Triceratops (Scientific Toys Ltd.)

Review and photographs by Charles H. Peckham V, edited by Suspsy

Scientific Toys Limited is a Hong Kong company that makes a variety of toys that mostly have nothing to do with paleontology. Among things like remote control cars and drum sets, they have a dinosaur game named Interactive 3D Dino Adventure. From what I can tell, the game basically works as an audio reference guide, where players put a figurine on a platform and the gadgets in the toy somehow sense what kind of dinosaur it is and start playing a recording of information about it. It looks like one can also press buttons to hear specific facts about each animal and quiz themselves on what they’ve learned. There’s a video of the game being used here and a direct link to the YouTube video here.

So, as you might have gathered from the previous paragraph, I do not own the Interactive 3D Dino Adventure. However, I found an online seller that was offering several of the figures from the game individually, and the Triceratops caught my eye. Perhaps a game piece doesn’t fit into the strict definition of toys, but considering people have reviewed things like pencil sharpeners and fèves on this blog before, I think this is an acceptable stretching of the definition.

I have no idea how the Interactive 3D Dino Adventure works, but I’m guessing there is something buried inside the Triceratops figure that the machine can read to differentiate it from other dinosaurs, and I’m guessing that’s why this figure has several unsightly seams, where I assume the microchip or whatever-it-is is inserted into the figure. The neck and legs all look like they were attached after the toy was molded. There is also a strange little rectangle on the bottom of the figure, that I was able to push in further when I touched it, so perhaps that has something to do with putting things inside the figure during its construction. If you can think of a way to dissect the toy without damaging it, please let me know.

The level of detail on this figure makes me happy. The individual tubercles give the Triceratops a bumpy scaled texture that looks appropriate for the animal. I also like that the ribs are distinguishable through the rib cage, although I’m not sure why we’re able to see the ribs on a creature that also has large fat rolls on its sides. The way the skin seems to sag and drag on the model is not represented by any data that I’m aware of. Individual vertebrae are also visible along the spinal column. Again, I from what I gather, Triceratops would have had thicker hide than that, but it speaks to the level of detail all the same.

The paint job, however, is a bit uninspired and a bit sloppy. The figure is a dark olive green with splotches of a lighter green in some difficult to reach areas. I think it’s likely that this figure was quickly spray painted and the light green original color of the plastic is visible where the spray paint was unable to penetrate. There might be some merit to this style of painting though. Take a look at your own armpits sometime and tell me if they are the same color as the rest of your skin. On my particular figure, there are a few splotches of an apricot-like-color on its left side. I suspect this was due to shoddy work in the toy factory, although I believe my figure may have come secondhand or refurbished, so it’s possible this was not typical of the craftsmanship of Scientific Toys Limited. The epiparietals on the frill are painted a different shade of green than the rest, and the horns have a nice shading that goes from dark green to light green tips.

How scientifically accurate is this Scientific Toy? Well, I wouldn’t call it great, but you can do a lot worse. The tails on ceratopsians actually did (probably) hang down between the back legs, although not to the point where they’re almost dragging on the ground, as is the case with this toy. The forelimbs on this toy have too few toes, but the back legs aren’t too terrible. Something that seems more strange to me the more I look at it are the white sclera (the outside of the eye) on the figure. Is there any evidence that animals outside of primates and dogs had white sclera? I suppose it’s possible, but if dinosaurs had white sclera that’d really be something.

The horns are curved the slightest bit backwards, and this figure has epiparietals around the edge of the frill, which makes me think the sculptor intended for it to be a subadult. This ties in to the expression on the toy’s face, which is what drew me to it in the first place. It’s strangely cute. It looks like a slightly corpulent dachshund waddling up to an outstretched hand, hoping for a treat. Considering its size (11 cm long and 4½ cm tall) , it might be useful to those looking to create a parent/offspring dynamic to their collection. You can place it next to a larger toy, and it’ll look like it’s saying “Mom! Can I have a dinosaur toy? Please mom? Please?”and the larger Triceratops will look to be saying, “You have enough dinosaur toys. When you grow up and get a job, you can buy all the dinosaur toys you want for yourself.”

And if you don’t know how that scenario plays out then you’re on the wrong blog. The Interactive 3D Dino Adventure is available at a number of online and brick-&-mortar retailers. Otherwise, online auction sites are always a good bet.