Taburin's wooden dinosaur skulls have been featured before, and since I've collected quite a few, I thought I'd gather all of my wooden dinosaurs here.

Most of them have been sporadically introduced in past Treasure House entries, but seeing them all together again like this brings back a lot of fond memories, especially since many were collected when I was younger. According to internet sources, the history of wooden figures and similar items is very old, dating back to ancient Egypt.

 

 

Oldest Dinosaur Toys

Image 1

The oldest dinosaur toy listed in the collector's bible "Dinosaur Collectibles" is a wooden Brontosaurus by TwisTum, released in the 1920s (left). (See Treasure House Vol. 55). It's made with circular joints, allowing for free posing. In fact, I have another similar item, an unknown manufacturer's piece from the 1940s (right).

*As an aside, the oldest confirmed dinosaur figure seems to be a replica of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' Crystal Palace Iguanodon and Megalosaurus prototypes (New Treasure House Vol. 71), sold to museums and collectors from "Ward's catalogue" (a mail-order catalog for scientific goods) in the late 19th century. Don Glut, the world's strongest dinosaur collector, features it with photos on his website.

Before that, during the 19th-century Victorian era, dinosaurs were widely recognized by the public, so there should have been toys, but there are no clues. (New Treasure House Vol. 19) It's a shame that if the Acambaro dinosaur figurines were authentic, they would have significantly rewritten the oldest record, as they date back several millennia BC.

Incidentally, the oldest paleontological figures created by humans are miniatures of mammoths and cave lions made by Cro-Magnons found in the Vogelherd Cave in Germany, crafted from mammoth ivory. They are said to be 35,000 years old. They are surprisingly realistic, comparable to modern works. https://polytopi.com/vogelherd-figurines/

I wonder if replicas are available for sale...

 

 

Natural Wood Spinosaurus, etc.

Image 2

Moving forward in time to the mid-1970s, Japan's first dinosaur skeletal model was also made of wood. These are the natural wood dinosaurs I featured in Treasure House Vol. 11. Previously, a Stegosaurus appeared in New Treasure House Vol. 55, and a Plesiosaurus in Vol. 63. This time, I assembled the giant Spinosaurus (50cm tall!) that I deeply regretted not buying when I featured the Spinosaurus in New Treasure House Vol. 20. I happily acquired a re-released version a while ago. This Spinosaurus recreates the image of the Showa era skeletal diagram (see Vol. 20) in three dimensions, albeit simplified.

Bandai's Plannosaurus "Spinosaurus 1915," scheduled for release in July, also features an old reconstruction, but from what I can see in the photos, the natural wood dinosaur wins out in terms of faithfulness to older reconstructions.

The T-Rex skull is from the Animal Craft series by Worldlife Co., which carries on the tradition of natural wood dinosaurs. It's still sold at places like the National Museum of Nature and Science. 

The Archaeopteryx was introduced in New Treasure House Vol. 35. It's made by a Taiwanese manufacturer called Action Products.

In addition, please allow me to introduce the coelacanth that has been displayed on my bedroom wall for the past 30 years. It's not a dinosaur or a prehistoric creature, but I'm quite fond of it.

 

 

Wooden Kussie

Image 3

In 1989, at Sunayu on the shore of Lake Kussharo, I acquired this wooden Kussie, a Hokkaido specialty wood carving, instead of the usual wooden bear.

The one on the left is a deeply flavorful work by the elderly Ainu wood carving master, Isori.

The young artisan who carved the two creatures that look unmistakably like sauropods might be a dinosaur enthusiast.

I learned about the wooden Kussie in a magazine called Bungeishunju Deluxe "Dinosaur 200 Million Years" published in 1978, and it had been on my mind for 10 years, so I finally made a long-awaited trip to Hokkaido. The vivid autumn foliage in Eastern Hokkaido remains unforgettable even after nearly 40 years.

 

 

Wooden Dinosaurs from Museum Souvenirs

Image 4

In 1987, I went through a lot of trouble to get this humble souvenir (Treasure House Vol. 48) at the opening of the Nakazato Village Dinosaur Center, the predecessor of the Kannamura Dinosaur Center in Gunma Prefecture.

Around the late 90s, I picked up this Mifune-ryu (Mifune Dragon) souvenir at the former Mifune Dinosaur Museum in Kumamoto during a work trip. (Treasure HouseVol. 51 / New Treasure House Vol. 87)

The Fukuisaurus of Echizen bamboo doll from the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. I think I bought it in 2000, when the museum opened. 

In this way, when regional museums first opened, they often had handmade, locally distinctive dinosaur souvenirs, but nowadays they have become more sophisticated, which is a bit disappointing.

