Controversial opinions on dinosaur toys

[Gwangi]

It seems to me that transparency over who sculpts the toys could also work in a company's favor. People want to feel a connection to the product their buying. Knowing that these toys were hand sculpted by someone would offset the bad taste that comes along with being mass produced in Chinese factories. You see it as a marketing gimmick all the time... "hand made", "hand picked", "small batch", "locally sourced"...whatever. Battat sort of did it with the "Dan LoRusso Collection".

[Ludodactylus]

Absolutely agree with that, @Gwangi - outside of dinosaur collecting I collect and paint 28mm miniatures and there's a number of companies I've bought from (or only heard about in the first place) because a sculptor I'm a fan of designed figures for them.

If Upcoming Dinosaur Toy Company XYZ hired Doug Watson to sculpt a ceratopsian as their inaugural figure release, it would 100% draw my attention to Upcoming Dinosaur Toy Company XYZ.

[Faelrin]

Funny you all are discussing this, because I first heard of David Silva because of the Pachyrhinosaurus he sculpted for the Hasbro Jurassic Park toy line a while back. While it was a one off thing, and he did do sculpting work in other places like Neca, etc, it was because of that figure I had even heard about him, and it was the main reason I was drawn into supporting the Beasts of the Mesozoic figures right off the bat in 2016, aside from the highly articulated and scientifically up to date approach. And now he works full time on his own projects, such as BotM and the upcoming Cyberzoic line, and thankfully has the financial support and success to do so.

[Halichoeres]

@Faelrin yeah that seems like an example of the sort of thing companies would rather avoid: a talented and ambitious artist outgrowing them.

[Leyster]

People's reactions puzzle me sometimes. Years ago everybody and their cat jumped at Rebor's Acrocanthosaurus for having the same pose of the Safari; now that Nanmu cleary copied from the Sideshow Mosasaurus (with no respect for the original artistic process) I expected a stronger reaction.

[Bread]

People's reactions puzzle me sometimes. Years ago everybody and their cat jumped at Rebor's Acrocanthosaurus for having the same pose of the Safari; now that Nanmu cleary copied from the Sideshow Mosasaurus (with no respect for the original artistic process) I expected a stronger reaction.

Correct me if I am wrong, but this was expected? Nanmu have been known to reflect poses that Sideshow have produced with their old models. Examples; the Apatosaurus, Once and Future King Tyrannosaurus.

Although, I will say it was a bigger issue for a newer company, at the time Rebor, copying a pose from a popular company amongst the community.

I don't recall ever having the issue of companies copying poses from eachother. I mean we're pretty limited to poses in general, especially for therapods.

[Leyster]

People's reactions puzzle me sometimes. Years ago everybody and their cat jumped at Rebor's Acrocanthosaurus for having the same pose of the Safari; now that Nanmu cleary copied from the Sideshow Mosasaurus (with no respect for the original artistic process) I expected a stronger reaction.

Correct me if I am wrong, but this was expected? Nanmu have been known to reflect poses that Sideshow have produced with their old models. Examples; the Apatosaurus, Once and Future King Tyrannosaurus.

Although, I will say it was a bigger issue for a newer company, at the time Rebor, copying a pose from a popular company amongst the community.

I don't recall ever having the issue of companies copying poses from eachother. I mean we're pretty limited to poses in general, especially for therapods.

And this is the reason why I think Nanmu is way more praised than it deserves. All they can do (save for a couple of minor exceptions, which disappear among the stolen designs) is copy, from other models or from the movie design. And I find that, while copying a design in a moment when nobody is doing anything with that license (ie. the fist Papos) is somewhat forgivable (nobody is making money out of them in that moment, so you're not competing with anyone), doing so when others have paid moneys for the right of reproducing that design it's absolutely shameful. People praise Nanmu because their prices are lower than the like of WDragon, Prime1 and such, but that's because Nanmu has no right of do what they are doing.

