What do you look for in a toy/model?

[Halichoeres]

I chose genus and accuracy, but as with most people, it's more complicated than that. I'm a completist, but not for lines, or brands, or for all figures of any particular taxon. I just want the best version of every taxon I can hunt down. Sometimes the best isn't actually very good, and I'm pretty capricious about what "best" means. So when I encounter a figure I haven't seen before, it's like this:

1) is it the only available version of this animal? If yes, buy, if no, go to 2)

2) is it more accurate than other versions of this animal? If yes, probably buy it, but see 3)

3) is it a more skillful, attractive sculpt than other versions of this animal? If the answer is a sufficiently emphatic yes, then buy even if the answer to 2) is "no."

4) is it more in scale with my other figures than other versions of this animal that are equally nice? If yes, then use as a tie-breaker.

[triceratops83]

I try to get any Triceratops, avoiding only knockoffs - I'm going for a pretty thorough collection (the only thing holding me back is cash or lack thereof in the case of vintage figures) As for other Ceratopsians, I just get the ones I like (aesthetically and accuracy figure into those decisions)

I occasionally get other figures out of curiosity - except for Schleich, there are no shops hereabouts that stock brand dinosaur figures, so I can't examine them in hand. Which is why I might order something I wouldn't normally get, just to be able to hold and inspect. Usually once I'm satisfied with and bored of the toy I give it away.

[Moodyraptor]

Neither of my reasons are there  I look for - personality.  Or else a figure that is interesting in some way, because of its history or what it represents about what we thought of that particular dinosaur at that particular time. 

I am a fussy collector, I don't have that many figures, and the ones I do have all have a story behind why I wanted that one in particular 

[Lanthanotus]

I voted a few days ago and despite being limited to only two options (what's okay, cause it's asked for "main" reason) I've to say that I also choose some figures with a clear mind about what I do not like about the toy - cause I got a plan in my mind to customize it. The CollectA Hunting T. rex and the Deinocheirus are such. I disliked the paint job on both of them aswell as the mohawks on both and their contour feathers on the arms. But despite these features, both a great figures I really recommend to all collectors, however, I had to "optimize" mine

[laticauda]

Up to this point, the number one answer was Scientific Accuracy with 26 votes.  Pose and texture at 18 and Genra/species at 16. 

Everyone has given great responses and I thank you for taking the poll. 

I looked at people reasons and decided to add some additional possibilities.  To make it fair, I reset the votes.  I even thought about changing it so you can vote up to three, but I didn't.  Why? Well I thought of the idea of love at first sight.  Where as you can break it down into many different reasons, there is usually one thing that initially catches your eye or heart.  (Also, I couldn't figure out how to change it to three, oh well.) 

Hopefully the list better reflects what you look for in a prehistoric figure.   

[acro-man]

the cheapest most accurate

[scdinosaurs]

We are Animatronic dinosaur manufacturer,actually,most of our clients pay their eye on the color,the most difference between high quality and low quality is the color, so,normally,we pay very high salary to the art designer.

[vmi]

i choose the childhood memory.

as we all know, the things in our childhood is so beautiful, just because we didn't have so many troubles to influence us as we do now. as an adult, we think too much to find what is good, beautiful. our mind has been shaped by the life, by what we experienced. our mind doesnt belong to us fully.  but at childhood, our mind and judgement is just ours.

so i choose what is really in MY mind beautiful.

[docronnie]

I have more than 2 options and I did not see the price option.

When I hunt, I always look for the seemingly branded dinosaurs first and put them all in a basket, then use my mini magnifying glass to locate the markings. Next thing is to consider scientific accuracy, color, pose and price.

[alvingkh1979]

I look for species that I have known since I was a  little boy for nostalgic reasons.
Then I try to acquire the newest updated models of these species based on the latest findings.

So I am trying to track the "evolution" of dinosaurs 

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I voted and then discovered there were only two options allowed..altogether there were nine I chose...and there was one obvious factor that is unmentioned in the poll. I look for things that are RELEVENT to my collection....not so much a matter of completing what may never be finished nor of having the all of something, but rather whether it fits or adds to the many sub-categories in my collection. If it does meet that basic criteria it then becomes a discussion of price, style, appearance, availability and the other many you have listed.  For instance within my collection there is a sub collection which centers around basal ceratopsians, with psittacosaurus at the center. Another sub topic I collect is eggs, nest and so forth. Sauropods is another.....I do not strive for completeness but rather to have a collection that offers many possible looks or takes on a given behavior, species, or time period. Before anything is added however, it must be relevant....

