The Dinosaur Toys Collectors Guide Blog

The Dinosaur Toys Collectors Guide blog is the ongoing chronicle of the Dinosaur Toys Story, using my own collection for illustration. This is a picture-encyclopedia of Dinosaur toys since the mid-1940s. It will aid collectors in recognition and everyone in finding, recognizing and purchasing appropriate Dinosaur toys for themselves, their children and their friends. Just click on the "orange button" to painlessly subscribe.

Sep 2, 2010, Georgeosaurus Not (Or: Can't See the Forest Because There Aren't Any Trees.)

The 2008 Safari Ltd (opens new window) Dilophosaurus (a close relative in a number of ways to the 2010 Carnegie Collection Cryolophosaurus) has this look about him (to my eyes) of the stereotypical 1950s juvenile delinquent. (Dates me, doesn't it?) One might expect to see them in t-shirts with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeves.

"Tree? I don't know what happened to your precious tree. Hey! Gotta light?"

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Sep 1, 2010, Rexford Goes to Sea. Or Not

"Oh Noooo, not again!"

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

"Caw?"

Once again we have a theory about the extinction of the Dinosaurs. This, a somewhat theological one. Below we see the first attempted launch of "the ark" which was meant to save everyone, and didn't work out as well as it might have.

But here is the true reason behind the Dinosaurs extinction.

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Aug 28, 2010, Rexford: and I'll Take Manhattan

" "I'll take two of the spotted ones and one with the plates and toothpicks. Don't wrap them. I'll eat them here."

Aug 27, 2010, Add Dilophosaurus to Taste

Our next page (now in preparation) will be on the absolutely spectacular 2008 Safari Ltd Dilophosaurus. Seen above preparing lunch with the 1994/96 Carnegie Dilophosaurs and a baby Carnegie Apatosaurus.

This Safari Ltd Dilophosaurus figure has to be considered the finest Dinosaur toys Dilophosaurus ever produced. Superb detailing and great, natural coloration make it a must-have for anyone who likes Theropods. I had never been much of a Dilophosaurus fan. But then this guy came along and I was hooked. Much more to come.

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Aug 26, 2010, 1987: The Invicta Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus

1974 saw the introduction of the iconic Invicta/British Museum (of Natural History) series that eventually included 23 different Dinosaur toys, all in 1/45 scale.

The first four Sauropods that were produced, the Diplodocus (1974), the Mamenchisaurus (1980), Brachiosaurus (1984) and Cetiosaurus (1985) (my favorite) all came before the Apatosaurus in 1987.

One very interesting thing about this Invicta Apatosaurus is that it was produced as the "Brontosaurus/Apatosaurus." A paean to the earlier name for this huge Dinosaur. Below- the Marx Brontosaurus was THE Brontosaurus from 1955 until the advent of the Invicta in 1987.

The new Invicta figure incorporated the newly discovered "proper" head (a Camarasaurus head had been mistakenly attributed to the "Brontosaurus") as well as correctly detailed feet.

Despite its being out of production and therefore effectively extinct it is still hunted by:

The 1996 Safari Ltd Allosaurus, now equally extinct and replaced by their....

... somewhat more fragilis looking 2007 Allosaurus.

Contemporary Dinosaur toys are much more colorful, detailed, accurate and made of a more durable plastic/rubber than the Invicta Apatosaurus was. But this Apatosaurus was the first of the truly high quality Dinosaur toys in a constant scale.

We salute you.

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Aug 25, 2010, The Invicta Apatosaurus set a new standard for Dinosaur toys.

The Invicta Apatosaurus was big enough to trample the other Dinosaur toys in 1987.

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Aug 24, 2010, Joe Tucciarone: Dino-Artist

Today (while our staff is busy working on the Invicta Apatosaurus page) we are going to feature a website I discovered while doing the Carnegie Cryolophosaurus page and linked up with on my (Missing?) Links page.

(below- Cryolophosaurus by Joe Tucciarone)

"You can give me something to eat or be something to eat. Your choice.... Make it fast."

