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.
Review and images by PhilSauria, edited by Suspsy
Tyrannosaurus rex. Now there’s a name that conjures up all sorts of images, but what’s left to say about this iconic animal? Probably not a lot, but in the case of this figure, Schleich seemed to think that they had something different to offer.
Repaints have been a mainstay of every single Jurassic Park and Jurassic World toyline since the very beginning, but retools are much less common. Probably the most famous and popular retool is the 2009 Tyrannosaurus rex by Hasbro that was created using Kenner’s Lost World Bull from more than a decade earlier.
Sinclair’s Trachodon captures a moment of history in dinosaur pop culture and science which is gradually growing farther and farther away, but its imagery remains pervasively iconic.
There’s always something new to discover in the collecting hobby – even when it’s technically old.
Once more, we take a look at another Yowie model of an ancient creature based on a slim evidence. In this case though, it does have better basis than others. Here, we see Atlascopcosaurus, an animal based on dentary found from early Cretaceous strata of Dinosaur cove, Australia.
Eight short years ago I wrote a glowing review for the CollectA Deluxe Carcharodontosaurus. At the time the praise was deserved, aside from a Safari toy from the 1990’s there weren’t any other options for the “jagged toothed lizard”. CollectA’s model filled a vacant niche, and it was in turn followed by a new model of the genus from Safari in 2016.
Every fall, Safari Ltd announces their releases for the upcoming year. Understandably, probably owing to the pandemic and the attendant slowdown in trade, their announcements for 2021 were pretty limited, only three new items in the core dinosaur range. I confess I was a bit disappointed that all three were theropods, not being a particular fan of the clade (or at least not of the apex predators in the clade).
Review and photos by Zim, edited by Suspsy
Among theropods from the Cretaceous period, Tyrannosaurus, Giganotosaurus, and Spinosaurus instantly come to people’s minds due to their sheer size and ferocity, as well as Velociraptor for its swiftness and intelligence (which is exaggerated by Jurassic Park).
Of all the Hadrosaurs, Parasaurolophus is by far the most commonly produced in toy lines. It’s flashy headpiece is likely the main reason, as the rest of the body is somewhat lacklustre. Sizeable, but not the most interesting. The crest is where it’s at, with the function and skin attachments being a major source of debate.
The carcharodontosaurid family contains some of the very biggest flesh-eating dinosaurs known to science: Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus, Tyrannotitan, Acrocanthosaurus, and Carcharodontosaurus itself. But it also includes a much smaller and stranger-looking member: the humpbacked and possibly feathered Concavenator.
