Tony Campagna: How old were you when you saw Jurassic Park?
Ted Brothers: I was 9 when Jurassic Park came out, but I didn’t end up seeing it until the following year on VHS at a friend’s house. Funny thing is, my Grandmother actually bought me the Kenner Dr. Grant action figure for my birthday in ’93. So it was actually the toys that had an impact on my life before I even saw the movie. Crazy how a simple plastic action figure can change the trajectory of one’s life.
TC: Why do you think that it’s had this hold on you since that day?
TB: Jurassic Park is an adventure. It’s wonder and awe, horror and suspense. It’s a Saturday afternoon running through the woods with my brother, hiding from imaginary Velociraptors and pretending to heal a sick Triceratops. It was my childhood. It will forever be a part of me. It’s in my DNA.
TC: That’s funny. DNA! Ha! Great answer. Next question: As fan, and collector of Jurassic merch, what is your collection focused on?
TB: As far as my childhood goes, it’s a mix of Kenner and Mattel. I have a large majority of vintage Kenner stuff, but lately I’ve been enjoying hunting down obscure JP merchandise.
TC: What would you most like to add to your collection next?
TB: A complete Lost World InGen Humvee with the box.
TC: Ok. Flash forward to two years ago, you got a shout-out from the Jurassic World design team at Mattel who were at the San Diego Comic Con. How did that happen?
TB: The shout-out from Mattel was insane! I never expected Mattel, the company that created Barbie, to even know who I was, let alone mention my name and my work at San Diego Comic Con. So crazy.
This story is from the Fall 2020 # 135 edition of Prehistoric Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Fall 2020 # 135 edition of Prehistoric Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
What's New in review
Papo of France creates highly detailed prehistoric animal figures (if not always the most scientifically accurate.)
The Thunderbird
Today we have an excellent, new kit based upon a scene from Ray Harryhausen's cowboys vs. dinosaur film, The Valley of Gwangi.
WHAT I DID ON MY LOCKDOWN
A tyrannosaur in the local area? How cool!
The Forgotten Dinosaur Art of Robert T. Bakker
A renaissance marks a shift in the attitudes and behaviours of an entire society.
Sauropelta
A flock of Deinonychus dart from the dense forest they had been moving through across the broad floodplain to the tree line on the far side.
Reminiscing Over Dinosaurus!
“Alive! After 70 million years! Roaring! Walking! Destroying!” (Ad line for Dinosaurus!)
Longisquama
“Determined to travel from the North Pole to the South Pole, Amos Barrett and his team of adventurers have arrived in the Late Triassic to drive the length of Pangea, the only time in the planet’s history when the continents had fused into one giant landmass.
How to Draw Dinosaurs
Putting it all together, the body of Ankylosaurus
Dinosauriana Imagined 13
Dinosauriana Iberiana (A Spain-ful Endeavor)
Paleoracism
With the nation and much of the western world contending with the fallout of the chronic problem of racism, this is as good a time as any to take a look at the issue within the world of vertebrate paleontology.
