CollectA—New for 2020

[Loon]

Honestly I just wish with all these Megalodon options, that there was some Livyatan to go with them too (and on that note, more prehistoric whales and their ancestors in general).

Oh god, I can only hope.

[Concavenator]

Even though the figure is not bad, in my opinion Megalodon is probably the most boring prehistoric creature to make a figure of.

Completely agree. It's totally pointless.

But they sell. So not really pointless if it improves the bottom line. It's why T.rex sells.  I get about 20 kids a year asking me if I'm going to build a Megalodon for the park. I don't want to for several reasons including those mentioned...but I may build a set of jaws eventually.  Kids know it, it's popular, and kids like Sharks almost as much as dinosaurs.

From a business perspective it seems it's not pointless at all. Though it's pretty much guaranteed that whenever someone sees that figure, the first thing that will come to his / her mind is that it is a great white shark, they would have to read that it is a Megalodon to truly realize what that creature is. I was saying that (in my opinion) it's a very boring animal awesomebroness aside. Tyrannosaurus is way more interesting than Megalodon, it's clearly recognizable as a dinosaur, and is easy to identify as well. Of course, if I was in charge of the company I may as well have released a Meg too, if I wanted to make some profit 

[SidB]

And, of course, we do want them to make a profit. Successful business entities at least have the possibility of producing the products that we want. Maybe they won't, but if they hang around, like CollectA, then they might just do some neat stuff, along with the old boilerplates. This isn't to say that we shouldn't bug them to do the cool stuff, at least now and then, because they might just want to oblige us and their own creative impulses.

[Loon]

I think the megalodon is fine, I don't know if I'll buy it, because CollectA's deluxes are always a little expensive for me. I don't know, can I just get a Dorudon, please? Somebody? Anybody?

[Halichoeres]

Even though the figure is not bad, in my opinion Megalodon is probably the most boring prehistoric creature to make a figure of.

Completely agree. It's totally pointless.

But they sell. .......

They sell just as well as Great Whites do, so it doesn't matter if you name it Megalodon or Great White.
Maybe that's what Halichoeres meant by "pointless".

Yeah, that's part of it. Most of the figures are nearly indistinguishable from a great white, and to the extent that they are distinguishable, they're distinguished in 100% invented ways. Like, to me, most allosauroid theropods look pretty much the same, but a person who knows a lot about theropods can tell a Carcharodontosaurus figure from a Giganotosaurus figure at a glance. On the other hand, if you give me a bunch of shark figures, and asked me to choose which are megalodon and which are some other equally fragmentary shark, I, a person who studies fish professionally, could not reliably do so without a priori knowledge of what the manufacturer labeled it.

It is a pity that so much of this hobby is driven by the preferences of children, since children are the most ignorant segment of the population, as suspsy's anecdote so elegantly demonstrates. How badly do you have to misconstrue that question to respond "megalodon?" (Not that I'm blaming kids for being ignorant, but there's a reason we don't let them make important decisions.)

[suspsy]

It is a pity that so much of this hobby is driven by the preferences of children, since children are the most ignorant segment of the population

Nah, adults will always be the most ignorant segment of the population, by far. A child's ignorance of a certain subject can be excused by them simply not knowing about it, whereas many adults practice deliberate ignorance of a great many things. But that's veering off into a whole other realm of discussion.

as suspsy's anecdote so elegantly demonstrates. How badly do you have to misconstrue that question to respond "megalodon?" (Not that I'm blaming kids for being ignorant, but there's a reason we don't let them make important decisions.)

I'm not seeing how giving Megalodon as an answer means that the riddle was badly misconstrued. Strikes me as a fairly reasonable guess.

[Halichoeres]

It is a pity that so much of this hobby is driven by the preferences of children, since children are the most ignorant segment of the population

Nah, adults will always be the most ignorant segment of the population, by far. A child's ignorance of a certain subject can be excused by them simply not knowing about it, whereas many adults practice deliberate ignorance of a great many things. But that's veering off into a whole other realm of discussion.

Well, like I said, I certainly don't blame kids for their ignorance, but I'm being very literal here in that kids just don't know much yet. I figure that knowledge accumulation is like the line below before it bifurcates; children learn very quickly but their absolute body of knowledge is small. People who are active and engaged probably never really stop learning and age into that blue line. People who have pretty bad dementia might end up on that red line. If you want to count misinformation as "inverse facts," maybe it could also describe people who consume a lot of propaganda. But even then I think it's really hard to argue that they literally have less knowledge than children.

as suspsy's anecdote so elegantly demonstrates. How badly do you have to misconstrue that question to respond "megalodon?" (Not that I'm blaming kids for being ignorant, but there's a reason we don't let them make important decisions.)

I'm not seeing how giving Megalodon as an answer means that the riddle was badly misconstrued. Strikes me as a fairly reasonable guess.

Maybe I have misconstrued the question then? I guess I figured the answer to "what was the largest animal before the blue whale was discovered?" is "the blue whale, regardless of whether it was discovered."

[Sarapaurolophus]

In case of Megalodon I don't think the kids market is to blame but the action movie goers who can't seem to get enough of the same old, same old "Great White murders people". A recent example is that movie The Meg. Great Whites are also such iconic animals with instant recognition. If a normal Great White sells a blown up  "monster" version sells, too.

