Re-issue of Battat former Museum of Science Boston Series

[CityRaptor]

I'm actually in a smilar situation. I didn't learn of the Battats until I was an adult.  When they were re-issued, I got some ( three re-issues and a modern addition ) of them for good price, but I never really got into the line. I know that they were top notch for the time when they were made and that Dan was a great artist and overall great person, but I just could not get into the line. Currently I only still own the Dacentrurus, therefore one of the modern additions to the line. It's not really Battat specific either. I also never got into the 80s and 90s Carnegies either ( although I own the Corythosaurus and the second Maisaura ).

As far as Dipolodocus goes, I much prefer my beautiful Carnegie Diplo ( the 2009 one ) over the Battat.

[SidB]

As a final note, I have to admit that I surprised myself recently , when I removed my revered Battat collection from my major display area and put them all into two storage boxes, after being on show for five years at least. Strange feeling, but quite overdue. Replaced them with the Safaris, which include some of the best of the older Carnegies. My secondary display bookshelf is populated with PNSO, Vitae and Papo. All these look stunning.  Don't know when and if the Battats will see the light of day again. Never thought that I'd see the day ...!

[Kapitaenosavrvs]

S @SidB Things always change. Otherwise we would not be able to appreciate things in life, i would say. I bet there will be a day where you put one or a few back on a display, just for your own personal nostalgia.
And the Dilpodocus can still be the Holy Grail for a lot of people, i would say. If it was the Holy Grail last year, i sure wans't because its top notch accurate.

@CityRaptor Oh yes, the old Carnegies. Same here.

The 2009 Diplodocus has outstanding Quality and the Paintjob looks great. Sadly, i never owned one and i like my 2017 Safari one. Its the Paintjob for me, that makes the new Diplodocus less interesting and toyish. The Sculpt is superb.

But this is not the right Thread to talk about my preferences in Figures :-D

[Halichoeres]

I have a lot of admiration for Battat, as they were miles ahead of almost anything else being produced around the same time. Some are still the best exemplars of particular genera (Ouranosaurus, Edmontonia, even Gallimimus if you excuse its nudity). But like you, @Kapitaenosavrvs, I don't really experience nostalgia with respect to these or any other dinosaurs. To be honest, I have a hard time comprehending nostalgia in general, but I think that's a me problem.

[CityRaptor]

Nothing wrong with a little nostalgia, but itoo much and you get stuck in the past. Which is ironically something that should be avoided in our hobby.

[SenSx]

I'm about to buy the 5 set just for the Cryolophosaurus.
Is there anywhere else you can buy that little guy in Europe ?

I'm not super interested in the other figures from the set: Amargasaurus Dacentrurus, Carnotaurus and Ceratosaurus.
So if anyone is interested, I can offer a good price for them when I receive the pack.

[Kapitaenosavrvs]

I have a lot of admiration for Battat, as they were miles ahead of almost anything else being produced around the same time. Some are still the best exemplars of particular genera (Ouranosaurus, Edmontonia, even Gallimimus if you excuse its nudity). But like you, @Kapitaenosavrvs, I don't really experience nostalgia with respect to these or any other dinosaurs. To be honest, I have a hard time comprehending nostalgia in general, but I think that's a me problem.

What @CityRaptor said. :-D

[Bokisaurus]

Nothing wrong with a little nostalgia, but itoo much and you get stuck in the past. Which is ironically something that should be avoided in our hobby.

I guess it's worth  clarifying that nostalgia is something personal and based on individuals taste , experience, and reasons for collecting.
I see no reason why it should be avoided at all if that's what's interesting to an individual.

In some way there is also a generational gap that elicit such nostalgia; for older generations like me, sometimes it helps ground me to think of the past and helps me appreciate what we now have.
Those who grew up or came into the hobby in the 2000's, well we now have an explosion of wonderful figures to overwhelm our senses 😃 that it's easy to forget that not too long ago the options were so limited.
It's the reason why line such as Invicta, Marx, Starlux, have such appealing charm despite their age and inaccuracies 😘

I happened to have special attachments to some of my older figures, in fact I consider some of the most valuable and important figures in my collection to be those from bygone era, heck I even wrote an entire review based on nostalgia 😂 and it won't be the end either.

So yeah, can't really generalize what nostalgia means to others, we all have our reasons, right?
Cheers!😋

[Kapitaenosavrvs]

Nothing wrong with a little nostalgia, but itoo much and you get stuck in the past. Which is ironically something that should be avoided in our hobby.

I guess it's worth  clarifying that nostalgia is something personal and based on individuals taste , experience, and reasons for collecting.
I see no reason why it should be avoided at all if that's what's interesting to an individual.

