Schleich The First Giants Dilophosaurus

Schleich First Giants Dilophosaurus



Out of all of this year's releases, the Dilophosaurus is the one I was most excited for, as this is my favorite dinosaur.



The new tradition with Schleich dinosaurs is their one point of articulation, which is the jaws. That's all it does.





Every First Giants figure comes with a roll out mini pamphlet a la Safari. This one includes the animal's information. I'm too lazy to type it here so just zoom in the picture.







I really like this figure. it's nicely textured, it has lots of details and I love the colors. However, the posed dinosaurs continue to annoy me, and the fact that it's so inaccurate; as the rest of its Schleich kin is continue to bother me greatly. The hands are in the wrong position and the skull looks a bit exaggerated.



It's not the first Schleich figure stuck in an awkward "look around turn" pose. It's not a bad figure. If you love Schleich this is for you. If you love figures of Dilophosaurus this is for you. It certainly works for me as I collect both.

Schleich The First Giants Giganotosaurus AND Schleich 2014 Giganotosaurus double review

Schleich Giganotosaurs



Initially I was just going to write this review for the First Giants Giganotosaurus but I decided to show the older one as well. We'll get to it in a bit.











I applaud Schleich for taking some risks, especially with the poses of their latest offerings, but if you've been following my Batman review site, you know I HATE POSED TOYS. I appreciate the opening and closing of the jaws, but this pose is not only physically impossible, it's ridiculous. It's so ridiculous it manages to be cool. This is a generic Giganotosaurus with nice colors. It's huge, but it's not an improvement over its predecessor. It's nicely detailed though and I dig the spiky crest running along the back, as well as the colors. But...I don't know. Something about Schleich's dinosaurs makes them feel tiresome after a while. Maybe it's because I also own The Most Bootlegged Dinosaur in the world...the other Schleich Giganotosaurus...But hey, let's give this one a round of applause. At least they're keeping their colors consistent for species even within different scales.



Woo! Applause! I'm not saying it's bad, but I'm paying too much for a top heavy dinosaur that is badly posed and that is no longer properly accurate. I recently sold one for $14. Most stores have it at $25+! Gyah! It does have a lot of personality, and it is rather impressive when you hold it. I'm completely divided on this figure. I love it and welcome it like all other dinosaur toys, but I hope Schleich has better stuff coming.



Their arms are in the wrong position! ARGH! Anyways I have decided that the big lighter one is the male and the smaller one is the female and that they are a coupled pair. Maybe the big one is the female. I don't know. I'm not gonna look under their legs. I like it how the followed the same basic body and color scheme, yet the former is lighter colored.



Lucky for me I got both of them free. Again, I like how they have the same basic art style. This dinosaur has been bootlegged several times. Go to any Target shop and you can find an exact mold for $5, while this is sometimes sold for $25. What matters most? Quality, materials or brand? This is such a generic looking dinosaur it's hard NOT to copy it!









I know why they gave this animal a lighter and brighter palette. Because this overly realistic color scheme is BORING. The blue Carnegie Giganotosaurus has better colors. Now, this figure is nice, but to see it pirated over and over again in such a short span of time in our major retailers is...it lessens the prestige. There's a sort of prestige that we collectors have when we say we own "Carnegie, Schleich, Safari, Papo" and so forth dinos. While I feel that such a whole hierarchical system has fallen in favor of rarer, nicer dinos (Battat, Carnage...etc...), the prestige has been lost in owning this particular figure. It's sad, really. Eventually people will brag over how they had an original and not a copy.



Aww they look nice together though. Schleich is...I have mixed feelings about them. We all do. They aren't the best, but they deliver year after year dinosaurs that are consistent with their art style. Consistency is good, but when is consistency less important than scientific accuracy or democracy? What about economics? How about Schleich stops pressing weird dinos and starts making paleoartist accurate dinos from now on?

Schleich The First Giants Spinosaurus

Schleich First Giants Spinosaurus



I've decided to call the dinosaurs from this line the "Oddly Posed Mafia" because of their unusually curvy poses. This is both troublesome and at the same time kind of novel since most dinosaurs are posed in less extreme ways.









Also known as the "Violet" Spinosaurus, this already outdated model features a mix of artistic traits Spinosaurus has been given over the years based on the various evidence collected on it, such as a quadrupedal pose. Remember the old paintings of Spinosaurus where it walked on all fours? According to a controversial 2014 paper it really did. This would be Schleich's SECOND quadrupedal Spinosaurus, so they were closer to the truth than most dinosaur toy makers ever were! Now one of the things I enjoy about Schleich dinosaurs are their articulated jaws, that way the collector can have choices.



I really enjoy this figure. I got it on a trade, and I've never seen it in stores around my area, so it was a nice surprise. The colors are interesting, and the texture is really nice, but there are many problems with it. But this figure displays a mix of classic and modern Spinosaurus artistic trends, so it's essentially a mash-up between the old, the new, the wrong and the right.



Not the biggest Spinosaurus on Schleich's repertoire. I do not have the mini figure just yet.



I think this is an interesting wonderful figure that benefits from its freakiness. Then again, I collect Jurassic Park stuff, so who am I to say something about what is freaky or not? And when is Schleich going to care about scientific accuracy? I feel like I'm looking at an old dinosaur book STILL, and it's 2016. Proceed with caution with this one. I like it, but for all the wrong reasons.