[Tyto_Theropod]

[Apologies for the upcoming text wall! ]

Of the above:
- Scientific accuracy
- Pose
- Price
- Nostalgia
- Personality
- Customisation possibilities
- Material

For me, scientific accuracy is pretty important (far more so than it used to be before I joined this forum!), although I'm not going to abscond from adding a figure to my collection just because it gets a few details wrong. I also want a figure that appeals to my aesthetic preferences. Sometimes a figure is accurate and I appreciate that, but I look at it and think "Ugh!" or maybe just "Well, that's kind of dull". A case in point is the 2015 Carnegie Velociraptor. Yes, its wings are too small, it lacks primaries and in my view its neck is way too thin, but otherwise it's a decent depiction of a well-studied species and I was very sad to see people complaining about it as much as they did (no offence to this forum) when so many other Velociraptor toys are straight-up Jurassic Park rip-offs. And, crucially, it immediately appealed to me aesthetically in spite of the generic tripod pose and gaping mouth that we see in so many toy Theropods.

Increasingly though, I am also buying figures that I'm not quite happy with simply because I can see the customisation potential, and repainting and modding these toys is a huge source of enjoyment for me. So sometimes I buy a dinosaur because I like how it looks now, and other times I buy one because of how I think it could look. Generally, it's either-or rather than both.

Pose isn't as important to me and don't mind if my model is just walking along and not doing anything too exciting. As long as it's physically possible for the animal and isn't really gimmicky and 'battle ready' *coughcoughtotallynotlookingatPapoBarionyxcoughcough* then I'll take it. I appreciate something more creative and dynamic, but again I won't reject something just because it doesn't have that trait. Balance is also really important it me as I'm really not a fan of bases on dinosaur toys as opposed to high-end models. 'Personality' kind of ties in here. While it's not essential to me, I love a dinosaur toy that 'speaks to me', if that doesn't sound too corny, and looks as if it has a story to tell or a definite character. This doesn't always go hand in hand with accuracy, but I sometimes pick up a toy because somehow I find it 'quirky', with its own character.

Nostalgia is having increasingly less of a bearing on my choices, but I do love me a Parasaurolophus figure as it was my childhood favourite dinosaur. Again, though, I don't buy a toy just because it's a Parasaurolophus. It has to look nice to me as well. I'm also biassed towards certain species, in particular (reasonably accurate!) Dromaeosauridae, but I don't specialise. I'm a general collector of prehistoric animals.

Price and material are more practical than anything else. I don't like spending all my pocket money one thing, or getting a single, really expensive Christmas present. I also have stuff other than dinosaur figures that I want to spend money on, and obviously I'm not a millionaire. All these things mean that I'm on a budget when it comes to figures so I'm not just going to go out and buy a £500 Sideshow statue. And while I would love to branch out into resin models, they're fragile and I don't have the space for something that is both largish and quite easily broken at the moment. I also like o take my dinosaurs out into the world and photograph them, so plastic toys are better for that reason as, again, they're far more durable.

[BlueKrono]

Tyto_Theropod - No need to apologize! Hearing the opinions of other forum members is one of the great joys of coming on the forum.

My two cents - There need not be more than two options on the poll. Heck, try one. Make people pick their FAVORITE or MOST important characteristic. It's a good life skill to be able to choose. My top pick is genera/species. There are some that I collect and some that I don't, so if it fits into one of my collections I'll buy it and if it doesn't I can appreciate the artistry, scientific accuracy or pose but I don't need to own it. Since I got two options I also selected price. Being on a limited budget, there are some collectibles that are simply out of my financial reach.

[laticauda]

When I sit down and think, "why do I like this toy ", it always seems to come down to how it looks and does it have personality.  I appreciate accuracy, and enjoy some species more than others, but it always comes down to looks.  I immediately thought, "am I shallow?"   "Am I a toy snob?" There are some good sculpts that I have seen, but I do not like them due to some problem with the paint job or the sculpt being over stylized.  I could repaint them, but I like to keep them original.  This blog and forum have opened my eyes to many brands, styles, species, and up to date scientific accuracy, but when I sit down and look at my collection, it still comes down to looks for me. 

I voted and then discovered there were only two options allowed..altogether there were nine I chose...and there was one obvious factor that is unmentioned in the poll. I look for things that are RELEVENT to my collection....not so much a matter of completing what may never be finished nor of having the all of something, but rather whether it fits or adds to the many sub-categories in my collection. If it does meet that basic criteria it then becomes a discussion of price, style, appearance, availability and the other many you have listed.  For instance within my collection there is a sub collection which centers around basal ceratopsians, with psittacosaurus at the center. Another sub topic I collect is eggs, nest and so forth. Sauropods is another.....I do not strive for completeness but rather to have a collection that offers many possible looks or takes on a given behavior, species, or time period. Before anything is added however, it must be relevant....

