The Dinosaur Toy Blog

The Battat Maiasaura is certainly one of the better replicas of this genus, next to the newest Carnegie Maiasaura. It’s accurate down to the crest above the eyes, and there probably won’t be a better one for the time being.

It’s a simple mold, with excellent detailing of its skin, with a nice color choice of dark burgundy, and some yellow/orange running down its back. One of his better features is that, like all Battat, they are in scale with the Carnegie dinosaurs, and this Maiasaura’s length is the same as both Carnegie Maiasaura so he can be welcomed into the herd quite easily. My only complaint is some of the coloring pattern. There’s a hideous yellow wavy line on both sides of the tail, and it looks quite strange. Another complaint is that he can’t stand well as it’s legs are bent a bit, so he will need support or it’ll fall to its side, but that may just be mine.

The Battat Maiasaura is not that rare and can still be found on Ebay. Itis definitely a worthwhile addition to any dinosaur collection, and for those Hadrosaur lovers, this is a must.

Review and Photos by Emperordinobot

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Albertosaurus is the smaller cousin of T. rex and is rarely found in the form of a dinosaur toy. The Prehistoric Masterpiece Collection is produced by Japanese sculptors  Araki and Shinzen; the figures are hand-painted and also included in this series is a Styracosaurus.

This figure was discontinued a few years ago, and I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be available, so you should probably order this right now! Simply put, this is a fantastic reproduction of Albertosaurus. It’s undoubtedly the best figure of this dinosaur that money can buy, and probably one of the most accurate theropods I have ever seen for such an affordable price ($15). At about 20″ long, it’s a sizable piece too, probably one of the largest in my collection, (not including JP T.rexes) and makes a fantastic shelf topper.

It may look like a solid plastic figure but it is actually a hollow vinyl construction, like the Galaxy Toys Great Dinosaurs line. As such, it is very lightweight (I’m glad it got here in one piece!) and there are a couple of seams showing, most notably around the tail and midsection, but take a few steps back and they melt into the extreme detailing on this figure.

There are only a couple minor problems that I should point out. First off, there is simply no way this figure could stand without the base, it’s too front-heavy. The figure is meant as a display piece only and luckily I don’t really mind the stand. The only other problem I had was that the right leg in my figure is a little too warped for the foot to fit into the peg on the base, but luckily it comes with a little metal rod to aid in support.

Review and photographs by ‘Itstwentybelow’

Available here ($).

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Original review posted 04/11/07, updaded review by ‘Itstwentybelow’ posted 26/02/2008

Pterosaurs are delicate gangly creatures, so it is not surprising that for the most part, toy companies have tended to create simple ‘in flight’ postures for their pterosaur figures with the wings outstretched – easier to make. Bullyland broke the mold when they produced two pterosaurs, a typical in flight version (I will call this version 1), and this standing version (version 2), with wings partially folded up. Some companies have since followed suit e.g. Safari.

Both versions represent the same species of Pteranodon, Pteranodon sternbegi. The crest of P. sternbergi has a distinct convex forward facing margin and is more greatly expanded, which distinguishing it from the other species of Pteranodon. P. longiceps, for example, is typically produced by toy companies, the crest in this species is a more simple ‘spike’, so it is good to se Bullyland breaking the mold in this regard too (Bullyland also has a P. longiceps of course). The shape of the beak is also different, it apparently curves upwards in P. sternbergi.

The Version 2 Pteranodon sternbergi is nicely detailed, it occupies a quadrupedal posture with the hands supporting the front part of the body, the wing-supporting fingers pointing backwards, and the feet firmly on the ground. The partially folded wings show creases and wrinckles and the body has a fine sculpture of hair; there is even a pteroid bone sculpted in the wing, a fine detail often overlooked or deemed unimportant by toy comapnies. The stubby legs splay out slightly but the feet and hands are both accurate, considering the small size of these elements, Bullyland has done an excellent job. The head and neck lurch forwards, in this standing position it becomes apparent just how large the head of Pteranodon is in relation to the body.

The colour scheme is identical in both versions, although version one also has a fish in the jaws. The wings are red, the body grey, and the beak is yellow, but all of these shades merge naturally into each other, and there are blue highlights on the head: the colour scheme is therefore very impressive. The striking beady yellow eye in the darkened socket adds the finishing touch to this super-cool collectors item. The figure is about 13 cm long.

Available here (€)
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This month a new Diplodocus has been added to the list of excellent Carnegie collection dinosaurs. The tail and  neck are held in a biomechanically stable and anatomically correct way (in the old one the neck was in a vertical position and the tail almost touched the ground). It is a beautiful and detailled model – it also nicely shows that ‘Dippy’ was a much lighter animal than, say, Apatosaurus. Diplodocus only weighed about 12-15 t, while Apatosaurus weighed over 22 t.  

Available here
and currently available from Ebay here