3 months! Welcome to August!

Hey readers! Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been focusing more than anything on my other blog http://emperordinobotsbatmen.blogspot.com/ which is Batman-centric, so hopefully more than one dinosaur toy enthusiast also happens to be a Batman figure enthusiast. I have not ignored the fact that I've taken hundreds of pictures specifically for this blog; pictures I hope to share with you very soon. Speaking of which, this has been my latest dinosaur haul:



Shall we look at some of these wondrous beauties?

Jurassic World Tyrannosaurus rex Lockdown

JW T.rex Lockdown playset







When people first saw pictures of the big Jurassic World Playset, everyone was very excited. Was Hasbro going to bring back the old Kenner Fences or were they going to release something in a similar size? What about the gates, and was the T.rex a new mold? NOPE! It's something completely different, but is different better? Let's see!





The instructions tell you how to build your set, but if you've owned the JP Command Compound or the JPIII Raptor Attack Playset, it's essentially the same thing, except we got some newww parts! Also, I really like the box art. This is the only JW toy with some manner of Box Art, and while it is nice, it can be misleading...



This is really small. Small enough to hold a B&B T.rex, which is included. The T.rex is a rehash, and the review of this particular figure can be seen on earlier posts. I will not go over it. The gate is nice and I really dig the flames. The words "Jurassic World" come in a decal which has to be placed really carefully. Guess some things never change.



The Gyrosphere is just a clear plastic ball with...a cardboard cutout of a sitting 2 inch tall toy soldier. I'm shaking my head right now in disapproval. If it was a hamster bowl which in which you could place the 2 in. soldiers in, that would have been ok. This is... I don't have the words right now.



As with other JP playsets, this one comes with a net tower, except it's smaller, though it's interesting to note that it comes in the same terracotta color that the JPIII one comes in, and it follows a similar design. The net is a black rubber...thing. To operate it, you are supposed to place it on the launcher arm and just let go, like a slingshot. It doesn't work all that well though.



This net isn't going to catch anything. So how do we get this ball chasing T.rex under control? We lead it into a trap.



One of the parts on this pen is a mysterious door...



I don't know who in their right mind would get on a Gyrosphere and ride around Paddock 9, but there is an escape route! Once you push your little hamster ball through the door, lightning bolts come out...



Your heels can rest easy. T.rex gets zapped into a coma. I think it's a nice, fun idea.



And there you have it. I scored this a few days ago for $12, which is what I would pay for this set. A repeated dinosaur, a cardboard soldier, and a worthless trap? Those bits are useless. The gate and the fences work well for a sort of petting zoo, which will be included in my Kenner Jurassic Park setup, where the Kenner hatchlings are going to have a space to roam and greet the guests. It's an interesting set, really, but it could have been...soooo much more...If you've got a discount store like a Ross or a Marshall's, TJ MAXX, etc, go find them. They are half off! Half off is the only way they are worth it, in my opinion, just like most of the Jurassic World line.

Jurassic World Dino Hybrid Owen "Alpha" & Velociraptor "Blue"

JW Dino Hybrid Owen and Blue







$25 later and I get the most awaited figure in the less than perfect Jurassic World line. Owen Wilson, the "Alpha" finally shows up as the only Jurassic World figure (the tiny 2 inch ones don't...don't count) depicting a movie character. Blue is just a rehash of Velociraptor blue. *sigh*





The Owen is so tiny, Blue looks HUGE next to it. I really dislike 3 and 3/4th inch tall humans being included in a Jurassic Park line because they are just...tiny and not compatible with Kenner's superior Jurassic Park humans and accessories. The rehashed blue doesn't even come with the cannon and net missile from before, but it does have a glow in the dark pattern that is activated by shining the ultraviolet light included, which is reminiscent of the light up features that came with the Target exclusive toys. The lantern is shaped like a real lantern and it can be held by Owen, though it is a bit large for him. The lantern has a molded clip on the bottom, and it feels like it should attach to something...again, another half-butted attempt by Hasbro to give us overpriced figures and lame features.



The bike is a rehash of an Indiana Jones bike, which looks good. It's probably the best thing from this set. It works great with any figures in the scale. Owen, on the other hand...he can't hold his rifle right, the elbow articulation feels really weak, and his head sculpt makes him look like Shawn Ashmore AKA Iceman. Chris Pratt was the one who made that realization, by the way.





He's as tall as a GI Joe figure, taller than a Star Wars figure, and shorter than a Kenner figure. I really have no idea what to do with this figure. Maybe he'll go on to hanging out with Multiverse Batman or join GI Joe, but he's definitely not gonna hang out with Mudloon, Ellie and the gang. Couldn't they just kitbash a GiJoe to at LEAST give it better articulation? I can't believe that all the 3.75 inch tall figures in that picture have better articulation than Owen except for the JPIII helicopter pilot. The arm articulation is actually kind of weird. Also...



Why does mine have a huge brown spot on his forehead? Freaking pathetic. What a letdown. I'll try to clean it off. Any suggestions? Alcohol? Nail Polish removal?



Those raptors are huge. It doesn't work. It just doesn't. Hasbro can and should do better. The splotch on the face was too much.