Utahraptor (Walking With Dinosaurs Collection by Toyway)

The spectacular Utahraptor by Toyway based on the BBC Walking with Dinosaurs series, is a sleek, slender, rather mean looking figure. The anatomy is accurate, this is one of the first ‘raptor’ figures to break away from the trendy but erroneous vision put forward in Jurassic Park. Notably the hands in the Utahraptor are true to the fossils, the wrist joint directs the hands backwards and the palms face each other. The tail is extremely long and slender and held stiff, the arms and legs are lean (skinny seems to harsh a term), but the sculpture is easy on the eye and quite believable.

Feathers were not included on this figure or in the dinosaur as seen in the series. Although there is no direct evidence for feathers in this species, it is probable based on our knowledge of it’s very close relatives, that Utahraptor sported a covering of feathers. The colour of the skin is true to the series, quite like a large predatory cat with yellow skin and black stripes. The belly is paler and he extremities are grey with the claws highlighted in black. The mouth is closed so that no teeth are visible and the eyes are evil-looking red.

The posture is static and not particularly dynamic - the tail is held out directly behind, the hed faces forwards, there is no lateral ‘motion’ in the figure at all. Time seems to take it’s toll on the hard plastic used to make WWD figures, this is only a problem in the two legged figures because the plastic deforms/bends over time and the figures struggle to stand unassisted.

The figure is long (about 25cm) but due to the diminutive amount of plastic used on the figure, the figure came accompanied by an additional figure - a Laellynasaura - but that is a topic for a future blog entry.

The WWD figures are no longer in production so they are difficult to find. They were predominantly released in the UK so they most frequently can be found on Ebay UK, but sometimes on Ebay US

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Tyrannosaurus Rex (Carnegie Collection by Safari)

Talk about improvements. I mean, I have nothing against the old green Carnegie Rexy, it may not be a beauty but it was a solid combat replica, apparently aimed for the kids… and geared toward outdoor use. Fortunately Carnegie has seen more potential in the collector market than before, so their more recent offerings are not only very affordable but very attractive. I am pleased to say that Carnegie did justice to the King with this replica (and no, I don’t mean Elvis). It was about time, because this arch-famous monster is the first dinosaur a young one wants (believe me, I’ve seen it) and it’s good to know that they’re getting a quality product instead of your everyday Chinasaur. Besides, it was somewhat ironic that Carnegie couldn’t produce a decent sculpt, since they keep several of the most interesting T-Rex fossils.

What I first admired is the flawless balance of the figure, I don’t know if it’s only mine, but it stands beautifully on its both legs (not the classic tripod deal we always end up with). The tail is curved (as an emergency support, I suppose) The pose, on the other hand, is not entirely likeable (the wild staring Rex seems to be roaring and its body leans forward striding, as if it were about to strike) but acceptable. The scale is correct, it measures approx. 30 cm from nose tip to the bend of the tail and 18 cm from head to toe.

The figure has other advantages. The legs are much more robust than most of the Carnegie theropods. The limbs by the way seem naturally fused to the torso. The head is definitely realistic (just look at those correctly proportioned teeth!). The skin is delightfully wrinkled and scaly (true, not as good as in more recent Carnegie products, but good enough).

The paint scheme is much better than the dull green of the previous T-Rex, as it features a blend of alarming red and some black. The belly is whitish; the mouth (which is very detailed) shows a pink tongue. Since it belongs to the 1998 generation, its eyes are golden.

This review was sponsored by Atomic Elephant, a great online store!

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Chalicotherium (Bullyland)

The Prehistoric World by Bullyland produced many remarkable pieces, not only classics like the woolly rhino or the mammoth, but truly unique choices like Andrewsarchus, Gompotherium, Deinotherium and Chalicotherium. Most of them were rapidly retired, so some fetch outrageous prices on Ebay.

The choice is not gratuitous, as Bullyland sometimes produces animals found specifically in Germany (good for them!); that is the case of the type species, C. goldfussi, discovered almost two hundred years ago (although it’s been found in other parts of Europe and Asia). Despite its strange yet charming appearance, the now extinct family of the Chalicotheriidae (that lived from the Eocene all the way to the Late Pliocene) has remained almost unknown in popular culture, so the genus itself is quite obscure. Its description matches that of a chimaera: the gentle head of a horse, the body of a gorilla, a short stubb-like tail, a pair of extremely large forelimbs and big claws. Chalicotheriidae were odd-toed ungulates (that means that the hooves are irregular, in this case, they had 3 toes) and they probably had to walk on all fours (due to the masiveness of the arms) and to support their weight on their knuckles (no wonder it’s always portrayed like that).