 

 

Southeast Asian Wooden Dinosaurs

Image 5

During the dinosaur boom of the 1990s (New Treasure HouseVol. 18 / 19), dinosaur figures made of various materials flooded the market. Many of these Asian-style wooden dinosaur carvings were acquired around that time. Others were found later at Balinese product stores and the like. (Treasure House Vol. 29)

 

 

Wooden Dinosaur Toys

Image 6

These can be considered direct descendants of the dinosaur toys from the 1920s (Image 1).

Before plastic toys appeared, most toys that could be manipulated by hand were made of wood. This tradition continues today, and many toys for young children, especially, are made of wood, perhaps for safety reasons. Many dinosaur toys are available, from those that can be moved to building block types, but they are often deformed for young children and quite expensive, so they haven't become part of my collection. Nevertheless, I have ended up with a few...

A T-Rex marionette! This is the only marionette I have at home.

A sauropod with movable neck, tail, and legs, recently acquired on Mercari. It was reportedly purchased in Takachiho, Kyushu, but further details are unknown.

Initially, I acquired a wooden T-Rex on Yahoo Auctions, but later found the booklet on the right, which revealed its origin. It was the textbook for an NHK "Shumi Yuuyu" program in 2002. Titled "Making a Plywood Dinosaur T-Rex," it meticulously explained, with photos, everything from how to use a jigsaw and drill to the T-Rex blueprint and construction methods. Blueprints for Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Brachiosaurus were also included. This wooden T-Rex was a piece someone painstakingly crafted. I display it carefully!  

This pull-along sauropod is huge, about 70cm long. It looks nice, but it was actually forgotten in a burlap sack for many years. If I hadn't remembered it this time, it would never have seen the light of day. I'm glad I did a wooden dinosaur feature!

 

 

Other Wooden Dinosaurs

Image 7

This magnificent 60cm long wooden Tyrannosaurus carving was purchased on Yahoo Auctions a while ago. Similar items are still sold on Yahoo, but I was surprised to see them priced at 58,000 yen. I think this one cost around 10,000 yen.

I can't recall where I bought the Parasaurolophus, but it's beautifully made.

The mammoth is a memorable item I managed to buy about 25 years ago in Petropavlovsk, a remote town on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, during a music-related trip, communicating with an old woman in a souvenir shop through gestures.

I have no memory of the four small dinosaurs.

Wooden dinosaur puzzles are common, but this one's unique feature is that it's shaped like the supercontinent Pangea. For some reason, the map is tilted 90 degrees to the left. Unfortunately, the ichthyosaur and ammonite pieces are currently missing.

This distinctively Chinese-style pen holder, which could be a Stegosaurus or an Ankylosaurus, or some other armored dinosaur, I believe I bought at a Chinese dinosaur exhibition or a general store in Yokohama Chinatown. It's a rarity.

The skull below it is a recent work by Higashimoto, acquired at a paleontological event. And on the right is a classic, block-style dinosaur I bought long ago.

 

Latest Wooden Dinosaurs

Image 8

In preparing this feature on wooden dinosaurs, I scoured Yahoo Auctions and Mercari for more items, and these are the results. There's a Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus relief that capture their features well / a framed T-Rex relief that seems to be a souvenir from the New York Natural History Museum / something I don't know the name of, where a diorama of a dinosaur world unfolds inside a dinosaur, which is quite decorative for its low price / and a museum dollhouse. Although it's called a dollhouse, it's not the traditional 1/12 scale, but a simple Chinese-made version with ambiguous scaling, yet it comes with a good selection of small items and is enjoyable. This makes me want to create a full-fledged dinosaur exhibition room diorama.

 

Treasured Wooden Dinosaurs

Image 9 

A Tarbosaurus, likely a souvenir from the Ulaanbaatar Museum of Natural History in Mongolia (detailed introduction in New Treasure House Vol. 15)

An Allosaurus skull that might have been displayed at an event during the release of Jurassic Park (Treasure House Vol. 14)

A Protoarchaeopteryx encountered in Izu Kogen (New Treasure House Vol. 16)

A Plesiosaurus of unknown origin. It's in the style of the wooden toy from (Image 6), but it's a masterpiece I'd want to display out of reach of children.

These are ranked among our family treasures.

 

 

Image 10

And Taburin's works

I've collected so many!

Allosaurus (New Treasure House Vol. 21)

Bambiraptor (New Treasure House Vol. 87)

Irritator (New Treasure House Vol. 88)

Oviraptor (New Treasure House Vol. 84)

Citipati *This is a new appearance.

Heterodontosaurus(New Treasure House Vol. 88)

Another unique skull is scheduled to be added soon. Please look forward to it.

 

 

Image 11

Finally, a wooden carving of a living black rhino, not a dinosaur or prehistoric creature. I recently bought this splendid 15cm long piece at Nakano Broadway, but it was quietly sold in a folk art 200 yen corner among the antique toy shops crowded in Broadway. Such a great item for only 200 yen! While happy, I also felt a bit sad. I'm worried about the future of the wooden dinosaurs I've introduced from my home.