[suspsy]

Maybe I have misconstrued the question then? I guess I figured the answer to "what was the largest animal before the blue whale was discovered?" is "the blue whale, regardless of whether it was discovered."

No, no, you got the answer right. But I think if you were approaching that question without an understanding of its hidden meaning, Megalodon is not an unreasonable guess given its size. Other responses I've gotten from kids range from Tyrannosaurus rex to Brachiosaurus to the woolly mammoth. And a fair number of them have been able to deduce the correct answer.

And as Sarapaurolophus notes, it's not just children that drive the decisions behind these releases. For certain it wasn't only children who paid to see The Meg in theatres.

Anyway, on a new and unfortunate note, I have recently learned that CollectA is experiencing a setback in production just like PNSO due to the coronavirus. Between that and the ongoing civil unrest in Hong Kong where they're based, the last six months have not been good on them.

[Shonisaurus]

Maybe I have misconstrued the question then? I guess I figured the answer to "what was the largest animal before the blue whale was discovered?" is "the blue whale, regardless of whether it was discovered."

No, no, you got the answer right. But I think if you were approaching that question without an understanding of its hidden meaning, Megalodon is not an unreasonable guess given its size. Other responses I've gotten from kids range from Tyrannosaurus rex to Brachiosaurus to the woolly mammoth. And a fair number of them have been able to deduce the correct answer.

And as Sarapaurolophus notes, it's not just children that drive the decisions behind these releases. For certain it wasn't only children who paid to see The Meg in theatres.

Anyway, on a new and unfortunate note, I have recently learned that CollectA is experiencing a setback in production just like PNSO due to the coronavirus. Between that and the ongoing civil unrest in Hong Kong where they're based, the last six months has not been good on them.

The positive that we will save money.

The negative that will be relantizar the delivery of these figures for a longer time than normal.

But we must look at the bottle half full and not half empty. I have said the positive aspect I have noted.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Anyway, on a new and unfortunate note, I have recently learned that CollectA is experiencing a setback in production just like PNSO due to the coronavirus. Between that and the ongoing civil unrest in Hong Kong where they're based, the last six months has not been good on them.

Not ignoring the human element here but I had been thinking this would be the case for anything produced in China. I've been seeing where shipping is being heavily impacted, planes and ships have been reduced quite a bit so even our everyday items might start having availability problems.  Surely it will be a big setback for the toy industry. Factories in China were already having some problems if I recall.

Having backup factories outside a singular country would be ideal, but of course costs will be going up if they did.

[stargatedalek]

I know politics are discouraged here, but I'd just like to say that if there are going to be delays I'm glad the causes are at least incredibly important. CollectA could be having delays over something silly like not having the right shade of grey for a particular breed of pony, controlling the Corona-virus and the fight for Hong Kong independence are things I'm more than willing to put up with release delays for.

[suspsy]

I know politics are discouraged here, but I'd just like to say that if there are going to be delays I'm glad the causes are at least incredibly important. CollectA could be having delays over something silly like not having the right shade of grey for a particular breed of pony, controlling the Corona-virus and the fight for Hong Kong independence are things I'm more than willing to put up with release delays for.

Well said, fully agreed.

[Shonisaurus]

The news would be really bad if Collecta and PNSO did not market their products due to bankruptcy. Fortunately, this is not the case, it is due to force majeure (catastrophes and demonstrations due to discontent over internal political affairs) in their production areas (China and Hong Kong).

[suspsy]

The news would be really bad if Collecta and PNSO did not market their products due to bankruptcy. Fortunately, this is not the case, it is due to force majeure (catastrophes and demonstrations due to discontent over internal political affairs) in their production areas (China and Hong Kong).

There's no indication that either company is going to go bankrupt, so there's no point in even speculating about such a thing.

[Shonisaurus]

The news would be really bad if Collecta and PNSO did not market their products due to bankruptcy. Fortunately, this is not the case, it is due to force majeure (catastrophes and demonstrations due to discontent over internal political affairs) in their production areas (China and Hong Kong).

There's no indication that either company is going to go bankrupt, so there's no point in even speculating about such a thing.

That's why I mention it, because fortunately Collecta and PNSO enjoy very good health. What I want to say is that they are delaying the commercialization of their figures for reasons beyond two exceptional brands due to force majeure problems beyond their success as companies.

I do not even think about it and I think that either of the two brands has economic problems. On the contrary, they are at their best.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Honestly I just wish with all these Megalodon options, that there was some Livyatan to go with them too (and on that note, more prehistoric whales and their ancestors in general).

Oh god, I can only hope.

Hard same.

[suspsy]

Honestly I just wish with all these Megalodon options, that there was some Livyatan to go with them too (and on that note, more prehistoric whales and their ancestors in general).

Oh god, I can only hope.

Hard same.

Perhaps if the Megalodon sells well, CollectA will produce a Livyatan for it to fight.

[Shonisaurus]

I pass the video of the caviramus of Andy's Dinosaur Reviews:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-34tSoEMcx8&feature=em-uploademail

The figure is not as big as I figured.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

It's about what I expected size-wise.  A definite must buy for me.