Joe Tucciarone (opens new window) is an inspired artist who paints Dinosaurs in active and dynamic poses. His paintings are vibrant, exciting and highly animated as you can see in the example above. Our primary link (opens new window) is to his Dinosaur art page. (below left)

You will find his site eminently navigable and very, well, artistic in layout (pageshot left). In order to help you find what you're looking for among his beautiful Dinosaur paintings he has them listed both by "order" (Ornithopods, Sauropods, Theropods, etc-o-pods) and also by the Eras, Periods & Epochs they lived in (Paleozoic, Mesozoic Cenozoic, etc-ic).

As if this all weren't enough he has an interesting little page on the scale of Dinosaurs compared to us- check it out. (Ever hear much about the Stygimoloch?) And finally he has an entire section of his site committed to absolutely enthralling paintings of where neither man nor Dinosaur have ever trod. (My second favorite art stuff.) Go look.

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Aug 23, 2010, Introducing the 1987 Invicta Apatosaurus

The Invicta Apatosaurus will be our next Dinosaur toys page, coming soon.

In 1974 Invicta introduced their 1/45 scale British Museum Dinosaur series. This series continued through 1993 (now out of production) and were the first, truly accurate, highly detailed, large-sized and in-scale Dinosaur toys series produced. The Apatosaurus was the last of five Sauropods produced by Invicta (the others were the Diplodocus (1974), the Mamenchisaurus (1980), a Brachiosaurus (1984) and the Cetiosaurus (1985) ) coming out in 1987.

"We are family."

It replaced the Marx Dinosaur toys Brontosaurus (with its Camarasaurus-like head) as the "Thunder-Lizard" of choice.

""You little guys add youth to our herd!"

"But we're a lot older than you are."

The Invicta Apatosaurus was a wonderful addition to the British Museum (of Natural History) and the best, most accurate Apatosaurus available, at the time. Unfortunately for Invicta and the British Museum the very next year (1988) saw the Safari Ltd. (opens new window) Carnegie Collection come out in 1/40 scale and quickly became the Dinosaur toys of choice.

The Carnegie Collection (opens new window) combined a slightly larger scale, brighter colors (although you can't tell from the above picture) a broader range of figures and a less brittle plastic which resulted in a more popular and more "play-with-able" product. Carnegie also had far better distribution. All these factors combined leading to the inevitable extinction of the Invicta Dinosaur toys.

"Obliviously on our way to our page and oblivion."

This week's page will feature the Invicta Apatosaurus, an iconic collectible. Expect it shortly. The pictures are in.

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Aug 22, 2010, A New T-Rex in Town (c1964)

(MPC & ME)

1964 saw the introduction of a new series of Dinosaur toys by MPC (Multiple Products Corporation) to compete head to head with the already iconic and very popular Marx Dinosaur toys. One of these MPC figures was the MPC T-Rex, which we just completed the page for.

The figure was clearly based on the 1959 Marx 'sleek' T-Rex as it resembled it closely in both form and posture.

(below- Marx behind, MPC in front)

"Copycat!!" "Hey, I'm just trying to make a buck."

And talking about toy-life copying art and making a buck....

The Marx T-Rex appears to be based on the T-Rex from the original 1933 King Kong movie (left above- Willis O'Brien creator). And the popularity of these Dinosaurs may very well have inspired the Allosaurus in the 1969 The Valley of Gwangi (above right- Ray Harryhausen creator). Thus does art inspire money, and visa versa.

(below- MPC T-Rex pack planning a hunt.)

"Let's look for something small."

"Sounds about right to me."

"How about some coffee first?"

"Will you be my daddy?" "I AM your daddy."

In any case we decided that the MPC T-Rex page would serve as a useful companion page to the Marx T-Rex page completed last week. People (sellers) will 'confuse' the two and it is important that a Dinosaur toys collector be fully aware of the many differences. (This is true for nearly all the MPC figures and we strive to present the co-respondant MPC figure page shortly after the Marx.)

"Are you following me?" "No. You're following me."

And Rexford has his own take on the whole affair.

"None of those little guys can fill MY shoes!"

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Aug 21, 2010, The MPC T-Rex evolved into existence in 1964.

1964 saw the appearance of a challenger to Marx's dominance of the Dinosaur toys world- the MPC T-Rex.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "The MPC T-Rex evolved into existence in 1964."

Aug 20, 2010, The Carnegie Cryolophosaurus Bagged

Finally we have completed the Carnegie Cryolophosaurus page, and boy are we glad. Each new page seems to be bigger than the last and this page encompasses seventy (70) unique pictures, the most yet. Maybe that's why it's taking longer to produce these pages?

