I can't help but feel that the world is ready for a revival of the brand.
Transformers: Age of the Primes Thread: ll First Post All Listings II Update : April 12th, 2027 Bonus Wave: Repaint fun, Beast Wars, G2, Machine Wars
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I can't help but feel that the world is ready for a revival of the brand.
Beasts of the Mezozoic is doing something similar right now, Cyberzoic, I think they're calling it?
Awesome cheap-store finds, I will look into those if they still exist!
Awesome cheap-store finds, I will look into those if they still exist!
I think the current in-store offerings don't have the armor. They have two different sets of molds that they keep releasing in different colors/gimmicks. One set of molds has the armor, one set is the "catch the dinosaurs" version that has no armor for the dinosaurs but has a couple of dinosaur-catching vehicles.
I've been wondering. It seems like something an enterprising 3D designer could whip up for existing, say, Jurassic Park dinos? Has there been something yet?
Nonnef has been working on Dino Riders add-ons for Hammond Collection JP dinos for a while now. He showed this rough prototype at TFCON:
An enterprising 3D designer can also feel free to design some shells for Monstructor, too, if this image proves real.
The big irony is that Dino-Riders was the brand that Ringo Starr was fully convinced would be the death knell for Thomas and Friends, and yet it's the talking trains with faces that have been going on for 80 years now. Shows what that Beatle knew, lol.
That's the first I'm hearing of this, and now I need to know more.
Back in 1989, just as Thomas was coming over from Britain to America as part of Shining Time Station, Ringo did several TV interviews to promote the show. In this particular interview, he was asked about how he, of all people, came to be the narrator for this children's show, and Ringo answered, "Britt Allcroft, who produced the show, she came up to see me. Well, she wrote a letter and then she came to see me. She had this idea for me to narrate these children's stories. And they're all about these fabulous little trains, you know? And I, uh, I really backed off at the beginning, thinking, 'Well, kids are into, uh, dinosaurs with guns on their backs, you know, and spaceships.' And so, you know, she kept at me and then, in the end, I said, 'Okay, I'll tell you what. I'll just read, flat, five of the stories.' And I sent the tape to her. And, 'If you still need me then we'll talk again,' and she still needed me. And so we did them. And it was just amazing how big it got, you know?"
In other similar interviews he did back then, he more specifically referred to Star Wars rather than just "spaceships", so he thought that too would kill that show.
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Well! The more you know!
Honestly, I can see his point. I enjoyed trains as much as the next kid, but they could never compete with Dino Riders for my attention
Honestly, I can see his point. I enjoyed trains as much as the next kid, but they could never compete with Dino Riders for my attention
And yet, it ain't Dino-Riders that has lasted for eight decades and counting.
Dino-Riders was one of many action oriented boys toys brands from the 80s. Sure it was cool, but it had A LOT to compete against.And yet, it ain't Dino-Riders that has lasted for eight decades and counting.
Thomas, meanwhile, had more of a lower profile niche that it could own. And thus survive in.
I mean, there isn't actually any eldritch horror train series out there. They own it. Full monopoly.
I hear tell that Mattel WAS exploring a revival of Dino-Riders circa 2015 (about the time they did that “green army men” style set for Entertainment Earth). I’m 90% confident that was sidelined once Mattel got the “proper” Jurassic license from Universal.
I still hold a modicum of hope that somebody might “Loyal Subjects” the brand with pseudo remake/reissue line like is being done with MASK. Will be pricey (Dino-Riders was a fairly pricey line for the era when it was released), but I would NOT hesitate to drop $300 on a new Tyrannosaurus with the modern twists TLS has done with MASK.
Cyberzoic is correct, and you can be darn sure I backed the kickstarter to get the exclusive Sabretooth Tiger and rider in full on Dino-Riders homage. Heck, they even have a few left to order on their site!
Sabre Tooth Tiger (Smilodon) w/ Helina - Cyberzoic action figure box set- Exclusive
IN STOCK (LIMITED QUANITIES- REMAINING KICKSTARTER STOCK) CYBERZOIC Weight: 2lb The exclusive Sabre Tooth Tiger w/ Helina - Cyberzoic action figure set includes a special colorway variant of the following: -Smilodon (1/12th scale) action figure -Saberbeast armor unit -Helina (Fire Clan...
creative-beast.com
Yeah, Dino-Riders launched in early 1988. This was basically the start of the “second phase” of the 80s action brand explosion. By that point, a lot of the first generation brands (MOTU, Transformers, GI Joe, MASK, Gobots, Thundercats, etc) were either dead or on a decline. The second generation franchises like (Ghostbusters, TMNT, Batman 89) all managed more significant exposure, plus continued competition from surviving first generation brands like GI Joe and Transformers.