I think that is what the question is?  If I looked at your collection and asked, "why did you get that one?"  More often than not it should fall into one of the options that I have put forth.  (of course I acknowledge I could have missed a reason or two that I didn't think of)  Sure, many of us have sub categories and levels to what we collect, but there still is a initial attraction.  Its that attraction to which I am curious about, and it is different for all of us. 

[CarnegieCollector]

I wanted to check all of them 

[Shonisaurus]

Regardless of what I have commented that I like most is the precision both scientific and that the dinosaur is well done, I wanted to point out that although I am obviously a minority in that opinion in the forum I would like dinosaurs especially carnivorous theropods and The marine reptiles were made without movable jaws.

As I pointed out in the forum of Collecta 2017 I do not like articulated animals and with removable pieces of toy companies (since they are still toys intended for children) mainly because of the aesthetic appearance they shamelessly see the seams in the jaws already That this is inevitable and also said jaws to a greater or lesser extent are giving of themselves and as is logical spoil the figure of the dinosaur. It is the reason in this case that I applaud the Safari company in the sense that it does not make articulated jaws to its figures of dinosaurs (for now) my greatest desire that not only in the company of Safari did not make figures of dinosaurs with mobile jaws , Because in general terms I would like to be generalized in all dinosaur companies. In fact we already have companies for the smaller children like play mobil for example or tyco toys that make that type of figures.

On the other hand I am a collector also lover of art both classic and modern and I like first and foremost the precision that figures regardless of whether they are intended for children are minutely scientific and artistic figures both in their painting and in their modeling and I would not care if these figures contained more complex groups such as hunting scenes or herbivorous dinosaurs and carnivores eating or planting or fighting a prey such as the Collecta company has done masterfully or the famous figure of oviraptor with Safari nest based on the pictorial work The paleoartista Luis Rey.

On the other hand I would like the dinosaurs to be of material neither very soft nor very rigid to avoid breakages or deteriorations, that is to say, PVC material in the greatest measure unbreakable and without possibility of being bent by heat or cold (which I see Totally impossible).

On the other hand in front of the majority of the members of the forum with all the respects of the world I like in return that the dinosaurs and prehistoric animals have fixed bases like happens with Collecta or with Safari that recently has united with its exceptional giganotosaurus that already I have in charge. I hate the clown's feet or dinosaur tripod figures. But I do not like Rebor's detachable bases for example. They eventually occupy a lot of space.

On the other hand it would encourage to all the companies of toys of dinosaurs especially classics like Papo, Collecta, Safari, Rebor or Schleich that their figures were made with several layers of painting to avoid by natural falls abrasions of painting although in that aspect with Papo one You can not exactly complain.

First of all my preferences are these and I do not wish in the least to offend any member of the forum that dissents with respect to my theses of figures of dinosaur toys. It's just one opinion among so many.

On the other hand, this is not to say that the details that I censure from my point of view stop buying as fervent collectors to a greater or lesser extent or in no measure (Schleich except honorable exceptions) the figures of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. First of all I am a fanciful collector of prehistoric animals and extinct species and for me that is not going to mean that I stop buying them but I tweak what I would like the dinosaur companies to take note for a future.

[Halichoeres]

I also prefer non-articulated jaws in general. To my mind, the only bright side of an articulated jaw is that it lets you close the mouth. Basically every theropod toy is mid-roar and it gets a little monotonous.

[AcroSauroTaurus]

For me, if I think a figure looks cool, I get it. Thats pretty much my criteria...

[laticauda]

Not to pour salt on a open wound, but after reading the latest review on the DTB, does the issues people have had with Rebor, trump the reasons on why you collect certain figures?  It is just a curious question, not meant to start anything up, but can people forgive past misgivings and see the product for what it is or will it always be tainted? 

This leads to the question, can the way a company does business really change your opinion on a figure?   

[stargatedalek]

For me the manufacturer can definitely change my opinion, and I think that's completely fair.  If you had the choice of two pairs of shoes but knew one was made in a country with unfair labour laws I should hope that would at least affect your opinion. In collectibles PR can often mean life or death for a brand. REBOR deliberately stirs fired within their fanbase and attacks anyone who expresses disdain or discontent for them or their products, often cursing and using vulgar phrasing or memes to rile their fanbase to finish the job.

But even putting all that aside, REBOR has wide sweeping quality control problems,  and let's not forget the reason they initially became so combative was they knowingly oversold their products in a misleading way.