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.
During the Cretaceous period, ankylosaurids abounded in Asia even more than they did in North America, with some of the more notable genera being Gobisaurus, Jinyunpelta, Liaoningosaurus, Minotaurosaurus, Saichania, Tarchia, and the subject of this review, Pinacosaurus.
Elasmosaurus is a genus of long neck plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous and lived in what is known today as North America in one of the most famous ancient sea, the Western Interior Seaway.It rivals Plesiosaurus itself in both fame and name recognition, as well as being one of the most produced marine reptiles in toy form.
Review and images by PhilSauria, edited by Suspsy
If you are of a certain age then chances are that this animal was not among the species in the dinosaur books that you may have had growing up. Formal recognition came in 1995 (by Rodolfo Coria & Leonardo Salgado) with its name, Giganotosaurus, meaning “giant southern lizard.” A reference to its location in the Southern Hemisphere with remains found in Argentina at the Candeleros Formation.
The Cretaceous period was a time of mighty titans among the dinosaurs, with gigantic animals all across the globe. Largest of these were the sauropods, and they reached monumental sizes, from pony sized to thirty metre giants. They were present on almost every continent, with several on Africa.
In late 2020 Safari Ltd. teased their upcoming dinosaurs with silhouettes of the figures, with two particularly interesting ones, the “fantasy” T. rex and Triceratops. Since Safari Ltd. had just acquired the rights to produce merchandise for the television show Dino Dana, it was assumed by many that those dinosaurs were part of that line.
