Recent Purchase!

[rejd]

I was at the salvation army today (I often pop in looking for stuff to sell on eBay) and found this amazing set of nine dinosaurs. They are all vintage. I have been trying to figure out just how old they are but I cannot seem to find any information about them. The 2 best pieces are the ones from the Calgary Zoo. They say on the bottom "Dinny Crafts Calgary". I did search for this on the internet but came up empty. I showed them to Clay (owner of Green's Rock and Lapidary) and he figures they are from the late 60's to early 70's and he has never seen these before. I will keep searching to find out when they were made.
I love just how wrong the T-Rex is, especially the long fore limbs holding a bone!


The Brontosaurus is pretty cool as well. He was modeled after the large Brontosaurus that still stands there today.



The other 7 all just say Japan on the bottom. I do believe they are old as well and seem like quality pieces. I will need to do some more digging to find out who made them.








Oh and did I mention I only paid $36 for all of them! I was told the 2 Calgary pieces could be worth $150-$200 each. I hope you enjoyed seeing these. I was pretty excited about purchasing them and they are now displayed proudly in my office.

[Fossil Claw]

try looking around here.

http://www.dinosauriana.com/

[Triceratops]

Nice buys! Can't help you find out about them though.

[snolly50]

Those are wonderful. Are they ceramic?

[Diceros]

Some changes in the knowlege of dinosaurs, reflected in the old restorations:

Tyrranosaurus - The torso was counterbalanced by the tail, so the body was generally parallel to the ground. When they set up the upright skeleton at the AMNH in the early 1900's, they literally had to break some neck and tail bones to make this posture work. As you say, the tiny arms are incapable of holding a large object like this. They may only have served to steady the body against the carcass it was scavenging.

Brontosaurus/Apatosaurus (it's apparently still possible Brontosaurus might be a valid taxon, separate from the earlier-named Apatosaurus) - The head was cantilevered on the shoulders (like a suspension bridge), so it's unlikely the head could have been held up this high. In the early days, they thought it needed to be in water to hold up its bulk, it's now thought its legs were graviportal, like an elephant's.

Triceratops - The frill was originally thought defensive, like the three horns, but there were apparently jaw muscles over the bone.

Stegosaurus - The dorsal plates were alternating, not paired like this. The plates were originally thought defensive, but were covered in blood vessels, likely to gather or dissipate heat, like an African elephant's ears.

Protoceratops - When it was found near nests of elongate eggs in Mongolia in the 30's, it was assumed to be the maker of the eggs, and another dinosaur, Oviraptor, as an egg predator. It's now known the later was the maker of the eggs.

Dimetrodon - the e. Permian sail-back pelycosaur has never been considered a dinosaur, though often associated with them. It's now though more closely related to mammals than to dinosaurs.

A lot of water over the dam, since these models were made.

[rejd]

try looking around here.

http://www.dinosauriana.com/

I tried looking there but it doesn't seem to tell you much. It seems that they had a book published but it is no longer available. Thanks for the link though.

[rejd]

Could you call someone at the calgary zoo and ask? Maybe they have records of that type of stuff? I would think if the bronto statue is still there, they prob can tell you the year it was installed. And i would think the souvenir you have was made the same time to commemorate it. Pretty cool dinos

I have emailed some pictures to the Zoo to see if I can get some information. According to the internet, the original brontosaurs was installed at the Zoo in 1937. Once I hear back I will update this post.

[rejd]

Those are wonderful. Are they ceramic?

Thanks, I can't agree more. Some appear to be ceramic while others, like the two Calgary zoo ones, seem to be made of plaster.

[rejd]

Some changes in the knowlege of dinosaurs, reflected in the old restorations:

Tyrranosaurus - The torso was counterbalanced by the tail, so the body was generally parallel to the ground. When they set up the upright skeleton at the AMNH in the early 1900's, they literally had to break some neck and tail bones to make this posture work. As you say, the tiny arms are incapable of holding a large object like this. They may only have served to steady the body against the carcass it was scavenging.

