Dave's DinoZaurs Rant:

     DinoMammoth (6.5" price point)

     Well, Toys R Us finally got DinoZaurs in here in Columbus, with the
small and medium toys.  I snagged a DinoPtera because I like the color scheme
better than on my DragoDactyl (and note, DinoPtera's face has two eyes rather
than the visor DragoDactyl sports), plus a DinoMammoth because of the praise
he's been getting online.

CAPSULE

     DinoMammoth: Beast mode's a bit floppy, but nicely massive.
Transformation very simple in a broad sense, but has some nice touches.  Good
robot mode.  Recommended.  $8.99 at TRU.

RANT

     As far as I know, this isn't being released in a Drago version here in
the U.S., although there was one in Japan.  They might be holding that back
for the next wave, though.

     Beast Mode: 4.5" (12cm) tall, 7" (18cm) long from trunk to tail, 3"
(7cm) wide, this is a bulky guy for nine bucks.  The clear plastic parts are
a sort of brownish grey color, and the bone details are purple/grey, with a
purple vac-metal skull.  The anatomy is pretty good, although this means the
neck is kinda scrawny, being just the spine.  The neck's probably the least
stable part of the beast mode.  All legs have three ball joints (hip, knee,
ankle) each, the head can swivel around a bit or lift up, and there's a lever
gimmick that opens the mouth, raising the trunk while dropping the jaw and
tusks.  It takes a little bit of practice to work this gimmick without just
flopping the head around.

     Transformation: Basically, the mammoth does a "hand stand" on its
forelegs and the back pops open to create G1 Dinobot-like wings.  The beast
head then flips up and pegs onto the chest, and you fiddle with the shoulders
and hips.  There's some clever sliding joints in the same vein as
DragoStegus's hips here that let the figure have decent humanoid proportions
without sacrificing good beast proportions.  His "tusk spear" is folded up
and stored inside the "wings," and helps hold things together.
     As with the rest of the line, the instructions are very detailed and
have the decency to point out steps in the "robot to beast" transformation
which might cause trouble.

     Beast Mode: 5.5" (14cm) tall at the head, 7" (18cm) if you count the
wings, I'm starting to wonder if ANY of the 6.5" figures is actually 6.5"
tall.  }->  His robot head has its own tusks (which tend to pop out when you
move the head) and more purple chrome.  The face is definitely sub-Saharan
African (or, for the less touchy, negroid), and there seems to be something
of a tribal warrior motif going on here.  I'm wondering if this is because of
the "Elephants in Africa" thing (not that Mammoths were in Africa, AFAIK).
Still, it's good that they decided to give the face some character.
     The beast head pegs very firmly onto his chest, and proceeds to look
rather doofy there.  Fortunately, there's something else you can do with it.
The beast head is not glued or screwed onto the rest of the body (same as the
pteradactyl sisters' spines), and can be pulled off entirely.  The peg at the
base of the neck is just the right size to fit into the robot mode's hand,
making a spiked shield.  It's heavy enough that the wrist joint isn't strong
enough to keep it up, but there's still some good poses you can get out of
it.  

     Overall: Shares the usual problems of the line (floppy, simple
transformations, no real personality shown on the packaging), but it's a
rather strong toy for the line.  Tons better than the stegosaurs (DinoStego
and DragoStegus) at that price point.  And if you do the shield-head trick,
he has no annoying kibble (the wings are not annoying, they are cool)!

     Dave Van Domelen, thinks DinoPtera is the best "Basic" and DinoMammoth
is probably the best "Deluxe," but is unlikely to bet SneezeGuardTricera to
be sure....