Review and photos by Faelrin, edited by Suspsy
Before the mainline sized 3.75″ Hammond Collection came onto the scene this year and became all the rage, there was the ill-fated Amber Collection, a line of figures intended for 1/12 scale collectors. After its launch in late 2019, it saw poor species diversity (too many Velociraptor figures), poor quality control, poor accuracy to the source material at times, and limited distribution globally (mostly online only), etc.
The thundering sounds of stampeding animals shatter the tranquil morning air. A herd of Torosaurus has just walked into an ambush on their way to the forest edge and are now running for their lives towards the safety of the open plains. The herd runs tightly together for safety except for one animal who seems to hesitate, stop, then breaks off from the group and heads back towards the forest edge.
Since they first started producing tube sets back in 2015, CollectA has covered a pretty decent variety of prehistoric life, wild animals, sea creatures, and farm stock. In 2021, they went back to the beginning with a third dinosaur (mostly) set consisting of ten figures, all based on previously released toys.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a “shark-toothed” theropod model as decked-out and detailed as this one, although a couple of design flaws might have one hesitating at the retail price.
Carcharodontosaurs have ranked among my favorite dinosaurs since early childhood – the notion of meat-eaters even bigger than the mighty Tyrannosaurus was simply too irresistible to my 5-year-old self, and that initial shock and awe has remained embedded in my psyche to this day.
This fine set of little Battat precursors from Gregory Wenzel has aged impressively well, and any collector who’s found a chance to own the set should find these a delight.
Back in the 1990s, Safari ltd. was still a bold newcomer on the collectibles stage; with their success on the Carnegie Collection line, the company began exploring additional means to grow their brand.
Review and images by EmperorDinobot, edited by Suspsy
I, Emperor Dinobot, would like to quote, or rather, paraphrase what someone said a few months ago upon seeing pictures of Mattel’s Miragaia: “This is an evil-looking figure!” I am not sure whether they were referring to the paint job or to the lack of accuracy, but I have to disagree.
Gripe all you want about Jurassic Park 3 but we must give credit where credit is due. The movie featured a diverse assortment of dinosaurs with arguably the best color schemes in the franchise. Gone were the dull grays and browns of the first two films, JP3 went wild like a kid with a coloring book and the movie was better for it, though not by much.
Review and photos by EmperorDinobot, edited by Suspsy
I, Emperor Dinobot, was not very surprised to hear that Mattel would make a Tanystropheus figure. They had already done genera such as Scutosaurus and Postosuchus, along with numerous other non-dinosaur figures.
Tolerance and understanding mean little to the bitty brain of a belligerent brawler like Donnybrook. So naturally, when he happened upon a nesting group of edmontosaurs, he thought nothing of blundering directly through their midst instead of diverting around them. The females sitting next to their nests honked in anger and alarm, yet he merely bellowed back at them and waved his menacing head.
Review and images by GiganotosaurusFan, edited by Suspsy
The year was 1969 and everyone was talking about the new show-stopping dinosaur movie made by Ray Harryhausen. It was The Valley of Gwangi, an epic tale of how the last living Allosaurus was found, captured, and eventually met a grandiose, spectacular, and tragic end after a cathedral crashed down on top of it with a bang. Naturally, the film was a success, and that iconic, menacing Allosaurus would remain in many people’s hearts for years to come.
In the immortal words of Monty Python “And now for something completely different”. Brands will often make a variety of small pieces for kids that are cheap, allowing adults to keep kids quiet for a short while. I happened to see one such on a recent shopping trip and decided to see what you get for a small sum of £3.
