See previous item #2454. 10x17x6.75" tall command center/battle station armor prototype opens to 16x20x14.25" tall. Plastic and resin, this prototype was for an initial design to be used in conjunction w/the Brontosaurus, the biggest dinosaur produced for the entire "Dine-Riders" toy line. 1989. While the Brontosaurus was originally designed to be a battery-operated toy that walked and came w/a much more elaborate armor/battle station accessories and an additional figure, budget constraints decreed this not feasible and this design was scrapped in favor of the actual production design. A design very similar to this prototype was featured in the 1988 "Dino-Riders" cartoon episode "Battle For The Brontosaurus," in which several designs for the creature's accessories are shown. The armor settled on in the cartoon is a version that is very similar in design to the prototype offered here. This prototype differs in numerous ways from the actual finished product. Not only is it considerably larger than the used design, it features many more fold-out features, w/fold-out side portions, a raised command station (w/additional fold-out radar assembly), dual cockpit w/smoked plastic windows, a fold-down rear battle station, a separate 4x6.5x2.75" tall tail station (w/seat and turret mount) and the prototype lacks the front ankle turrets that are featured on the final product. It's easy to see why this piece was cost-prohibitive to put into production, as this prototype alone cost $4,000 to produce. Scattered lt. wear and aging. VF/Exc. A unique piece of "Dino-Riders" production history. From the personal collection of Lee
Volpe, Tyco Toy’s Manager, Director, and VP of New Product Development (1982
–1994) who was involved from the beginning of the development of Dino-Riders,
Garfield telephones and several other Tyco toys.