The Dinosaur Toy Blog

This large figure was produced by Safari as a one off special limited edition piece.. The colour scheme is impressive – reminiscent of a tiger – in this version dark orange stripes stand out on a yellow background and there are added details in grey (claws, ornaments on the skull, along the spine), pink (mouth and tongue) and white/light yellow (teeth, eyes). The skull ornamentation is open to artistic licence: there are boney projections around they eyes. Other versions of this figure have different colour schemes. The model is sculpted in a dynamic pose, it is striding on two feet but is supported by the left arm, the mouth is open with the tongue slightly raised.The skull has the slightly upturned snout typical of Velociraptor and the tail is long and slender.

The model was produced in 1993 when the skin of dromaeosaurids was thought to be scaly. Over the last 10 years, an increasing number of fossils of the closest relatives of Velociraptor have been discovered preserving direct evidence of feathers. On this basis, the vast majority of palaeontologists agreed that Velociraptor, as a dromaeosaurid, probably had feathers, even though there was no direct fossil evidence. In support of this, earlier this year ‘quill knobs’ (structures indicative of feathers) were identified in the fossil forearm bone of a Velociraptor, lending extra weigth to the concept of feathered Velociraptors. Available here $

The Dinomania series by Kaiyodo includes a number of small but very detailed and accurate snap-together figures. The figures come packaged in a box so that the species you get remains a surprise. In this series , there is a limited number of an unknown mystery dinosaur, not so much of a mystery however, seeing that the ‘mystery’ dinosaur is featured on every single box. It is the Tyrannosaurus rex (sorry if this spoils the surprise), sculpted in a rearing posture. The details are nice but obviously hand-painted, the arms are tiny and tucked into the body, and the tail is extermely long (too long) and helps support the figure. I grabbed this, my first and only Dinomania figure, In the New York Museum of Natural History – I was actually hoping for a plesiosaur but was disappointed to discover that I was lucky enough to have the rare green T.rex! I didn’t dare to splash out on a second box, partly becasue sods law dictates that I would probably get the same figure again, and partly because I’m not sure I could resist the addiction once a small collection was initiated (oh go then, just _one_ more). This is quite a nice set, it was originally also released as the UHA Chocolasaur DinoTales Series 3.

The Battat Acrocanthosaurus is almost impossible to find nowadays. But there’s a good reason for that: it’s a beautiful replica that puts to shame almost any other version.

Chronologically speaking, the Acrocanthosaurus is an appropiate choice for Battat. In 1996, the first reconstructed skeleton of this early Cretaceous theropod (known as ‘Fran’) was unveiled. The Battat version, dated 1996 too, is clearly based on that reconstruction.

The Acrocanthosaurus’ solid body is mostly dark green, with a black pattern on its back. The arms are completely black, too. The claws have a discreet tone of grey, while the eyes are fiery red. The mouth, however, has a very curious shade of purple.
Whether the Acrocanthosaurus was an Allosaurid or a Spinosaurid, nobody knows for sure, the debate rages still. But the Battat version does resemble a Spinosaurid because of its long snout. The teeth are delicate, just like the tongue and facial expression. The skin has the trademark Battat wrinkles, which makes it very realistic.

I think the strange sail is the notorious feature of this theropod. Battat’s version has its sail well hidden beneath the skin, which makes this replica unique (unlike Carnegie’s, whose sail is rather crude)

Perhaps the only bad thing about it is that the front part of the body is too massive, so it seems a bit disproportionate and it always falls on its snout without proper support. Even so, ‘Fran’ ranks high among my favourites. I really hope some other company re-releases the whole Battat set.

No longer in production, but sometimes become available from www.ebay.com

Review and photo by Tomhet

As of late, Safari’s newcomers really have become something to look forward to, even more so if one of those newcomers is a late Devonian Placoderm (Placodermi are an exotic but fertile terrain only Kaiyodo, Prehistoric Panorama and Starlux had dared to explore) The Dunkleosteus is a fresh idea from Safari, and as such, it’s had a warm welcome among collectors.

The Dunkie’s main colour is shiny golden yellow (incluiding the bulging, ferociuos eyes), although the armour itself is a little bit darker. The posterior section of the body has a pattern of black spots. The plates of the armour (which are very detailed) are smooth, while the parts that aren’t covered by the plates have a grainier feel. The teeth plates are marbled grey; this contrasts nicely with the weak shade of pink inside the mouth.

The whole sculpt is awesome, but I specially love the flat tail (the most common assumption, since only the fossil armour of this giant has been preserved)

If we consider the meticulous colour blending, the delicate sculpting and the accuracy, we would be tempted to say that this is the best Safari replica so far. The top dinosaur companies should already know that ‘unpopular’ prehistoric creatures are in fact very popular: the Dunkleosteus has been one of the best-selling replicas of 2007.

Available here $

Review by Tomhet

Edit – New photographs added 28th October, 2008