Well, it took 31 years, but I can officially name something worthwhile that came out of France. I know a few weeks ago I was schilling for the Germans by promoting Shleich’s line of realistic animal figurines (here, if you missed it), but a French company, Papo, is the undisputed king of the Jurassic. It’s a cold day in Hades, my friends–the French have beaten the Germans. And while it’s true that the victory comes in the niche arena of realistic plastic dinosaur replicas, don’t shart on France’s moment.

Now, I know you’re going to look at the prices and think, “there is no way a plastic dinosaur is worth $8-$25,” but I will disrespectfully tell you that you’re horribly mistaken. Even my sub-par photography skills can’t make these dinos look bad. The detail of each is incredible, and the more expensive carnivores have mouths that actually open to rip the jugulars out of the herbivores in simulated prehistoric carnage (at least after my son goes to bed).

Still not convinced? What about if I tell you that Dominic will do just about anything to get his grubby little hands on Papo dinosaurs? After giving him the Velociraptor just because I like seeing him smile, I instituted a reward system that allows Dom to earn stickers for being helpful, listening without repeated requested, doing his chores without being reminded, etc. When the next Amazon box arrived, he was totally jacked. I showed him the new dinos, and then put them on his reward shelf with a “sticker” price that roughly equates to the actual cost (one sticker = one dollar). Not only is he motivated to do what I ask by the prospect of adding a new dinosaur to his menagerie, he learns to save up his stickers to go for the more expensive carnivores, teaching him about delayed gratification and money management in the process. Not to mention, he practices his counting every time he gets a sticker. The best part, the dude has been an angel since the T-Rex arrived on Tuesday. He can’t stop talking about it:

Me: Dom, did you just take your dishes to the sink without me having to ask?
Dom: Yes daddy. That means I get a sticker, and that means I almost get my T-Rex. ROAR!

But as usual, I digress. Back to the point (and the title of this post). Papo should be paying me, yo. I have not stopped gushing about Papo since the Velociraptor arrived on my doorstep. I reached an estimated 50 people through word-of-mouth alone. Now that I’ve posted about Papo, the total has likely sky-rocketed 60, maybe even 61. If only 10% of those parents take my advice and buy the relatively inexpensive $10 Pterosaur, I have generated $60.10 in revenue for Papo. This works out well, as I still need both the spinosaurus and the allosaurus for my collection. . .errr. . .Dom’s collection. This gives Papo the perfect opportunity to thank one of its most loyal brand advocates, assuming someone over at Papo finds this blog and knows how to speak American. 

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