The Dinosaur Toy Blog

If you’re a regular reader of Prehistoric Times magazine, you’ve probably noticed the prime ad space that always seems to be occupied by Dinostoreus. This is a good thing, though. In addition to supporting such a great publication, Dinostoreus really embodies the mature aesthetic and academic priority of the seasoned dinosaur enthusiast. Sure, the fleshed-on models are bound to look a little dated as time plods along, but most of their replicas are based on good ol’ fashioned fossils. Skulls aren’t likely to change much as new information comes to light – at least not as much as a fully fleshed reconstruction – and this makes them more of an iconic collectible, something that will withstand the test of time.

Straddling the borders of fossil evidence and artistic reconstruction are the coveted skeletal models. These fall within the higher price range of the Dinostoreus line, as well as the most fragile of the bunch. Their size allows each bone to stand out as an identifiable piece of the animal’s biological framework, making them useful for educational purposes and certainly satisfying collectors looking for something better than the dime-shop glow-in-the-dark plastic skeleton toys. My particular interest often drifts to the mighty Allosaurus fragilis, a staple of the Jurassic North American stage.

With this model, one can clearly recognize the most distinctive attributes of the animal. The high lacrimal crests, the hatchet shaped skull, the elegant length of the tail, and the powerful, inward-facing forearms are all present and accounted for. Since the reconstruction bears no flesh, there is no quibbling about speculative neck wattles or spiky adornments. It is simply Allosaurus as we know her, and as she might well appear in a museum mount.

The model is centered by a sturdy rod, held in the center of the wooden base. The standard name plate is present, of course. Just peel off the protective sticker, and you’re good to go. That being said, removing this delicate beauty from the box can be an adventure on its own, slowly unsheathing the silent beast from its styrofoam bedding, which is admirably buffered within the box by soft foam padding. This particular model even came with a full page of instruction, offering tips on how to safely remove the model from its protective shell. Not even Sideshow has offered such a courtesy for their models.

An excellent quality of movement is conveyed with the uplifted foot, suggesting a running pose. This would actually be difficult for a mass-produced model to pull off, but luckily, this piece takes full advantage of that solid central support rod. Some may find it distracting, but I honestly found it less cluttered-looking than a museum display. The “grounded” foot actually hovers just a few millimeters above the wooden base, presumably to prevent abrasive damage, and further cushioned by a bit of foam padding in the original packaging.

Since this replica isn’t too big – about 20 inches in length and 1:20 scale – it seems to get away with having the teeth all banded together. Separating them would have surely resulted in too many breaking off. The skull itself looks nice, and the varied shades of brown and green help add depth and interest to what might have a very bland arrangement of bones.

In the event of breakage, many repairs can be performed with standard superglue treatment. The Allosaurus is actually relatively small among other Dinostoreus skeleton models, making it a fairly affordable way to treat oneself – and I’ve been told it’s one of the sturdiest of the bunch. Like the skull models, these pieces have the “adult” feel if you’re worried others may ridicule your interest in dinosaurs. As if that’s ever happened.

There is much to be said of the distinction between toy and model. For some, it represents a leap from the child’s plaything to the adult collectible. Others may note the significant difference in price range. Of course, getting to see an artist’s uncompromising vision of a prehistoric world is exciting as well, and few mass produced pieces tend to deliver such a vision. That’s where Malcom comes in.

Malcom Mlodoch’s Fauna Casts are quite different from what we’re accustomed to seeing in the dinosaur collectible market. Like other resin model makers, his works are sculpted by hand. Yet with most resin kits, the product is typically unpainted and dissembled. The Fauna Casts usually need nothing more than a simple mounting upon a base. They ship fully painted by the artist himself. This hand-painted technique ensures each piece is distinctive, while echoing the kitschy aura of an older toy.

Allosaurus mount at the American Museum of Natural History

This classic approach is contrasted by the design process itself, which is a bit unconventional. Instead of relying on outdated information to construct an old-fashioned dinosaur collectible, Malcom has collaborated with members of the Dinosaur Toy Forum to ensure the accuracy is as high as possible. This also affords an opportunity to depict the animals in a way that toy manufacturers dare not venture. This could mean something naturalistic, such an Allosaurus at rest, scratching itself (as Malcom has suggested). This could also mean something far gorier than what we’re accustomed to seeing. In fact, if you’re reading this review, chances are good your eye was drawn to the photo bearing great bloody masses of crimson flesh.

Zallinger's 1947 "The Age of Reptiles" mural (top) and Knight's 1919 painting (bottom) of an Allosaurus feeding on a carcass

Thanks to the iconic paleoimagery of artists like Knight and Zallinger, the image of an Allosaurus feeding on a carcass has been heavily cemented in our minds. Malcom’s reconstruction of this scene incorporates all of the latest paleontological research. Note the proper positioning of the forearms, and the upward orientation of the tail, which is not seen in older depictions.