"...a committeeee should be organized to honor- US..."

The Cryolophosaurus was the first Dinosaur to be discovered in the Antarctic and, consequently, is unfamiliar with many contemporary vegetables. For instance:

"Whaddya think that thing is, Hank."

"I haven't the slightest idea Floyd, but I doubt that it's edible."

An apex predator from the early Jurassic (~190 mya) it was related to the Dilophosaurus (made famous in the first Jurassic Park movie as the 'spitter') and at 21 feet (6.5 meters) in length and ~1000 lbs was of the same size. Both had crests on their heads, the Dilophosaurus with two running lengthwise and the Cryolophosaurus (cold crest lizard, perhaps because it was found in Antarctica) having a single crest latitudinally across the top of the skull just before the eyes.

(Safari Dilophosaurus meets Carnegie Cryolophosaurus)

"We are family...

"We both have crests you see...."

"Living in the Antarctic it ain't easy finding foliage to hide in."

The Carnegie Cryolophosaurus is handpainted with golden striping so hanging out in classy neighborhoods comes naturally.

"I'd trade it all for a Plateosaurus."

Your wish is our command....

Each of the past three years Safari Ltd has added a super-new Carnivore to their Carnegie Collection: 2008- Giganotosaurus, 2009- Spinosaurus & 2010- Cryolophosaurus:

And here is a very dynamic picture of a Cryolophosaurus by Joe Tucciarone (opens new window) that you can buy (opens new window) if you wish:

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Aug 19, 2010, Cryolophosaurus: from the Antarctic to you.

Knowingthe Cryolophosaurus lived in teh Antarctic is cold comfort to its prey.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "Cryolophosaurus: from the Antarctic to you."

Aug 18, 2010, When Rexford's Away

" Hey, I think there's an Ankylosaurus under here!"

"And strange symbols all over this tiled floor!"

"I expected more action when I moved this silver and block rock it's hiding under."

"Well, plenty of action is happening on this weird black wall!"

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Aug 15, 2010, Poppa Rexford

Rexford is all heart (and some teeth) and he can prove it.

"Look at all these poor little orphan Dinosaurs!"

So Rexford did what comes naturally and took one home.

"Now this little fella has a home and I bet he tastes good too."

And there we see the kindness in.... hey, wait a minute! What'd he say? No, no Rexford....!

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Aug 13, 2010, Lunch with Mr Rexford

Rexford was feeling frisky today so while rest of us were busy he hopped in the car....

"Honk honk. Outta my way. Rexford Petty on the Prowl!!"

... and drove to a nearby restaurant and perused the menu.

"The thing about eating these is that a half-hour later, you're hungry again."

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Aug 12, 2010, Marx Sleek T-Rex Page Blog

You can see its sleek from this top-down peek.

We have finished, polished and proofed our Marx 'Sleek' T-Rex page and it is up for your perusal. It has an awful lot of photos and links and took awhile to complete. As usual, real life intruded into the creative process.

(Above- with a small herd of Marx Triceratops)

There are a lot of pages that this beautiful figure has appeared on and been referenced in and I had to go back, find those references and pictures and set up links between those pages and points of reference back to this new Marx T-Rex page. A lot of time, there.

Look what popped up!

This weekend we have too many chores to catch up on, so we've run out of time for our next page, the new Carnegie Cryolophosaurus. We've got the pictures but the page will have to wait for next week. After that the MPC Tyrannosaurus to complement the Marx. A predatory time we live in. Eh?

"Gee Greg, I'm not so sure about the 21st Century"

Expect a couple of Rexford blogs over the weekend.

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And ole Grumpy is still on the prowl.

"(grumble) Now the blogs over and I still haven't seen a menu (grumble)"

Perhaps proof that the T-Rex did hunt in packs. What do you think?

Aug 12, 2010, The Revised "sleek" Marx T-Rex set the standard for the next fifty years.

In 1959 the "Sleek" Marx T-Rex revised our view of this great predator.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "The Revised "sleek" Marx T-Rex set the standard for the next fifty years."

Aug 10, 2010, Marx Sleek T-Rex: Pre-page Blog

We are putting together our Marx sleek T-Rex page, having uploaded the photos and should have the page up tomorrow.

