#38 DINO RIDERS – PLACERIAS with SKATE (1989)

We have already presented two dinosaurs from this collection, but they were both from the first wave. This one is one of the two “small” dinosaurs from wave 2. The Placerias is a small herbivore, that according to his description, is one of the strongest dinosaurs in its size. Maybe it’s a fact, maybe it’s invented, but the toy designers from Tyco equipped this dinosaur with a claw to trap other dinosaurs. This claw can be oriented in all directions and is connected to the harness with a bracket. The dinosaur includes the usual brain-box for Rulon’s Dinosaurs.

Dinosaur and figure with all accesories, missing only the axe/mace

The figure that came with this dinosaur was Skate, which is some kind of manta ray. The cast for this figure was done for this second wave on, and is one of the rarest in the whole collection, it was only used in 3 figures (including the fourth “Ice Age” wave). This group of three is often referred as the Raymen. They do not have a leader because they are part of the sharkmen, whose leader is Hammerhead (came with the Triceratops).

I have prepared this small diorama to show how does the Placerias’ claw when capturing a Stegosaurus.

The second wave of Dino-Riders included many new dinosaurs: the giant Brontosaurus, the medium-sized Stegosaurus and Edmontonia, the small Dimetrodon and Pachycephalosaurus, and the even smaller Struthiomimus and Protoceratops belong to the valorians, while the Rulons were equipped with a medium Kentrosaurus, a small Saurolophus, and the even smaller Placerias. This wave, unlike the first one, is much unbalanced, that’s why in the image at the back of the box were displayed the Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus. Misteriously, the Kentrosaurus is not depicted. We don’t know if those four dinosaurs were re-released (which is in my opinión very unlikely), but many of those boxes should have remained unsold in toy shops. The most probable explanation to this, is that the person who drew that scene needed a few more enemies to complete the battle, and a few flying dinosaurs in the sky, that otherwise might have been flat.

Note: Although this dinosaur and this figure were copyrighted in 1988, they were sold in 1989, which is the year I always use to classify toys. The same happens with the first wave, that was released in 1988, but copyrighted one year earlier.

BONUS - Spanish Instructions sheet:

Do you want to make any comments about this article, toy line, or whatever? I'd be pleased to answer it!

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: PLACERIAS with SKATE
• Toy Line: Dino-Riders (Wave 2)
• Year: 1989
• Company: Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Scale of the dinosaur 1:24
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm