Nj Theme Park Puts Animatronic Dinosaurs on Facebook Marketplace

Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago

ohjeez

133 points

59 comments

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Theme ParksAnimatronicsNostalgia

Key topics

Theme Parks

Animatronics

Nostalgia

A New Jersey theme park is selling its animatronic dinosaurs on Facebook Marketplace, sparking excitement and nostalgia among commenters, who discuss potential uses and the history of similar attractions.

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01Story posted
Sep 28, 2025 at 11:40 AM EDT
3 months ago
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Sep 30, 2025 at 11:52 PM EDT
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25 comments in 66-72h
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Oct 1, 2025 at 10:27 PM EDT
3 months ago
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Discussion (59 comments)

Showing 53 comments of 59

happyllama

3 months ago

4 replies

Time to start a crowdfunding effort to help buy these for the Flinstone’s Lady house off of 280 [1] [2]

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintstone_House [2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/06/flintstone-h...

mkl

3 months ago

2 replies

I don't think she needs crowdfunding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Fang

Scoundreller

3 months ago

3 replies

> In 2000, when the Hearst Corporation was facing antitrust concerns (including from Fang) over its acquisition of the San Francisco Chronicle, she acquired the San Francisco Examiner from them for $100 while also receiving a $66 million subsidy from Hearst to run the Examiner for three years, becoming the first Asian American to own a major daily newspaper in the US.[4][7][5] In 2004, she sold it to Philip Anschutz for $11 million.[7]

How do I get this kind of deal?

rsynnott

3 months ago

1 reply

I suspect for every person who's bought a company for nothing, and ended up in profit, there are _many_ people who've bought a company for nothing, and ended up blowing millions on it. Unless you're really good at this sort of thing and/or lucky it may not be a deal you _want_.

Workaccount2

3 months ago

2 replies

The whole set of wealthy people is a small subset of the tried-to-get-wealthy set.

Society has a hyper-fixation on the winners, and is largely blind to the much larger set of losers. "School of Hard Knocks", the social media channel where the kid goes around interviewing wealthy and ultra wealthy individuals about how they made it, has a very common theme: "Be willing to take risks".

This pretty much translates to "I put it all on black 3 times, and it hit 3 times". He never interviews the losers.

OkayPhysicist

3 months ago

1 reply

It's not a subset, as there are plenty of people who are wealthy because someone up their family tree tried and succeeded at getting wealthy, and subsequent generations simply failed to be in the "actively try to get poor" set.

conception

3 months ago

By plenty you mean most. Class movement is generally a fiction.

psunavy03

3 months ago

1 reply

The difference is that "I put it all on black 3 times" is purely up to chance, whereas business is generally not. There is luck involved, but skill or at least expertise about what the market will support still comes into play.

Someone who knows what they're doing has a much greater likelihood of success, unlike when you put it all on black.

Workaccount2

3 months ago

Correct, you have to work hard and know what you are doing just to get a chance to sit at the table.

seanhunter

3 months ago

Most of the time when people acquire something for $1 or $100 or whatever the deal includes them assuming some of the existing liabilities. Sometimes you have to pay a consideration of value to make the contract enforceable but the $100 isn't what she's actually providing, she's probably underwritten some of the creditors or agreed to pay staff and suppliers or whatever. It's not actually $100 is the whole amount she would have been on the hook for.

bluGill

3 months ago

It helps to have success. I know someone who the bank called (before I was born - likely 1960s) to buy a nearly bankrupt plumbing business. He turned the company around and sold it for a lot of money a few years later. However the banks called he has a history of success running businesses. He did a similar story with a trash pickup service a different time.

fnordian_slip

3 months ago

1 reply

Damn, both her Wikipedia article as well that of her as her "archenemy" Rose Pak are fascinating (even though I don't like either of them based on what I read).

hennell

3 months ago

I misread that as 'her "archenemy" Rosa Parks' and had some concerns for a second...

lobochrome

3 months ago

I’ve driven past that house a million times and always thought to look it up - and always immediately forgot again.

Now you reminded me and I know the backstory

tetris11

3 months ago

Or to upgrade the existing ones at Crystal Palace park

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Palace_Dinosaurs

Animats

3 months ago

What, is that thing for sale again?

Nursie

3 months ago

4 replies

> Have you ever wanted to own gigantic, realistic-looking dinosaurs for your backyard?

Yes, we have an approx 1-acre paddock next to the road that's completely unused and I really want dinosaurs!

I don't even need them animatronic, static will do. There just aren't many vendors for this sort of thing. It's a shame that shipping from NJ to Western Australia is likely to be prohibitive...

ants_everywhere

3 months ago

1 reply

> There just aren't many vendors for this sort of thing

There's always alibaba

https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?SearchText=animatronic%...

SenHeng

3 months ago

1 reply

I expected 2 more zeros. That's cheap!

ants_everywhere

3 months ago

yeah me too! I thought the ones on facebook marketplace were cheap. It looks like they're about the same price new.

defrost

3 months ago

1 reply

Hey now, let's not forget the Australovenator

  Constructed from retired tools, machine parts and farm scrap collected throughout rural Western Australia.

~ https://www.jordanspriggsculptures.com.au/australovenator

and a home ground culture that loves scrap metal* and Mig welders.

* https://ictv.com.au/video/11144-stompem-ground-scrap-metal-t...