The colouring is not something you would call amazing (in my opinion that’s not what Bullyland does best) it’s kind of pale bony yellow with some dark highlights (I’d have added some different paint on the claws and the ears). The sculpt is very respectable, simple pose but great detail (I particularly liked the fur, the long fingers on the forelimbs and the barely visible ribcage). The head is finely sculpted, although the ears seem roundish (classic Bullyland feature); the expression is calm, as if it were about to chew something (I mean, just look at that slightly crooked mouth! He’s sure up to something!) It’s not very big (barely 14cm from head to tail) but it belongs to that unusual kind of figures that we love around here.

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Amargasaurus (Carnegie)

Carnegie has to keep up with the dinosaur market, which was gotten really competitive lately, with near-perfect accurate sculpts, and amazing paintjobs, from lines like Kaiyodo, Kinto, and so on. For the last 4 years, Carnegie has been making some nice new molds. In 2006, they released a new Amargasaurus sculpt, along with an updated feathered Oviraptor.

The Amargasaurus itself is simply one of the best Amargasaurus sculpts since Battat’s Amargasaurus. It’s done in the Carnegie style, of course, with the wrinkly skin. He’s colored in an apple green, with the sail being yellow and red. This Amargasaurus, unlike the Battat version, follows a more modern reconstruction, with the spines not supporting a full sail, having the naked spines near the top.

At about 22 cm long, this is one of the best sauropods you can buy, but it’s a rather small one, since he is in scale with the others. Amargasaurus was a 9 meter long sauropod, which is considerably smaller than other sauropods.

One drawback to this particular dinosaur figure is that he is rare. I don’t know whether this is just my case, but I had to buy mine online, after hunting for it for almost two years in stores. Another problem with it is that the spines may be bent in some specimens.

 Available here

 

Dimetrodon (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)

The distinctive sail-back ‘mammal-like reptile’ or basal synapsid, has always been a favorite for dinosaur toy companies, even though its certainly no dino. I wrote a very brief blog on this figure back in July 2007 but I have since managed to acquire a figure for myself and can thus indulge you in some of the details.

This 18cm long model is one of the best Dimetrodon figures.  Like most of the Carnegie collection figures, the head suffers from a little deformation and a scruffy paint job, but the. overall shape is good: the deep short skull, highly situated eyes, and premaxilla notch, all contribute to the accuracy of this figure. The mouth is open and there has been some attempt to sculpt some of the larger teeth separately. The lips on the left hand side or contracted into a sort of grimace, but whether this is intentional or accidental is not clear.

There is a dangly pouch, or perhaps it should be called a wattle or a dewlap on the neck, which I think is a nice touch; too often sculptors stretch the skin around the skeleton with little though or the flippy-flappy soft anatomy typically present in living organisms. The tail is held off of the ground, I’m not sure how accurate this is - I would have thought that the tail dragged in this species, and the creature is striding forwards with purpose.

The overall colour scheme is pleasing, being made up of natural shades of tan and yellow but the painters have done a messy job with some of the highlight, which are quite obviously crude brush strokes. Maybe my figure was produced at the end of a long working day ? The eyes on the other hand are a work of art - extremely precise. The claws are not painted separately.

This toy review was sponsored by Dinosaurs at Atomic Elephant

It is available here

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Pterygotus (Kaiyodo DinoTales Series 7)

The Pterygotus was for a while the largest eurypterid ever (a while ago some paleontologists found the remains of a particularly large Jaekelopterus) Still, and although other sea scorpions measured 20 cm, the Pterygotus was obscenely large (measuring up to 2.3m!) It lived during the Silurian and the Devonian. There are several known species, but this one reminded me of P. rhenaniae due to the girth of the body.

