#1042 THE LOST WORLD – PACHYCEPHALOSAURUS and GIANT PTERANODON (1997)

Unlike the toyline for Jurassic Park, the toyline for The Lost World included many dinosaurs WITH accessories. These were in all cases some kind of mechanical invention to prevent the dinosaur from attacking humans. Something like a giant muzzle. This part was, of course, easily detachable, so you could play the “dinosaur has release itself, let´s run” scene. Additionally, all of them could perform some action feature. For this movie, there were many dinosaurs made, I will show today two of the “big ones”, although there were many others in this size or even bigger.
 
Although the dinosaurs are not so hard to find, these accessories (traps, muzzles and so on) are really scarce. They are mostly grey parts with strange shapes that nobody could identify, so most of them were probably disposed sometime by the early 2000s, remaining only the dinosaurs. Many are probably mixed up with parts of other collections, as they could belong to any toy. The two dinosaurs I show today are complete.
 
Let´s start with the Pachycepahlosaurus. The dinosaur is really cool, and has one of the funniest and most interesting features (despite its simplicity) among the references in this toyline. It is a lot of fun to “head out” all other figures and dinosaurs one after the other. The dinosaur has an impressive size (It should be at scale to the humans in the collection), and a soft plastic skin (except the head and neck part), that makes it nice to play with. I guess it is one of those toys that sooner or later will degrade and break down. It belongs to a sub-series of the dinosaurs called Dino Strike, which included all dinosaurs with some mechanical attack action feature.

The accessories include a harness to be attached to the body of the dinosaur, plus a piece that fits the head with two bars that connect the harness and that piece. It is supposed to simulate a trap for the neck of the Pachy, so it cannot attack anybody with its head.

The Giant Pteranodon is also made at scale, and it is impressive in its size. The wings are partially made of cloth, so the toy, altogether, is not very heavy. The head is big and the beak can open and close. The wings also flap by pushing a button, and the small rear legs also move up and down, where the claws can grab something.  I am not sure what is the point on this, but the wings can be clipped to the body of the flying reptile. Maybe it is just a way to securely place it in the box, because the “sitting” position of such a creature is thought to be with the wings bent on the sides of the body, perpendicular to the ground, not parallel. 

The toy came with a muzzle and a small harness that fitted all four limbs to immovilize the beast.

Somo more diorama pictures:

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: PACHYCEPHALOSAURUS and GIANT PTERANODON
• Toy Line: The Lost World (Wave 1)
• Year: 1997
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Scale of the figures: Around 11 cms

#1041 WL SPEEDRIVE – FORMULA RACERS (Around 1987)

These two models were made by Summer and then by Tintoys. Later, they were marketed under the Speedrive brand and the name “Free-Wheeling Formula Racer”. I have two different which I received from my friend Steven (visit his Motorcade), and what I like most about them is the illustration made for the blister, in the style of the  early 80s (although I think these blisters are from the late 80s). It is always very difficult to correctly identify formula 1 die-cast models from Hong-Kong and China, as they tend to be generic casts reused for decades (with maybe several distinctive features of real cars) and exist in several colours and decorations each. Some collectors classify the cars on the stickers and race numbers (whenever possible), others simply discard all cars which do not clearly represent a real model (fantasy models, so to speak).

Let´s speculate a bit. This is what I think. One of them is supposed to be the John Player Special Lotus 72 from 1975, although with oversized exhaust pipes. The other one could be a Brabham BT46 or BT46B, as the illustration with RN7 and red/blue colour seems to suggest. The toy is painted blue and carries “PAUL” stickers that do not relate to any known racing car or pilot. In both cases, the models are older than the toy, which I guess was made in the mid to late 80s.

The Speedrive brand sold toy cars based on casts by MC Toys, Realtoy and others under different subcategories, such as the mentioned “Formula Racer” (formula ones), “Super Truck” (short trucks), “Heavy Cab” (trailer trucks) or “Speed Wheels” (generic, may also include trucks). The steering wheel logo was updated in a more 90s style (with a big “S” in blue) at an unknown date.

I also have this Ford Escort Cabrio by the same brand. I bought it a flea market, because I recognized the Matchbox knock-off. In other conditions, I would have left the car where it was, because the quality is not very high.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FORMULA RACERS + FORD ESCORT CABRIO
  
• Scale: 1:64
• Year: Around 1987
• Company: Speedrive (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 7 cm