Also of note is the sauropod carcass itself. In the older work, there appears to be minimal use of the color red. This might be attributed to the relatively sensitive nature of the audience at the time, which the artists were no doubt forced to consider in this era preceding the R-rated film. Whatever the reason, these animals appeared to be chewing on either an ambiguous, pizza-dough like mass or a neat little skeleton that appears to have already been picked clean. Not so with Malcom’s sculpture. Bits of white paint help to distinguish the recognizable outline of the animal’s skeleton. However, the carcass is still loaded with precious calories. Flesh and tendon aplenty, there is enough here to satisfy the most ravenous carnivore (or gore-loving collector, at least). Malcom has even coated it in a lovely layer of sheen, providing that fresh, glistening appearance you can’t even find in your local butcher shop.

While this piece initially had a yellow-colored base, it would later change to a darker, muddier landscape dusted with moss. Malcom says this sort of change does occur from time to time, and this variation could lend additional collector appeal. It could also be considered a true maquette, since it would be later scaled up to produce a larger version of the model.

“I had intended this to be the first of a pack of allos tearing up and eating the carcass; others would have other hunks of the carcass, although this guy has the bulk of the carcass.”

-Malcom Mlodoch

The darker base color is also nice because it echoes the color of the predator in the scene. An apex predator like this would likely blend into its environment whenever possible. The use of a full black body with yellow eyes is also quite striking, and strongly resembles the modern black panther. The snout and limbs are caked with gore as well, making the scene feel more alive – stare long enough, and you can almost see it move, twisting and wrenching flesh from bone. The use of every limb to feed is especially nice, with the leg pinning the carcass like a modern bird, and the pulling action recalls the feeding Carnotaurus model that Tony McVey crafted some years ago.

At 9 inches in length and crafted at 1:40 scale, it has great compatibility within already-existing prehistoric collections. Much of Malcom’s Fauna Cast line is expected to follow in this scale, making it one of the few existing lines to do so.

Available here.

Review by Gwangi

If your average person were hard pressed to name every dinosaur that came to mind we all know the names that would crop up; Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and since 1993…Velociraptor. I can’t think of many genera that achieved so much fame so fast, at least not since the so called golden age of paleontology in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s when most well known dinosaurs were discovered. Jurassic Park was responsible for launching the entire Dromaeosaurid clan into stardom but Jurassic Park was not the first to portray these creatures in popular culture, nor the first to produce merchandise depicting the infamous Maniraptorans.

As a child of the late 80’s I like so many of my fellow blog readers paid witness to the short lived Dino-Riders cartoon and their action figure counterparts, the show actually having been created in order to promote the toy line. The show itself was pretty awful but I was five and easy to please. I had many fond memories of the show and the toys as well. One of the toys was the Deinonychus…my first introduction to the Dromaeosaur branch of the dinosaur family tree. It was nothing special when I first received it but than again, I couldn’t foresee Jurassic Park’s raptors only six years away. Once Spielberg’s movie came out I had raptor fever and my Tyco Deinonychus was always getting into trouble alongside my JP Velociraptor.

The Tyco line is an interesting one that far surpassed the television show in terms of quality. So impressive and accurate (for the time) were the dinosaurs that the Smithsonian repackaged them without all the weapons and armor as a respectable line of dinosaur figures. Famed artist William Stout is the person credited with designing the toys, according to the Wikipedia page anyway. The Deinonychus toy in particular is quite unique and I feel represents an interesting period in time when we didn’t quite know what kind of animal we were dealing with. It seems that despite the bird-like qualities of the actual animal people were dead set on the dinosaurs-are-reptiles mentality. Many old Deinonychus reconstructions were done this way; they show a bird-like animal turned reptile. We now know these animals were as much unlike reptiles as modern birds are but at the time people just didn’t know what to make of it. This makes not only featherless Dromaeosaurs amusing to us now but the older pre-JP interpretations even more amusing. It was as if it took JP to teach us what these animals looked like…even if it too ended up being wrong. If you really want to see an interesting pre-JP Dromaeosaur check out the one put out by AAA.

It should go without saying that the Tyco Deinonychus has its inaccuracies, a lot of them. I don’t really want to get into the specifics because we all know what they are. Aside from the glaring and obvious inaccuracies the toy suffers from all kinds of other anatomical and proportional issues as well. I’m sure some of the accuracy was compromised so the thing could stand upright with all its gear and rider. About the only thing accurate with this thing is the tail, held out stiff from the body. That does not mean the figure is a bad one. It was made after all during a time when we really did not know what these animals were, or we did but refused to accept it. This figure is capable of standing on two legs, albeit on two very strange looking clubbed feet. It looks fast and agile, even the action feature suggests as much, when you press the button on the back the toy’s legs kick back and forth in a comical fashion. The arms move too, the hands aside from being pronated are quite small as well. The head on the creature is actually kind of cute. The pointed mouth is a prefect triangle shape and has several little blunt teeth painted white. The eyes are yellow with black pupils. Rather than paint the eyes on like many companies do the makers of this and other Tyco dinosaurs gave the figures little beads instead which bring a lot of life to the line. The body of this Deinonychus is covered with nicely textured scales over the entire body, never mind that there should be feathers there instead. Where color is concerned the figure is mostly brown with grey coloration dorsally that forms stripes over the side. The brown fades pale on the underside.

