The Dinosaur Toy Blog

As coincidence would have it, two separate companies (Procon and Safari) released a Nigersaurus figure this year. The current review will concentrate on the offering from Safari’s rapidly maturing and increasingly impressive Wild Safari line. I won’t be comparing the two figures directly, but it is worth noting in passing that Procon’s rival pales in comparison to this superior Safari replica.

Nigersaurus is an unusual sauropod from the Cretaceous of (it will come as no surprise) Niger, Africa. It was originally named and described in 1999, but many of the details of its anatomy were not fully understood until 2005. As sauropods go, Nigersaurus has a very short neck, but the most striking feature of this creature is its goofy looking head with its wide mouth- Nigersaurus was unflatteringly dubbed in ‘vacuum-cleaner mouth’ by the popular press.

The 21 cm long Safari Nigersaurus is depicted striding along, tail aloft, with the neck and head lowered, mouth open ready to do what sauropods did best. The unusual anatomy of the head, including the broad flat rows of teeth is very wellre produced; there is fine detailing indicating the separate teeth. Gentle black doe-like eyes even lend towards this figure appearing rather cute.

There are several lovely details In this figure. There is a ‘frill’ of tightly packed tiny spines running along the neck, back, and tail, their orientation is irregular in places and the spacing varies slightly – this feature adds lots of character to this piece. On the flanks of the torso are faint impressions of the ribs – but not at the expense of making the animal appear emaciated, in contrast it looks well nourished. The narroewtip of the tail whips around to the left. A peep inside the mouth reveals a round little tongue and the overall skin texture is moderately wrinkled; cross-hatching in the sculpt also gives the convincing impression of scales. The feet are incorrect anatomically speaking, the hands are missing distinct thumb claws for example, which is a shame.

The colour is predominantly made up of healthy shades of deep green and golden highlights, the underside of the body is pale and there is a sharp boundary running along the side of thee body. Overall this is a high quality and generally very accurate figure of an intriguing critter – combined with the reasonable price tag this should become a popular item for collectors and for creative play alike.

Available from Safari.com (here) and Amazon.com (here)

Fossil remains of this slenderly built and long-legged theropod are known from Late Cretaceous deposits of northern Africa. It is another quite obscure species as far as dinosaur toys go, maybe Safari picked it out to demonstrate that they are keeping up with palaeontological research, Deltadromeus was named and described in detail in 1996; the Carnegie figure was produced the following year.

Most of the body is covered with contrasting shades of grey, while the throat blushes with a deep red hue and the sides of the head look, well, it looks like it’s had an unfortunate run in with some tippex – bold and quite gaudy streaks of white run from above the eye down to the tooth row. 

The tail has the aforementioned downturn frequently seen in Carnegie Collection theropods to support the critter in a tripod pose. In this instance it has also allowed the right foot to be posed mid-stride so just the tips of the toes contact the ground. This makes a nice change to the usual flat footed stance in most figures, and in this case adds movement to the figure and justifies the tripod pose in my opinion.

Fossils of Deltadromeus indicate that it exceeded 13 meters in length, so even though Deltadromeus agilis may have been one or the longest theropod dinosaurs ever, this figure is confusingly one of the smallest dinosaurs in the Carnegie Collection, measuring just 13 cm long. Given the 1:40 scale of this figure one can only presume that it represents a young individual. Overall it is a nice little figure.

Available from Safari.com (here) and Amazon.com (here)

Review and photos by Stefan Schröder (alias Libraraptor)

Up for review today is Kleinwelka Parasaurolophus which dates back to the 70s or 80s, when the owners of the Kleinwelka dinosaur park decided to bring out some souvenir toys looking like small versions of the dinosaurs arranged in the park. Kleinwelka is a small village in the state of Sachsen in Eastern Germany. Here you can see life-size dinosaurs made of concrete, placed in a natural prehistoric surrounding. This Parasaurolophus is therefore quite an unusual and interesting animal to review. It looks like a monument. And not just the symbolized animal but also the model itself is part of a very interesting history.

