Vault Tales 208 Run the Set Yowies Lost Kingdom B

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So I am doing another set, and this time it is the figures that I have from the Yowies Lost Kingdom B series. Released in the early 2000s, there were 30 models in total, I believe all based on fossil material subfossil material from Australia or New Zealand (just like series A). Unlike some of the Yowies series that I looked at before, I have a better representation of this one, with 15 out of the 30 figures. Most were directly sought after, although it is possible that a couple may have been part of larger lots and I just couldn’t part with them.

Seeing as I have gone over a few of the figures before, I am just going to look at them based on approximate geologic age. On the left, the Cambrian and Precambrian figures,the radiodont **Anomalocaris**, the cnidarian-like ediacaran animal **Mawsonites**, and the mollusc? **Wiwaxia**. In the centre, the Orodovician pteraspidimorph **Arandaspis** and the **‘Straight-shelled Cephalopod**‘, probably **Batroceras** (not named, but based on locale and size). On the right, the Devonian arthrodire placoderms **Mcnamaraspis** and **Rolfosteus,** named as the **Gogo Tube Nosed fish**.

One thing about the use of Australian fossil material–given the time that these were produced, many of the species, especially dinosaurs, were charitably ‘fragmentary’ which meant a lot of assumptions were made about what they represent. And from what I can find…one may be based on tracks alone. But it did mean an early Wuerhosaurus model so no complaints. Also, sometimes the series didn’t actually name the figures to species or even genus. Sometimes, it’s because there’s a ‘common’ name to associate with it, but sometimes it’s because the species hadn’t been described yet–in the case of the “Giralia pterosaur” I am not sure if it even has now.

Next up, the Permian and Triassic. One the left the Triassic ‘**Coiled-Toothed shark**‘, the eugeneodontid **Helicoprion** (looked at more closely here); on the right, the Triassic **Deltasaurus** (the amphibian) and the horseshoe crab **Dubbolimulus**

The Lost Kingdom B series was especially interesting due to the broad range of geologic periods it represents; even with only half the figures, they range from the early Palaeozoic to the early Cenozoic. And the taxonomic range is all over the place…a variety of invertebrates, fishes, reptiles, and even a few odd mammals and birds. There still isn’t a range of figures like this again.

Some later eras. The left and centre are from the Cretaceous. On the left from terrestrial biomes, the ornithischian **Atlascopcosaurus**, the ‘stegosaur’ which appears to be modelled on **Wuerhosaurus**, and the undescribed ~azdharchid like **Giralia pterosaur**. In the centre, the marine animals, the elasmosaur **Mauisaurus**, the ‘New Zealand mosasaur’ **Moanasaurus** (originally labelled RIkisaurus, described in more detail here), the ‘**Imperial Ammonite**‘ AKA **Tropaeum**, and the **Eric the Pliosaur** the leptocleidid **Umoonasaurus**. Finally, from the Palaeogene, **Mammalodon**, labelled as ‘**Fossil whale**‘, which was recently looked at here

I have discussed the Yowies many times before, so I won’t go into details again. Except to lament that they are of course discontinued, and mostly only found through sources in Australia. But they are worth the expense (including the postage cost) just to round out your collection. Also, I just noticed that the set includes Kollikodon, a weird Cretaceous mammal…so even my hunt might not be quite over!

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