Controversial opinions on dinosaur toys

[Faelrin]

Another thing about bootlegs is they might not always be made safely and are often not safety tested, typical poor quality control aside. Unfortunately these things are especially rampant these days, such as on the likes of Amazon, AliExpress, Ebay, etc for example. When I try to search for legitimate figures (such as from Mattel, for info much of the time) I get my searches swamped with those fakes. I wouldn't be surprised at how many parents, etc, could be buying these for kids, completely unaware of the harm they could be doing, not only to the original artists, and companies, but possibly their children as well? Can those listings even be taken down (as far as Amazon and Ebay anyways)? Granted I'm sure it would be like dealing with a mythological Hydra anyways.

[Strepsodus]

i wish that a lot of the really junky knockoffs and bootlegs would get taken down as well, as i only see them as a last resort to discontinued or hard to find or expensive figures.

[John]

Here is another reason not to buy knock offs:
The lower price is always accompanied by lower quality to make up for it.Those that aren't toxic that is...

[Strepsodus]

Here is another reason not to buy knock offs:
The lower price is always accompanied by lower quality to make up for it.Those that aren't toxic that is...

I've had my Colorata knockoffs since January, so it means that they (hopefully) aren't toxic

[stargatedalek]

Toxic won't make you throw up after touching them, but it might give you cancer in ten years.

[Shane]

Another thing about bootlegs is they might not always be made safely and are often not safety tested, typical poor quality control aside. Unfortunately these things are especially rampant these days, such as on the likes of Amazon, AliExpress, Ebay, etc for example. When I try to search for legitimate figures (such as from Mattel, for info much of the time) I get my searches swamped with those fakes. I wouldn't be surprised at how many parents, etc, could be buying these for kids, completely unaware of the harm they could be doing, not only to the original artists, and companies, but possibly their children as well? Can those listings even be taken down (as far as Amazon and Ebay anyways)? Granted I'm sure it would be like dealing with a mythological Hydra anyways.

Fighting bootlegs and knockoff figures of animals that exist in real life (or did, at one time) is very difficult, because it's hard to "prove" that they're copying your figure, even if it appears obvious to an observer.

It's also very difficult to track down who is making the figures and where they're coming from.

You're absolutely right, buying directly from a trusted company ensures that the toys you buy meet safety standards for chemicals, sharp points, small parts, etc.

[stargatedalek]

Small points and parts is unlikely to be of concern to most here, only relevant in regards to very young children that might try to eat small parts or hit people with toys without realizing how sharp they are.

The toxins however, are almost more of a concern for collecting. As altering paint or sculpts of bootlegs is a great way to directly inhale a lot of that nastiness, as anyone who used to work with lead miniatures is likely all too aware.

[Strepsodus]

I don't do any of those things, nor lick/eat them. I just view them as budget-friendly alternatives to expensive figures.

[JohannesB]

Controversial opinion: I would probably buy a cheaper copy by another company of a coveted model that has been out of production from the original producer for some time already (and as such often only available 'second hand' at much higher prices than what it originally cost).

[GojiraGuy1954]

I like the Mattel Masiakasaurus. A lot.

[Thialfi]

I like the Mattel Masiakasaurus. A lot.

More than the Safari Ltd. one?

[GojiraGuy1954]

I like the Mattel Masiakasaurus. A lot.

More than the Safari Ltd. one?

No

[Thialfi]

That has to mean you ADORE the Safari Ltd. one (I really like it myself)! 😜

[GojiraGuy1954]

That has to mean you ADORE the Safari Ltd. one (I really like it myself)! 😜

Ig you could say that
I think its pretty cool

[Shonisaurus]

Totally agree. There are more theropods and dinosaurs and prehistoric animals apart from tyrannosaurus and the same can be said for triceratops, parasaurolophus, mammoth or stegosaurus to give several examples.

[GiganotosaurusFan]

Vitae's giganotosaurus is better than Eofauna's. There's something wrong with Eofauna's that I can't quite place my finger on... probably the side view.

[Sim]

Eofauna's Giganotosaurus uses the outdated elongated skull reconstruction and shrinks it down to the presumed length of the skull when it isn't elongated.  The result is a head that's far too shallow.  Vitae's Giganotosaurus uses the modern skull reconstruction but doesn't have the distinctive chin of Giganotosaurus for some reason.

[SRF]

When I come to think of it, I don't have a Giganotosaurus in my collection and that's because there isn't any good one (for me) available in the market. I just don't like the Eofauna one, its colors are boring and don't do the sculpt any justice I think, but the sculpt itself doesn't do it for me either.

The Vitae one gives me some monstrous vibes and is too big anyway. PNSO's Giganotosaurus is just not up to the standards of the more recent offerings from them. The Nanmu one is awesome, but fits better in a JP/pop culture display. And I don't need to discuss the Papo Giga, do I?

So all in all, my vote for best Giganotosaurus figure right now would go to Safari, and I've stopped collecting Safari figures because of well, PNSO taking up already half of all my shelf space. 

To end this rant in a controversial statement: when it comes to good figures, right now Carcharodontosaurus is much better represented in the current dinosaur figure market than Giganotosaurus. Both the GR Toys and the PNSO Carcharodontosaurus are better than any Giganotosaurus currently available.

[Shonisaurus]

In my case and I know that my opinion is going to be quite objectionable I am more interested in collecting the BoTM ceratopsides than in the BoTM tyrannosauroids for a reason, because the tyrannosauroids have to be supported with support points instead of the BoTM ceratopsides. without support, that is one of the reasons, on the other hand I am more interested in ceratopsids for another simple reason because their horned heads so diverse they seem samurais, instead tyrannosauroids are diverse too, they do not have those horned heads and armored with ruffles.

The ceratopsids seem to me more exotic and curious figures than the tyrannosauroid theropods, whose figures are less biologically complicated than their ceratopsid counterparts, but from my point of view.

[GiganotosaurusFan]

I have the Nanmu, and I think it absolutely blows Eofauna straight through the solar system. The skull seems okay and the head sculpt is so much better.

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