Holy grail of dinosaur collecting?

[Fenestra]

A thread risen from the dead! I thought Halloween was over? 

[Libraraptor]

I have a lot of Invicta stuff

That´s great, so do I, but what´s the point of mentioning this in this thread ?!

[Paleodude]

Personally I don't think there is a definitive "Holy Grail" that every collector on here would kill for primarily because we we all tend to have different preferences.

That being said a lot of my personal Holy Grails are pretty bog standard answers at least after looking through this thread. Always looking for a Battat Diplodocus as big sauropod figures are always GOAT, the Dinosaurs of China Mamenchisaurus since I had it as a kid and donated it when I was like 10-11 and getting out of toys (still kicking myself), and the 2014 Carnegie Collection T.rex just because I like the sculpt.

[triceratops83]

I've managed to acquire my holy grail figures - Invicta Lambeosaurus, Favorite Saurolophus and the Battat Ornithopods. I guess the Kleinwelka Ornithopods are my new target.

[Shonisaurus]

Three of my holy grails were the saurolophus from Favorite, the mamenchisaurus from Dinosaurs of China from Safari, and the palorchestes from Play Visions.

I bought the first from a Japanese seller on Ebay, the second was obtained by the Store of the Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid in May 2005 and the third, the palorcheste, I got thanks to the UK and an Ebay seller, especially to the UK. Totally grateful since he sold me his two Play Visions figures of prehistoric mammals, another two Holy Grails that are the uintatherium and the andrewsarchus for more than acceptable prices.

[Halichoeres]

Henkel/Ovomaltine/Yoplait Pterichthys (Pterichthyodes)

[Libraraptor]

Henkel/Ovomaltine/Yoplait Pterichthys (Pterichthyodes)

Oh yes! Monochrome. Rare species. Easily to be considered as surprese egg trash.

I´d like to add the White Post dinosaur park figures. And the Dawn Of The Dinosaurs Exhibition figure (Exaeretodon!!!) . But since this thread is so old I guess I had mentioned this before?

[GojiraGuy1954]

I have a lot of Invicta stuff

That´s great, so do I, but what´s the point of mentioning this in this thread ?!

One of the questions was about what your "holy grail" figure(s) are

[Libraraptor]

I have a lot of Invicta stuff

That´s great, so do I, but what´s the point of mentioning this in this thread ?!

One of the questions was about what your "holy grail" figure(s) are

Ah okay, I see. 

[Varanops]

GojiraGuy1954, thanks for jumping back in here after this thread's seven year hiatus.  I didn't want to be the one to force the door after such a lengthy time lag, so I'll use you as a shield for my own late entry, if you don't object.  The Invicta Lambeosaurus is on my wish list, but my most sought-afters are the William Otto metal bobcat in their La Brea Tar Pit series and their metal Tyrannosaurus and Brontosaurus (sic).  As a penniless kid, I saw them in the gift shop of the Los Angeles County Museum.  I raced home to collect pop bottles and turn them in for their two cent deposit refunds, but by the time I'd saved enough (about six and a half dollars for the threesome, if I remember) and got back to the museum, the coveted figures were gone, and I've never seen one since.  Still hopeful, of course, but the problem is that I still only ever have about six and a half dollars to play with, even on a good day.  And -- ever since a benevolent church youth group "adopted" my street for clean-up -- there have been no pop bottles within convenient walking distance; not that my arthritic back would allow me to retrieve any.

[SidB]

IMO, it's kind of neat to see this thread back in the mix again - after all, it's perennially relevant. For me, it was the Battat Tyrannosaurus rex, v. 1 that would be the ultimate. I first acquired, after a long wait, the second version (snowshoes), which was a near miss, good enough I figured at the time. However, I did manage to get the "grail" , the version 1, the original itself, last year, and I'm delighted to have it in my collection. For me, there really is no substitute - perhaps Winter Wilson has certain superior aspects to it, but the v.1 remains the most prized piece that I own. I know that the Battat Diplodocus is the ultimate Battat for most folk, but for me, it's the v.1 T-rex.

[EmperorDinobot]

My holy grail, and I am rather embarrassed to say this... are the unreleased Terra figures.

