Safari Prehistoric Sealife Toob

Everything Dinosaur team members take a look at the Safari Prehistoric Sealife Toob.

Safari Ltd, the American manufacturer of models and historical figures has for a long time marketed sets of small, well-made models in a clear plastic, storage tube.  These sets have proved very popular and a variety of these “toobs”, as our American friends call them, are available.

Safari Prehistoric Sealife Toob

Naturally, we at Everything Dinosaur, are only interested in those items in the range that are related to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.  What’s more; our dinosaur experts are particularly fussy about what products we stock.  Each item, is assessed for creative play, quality and the types of prehistoric animals depicted in any model sets.  We work closely with Safari and have already been briefed about new products for 2011, expect to see a tube of prehistoric crocodiles available soon (we will blog about this shortly).

However, returning to the present for a moment, we have just taken stock of the new prehistoric sealife toob.

Prehistoric Sealife Toob from Safari

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture above shows the ten models that are available in the new prehistoric sealife toob (tube of prehistoric animal models).

Top row, from left to right: Metriorhynchus (prehistoric Jurassic crocodile), Elasmosaurus (Cretaceous plesiosaur), Tylosaurus (Cretaceous mosasaur), Ichthyosaurus (marine reptile), Basilosaurus (primitive whale).

Bottom row, from left to right: Frilled Shark (prehistoric shark), Nothosaurus (Triassic marine reptile), Dolichorhynchops (Cretaceous member of plesiosaur family), Liopleurodon (Jurassic pliosaur) and Henodus  (Late Triassic placodont that resembled a turtle).

Benefits of the Model Set

One of the benefits of a set of models like this, is that it gives collectors the chance to own a model of a prehistoric animal not found in other collections.  A number of creatures featured in this tube for example, are not found in any mainstream model collection.  Each model measures around 8 centimetres in size.  Although, the models are not to scale, they make super additions to any model scenes that are being created.  The Henodus replica for example, would add authenticity to any prehistoric scene featuring primitive ichthyosaurs, and as the Henodus is only a few centimetres long it would fit the scale of many ichthyosaur models that are available.

As the tube contains, ten models, it lends itself to creative play.  Obviously the manufacturers have spent time deciding what animals are to be included in the set, and then quite detailed models have been produced.  Great to see a Basilosaurus model.  Basilosaurus was the primitive whale that featured in the television documentary series “Walking with Beasts”.  It was in episode two – “Whale Killer”.  At around fifteen metres long, this predator took over the niche in the food chain left vacant with the extinction of the marine reptiles.  Fossils of this whale have been found in the Sahara desert, which was part of a warm, shallow, tropical sea 40-36 million years ago.

To view the range of dinosaur sets and tubes and other dinosaur models: Safari Ltd. Wild Safari Prehistoric World.

It is always a pleasure to see a new prehistoric animal model range introduced, the prehistoric sealife set, features a number of prehistoric animals not normally found in model ranges.  Safari are to be congratulated for bringing such a well crafted set of models in a handy storage tube to the market.