What figures did you not realize were valuable/rare at first?

[Lynx]

Just a few hours ago, I found out that I had two Marx dinosaur figures. A while ago, my dad gave them to me to keep in my collection. At the time, I thought they were something he might have bought at walmart- boy I was wrong.
Today, while checking out the newest dinotoyblog entry, I noticed that the Marx Tyrannosaurus looked similar to one of the two figures I had in my collection. I searched for the figure, grabbed it, and compared it to the figure in the photos. It was indeed a Marx figure! I did the same thing with my other figure, and the same results came in.
With this discovery, I had the idea for a new topic. What figures did you not realize were valuable or rare at first?

[Faelrin]

I wouldn't have sat on and missed the Rebor Acrocanthosaurus and Southlands Replicas Thylacoleo for so long, had I known they wouldn't see restocks. I really should have grabbed them when I had the chance.

Honestly I only hope someone does another take on these (though SR Thylacoleo was great as is, its lack of availability is the issue here), and Acrocanthosaurus is long over due for an updated/accurate model (particularly as far as the arms go), and is one of the carcharodontosaurs with good remains (when added together from the available specimens) to work with (other then Concavenator I think).

[Gwangi]

Glad to hear that my review aided you in your discovery! 

I've been discovering that some of the figures I bought for retail price a decade or so ago have gone up in value without my knowledge. I was surprised to find out that the Papo Pachyrhinosaurus, a figure I've kind of shrugged off, is now retired and increasing in value. On eBay it's going for $50-100. The same is true for the Safari Scutosaurus, which I got for like $5 when it was still in production and is now highly sought after and rarely even found on eBay. And of course all of the more recent Carnegie figures like the Diplodocus and Miragaia. Truthfully, I probably have more stuff that's far more valuable than I'm aware of, I just haven't figured out which ones they are yet.

[Flaffy]

I wouldn't have sat on and missed the Rebor Acrocanthosaurus and Southlands Replicas Thylacoleo for so long, had I known they wouldn't see restocks. I really should have grabbed them when I had the chance.

Speaking of, whatever happened to the Southland Replicas line? It just suddenly disappeared.

[Faelrin]

I wouldn't have sat on and missed the Rebor Acrocanthosaurus and Southlands Replicas Thylacoleo for so long, had I known they wouldn't see restocks. I really should have grabbed them when I had the chance.

Speaking of, whatever happened to the Southland Replicas line? It just suddenly disappeared.

If I recall correctly, the creator has not had the funds to continue it. Might be information in the SR thread, if not elsewhere. I think the last model that was sculpted was the Saltwater Crocodile, but I don't think it ever went into production, unfortunately. The pandemic has certainly not helped matters on that front I would think.

[Georassic]

Schleich Desmatosuchus. When I first started collecting, before I discovered the DTF, I saw that figure in a local toy store on a shelf with an array of nicely sculpted Papos and Safaris. It was so small and simple, comparatively, that I assumed it was "mis-filed,"  like someone picked it out of a kids' toy bin, decided they didn't want to buy it, and dropped it there among the nicer dino-figures.

A short time later, I saw one on ebay for $50US, more than 5 times what the local toy store was asking! So I googled the "Schleich Desmatosuchus" and one of the first links I found was ... the DTF!

So not only was that figure rarer/more valuable than I imagined, it directly introduced me to this forum so many years ago.

And yes, I did run back to that toy store and buy the figure. 

[Bread]

I wouldn't have sat on and missed the Rebor Acrocanthosaurus

Couldn't agree more. So much regret and I wish I would have purchased it over the Rebor King Rex.

I also regret not purchasing Kaiyodo Revoltech Tyrannosaurus rex (the lost world design). The prices on this figure are ridiculous at the moment.

I had a few Hasbro JP3 figures I had not realize were somewhat rare. The orange bull rex, few of the raptors, and medium sized figures they had too. Sold them for cheap and later found out I could have sold them for a lot more. Regardless of the price, I just hope they are in good hands.

[JohannesB]

Well, I guess it must be my Invicta Lambeosaurus, which I bought at original price a few decades ago. The same with the Invicta Stenonychosaurus (Trøodon), of which I have two, one a lovely repaint by Martin Garratt.

[Shonisaurus]

Totally agree the invicta lambeosaurus is a rare figure among a collector and to think that I got it for less than one euro twenty years ago since I bought it for very few pesetas (old currency in my nation).

[Duna]

In my case it is the Jecsan plastic recast of the tyrannosaurus from the 50s. In fact the plastic recasts are even more rare than the originals made of vulcanized rubber.
I got it as a prize in a supermarket in 1993, and I have thought it was an awful inexpensive giveaway plastic toy until this year. I didn't realize how valuable it was, I only kept it because it WAS my childhood toy.



And later (but I already knew what I was looking for) I got another tyrannosaurus in light green colour, and two triceratops. None of the sellers knew what they were selling so I bought them quite cheap. Triceratops and tyrannosaurus were the only models that were recast in the 90s from the 5 figure original set and in a very small amount.

[dinodamage]

The series 1 JP09 T-Rex... I gifted my old one to a friend many years ago, so I wanted another for myself... come to find they're selling for $100+ on eBay to get one in good condition. I'm surprised by this considering I checked a while ago (ok, maybe a year or two ago...) and they weren't fetching that price, and they aren't rare. But I guess their value has gone up due to...?? My best guess is more demand with JW drawing in more collectors, or maybe good condition figures are harder to find, not sure.

I feel like a sucker for spending $100, but it was the cheapest I could find in good condition... I don't regret it though, she looks great alongside my TLW Bull T-Rex!

What's killing me though is a friend sent me a pic of one in a thrift store as a "hey this reminds me of you!," but they left before I saw It. I wish I had seen that text earlier so I could have Venmo'd them to buy it for me

[Dinoguy2]

I gained a new appreciation for my old Carnegie Pteranodon when I realized it must have come from the first production run. When I then took a closer look at it compared to photos of the "same" model in online photos and realized how much better it looked things clicked for me and I started getting more into tracking down old variants. To this day I've only seen "my" version of Pteranodon for sale a couple of times. Not bad for a figure I paid $2 for.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Seconded on the Kenner rex. I got mine for Christmas long ago and didn't realize until recently how much they go for now. I'm sure the Jurassic World movies played a big part in that. Also the Safari DOC Mamenchisaurus. Coincidentally, it was a Christmas gift as well. I didn't expect to see triple-digit prices on that one, either.

[Mellow Stego]

I guess my Dino Riders collection might be considered rare. Especially the Bronto

[Halichoeres]

The feathered CollectA Deluxe Tyrannosaurus, oddly.

[SidB]

The feathered CollectA Deluxe Tyrannosaurus, oddly.

Yes, it's very rare on eBay now and is a more interesting figure than its successor, IMO. I fnally got one, just before it went out of production, though I couldn't resist giving it a repaint:

[SidB]

One figure that I always thought that I'd be able to snap up sooner rather than later was the old Bullyland Dire Wolf. No luck  When Bullyland reissued their Cenozoic mammal collection WITHOUT the dire wolf, I knew that I was in trouble. Needless to say, I've seen nary a one available anywhere since.

[Halichoeres]

The Battat Cryolophosaurus and Nanshiungosaurus turned out to have a pretty brief release. I think ten years from now they'll be quite difficult to find.

[GojiraGuy1954]

the Toys'R'Us exclusive papo T. rex and Velociraptor set

[Primeval12]

Funnily enough, the Battat T. rex. I got it at the thrift store and everyone here was blown away.... THEN I found the older variant at another thrift store! Lightning struck twice.