Prehistoric reptile – Fauna Figures

FigureFocus 321 Character Options Primeval Coelurosauravus

Well here's a weird one. Fans of prehistoric TV and movies might remember the BBC show "Primeval" but at this point it's pretty niche. Even more niche is that for a brief while a few of the characters (human and animal) were made as toys! They were pretty obscure even in the initial run, most likely released only in the UK or maybe parts of Europe. Anyway, the series focused on 'anomalies' where portals between time periods brought prehistoric organisms…

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October 3, 2022

FigureFocus / FigureTales

FigureFocus 301 CollectA Elasmosaurus

I'm going to take a quick look at one of my more recent figures today, and easily one of my hidden favorites--the recent CollectA Elasmosaurus from their standard figures line. It may be from the 'standard' or popular series, but it has the quality of a deluxe to me. The figure was released in summer 2021, so very recent, as number 88922. Some wide shots of the figure. It's pretty long, so it's hard to fit into a picture. But…

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May 9, 2022

Shelf Stories

Vault Tales 256 – Shelf Profile – Dinosaur/Prehistoric Toy Highlights

So, today it's another visit to the shelves...I can't believe that the last time I did one of these was over 200 posts ago! I have a lot of shelves, one would think the Random Number Generator would have hit one again. But here we are, and this one features fewer figures, all officially toys, but not really ones that I would personally play with... And it's still pretty crowded! As seen in the banner photo, we have two sides…

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October 21, 2021

FigureTales / Run the Set

Vault Tales 241 Run the Set Unknown Dino Egg Dinosaurs

Well, this is a weird little set of prehistoric animals. Small, rubbery, and with very, very...limited styling. It's the kind of set that doesn't really fit with what I'd normally collect. But sometimes there are reasons. I think this'll be a brief post! A few different ceratopsians. There are no names given, but they likely represent Protoceratops, Triceratops and Centrosaurus (probably meant as Monoclonius originally). These little figures have probably shown up in a whole lot of different sets and…

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August 30, 2021

FigureTales / Run the Set

Vault Tales 240 Run the Set CollectA Prehistoric Marine Animals MiniBox

Staying with the sets, although this is the first one in some time that isn't Japanese! It's a more recent one from CollectA, the Prehistoric Marine mini box. CollectA item number A1104, it was released in 2017. The only figures that were already part of the CollectA prehistoric figures lines. On the left, the only widely available), in the centre a Temnodontosaurus, and on the right, a small Dunkleosteus It was super exciting when CollectA first announced they would release…

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August 26, 2021

FigureTales / Run the Set

Vault Tales 231 Run the Set Kaiyodo UHA Chocolasaurs Dinotales Series 1 PART 1

Part 1 - The Mesozoic Figures! That's right--as the title suggests, I am going to be looking at the full run of the Series 1 Dinotales line, the one that started it all! I have looked at various individual Dinotales figures before of course, but I don't think I tackled a full complete set. And it turns out, with at least 25 figures that gets a little daunting. Because unlike some sets, Dinotales deserve at least a little more time…

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July 26, 2021

FigureFocus / FigureTales

Vault Tales 229 Bullyland Batrachotomus

It's been a while, but this week is going to be a couple of Figure Focus posts! No particular reason, it just worked out that way. But they are link in interesting ways--large, carnivorous beasts that predate dinosaurs...figures that represent animals not often seen. Figures that weren't especially easy to get, and are way harder to get now...enough about that. The first figure...was name in the title, so not a surprise! The Bullyland Batrachotomus. This is a scaly, active beast.…

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July 19, 2021

FigureTales / Run the Set

Vault Tales 223 Run the Set Kaiyodo CapsuleQ Excavation Dinosaurs of Japan

So, we revisit Kaiyodo capsule figures once again. This time they are not truly Dinotales but are obviously the heirs to that wonderful and sorely missed line. This is part of the newer type of Kaiyodo figure, the CapsuleQ gashapon figures. And they're pretty great--five figures based on fossil animals found in Japan; or at least species related to Japanese material. This is very different to previous Kaiyodo prehistoric series, and I think might have related to a exhibition of…

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June 28, 2021

Clades & Grades / FigureTales

Vault Tales 220 Clades – Macronychoptera

Today, I'm going to tackle another one of these 'clades', or really more of a 'grade'. In this case, a group among one of the most popular and well-known prehistoric reptiles, the pterosaurs. As a group, it's probably one of the most distinctive...it's reptiles, specifically archosaurs, that are evolved to fly. It's hard to say much about them, everyone knows what a pterosaur is! As a group, they showed up in the late Triassic, although fossil ancestors aren't known--maybe due…

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June 17, 2021

FigureFocus / FigureTales / Run the Set

Vault Tales 218 Shapeways 1:20 Champsosaurus

So today is going to be a bit of a set, and at the same time a review of a single figure. Because it's only available that way (like getting multiple copies of the same figure, maybe in different poses...like this Eryops) . But this time, it's a variety of Champsosaurus from Shapeways, at 1:20 scale! The first two poses. The figures are a bit skinny looking, and very terrestrial. It would have been nice if even one was depicted…

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June 10, 2021

FigureFrenzy / FigureTales

Vault Tales 210 FigureFrenzy Anaconda, Salamander, Eryops, Stagonolepis

We've got four figures today, which can best be regarded as...united by being 'herpetiles', a broad informal word usually meant to refer to 'reptiles' and 'amphibians'. Which are themselves kind of informal but anyway...there's a whole bunch of animals that really aren't connected by much. Other than they're all really nice figures in different ways. CollectA Green Anaconda Easily one of the most active and dynamic Green Anaconda figures. It's tricky to know the scale due to the many curls…

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May 13, 2021

FigureFrenzy / FigureTales

Vault Tales 201 FigureFrenzy Apatosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Saurosuchus, Concavenator, Belemnites

Another bunch of figures today, all prehistoric ones! And a wide range of them...the funny part is that the largest figure is the smallest (and the only not-reptile!) And a strange assortment of brands and styles! CollectA MiniBox A1102 Apatosaurus One of those classic dinosaur figures, this was the first Apatosaurus made by CollectA for their mini box sets. It's about 1:192, so that man is way too large (it's all I have!). First up we have one of the…

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April 12, 2021