Blastoff has shipped. I got Brawl in, too. I really didn't expect to be able to swing them but managed to do a mix of coupons and card points. I'm still not sure it will all work, medical mess is still ongoing, but this is the closest I've come to a complete Bruticus in three different attempts starting back in Energon.
There was also a period in 2011 ~ 2012 where they had Dino-Riders in everything but name in the Imaginext line.
I bought some for my son, who was the right age for them at the time, but he was never really into them. Playmobil recently has had some pseudo Dino Riders lately, too.
I'm glad to see some verification of projects from Nonnef and BotM. It's always felt like a workable niche that somehow has just not gotten explored, and oddly so for all the love for Dino Riders AND the lack of anything official or big for them in the now decades-long nostalgia wave. This and MASK were some of the names that echoed most that hadn't gotten revisited, and now we're seeing a very close and faithful new take on MASK.
Nonnef's approach is the one I've been assuming would be taken, since there's been a reasonably steady supply of dinosaur molds and all they'd have to produce is the weapon add-ons and whatnot. It really seems like the sort of thing that would've happened by now, and by a bigger outfit as well. But then I guess it's hard to balance the costs of what would be pretty extensive kits and the actual size of a market that would bite at the prices those would run.
I'm glad attention has turned to this property in a meaningful way, and hope it sells well enough to continue. It's basically MASK's "piloted cool things" dynamic and, well, the evergreen joy of dinosaurs. (I'm with Ringo and you, Donocropolis; actually I'd say the only issue with Ringo's theory was that both properties had room in the market, just for slightly different age groups maybe, but that's something that's clearer with hindsight.)
Nonnef's approach is the one I've been assuming would be taken, since there's been a reasonably steady supply of dinosaur molds and all they'd have to produce is the weapon add-ons and whatnot. It really seems like the sort of thing that would've happened by now, and by a bigger outfit as well. But then I guess it's hard to balance the costs of what would be pretty extensive kits and the actual size of a market that would bite at the prices those would run.
I'm glad attention has turned to this property in a meaningful way, and hope it sells well enough to continue. It's basically MASK's "piloted cool things" dynamic and, well, the evergreen joy of dinosaurs. (I'm with Ringo and you, Donocropolis; actually I'd say the only issue with Ringo's theory was that both properties had room in the market, just for slightly different age groups maybe, but that's something that's clearer with hindsight.)
Cyberzoic is correct, and you can be darn sure I backed the kickstarter to get the exclusive Sabretooth Tiger and rider in full on Dino-Riders homage. Heck, they even have a few left to order on their site!
Sabre Tooth Tiger (Smilodon) w/ Helina - Cyberzoic action figure box set- Exclusive
IN STOCK (LIMITED QUANITIES- REMAINING KICKSTARTER STOCK) CYBERZOIC Weight: 2lb The exclusive Sabre Tooth Tiger w/ Helina - Cyberzoic action figure set includes a special colorway variant of the following: -Smilodon (1/12th scale) action figure -Saberbeast armor unit -Helina (Fire Clan...
Wait...the link says it's 1:12 scale. These are 6" beasts and figures?!
So I decided to fidget with onyx prime while I waiting on a kitchen timer. So I was putting him from the hunchback to the centaur, he slipped out of my fingers, fell two inches to the desk: and about four things exploded off his body and scattered like terrified kittens.
And it's like... I get it. It's still a toy, it's still mass produced, he naturally has bits that are meant to be lose, and the right arm isn't proper so the entire forearm pops out under pressure... but I just wanted a chopped egg for lunch... Now I'm playing a short game of 52 pickup.
And it's like... I get it. It's still a toy, it's still mass produced, he naturally has bits that are meant to be lose, and the right arm isn't proper so the entire forearm pops out under pressure... but I just wanted a chopped egg for lunch... Now I'm playing a short game of 52 pickup.