Controversial opinions on dinosaur toys

[Sim]

I think CollectA's Einiosaurus and Regaliceratops look better than Safari's.  However I refuse to get them as the bristles on them look absurd.

[Stegotyranno420]

I wish Papo,CollectA,Safari, etc were available in common stores again, not so controversial right?
But if Mattel was cleared out and stopped making lacksluster toys with high prices so we can allow these figures to take their place. Everytime mattel releases a new one, it is met by constant critique and whining. Meanwhile another group are completionists and will defend Mattel more than they will defend their country, yet sometimes still critique. Don't like it, don't buy it, and they will improve. And of course theres the younger kids who buy them, so they are bound to stay in the market. I think that is more controversial.


Personally it is much more fun to bike towards my local store which surprisingly sells Safari, but only a few dinosaurs and a percentage of those are fairly scientifically accurate. It feels mkre natural and less embarrassing than awkwardly asking a parent to buy a figure(even more embarrassingly in their eyes it is a toy). I just really wish Michaels updated their Safari lineup, for almost 2 years it just been the safari Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, pteranodon, mammoth, and a few others. Does anyone know how often they change their lineup, if they do, since the latest figure is from 2019.

[Eatmycar]

Unfortunately, that's not going to happen and that's not Mattel's fault.

Even if you get rid of Mattel: Safari, Papo, and CollectA don't have the purchasing power or constant release schedule that Mattel has to buy and hold shelf space. That retail space Mattel gets is something they have to negotiate and by. Take them out of the game and we're back in 2014.

CollectA, Papo, and Safari weren't taking up massive swathes of shelves back then. These companies would be competing against Mattel and Hasbro's other toylines. Whether those are things like GI Joes or generic cape movie toy line, they lack the capital to fight that battle, hence the primarily retail distribution.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Unfortunately, that's not going to happen and that's not Mattel's fault.

Even if you get rid of Mattel: Safari, Papo, and CollectA don't have the purchasing power or constant release schedule that Mattel has to buy and hold shelf space. That retail space Mattel gets is something they have to negotiate and by. Take them out of the game and we're back in 2014.

CollectA, Papo, and Safari weren't taking up massive swathes of shelves back then. These companies would be competing against Mattel and Hasbro's other toylines. Whether those are things like GI Joes or generic cape movie toy line, they lack the capital to fight that battle, hence the primarily retail distribution.

When  I was a kid in elementary school I was lucky to find some sort of chinasaur in stores...maybe Imperial or a Godzilla knockoff. My grandparents bought me two Safari/Carnegie figures while visiting Disney World I love and still have those. My mom bought me a Invicta while visiting a dinosaur exhibit out of town.  That was about it.  When I got to middle school the local KSS Kentucky School Supply carried Safari/Carnegie and my aunt a teacher took me there with her and I was allowed one if I did well on my report card. It took awhile to get them all. lol  They finally quit carrying them and I didn't see a Safari dinosaur til we chanced upon a small educational store and it was like dino toy heaven.   Sadly that store closed years ago and Micheal's is the only place carrying Safari or you have Schleich in a couple other stores.  I've never seen a Papo or CollectA in my area only Papo a few times on vacations.

As Eatmycar said, these companies just don't have the ability to make deals, win licenses and release 10 new products in given quarter each year. It's..a lot.

[Gwangi]

I've been in this hobby longer than Mattel has been making Jurassic World toys and trust me when I say that the situation was the same. Just that instead of Mattel dinosaurs in big box stores there were likely no dinosaurs. Safari and the like do not compete with Mattel, Mattel is not stealing their niche. If anything, Mattel is filling a void.

As for Michaels, they barely ever update their stock, and it has been that way for at least the last decade or so.

[CityRaptor]

Pretty much the same in Germany. You mostly have Schleich here. Maybe sometimes some Cheaposaur, Papo and Bullyland, but mostly Schleich.

JW products, just like the JP ones before are however a different thing. They are placed among the action figures, usually movie based ones, while the Schleichs etc. are a separate shelf. So if anything, they are displacing different other action figures, not Dinosaurs.

