Well, thanks to the ol’ Random Number Generator, I ended up with figures that will all be presented in some kind of pair (one because, well, I am making it one…you’ll see). So we will see a couple of mediocre Mattel figures, and then some far more interesting ones. All prehistoric today though!
Hasbro Jurassic World mini Pachycephalosaurus (pair)
Let’s start with the aggressively fine figures…back when Jurassic World came out, many of us were excited to see what figures would come out. It turned out that Hasbro wasn’t…great at it. One of the most interesting things was the mini figures that were released (at least, interesting to me). This pair of Pachycephalosaurus are just one of the models–as it was, every figure was released in three different colour schemes. I have two…the green and the red. I wasn’t about to keep searching for the third; most of them came from blind bags, and I wasn’t going to go crazy looking for all of them. As for the model itself, well, it’s a Pachycephalosaurus. It more or less looks like a skinny version of one. Definitely a Jurassic Park/World style dinosaur.
Hasbro Jurassic World mini Triceratops (pair)
And to follow up, we have a pair of Triceratops figures from the same sets of Jurassic World mini figures! This time, the grey and the green version (like the Pachycephalosaurus, I don’t actually know what the other colour is). As with the pachycephalosaur, these figures are obviously what they are, and are clearly Jurassic Park/World style. They are fine, probably better as toys than display models (mine are not on display). We actually have lots of the different figures from the series around the house–the kids were big fans of these little figures as well. Still, the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom mini figures that are sporadically available now are better made (it’s relative) and actually available; these earlier models are generally not around anymore.
Safari Ltd Cycad
Okay, on to better figures! First, from the Safari Ltd Prehistoric Landscapes series, their Cycad figure, number 301429. Released as part of a small series of prehistoric plants by Safari in 2010 to act as scenery enhancements for their prehistoric animals. This cycad is the middle-sized one, and is a fairly nice figure of a prehistoric plant, a group that is not represented very often (except with cheap sets that seem to need to include palm trees…insert sigh here). The figure has some issues–like that extended central stem, and a branched base, since that’s not usually a cycad thing. They also didn’t really make the species or associated time period very clear; this isn’t unusual for Safari, but I suppose that it does allow the figure to stand in for different time periods. Of course, the figure went out of production in about 2014, which is too bad. I honestly don’t know how hard it would be to find one, but maybe worth a look.
Takara TOMY Dinosaur Expo 2011 Mawsonia + Spinosaurus
Finally, we have a figure from Takara, produced for Dino Expo 2011. For at least this and the next year, Takara appeared to be the provider of figures for Dino Expos (one of the 2012 figures was seen here). In this series, the figures were displayed on black plinth-like bases, with the names listed on a gold tag; this one is special as it features two species, the obvious Spinosaurus aegypticus, and the smaller coelacanth Mawsonia lavocati. For the time, the Spinosaurus model was about as accurate as we could expect (very similar to the large Carnegie model that was released around that time), but well made. The material of the models is a little weak; my photos show a dinosaur leaning over, but that’s because the PVS-like material is very soft and can’t seem to keep the figure upright (and it is not particularly heavy).
Really, though, I was more interested in the Mawsonia figure, as it’s unusual to see it made in any form (most models are associated with Onchopristis these days). The figure of this fish is pretty decent, although it would be nice if it could be separated cleanly. The fish is attached to the lower jaw, which is a separate and removable piece. Maybe it could be separated, but it would be damaged. And given that this figure has not been produced for 10 years…it is hard to find, and fairly expensive. Maybe if I had thought of this back at the time when it was originally available, but it probably won’t happen now. If you can find one it’s kind of interesting (at least for the coelacanth) but not sure how successful that could be.
