Recently, I bid on a T-rex skeleton that was advertised as a 1: 10 model made of resin. It turned out to be an Eduscience model from Toys R Us available for 19.99 plus tax. Further, it was made of PVC, not resin and it is a 1:12 model, a significant difference for someone who is collecting. Searching through the seller's feedback, I noticed that he had duped many others, sometimes getting as much as $140 for the kit. Additionally, he was selling skull replicas for enormous amounts that are available for much less from other websites. When I questioned him about the product, he refused to acknowledge that he was misleading buyers. There are replicas out there that are made of resin, not plastic, that are 1:10 size and his description matches those. Pay attention...a 1:10 replica will be 40 inches long, whereas a 1:12 replica is only 36 inches long.

I began to research the offerings on ebay for replicas and soon found that some ebayers are buying skulls available on other model sites and selling them for much more than the site itself. If you are looking for a genuine resin replica, go to Skullduggery or Bone Clones for starters. Resin takes a much higher amount of detail than plastic If you are looking for something for a child, go to the Toys R Us website or check some of the various museum websites around the country. Saber tooth tiger skulls can be found for as little as $10 at some sites (the same skulls being sold on ebay for upwards of $20 with exorbitant shipping prices.

For those into models, the nice thing about the Eduscience kit is that it can be painted to look like a much more expensive reproduction.