There will be comparisons with the earlier Marx major predators, ...

The Three Amigos

(Marx Allosaurus, Sleek & Pot Belly T-Rex)

...showing the Marx sleek T-Rex in ambush mode, ...

"How long before we can go back inside and watch T.V.?"

...featuring "Grumpy", 'the t-d off T-Rex',...

"(grumble grumble) Stupid photographer, lemme alone...."

... and the whole gang, doing what gangs do.

"Leave us alone, we're busy. Danged papparazzi."

Well, we expect that the page itself will be on a much more positive note. Meanwhile.

"Ambush!!"

Why are these people smiling?

In fact, very good news

DinoTot came home from the hospital today, his fever gone but appetite intact. And we have (we think) figured out what it was that he had. We believe that it is 'roseola'. The symptoms fit and a friend just had it himself. Roseola is usually pretty mild, but also usually hits older children, not eight week olds. Apparently with eight-week-olds 'it's clobberin' time.' (Dramatization below.)

(Above- DinoTot & The Thing in a dramatization.)

(Thing:) "It's Clobberin' Time!"

(DinoTot:) " 'Clobberin' time' is OVER, punk! I'm back. And that's MISTER DinoTot."

Yeah, DinoTot's back, alright.

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Aug 3, 2010, Sad News

We are all sad here in DinoTown. DinoTot has had to be hospitalized with a high fever that we believe is viral in nature. Page production will be temporarily suspended as time is taken with hospital visits and much childcare (DinoBabe is ever so healthy and in need of constant supervision) to attend to. Stay tuned for updates and Get Well Soon, DinoTot!

Jul 30, 2010, Rexford Wants Wheels

Rexford and his pal, DinoBabe, went shopping for some new wheels,

"I like the colors on this one."

"Basic black goes with everything but it seems a bit pricey."

DinoBabe has been just standing around, getting bored and decided to focus on her own snacking....

"This one doesn't even have any wheels. Hey Toots, I think you dropped one."

Our future involves a wedding this weekend (no, not DinoBabe and Rexford) and there will, most likely, be very little production happening here in Dinotown and on the site, just celebrating.

Upcoming will be our paean to one of my all-time favorite Dinosaur toys, (opens new window) the Marx 'sleek' T-Rex. It set the standard for dynamic posing and active play. Too cool.

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Jul 29, 2010, The MPC Struthiomimus Meets the Marxists

The MPC Struthiomimus>p>Today we completed the MPC Struthiomimus page, complementary to the only other Struthiomimus of the era, the Marx. We used a lot of pictures comparing the two as it seemed like the thing to do. We also saw the MPC Strutter getting into some trouble with both the Marx "original" and certain other contemporaries....

"We don't consider you knock-offs, WE consider you lunch."

"WE don't consider that an improvement."

Overall the MPC figures were pretty much copies of the Marx Dinosaur toys line-up and are often sold as Marx and mistaken by neophyte collectors for the more valuable Marx figures. It is always helpful to have a Dinosaur Toys Collectors Guide.

My small MPC Struthiomimus herd hurry off to Erehwon.

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Jul 29, 2010, The MPC Struthiomimus had problems with Marxists.

The MPC Struthiomimus is one of the best of a bad breed. My opinion.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "The MPC Struthiomimus had problems with Marxists."

Jul 28, 2010, Rexford & DinoBabe Shop for Shoes

Rexford and DinoBabe went shopping for shoes today. (Yes, the introductory picture is an older pic.) Rexford found some nice, casual shoes....

"I can't decide between these Moccasins and Sandals. Decisions decisions."

Meanwhile Dinobabe had her own opinions

"I don't need shoes as long as I have my dolly."

"But I could use some underwear...if these are underwear. I can't read yet."

Rexford, however, really got into the shoe thing.

"These are really fancy. How do I look?"

"These are just like Cinderella's. And these used to belong to a big cat."

(Yes, Rexford is quite ecologically incorrect and species insensitive.)

Rexford was also very impressed with what he considered to be the dining section of the store.

"Too cool. They even provide the customers with a 'Snak-Stak'!"

But he did get into a bit of a bind.

"You just try on some shoes and eat some people and the next thing you know you're in jail. Grrrrr!"

I think that our next page will be a bit of a companion piece to the previous Marx Struthiomimus. We'll do the MPC Struthiomimus. Good luck to us.

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Jul 27, 2010, The Marx Struthiomimus Page is Here

The Marx Struthiomimus page has been completed and is available for perusal. This is one of our biggest pages with 47 photos and lots of commentary to match.

This is one of the last Dinosaur toys that MARX produced and one of the very few Struthiomimus anybody has made. It is a very lithe and graceful looking little Dinosaur and gets along, scalewise, with most modern figures such as the Safari Ltd, (opens new window) Carnegie, Bullyland and Papo.

"We don't consider this as 'getting along.'"

Being omnivores the Struthiomimus eats not only bugs and other beasties but various flora. Modern paleontology prescribes to the belief that these would have made really good farmers....

"We grew these ourselves."

"And we'll eat 'em ourselves."

The Marx Struthiomimus is a great little Dinosaur toy and deserves the attention of anybody who is interested in collecting Dinosaur toys.

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Jul 26, 2010, The Marx Struthiomimus has been around for over fifty years.

TheMarx Struthiomimus is a child of the 1960s.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "The Marx Struthiomimus has been around for over fifty years."

Jul 25, 2010, The Upcoming Marx Struthiomimus Page

STRUTHIOMIMIUS means Ostrich Mimic, which seems undeserved as the "Struth" came first by about sixty-five million years. Admittedly, "running-pecking omnivore" is a mouthful. I say 'pecking' because these had beaks, rather than teeth, but 'pecking' too may be unfair as any squirrel that has had an intimate relation with an Eagle's beak would attest. We will be having the Marx Struthiomimus page up very shortly.

The Marx Struthiomimus is not in scale with most of the other Marx figures (which aren't really in scale with each other) but is in ~1/30-40 scale none the less, so it will fit right in with the majority of current Dinosaur toys, including most of, for instance, the Carnegie Collection, the Safari Ltd Dinosaurs and the Papo figures.

Among the interesting aspects of the upcoming page we will include a size-comparison using the Kenner JP06 T-Rex Jr playing the part of an adult T-Rex... (below)

"Uh, this makes us a little nervous"

"No reason it should, cute little hors d'oeuvres."

... and we even include a dramatic re-enactment from the original Jurassic Park movie. (below)

"I never knew acting could be so filling."

"CUT! CUT! Not bite, you blockhead!! Cut! Cut! (I should have stuck with journalism.)"

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Jul 24, 2010, Rexford & DinoTot Cuddle-Fest

"Don't you just hate those papparazzi?"

Our next page will be on the wonderful little Marx Struthiomimus. This has long been one of my favorite Marx Dinosaur toys. (opens new window) It is lithe and agile, delicate yet tough. Above we see four of these fellas (l-r; two "Wine", a "Butterscotch" and a very dark Brown) hanging out and just relaxing during the photo-shoot. We are getting the pictures ordered, up & down loaded and readied for display even as you read this. Things never stop in Dino-Town.

Rexford spent some time today baby-sitting Dino-Tot. They get along well as Dino-Tot isn't eating meat yet and Rexford doesn't see him as a potential rival. At least not yet.

"Hey Kid, that looks like pretty comfortable digs. Mind if I join you?"

"Why? Am I coming apart?"

"Move over a little... let's snuggle."

"My, what big teeth you have!"

"We gotta do this more often."

"I gotta get a new babysitter."

Don't forget. The MARX Struthiomimus coming to this website, soon.

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Jul 23, 2010, Climate Change and the Kentrosaurus

At long last we have managed to get our Safari Ltd (opens new window) Kentrosaurus page up and running. This also marks a milestone for the site as it is the 160th page in our ever-growing (if slowly, recently) guide.

We not only gave our usual, complete description of the Dinosaur toy but included the Odyssey of the herd as it was forced (due either to climate change or Summer) to migrate to new feeding grounds and compared it to some other Stegosauridae family toys. Here the SRG Stegosaurus:

There was some high melodrama as one of our Kentrosaurus was confronted by a rather large and fearsome predator. But having watched the Jurassic Park movie it knew not to move and it wouldn't be noticed.

"Can I move yet??"

"Why don't you try it?"

