Half Toyss Dino Series No. 02
Item No.: No. HD002 Manufacturer:Half Toys Includes:Interior skeleton, paper diorama Action Feature:Splits apart Retail:$18.99 Availability: September 2018 Other: Sample provided with request for review, we said "sure"
Late in 2018 I got an unsolicited email to review the Dino Series Half Toyss, asking if I wanted a sample. I didn't think it'd be a good fit here as I assumed it was primarily for little kids, but hey - free toy, and I need new stuff to review so I don't get bored. They sent me a T-Rex. It's cute! To my knowledge you can get them on Amazon or direct, but they aren't yet in stores.
These started on Kickstarter. The gist is that the red dinosaur toy is held together with fairly strong magnets, which clamp over a puzzle of a dinosaur skeleton that slides together. This is not a toy for children - it says it's not for kids under the age of 3 on the box, but due to how it fits together with the clever paper display, I would nudge this as a neat desk toy. The price point is also more on the designer toy realm, so if you want a cool dinosaur for your desk keep reading.
This unpainted toy is molded in red for the skin with a bone white color for the interior. There's minimal sculpted detail with 16 magnets in each half holding it together. The interior bones slide apart in 5 pieces. The exaggerated eye sockets are cute, and the gaps in the skin allow claws and teeth to show through. It's a good, solid design that works well. Everything fits together perfectly on my sample, and I'd even go on to say they may have put too many magnets in here. And I love magnets. You can even stick each half of the toy to a refridgerator.
I'm not crazy about the papercraft. Seven sheets of cardboard let you build a rock, a tree, meat, and some hills. A few of the tabs are so small that they fray as you fold them, and many tabs need to be slotted in at pretty much the same time. I don't love it, but it does fit the mold of being something for a young executive more than something a kid might enjoy.
This little guy is a delight, but he's small for the price. If they crammed a bigger dinosaur in the package for about the same price, it might sting a little bit less. As it stands I'd be unlikely to collect them all, but I'd be happy to see one or two more in my toy box. This is the kind of thing I'd like to see sold at museums - high-quality, kind of expensive, cute, and not the kind of thing that's going to get shelf space in a big box store. If they can do more designs like this with other zoo or aquarium animals, I think they've got a really good idea on their hands. Now, I say that as a collector - as a one-off, it's nice. I like it. I just might struggle to afford to collect them all.
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