The Dinosaur Toy Blog

I guess it is time for a review of Bullyland Deinotherium.
It is a highly sought after figure, not yet a myth, but quite close. This is due to the relatively little number of Deinotheriums that have been produced and delivered.
Deinotherium (“terrible beast”) was a large prehistoric relative of modern-day elephants that appeared in the Middle Miocene and continued until the Early Pleistocene. Bones of at least three different subspecies have been found in Erurope, Africa and Asia. In life, it probably resembled modern elephants, except that its trunk was shorter, and it had downward curving tusks attached to the lower jaw. The tusks may have served as tools for abrading the nourishing barks off the trees.

Bullyland always made fantastic mammal figures, and their Deinotherium makes no exception. It is a heavy and massive figure, measuring 11cm in height and 21cm in length. Its sculpt looks like a monument. I can´t deny the charm of the figure; it is a proud bull caught in a protruding walking pose. It is, however, probably not scientifically correct. In the original skeleton, the back declines more than the Bullyland version reveals.

The reconstructions of the animal vary from rather slender to really fat and hippo – style. Bullyland took the golden middle – massive legs and feet on the one side, obvious ribs on the other. The ears are a matter of discussion, too. Were they as big as the ears of an elephant or were they smaller? The Bullylands version tries a compromise that is not that good: The ears do not really seem to fit to the rest of the overall look of the figure. Sorry, they remind me of the ears of an aardvark. But this is the only downer, really. Maybe the feet are a little too massive, too.

Unfortunately Bullyland paint uses to wear off quite quickly. My Deinotherium probably had a long slumber in a toy chest and has been moved very often while the child looked for other toys, and collided with other figures, toys or even sharp objects.
Some collectors thus decided to do fantastic repaints. You find those in our forum. As for me, I love the worn-off style of my own copy, showing it had a life before my cabinet episode. The toy chests and children who underestimate the value of the figure are the chance for collectors. Sometimes Bullyland Deinotherium shows up in lots with other animals, also recent ones. People then seem to consider it an elephant.
I bought mine on ebay, where a seller wrote “Dinotherium”. It was a snip compared to the value this great figure seems to have.

Most of the dinosaurs Larami released in the 1990s were more or less decent copies of Invicta originals, made of vinyl. Three animals did not base on Invicta originals: A Styracosaurus, a Parasaurolophus and the reviewed Ankylosaurus.
I probably don´t promise too much when I say this is one of the ugliest animals that have ever been reviewed here. Honestly, it does not even deserve the description “Ankylosaurus” and seems to be better of in the “Plasticosauria” blog. Should any dinosaur species ever have served as an original, it was Polacanthus rather than Anklyosaurus.

Let´s get factual anyway: We see a figure that is 11 cm long and 2,5 cm tall. Its colours vary from green, grey and black. It does not have a neck or a real tail. All bodyparts unite to one big bizarre sculpt that looks like a blend of a turtle, an armadillo and a hunch of an Ankylosaur.
A closer look at our figure can only lead to two conclusions: Either the sculptor was drunk or there was not any sculptor at all and it arose directly from a strange nightmare of a chinese guy who didn´t have the slightest interest in correct dinosaurs. He accidently stumbled upon a Yale mural picture and said “wow, I can make a figure from that painting”. Or he wanted to make a bigger version of the Marx version. But he failed. No club at the end of the tail, the feet are a mess and the skin and armor detail is poor. And look at the head! It seems to smile or have a lower jaw overbite (or the “lower jaw” even is a molding seam…)

Only its mother can love it – and of course plasticosauria and libraraptor, who have a big heart for animals like these and give them a refugee.

Megatherium is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals. The last Megatherium died somewhere at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, only 10000 years ago. Even hair and feces of this 6m long giant sloth have been found in caves in South America.
As a toy or figure, Megatherium is depicted quite often. For example Schleich has made a decent version, Starlux from France, too. Miller released both a small and a big version in the 1950s. And of course Marx, the grandfathers of all museum lines.
Our VEB Plaho / Marolin (I still can´t tell. The Plahos are older, release began in the 1960s, Marolin rereleased them in the 1990s, but I don´t have an idea how to tell them, maybe someone of you does.) Megatherium stands upright, browsing an imaginate tree, holding a branch. In Cain´s and Frederick´s dinosaur collectibles book you can see such a tree, reminding at a palm.

The figure is 9 cm tall and 5,5 cm long, which is funny, because on pictures the figures always seem to be bigger due to their nostalgic, clumsy look.
Yet another feature of the Megatherium contributes to the nostalgic feel of the figure: Its golden patina that covers the grey basic sculpt like powder. I´m not sure if the figure was completly golden and wore off over the decades, or if the company did that on puropse. The other color the figure shows up is red for the opened mouth. The eyes are yellow with a black pupil.

VEB Plaho / Marolin prehistoric animal figures have their very own look and feel and one likes it or not. For me this isn´t difficult, for I like figures that represent the flavor of their time. My Megatherium showed up in a lot with Chinsaurs at a flea market, where I bought it for 50 cents, but this only happens to you in Germany – when you are very, very lucky. At September 18th I saw a “buy it now” – offer of the Marolin one (I could tell that because it was offered in its original packaging.) for 165€ (noone bought it there). In all other countries you must be very lucky to get one on ebay. Good luck!

Andrewsarchus, the interesting (in terms of its discovery, its size, its habits and its look) large basal mesonychid from the Eocene epoch is rarely depicted by toy lines. Safari and Bullyland are the only companies that released it as a commonly available toy figure. Kaiyodo made a small one from plastic, and there is a tin version from Mega Miniatures.
I like the Bullyland version very much. A credible pose, showing the animal prowling and watching out for prey (or intimidating an opponent by snarling) and great proportions make it irresistible. And it looks evil! It is snarling. Although this evilness changes into silliness when you look at the head from its very front.

Then Andrewsarchus seems to peer and looks like the big wolf from the story of the three little pigs.
It is obvious to colour an animal that probably resembled recent lions or tigers tan and brown. And it is also obvious to provide it with a mane at the long neck. Dark dotty stripes at the flanks may have served as camouflage. This Andrewsarchus looks like a bastard between a boar, a bear and a tiger, which is probably very close to its appearance in real life.

Bullyland Andrewsarchus is a good choice for every collector and shows up on ebay quite often for reasonable prices.