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Jul 23, 2010, The Kentrosaurus was Stegosaurus Lite.

The Safri Ltd Kentrosaurus (pointed lizard) will spike your drink.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "The Kentrosaurus was Stegosaurus Lite."

Jul 22, 2010, Rexford Visits the Auto Shop

Rexford, having license in 'hand' (see July 19 blog entry) decided it is time to have his car checked out at his one and only auto mechanic.

"Wow! They sure have a lot of cars to be fixed."

Rexford took a look at the menu.

"I'll have one of those, two of those, three...."

"And I need one of these too... hmmmm, maybe two."

They showed him some of the work they'd need to do.....

"That's the doo-hickey. Right?"

Rexford tried to help.

"Umm, I can't find the wrench"

Then Rexford went out front to "feel the difference"....

"Ugh... oooof... urghhh... aaargh... oooooh... eeeee... grrrrr. I can't feel anything at all. Auto-work is tiring and a bit gymnastic. I need a break."

This all took a lot out of Rexford and he went to the 'waiting room' to get a snack.

"This 'waiting room' is a bit cramped."

"Hey! You're all out of Hadrosaurus Chips!!"

So Rexford had to make the best of the situation.

"I'll just wait in here and when someone comes for popcorn... POUNCE!!"

Just another day in the Rexford sage.

Soon soon soon the Safari Ltd. Kentrosaurus.

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Jul 21, 2010, Rexford Bowling for Kentrosaurs

Our Safari Kentrosaurus page is coming along. At least the photos are downloaded and ready to go. This is a very nice, highly detailed and naturally colored figure, in reasonable scale to many of the other superb new (post 2005) Safari Ltd Dinosaurs (opens new window) such as the Safari Stegosaurus. (See below)

Rexford personally likes the Kentrosaurus and thinks of them as a bit like M&Ms....

"They're easy to pick up when you're out shopping...

"...they taste great and are full of all the vitamins and nutrients children need for their growing bodies."

And best of all!

"Mikey likes it!"

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Jul 19, 2010, Rexford vs the DMV

Rexford went to get his driver's license renewed this morning.

"Whoa!! The first barrier to renewing my license. What else will they come up with?"

Once inside the wait begins.... (Not very long, unless you're Rexford.)

"La la la.... No left on red... what were those other rules??"

Then Rexford's number gets called and he heads on in to take his tests.

"Hmmmm, what I need is my own "great seal" of the 'State of Rexford.'"

First up is the eye test.

"Read the top line? I can't read at all! I'm a T-Rex, I don't have to read. Well... only menus."

That didn't go as well as it might have but Rexford managed to pass anyway. Must be his toothy smile. Next came the 'road signs' test.

"Triceratops crossing, Stop eating- breathe, Yield to temptation, Oncoming Hadrosaurus herd, Soft/Tasty Shoulder, No Ambush Zone...."

The road-test was given a pass.

"HA! I don't need a road-test because I get chauffered everywhere I go. Besides, my feet can't reach the pedals and I can't see over the steering wheel."

Rexford got his license renewed and headed off to reward himself as completely as possible.

"These are unbeatable and just barely enough."

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Jul 17, 2010, A Stone Age Hunt

The Marx Flintstones Hunting Party Playset

Today I thought I would put up some pictures (I'm really not sure who to attribute them to. I've seen them, unattributed, in too many places.) of what is reputed to be the rarest and most prized among the Marx Playsets. This is the Marx Flintstones Hunting Party Playset. All we know for sure is that it contained a Fred, a Barney and three large, hollow plastic Dinosaurs. A Brontosaurus, a Stegosaurus (neither of which look anything like their smaller, solid plastic MARX cousins) and the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex. (Rexford's favorite.)

In the accompanying photos we see the five main protagonists and a set of Marx Second Series Mold Group figures. No-one knows for sure exactly what the makeup of the set was. This is merely for dramatic effect. They may, or may not, have been part of the set. If anyone has an unopened Hunting Party playset they are probably paralyzed with fear at the thought of lost value that would be the result of opening the sealed box.

