This year marks the 30th anniversary of Jurassic Park, but Mattel is also making sure to give The Lost World some love by way of the newly revealed Tyrannosaurus rex Ambush Pack, part of the Legacy Collection.
Included is Ian Malcolm, a Mercedes-Benz ML320, and the beloved bull T.
Following up on last year’s Tyrannocon Rex vs JP93 set, Hasbro has revealed a second Jurassic Park-inspired Transformers Collaborative two-pack. Behold the vicious Decepticon Dilophocon vs the mighty (or perhaps not so much) Autobot JP12!
As you can see, Dilophocon transforms from a venom-spitting, frilled Dilophosaurus to a robot warrior armed with a heavy laser blaster.
My introduction to Estemmenosuchus came from the 1994 episode of Paleo-World titled “Tail of a Sail”, which was about Dimetrodon and other synapsids, their evolution, and how they relate to mammals. Estemmenosuchus was only featured briefly via images of its skull and a couple pieces of paleoart but that was enough for me to become enamored with this animal and to help broaden my appreciation for prehistoric life beyond the Mesozoic.
Many of the most vibrantly coloured vertebrates living on the planet today are reptiles, particularly squamates such as the gold dust day gecko, the collared lizard, the rainbow boa, and the eastern coral snake. Certain testudines including the red-eared slider, the eastern box turtle, and the northern river terrapin also feature bold patterning and coloration.
Review and photos by Kikimalou, edited by Suspsy
An emblematic figure of prehistory, almost as much as the Tyrannosaurus rex, the woolly mammoth has survived many extinctions in the toy world. The first versions are probably those cast in lead by CBG Mignot and in composition by Chilau.
My sincere thanks to Happy Hen Toys for furnishing this review sample.
Several other companies have made Mapusaurus figures before, including Bandai, Playmates, and CollectA. So far, however, we’ve only reviewed CollectA’s four (!!!) versions on the blog. A brief re-introduction might be useful, then: Mapusaurus hails from the Huincul Formation (English approximation: “ween-COOL”) in Argentina, just like its recently described relative Meraxes and the famous Argentinosaurus.
Relative newcomer Haolonggood has been on something of a role these last two months, unveiling a series of highly impressive prehistoric figures, each one available in two different colour schemes, that easily rival anything from the other companies. Here’s hoping that this happy trend continues, and that Haolonggood gets wider distribution!
For almost every Tyrannosaurus toy on the market, there’s a Triceratops toy to face off with – as it should be, considering the rich history of fossils and iconic paleo media depicting these legendary Cretaceous contemporaries. Triceratops was more than just a prime steak to fill a theropod’s belly, of course; this colossal herbivore would have been a spectacular animal in its own right, and a powerful presence roaming the forests and hills of Western North America.
There’s no real debate about it. The Mattel Jurassic World Mosasaurus is still one of the line’s best toys. Pushing 30” in length and covered in rubbery “real feel” material, it has also been released and re-released consistently over the last 5 years. A testament to its quality.
Mattel has serious distribution problems going as far back as 2004. I collect Batman figures, and I am also a completist, if you haven’t noticed. The final few waves of the Comic Book style Batman series, as well as some figures from The Batman were only released on Europe, and sometimes in Latin America.
