Dinosaur Playsets

[Mike Scott]

Love old toys in the original packaging and this one is in great shape! 

[horrorhunter]

Amazingly, the same seller has listed another MPC Monstrous Mammals blistercard set!



This is kind of unbelievable considering how scarce this version of the carded set is. This one has some condition issues with some of the prehistoric animals: The Smilodon is busted up, the Parasaurolophus has a broken-off leg, and the Moschops has a broken-off foot. The packaging is pretty nice on this one too. Even with the damaged animals this thing has to be worth at least $200. The seller has it listed at $100 or Best Offer with the same cheap shipping ($8.75) he had on the previous listing I bought. This is nuts, like lightning striking twice almost immediately. If this guy had priced these things at 3 times what he did and was patient he could have made a lot more from them. Of course, it would really help if he put important key words in the listing like "MPC" and "Dinosaur". Jeez, I wonder if he has another one squirreled away. 

Sure glad I scored the undamaged one and it got here okay. Lucky!

[Hepcat]

Scored this early blister carded "Monstrous Mammals" set on eBay.



This is the first version of the MPC carded Mammals set from 1962. I had never seen one of these offered for sale nor had I ever seen one in person.

Fabulous!

 

[horrorhunter]

[horrorhunter]

A significant Marx dino playset sold on eBay at auction for around $450 total (including shipping and the dreaded tax). This is the #3398 from 1963, also called the "Time Tunnel Set" due to the box graphics.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/366386430423

The 1963 first version of the #3398 is somewhat scarce and sought after by collectors, whereas the 1971 version of the #3398 is probably the most common of any of the Marx dinosaur playsets. The 1963 version features all of the Marx dinosaur mold groups (except the Large Mold Group), a great box, the first appearance of the 2nd Series Mold Group in a full-size playset, the first appearance of the 3-piece terrain set, and the only way to get the Medium Mold Group in the desirable tan color. FMV on a complete #3398 (1963) with a high-grade box should probably be in the $800-$1K range these days.

The one that sold on eBay probably sold for close to average for one in that condition. The box is pretty nice, it's only missing one caveman, it's also missing the booklet, which is scarce for that version of the booklet, and there's damage to the terrain. The rows of trees didn't even come with that set, but most people don't know the original contents of these sets.

I bought my #3398 around 20 years ago for $100. It's complete except for the box, and I later bought an original box in fair condition for a low price. It's a great set. Someday I'd like to get a nicer original box for it but those are very scarce.

[Mike Scott]

Awesome collection, Mike! 

[horrorhunter]

Thanks, other Mike!

Monsters and Dinos forever! 

[horrorhunter]

Amazingly, the same seller has listed another MPC Monstrous Mammals blistercard set!



This is kind of unbelievable considering how scarce this version of the carded set is. This one has some condition issues with some of the prehistoric animals: The Smilodon is busted up, the Parasaurolophus has a broken-off leg, and the Moschops has a broken-off foot. The packaging is pretty nice on this one too. Even with the damaged animals this thing has to be worth at least $200. The seller has it listed at $100 or Best Offer with the same cheap shipping ($8.75) he had on the previous listing I bought. This is nuts, like lightning striking twice almost immediately. If this guy had priced these things at 3 times what he did and was patient he could have made a lot more from them. Of course, it would really help if he put important key words in the listing like "MPC" and "Dinosaur". Jeez, I wonder if he has another one squirreled away. 

Sure glad I scored the undamaged one and it got here okay. Lucky!

Looks like this set finally sold for around $120 total (sh & tax). https://www.ebay.com/itm/188347347296

I thought it would sell much sooner at that price even with the damaged animals. The packaging is the value here and is probably worth around $200 even though the damaged animals drag the value down by around $200. With uncertainty in the Orange-infected economy and shipping prices going up it's not a great time to be selling on eBay, or buying for that matter.

[horrorhunter]

A couple of seldom seen SDC carded sets sold on eBay for around $163 total. https://www.ebay.com/itm/257508509075





The description is laughably incorrect. The seller must have used AI (Artificial Ignorance). The off-putting thing about these auction sets is the bad condition of the cards. They sold for about what I thought they would. I already have one of them on a nice card, so I sat this one out. When you finally do see these SDC carded sets offered there's a pretty good chance they will be in better condition than the blister-card sets from Marx, MPC, and others, because the SDC sets were shrink-wrapped instead of having a plastic bubble glued on. But these particular ones are a bit rough. The seller didn't post pics of the card backs which also hurt the auction. Probably didn't want to emphasize the water staining.

SDC (Spaulding Dinosaur Company) sold these sets through Sinclair stations in the early '80s. Some may have been offered as gas premiums but from what I 've been able to learn Sinclair didn't actually own SDC, they just had a working relationship. SDC used repopped Marx and MPC dinos in their carded sets. SDC wasn't even around during the '64 World's Fair. The Sinclair dinos in the '60s were made by Sinclair from their own molds (not Marx/MPC). I know because I still have my 6 original Sinclair dinos my parents bought for me in Tampa in 1966 during the travelling Sinclair dino exhibition during a Florida vacation. People should really post their own eBay listing descriptions and skip the ridiculous AI.