As you can see the Stegosaurus and Brontosaurus look nothing like their smaller Marx contemporaries. The Stegosaurus actually looks a lot like a Stegosaurus should look. The Tyrannosaurus looks a lot like the Sleek T-Rex from the Revised Mold Group. That group's raison d'etre. This playset may be as rare as it does because of the fragility of the main pieces (hollow, hard plastic) or simply a small production run. In any event the figures, those big Dinosaurs, are highly prized and priced to match. A mint playset would approach priceless.

Quick! Everybody start going through your attics....

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Jul 16, 2010, Rexford Dining Out

Things have been extremely busy in Dino-town, too busy to get another page done or even get to doing a blog. Our apologies. To make up for it here is a bit of Dinosaur-lore. It is little known but there were Dinosaurs, usually herbivores, that would disguise themselves in order to go out to eat without being bothered by crass carnivores.

A scene from Melosaur's Dinersaur Buffet

"This stuff is delicious Fred! Hey, you're not eating (not that I mind)."

"Oh, I think I'll hit the salad bar."

"Huh?"

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Jul 11, 2010, Rexford at Sunset

"And to all a GRRRR-night."

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Jul 4, 2010, - 1776 to 2010: 234 Years of Greatness

"***HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!!***"

Jul 3, 2010, They're Coming....

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Jul 1, 2010, Rexford the Salesman

Here are some new auctions that Rexford just put up... Each of these will open a new window when you click the link.

First off several Carnegie figures- the huge Carnegie Apatosaurus and a companion, the Carnegie BABY Apatosaurus. The 1988 (1996 re-issue) Carnegie Tyrannosaurus Rex and the 1992 (1996 re-issue) Carnegie Spinosaurus.

And the LARGE Invicta Brachiosaurus.

Being busy, busy, busy Rexford also decided to sell some of his favorite MARX Dump Dinosaur collection and, in alphabetical order:

An off-green Allosaurus and Robins Egg blue/green Stegosaurus set,

a rareRobin's Egg Blue Ankylosaurus,

a pair of gray Dump Dimetrodons and

a set of Permian Pals, a Dimetrodon and a Moschops in a standard and a metallic purple/gray.

He also put up an off-green Iguanodon and a

Triassic pro-Sauropod, a Plateosaurus pair, in green-blue and a darker metallic blue/green.

From the Second Series Mold Group he has a (one of my favorites) light gray Styracosaurus, a pair of off-gray Smilodons, and two of the very graceful (and off-gray-ful) Struthiomimus.

He finally also has a off-green with Robin's Egg highlights Trachodon and a light gray and just barely mis-cast Triceratops.

And that about does it for what's new on eBay folks.

"A garage sale is a lot like an ambush."

Thank you for your consideration.

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Jun 30, 2010, Another Day, An Other Dinosaur (or two)

The 2010 Safari Apatosaurus finally put its foot down and we got its page out and finished as of yesterday. This is our first page construction that has stretched over three days, having begun on the 27th and been done on the 29th. Things have been busy here in Dino-town.

Rexford has added a Marx Mammoth (opens new window) to his eBay auction items. Check it out online (where it's safe):

"Rexford! We'll never sell ANYTHING if you keep eating all the customers!"

And here is a picture of a recent confrontation we had between a Papo Triceratops and a pair of Bullyland Tyrannosaurus Rex. They raised quite the fuss. Honking and roaring and thrashing about.

"Get away from me!"

"Make Us!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah?"

"Oh Yeah!"

Our reporter got the following (short) interview....

"I was just camping-out, making my coffee, when those two other uninvited jerks came barging in.... Get the point?"

Auction sellers! Learn how to increase your sales here.

Jun 29, 2010, The latest in Sauropod toys is the 2010 Apaptosaurus from Safari Ltd.

How much is that Sauropod in the window? The one with the waggly tail.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "The latest in Sauropod toys is the 2010 Apaptosaurus from Safari Ltd."

Jun 26, 2010, Rexford Motivates the Staff- the 1996 Safari Apatosaurus Page

It's about time that we got something done around here. At least that was Rexford's demand.... Things have been so busy we decided to go ahead and split our Safari Apatosaurus page into two pages, a shorter one for the now out of production 1996 model and a longer page, still in planning but soon (very soon) to appear on the new 2010 model.