[Lynx]

I've just had enough of what I'm hearing a bit, so I'll say it here.
I am tired of people comparing bad figures to Schleich
"company has sunken below schleich"
"figure is schleich quality"
"looks like something schleich would make"

I really don't get it, at all.
Schleich is not that bad of a company. Say what you will, they have plenty of bad releases, but it's just not as bad as people are making it seem. Are they scientifically accurate? No, I don't think most of the sculptors for that line are trying to be. I was looking at the catalog recently, and realized that, well, the detail on those figures isn't that bad.

The few releases they do have that are considered good might be equal to or even above the works of Safari LTD, but their "bad" releases just outweigh how much good the company has.

I am in no way saying you can't criticize them, but I just am feeling tired of the constant comparisons to Schleich. 

Their just not that bad.

Before I even had a schleich figure, this community, even then, was still complaining about Schleich. It left a horrible impression, and I tried to just flat out avoid the company. I finally get a Schleich figure, one that is considered 'bad'. I grab it, take a look, and nothing is that terrible about it? I didn't get it, people were making it sound like Schleich level was the ultimate bad, but I'm not seeing it.

[Fembrogon]

Schleich probably does get over-hated, in a way; their figures are certainly of a better make than the cheap screw-hole toys that often sell at store chains.

I think what made a lot of us turn on Schleich specifically is how they tout themselves. If I recall correctly, Schleich markets itself as an educational company, which means one could/should expect a certain standard of diligance and research to go into their replicas. What we often see instead are stylized, monsterized depictions of dinosaurs which look less like scientific reconstructions and more like $30 JP knockoffs - and if what we wanted was the latter, Papo has historically done it much better, for similar prices.

You're right: some of us (myself included) have probably worked up the company into some kind of collector's boogeyman. Schleich is certainly not the worst company at making dinosaur toys - they LOOK like it sometimes, though, when compared to the likes of Safari ltd., Collecta, etc., who clearly put more care into their respective prehistory lines.

[Bread]

L @Leyster I agree in a way. I am pretty 50/50 when it comes to Nanmu, especially right after the whole rearing Brachiosaurus catastrophe. My whole thing is, it's a great company for those, sometimes like myself, who enjoy getting a hold of JP-"copies" for an affordable price. However, it has that "unofficial" factor to it, which can be bothersome.

Nanmu knows whats making them money with their unlicensed movie-monster models. However, I hope they revert back to their first ever models which had originality and scientific factors to them.

I think what made a lot of us turn on Schleich specifically is how they tout themselves. If I recall correctly, Schleich markets itself as an educational company

This is exactly why they get heavy criticism. It's similar to how PNSO, and even at one point, Rebor market themselves. Scientific models or museum models whatever, then they turn out to have constant issues.

Me personally, I like some schleich models, but to me they are like every company. Some wonderful pieces but some bad ones. I don't think there is anything wrong with the jokes being made, of course they can be out of place but I personally find it funny, and they shouldn't be taken too serious.

[Lynx]

L @Leyster I agree in a way. I am pretty 50/50 when it comes to Nanmu, especially right after the whole rearing Brachiosaurus catastrophe. My whole thing is, it's a great company for those, sometimes like myself, who enjoy getting a hold of JP-"copies" for an affordable price. However, it has that "unofficial" factor to it, which can be bothersome.

Nanmu knows whats making them money with their unlicensed movie-monster models. However, I hope they revert back to their first ever models which had originality and scientific factors to them.

I think what made a lot of us turn on Schleich specifically is how they tout themselves. If I recall correctly, Schleich markets itself as an educational company

This is exactly why they get heavy criticism. It's similar to how PNSO, and even at one point, Rebor market themselves. Scientific models or museum models whatever, then they turn out to have constant issues.

