This blog represents our virtual collection of dinosaur models, figures and replicas. Each blog entry concerns a different dinosaur toy, including a picture and a review.
This blog has three authors, all of us are enthusiastic collectors and between us we own the majority of the figures featured in this blog in real life too! We want to share our thoughts, opinions and recommendations on the figures in our collections, and where possible, provide links to help you find these toys for your own collections.
Strictly speaking this is a virtual collection of prehistoric animal toys – thats why we have a catergory ‘non-dinosaur’: click on this category to see pterosaurs, marine reptiles, and other prehistoric beasties. Other categories identify the type of dinosaur (e.g. theropod) or the company who produced the toy (e.g Papo) so that you can quickly find what you are looking for.
If we have made any mistakes, or if you have additional information or would like to request us to review a particular toy, please do comment or contact us! We would also be happy to receive contributions; if you would like to review a dinosaur toy for this blog, let us know!
Thanks!
Dinosaurcollector, Tomhetleere and Deinosaur
Hi,
Nice site enoyed the blog format. Have you seen any of the new Procom dinosaurs from England?
Comment by Randy — September 18, 2007 @ 12:53 am
Hiya!
Like your blog! If you want to trade links let me know
http://www.dinosource.co.uk
ps..you may now delete this lol
Comment by Dinosource — October 20, 2007 @ 11:16 am
Hello! This is a really great site with tons of information.
Our company has just launched a new dinosaur skeleton model which is more detailed than the wooden kits but not as detailed as some of the quite expensive kits or replicas. Have a look at http://www.dinocast.ca and post it if you like.
thanks,
Michael Patterson
Dinocast Model Kits Inc.
Comment by Michael Patterson — December 9, 2007 @ 9:08 am
Hi there….I just want to know if you could tell me how to identify an authentic battat dinosaur? Do they have battat written on them? Or what other markings should I be looking for? I appreciate your help in advance, Thankyou, Ron
Comment by Ron — January 4, 2008 @ 6:39 pm
Ron,
I have seen some of the procon dinosaurs – I will be reviewing some in the near future!
dinotoyblog
Comment by dinosaurcollector — January 5, 2008 @ 12:04 am
Hello Ron,
concerning the Battats, each dinosaur has the year of production, ‘Museum of Science Boston’, its binomial name (for instance, Stegosaurus Armatus), its lenght and ‘Battat’ written on the underside. I still haven’t received the Diplodocus, but I have read that this guy has no markings at all. It should not be difficult to identify, though, as its pose is very peculiar: it rears up on its hind legs.
Not surprisingly, there are several knock-offs (I have seen the Stegosaurus, the Edmontonia and the Amargasaurus), not to mention that many ’serious’ companies have adapted one or other element from Battat: AAA and Procon tried to imitate the Dilophosaurus, ELC has a Ceratosaurus that is very similar to the Battat version, and even Safari borrowed the Utahraptor paint scheme for their Baby Utahraptor. In both cases (i.e. the bootlegs and the official replicas) the markings are obviously different.
I hope this helps.
tomhetleere
Comment by tomhetleere — January 5, 2008 @ 7:07 am
Great site-loads of new dino’s to interest my little boy-he’s desperate to get hold of some kind of terror bird i.e. Phorusrachus or gastornis (thanks to a walking with beasts dvd from santa!) Any suggestions on if they can be found anyone???!!
Keep up the good work with the site-great links pages too!
Comment by Sarah L — January 19, 2008 @ 1:46 am
Only just came across the blog but suspect I’ll be a frequent visitor as its really good.
My only comment is that I’d like dimensions of figures [say straight line nose to til of tail], as this helps me, and possibly others.
Congratulations on a great blog.
Comment by Denis — January 22, 2008 @ 4:20 am
Thanks for the kind comment Denis – yes, others have also suggested that we include dimensions of the figures. Sometimes the pictures can be very misleading. We will make this a standard practice for all our future dinosaur toy reviews.
Comment by dinosaurcollector — January 22, 2008 @ 11:37 am
Hi,
I was wondering if I might get some feedback (email included) on the relative scale of the different toy makers. Carnergie I know stick to 1:40 scale but what about Papo or the others?
Thanks!
Comment by David Stepp — January 23, 2008 @ 2:46 pm
Hi David,
As far as I am aware, not all lines stick to a standard scale. The following companies are pretty good with this though:
Schleich replica saurus line is 1:40 scale, and their prehistoric mammals line is 1:20.
