September 3, 2004

{ Dinomania: Series 1 (American edition) }

Dinosaurs! Like any American male who was once eight-years-old I find it nearly impossible to even think the word without roaring triumphantly, or at the very least grinning uncontrollably. These thunderous and bizarre creatures � far too alien to be from this planet we call Earth, surely � have a way of bringing out the inner second grader in me. Some of my most beloved of childhood memories are of the all-too-infrequent school trips to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh where amongst all the dreadfully boring rocks and local songbirds were the titanic remnants and reconstructions of these beloved long-dead monsters. Suffice to say, Dinomania sufficiently gets my rocks off � or rather my rock-like petrified bones off. Produced by the Japanese firm Kaiyodo � renowned for tiny models of excellent quality � and brought to these shores by Promotopia, Dinomania gives us Westerners a rare chance to appreciate the joy of the vaunted Japanese capsule toy. There are 24 different dinosaurs and other strange creatures from way-back-when to collect in this series. Judging by the numbers assigned to each of these models this must be a repackaging of the Japanese series 3 (they're up to series 4 on the other side of the Pacific). This might explain the lack of familiar faces like Tyranosaurus, Triceratops, and Autobot Slag. I for one welcome the addition of such uncommon "faces" as Acrocanthosaurus, Glyptodon, and Pleurocystites. In each pack you get one dino model, a sticker with pertinent facts, and a piece of candy (it seems to be a form of coffee). The models are simple snap-together jobs and are luxuriously hand-painted. Collect them all and build your own museum (for ants, perhaps?).

» Official Dinomania site

By Benjamin in Toys | Comments:

Comments

ben, the only second grade memories i hold of museum visits and dinosaurs is looking forward to purchasing the pink rubber peradactyl eraser from the sunrise museum in chucktown

Posted by: paul at September 7, 2004 10:00 AM

Yeah, but that eraser was pretty fucking boss, right?

It should be mandatory that every child in America be able to live within a field trip's driving range of at least one dinosaur skeleton or other such display.

Posted by: benjamin at September 8, 2004 3:51 PM