Help for new collector

[GamingTortoise]

Hello, new user and new collector here.
I wanted you ask guys about which brand should I start my collection. Since it was a long time since I collected prehistoric life figures and I am out of loop. And I cant pick which brand should I look up for. So far I found some Collecta animals in my country,but not many and they looked pretty nice.
So I wanted ask which brand is the best in terms of price and accuracy?
Thanks a lot for suggestions

[Halichoeres]

Welcome to the forum! I think the best value for a new collector in terms of balancing artistry, accuracy, and affordability is Safari Ltd. (https://store.safariltd.com/collections/dinosaur-toys) CollectA is also very good, and they offer the greatest variety, but they're less consistent when it comes to accuracy and beauty. I have more than 90 brands in my collection, but these are the top two, constituting nearly 30% of my collection.

[Stegotyranno420]

Safari is the best starter for a collector
Collecta is a close second, and Papo does look amazing and detailed, but they are usually jp inspired and more expensive. But some of the Papo's are fine
Also welcome to the forum G @GamingTortoise , I'm glad to meet you!

[GamingTortoise]

Thanks for the tips @Halichoeres, @Stegotyranno420! I will look in stores for Safari Ltd, hoping I will something since my state has less prehistoric stuff in stores! Thanks again for tips

[Duna]

Hello and welcome! I started collecting new figures only about 3 years ago.
I won't suggest only a brand, because some figures are better in one brand and some in others.
For example, you can buy PNSO in Aliexpress (the standard size line, about 15-30€) they are the best sculpted and the best looking, actually. Safari is the second best option, nicely sculpted, not too expensive, mostly accurate. Collecta will go after. And some very few Papo figures are also nice looking, but they are not too accurate and most are very outdated. Nanmu (in Aliexpress) has the best Jurassic Park looking (outdated) figures, but they are quite expensive.
Here it's my collection, you can have a look at the choice list of figures I made (they are in a Spoiler, don't miss it). I normally only collect one figure per species or genera, and as you can see, I have most of them that are from Safari.
http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=8223.0#

You can buy the figures at the online shops that appear in the web. Very recommendable.

[GamingTortoise]

Thanks @Duna for advice! I must say amazing collection and inspiring too! I am going to look into the list and check some websites! Thanks again!

[indohyus]

Welcome aboard! I concur with the others, start with those, then move to lines like beasts of the mesozoic

[Faelrin]

Welcome to the forum. I think Safari Ltd, CollectA, PNSO, and Eofauna have the most paleontologically accurate models on the market currently (maybe some others like Kaiyodo or Favorite Ltd). Creative Beast Studio's Beasts of the Mesozoic line is pretty great too, if you are interested in action figures, but they can be quite expensive. If you are in the US Safari Ltd has a 21% sale going on right now, that you could take advantage of. Other then Safari Ltd's website, other retailers in the US would be Dan's Dinosaurs, Dejankins, and Happy Hen Toys, other then Amazon.

If you are in the UK (if not the rest of Europe as well) Everything Dinosaur would be a good starting point. Minizoo is good for Australia, etc. Urzeitshop is in Germany, and there are several other online retailers located in Germany and Europe (modellpferdeversand is another example).

If you also have the time and interest both the DinoToyCollector and ToyAnimalWiki sites are very good (though incomplete at times) databases for many figures out there, enabling you to search by classification, company, year, etc, if not some of the members collections here as well. I'd perhaps also recommend checking out the "new for (2021, 2020, etc) forums" as a starting point too.

Edit: And if you are interested in looking at reviews there's also the DinoToyBlog itself, and there are many video reviewers out there as well, such as Andy's Dinosaur Reviews, Dino Scream Reviews, DinosDragons, Matthew the Dinosaur King, SpinoDude, for some examples. Though not a toy reviewer per se, Your Dinosaurs are Wrong is also worth checking out.