We all know about Parasaurolophus, the upper Cretaceaus North American hadrosaur with its strange skull. It’s one of the more famous dinosaurs, somewhere behind T.rex, Apatosaurus, Triceratops and, nowadays, the raptors. So it’s not necessary to spend more words on the animal itself. What is interesting is its overall look and the fact it is a product from communism. The overall look can be described quickly: the Kleinwelka Parasaurolophus measures 24.5 centimetres in length and 16 cm in height. It is bipedal and of a bright brown colour. Except from the eyes, nostrils and the front of its neck, it lacks any skin pattern or further details. The material it is made from feels strange somehow. It is not as heavy as Invicta models of the same size and similar in style, but it is not made from rubber or resin either. So I can only presume the material is “Plaste”, a plastic the cars in the German Democratic Republic were made from, too. It has a strange feel, is solid yet light and probably unbreakable, although I do not want to test this.

And yes, the Kleinwelka Parasaurolophus has a history not every dinosaur toy can tell. It was produced in the German Democratic Republic, the form of government there was communism. Many people could not afford more than the things necessary for everyday life in those times. So I suppose this toy must have been a luxury then. The Kleinwelka dinosaurs, to a certain extent, and especially this Parasaurolophus, can by all means be regarded as the eastern analogues to the Sinclair Brontosaurus. In his book “The Last Dinosaur Book” W.J.D. Mitchell argues that dinosaur pictures or figures were also always a sign for their zeitgeist, the political climate and the general public feeling, the histories of man and dinosaurs are connected in many interesting ways. Like communism, this Parasaurolophus figure is bulky and not flexible, not taken in any movement but very static. And so was capitalism back in the Sinclair times – just take a quick look at its mascot.

This figure stands as a proof for Mitchells thesis and thus is very fascinating. So you can even excuse its four fingered hands with webs. I love figures like these. And I love the multi-dimensional approach they afford. They are not just souvenirs or toys but also hint at other facings of life, thus linking categories as different as dinosaurs, collecting, politics and history to each other.

Review and photos by Dan Liebman of Dan’s Dinosaurs

The Dinostoreus “Desktop” Allosaurus model has a generous heft to it, both in physical weight and price – as of the time this review was written, she typically sells for at least $70 before shipping.  Given the price tag, it would only be fair to ask: is it worth it?

As far as polyresin prehistoric predators go, the Dinostoreus Allosaurus is pretty impressive.  The earthy base keeps the body sturdily postured on two feet, tail balanced nicely in the air, head shifted slightly to the side.  The one adjective I would use to describe this sculpt would be “mature”.  This is clearly not some child’s plaything.  You won’t find it in a cereal box; in fact, you’ll be lucky to even find one in a museum gift shop.  Instead of the ubiquitous roaring pose with gaping jaws so often seen in theropod media, this Allosaurus keeps her jaws tightly shut.  Thought clearly in mid-stride, she is not sprinting.  Though she looks very much alive, she does not appear to be hunting.  She simply… is.

And really, why is that such a bad thing?  As a friend of mine once pointed out, the poor fellows “need to close their mouths sometimes”.  The simple truth is that these animals probably did have their jaws shut most of the time.  If you strolled up to one in its natural environment, this is exactly how you would expect it to look.  Strolling along, in a relatively neutral stance.  Some people may find this turns them off, given the considerable price.  Others may feel she makes for an outstanding collector’s piece, easily elegant enough for display in the office.

The foot-long body is extremely hard, and it stands firmly upon the separate wooden base.  The base also enhances the tasteful qualities of the sculpture, having an attractive color and golden identification tag on its display side.  Viewed at a glance, it looks less like a replica and more like a miniature Allosaurus.  The relatively relaxed posture, unhurried gait, and glossy eyes all contribute to a very pleasant piece that is both striking and soothing at the same time.

The body appears to be dry brushed in many areas, by hand, which brings out the pebbled surface of the animal’s skin.  The lacrimal crests above the eyes have also been highlighted in crimson, following the conventional “display” hypothesis.  While forelimb posture in theropods is regularly debated among paleontologists, the black-clawed arms of this Allosaurus are impressively sharp.  Naturally, handling the piece should be done with care, particularly when young children are around.

The only real problem with this sculpture is that the dry brushing appears rather rough in some spots.  The natural hues are very conservative and fitting for an ambush predator, yet it seems like the original sculpture was given far more attention than the paint job.  This discrepancy becomes problematic when one considers the cost of the item.  Few people would consider this Allosaur to be four times as impressive as the Papo Allosaurus, despite being four times the cost.  Even so, the paint problems become less noticeable if the sculpture is kept a few feet away from the viewer.  It remains one of the most pleasing pieces available for the refined theropod enthusiast.