Controversial opinions on dinosaur toys

[ruochuan]

*Except for the early CollectAs. Everyone can agree those were horrible Although I still love their Jobaria.

ColllectA Jobaria is one of my all time favorite! So is their Styracosaurus. Overall though, I find CollectA hit and miss. And their 1/40 is a bit too big, which bothers me a bit.

[Brocc21]

I think some modern Schleich figures are stellar (i.e.. pentaceratops)

[IrritatorRaji]

I think some modern Schleich figures are stellar (i.e.. pentaceratops)

I agree, some are fantastic There are some Schleich figures I'd be proud to own

[mgaguilar]

Sure to be an unpopular opinion with at least one prominent member here, I can't stand the CollectA feathered Tyrannosaurus.

So glad I'm not the only one! Honestly, whenever I try and talk about CollectA's feathered Tyrannosaurs and how much I dislike them I get a reaction like I just spat on a puppy (okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but people are always so surprised to find out). For me, the Deluxe Feathered Rex is just the ugliest. The lower jaw just looks really off and none of the markings or colours really fit together. And I've never really liked how its crest looks like a red tinfoil hat. I can understand why people like it, but it's certainly not for me. The smaller Hunting Rex is a bit more tolerable for me since the lower jaw is static and there's no red, but it's still a bit eh.

I do personally feel that the Lythronax is really good, even though it's got some faults. At the very least, it's CollectA's best feathered Tyrannosaur, in my opinion.

Ugh yesssss. The reason why I've held off so long on the CollectA feathered rexes is due to their terrible color scheme. Absolutely weird colors (high-contrast, non-complimentary, oddly juxtaposed) for a company to choose on a design.
But it's CollectA, it's to be expected.
Which brings me to another point to contribute to this thread:

1. CollectA's paint schemes are terrible, like, most of them seem like they were chosen and painted my a first-time air-brusher.

2. And Safari's mass production paint application is bad. I like most of their paint schemes, but the application from the factory is pretty horrendous.

[Shonisaurus]

I know it is an unpopular opinion, I do not like the removable bases as it happens with the dinosaurs of Favorite, Kaiyodo and Colorata for giving three examples.


I have the two tyrannosaurs and the spinosaurus Soft Model of Favorite version 2013 and I sincerely like them more without bases than with them. In fact, I have them in my display without the bases.

[DragonRider02]

Some of my opinions:
-I don't care much for the bases. I definitely prefer them to oversized feet, but I don't care how they look like at all. It's the look of the Dino itself what is Important, not what's it standing at.
-I prefer CollectA's style to Safari's. I don't know what, but there's something in Safari's style I dislike. But it May be because I grew up with CollectA and have plenty of their stuff, while I have Just discovered Safari year ago and have only two of their Dinosaurs so far...
- I love CollectA's warpaints
-I don't mind inaccurate designs as long as I like the Overall apperence of the toy(Schleich Therizinosaurus)
-feathers make everything more interesting
-I love when dinos are as colorful as possible (but still stay quite realistic)
-I don't care much for the JP/JW toylines. They look a bit too toyish for me, because of the articulation seams, gimmick buttons and such.
-.and because of that I prefer to get Papo's 'JP' toy instead of official one...
-... But for some reason I love Mattel's Jw Suchomimus, even though it's one of the most toy-looking dinos in the Line... 
- I have (very) weak spot for toy Pterosaurs and will probably buy Every quality toy/model I come across, (even the new Schleich Pteranodon)
-I prefer Quadropedal toy pteros, they look more interesting and extraterrestrial than Flying ones (and take less space on the shelf!)

[John]

I do not care for the "All Yesterdays" style of artwork or models.While I get the point they are trying to get across,I think they do so in very exaggerated ways.


I have no problem accepting that the vast majority (if not all) of the skin of Tyrannosaurus rex was scaly.Nor does my head explode at the possibility that when alive it's teeth would still show when it's mouth was closed.Thankfully,I haven't seen any of the unreasonably angry resposes to this here on this forum,unlike on other sites like DeviantArt which has members would practically take any suggestion that tyrannosaurids didn't have feathers or even something as trivial as "lips" as fighting words...

