Inpro Dinosaurs - UK Classic Dinosaur Toys From 1972

Well, imagine my amazement to find that there wasn't a thread dedicated to these classic 1970's British dinosaur toys! Any child who grew up in the UK during the 1970's will remember Inpro dinosaurs as much as they remember Britains Toys or British Museum Invicta Dinosaurs. They're iconic, fondly remembered and highly collected now. Most of mine actually date from my childhood which is handy as the line have been copied right up to the present day. It's actually quite easy to tell knock off's from originals but you need to have handled a few first. Incidentally, I bought my first Inpro dinosaurs when I went to the cinema to see 'The Land That Time Forgot', they were sold in the cinema foyer as a film tie in. As with a lot of old toys, these were very common to find in the UK but have now become quite scarce and there have been recent listings on Ebay for frankly, silly prices. I have a complete set, including the Plesiosaurus, which was issued as a premium to some product quite late in the day.

So, here are the figures. Where I have an example, I've included a knock off for comparison purposes. Also, if any of you ever wondered why Britains never made dinosaurs, here's your answer. They simply felt that there was no room for them in the market of the time.


The Carnivores


Inpro Tyrannosaurus 1972 (The knock off is on the far right)



Inpro Allosaurus 1972



Inpro Pteranodon 1972 (3 knock off's are on the right)



Inpro Dimetrodon 1972



Inpro Smilodon 1972




The Veggies


Inpro Ankylosaurus 1972



Inpro Triceratops 1972 (The knock off is on the far right)



Inpro Styracosaurus (This figure was not dated and simply labelled Styracosaurus - probably 1977)



Inpro Stegosaurus 1972 (The knock off is on the far right) - Image shows color variations in these figures.



Inpro Corythosaurus (This figure was not dated and simply labelled Corythosaurus - probably 1977)



Inpro Brontosaurus 1972 - Two original figures showing colour and neck posture variation.



Inpro Heterodontosaurus (This figure was not dated and simply labelled Heterodontosaurus - probably 1977)



Inpro Trachodon (Not marked at all - probably 1977)



Inpro Protoceratops (This figure was not dated and simply labelled Protoceratops - probably 1977)



Inpro Mammoth 1972 (The knock off is on the far right)




The premium issued figure.


This figure is said to have been issued posthumously by Toyway but I've not found any literature to support that.

Inpro Plesiosaur (This figure was not dated and simply labelled Plesiosaur - probably post 1977)




The rarest original figures tend to be the 1977 issued figures. This is probably due to their shorter production period. The most sought after by collectors are: Brontosaurus, Saltoposuchus, Trachodon & Heterodontosaurus. Those are the tougher of the basic set to find. Rarer still is the Plesiosaur figure. I think I've seen maybe 3 pass through Ebay in six years and one of those sold for around £50! You can find most of the commoner figures, original ones, for around £2.50 each. The Brontosaurus for around £25. The Saltoposuchus, Trachodon and Heterodontosaurus for between £10-£25. Beware of trying to spot these in job lots however, especially if the rest of the lot is 1990's vintage material, as there's an 80% chance of them being knock off's  

And now for something really rare ....................


Chivers Jelly ran a promotional tie in with Inpro in 1977. The promotion was called The Age of Dinosaurs and involved collecting tokens from jelly wrappers which, when you had enough, you could send away to obtain a set of figures. Here's my example  

The outer packaging.




It folds out to reveal the set of figures. As you can see, you got a Pteranodon, Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Saltoposuchus, Dimetrodon and Trachodon. The Saltoposuchus and Trachodon are amongst the rarest Inpro figures as they only seem to have been available in this set.




Hope you enjoyed visiting this little piece of Britain in the 1970's!

Congratulations     

Last time i got a parcel with a lot of vintage animals, in this box was also a Inpro Dimetrodon

Brilliant topic! I didn't know about them and it was very pleasant to follow your post with great descriptions and pictures.
I asked myself several times, why Britains never released prehistoric figures like Starlux did, for example. This line has a completely different style from Britains but as you explain, they haven't left room to other British competitors. The design is very atractive with huge eyes and chubby shapes. Dimmetrodon is specially cute and allosaurus looks somewhat antromorphic. I think these rexes invaded our perception of what a T-rex should be, many T-rex characters of modern times, still follow that design.
Thanks for your great contribution to this section of the forum.

