How Long Have You Been Collecting Model Dinosaurs And......

[MesozoicJohn]

So, how long have you been collecting toy/model Dinosaurs and how many do you have?

I bought my first one on 10th December 2021

I currently have 41

John

[Libraraptor]

I bought my first dinosaur figures - Invicta Stegosaurus and Diplodocus - 35 years ago. And then one or two Invictas per year until I had the collection complete - except for the Blue Whale, which is the very reason  I came and stayed here.

I have been  collecting seriously for about twelve or so years, the Blue Whale is a marker for the beginning of this new stage.

I think I have around 1000 figures and models, but I never did a listing.

[MesozoicJohn]

1000, flippen heck Libraraptor!!!!! Brilliant 

John

[Shonisaurus]

I must have over 1400 dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. I could not specify the exact figure since I have told us. I have been collecting since I was 18 years old and I am 50 years old and I always wanted to be up to date on figures of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, so you can calculate. My shelves are cluttered.

[MesozoicJohn]

Shonisaurus, 1400, that is a double flippen heck!

I remember the models I had 50 years ago and for sure, the modern one's are master pieces in comparison.

John

[Duck]

I have been passionately collecting for two years or so now. I was still getting the occasional figure before that. I think I have like 20-something figures on display. I'll have to count.

Edit: 28 figures
The number will go up soon, once I get around to opening my Olorotitan and Atlasaurus.

[MesozoicJohn]

I have been passionately collecting for two years or so now. I was still getting the occasional figure before that. I think I have like 20-something figures on display. I'll have to count.

Edit: 28 figures
The number will go up soon, once I get around to opening my Olorotitan and Atlasaurus.

You will not be disappointed with the Olorotitan Duck, it is an amazing model.

John

[Halichoeres]

I started in February of 2015, and was initially overwhelmed by all the available options. I made a spreadsheet to narrow down choices, which evolved into a database that now tells me I have 693 figures.

41 in less than a month is very rapid growth!

[MesozoicJohn]

I started in February of 2015, and was initially overwhelmed by all the available options. I made a spreadsheet to narrow down choices, which evolved into a database that now tells me I have 693 figures.

41 in less than a month is very rapid growth!

I love the idea of a database Halichoeres 

Yes my herd has grown very rapidly, I needed 8 for my Dinosaur wargame army and two for the game I have designed but then got over excited and went on a buying spree 

John

[Gwangi]

I started collecting about 12 years ago but I don't know how many figures I have, surely hundreds.

[Faelrin]

While I was into collecting the Primal Rage and Jurassic Park toys as a kid, I really didn't get into collecting prehistoric animal figures like I do now until around 2015 when Jurassic World released, though I was into collecting action figures as a teen and in my early 20's prior. I bought some of the toys because of nostalgia, even if the quality was definitely worse then what came before, such as the visible screw holes. It was at the time the only option for new figures for the new film though. Then Mattel got the license from Hasbro and its been a godsend for JP and JW fans alike (I have over 200 Mattel JW figures spanning from 2018 to now).

In any case after the shutdown of the JP Legacy forums I joined here, as my interest and search for reviews on the Hasbro JW figures ended up leading me to the blog and forum here prior, but it was the closure that pushed me to make the jump, as I wanted a place to discuss the first Beasts of the Mesozoic Kickstarter, the raptor series one, which I had gotten wind of both on reddit and the JP Legacy forums I think.

Earlier on I was really disinterested in static figures, since I came from a background of buying action figures (not just the toys I had as a kid, but also some of the collectible ones I got as a teen, such as some of the Final Fantasy VII ones, that I've tragically lost years back, like 2013 I think, from them ending up in one of my parent's storage units that got auctioned off after we had to move and they couldn't afford to pay it in time). So of course the BotM (and eventually Mattel) suited my needs for dinosaur action figures, but nonetheless I did eventually get into collecting static figures.

Part of the reason is that really aside from Mattel and BotM, there's still so much more species diversity represented with static figures, particularly as far as the Paleozoic and Cenozoic goes. I like anything spanning from the Ediacaran until now, and I believe I have at least one species per period covered in my collection now. The other reason is because I was browsing the forums new for 2017 section shortly after joining, and enter Safari Ltd. I was actually quite impressed with their offerings, such as the Feathered Tyrannosaurus, Deinocheirus, etc back then, and checked out their older offerings as well. I now have nearly 100 figures from them, old and new alike.

So after losing nearly everything I had back in 2013 (except a few I had kept with me during the move), I was forced to have a fresh start and who would have thought I'd get this far into it. I now have anywhere between 400-500 figures, and after getting my hands on the BotM ceratopsians and Life game mini figures, it will easily surpass that. In fact I am now running out of space, and also due to financial constraints I'm torn with what to do at this point or what to focus on from here, such as going back and forth on selling figures, or what even to sell if I go that route. There's so many good figures out there now (new and old), so many brands, but definitely not enough budget or space to get them all. It really can get overwhelming at times.