The 1996 was a precursor to many improvements and changes in the Safari Ltd Dinosaur toys product improvement program. Its curved tail was a first for Apatosaurs and its upright stance (very similar to the 1994 Battat Diplodocus) is still unique among Apatosaurus toys. That curved tail can now be found on the 2006 Carnegie Amargasaurus, the 2008 Carnegie Diplodocus and the 2008 Safari Ltd Nigersaurus. And a spectacular triple curve is seen on the newest 2010 Safari Ltd Apatosaur. It took a while but active, dynamic and realistic Sauropods are finally here!

DinoTot has gotten with the program and is letting Rexford dress him now. Rexford certainly approves.

"Even if the color's off he still dresses better than any other baby."

And Rexford is getting a bit overboard in his threats to get the staff moving....

"If y'all don't start to hustle I'll eat this baby!"

{"You won't weawwy? Wood you Mr. Wexfud?"}

Will he? Or won't he? We don't want to find out so we're all hustlin' here....

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Jun 26, 2010, The SafariLtd Apatosaurus made 1996 a very good year.

1996 saw a very unique replica in the SafariLtd Apatosaurus.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "The SafariLtd Apatosaurus made 1996 a very good year."

Jun 22, 2010, Busy Busy Growing Growing

Our upcoming Safari Ltd (opens new window) Apatosaurus page is coming along very well. It will be the biggest page yet, with about sixty pictures altogether. This will be one page featuring both the 1996 and 2010 versions of this great Dinosaur toy.

We have been kept busy with baby-care now that our new grandson has arrived...

And with gardening....

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's gardening I will go..."

I still have two Marx Dinosaurs up on eBay:

2) a Heritage Green Mammoth (opens new window). The Mammoth is one of only three Pleistocene Mammals (opens new window) that Marx made.

Thank you for your consideration.

Jun 20, 2010, The Safari Apatosaurus and Cheese Balls

We are now in preparation for our next figure page. It will be featuring the Safari Apatosaurus, then and now. Then was 1996 and a radically upright sculpture. Now is 2010 and with a radically different tail, curvaceous and whip-like. Very cool.

Perhaps too cool in that it has drawn the attention of our politician (also a Safari Ltd figure #821229) (opens new window) who is always on the lookout for a photo-op.

"Now here's a tail that can really kick butt!"

Rexford, on the other hand, knows what to make of all this. Which is 'not much.' He's just patiently waiting for us to do the page so he can add this new Apatosaurus to his menu.

"Our troubles don't add up to a hill o' cheese balls, kids. But I/m glad I've got mine while I'm waiting for the page...."

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Jun 18, 2010, Deinosuchus Meets Yeti

(Deinosuchus liked to lounge about in watery surroundings.)

We finally got the Carnegie Deinosuchus page done but it created a problem for us. Deinosuchus is NOT a Dinosaur and the Carnegie Deinosuchus is NOT a Dinosaur toy. Where to place it in our very logically set out Navigation Bar, to the left. If you go to each or any button and click on it you will come top a page describing the contents, over-all, and a list of page-links connecting you to all the Dinosaur toys listed. Thus the Allosaurus page will have links to all the Allosaurus toys, Bullyland, Carnegie, Papo, Safari, et al.

We have decided to include the Deinosuchus , temporarily (we hope) on the Theropods page. We are planning on a 'they're not Dinosaurs, but they lived among them' (and ate and were eaten by some of them too) page.

"I told you we shouldn't have gotten waterfront property!"

Many of the pictures taken for the page were done in the great outdoors with a cast of thousands. Post photo-shoot everybody, or at least some of the survivors, went to their favorite local restaurant.

"We make it all-you-can-eat!"

And of course there was our standard delving into the latest science news.

"Hey Stan, what's this?

"I dunno Louie. Looks like it belonged to a really Big Foot!"

"Boys. I think we have definite proof positive here of the existence of BigFoot. Somebody get a truck to cart this off in."

"But none of us can see over the steering wheel!!"

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Here are some more Marx Dinosaurs I have up for auction:

a flat gray Brontosaurus (opens new window) &

a Heritage Green Mammoth (opens new window), NOT a Dinosaur. But true collectibles from years gone past.

Jun 17, 2010, The Deinosuchus was one BIG, mean Crocodilian.

Deinosuchus was a forty foot long ten-ton barrel of laughs- if you like being eaten.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "The Deinosuchus was one BIG, mean Crocodilian."