They are fantastic !!!
I never heard about those before, thankyou very much for this subject  

Its great to see the old Dinos!!I have the majority of these models except the rarer ones.I always thought they were just made in Hong Kong so its nice to know the true origins of these old models!

Thanks all - glad you liked them

Those are great looking. I love old dinos
We have a page for Inpro at Toyanimal.info Wiki but don't have a list or any pictures. DO you have a list of all they made and maybe when? Would you be interested in sharing any photos at the Wiki? :)

I've always thought that these closely resemble Starlux designs (or vice versa).

Very very interesting topic I didn't knew anything about them   What size are they ?

Tiermann wrote:

Those are great looking. I love old dinos
We have a page for Inpro at Toyanimal.info Wiki but don't have a list or any pictures. DO you have a list of all they made and maybe when? Would you be interested in sharing any photos at the Wiki? :)

Yes please  

schleich61 wrote:

I've always thought that these closely resemble Starlux designs (or vice versa).

  That's exactly what I thought when I saw the pics  

I would my Dimetrodon trade if anybody wants  

Tiermann wrote:

Those are great looking. I love old dinos
We have a page for Inpro at Toyanimal.info Wiki but don't have a list or any pictures. DO you have a list of all they made and maybe when? Would you be interested in sharing any photos at the Wiki? :)

Hi Tiermann. All of the figures are listed, including the three I don't have. The first wave were issued in 1972 and are marked as such. The second wave are all just named and undated and appeared around 1977. The Plesiosaur is the anomaly of the bunch as it's not labelled as an Inpro product but is assigned to the company by reasons of style and material. It was issued as a premium. Feel free to use the pictures. By 1980 the company and original line had vanished. The figure molds seem to have changed hands a few times since then.

Kikimalou wrote:

Very very interesting topic  I didn't knew anything about them   What size are they ?

The standard figures are around 9cms and the Brontosaurus is roughly double that in length.

fascinating pieces of history.  

I now have a full set of these figures so I've updated the original post to reflect this.  

Hello, my Name is Dominik, I`m from Germany and I want to know, if I can get your Plesiosaur for 100€.
I´ve got a Diorama of all Inpro Dinosaurs, but this one I haven´t got.
Please send me an E-Mail back to Dokko@gmx.de.

Best regards Dominik

Higgins wrote:

Hello, my Name is Dominik, I`m from Germany and I want to know, if I can get your Plesiosaur for 100€.
I´ve got a Diorama of all Inpro Dinosaurs, but this one I haven´t got.
Please send me an E-Mail back to Dokko@gmx.de.

Best regards Dominik

Welcome

Hello, Andreas you are also from Germany, very nice!

Do you know someone who sell an Plesiosaur from Dinocratz (Inpro).

It is very important to complete my Diorama.

Bye Dominik

Higgins wrote:

Hello, Andreas you are also from Germany, very nice!

Do you know someone who sell an Plesiosaur from Dinocratz (Inpro).

It is very important to complete my Diorama.

Bye Dominik

Sorry no, i only have one of ths figurines and i am not a dinosaur collector. The only person that i also know is blackdanter here  

blackdanter wrote:

The premium issued figure.


This figure is said to have been issued posthumously by Toyway but I've not found any literature to support that.

Inpro Plesiosaur (This figure was not dated and simply labelled Plesiosaur - probably post 1977)

I have a complete set of Inpro Dinosaurs (including the Plesiosaur) all bought from Liverpool Museum back in the 1970's & early 1980's in fact I have multiple sets of them

One of the things that wasn't mentioned in the original post is that the first run of Inpro Dinosaurs are made from a material that has very very little flexibility similar to the plastic used in some of the Britains Zoo animals from the same period. If the dinosaur is easy to bend / flex then chances are it probably isn't first run Inpro

