Before we get on with the review, let’s all have a moment of silence for the now extinct Amber Collection. Honestly, I always had my reservations about the Amber Collection and never bothered to get invested in it. I always thought that Mattel should stick with the 3.75” line, and that it was unlikely that anything larger than a Velociraptor would ever be seen in a 6” line.
Review: Tyrannosaurus (3D Print by Mike Eischen)
3.9 (25 votes)
This unique independently-produced model is a delightful throwback to older days of dinosaur art and collecting.
One of the various treats we have in this modern-day bounty of dinosaur collectibles is the increasingly easy access to many of the tools and supplies needed to produce toys, allowing a number of independent artists to pursue their own ideal collectibles where established company brands have passed over.
Review: Utahceratops (Beasts of the Mesozoic by Creative Beast Studio)
4.9 (56 votes)
Utahceratops gettyi was a fairly large chasmosaurine ceratopsian that grew to a length of about seven metres and a mass of over two tons. As its name suggests, it was discovered in Utah, in the fossil-rich Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument.
Review: Therizinosaurus (Jurassic World: Dominion, Sound Slashin’ by Mattel)
4 (28 votes)
The Mattel Therizinosaurus we’re looking at today is among the most highly anticipated toys of the Jurassic World: Dominion line, and it makes sense. Although we’ve only seen fleeting glimpses of it, we know the herbivorous theropod will have a starring role in Jurassic World: Dominion.
Review: Velociraptor (Feathered Version by Recur)
3.9 (29 votes)
Review and photos by Charles Peckham, edited by Suspsy
I’m really happy that Recur exists and is making toy dinosaurs. I’m a big fan of CollectA and Safari Ltd., but I realize that they are cost prohibitive to a lot of collectors, and while I enjoy cheap knockoff toys (I don’t care for the term “Chinasaur”), part of me always hesitates to give them to kids, knowing that the original toy they got the design from is probably 70 years old, and was scientifically inaccurate then.
Review: Giganotosaurus Juvenile (Age of the Dinos 2019 by Schleich)
3.5 (26 votes)
Schleich isn’t exactly wanting for criticism on this board. Plenty of paleo fans and collectors – myself included – tend to be underwhelmed or outright repulsed by the variety of ugly-looking toys Schleich produces in the name of educational purposes. Not all Schleich products are bad, though, and at least a few of their prehistoric line figures have managed to surprise collectors – even if was almost by accident.
Review: Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Museum Collection, Series 2 (Larami Corp)
2.5 (15 votes)
Larami’s Museum set is looking pretty dated now, but it’s a charming playset all the same and one of the more memorable imitators out there.
It’s said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; by that metric the dinosaur toy industry has been incredibly generous towards the leading toy brands.
Review: Quetzalcoatlus (Jurassic World: Dominion, Massive Action by Mattel)
4.3 (19 votes)
When the prologue (and later, trailer) for Jurassic World: Dominion dropped, it was met with a lot of grievances from our community. To be fair, there was a lot to gripe about, from anachronistic animals mingling together, to the sloppy anatomy typical of the franchise.
Review: Diplodocus (Eofauna)
4.9 (47 votes)
Diplodocus is without question one of the most famous dinosaur species, not least because its history goes a fair way back in the science of paleontology. In 1877 Samuel Wendell Wilson in company of his mentor Benjamin Franklin Mudge led an expidition for Othniel Charles Marsh (this name may ring a bell with a much wider range of people) and discovered first fossils of Diplodocus.
Review: Allosaurus (Dino Escape: Roar Attack by Mattel – 2021 ver. 1)
3.2 (23 votes)
The star of ‘Battle at Big Rock’ is back to bat under Mattel, with a slight makeover in play features and paint job.
Allosaurus was once a king of dinosaur media, second only to Tyrannosaurus in books and film.
Review: Yangchuanosaurus (Jurassic World: Dominion, Massive Action by Mattel)
3.9 (17 votes)
Yangchuanosaurus is a genus of metriacanthosaurid that lived during the middle and late Jurassic in China. In appearance it would have looked very much like Allosaurus. Yangchaunosaurus shows up in the collectable market periodically and several figures represent the species, including the Safari Dinosaurs of China figure and a recent model by PNSO.
Review: Centrosaurus apertus (Beasts of the Mesozoic)
4.7 (52 votes)
Over the years, despite having a large amount of fossil material behind it, Centrosaurus has very little in terms of figures that aren’t named Monoclonius. Fortunately, recent times have brought this near forgotten species to the forefront. Beasts of the Mesozoic leads this by creating three, two juveniles and an adult.