Bullyland stick to a 1:30 scale.
Invicta are 1:45 (with some exceptions)
The scale is sometimes printed on individial figures (e.g. Bullyland) or a length is given (Invicta, some carnegie), so it is also worth checking the actual toys.
Comment by dinosaurcollector — January 23, 2008 @ 3:59 pm
Hi,
I just found your site and I really like it. Would you be interested in a link exchange with my site? I carry news on new toy releases and have many dinosaur-related stories on site at the moment. Get in touch if you have any questions!
All the best,
David
Comment by David — February 9, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
Hi Ron and Tom. Concerning the Battat Diplodocus figure, it does have markings. In very small print (I needed a magnifying glass) on the stomach are four lines of print that read “1994 Museum of Science Boston; Diplodocus Longus 88 feet long; Battat Inc; Made in China”.
For more pics and info on all the Battat dinosaurs, visit the Realm of Rubber Dinosaurs website, http://www.rubberdinosaurs.com
Comment by Dan H. — February 13, 2008 @ 2:11 am
Love your site- with some great information. I love digging up nice non-Wikipedia info sites. I’ve got some replicas I’ll donate if you want to review them. Most all from the Safari line (with a lot of the Carnegie Collection). I’d just ask that you link to my store in return…
It’s a pretty fun store and we sell a lot of
dinosaur and fossil kits at Atomic Elephant Toy. Contact me via my site if you’d be interested.
Thanks and good luck with the blog!
Comment by Matt — February 14, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
Hello there. My son has been wanting a terror bird figure for some time and I can’t seem to locate one. Any one know where i could get one? Thanks.
Comment by Eli — March 21, 2008 @ 6:22 pm
Hi Eli – I’m not sure, but you will almost certainly find an answer if you ask here:
http://dinotoyforum.proboards100.com/index.cgi
Comment by dinosaurcollector — March 21, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
Thank you for the quick response. I went to the link and posted there. I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
Comment by Eli — March 22, 2008 @ 4:13 pm
Does anyone know where to get a mmosasaur figure?
Comment by ellen — August 8, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
Hi there Ellen
there aren’t many mosasaurids currently in production. I’d recommend the Kaiyodo Tylosaurus (probably the best so far) and the Carnegie Mosasaurus, you can’t find them in many stores, but if you visit our forum, you’ll probably find someone willing to sell or trade one.
National Geographic will release a medium-size Tylosaurus later this year, so keep your eyes open!
Comment by tomhetleere — August 13, 2008 @ 7:50 am
Hello!
I am putting together a dinosaur kit for my students on Mississippi dinosaurs.
I have had difficulty in finding some of these unique dinosaurs. Can you reference me to anyone who may have the following dinosaur toys:
Saurornitholestes, Struthiomimus, Appalachiasaurus, Hadrosaur (Lophorhothon), Nodosaurus
I investigated Safari toys, but they did not have these items.
Any recommendations?
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Comment by Nicole — September 9, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
Nicole, I’m not sure but I reposted your question on the forum where you should get some sort of response…
http://dinotoyforum.proboards100.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=toys&thread=373
Comment by dinosaurcollector — September 10, 2008 @ 9:59 am
This is quite possibly the coolest blog I have every come across.
Not strictly speaking a dinosaur toy, but you might enjoy our animated clip “Life According to dinosaurs”, featuring dinosaurs explaining facebook:
http://www.4mations.tv/clip.aspx?key=C936029765F90190
Keep up the good work!
Comment by Dave — September 25, 2008 @ 10:00 am
I love this blog! My husband and I each collected dinosaur toys when we were younger (mostly JP, Carnegie, British Museum and Safari) so together we have one massive collection. This blog makes me want to make a nice area to properly display them and get into collecting again. I’ll be sure to check her regularly.
Comment by Jessica Orr — November 1, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
Love the dino toys
I favor stegosaurus, personally.
While this isn’t quite a toy, more of a miniature model, you might enjoy these guys:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19412504
Comment by Kelly — January 26, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
My 4 year-old son loves anything related to dinosaurs. He goes crazy at the toy store. I think its refreshing he’s more into dinosaurs instead of video games.
Comment by Natasha — April 23, 2009 @ 2:15 am