I have some definite first run Inpro made from the less flexible material and some of those that you have labelled "knock offs" but I am pretty sure they were all bought from Liverpool Museum, maybe the latter production runs were of inferior quality or maybe like Britains they changed the material they were using

I actually have 2 Plesiosaurs. The "Inpro" version which is lighter in colour and similar to yours photographed although mine is not in as good condition

I also have a version darker in colour and it looks to have a little more detail than the one shown in your photo. It is labelled "PLESIOSAURUS" and is produced by Toyway U.K made in China (with no date on it) so it probably confirms the posthumous Toyway release. The "Inpro" Plesiosaur is made of less flexible material than the Toyway "Plesiosaurus" and even the "Inpro" Plesiosaur is more flexible than the earlier first run Inpro models

However I am almost certain both the Inpro & Toyway versions were bought from Liverpool Museum during one of my frequent visits and probably at the same time I bought the Inpro dinos I have

I will try and post photos of both Plesiosaurs tomorrow

Lecter1972 wrote:

blackdanter wrote:

The premium issued figure.


This figure is said to have been issued posthumously by Toyway but I've not found any literature to support that.

Inpro Plesiosaur (This figure was not dated and simply labelled Plesiosaur - probably post 1977)

I have a complete set of Inpro Dinosaurs (including the Plesiosaur) all bought from Liverpool Museum back in the 1970's & early 1980's in fact I have multiple sets of them

One of the things that wasn't mentioned in the original post is that the first run of Inpro Dinosaurs are made from a material that has very very little flexibility similar to the plastic used in some of the Britains Zoo animals from the same period. If the dinosaur is easy to bend / flex then chances are it probably isn't first run Inpro

I have some definite first run Inpro made from the less flexible material and some of those that you have labelled "knock offs" but I am pretty sure they were all bought from Liverpool Museum, maybe the latter production runs were of inferior quality or maybe like Britains they changed the material they were using

I actually have 2 Plesiosaurs. The "Inpro" version which is lighter in colour and similar to yours photographed although mine is not in as good condition

I also have a version darker in colour and it looks to have a little more detail than the one shown in your photo. It is labelled "PLESIOSAURUS" and is produced by Toyway U.K made in China (with no date on it) so it probably confirms the posthumous Toyway release. The "Inpro" Plesiosaur is made of less flexible material than the Toyway "Plesiosaurus" and even the "Inpro" Plesiosaur is more flexible than the earlier first run Inpro models

However I am almost certain both the Inpro & Toyway versions were bought from Liverpool Museum during one of my frequent visits and probably at the same time I bought the Inpro dinos I have

I will try and post photos of both Plesiosaurs tomorrow

Welcome here:-)

Thanks for the welcome

Here are some photos I have done front and back views



The first 2 are of the "Inpro" Plessiosaur








The next 2 photos are of the Toyway Plesiosaurus







Final 2 photos are size & colour comparisons as you can see the Inpro model is also slightly bigger than the Toyway version

Hello blackdanter, please tell me, if I can get the inpro plesiosaur from you, ist very important for me.

Best regards

Dominik

You can find my E-Mail adress here, please mail me back.

Thank you!

Very interesting. Thanks for the info Lecter.
I can also confirm that the earlier inpros are very rigid whilst the later 1977 vintage ones are more variable. I suspect that they changed manufacturing sources at some point. Incidentally, when I bought my original figures back in 1972/3, they were also available in a rubbery material similar to 'jigglers' unfortunately, I didn't buy any of these and haven't seen any since.

Lecter1972 wrote:

Thanks for the welcome

Here are some photos I have done front and back views



The first 2 are of the "Inpro" Plessiosaur








The next 2 photos are of the Toyway Plesiosaurus







Final 2 photos are size & colour comparisons as you can see the Inpro model is also slightly bigger than the Toyway version

Hi Dominik,

I'm afraid that I only have the one example and it isn't for sale as it took me some considerable time to find it. I can only suggest that you monitor Ebay, as I did, and wait for one to come up. It's a very rare figure so you will need to be very patient.

Regards
John

Higgins wrote:

Hello blackdanter, please tell me, if I can get the inpro plesiosaur from you, ist very important for me.

Best regards

Dominik