Marx #4672 'The Flintstones' Playset (1961) - Pt 19 Dinosaurs: Marx Mold Group PL-755 (Small Mold Group) x2

Marx included two sets of Mold Group PL-755 (aka the Small Mold Group) for a total of 14 figures. While all of them fall under the generic heading of 'dinosaur', in point of fact, two of them were not. The Dimetrodon and Sphenacodon are classified as Synapsids, a species of critter more closely related to mammals than they are dinosaurs. Living during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, they cam w-a-y before the dinosaurs, which didn't appear until the Triassic period.

Ed

Here are the five different types of critters:

Dimetrodon (Synapsid)

Sphenacodon  (Synapsid)

Cynognathus (Dinosaur)

Plateosaurus (Dinosaur)

Triceratops (Dinosaur)

Flintstones Playset

As stated before, the Marx #4672 playset included two groups of 'dino's' for a total of fourteen pieces. The two groups would have come in either grass green, light mint-green, or light gray and were color matched, flat finish, soft plastic. I'm not aware of groups coming in two different colors in the playset. Each of these animals were covered in separate posts back in the November 2020 time frame and by using the 'search' function on the blog you can see more in-depth write-ups.

Unless you get a complete original Flintstones playset, or are able to acquire two complete sets of color-matched figures from somewhere, it may a bit tricky to come up with fourteen color-matched figures. While my playset was mostly complete, a couple of the dino's were missing and I had to flesh out the group with individual pieces.

Vintage Dino Profiles: Marx Sphenacodon

Here's an example of a NOT dinosaur. Sphenacodon's (meaning: wedge point tooth) were synapsid's from the pre-dinosaur Paleozoic era - ca 300-280mil years ago (give-or-take a week or two) -  but like so many pre-historic creatures offered by the toy companies, it was sold under a generic 'dinosaur' label. Dimetrodon's (another popular pre-historic Marx figure which we'll cover in another post) were also synapsid's from the Paleozoic but, per Wikipedia: 

"Sphenacodon and Dimetrodon typically have been found in different geographical areas that were separated by the ancient Hueco Seaway that penetrated equatorial Pangaea during the Early Permian and "covered much of southern New Mexico and parts of West Texas".^[2] Sphenacodon is known from the west in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, and Dimetrodon is known mainly from the east in Texas and Oklahoma in more deltaic environments. However, the species Dimetrodon occidentalis is found in New Mexico.^[3][4] Each genus would have been an apex land predator in its region and likely preyed on amphibians, diadectids, and early synapsids and diapsids."

The Marx Sphenacodon's measure 3 5/8" (9.20cm) L x 1 1/4" (3.17cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

"Dinosaur Playsets - Expanded Edition" by Jeffrey S. Pfeiffer and Marx Dinosaurs Mold Group PL-755

Finding myself growing more and more interested in toy dinosaurs the past couple of years, it only seemed natural to hunt down a book that covers them and I found about as good a book as there is. Jeffrey Pfeiffer's "Dinosaur Playsets - Expanded Edition" fits the bill nicely as a beginning reference. It covers the two giants of vintage toy dino's: Marx and MPC as well as Toy Street repops and some others. A lot of companies - especially those in Hong Kong and China - have made the little beasties over the years and those aren't covered here, but for those of us into the vintage scene, this book will fit the bill nicely.

Using the book as a reference I'm going to try and follow the dinosaur production based on mold groups: those groups of dino's all made at the same time in the same steel mold. I may jump around from production year to production year as I may not have all the dino's I need at the moment, but will do what I can. Along the way there will hopefully be some nice photos taken with scenery or perhaps Photoshopped - something to break the standard photo essay routine. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Marx dinosaur production started in 1957 with Mold Group PL-749, then Mold Group PL-750, followed by Mold Group PL-755 (all 1957) PL-755 is being featured first. Why? Because I'm still missing dino's from the other mold group's.

Mold Group PL-755 consists of:

-1 Triceratops

-1 Sphenacodon

-2 Plateosaurus'

-2 Dimetrodon's

1 Cynognathus

The colors for this group woud have been light pastel shades of greens, grays, and browns

We'll cover these more in-depth during the individual photo essay posts but this group is a good example of how Marx packaged these all as dinosaurs, yet only two of these were actually dino's (Triceratops and Plateosaurs)