Me personally, I like some schleich models, but to me they are like every company. Some wonderful pieces but some bad ones. I don't think there is anything wrong with the jokes being made, of course they can be out of place but I personally find it funny, and they shouldn't be taken too serious.

It feels less like a joke when people are constantly using it as a comparison for terrible models. Even reviewers on YouTube constantly give these 'joke' comparisons. Of course, I don't mind jokes, but there is a line where it sounds serious and leaves a bad impression.

[Halichoeres]

People's reactions puzzle me sometimes. Years ago everybody and their cat jumped at Rebor's Acrocanthosaurus for having the same pose of the Safari; now that Nanmu cleary copied from the Sideshow Mosasaurus (with no respect for the original artistic process) I expected a stronger reaction.

I hadn't seen this because I dislike Nanmu and ignore the threads about it for the most part. The Mosasaurus is a pretty blatant ripoff of the Sideshow model. I generally agree that Nanmu doesn't get enough criticism.

[Ikessauro]

Since people are talking about it, here's a controversial view I have about Nanmu in general.

I have been more and more annoyed by the way Nanmu has continued to release way too many variants of a single figure each time and how they keep repeating the same dinos over and over again.

I know some people appreciate the option of different colors and poses, but that is a waste in my eyes. They should IMHO only focus in producing different species than the ones they already done and always do only one version of color and mold.

This limited edition or exclusive variants production is quite toxic in my opinion. Makes you anxious about having to either buy stuff on a hurry right when it is released or you might never be able to buy them. That is agravated by the constant influx of new releases each year.


It creates artificial scarcity and "rarity", driving prices up quickly. Also they do that to basically take advantage of collectors like myself who like to actually collect a whole line. They know that a single color variant or different base or different horn or whatever, might be enough to make a person buy the same figure twice.

I already didn't like it when companies simply repaint a model shortly after the first release or when they did two color versions of stuff, let alone now that they release three or four colors of maybe two molds with two colors, resulting in 4 different versions of the same figure. That sounds absurd to me, mainly because they are not cheap 10 dollar toys like Mattel's dinos.

So, I myself have basically stopped buying most of their products, expressing myself with my wallet, as some say here. I only buy one figure and will only get variants from second hand sources, when they are fairly priced, mostly after they discontinued the figure, to not encourage this insulting (in my eyes) marketing strategy.

Now they have done something even worse that is to release all the old dinos in a "new line", even more expensive than before. To me that is so frustrating that I almost don't enjoy having their models anymore.

I would like so much they simply stopped this unreasonable practice, but since a lot of people keep buying, I don't see it ending soon.

[Carnoking]

I definitely have developed a strong love/hate relationship with Nanmu over the years. On one hand, most of their products are second to none in the market they focus on, and for collectors such as myself who don't care to shell out a hefty amount more for a "name-brand" product that is essentially no better (and at times, entirely worse*), Nanmu is a godsend.

That being said, the latest focus on limited edition resin statues and do-overs does grind my gears a little. Based off the Spinosaurus alone, I do see the improvement in their artistry and am glad they want to deliver something better each time. I'm sure it's also a very welcome move to folks who are late to the party and want to add a certain design to their shelves but missed out given the relatively short production run Nanmu seems to follow. That being said, it is certainly annoying to see Nanmu so focused on doing the more expensive redos and variants when there are so many species left to the wayside, and that brings us to the question of their "Dragon Soul" line.

Again, positives and negatives here. The limited edition offering seems in place to placate the more elitist collectors who think anything that isn't resin is junk, and there are some unique offerings that make for cool pieces for collectors, i.e. the sick triceratops and parasaurolophus carcass. That being said, when it's just a different pose or paint job, it does beg the question of why it's even necessary, and I think Nanmu knows they're playing to a niche of a niche, so they decided to make the Dragon Soul offerings extremely limited (usually less than 500 pieces made total) just to instill this unnecessary urgency to buy a not necessarily better product that may or may not show up in one piece (looking at you Brachiosaurus). This same sense of urgency can make choosing between the standard and limited release harder, and I don't doubt there are plenty of folks who choose to pay more for the collecting clout even when the standard version is just as good and cheaper and I'm sure Nanmu knows this and wants to play into it.