[Fembrogon]

I'll basically echo what everyone else is saying: "replacing" Mattel isn't the root of the problem. I've been browsing retail stores for a decent number of years myself, and as a kid it was practically an event to find a brand like Safari or Papo in stock somewhere. Schleich was basically the only "replica" brand I could count on finding regularly in certain stores, and even they've been harder to find in recent years.
(Boy do I miss the Battat Terra line)
It might be worth noting that Mattel isn't the key element here; it's Jurassic World. Retailers aren't stocking dinosaurs based on brand name, they're stocking dinosaurs because a multi-million dollar blockbuster franchise FEATURING dinosaurs has been running strong for half a decade. Once the buzz for the JW films dies off, the dinosaurs will disappear. Even if a majority of customers are genuinely interested in the dinosaurs themselves, most of the business suits will probably contribute that to the IP, not to paleontology.

[Stegotyranno420]

I think @Fembrogon nailed at what I was trying to say.
But while Jurassic World is the problem, I could forgive it if Mattel made their figures screen accurate and detailed, if they cabbot be scientific(obviously). But their figures are getting increasingly sloppy and crude in my opinion. Sure they are just kid's toys but the older kenner figures are more well made and as much of kids toys. Many of our favorite companies are technically aimed at kids, yet are extremely detailed. Kids want cool stuff sometimes as well.

[stargatedalek]

I will also say, JW didn't "replace" Safari or CollectA around here. They "replaced" other action figures. TRU only ever carried Schleich anyway and those were replaced with cheap bootlegs and Mojo, not JW.

[Gwangi]

I don't particularly like Rebor's Kiss and Tusk. 

[Eatmycar]

I think @Fembrogon nailed at what I was trying to say.
But while Jurassic World is the problem, I could forgive it if Mattel made their figures screen accurate and detailed, if they cabbot be scientific(obviously). But their figures are getting increasingly sloppy and crude in my opinion. Sure they are just kid's toys but the older kenner figures are more well made and as much of kids toys. Many of our favorite companies are technically aimed at kids, yet are extremely detailed. Kids want cool stuff sometimes as well.

I'm confused by this. Do you mean paint wise? Because, sculpt wise Mattel's stuff is very crisp and detailed. I'd say the worst thing they have going for them is their appallingly bad quality control. It's ridiculous how common and easy it is to get a dinosaur with an eye running down the cheek. Their obsession with JP and barely any attention to the sequels is annoying as well...

[Stegotyranno420]

I think @Fembrogon nailed at what I was trying to say.
But while Jurassic World is the problem, I could forgive it if Mattel made their figures screen accurate and detailed, if they cabbot be scientific(obviously). But their figures are getting increasingly sloppy and crude in my opinion. Sure they are just kid's toys but the older kenner figures are more well made and as much of kids toys. Many of our favorite companies are technically aimed at kids, yet are extremely detailed. Kids want cool stuff sometimes as well.

I'm confused by this. Do you mean paint wise? Because, sculpt wise Mattel's stuff is very crisp and detailed. I'd say the worst thing they have going for them is their appallingly bad quality control. It's ridiculous how common and easy it is to get a dinosaur with an eye running down the cheek. Their obsession with JP and barely any attention to the sequels is annoying as well...

The detail is crisp, and surprising so, but only on large ones.The proportions are off, due to the articulation or otherwise it would be hard to work, but they usually would are based on what I heard. You are correct on the paint.

[SRF]

I don't particularly like Rebor's Kiss and Tusk. 

Not sure how controversial this opinion is. While I really like Kiss and Tusk, I still can come up with quite some reasons why someone wouldn't like these models.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think @Fembrogon nailed at what I was trying to say.
But while Jurassic World is the problem, I could forgive it if Mattel made their figures screen accurate and detailed, if they cabbot be scientific(obviously). But their figures are getting increasingly sloppy and crude in my opinion. Sure they are just kid's toys but the older kenner figures are more well made and as much of kids toys. Many of our favorite companies are technically aimed at kids, yet are extremely detailed. Kids want cool stuff sometimes as well.

I'm confused by this. Do you mean paint wise? Because, sculpt wise Mattel's stuff is very crisp and detailed. I'd say the worst thing they have going for them is their appallingly bad quality control. It's ridiculous how common and easy it is to get a dinosaur with an eye running down the cheek. Their obsession with JP and barely any attention to the sequels is annoying as well...

