If any of you have been wondering why I’ve been slacking off on reviews lately I have a good excuse, I just don’t have a lot left to review! Almost my entire collection has been reviewed already by myself or others, with minor exception. So in order to review something I’ve had to scrape the bottom of the barrel, literally. This little guy comes from a box in my attic! Despite being a vintage toy I don’t display this Protoceratops on my shelf, mostly because it’s just flat ugly.
First off, let’s discuss the company that produced this thing, Inpro. There are a few Inpro reviews lurking around the blog but these oldies don’t get much love outside of the vintage collectors circle. Inpro was an English company that produced toy dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals between 1972 and 1977. Among the later releases was this Protoceratops which does not have the date stamped on it but is speculated to have been released in 1977. The Protoceratops is made of hard rubber and measures about 2.5” in length.
This is a strange looking little toy with the frill attached to the shoulders and the edges of the frill coming up over the eyes which give the illusion that the toy has a thick brow ridge, conveying a somewhat worried appearance. The body is a sandy yellow color with some gray/green coloration along the back and on the snout. The finer details are actually well executed with lots of large osteoderms sculpted along the body and wrinkles present where the limbs meet the body. The eyes and nostrils are painted black and the mouth red which ends up making it look like this dinosaur is wearing lipstick.
There is little to pay this toy by way of compliments. It’s ugly and outdated. That said, it’s vintage, and nostalgic for those who played with these things or grew up in this era of dinosaur science. Some might even argue that it’s so ugly it’s cute, and I can see that. If nothing else, it’s unique. So with that said I think I might find a place on my shelf after all, rather than return it to the attic. And maybe if you stumble across one of these either at a yard sale, antique store, or eBay lot like I did then you’ll find a place for it too.
Disclaimer: links to Ebay and Amazon on the DinoToyBlog are affiliate links, so we make a small commission if you use them. Thanks for supporting us!
I received this model from my parents while visiting the natural history museum at Brussels, it must be nearly 40 years ago. Even though I was only a little boy then, I still remember that this was by far the most numerous model in the bin with inpro dinosaurs… Probably it wasn’t very popular, but I’m glad I received one. Fond memories.
Poor sad worried little hideous thing, don’t put it back in the attic! It clearly just wants to be loved.
I put him up next to my other Protoceratops figures. He doesn’t take up THAT much space. It doesn’t help that I just finished a “Toy Story” marathon. lol, I couldn’t pack him back up even if I wanted to.
Hah, I know, right? even before that movie I couldn’t go to sleep unless all my toys looked like they were in comfortable positions XD
I loved these toys as a kid. I wish I still had mine.