The Dinosaur Toy Blog

Following yesterday’s look at the queen of the Jurassic Park toyline, here we present the pretender to the throne. This ‘young’ Tyrannosaurus rex (also known by the cutesy if nonsensical name of ‘Junior’) is about half the size of its big red sister, but is no less mean-looking for its diminutive stature. In fact, so enormous are its sharp plastic teeth that it can’t even completely close its mouth, thus ensuring that its pointy pearly whites are on permanent show. It’s an adorable cute-looking carnivore and no mistake.

Of course there was no juvenile T. rex in the film, although one did feature in Crichton’s source novel. However, it made a nice addition to pad out the original toy line and still dwarfed the puny humans. In terms of anatomical accuracy, forget it – contrary to what we now know about young tyrannosaurs, this is just a scaled-down version of the adult with a proportionately larger head. However, it’s still unmistakably Jurassic Park in spite of having been invented by Kenner rather than Stan Winston Studio, with its own baby-faced rendition of the Jurassic Park T. rex’s head.

In terms of small details it’s rather nice, and is up there with the superior, less toy-like Kenner Jurassic Park sculpts. The white underside features larger, almost crocodilian scales and the skin is ‘stretched’ where the legs meet the body, while the head is just as finely detailed as with the adult – the tongue, jaw adductor muscles, nostrils etc. are all lovingly sculpted. Although posed quite statically in a neutral, standing position, this toy displays very nicely as it stands bipedally with its tail suspended in a gentle curve in the air. It’s also perfect for kids to play with, even though its ‘action feature’ (squeezing its neck to open its jaws) is completely rubbish.

Although lacking the ‘big spectacular’ factor that its larger JP relatives possess in spades, this little guy nevertheless oozes charm (I’m on great cliché form today). It would be repainted a few times and re-released in later JP toy lines, but I’d argue that none of the latter paint jobs match up to this brown-and-white stripey version. Once again, this is a must-buy toy for Jurassic Park fans, and I’m sure that dinosaur enthusiasts more generally will still get a kick out of it. Palaeontologists and people with Degrees in Real Science, however, will probably sit gibbering over how the movies and their associated merchandise foster scientific illiteracy and inaccurate visions of prehistoric animals until they tear it limb from limb/their own hair out.* It’s another one, like the Papo-saurs, for the geeks rather than the nerds.

You can pick up this figure on eBay on a fairly regular basis, although oddly it can be more difficult to find than the Red Rex. I’d say that it’s well worth getting if you’re a collector of fine dinosaur toys, as this rubbery fellow is a great example of one. For a dinosaur toy from 1993 it’s aged pretty well, and holds up nicely against today’s more popularist sculpts (Papo and CollectA Deluxe, I’m looking at you).

P.S. – I didn’t ‘forget’ to mention the ‘Dino Damage’ – I deliberately left it out, ‘cos it’s rubbish. But if you insist…yes, a small piece of flesh can be taken out of the side of the toy, revealing a silly-looking circular wound and exposing muscle and a little bone. Hooray. If you are a child you will probably lose the piece of flesh within a month of owning the toy, thus severely damaging the toy’s resale value. How thoughtless of you.

*I’m sympathetic guys, really. You put all that effort in to educating the unwashed masses and they still confuse Dilophosaurus with Chlamydosaurus…

Much as I feel bad for peddling nostalgia yet again, here’s  a real classic – a toy that will be instantly recognised by anyone who grew up during the 1990s and loved dinosaurs. Just as the movie dramatically raised the bar when it came to on-screen dinosaurs, the original Kenner action figure line was, as my fellow reviewer Dan might say, “a slap in the face” for anyone used to small, poorly-detailed dinosaur toys. Most impressive of all was this towering Tyrannosaurus, still one of the largest dinosaur action figures ever made.

Known among collectors as ‘Big Red’, ‘Red Rex’ and occasionally ‘Rexford‘, the demonic dark red of this beast may not be movie-accurate but it certainly makes it look suitably sinister and fearsome. In spite of the unusual colouration this toy most definitely stands out as a Jurassic Park figure, sporting the distinctive pyramidal eye-ridges and overly-long and puny arms associated with its movie counterpart. The articulated arms on this figure are particularly noteworthy for being bent outwards at bizarre angles, as if the dinosaur is about to do a chicken dance – a feature shared by exactly none of the other Kenner JP tyrannosaurs (not even the ‘young’ version from the same toy line). It’s something you won’t notice when displaying it in profile (as above) but it can be offputting when looking at it head-on.

As long as you are prepared to take serious liberties with scientific accuracy (it is Jurassic Park, after all), this is a very nicely detailed figure, particularly for the time. The head would be refined in the later ‘Thrasher’ rex but is still well done here, with beady, glowering eyes, a well-textured mouth with tongue, nostrils and scales. This toy also had an action figure, whereby pressing a button hidden under its flank would result in the mouth opening slightly more and a rather feeble growl being emitted. Unfortunately this was extremely prone to breaking, with the toy stuck roaring on a loop until it was thrown across the room in a fit of rage (or the batteries were taken out – whatever). I got through about 3 of these as a kid before I gave up and settled on making the noises myself. I was just as sad as a child as I am now. It also made a stomping noise if you bounced it up and down on a surface, but that was just silly.