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

That the Papo Quetzalcoatlus is a hideous piece.
That the Papo Cryolophosaurus is the best Cryolophosaurus, despite the pose.

[Sauropelta]

I don't like any of the papo figures besides Brachiosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, T-Rex, Carnotaurus & the raptors. Because they look like Jurassic Park dinos.

That the Papo Quetzalcoatlus is a hideous piece.

Agreed, should be a walking pose at that size and better colors.

[Papi-Anon]

Some of mine:

-Schleich figures seem to be hit-or-miss on sculpt, with what I've seen. Extant creatures they usually do well, but prehistoric creatures in their line have been either well-done or 'meh'. Even though it's not the most accurate depiction, I LOVE their Dunkleosteus for the intricate details put into the sculpt (even the flimsy hinged jaw was decent to me), but their most recent Allosaurus is honestly worse than the previous version, a full step back in the sculpt of the head especially. I love the Dinogorgon they did, but the sculpt is too soft in some areas like the teeth and feet.
-I prefer static, symmetrical figures for the sake of customizing or for reverse-engineering the sculpts, but that's because of my hobby really.
-I liked the old Kenner JP/TLW figures, especially the non-dinosaurs they produced for the line (Lycaenops, Scutosaurus, Ornithosuchus, Tanystropheus, and Estemmenosuchus). I didn't like the Dimetrodon though, terrible head sculpt (the rest of the anatomy has been found to be incorrect too, but for its time it was a decent depiction).
-I actually like what Mattel has done with the sculpts of many of the new JWFK figures. Yes, the 'Big Feet Syndrome' still bugs me (especially on my Super Colossal Rexes), but the Attack-Pack and Battle-Damage Blues (and subsequent repaints) are probably the best JP raptor figures to date in terms of sculpt and articulation combined. Scientifically inaccurate? Yup, but fun toys of movie monsters nonetheless.
-When it comes to skin/scales/fur/feathers, it depends on the animal in question. I could turn a bling eye to bony fish figures with painted scales instead of textured scales in most cases, and for figures that are EXTREMELY scaled down from the creature in question, scale and skin textures can be painted too (small figures of large sauropods and theropods, tiny figures of mammals with hairless skin, etc).
-I am actually glad to see Mojo improving on their figures. They aren't at Papo-tier, but considering what some of their older figures were like (ex.- the inaccurately depicted 'feathered' raptor with pronated hands and a kangaroo posture) I can see myself buying some more down the road.

[Shonisaurus]

I really like Schleich's dimorphodon of 2019 sincerely it's your best pterosaur made to date. The pose may not be accurate but his sculpture is very detailed and his head is modeled very precisely according to the promotional photo of the novelty.

I like dimorphodon 2019 more than its quetzalcoatlus.

[dyno77]

The carnegie line isnt as great as you imagine.
Seriously look at some of the last few figures sculpted by forest rogers who is vastly overrated in my view. The 2014 tyrannosaurus was the most boring ,bland and unoriginal t rex id seen since the schleich 2005 version at that time and the safari diplodocus is better than the carnegie diplodocus in my view.

The last few figures released by carnegie were bland and boring and had tripod stances and im glad the carnegie line was ended because the sculpts were bland and boring ,while collecta and papo were far more interesting and they released way more figures each year than carnegie.

Forest rogers sculpts lacked anatomy, and made the dinosaurs legs and tails to thin and most of the theropods had the boring tripod stance .In fact when  i look back its as if forest rogers was inspired by elly kish at one time or another because elly kish also gave the theropods thin legs and tails and shrink wrapped bodies .Its less apparent in
forests sculpts, but the highly rated 2008 diplodocus which should have been more bulky and the main torso shortened slightly, and alot of the theropods should have been more bulky as reviews at the time pointed out.

Collecta and papo have way better sculpters than carnegie line ever had even if papo prefer less realistic dinosaurs, at least that's how i see it, but its visually obvious as well. The pre 2000 carnegie figures were some of the best for there time with few exceptions in my view.

[Shonisaurus]

I really like the giganotosaurus repainted Schleich 2019 honestly does not have to envy many figures of giganotosaurus made to date. Schleich's giganotosaurus of 2019 does not have to envy the magnificent works of Martin Garratt equals in genius in his painting the paintings applied to the dinosaurs said artist.

On the other hand, I like Schleich's spinosaurus more than Safari's spinosaurus. I find it better finished and it is for me the best theropod made to date by the Schleich brand.

I like the old Safari stegosaurus more than the safari 2019 stegosaurus sincerely, although it is a much more scientific figure I prefer the old "retro" version of the stegosaurus.

I like more the carnotaurus of Safari 2019 of Doug Watson than the carnotaurus of Collecta 2019 of Matthias Geiger, his figure I see it better finished and scientific and for me the carnotaurus of Doug Watson is the best carnotaurus figure made to date.

[Libraraptor]

Tyrannosaurus is boring.

Agreed!

Agreed! 

- I am so tired of T.rex.

Plus:
- I love quirky figures.
- I give pitiable figures I find on flea markets a new home.
- I don't care about broken tail tips and limbs.
- I love White Post figures
- I do not care about JP and JW merchandise, not even the figures
- Once I threw away a dinosaur toy.  UV light had destroyed the skin of Bullyland soft Apatosaurus , it had become brittle, and the cotton wool filling oozed out.  I hated to witness this day by day decompisiton and delivered myself and the figure from this pain.
- I hate the fish on Invicta Baryonyx.
- I really like Schleich Barapasaurus
- I hate dinosaur heads on walls (busts)
- CollectA Guidraco is highly overrated .

[Loon]

I'm adding dunkleosteus and giganotosaurus to the t.rex tear. I'm kind of sick of them (depsite having figures of both on order currently). But, I'm sure Papo will release their own versions soon, and oh boy...

[stargatedalek]

-I won't care how nice looking or accurate a Schleich figure is I won't buy any until they stop using the gross tacky plastic they love so much.

-Kaiyodo makes great products but I hate the fragile plastic they use and that alone is enough to keep me from buying them when there are other options.

-I will always prioritize durability and playability over accuracy, except for very small pieces.

[Halichoeres]

I'm adding dunkleosteus and giganotosaurus to the t.rex tear. I'm kind of sick of them (depsite having figures of both on order currently). But, I'm sure Papo will release their own versions soon, and oh boy...

Yeah, I'm with you. I'm into fish, but I'd like that to not be just endless variations on the same fish.

-Kaiyodo makes great products but I hate the fragile plastic they use and that alone is enough to keep me from buying them when there are other options.

The Dinotales are pretty brittle, but the CapsuleQ figures aren't fragile at all. Sure, they have small pieces, but they're much more pliable and durable. I've never broken one, although I have broken a couple of Dinotales.

[Shonisaurus]

Although I know that it has been discontinued for a long time, I still like Schleich's giganotosaurus very much (at that time the greatest theropod made by the classic toy dinosaur companies), I have never understood the contempt that this figure has for that figure. Many forum members.

Maybe it is not the giganotosaurus that one wants but sincerely it is a figure of an acceptable size and sincerely in spite of the feet of clown it is detailed and enormous.

On the other hand I really like the tsintaosaurus of Collecta, it is a great figure and I like it because it is my favorite hadrosaur, which I do not know if that I have already affirmed in another post of the same colloquium.

[Loon]

I honestly find that giga figure to be charming, atleast the newer version. I don't own it, but it has an impressive look that makes me think of James Gurney's giganotosaurus painting.

[Jetdin]

My unpopular opinion:
I think the JW mattel line is highly overrated. They have such toy-ish proportions, doesnt look like a real animal. I dont know why so many people here are really trying to get as complete a collection as possible.
But they are toys made with heavy children play in mind, so i get it.
BUT in the end, to each their own, and you can buy whatever you want with your own money.

:-)