Controversial opinions on dinosaur toys

[ceratopsian]

While I don't use PNSO's names for their models and don't ever feel the need to do so personally, no one should feel ashamed of liking to use those "pet" names or give their models names of their own choosing.  Our hobby is supposed to be fun and relaxing, not one where we have to worry about how our fellows see our foibles.  We're supposed to be an inclusive community that respects its members.  A lot of "outside" people think we're "weird" anyway, just for collecting dinosaurs at all!  So don't worry about the names, @Lynx.

Not exactly controversial - but my particular thing that others might find silly (especially given my age!) is that I like to take a dinosaur with me when I travel. I usually take a PNSO mini Einiosaurus with me.  It's a duplicate that I purchased specially for travelling, just in case I ever leave it somewhere by mistake. I like to have it on the bedside table, just as a reminder of home, especially if I'm travelling alone.  I can't say I'm homesick away from home - I love travelling - but I like the familiarity it imparts.

[Carnoking]

I've always enjoyed snapping travel photos with my dinos whenever possible. Several of my Papo figures have been carefully packed in suitcases or backpacks whenever I travel, and I've actually been stopped several times when going through airport security so that the TSA could confirm I was not attempting to smuggle living animals in my carry on.

[suspsy]

I rather like how PNSO names all their dinosaurs. I fail to see any harm in it. I also don't think collectors should be shamed for naming their figures if that's what they enjoy. Fun is fun.

Honestly, this is why I'm afraid to share names I make up for figures. People keep telling me it's a bad thing or annoying, and I don't want to be lumped into that just for naming a Spinosaurus 'Reed' or something like that.

I use names to identify the figures I have more than the species or company, and even if I don't share them, I'm afraid of being shamed in person just for mentioning a figure by its name I made up. It's dumb that I have to fret about this, but fun has become something under very strict guidelines, even stepping outside of that and it's considered 'weird'.

Sometimes I use names for identification purposes among a company (ex. using wilson instead of PNSO Tyrannosaurus rex 2021) but even then with multiple releases, it's going to be confusing.

Do not give a fig about what anyone else may or may not think of you. I'm serious. Life is far too short and far too important to waste your intellect on such irrelevant matters. All that matters is what you yourself enjoy doing. If you enjoy giving your dinosaurs nicknames, then continue to do so. And if someone else has a problem with that, it's their problem and theirs alone. Not yours. A dinosaur collector castigating another for naming their toys is as lame as a sci-fi fan in a Mandalorian t-shirt castigating another for wearing Vulcan ears and a Starfleet uniform.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

@Pachyrhinosaurus Now that's a hot take. I'm curious though, how come?

I think their figures look too sterile and empty, and seem to lack character. Also being a new company, I have no nostalgic connection with them, either. PNSO is the main one, but other brands with a similar look don't really appeal to me, either.

[Halichoeres]

There is a famous quip by Robert Heinlein about writing: "Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards." I was paraphrasing that because I think it's funny. What someone names their dinosaurs has no effect on my life, and as ceratopsian points out, this is an inherently silly hobby and it's fine to embrace that silliness. Lynx, if I contributed in any way to making you feel embarrassed, I'm sorry.

@suspsy: At no point was anyone "shamed" or "castigated," however. Good grief.

[suspsy]

There is a famous quip by Robert Heinlein about writing: "Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards."

T.S. Elliott, Franz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, David Lynch, and John Swartzfelder would all shake their heads and chuckle heartily at that.

[Faelrin]

@Pachyrhinosaurus Thanks for the honest answer there. I think I get what you mean with a number of them, but I do feel like the Parasaurolophus, Olorotitan, Deinocheirus, and a few others certainly do have some charm to them. It is totally valid if those or any others aren't your cup of tea however.

You also make a good point about the nostalgia factor. It's part of the driving factor behind why I collect mostly Jurassic Park stuff (even if it is Mattel, and not Kenner, but it's still filling a void I was left with in most of my childhood, and who knows I might still chase after some of the Kenner stuff someday). Like I totally grew up alongside it, having been born in '91, so it has played a very big part of my life, from the time the first film came out on VHS (it is one of the few films I can recall watching back then, because I watched it all the time, from beginning to end). I guess in my case though I do also like to try out new stuff to freshen things up here and there. Some very cool discoveries have been made, well after I was already an adult, into my early or mid 20's, like the above Deinocheirus, Yutyrannus, Borealopelta, and numerous others that I wouldn't have nostalgia for as a result of them being so recently discovered or described. I was already into my early 20's when Yutyrannus was described back in 2012 (although it has been a decade since then, so maybe it qualifies into nostalgic territory by now?).

In fact when I delved into collecting Safari Ltd for the first time back in 2017, shortly after I joined the forum here, they were new to me despite being well established and having quite the history then. I however had never really heard of them before that point. Same with Battat I suppose. The Beasts of the Mesozoic on the other hand, was actually new then, which I took a risk in backing because of how much it appealed to me. Same goes with the Meosozoic Life Spinosaurus now.

