banana flavour Invicta Mamenchisaurus, surely among the stranger serious sauropod toys.

As any kid with a dinosaur book will tell you, Mamenchisaurus is best known for having an extraordinarily long neck, making up half of the animal’s overall length.

Review: Triceratops (Invicta)

4.2 (19 votes)

Ah, the Invicta dinosaurs – every one a retro-tastic delight, and every one now sadly out of production (and replaced at the Natural History Museum (London) by a piece of Toyway tat not worthy of the museum’s seal of approval…BAH). Triceratops here is one of the earlier figures in the line, and it shows – which is not to say that it isn’t a delightful figure, like the majority of Invictasaurs.

Review: Brontosaurus (Marolin / VEB Plaho)

3.7 (6 votes)

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”.

Review: Iguanodon (Kleinwelka)

4.9 (7 votes)

Review and photos by ChemaV, edited by Plesiosauria

The Saurierpark (http://www.saurierpark.de/saurierpark.asp) is built on the grounds of a botanic garden, located in Kleinwelka, a subdivision of the city of Bautzen in Germany. In 1977 a large series of life sized dinosaurs were built out of steel and concrete.

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…).

Review: Lambeosaurus (Invicta)

5 (16 votes)

Well known Lambeosaurus from North America belongs to the classic set of cretaceous dinosaurs being reconstructed as figures.

The 1993 Invicta release is probably the best one currently available. It is the last and probably the best ambassador of the highly esteemed Invicta line. It is 19, 5 cm long and 7, 5 cm tall.

Review: Muttaburrasaurus (Invicta)