If you grew up between the 1960’s and 1990’s you no doubt had at least a few Diener brand erasers in your toybox or backpack. They were ubiquitous through the latter half of the 20th century. Launching in 1955 with Disney themed pencil-top erasers, Diener Industries would go on to produce novelty erasers representing all manner of animals, mythological creatures, vehicles, robots, aliens, spaceships, and licensed characters from Loony Toons, Flintstones, Popeye, and more. Most relevant to our hobby are their prehistoric animals, which include old standbys like Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus but also include a few prehistoric mammals and some unique taxa, such as Eryops and Edaphosaurus. Diener’s dinosaur erasers would ride the wave of Jurassic Park’s success in 1993, but Diener was sold to Wincraft Inc. that same year. Wincraft Inc. still produces and distributes novelty erasers to this day. For a more extensive history of Diener Industries I suggest visiting RetroErasers.com.
I’ve been keen to acquire the Diener Eryops and Edaphosaurus since discovering them on Crackington’s thread titled “Dieners and other Rubbers” over on the Dinosaur Toy Forum. Anyway, Diener erasers are highly collectable these days and common on eBay but often command high prices. The Eryops seems to be one of the rarer prehistoric animals and it took me about a year to track one down for a decent price. It came in a lot that included most of Deiner’s prehistoric animals so you can expect more Diener reviews in the future. For those wanting more reviews of vintage or minimalistic toys, wish granted!
Eryops was a genus of temnospondyl amphibian that lived during the late Carboniferous and early Permian and its remains have been found in the southwest United States, Pittsburgh tri-state region, and Prince Edward Island. Described in 1877 by Edward Drinker Cope, it is the most completely known of all temnospondyls. Having also been found in the Texas Red Beds, Eryops would have lived alongside Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon.
Eryops was once a more popular animal. It features in vintage paleoart by the likes of Charles R. Knight and Zdeněk Burian and I remember seeing it in a lot of vintage dinosaur books. Although I haven’t really looked into it, I suspect that Deiner’s Eryops might be the first prehistoric amphibian toy ever made. Starlux probably made one first but I’m not sure I would consider the brittle Starlux figures to be actual toys. Deiner’s is not the only Eryops figure however, the genus has also been made by Kaiyodo and Play Visions.
Eryops was one of the largest non-amniote tetrapods of the early Permian and could reach a length of 9.84’ (3 meters) but they averaged 3-5’ smaller. The Deiner Eryops measures 2.25” (5.72 cm) which puts it at 1/52 in scale. Diener produced their prehistoric animals in two size classes and my Eryops appears to be the smaller one.
Deiner’s Eryops is a broad and squat little fellow, with a long, flattened head. It’s about as accurate to the actual Eryops as you could expect from something like this and certainly holds up better to scientific scrutiny than Deiner’s various tail-dragging dinosaurs. Fine details include nostrils at the tip of the snout, eyes perched high up on the head, a distinct mouth, and a crude attempt to put digits on the stubby limbs. The figure has rolls of loose skin bunched up around the neck and a bumpy, toad-like texture. Skin impressions described in 1941 indicate that Eryops was covered in oval-shaped bumps.
The figure is rubbery and pliable but I’m not sure if it is an actual eraser and I certainly don’t plan to test it out. Some Diener dinosaurs were turned into proper pencil-toppers after Wincraft bought them, with a hole on their underside, but none of the ones I now own are pencil-toppers. Deiner Inc. and the year 1987 are stamped on the underside. All the Diener toys I got in my lot are bubblegum pink (you could probably recreate this Eryops with a wad of bubblegum), but Deiner erasers were produced in every conceivable color.
Deiner erasers are well worth seeking out for vintage dinosaur collectors but the Eryops in particular is one of the highlights of the set and should appeal more broadly to collectors of prehistoric amphibians or obscure taxa, regardless of its vintage or eraser status. It was obvious that I had to start my Deiner reviewing career with this standout figure. Although I don’t know if I’ll collect more Deiner erasers I look forward to sharing the rest of the ones I have. Next up will be the Edaphosaurus!
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