In the end what we’re left with is a nicely made retro representation of a now famous and well know dinosaur. It offers if nothing else a window into a time before these animals were the well known cultural icons they are today. If you want to find one you may have some difficulty, they have been out of production for a long time and are highly collectable. Your best bet is eBay and with some patience and luck you might be able to find one cheap in a lot like I did or just pay the extra cash to get one sold by itself.

Photos by Dan and Jeremy

However vast and complicated cyberspace may be, I would say that the Dinosaur Toy Forum did more than any other website to revitalize my interest in this subject. It was here that I first heard of the sculptor named Shane Foulkes. People spoke of him with an odd kind of reverence, as though he was some divine entity with the power to bring dinosaurs back to life. A quick visit to his website made it abundantly clear to me that this was no exaggeration. Thoroughly researched reconstructions, fluid sculpts, and meticulous attention to detail made these resin models seem like real animals. Nothing I could recall came so close to this level of realism; not even the Museum of Natural History had anything quite so spectacular in its exhibit.

Exactly how it came to pass that Shane sold his work in my own humble shop is a pretty interesting story, but not something I’ll delve into at the moment. All that matters right now is Allosaurus. Chances are good that you remember your first encounter with Allosaurus. In size, it didn’t quite reach the proportions of T.rex, but it was leaner, quicker, and its forearms were a heck of a lot more impressive. The morphological differences seem obvious as your base of knowledge grows, but these are probably among the main attributes that made Allosaurus stand out in the coloring books of your  childhood years – the “halcyon days,” as Marc might say. This was a dinosaur that stuck with me, and I jumped at the chance to own a miniature monument to Allosaurus as created by the master Shane Foulkes.

Aside from the sheer quality of his work, Shane is also known for creating many of these models at 1:15 scale. Highly dedicated collectors may therefore arrange Shane’s models together for a truly staggering exhibit. This generous scale grants his Allosaurus a total length of 26 inches once assembled. The resin kit comes in 11 pieces and includes a naturalistic gravelly base.

If you’re like me, you may not have the skills or experience to build and paint one of these kits on your own. That’s no problem, because you can always pay to have an expert artist finish the job for you. For my personal buildup, the great Steve Riojas came into play. Steve regularly collaborates with top-tier talent like Shane Foulkes; his work can also be seen in the life-size creations of CM Studios, and Sideshow’s Dinosauria collection.

Steve explained to me that he puts careful thought into the paint design used for a particular species, and often sticks to the design if he feels it works well enough. Fans of Sideshow’s Dinosauria will recognize this paint scheme from the Allosaurus vs. Camarasaurus diorama. A showy orange highlights the lacrimal crests. The body is predominantly grey with a pinkish flush toward the anterior, and slightly darker stripes down the tail to break up the animal’s outline. This would keep the predator hidden among the Jurassic foliage, until the perfect moment strikes. That moment appears to be the focus of this sculpture.

It is this moment of action in which the Allosaurus is immortalized. The high-speed charge is seen in many reconstructions of theropods, and the reason is simple: people love it. This menacing posture is a far cry from the recently retired Allosaurus that Shane sculpted for Dinostoreus years ago. The sight of a massive carnivore, charging forward with jaws of deadly teeth exposed, speaks to our most primal instinct. Millions of years ago, this very sight would set our ancestors’ hair on end, and there can be little doubt of the exhilaration drawn from even this frozen simulation of such a scene.

Shane was kind enough to make some additional enhancements to my buildup, such as the delicate faux-flora on the base. Bright and springy, these little plants add a lot of realism that just can’t be found in mass-produced products. One plant seems to be a split second away from getting crushed under the carnivore’s frantic footing. The earthy surface is also decorated with mossy bits and a broken log. This base isn’t just a bland platform to stand the character upon; it’s a glimpse of a living ecosystem, and it looks completely real.

Buildup by Martin Garratt

A second buildup by Martin Garratt

The scutes appear in three rows on the neck, four at the flank, and two along the tail. Shane has also framed the head with rows of scutes, which not only provide a cool aesthetic touch, but also make sense for an animal that probably took regular beatings around its face. By and large, Shane’s reconstructions do not bear multitudes of dangling bits and bristles. This predator is streamlined to keep drag low, and maximize speed. The muscles are tight around the juicy drumstick, and the barrel chest is just bursting with a bird-like power.

The big, divergent thumbs on the forearms exemplify the great research that Shane conducts for these reconstructions. The resin medium allows many details to be conveyed with greater fidelity, and the hooked claws of this Allosaurus are a rare treat. They are truly sharp meat hooks that one can easily envision grasping and grappling with desperate prey.

The first buildup Steve created was premiered at Wonderfest 2011. Surrounded by many of Shane’s other pieces, it still managed to stand out and win over the hearts of many attendees. The basic color pattern is nearly identical, though sharp observers will notice the eyes are a different color from those used in my own buildup.

Even among the very best figures on the market today, none manage to accurately convey the power and grace of this animal in a full run the way this reconstruction does. If resin models are within your budget, this is a great way to take the plunge into a more mature recreation of the prehistoric world. It’s hard to resist the allure of Allosaurus.

Available here.