And of course, I didn't mind the poses up until the Mosasaurus. I think the likes of the Apatosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex could be attributed to Hanlon's Razor but that Mosasaurus is pretty shameless. Again, tempting for collectors who will never have the Sideshow offering but that whole angle does just gives Nanmu an excuse to coast on the curtails of other artists.

At the end of the day, their technical artistry deserves a lot of praise but their creativity and marketing are certainly wanting.

*obviously there are exceptions such as the W-Dragon Indominus rex and Indoraptor vs Nanmu's take on the same but by and large, I find Nanmu's paint and sculpt work as nice or nicer than the licensed counterparts.

Edit: I think a rather appropriate comparison would be with the likes of Apple. Both re-release essentially a familiar product time and again with little "improvements" or "embellishments" here and there that are just enough to convince the fan base that it's worth picking up before turning around and doing it all over again🙃

[Bread]

I want to point out that Nanmu does indeed receive criticism. And I mean heavy criticism from their fans.

My point being that they attempted to do the same thing as other companies have tried in the past. Produce unofficially licensed JP inspired models, and they have managed to grasp the attention of a variety of fans and dominate this market. However, these fans do criticize revealed pieces, and finalized/in-hand pieces. Check over on instagram, for an example.

Now, I've noticed Nanmu threads are not too active here. Really it is because I feel as though the majority of users here are sick of or do not collect JP-inspired models. Again, can be due to the lack of Nanmu criticism. Just my thoughts.

[ceratopsian]

I must admit that Nanmu releases don't appeal to me at all, so I don't follow any of the threads here about them.

[Remko]

I want to point out that Nanmu does indeed receive criticism. And I mean heavy criticism from their fans.

My point being that they attempted to do the same thing as other companies have tried in the past. Produce unofficially licensed JP inspired models, and they have managed to grasp the attention of a variety of fans and dominate this market. However, these fans do criticize revealed pieces, and finalized/in-hand pieces. Check over on instagram, for an example.

Now, I've noticed Nanmu threads are not too active here. Really it is because I feel as though the majority of users here are sick of or do not collect JP-inspired models. Again, can be due to the lack of Nanmu criticism. Just my thoughts.

That's it exactly.
I Like Jurassic Park (although I refuse to acknowledge the existence of Jurassic World as being in the same franchise), and  I do have a few Nanmu figures. Namely the sick Triceratops, and their Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus.

The first because it's an iconic scene, the second because, well, big sauropod figures aren't thst much around.
Although I detest the headsculpt on the Apatosaurus. But I've got a solution for that, I ordered a couple of 1:32 scaled horses. Their heads will work perfect on the Nanmu figure.

I wanted their original Giganotosaurus, so I would have a complete set together with the PNSO, Eofauna, Vitae and Safari figures (no, not the Papo monstrosity). But it's pretty much sold out.
Probably because the release of their new dragon/hybrid from JW: Dominion.

[Sim]

I don't entirely understand why Nanmu gets any attention at all.  An appealing thing about dinosaurs is they were real, so I don't understand the desire for poorly-reconstructed movie characters in figure form (Jurassic Park/World extinct animals).  Consequently, it boggles my mind to imagine what people are paying for unofficial models of those characters.  I find Nanmu's behaviour of very low standard, same for the other companies that plagiarise Jurassic Park/World: REBOR, Schleich, Papo, Itoy...

[Gwangi]

The only Nanmu figures that have ever caught my eye were the Apatosaurus and the B&W cow inspired Trike. But I don't have them and will likely never get them.

[suspsy]

I have zero interest in Nanmu. I find all their products terribly boring and redundant. Waste of talent, frankly.