In some way there is also a generational gap that elicit such nostalgia; for older generations like me, sometimes it helps ground me to think of the past and helps me appreciate what we now have.
Those who grew up or came into the hobby in the 2000's, well we now have an explosion of wonderful figures to overwhelm our senses 😃 that it's easy to forget that not too long ago the options were so limited.
It's the reason why line such as Invicta, Marx, Starlux, have such appealing charm despite their age and inaccuracies 😘

I happened to have special attachments to some of my older figures, in fact I consider some of the most valuable and important figures in my collection to be those from bygone era, heck I even wrote an entire review based on nostalgia 😂 and it won't be the end either.

So yeah, can't really generalize what nostalgia means to others, we all have our reasons, right?
Cheers!😋

I think thats what we all agree on and in my case, thats what i wanted to say in my first posting regarding the Battat Figures on the Page before and what i read in Cityraptors posting aswell.   Maybe, as germans (Again, no generalizing, but i tend to write walls of text and want to keep it shorter :-D ), we are a bit cautious with the word Nostalgia. "We" is also generalizing, but i am pretty sure it is clrea what i want to say.

Of course i can't speak for others, but since i am german aswell and know about the issue with this word in my Language, and i felt the urge to answer.
And thats why i love this Place here. Communication actually happens.

PS: At 31 i really can't say if i am part of the older Generation or the younger Generation. Also depends on the Topic, i guess, hehe. I just try to learn new things and adapt them.

[stoneage]

Well for someone who has been collecting prehistoric animals since 1957,  Battat was something special.  In my life their are special Dinosaur moments.  Marx was the absolute beginning, then Invicta and even better Battat.  I remember walking into a shop and seeing 16 Battat figures on a table.  No doubles but sixteen different figures.  No other Dinosaurs anywhere.  I immediately scoped them up, $140.00.
They were over all the best scalps I had ever seen.  They were also painted in such great colors.  A couple of weeks latter I completed the set.  There are many finds over the years and you never forget the ones that are special to you!  I guess I just like knowing where things come from and what went before.

[Gwangi]

Nostalgia is a major drive behind what I collect and why I collect. Without nostalgia I don't know for sure if I would have ever started collecting at all. When I started collecting, re-acquiring the dinosaur toys I had as a kid was my main priority. Kenner, Tyco, Carnegie, Invicta etc. I never had the Battat figures though. I started collecting Battat simply because they were damn good figures. Even today some of their sculpts are the best of their representative genera. Ouranosaurus and Maiasaura for example. The Styracosaurus, Triceratops, Diplodocus, and T. rex (among others) still make the shortlist for the best of their genera as well. But I do agree that although Battat was still worth collecting when I first got into this hobby a decade ago, times have quickly changed. So I have to agree, to an extent, with those that say Battat is obsolete. And for those dinosaurs where Battat still has the best, that won't last. It's only a matter of time before CollectA, Safari, or PNSO release a better Maiasaura, for example. That said, if Battat released the old and/or new sculpts, I would still buy them. I've wanted them for so long that even if they're obsolete I wouldn't sleep on the chance to FINALLY get them.

For me, nostalgia is not something that kicked in until my late 20's and early 30's. I think it's something that only kicks in once a certain amount of time has passed, but maybe not for everyone. I'm not nostalgic for everything from my youth. I was obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid but I can't be bothered with them now and have no desire to collect them, or even re-watch the show and movies. Although I still have my 30 year old pet turtle, Raphael, as a reminder. With dinosaurs it's different, because I've always maintained my fascination with them and the natural world in general, it never went away, so I'm now stuck not only with my current scientific interest in dinosaurs, but also my own nostalgia for them. In addition, I'm interested in the historical significance of dinosaurs from a human perspective. Early dinosaur art, literature, and science. Everything from The Bone Wars, to Charles Knight, to Marx toys, to the Dinosaur Renaissance, to Sinclair Oil, to Ray Harryhausen films. So I collect what I collect for three reasons, nostalgia, science, and history. For that reason the Battat line will never go obsolete for me personally, it has a foothold in all three of those.

I don't think nostalgia is unhealthy, quite the opposite. But like anything in excess, nostalgia can be toxic. Some people get too caught up in the past, maybe addicted to it even. For most people I think it's just nice to reflect fondly on our past and maybe surround ourselves with a few reminders of it. For the same reason I hang childhood pictures on the wall, or re-visit an old favorite movie or book, it's also nice to have physical reminders of the past in the form of dinosaurs I played with, or the ones my father collected, or those I wanted but couldn't get back then.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

That is beautifully written, and makes great points. A very nice read.

[SidB]

I didn't realise that my posts would strike such a chord with you folk, but reading your following comments and reminiscences is very touching. I meant what I wrote - it was strange and difficult to finally put my collection away into the boxes, but it was for the better - time to appreciate the present.
As it has been said, we need the past , it acts like a keel on a sailboat. Or, the past should have a vote, but never a veto!