This must have been a notorious predator, so the medium fishes were no match for this horror with big claws (although maybe larger fishes like the Dunkleosteus did prey on them). We don’t know for sure whether these entirely aquatic animals had poison or not on their tails (called ‘telson’) but the large pincers were a very efficient weapon (modern scorpions that possess big pincers do NOT possess a powerful venom, so this could be an indicator)

This is an stunningly accurate replica. The number of extremities is accurate (4 pairs of legs, one pair of beautifully done paddles and a pair of segmented pincers, one of which seems to be about to grab something), and so is the number of body segments (14). It amazed me beyond measure to discover that the tiny pair of eyes that should be located at the top of the head is in fact there. At first I totally missed them, but after careful examination, I saw that they were there! The enormous purple compound eyes are also noteworthy.

I’m not entirely pleased with the rest of the paint job, though. I’d expect an eurypterid to have a more uniform colouring, but guess what, as always, this Kaiyodo piece has many different shades (green, purple, gray, white, yellow). The underside is a little bit more conservative. If I had had my way, I’d have liked it to be black or gray.

Kaiyodo did another good job on this one, it’s a well done piece that shows that they did some research. It’s smallish, true (11 cm approx.) but it’s still one damn fine toy.

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Stegosaurus (’Great Dinosaurs’ collection by Safari Ltd)

The Great Dinosaurs collection is a series of large hollow figures produced by Safari Ltd. They are cheap for their size and overall the sculpting is of a high standard, in fact, most of the figures are superior in terms of posture to their more expensive Carnegie Collection museum range counterparts (also by Safari Ltd), at least the older Carnigie moulds anyway.

The 29cm long Stegosaurus presents many nice features. The mouth is wide open, as if the animal is roaring, and a tongue can be seen prodruding from deep inside the gullet. Stegosaur heads ae very small, which is perhaps the reason why most Stegosaurus figures have a simple sculpt with the mouth closed. The surface detail is nice: there is a row of bumps on each side of the back running from head to tail. The skin is generally very wrinkled, and there is no indication of scales as there should be. The lower surface of the neck is covered by a packed array of ossicles, a detail frequently overlooked in other Stegosaurus toys.

The colour scheme is vivid, mostly yellow with a deep red back and plates with more yellow decoration. The toe claws are highlighted in grey, the eyes in black. There are only 13 plates (Stegosaurus actually has 17), but their shape is accurate - all of the plates are completely vertical so they do not form a ‘V’ shape when seen from the front.

The posture is dynamic, the animal is facing to the right and the tail is swinging to the left - the forelegs are striding but the hind legs are not so the creature looks a bit uncomfortable, like it is defending itself rather than taking a stroll.

All of the figures in the Great Dinosaurs Collection have an unsightly join where the two hollow segments have been joined together. Despite the very wrinkled surface, this is still visible in the Stegosaurus. These figures are light and cheap, making them perfect for kids play, but they also present enough detail and accuracy to warrant shelf-space in any serious collection too.

This toy review was sponsored by, and is available from Atomic Elephant

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Microraptor (Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd)

The recently discovered and described Microraptor is known from a number of specimens from China. Not surprisingly, given the short scientific history of this feathered dinosaur, there are very few models or toys of Microraptor. The Carnegie Collection introduced a bunch of feathered dinosaurs in 2005, including this Microraptor, to reflect the recent surge in the number of fossil feathered dinosaurs discovered over the last decade.

Because the actual animal is so tiny, the Carnegie Collection Microraptor is produced at a 1:3 scale (most other Carnegie’s are scaled at 1:40), and the figure is 19cm long. The most striking feature of this figure are the colours of the plumage - bright orange with red, yellow and black highlights. The wings of the arms and legs are spread out and the animal is twisting to look to the right, as if the animal is mid-jump between two trees. The underside of the wings is much paler in colour and the claws are grey. Only the tips of the enlarged sickle-shaped claws are painted, so they look a lot smaller at first glance than they really are. The mouth is open and a big juicy tongue can bee seen protruding.

The sculpded details on the surface of the body are very impressive, the entire surface is feathered, the wings have distinctive layers of feathers. There is a tuft of feathers on the head too. When the figure stands, its right leg rests on the feathers, but this is because the animal is in a leaping rather than a standing position.

It makes a change to see a really delicately built animal become a part of the Carnegie collection. While many toy companies continue to ignore skinny dinosaurs, and overlook the scientific evidence for feathers on theropod dinosaurs, (probably because they are much more dificult to sculpt than smooth scaley skin), Safari have endeavored to embrace these new animals in all their glory, and they haven’t skimped on the details!