[Newt]

Just to clarify, I in no way wish to shame or mock anyone for naming their own figures; that practice is of course perfectly fine and I would never tease anyone for it. My complaint was specifically about companies giving their figures names. If anything the latter interferes with the former. "This is my Tyrannosaurus, Zeke" is much more natural than "This is my Wilson, Zeke".

And to preclarify, since oblique misattribution of opinions seems to be a thing around here, I am not talking about figures of pre-existing dinosaur characters. Toys of Blue or Hank or Gwangi are obviously a different kettle of fish from toys that are supposed to be a representative of a species rather than a character. The same would apply if someone came up with their own toy dino-verse populated by characters a la Transformers or G.I. Joe or what have you, or if a toy was meant to represent a particular dinosaur specimen that has its own nickname, such as Dippy or Scotty. Most dinosaur toys, including AFAIK all the ones made by PNSO and Rebor, do not fall into any of the above exceptional categories.

Vaguely analogous: I still remember, back in my larval days, being a bit confused and wounded when my parents told me that I couldn't name the puppy they bought me as the breeder had already given her a name. Obviously as an adult I would ignore such a thing - the puppy was certainly too young to recognize her name - but still.

[Halichoeres]

Newt, sorry if I got you tarred with a Halichoeres-shaped brush.

[Newt]

No worries, I'm from tobacco country, I'm used to tar.

[Bread]

Controversial Opinion

I dislike any prehistoric models that do not represent fully grown adults. I dislike juvenile models as they are usually never perfectly scaled with their adult counterparts.

Purple is a great color on dinosaurs/prehistoric fauna.

[suspsy]

I would flip to see purple used more often on prehistoric toys. Pink too.

[Bread]

I would flip to see purple used more often on prehistoric toys. Pink too.

Yes! Quite often, I've seen artist repaint some figures with a very lovely use of purple.

Whether it be dark shades or light touches of these "stay away from" colors, they can be very appealing when used correctly, I should state.

[Lynx]

Controversial Opinion

I dislike any prehistoric models that do not represent fully grown adults. I dislike juvenile models as they are usually never perfectly scaled with their adult counterparts.

Purple is a great color on dinosaurs/prehistoric fauna.

I personally think it is fine if it does not scale properly if there is no actual specimen of a juvenile of that species. That is, until it gets absurd, like a figure over half the size or around the same size as the adult.

[Bread]

Controversial Opinion

I dislike any prehistoric models that do not represent fully grown adults. I dislike juvenile models as they are usually never perfectly scaled with their adult counterparts.

Purple is a great color on dinosaurs/prehistoric fauna.

I personally think it is fine if it does not scale properly if there is no actual specimen of a juvenile of that species. That is, until it gets absurd, like a figure over half the size or around the same size as the adult.

True. Plus, I guess I should be more specific.

Models like Rebor's Stegosaurus set, the juvenile looks rather huge compared to the adult. Meanwhile, I'd argue PNSO's sets are quite nicely scaled, although the 'Nanotyrannus' which can be used as a juvenile seems oversized too compared to the adults. Again, we do not know if PNSO planned to just keep it as a 'Nanotyrannus' and not have the option to be a juvenile.

Overall, it depends from model(s) to model(s), but I am more keen to keep my
models as adults. Maybe the PNSO sets can come along into my collection at some point.

[Halichoeres]

I'll buy immatures from time to time if they're known from the fossil record, but it's pretty rare. Kaiyodo's hatchling Maiasaura is an exquisite figure, and their juvenile Parasaurolophus is really nice too. The Maiasaura is too large to be to scale with much, but the Para scales reasonably well with adult figures like PNSO's.

[Faelrin]

I am typically drawn to baby dinosaurs but to be honest outside of Mattel's and BotM generic ones I'm not sure I even have any, at least none that I've had in my main displays. I think more done in the vein of PNSO's baby Stegosaurus, and Torosaurus are appreciated though. Maybe BotM's upcoming baby Diabloceratops, and juvenile Tyrannosaurus as well, where they were designed with an adult in mind to pair it with, both in regards to scale and coloration. Plenty of species have good remains for infant or juveniles but are strangely neglected, and when we do get baby dinosaurs they are frequently done cartoony (like Safari Ltd's older figures, Mattel's, etc).

There's also a wealth of species we know only described from juvenile or infant remains, that might have figures out there, like CollectA's Sciurumimus. This isn't accounting for the plethora of Dracorex and Stygimoloch figures, which are likely juveniles of Pachycephalosaurus, yet nearly all the figures made of them look like they belong to separate (adult) animals still.

[Mellow Stego]

@Faelrin what about Rebor? I think they make some cute babies.

[Faelrin]

@Mellow Stego Yeah them too, even if those are less accurate. They do have nice presentation alongside the adults though.

[DinoToyForum]

The major toy lines, especially CollectA, Wild Safari, Papo, and PNSO, are intrinsically too 'samey', i.e. each line is immediately recognisable because they reuse the same sculptor(s) and colour palette for every figure in the line. This makes the appearance of their new releases increasingly predictable and uninspired. As I say, the models are not bad so this is not a criticism of the sculptor's work, it's just an observation that they are 'samey'.

The companies should diversify more and make things more exciting by bringing in a broader range of sculptors.