Lance, a 4.5-metre-tall amargasaurus, bends his spiked neck and leans down to let loose with a big roar.
鈥淥h my God. I love it,鈥� says Stan Pottie, 63, of his new animatronic toy. 鈥淭his is perfect.鈥�
Pottie has a second dinosaur 鈥� a duckbill parasaurophus 鈥� that he hopes to collect from Langley this week.
鈥淗e breathes. His head goes up and down. It looks like he鈥檚 going to bite you,鈥� Pottie said Monday, adding that Lance also growls and snorts but doesn鈥檛 walk.
Once Lance was installed on Pottie鈥檚 Lantzville property at 7890 Clark Dr. West, 鈥渨e stayed up there half the night sitting there with him.鈥�
Pottie said he spent more than $40,000 to buy the two beasts at Able Auctions鈥� online auction this month. The dinosaurs used to be part of a travelling exhibition.
Asked if there鈥檚 been any buyer鈥檚 remorse, he replied: 鈥淥h, no way!鈥�
鈥淔rom the time we got him home here and started putting him together, you can鈥檛 even measure the amount of fun and excitement we鈥檝e had with the dinosaur so far,鈥� he said.
Friends sent Pottie information on the upcoming online auction, suggesting he was 鈥渢he kind of guy who would get involved in this.鈥�
After all, he already had an old fire truck, an imitation fort (with a out-of-commission U.S. civil war cannon on its way) and more displays on the property where his companies DJ Excavating and Country Buds Dispensary are located.鈥淚鈥檓 like a kid at heart.鈥�
On auction day, he was prepared. 鈥淵ou had to bid really fast and the prices were going through the roof on these things.鈥�
Bids were starting at $10,000 for some items.
鈥淲e had a lot of fun,鈥� he said.
His secretary was on the computer doing the bidding. 鈥淪he was just spending my money like crazy,鈥� Pottie said with a laugh.
Pottie and two of his workers took a truck and trailer to the mainland, where the auction site was ready with a forklift to transfer the 2,800-pound dinosaur in a special travelling rack. The dinosaurs were designed to come apart.
鈥淲hen I pulled into the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen, it went crazy. Everybody emptied out of their vehicles and had to come over and see the dinosaur.鈥�
When he got home, Pottie posted a notice online that whoever came up with a name would receive $50 and another $50 would be donated to the food bank. He plans to do the same thing for dino No. 2.
Pottie, a former candidate for mayor, chose the name Lance 鈥渂ecause he lives in Lantzville.鈥�
Locals are pouring into Pottie鈥檚 yard to view the dinosaur. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going nuts here.鈥�
Lance runs on a timer, operating for four minutes and then pausing. Pottie gets a kick out of startling visitors.
鈥淚 have a remote control in my desk in my office. And when I see people standing around and getting their picture taken, I鈥檒l turn it on and it鈥檒l start making noise.鈥�
When children get up close to Lance, 鈥渢heir eyes just light up,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 priceless.鈥�
