Controversial opinions on dinosaur toys

[Eatmycar]

I think Kayodo produces quality and it's a darn shame they don't get the praise they deserve more often - but good luck finding them in person! Or even online outside of eBay and auction sites in my experience.

[postsaurischian]

I wouldn't say Kaiyodo is being underrated by collectors. Everywhere I read about them people are in admiration and many of their figures still fetch hefty prices on the different auction pages all over the world.
I had been collecting them like hell about 15 to 10 years ago and I'm glad to have a big Kaiyodo collection - not as big as the one of BrontoScorpio, but still big .
The thing is just that Kaiyodo doesn't focus on Dinosaurs that much anymore, animals in general - they're very huge when it comes to Anime characters. That's the trend in Japan.
China is different. PNSO and HAOLONGGOOD  are the Kaiyodos of today .

[stargatedalek]

I do understand the position Kaiyodo is in. Most companies keep producing a rex figure for a few years or decades, but because Kaiyodo rarely reruns figures and doesn't print them continuously, if they want to have one on the market at all times, that means including one in every dinosaur set.

[Bread]

I'd deem this top worst list of 2023 controversial...



I don't want to throw shade at Paleofigures as I do enjoy their information and dedication to this hobby, but I'm a little hurt by the placement of Safari's Estemmenosuchus.

[marisaura]

I'd deem this top worst list of 2023 controversial...

[image]

I don't want to throw shade at Paleofigures as I do enjoy their information and dedication to this hobby, but I'm a little hurt by the placement of Safari's Estemmenosuchus.

safari's estemmenosuchus is an easy top 10 best figure of this year for me, so i'm not sure where they're coming up with this. and HLG's allosaurus is imperfect, but ranking it below schleich is crazy talk! not that this list really needs to exist in the first place, lol.

[FerretGoose]

Or maybe it's just a joke, especially given the ranking of papo's concavenator..

Edit: Omg I misread everything! I mistakenly thought that list said best figures of 2023. Apologies for any confusion I potentially caused.

[DefinitelyNOTDilo]

I'd deem this top worst list of 2023 controversial...

[image]

I don't want to throw shade at Paleofigures as I do enjoy their information and dedication to this hobby, but I'm a little hurt by the placement of Safari's Estemmenosuchus.

safari's estemmenosuchus is an easy top 10 best figure of this year for me, so i'm not sure where they're coming up with this. and HLG's allosaurus is imperfect, but ranking it below schleich is crazy talk! not that this list really needs to exist in the first place, lol.

From what I gathered it seems to be a community voted poll

[Carnoking]

To each their own but the Safari Estemmenosuchus has absolutely no business on that list!

Everything else? Yeah, I won't try to argue against.

[Primeval12]

Estemmnosuchus could have had a better paint job. But on a list of the WORST of 2023?! Gimmie a break. I still want one.

[Faelrin]

Absolute mad lads calling that one of the worst. How dare. Even if one doesn't like the coloration, it is still a great depiction of a genus that rarely gets figures. In fact I can't really think of anything but praise for it when it was revealed, other then some folks not liking the coloration perhaps? I'm still trying to narrow down my top ten, but I think this is honestly one of the many greats this year. That said this is controversial opinions thread, and that uh fits the bill.

Also something controversial, but despite the otherwise cursed Schleich Gallimimus hands and other anatomical faults, it was still a nice surprise to see a feathered ornithomimosaur from Schleich of all things, which are too few and far between (outside Deinocheirus). Really the only ones in recent memory are from CollectA and Kaiyodo. Ornithomimosaurs outside Deinocheirus and the many Mattel JW Gallimimus figures are also pretty seldomly made. I actually applaud them for making one. I think @suspsy summed it up pretty well with regards to feeling rather conflicted in his review honestly.

[postsaurischian]

 I'm not watching their videos. I'm not listening to what they say. I'm not interested in what they think.
 I just don't care about those phony social media "influencers".

[shahinos]

I really dislike the Estemmenosuchus as well. I think the face looks horrible with those teeth, that's my main gripe.

[Concavenator]

@Bread @DefinitelyNOTDilo is right, the voting was public.

I get the impression that people on Paleofiguras' group (or more generally speaking, many of their followers) have a bias against Safari. I've also seen some of their figures like the Utahraptor, Albertosaurus, etc receive criticism, but not constructive criticism as in pointing out what they consider good or not, or even reason out why they feel the way they do about the figures, just simple bashing.

