I recently picked up this solid plastic plesiosaur from a house clearance chap.
A really gorgeous sleek toy, I had thought it might be a Nessie or sea serpent of sorts, but on closer inspection of the base it turned out to be a British Museum model by Invicta from 1978.
I recalled Invicta from being a kid, as they'd made the famous Mastermind game, which many of us had, picturing the bearded boffin and his attractive assistant.
I guessed the plesiosaur was part of a range but boy, I had no idea how cool that range was!
Googling eBay I was amazed just how many Invicta dinos there are out there. It makes sense, they are solid hard plastic, ideal for display cabinets and will last.
The Invicta Museum range is a really superb and fabulously designed set.
All the gangs there, Brontosaurus, T.Rex; yep, all the big lizards and ...... They came in a fantastic box, as seen in these examples on eBay.
I mean, cor!
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Some of these are dated 1987, ten years after my Plesiosaur, so it was a range that had legs. It also came with posters and leaflets!
Wow!
I wonder if it was exclusive to the British Natural History Museum shop?
Maybe they still sell it? Is Invicta still around?
Did you visit the Museum and did you have these dinos readers?
I do like the Natural History Museum. Never had model dinosaurs as a kid, but had some books on them. In those days, as with those models, the theropods dragged their tails on the ground. Nowadays, they have improved their posture.
ReplyDeleteIs that true Kev? About dragging tails?
DeleteYeah, more study and better understanding of biomechanics tells us they carried their tails high and their spines were parallel with the ground.
DeleteFascinating! Thanks.
DeleteYou're right Woodsy, this range did have legs ... fins and wings too, by the look of it !
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Yep, it's long in the tooth now Mish!
DeleteThese were the talismans of my Missus.
ReplyDeleteShe eventually wrote and illustrated two books "Australian Dinosaurs" and "More Australian Dinosaurs" -both out of print now. The science moves on and books and plastic toys become historical markers rather than unchangeable truths
Invicta models were the best you could get in the early 80's. Nowadays she still collects the odd dinosaur figure, but they are much better in the sculpting and painting. The brands of note these days are Schleish and Collector...
During my trip to Japan earlier this year, I bought her a bunch of Japanese models of Cambrian fauna like Trilobite, Anomalocaris and Marella!
Your Missus's books sound fabulous Looey. Kudos to her! Is she a paleontologist? I like the Invicta models because they're so stylised, so smooth and sleek, clearly a house style they chose to run with. Quite beautiful. In a different way they remind me of the equally stylised and gorgeous Victorian dinosaurs in a huge garden setting weve had on MC before. I forget where they are. I think you've been Looey?
DeleteYou may be thinking of the original Richard Owen style sculptures from the 1851 Crystal Palace.
DeleteNo, my Missus is just an eerily talented illustrator, being guided by Dr Ralph Molnar (the palaeontologist) much like Owen guided those sculpts almost 175 years ago!
We did visit Knebworth House, that has more recent fibreglass sculptures and I think I did a Moonbase Post on that trip...
Crystal Palace, I think that's it. I've never been. I would say you're both pretty darn talented!
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