The detail is crisp, and surprising so, but only on large ones.The proportions are off, due to the articulation or otherwise it would be hard to work, but they usually would are based on what I heard.

 You are correct on the paint.

I don't know, seems like even the smaller figure can have a lot of detail. Their paint apps just are so low quality they are extremely hard to see. I saw the Shringasaurus last night repainted on a facebook group and it looked fantastic.

[Gwangi]

I don't particularly like Rebor's Kiss and Tusk. 

Not sure how controversial this opinion is. While I really like Kiss and Tusk, I still can come up with quite some reasons why someone wouldn't like these models.

Considering that it placed 5th on the best of 2022 poll it at least seemed controversial enough of an opinion to share here.

[Duna]

I think Kiss is the undoubtedly best tyrannosaurus mass produced figure by the moment. Even if Eofauna releases their own, it will still be larger and worth having. Probably PNSO could make a tyrannosaurus figure that could rival it, but only when they update "corn-cob" leaning Wilson and - let's dream- give it lips.

[Gwangi]

I think Kiss is the undoubtedly best tyrannosaurus mass produced figure by the moment. Even if Eofauna releases their own, it will still be larger and worth having. Probably PNSO could make a tyrannosaurus figure that could rival it, but only when they update "corn-cob" leaning Wilson and - let's dream- give it lips.

I don't like Wilson either. I think the best is the Beasts of the Mesozoic T. rex but I don't collect those. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Eofauna's.

[Leyster]

I think Kiss is the undoubtedly best tyrannosaurus mass produced figure by the moment. Even if Eofauna releases their own, it will still be larger and worth having. Probably PNSO could make a tyrannosaurus figure that could rival it, but only when they update "corn-cob" leaning Wilson and - let's dream- give it lips.

You can like it from an artistic point, but (as discussed here before) is far from the best figure. Also larger and worth having means Kaiyodos are worthless? 

[Baryonyx]

The importance of a figure's pose is overlooked.

Take the Battat v.1 T.rex, with its flowing gait, compared to v.3, which is almost completely functional -it doesn't have much of a pose to speak of, a night and day difference.

Despite scales/lips, the enduring success of Wilson is the extremely subtle pose, that embues the figure with life.
It may seem banal and another straightforward 'standing and looking ahead', but to me it looks  much more convincing as a living predator that has noticed something it's decided to try and eat, than Kiss/Tusk, which in spite of all Rebor's progress with this release still look more cool and awesome than like sentient animals, to my eyes.

Sculpting really naturalistic poses is one of PNSOs greatest strengths, multiple theropods walking along notwithstanding.

[Eatmycar]

That's funny, because PNSO in my eyes can be simultaneously weak and strong at posing. I think their Theropods are absolutely their worst product in this department, though.

But then I look at some of their more unique figures like the baby Sinoceratops or baby T. rex, which are very solid anatomically from what I understand, yet are SO cute. They feel like living beings taking their first steps into this great, big, world. The big eyes, the bright colors, and the delicate, demure poses the adults cant strike just add to it and create a beautiful animal. They did two other great babies, but they're in the 1/35th scale, the Torosaurus and the Stegosaurus. It's not done in a goofy way like the Captivz Jurassic World babies, it's not over the top like Land Before Time, it's just natural posing and they do a damn good job at it.

On the other hand, their striding along theropods all look samey. Some stand out, like the Carnotaurus, or the Tarbosaurus (the latter really is striking with the look of dirt between the skin and the chonky body), but for the most part they're the same. A *big* exception is made here for their Mei Long, which looks absolutely adorable, and Andrea. Most people aren't going to notice or care that the bones are in the wrong place with that model, and it's definitely more pleasant to look at than Winston.

Frankly most of their herbivores are better posed than their carnivores. The Olorotitan looking up, the inquisitive look on Ankylosaurus' face, and that absolutely striking Chungkingosaurus that looks like a prancing horse. I'm not sure why it looks like that? Maybe its displaying for a mate, who knows, but it definitely feels more alive than a lot of dinosaur figures out there.