Nursie

3 months ago

1 reply

I mean that is amazing, and I would imagine fetched a fair whack more than this theme park wants for its second-hand animatronics!

defrost

3 months ago

1 reply

It's a nice piece done up well and made with the intent to sell, sure.

One of the fun things about W.Australia (and elsewhere) is the number of people that make semi decent scrap art for the fun of and put it up on their properties or roadside (the road into the town where I am now has a 30+ year history of having various (large) trees "dressed up" Mr. Potato Head style).

The Broome dino I linked above is a throw to history I lived as a child, following dinosaur tracks in various places when the tide went out or sand banks shifted.

People are less open about sharing where tracks are now, for good reason: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/science-environment/...

Nursie

3 months ago

I remember heading out of Perth to the South about 15 years ago and at some point passing a field with various UFOs and other pieces of scrap art arranged along the roadside. I should probably figure out welding at some point!

We're on the edges of Perth metro and would be quite happy being the weird dino house.

There's already (though I haven't seen it for a few months) a Pajero around here that has a Jurassic Park style wrap on it, that drives by once in a while.

bigiain

3 months ago

You need someone to go and 3D scan them for you, then get your YouTube channel big enough for a Bambu Labs sponsorship.

And a lot of filament. A _lot_ of filament...

Buildstarted

3 months ago

Might be cheaper to ship from here https://www.mcsdino.com/collections/animatronic-dinosaur

shawn_w

3 months ago

1 reply

The Pacific Science Center in Seattle just threw their dinosaurs in the trash. At least these can go to a new home.

shermantanktop

3 months ago

1 reply

The Science Center ones were reportedly in bad shape, possibly beyond reasonable repair, and quite basic in their construction and movement. Tail goes side to side, neck goes up and down. Nothing like what a modernized version would be.

My kids remember them fondly but they were not amazing feats of art or engineering.

potato3732842

3 months ago

Sure, but someone will still spend a few hundo on that and put it in their yard.

Animats

3 months ago

1 reply

There used to be a place called "Lost World" on Highway 17 from San Jose to Santa Cruz with about thirty full-scale concrete dinosaurs. That roadside attraction folded in the 1970s, but the dinosaurs remained for years, slowly being hidden by growing foliage.[1]

[1] https://www.facebook.com/groups/sanjosevalleyorchards/posts/...

rokkamokka

3 months ago

The link says the dinosaurs were sold and moved to southern california. Anyone know where they are today?

roarcher

3 months ago

4 replies

A 52-foot-long animatronic Spinosaurus for $2900? Now that's a heck of a deal.

turbosb

3 months ago

the Spinosaurus is definitely the best deal of the bunch. If I remember correctly, it was the newest one and had the most articulation of the dinos.

pavel_lishin

3 months ago

I was looking at buying one of these for my house, but (a) I don't really have time to deal with such a purchase, and (b) just transporting it back to my house would cost more than the damn thing itself costs!

heavyset_go

3 months ago

Perfect fit for the 53 ft tractor trailer you have lying around, too

DanielHB

3 months ago

It would probably cost more to landfill it

marcodiego

3 months ago

1 reply

There's theme park with animatronics dinosaurs close to where I live: https://alchymistprehistoricpark.com.br/o-park/

Their argentinosauro is Huge.

The perks of living in a big city.

smcin

3 months ago

1 reply

Their argentinosauro may be huge, but can it dribble and score?

zacharycohn

3 months ago

1 reply

There's no rule that says argentinosauro can't play basketball.

smcin

3 months ago

I meant soccer. The theme park is in Fortaleza, Brazil.

bluGill

3 months ago

1 reply

Dinosaurs had feathers. Or at least some of them did (evidence is hard to find when we mostly have bones, but a few feathers have been found preserved so we know for sure some did, but that doesn't mean all did). None of these do, including ones that we should expect would have.

Those who want realism shouldn't buy these.

yawnr

3 months ago

Lol ok man

rcpt

3 months ago

1 reply

FB marketplace in Los Angeles has old props and sometimes it gets weird

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/811783558682707/

kblissett

3 months ago

Link is NSFW by the way.

phantom-guy

3 months ago

Guys I’m about to revolutionize my living room

userbinator

3 months ago

Sounds like something that many YouTubers will want.

neomantra

3 months ago

Wow, this isn’t far from me… I will visit soon and maybe snag a velociraptor! Thanks for the post!

CarVac

3 months ago

I saw this in Secaucus where it was in a pretty cool location. Then it moved to the town where I lived at the time and I wondered how much less interesting it would be in a flat field next to the public works department.

NoSalt

3 months ago

With Halloween coming up, I would LOVE to have one or two of these for my front yard. The HOA would have a conniption ... LOL!

RickJWagner

3 months ago

If only shipping were cheaper…

Stratoscope

3 months ago

If you ever find yourself on Highway 101 south of Port Orford, Oregon, Prehistoric Gardens is a must-visit:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/nncu1vYRtGoK83Rg6

My sister and I went there with our mom and our dachshund Bismark when I was a kid. They had a "no dogs allowed" sign, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. The guy in the ticket booth looked at Bismark and asked, "Is that a dog or a Texas flea?"

We found out that Texas fleas were allowed in!

turbosb

3 months ago

Sad to see it go, I spent the summer of 2019 there maintaining the dinos and repairing a lot of the controllers. It was a fun experience, and I have fond memories of the people there. I'm still a little tempted to buy one just for nostalgia's sake.

shafyy

3 months ago

Sounds like something John Oliver should buy on his show

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