When we say “giving someone a run for their money,” we usually think of a competition. But the true meaning is to “provide strong competition,” and that’s exactly what CaDA is doing to LEGO. The Chinese building toy company has released its own dinosaur fossil collection. While it isn’t a collaboration with Jurassic World like LEGO’s, CaDA’s dinosaur fossil series does two things differently: first, it glows, and second, the sets combine.
Let me explain. There are three sets in the collection: Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Velociraptor [CH]. They may not be to scale with each other, but that hardly matters because they glow in the dark. That’s right, folks—these brick-built dino fossils glow. Expose them to 300-500 lux brightness for an hour, and they’ll light up for 20 minutes straight.
But if glow-in-the-dark isn’t enough of a draw, the three sets can also be reassembled into one large T. rex fossil—complete with a stand and extra fossil remnants. Like, how cool is that? This takes playability (or at least assembly) to the next level.
As for the individual sets, the C59012 Dinosaur Fossil: Stegosaurus consists of 297 pieces and recreates the armored, four-legged herbivore from the Late Jurassic. It’s fully posable, with an adjustable tail, spine, dorsal fin, feet, neck, head, and mouth. When built, it measures 38.4 cm (15.1 in.) long, 14.4 cm (5.7 in.) tall, and 8 cm (3.1 in.) wide, and comes with a brick-built stand for that museum-style display.
The C59013 Dinosaur Fossil: Triceratops packs 272 pieces and measures 24 cm (9.4 in.) long, 12.8 cm (5 in.) tall, and 9.6 cm (3.8 in.) wide when completed. It features articulation (well, as much as a fossilized creature can have), with an adjustable head, neck, and tail, plus a display stand.
Finally, there’s the C59014 Dinosaur Fossil: Velociraptor, which uses 256 elements to recreate the skeleton of the small dromaeosaurid dinosaur that roamed Asia during the Late Cretaceous. When completed, it measures 26.2 cm (10.3 in.) long, 14.1 cm (5.6 in.) tall, and 7.2 cm (2.8 in.) wide. Like the previous two models, the skeletal Velociraptor here also boasts a posable tail, spine, feet and claws, and movable head, neck, and mouth.
And the best part? The three sets can be taken apart and reassembled into a large T. rex skeleton measuring 40 cm (15.7 in.) long, 15.2 cm (6 in.) tall, and 11.2 cm (4.4 in.) wide—which, you guessed it, also glows in the dark!
The CaDA Glow-in-the-Dark Dinosaur Fossil Sets are currently available in China for 49.90 yuan [CH] (~6.90 USD) per set, though that appears to be a discounted price. The original retail price is 99.90 yuan (~14 USD).
Images: WeChat (CaDA) [CH].
