A relic of toy trends from the 2000s, these cheap assembled models make for a decent little novelty item, as long as you’re delicate with them.
I’ve never been much of a “card” collector, so I’ve never followed the hobby closely, but I do recall a time in the early 2000s when 3D card models like Z-Cardz and Star Wars Pocketmodels became all the rage, at least within my own friend circles.
Review and photographs by Stolpergeist, edited by Suspsy
Spinosaurus has always been an animal of mystery; the way it has been depicted over the years changes drastically with each new discovery. Just last year, we saw a huge change in its appearance with a new publication about its tail.
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.
Kazunaki Araki’s sculpt reflects how our scientific understanding of Mosasaurus has changed, while retaining more classic, retro traits in appearance.
Dinosaurs have often been compared to modern lizards, perhaps because they tend to be a default image the general public has of reptiles.
With all the new rexes (to be) released, let`s have a look to the past for a change. Almost 30 years ago, in the year 1992 the Californian company Horizon released a small number of high quality dinosaur models made from vinyl. Two of these models are already covered here on the blog, the Elasmosaurus and the Stegosaurus.
Discovered in the Moreno Hill Formation in New Mexico by a paleontologist’s young son (lucky kid!), Zuniceratops is quite a significant animal in that it is the oldest North American ceratopsian known to have possessed horns. Indeed, it appears to be a transition between the more primitive protoceratopsids and the more advanced ceratopsids.
Review and photos by Charles Peckham, edited by Suspsy
Trying to find information about either the creator of these toys, a Chinese company named Yantai, or their American distributor, Learnplay Inc., isn’t easy. According to one of the few sources I was able to find, Yantai has been around since 2011 and their Halftoy line is just one of hundreds of designs they have made.
The Definitely Dinosaurs line by Playskool was a series of dinosaur toys produced in the late 80’s and early 90’s. For those unfamiliar with them they were basically the more toddler-friendly version of Tyco’s Dino-Riders. Some of them, like the Stegosaurus, were eerily similar to their Tyco counterparts.
Time will tell if some of Araki’s artistic license proves true, but there are still definite issues with the design which may turn off more serious-minded collectors.
While long-established companies like Safari Ltd. and Schleich have been going steady, and rising stars like Rebor and PNSO have been conquering the collecting market worldwide, Japanese companies like Favorite have been tending to their own corner of the scene.
Aging and death are two facts of life that many of us has chosen to ignore. In a society that has placed an almost obsessive quest for youth, beauty, and perfection, it’s no surprise that these two inevitable life events remain hidden, lurking in the dark shadows.