Note the slit pupils and white (absent?) gums...

I’m rather fond of the handsomely-proportioned legs on this figure, even if the hips have been made uncommonly wide in order to house the batteries. The toes are backed by a small ‘heel’ that allows it to stand proudly on two feet without relying on its tail for support – eat your heart out, Papo. In contrast to the somewhat slimmer Thrasher, this Tyrannosaurus is convincingly barrel-chested and powerful in appearance – ready to chase  Jeff ‘Must Go Faster’ Goldblum and cohorts into the jungle.

The mightiest carnivore ever known for having thunder thighs.

This toy is a must-have for Jurassic Park fans of course, as in spite of the occasional oddly-proportioned body part and those jutting arms it really does look good sitting on a shelf. Its sheer size combined with the quality of the sculpt see to that. For palaeontologists and others who are ABSOLUTELY SICK TO BLOODY DEATH OF HEARING ABOUT JURASSIC PARK, THANKS, there really isn’t a lot to offer, although I would point out that it’s a very common figure that, because the electronics are broken more often than not, changes hands at very affordable prices. Besides which crimson red is a very cool and too often neglected colouration for giant theropod dinosaurs.

"If it's not Jurassic Park, it's extinct!"

Should you now be old and unfortunate enough to have sproglings of your own, this will make a great gift for them as its soft skin and flexible jaws make it highly playable even without the electronics – and kids always love huge dinosaur toys. Just beware that it can’t be handled too roughly over too long a period, as the torn stuffing-leaking neck on my childhood copy (RIP) will attest.

The Jurassic Park Tyrannosaurus rex – pleasing children of all ages and eating lawyers since 1993. What’s not to love?

Often available on eBay here

Review and photos by Rugops

Allosaurus is one the most popular dinosaurs ever. Because of this it has appeared in many different sculpts, one of them being this model from 1996. The body, neck, and head are made of rigid plastic, while the arms, lower legs, and tail are made of softer, slightly pliable plastic. The skin has wrinkles, and a series of small bumps run along the back of the model.

The arms are not very detailed and the hand has short round fingers with small claws. The hands lack the enlarged thumb claws that the real animal had. The feet are poorly detailed with very small toe claws, and the right leg is slightly bent inward. The end half of the tail curves downward to form an unfortunate tripod stance, although it can, with some coaxing, stand on its own two feet.

The head is the best part of the model, being fairly accurate and large. The crests are very pronounced, and painted in a milky red color that makes them stand out. Its teeth are nothing special, individual but very small, and there is a tongue roughly sculpted inside the mouth. There are four different little black holes that are ears and nostrils. On either side of the back of the head are to protrusions painted milky red like the crests. Yellow is the overall color on the Allosaur. The underside is tan, and the throat is brownish. There are light blue gray stripes and dots running down the back of the model.

Comparison between the two versions of Wild Safari Allosaurus

 Compared to the new Wild Safari Allosaurus the old one is much more heavily built, and not as streamlined, favoring the Walking With Dinosaur version in its proportions.  Both versions are around the same overall length (about 16 cm). This figure is a lot of fun to look at, and I recommend it to anyone who likes Allosaurus.

Available on eBay here

Perhaps best known for their prehistoric mammals, Bullyland of Germany has been taking gradual steps to improve their line of dinosaur figures. Few figures exemplify this better than their latest version of Iguanodon, released in 2010.

Happily plodding on all fours, this gentle giant actually treads in the realm of action figures with an articulated left forearm. Although this results in a prominent seam, it shouldn’t turn away collectors looking for an exciting new rendition of the famous herbivore. The obvious impression one might receive, as Randy Knoll points out, is that Bullyland is emulating the playability of the Papo dinosaurs. Since it may prove costly to compete with Papo’s level of sculptural detail, Bullyland seems to favor the flashier paint schemes. This Iguanodon’s orange and green ornamentation certainly jumps out in any display or collection, even among its Bullyland kin (though the color combination does bear a strong resemblance to Bullyland’s Stegosaurus).

Tragically, Iguanodon has rarely been considered worthy of articulation or “action figure” status – at least since Disney’s heavily merchandised “Dinosaur” film. Even among the plethora of Jurassic Park figures that have been produced, no Iguanodon “action” toy could be found. This historically important species is often regarded as too plain or boring to deserve much attention from manufacturers, but the vivid tropical patterns on this figure seem to slap those assumptions in the face. He is back, and ready to stab you with his thumbs.

At 21 centimeters long, he fits in pretty well within collector displays. The alert stance is also somewhat difficult to come by in iguanodont reconstructions, so this figure’s dynamic posture also should provide good diorama potential. The articulated forearm is held off the ground, as is the tail. Positioned correctly, he even seems to be thrusting his fingers into the camera, as though rehearsing a hip-hop music video. The tongue is visible within the cheeked jaw, and the pupil glistens slightly – often a problematic area in other Bullyland dinosaurs.

Although the textural details could be a bit finer, this Iguanodon is easily one of Bullyland’s best dinosaurs. The beautiful balance of authenticity, playability, and aesthetic refinement make him worth the attention of collectors young and old.

Available on eBay here