Brontosaurus/Apatosaurus (it's apparently still possible Brontosaurus might be a valid taxon, separate from the earlier-named Apatosaurus) - The head was cantilevered on the shoulders (like a suspension bridge), so it's unlikely the head could have been held up this high. In the early days, they thought it needed to be in water to hold up its bulk, it's now thought its legs were graviportal, like an elephant's.

Triceratops - The frill was originally thought defensive, like the three horns, but there were apparently jaw muscles over the bone.

Stegosaurus - The dorsal plates were alternating, not paired like this. The plates were originally thought defensive, but were covered in blood vessels, likely to gather or dissipate heat, like an African elephant's ears.

Protoceratops - When it was found near nests of elongate eggs in Mongolia in the 30's, it was assumed to be the maker of the eggs, and another dinosaur, Oviraptor, as an egg predator. It's now known the later was the maker of the eggs.

Dimetrodon - the e. Permian sail-back pelycosaur has never been considered a dinosaur, though often associated with them. It's now though more closely related to mammals than to dinosaurs.

A lot of water over the dam, since these models were made.

That's a lot of great information. Lots certainly has changed and I love seeing these old pieces that are so different.

[grampa dino]

Remember I get first change on them when you get tried of them

[rejd]

HAHA, that may be a very long wait Grampa!

[ynot]

Nice finds!! The pieces that have "Japan" on them must be from the late 1940's or early 1950's. Prior to WW2 the things imported from Japan were marked with "Nippon" , "occupied Japan" was used for a couple of years after the war, then they went to just "Japan". And by the late 1950's they would have been made of plastic.

Sorry that I can not help with the 2 from Calgary.

Tony

[rejd]

Nice finds!! The pieces that have "Japan" on them must be from the late 1940's or early 1950's. Prior to WW2 the things imported from Japan were marked with "Nippon" , "occupied Japan" was used for a couple of years after the war, then they went to just "Japan". And by the late 1950's they would have been made of plastic.

Sorry that I can not help with the 2 from Calgary.

Tony

Wow, that's cool. I never expected those to be that old. Thanks for the info, it's much appreciated.

[siteseer]

People who work at the zoo are unlikely to know about old souvenirs. I would try contacting Mike Fredericks at Prehistoric Times magazine:

http://www.prehistorictimes.com

It's a magazine about the pop culture angle to paleontology including people who collect dinosaur toys and other collectibles. Mike is also a longtime collector.

I have emailed some pictures to the Zoo to see if I can get some information. According to the internet, the original brontosaurs was installed at the Zoo in 1937. Once I hear back I will update this post.

[rejd]

Thanks, I will send them an email. Appreciate it.

[Plantguy]

Hey Rejd...those are cool. When you and Grampa get tired of them let me know we've got a bunch of ceramic antique water pitchers and teapots that they would go nicely with...here's a small portion of the "green shelf items"..

Congrats!

Regards, Chris

[jcbshark]

Those are soooo cool, brought me back to playing with some of my favorite toys as a kid: )

[rejd]

Hey Rejd...those are cool. When you and Grampa get tired of them let me know we've got a bunch of ceramic antique water pitchers and teapots that they would go nicely with...here's a small portion of the "green shelf items"..

20150529_203539.jpg

Congrats!

Regards, Chris

I'll keep you in mind as I am sure they would look good with those!

[rejd]

Those are soooo cool, brought me back to playing with some of my favorite toys as a kid: )

I agree but I can assure you these will not be played with. If they are as old as ynot thinks, then they are in amazing condition. other than the T-Rex from the zoo, most don't even have a nick on them.

[rejd]

I still haven't heard back from the zoo but from what I was able to find, the zoo opened their prehistoric park in 1937 with the brontosaurus being one of the sculptures. I would assume the one I have would then be from that era. I will update if find more information.

[Wrangellian]

Ha! We have the same Bronto and Stego from Japan in our china cabinet!

[rejd]

Very cool! Do you have any information about them?