This toy review was sponsored by, and is available from Atomic Elephant

Amargasaurus (Battat)

This was my first Battat. Back then, 10 years ago, I wasn’t aware they made dinosaurs this detailed, and I didn’t know of an Amargasaurus. When I crossed with my mum into that little specialty shop so long ago, I knew I had hit the jackpot. Not only was it the first time I had ever seen Battat, but I was immediately mesmerized by their amount of detail. I was looking for Carnegie but I became a Battat fan, too. I was looking for rare dinosaurs I hadn’t come across before (And if not, I’d simply buy a Carnegie Euplocephalus, which I did). Amargasaurus fit the bill (I could have gone for the others…heck I just wanted to buy them all, especially the Diplodocus…)

Back then, Battats came in little boxes. I went to great efforts to keep the box, but, I lost it recently. It gave these dinosaur a sort of…superiority that Carnegies just didn’t have then. Battats are also in scale with Carnegie dinosaurs, which makes it more fitting.

Amargasaurus itself is detailed beyond belief. For the time it was made in, this is what you would call top notch. The texturing is perfect, and it breathes a sense of realism into each dinosaur. The shades of grey over the animal are perfect. This Amargasaurus is depicted as having a sail supported by its tall spines (which is now a cause of debate, and new figures are depicted as having naked spines that don’t support a sail).

Now, I don’t know whether this is a production error, or just mine, but, the right side of the spines that lay on its neck are a little shorter than the left side spines. It…creates a visual annoyance. At 20cm long, this figure is quite small for a sauropod.

As for Amargasaurus itself, this was a quirky looking dicraeosaurid from Argentina that was described rather recently. Gondwanian sauropods like these further prove that both South America and Africa were together at some point in the past.

Review by Emperordinobot

Sometimes avaiable here

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Diplodocus (Battat)

The Battat Diplodocus is what sauropod toys aspire to be. This imposing monster is the ultimate collector piece, and even if it still shows some typical (i.e. now questionable) conceptions of the 90’s, I’m tempted to say that this is the most spectacular replica ever released by a mainstream line (not that there’s anything wrong with the new Carnegie Diplodocus, it’s a very respectable effort)

The way I see it, the Battat line was the rightful heir of the classic Invicta set. The Bostom Museum of Science series (not Carnegie, mind you) really strove to offer an affordable modern collection that would result both highly detailed and accurate. The Diplodocus should be a shining example of what you can do with simple molds, competent sculpting and regular manufacturing.

As we already know, the Battat Diplodocus includes the name of the species, in this case, it’s the Diplodocus longus, the holotype named by none other than Marsh in 1878. Needless to say, the Dippy has become increasingly famous, evolving into one of the more emblematic dinosaur genus. It’s been studied over and over again, so it’s no surprise that even today many anatomical uncertainties still remain.

One debated issue has always been the positioning of the nostrils. For decades the consensus was that they were on top of the head, where the actual nasal openings are located. Now it’s been suggested that they were located at the sides of the snout after all. The Battat version still has the nostrils located at the top of the head, but the issue has not yet been solved as far as I know, so this could go either way.

I still frown at the position though. As dinamic and attractive as it may be, I don’t think it would be easy for such a large animal to rear up like that. The tail is here used as a support and is in complete contact with the surface on which it rests.

The front legs were shorter than the hind ones; the neck and the extremely long tail represent two thirds of the body (the tail alone had 80 vertebrae). The Battat toy reflects all this perfectly (the tail had to be done in two different segments) and the scale itself is right (the Battat scale was 1:40, if we consider that the average length of the Diplodocus is 26 mts, the body measures roughly 70 cm, incluiding the coil of the tail) Although this is supposed to be a light weight sauropod, the toy is quite massive and heavy.

The colouring is nothing otherwordly, it’s efficient tan becomingly mixed with brown but in this case, details are everything. The beautiful teeth, the vivacious eyes, the infinite skin pattern, the bulging musculature, the claws, I cannot begin to describe the sheer beauty of it all. Dan LoRusso must be really proud of this baby.

I won’t lie to you, this replica is almost impossible to find nowadays, but I still hope some other company decides to revive this set.

Currently Avaiable here

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