Just as I also get the impression they have a clear bias towards PNSO. I would have imagined that more than 1 Haolonggood figure would have entered the top as well. Creative Beast tends to be mostly ignored there.

It's terrible to see the Estemmenosuchus there if you ask me. Personally, I consider it one of the highlights of 2023, both for the execution and for the choice of species.

[Takama]

Whenever i see PNSO and SAFARI pitted against any contest im like

Do you even know what your talking about?   First off. Look at the box of any PNSO product (go ahead i dare someone to do it actaully, it can be museum line, or otherwise), they will clearly state for ages 14 and up on some area, While safari mean while has, (and always will be) aimed for ages 3+ since its inception in the 1980s.



So every time i see These two broght up in in a argument with PNSO being favored more, its most likly because those models were caterd more for them "ADULTS" despite what the booklets that come with them claim.

My 2 cents

[ceratopsian]

Paleofiguras can't be blamed for the votes cast by his followers. It was an open vote without him pushing for or against any particular models.  The group members certainly seem very pro PNSO in their posts over the year. I wonder however if Safari suffered in particular because distribution is so poor. Not many outside the US will have had the opportunity of buying the Estemmenosuchus yet. And Safari's promo shots tend not to do their products justice.

[Shane]

I think what some people tend to miss in terms of collecting is - there are some figures that are intended primarily to appeal to children, and there are others whose intended audience is adults. Usually the latter focuses on people who grew up on the former, but want something a bit more detailed, a bit less restrained by cost or safety limitations, etc.

That doesn't mean adults can't appreciate and enjoy the items created primarily for the children's market. It doesn't mean those items are not "good". But I think comparing them one-to-one, apples-to-apples with items that are specifically made for an adult audience is a bit unfair. The items do not exist in a vacuum. If you prefer one or the other, that's down to one's own personal feelings, but ultimately these are two different types of product with two different primary markets.

Safari products are never going to look like PNSO products. And honestly people shouldn't expect them to. They are different products with different price points, different intended ages ranges.

[Concavenator]

Paleofiguras can't be blamed for the votes cast by his followers. It was an open vote without him pushing for or against any particular models.  The group members certainly seem very pro PNSO in their posts over the year. I wonder however if Safari suffered in particular because distribution is so poor. Not many outside the US will have had the opportunity of buying the Estemmenosuchus yet. And Safari's promo shots tend not to do their products justice.

I specifically mentioned their followers or members from the group, not Paleofiguras in particular.

As to whether distribution had a negative impact on Safari's results, I highly doubt it. I've seen people there bashing Safari's figures and making fun of them... so my impression is that they don't like the figures, regardless of how they are distributed.

[thomasw100]

One should perhaps also post the positive list from that poll here.

op 10 mejores del 2023:
01- Alamosaurus PNSO.
02- Saurophaganax PNSO.
03- Spinosaurus  PNSO.
04- Apatosaurus HAOLONGGOOD.
05- Albertosaurus PNSO.
06- Mapusaurus PNSO.
07- Giganotosaurus PNSO.
08- Yangchuanosaurus magnus PNSO.
09- Sarcosuchus REBOR.
10- Diplodocus REBOR.

Menciones honorificas:
Edmontonia HAOLONGGOOD.
Tyrannosaurus rex PNSO.
Dilophosaurus HAOLONGGOOD.


So the Haolonggood Apatosaurus made it to number 4. And two more Haolonggood models received positive recognition as well. The only thing I do not understand is that the Haolonggood Dacentrurus received neither a ranking nor a honorable mentioning.

[Sim]

I'm surprised the PNSO Albertosaurus ranked so high, its head is horrible.  I'm also surprised the Schleich Tarbosaurus ranked among the worst, it's a great figure.  These lists make me look forward to our top 10 of 2023 poll even more.

I'm very happy with PNSO's Cameron.  I don't think I'll be buying a lipped Tyrannosaurus figure even though I think Tyrannosaurus had lips.  I don't mind lack of lips on theropod figures.

[Bread]

Besides the favoring of PNSO figures, I think another argument for the Estemmenosuchus is that it's not a dinosaur.

It's actually quite common for collectors to avoid certain prehistoric fauna that is not classified as a dinosaur. I myself included, but if this is partially the case, I still wouldn't vote for the Estemmenosuchus as being one of the top ten worst figures of 2023.