[ceratopsian]

2016 marked my start as an adult.  I have several hundred now, I'm sure (but my Excel sheet needs updating) - both "toys" and resins.

[Halichoeres]

Interesting variety of replies here. @Faelrin I'm glad for the end of the JP Legacy forum for no other reason than it brought you here 

[bmathison1972]

So, from about 2001-2007 I was a general animal collector. In 2007 I moved to Atlanta and only brought my arthropods with me, and only focused on them until late 2018 when I decided to start a synoptic non-arthropod animal collection. Even then, I didn't hit the dinos proper until 2020.

So, as far as my current collection goes, one could say:
1. Prehistoric arthropods started in 2001
2. prehistoric mammals, fish, and select others in 2018
3. Dinosaurs 'proper' in 2020.

Even today, the dinos are the group I am most selective on. I grab a few now and then that grab my fancy.

[Lynx]

I am a bit of a new collector and only started "actual collecting" in early 2019. So about two or three years now! I have somewhere around 40 to 60 'good' models, depending on if you count childhood toys or not. My first figure was the Schleich 2019 Spinosaurus, which was given to me by my parents a couple days before my birthday. It still sits on the shelves to this day, though very beaten up!
For a short period of time, I stopped collecting to help increase my grades, but in 2021 I got back into it.

Once I manage to move out and get a house of my own, I can likely devote more attention to the hobby, but for now, it's just a casual thing.


I don't have a particular collecting style, I just grab whatever looks cool, though I mostly collect dinosaurs. I may start getting more prehistoric marine life, as that tends to be cheaper. Permian and Triassic creatures are also surprisingly abundant on my shelves! As for prehistoric mammals, I show no interest due to having barely any shelf space for a mammoth.

[laticauda]

The first dinosaurs I had were not collecting, but just cheap, mass produced Marx and Marx rip offs.  I also had an Imperial styracosaurus that I used play with a lot.  He Man would go into battle riding it.   The collecting started with the Carnegies line that showed up in a little store that was near me.  I remember walking in and seeing all the figures on that big stand and being mesmerized on how cool the figures looked.  This was around 1992-93.  I remember reading that they were hand painted replicas and I fell in love.  Whenever I had a few dollars, I would buy one.  I remember saving up paper route money so I could buy the Diplodocus.  It has been on display ever since. 

I did stop collecting a few years later and went off to college.  I actually sold off a few of my Carnegies at a yard sale as I was now a college student and mature.  I thought why do I need toys anymore?  I met my future wife in college, and it turned out we both liked toys and pop culture.  Even though I stopped collecting dinosaurs, my wife and I were still collectors. 

My second stint with dinosaur collecting started in 2010.  Thats when my first child was on the way and my wife wanted to buy some safari dinosaurs for him.  I looked around and found my old Carnegies and wondered if they were worth anything.  Thats when I found the blog and forum and have been back to collecting ever since. 

As for numbers, I do not know.  I have probably a half or so actually written onto a spread sheet, but I am far behind logging all that I have.  I'll just say I have hundreds.  Though I haven't bought many over the past few years due to financial reasons, I still get the occasional figure.  Many are on display, and many are stored in boxes due to not having enough room.  I try to rotate them, so they each get their time in the sun.  What about that old Carnegie Diplodicus?  Well, it is still on display and has never been put away. 

[laticauda]

In fact I am now running out of space, and also due to financial constraints I'm torn with what to do at this point or what to focus on from here, such as going back and forth on selling figures, or what even to sell if I go that route. There's so many good figures out there now (new and old), so many brands, but definitely not enough budget or space to get them all. It really can get overwhelming at times.

One of the reasons I got back into collecting dinosaurs, was back in 2010 there were only a couple of main companies and releases were small, so I felt that I could keep up. I was so wrong. 

Budget and space, the bane of collecting.  I feel you.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I got my first collectable toy dinosaurs in 2005, for a shoebox diorama when we were learning about dinosaurs in school. I already collected toy animals prior to then.

I probably have well over a thousand toy animal figurines, including modern animals, though I never counted.

[Faelrin]

@Halichoeres Thanks man. Appreciate that. I am glad I found my way here. This place has really helped me get through so much, and I've also learned quite a bit here as well about prehistoric life, never mind the collecting aspect. And while there is some drama and negativity here and there from time to time, I'd definitely say this place is much less toxic then elsewhere.

[Halichoeres]

Honestly, for a community and hobby that is so heavily dominated by men and boys, this place is pretty chill.