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.
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.
Although Sinclair’s figurines all resemble their giant sculpture counterparts to some degree, the Stegosaurus is perhaps the most strikingly close of them all, with more grace than typically seen in other artwork for the time.
Stegosaurus has been one of the most recognizable dinosaur genera since its discovery and description in 1877.
Although their figures are often confused with the famous Marx line of dinosaurs, Sinclair’s Ankylosaurs has its own share of unique features.
When we think of “retro” dinosaur depictions, many probably think first of tall theropods dragging their tails or the massive sloped shapes of lumbering sauropods.
With the recent release (and review) of Rebor’s Charles R. Knight inspired Mesozoic Rhapsody I thought it would be a fitting time to look at the very first Charles Knight inspired Tyrannosaurus toy, and one of the first Tyrannosaurus toys ever produced. I’m talking of course about the Marx Tyrannosaurus, a toy that isn’t just retro in appearance, but so vintage that it was produced at a time when it would have been considered reasonably accurate too.
The Sinclair Triceratops might look quaint to collectors spoiled modern toy brands, but it’s a very finely-made little figurine that’s quite accurate for its time.
I wasn’t too aware of the history of dinosaur toys and collecting until recently, when I came into the acquisition of a few older figurines from my grandparents’ collection.
Today’s review marks a small milestone for the DTB as it’s the last review for a Marx toy in the Medium Mold Group, Pl-750. This mold group was released in 1955 and was the second wave of dinosaur figures produced by Marx. All in all, 17 out of 23 Marx toys have been covered thus far.
The Marx Stegosaurus was first released in 1955 as part of Marx’s second wave of dinosaur toys, known as the Medium Mold Group, PL-750. The Marx Stegosaurus is based on the Stegosaurus painted by Rudolph Zallinger in his Age of Reptiles mural at the Yale Peabody Museum.
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.
Sinclair’s Trachodon captures a moment of history in dinosaur pop culture and science which is gradually growing farther and farther away, but its imagery remains pervasively iconic.
There’s always something new to discover in the collecting hobby – even when it’s technically old. In my case, the discovery in question was the identity of three old dinosaur toys I had recently taken in.
Although we are all familiar with the dinosaur family hadrosauridae it seems that the dinosaur that gave the family its name has been largely forgotten, despite being a historically important dinosaur. Hadrosaurus foulkii was first described by Joseph Leidy in 1858, from remains found in New Jersey’s Woodbury Formation.