[Gwangi]

I didn't realise that my posts would strike such a chord with you folk, but reading your following comments and reminiscences is very touching. I meant what I wrote - it was strange and difficult to finally put my collection away into the boxes, but it was for the better - time to appreciate the present.
As it has been said, we need the past , it acts like a keel on a sailboat. Or, the past should have a vote, but never a veto!

No chord struck with me per se, just an opportunity to chime in on an interesting subject. Since PNSO started their releases last year I've done a lot of deep thinking about what I collect, and why. I've experimented with packing up some of my own collection and like you, a lot of the Battat's ended up in a box. For me it's hard to have something but keep it packed away, I don't like owning things that I can't display, so they eventually ended up back on the shelf. But, and this is just an example, when a company like PNSO releases a Corythosaurus, why bother displaying or even keeping the Carnegie version? Clearly I have more to contemplate moving forward in this hobby.

@Gothmog the Baryonyx, I'm not sure if your post was directed at me but if so, thank you kindly.

[suspsy]

I've gradually been getting rid of certain toys in my collection in order to free up more space for newer, better ones. I'm either passing them down to my son's collection or to his daycare provider. Among them were the Battat Amargasaurus, Ceratosaurus, and Pachyrhinosaurus. The Carnotaurus, the Acrocanthosaurus, and the Parasaurolophus will probably get axed eventually as well. The Dacentrurus and the Euoplocephalus remain safe until CollectA or Safari or some other company churns out better ones, so I guess that's just a matter of time. The Tyrannosaurus rex, of course, will always have a place on my shelf.

I've always been big on nostalgia, but it only goes so far. Those ones I got rid of are all good representations, but they're not the best, not any more.

[Dinoguy2]

As a final note, I have to admit that I surprised myself recently , when I removed my revered Battat collection from my major display area and put them all into two storage boxes, after being on show for five years at least. Strange feeling, but quite overdue. Replaced them with the Safaris, which include some of the best of the older Carnegies. My secondary display bookshelf is populated with PNSO, Vitae and Papo. All these look stunning.  Don't know when and if the Battats will see the light of day again. Never thought that I'd see the day ...!

I'm glad the day is finally here! I remember realizing the Battat line had been cancelled after several years with no new releases. I thought "oh well, surely something even better will come along next now that the bar has been raised." 2 decades later...

The Tyrannosaurus rex, of course, will always have a place on my shelf.

The v1 T. rex still has a central place in my collection display. Not just because I have huge nostalgia surrounding it (I do), or because it's a gorgeous sculpt (it is), but also because nobody has made a better T. rex yet. 

[SidB]

The displays of my collections are always all or nothing - all my Safaris of roughly the same scale, all the PNSO's and Papos of more or less similar scale, etc. without any other brands unless they have a very similar look. This relegates all of my Battats to storage, even the splendid v1/v2 T-rex, though overall, I agree D @Dinoguy2 , it remains unequaled as a total package, though certain aspects of other, more recent rexes have surpassed it because of sculpting and fabrication technology improvements. I paid an outrageous amount for both of these very similar versions, approaching $200 Cdn including currency exchange from USD's and import duties, something I've never done for any other figures, but I have no regrets.

[Halichoeres]

It's been interesting reading everyone's reflections. I think Gwangi and I are close to the same age, but nostalgia hasn't really kicked in for me. Of the dinosaur toys I had as a kid, I regard most with bemusement more than affection. But the ones I had as a kid were generally pretty bad. I didn't become aware of things like Battat or even Invicta until I was an adult, so the only toys that have any emotional resonance for me are the small handful that people have given to me as gifts.

[Kapitaenosavrvs]

It's been interesting reading everyone's reflections.

It almost feels a bit special, what happed here. Everyone was polite, there is no fighting and it was indeed really interesting to read and theres alot of beautiful words in every Direction.

And after i read Invicta, i had to think about that. And i think there is a Figure i have Nostalgia/Special feelings for. Its the Invicta Liopleurodon/Pliosaurus. Was one of my most beloved toys as Child. Have a good Weekend Everyone.

[Gwangi]

It's been interesting reading everyone's reflections. I think Gwangi and I are close to the same age, but nostalgia hasn't really kicked in for me. Of the dinosaur toys I had as a kid, I regard most with bemusement more than affection. But the ones I had as a kid were generally pretty bad. I didn't become aware of things like Battat or even Invicta until I was an adult, so the only toys that have any emotional resonance for me are the small handful that people have given to me as gifts.

Generally speaking that's how I feel about most of the dinosaurs I also had, which were mostly AAA, UKRD, Imperial, and the like. My nostalgia for dinosaur toys is mostly directed at the higher quality stuff. Even then it's mostly for the stuff I had or wanted. For example, my father gave me the Carnegie Brachiosaurus as a kid and I absolutely loved it, so as an adult I had to have it again. But most of the Carnegie line in general doesn't do much for me.