A couple of weeks back I posted about the little Zhuchengtyrannus model from Japan I got through the post. I managed to get in touch with the company responsible and asked if I couldn’t buy a few more copies from them for my colleagues. Instead they were kind enough to send me a complete set of the model series to which ZT belongs and I thought I’d share them.
They are (top to bottom and left to right): Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Allosaurus, Yutyrannus and Sinoceratops. Sadly it seems though my little tyrannosaur has the least consistent paint job going as the rest all seem to be a little better done, and the colours etc. are a bit more consistent. I really like their T. rex, though the green mohawk looks very out of place, and bizarrely the Yutyrannus model has the eyes painted in the antorbital fenestra, but overall they are still a nice set. One really cool thing is that the Allosaurus comes with a replacement tail that also attaches to the Stegosaurus and the bases also interlock so you can create an alternate tableau:
Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings 
So they have Sinoceratops too. Great. But why not Shantungosaurus? I guess hadrosaurines just aren’t as “cool.”
I know these were produced to coincide with an exhibit and it may have been that they were going for new species and old classics (which would explain it) or of course what they had on show. There’s no sauropods at all and three of the four theropods are large tyrannosaurs, so it’s massively biased whichever way you look at it.
Although it looks like you have several fairly cool salt and pepper shaker sets once you unpack them. Which is a result.
I have a Triceratops that’s very similar, if not identical, to the one here – except that it has a blander paint job and a ‘micro museum’ square, shiny black plinth. And, ahem, I happened to review it: http://www.dinotoyblog.com/2011/10/17/triceratops-horridus-takara-tomy/
Shame about that Yutyrannus – seems like a very strange mistake to make!
To be fair to whoever painted it, the sculptor pretty much didn’t leave any space for the eye – there’s lots of nice fuzz around the head but no obvious orbit so I can see why they might put it there.
I guess the Allosaurus with the perforated tail is based on the conclusions of:
Kenneth, Carpenter; Sanders, Frank; McWhinney, Lorrie A.; and Wood, Lowell (2005). “Evidence for predator-prey relationships: Examples for Allosaurus and Stegosaurus”. In Carpenter, Kenneth (ed.). The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. pp. 325–350
… which describes an Allosaurus caudal with a hollowed pathology to the transverse process (inferred as a Stegosaurus tail spike perforation).
Of course. The pathology is in the first caudal, or base, as in the toy.