[Bread]

A holy grail of mine would be a few of Sideshow's Dinosauria models, the Deinosuchus vs Parasaurolophus in particular, and PNSO's 1:20 scale Tsintoasaurus. There may be quite a few people who think these holy grails of mine are accessible, but they are quite expensive. I won't be spending money on a model that exceeds to the price of an actual car.

I am not a fan of battat, but I can see why collectors consider a lot of the older models to be desired or a dream to own.

[thedeadlymoose]

My holy grail, and I am rather embarrassed to say this... are the unreleased Terra figures.

You're not the only one!

[BlueKrono]

My holy grail would be the Spinosaurus vs. Plesiosaur of the Hell Creek Creations line by Diane and Allen Debus. I've seen it in the collections dept. of the Indianapolis Children's Museum, but I've never seen it for sale.

[Faelrin]

I guess for me now it would be some of the Play Visions amphibians, particularly the Platyhystrix, Eryops, Triadobatrachus, and Diplocaulus in particular. The former three are near identical to some of the illustrations in some of my favorite childhood books on prehistoric life (which I got two of them in recent years, one early last year). I mean all are nice but if I had to pick a few I wanted the most...

I guess another would be the Southlands Replicas Thylacoleo. Every site I'm aware of that carried it no longer has any in stock. I was planning to order it while it was in stock on the one site, but then got covid, and missed my chance with getting it I guess. I just hope I can get the Diprotodon and Thylacine while Dejankins has them still.

I'll throw some links to the site that had the Thylacoleo previously in stock, and books I have that have those illustrations in them, that are similar to the Play Visions figures, up here tomorrow as I am going to bed soon.

The others I can think of would be the remaining WWD toys (except the Allosaurus which I have), including the insanely rare Ornithocheirus, and the Battat Maiasaura, Ouranosaurus, and Edmontonia I guess as there are still no other decent takes on those since those figures came and went.

Of ones I've acquired so far, early last year I got the Kaiyodo Ichthyostega, and later in the year, the Yi. I do wonder if I should chase after the rest of the Great Leaps in Evolution set eventually, if not the Paleozoic CapsuleQ set too.


Edit: I guess I could add the Rebor Titanoboa bendy release, and both the SDCC Hammond and Barbasol Nedry figures to list of "holy grail" figures I have, more so the latter.

[Reuben03]

My holy grail would be the K&M mini Ichthyosaurus. I've never seen it available anywhere and anyone that has one is obviously not willing to part with it.


My other would simply be the Chap Mei Dunkleosteus believe it or not, however thankfully User Halichoeres
Has allowed me to buy his, which is currently getting prepared for shipping. I am extremely excited.

Otherwise the Jurassic Park 3 mini dimetrodon. Also never seen it anywhere.

[PrimevalRaptor]

For me it's 100% the Toyway Liopleurodon, WWD is a giant part of my childhood and I still love the designs a lot (even with the flaws) and the Liopleurodon always was my favorite, partially cause I like marine reptiles a lot.
Would love the entire Toyway collection for sure, but this one has kind of a special place, I also remember how excited I was when I found the Chap Mei Liopleurodon on a vacation because back then the only Liopleurodon figures were the Kaiyodo and Invicta ones which were out of my reach (my first one was actually the TS Toys one which made kid me REALLY happy)

[Reuben03]

For me it's 100% the Toyway Liopleurodon, WWD is a giant part of my childhood and I still love the designs a lot (even with the flaws) and the Liopleurodon always was my favorite, partially cause I like marine reptiles a lot.
Would love the entire Toyway collection for sure, but this one has kind of a special place, I also remember how excited I was when I found the Chap Mei Liopleurodon on a vacation because back then the only Liopleurodon figures were the Kaiyodo and Invicta ones which were out of my reach (my first one was actually the TS Toys one which made kid me REALLY happy)

thats cool! did u know its for sale rn? ofc its super expensive, but still.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BBC-Walking-with-Dinosaurs-Liopleurodon-Toyway-2000-Retired/324457369741?hash=item4b8b2a908d:g:7o0AAOSwUMdgBedW

[indohyus]

For me, it's the Toyway Ornithocheirus, though the Battat Diplodocus is up there.