The Lil’ People Lil’ Dino Brontosaurus comes in an open cardboard packaging making it easy to touch the toy and try it out in the store prior to purchase. The individual pieces of the toy are attached to the card board backing with twist ties covered in tape making it hard to pull them out for play; however it also makes them hard for people to take out of packaging in stores. The brontosaurus playset comes with one large brontosaurus, one small brontosaurus with egg, one caveboy and one food source which for the brontosaurus set is a leaf filled with blueberries. The baby brontosaurus can be taken out of his dino egg and placed back in at anytime and there is a small hole in the side of the egg that lets your child peek in at the baby brontosaurus when he is inside the egg. The mother brontosaurus has a moveable neck, it moves up and down but not side to side. The baby brontosaurus’ neck does not move.

The Lil’ Dino sets come in three varieties: the brontosaurus (which I got,) the triceratops (which comes with a cave girl and some type of greenery for food,) and the T-Rex (which comes with a cave boy/girl (I can’t tell which) and a bucket of bones for food.) Each of the sets comes with the mother and baby dino (in an egg) as well. The cost of the individual playsets is $10.99 (unless you find it on sale like I did for $9.96 at Walmart.) If you prefer you can pick up the Lil Dino Giftset which comes with the brontosaurus mom, baby, egg and foodsource, the triceratops mom, baby, egg and foodsource, the T-rex mom, baby, egg and foodsource and lastly one cave person (not three as you might expect.) The cost on the gift pack is $24.99. There are various other Little People playsets; however, to date there are only three Lil’ Dino sets.

The eggs for each set are made from thin but hard plastic and the “door” slides open and closed easily. The mother dino’s are made from hard plastic which is soft enough to chew on for younger children and hard enough to be durable. The caveboy/girl is also made of the same material as the mother dino. The food, in this case blueberries on a leaf, are made from hard plastic which is not as toddler mouth friendly as the other pieces in this set.

The Lil’ Dino’s Brontosaurus playset comes in an open front cardboard packaging and although I really hate that the toys are tied in with twist ties (I cannot stand twist ties, they’re just too intricate to untwist) I do like that they’re in an open packaging. Open packaging offers you the chance to see, play and examine the toy prior to purchase which I feel is important especially when you like to be able to see exactly what you’re getting for your money as I do. The only drawback to this open packaging is that everyone else can also play with and examine the toy so I do advise when you get the toy home and unpackaged to wipe everything down with antibacterial cleaner. The box itself it’s slightly difficult to open especially when you combine the twist ties that are taped at the back but with a pair of scissors anything is possible.

I like that the toy set comes with so many pieces that fit together well enough to create an entire habitat instead of just one or two pieces. With the caveboy, mother and baby dinosaur as well as the egg and food source it is easier for children to make believe when playing with this toy. The toys themselves are also pretty impressive as long as we discount the throwability factor, since all pieces are extremely “launchable” and extremely painful when they make contact with their target. The material the toys are created from is durable enough for children who feel the need to chew and mouth their toys as well as waterproof for children who like to have tub time with toys. I am extremely impressed with the durability of the toys as they would stand up well not just to bathtime but also to sandbox play and are large enough to stand up to car travel without getting lost.

The biggest gripe I have about the Lil’ Dino’s set aside from the twist ties on the packaging is the loose joint on the mother dino’s neck. After a while of playing the hinge on the mother dino’s neck becomes a little too loose and you find her head will flop down unannounced which is extremely frustrating especially when the rest of the playset is in the strike zone and topples over. The loose neck joint; however, is the only thing I really have to gripe about in this toy. I love the Lil’ People toys and always have, they are durable, affordable and encourage imaginative play.