[GamingTortoise]

Thanks for the websites @Faelrin! I will check them out, since you mentioned some European and I am from Europe.Hoping postage wont be crazy to my country.
And also I will check some information sites and reviews, since so many brands and models to choose from

[Duna]

Thanks for the websites @Faelrin! I will check them out, since you mentioned some European and I am from Europe.Hoping postage wont be crazy to my country.
And also I will check some information sites and reviews, since so many brands and models to choose from

In Europe check these online shops:
www.everythingdinosaur.com
www.urzeitshop.de/de/
www.spielzeug-guenstig.de/
www.alcaiceria.com

Good luck!

[Lynx]

Hello, new user and new collector here.
I wanted you ask guys about which brand should I start my collection. Since it was a long time since I collected prehistoric life figures and I am out of loop. And I cant pick which brand should I look up for. So far I found some Collecta animals in my country,but not many and they looked pretty nice.
So I wanted ask which brand is the best in terms of price and accuracy?
Thanks a lot for suggestions

Here are some of the most popular companies and what each of them specialize in;

Papo: JP Style dinos, not very realistic (and extremely shrink wrapped) but the detail is great

Safari: Normally accurate dinosaurs at amazing prices. Despite some of these figures being under 10 dollars, the detail is amazing.

PNSO: Top notch when it comes to dinosaur figures. Their figures are extremely accurate and the detail is some of the best you can get

REBOR: Basically Papo but with even better detail and their figures are a bit more accurate

CollectA: For the most part, it's just safari with bases included. However some of their figures are a bit more pricey.

Schleich: They are not iteneded to be a collector company and typically have worse detail, however some of their play sets and a few of their figures look really well.

[stargatedalek]

Personally I disagree with PNSO being "extremely accurate", in regards to theropods anyway, they do good ornithischians.

[REBOR_STUDIO]

Hello, new user and new collector here.
I wanted you ask guys about which brand should I start my collection. Since it was a long time since I collected prehistoric life figures and I am out of loop. And I cant pick which brand should I look up for. So far I found some Collecta animals in my country,but not many and they looked pretty nice.
So I wanted ask which brand is the best in terms of price and accuracy?
Thanks a lot for suggestions

Here are some of the most popular companies and what each of them specialize in;

Papo: JP Style dinos, not very realistic (and extremely shrink wrapped) but the detail is great

Safari: Normally accurate dinosaurs at amazing prices. Despite some of these figures being under 10 dollars, the detail is amazing.

PNSO: Top notch when it comes to dinosaur figures. Their figures are extremely accurate and the detail is some of the best you can get

REBOR: Basically Papo but with even better detail and their figures are a bit more accurate

CollectA: For the most part, it's just safari with bases included. However some of their figures are a bit more pricey.

Schleich: They are not iteneded to be a collector company and typically have worse detail, however some of their play sets and a few of their figures look really well.

We do lots of novelty items and non-dinosaur figures too, been producing horse figures for WIA since 2015 

Get PNSO figures if you like accurate dinosaur figures, or get Nanmu if you are into JP stuff.

[SenSx]

Hello and welcome !
I've been collecting for less than a year.

It all depends of what you are looking for: accuracy, more designed dinosaurs, based on JP franchise...
I would indeed suggest a mix of different brands.

I think people have summed up everything pretty well.
I would just add the following:

- Vitae and Eofauna: accurate and good quality I think for an affordable price.
Not many models though.

- Schleich: yes most of their dinos aren't that pretty and high quality, affordable more for children.
But they are appealing to some, and they do have some nice models: I like their Oviraptor and their Dinogorgon (not dino though).

- Itoy: high quality JP based figures, better than Papo in most cases in my opinion.
Some accurate prehistoric mamals I think

- Nanmu & W-Dragon: I'm an absolute fan of those brands that are my favorites.
They are more JP accurate though, but some of their model do a good job on scientifically accuracy or are at least not too terrible on that (W-Dragon Brachiosaurus and maybe Allosaurus, maybe Nanmu Carnotaurus and Ceratosaurus).
Very high quality but expansive (Nanmu's have articulate jaws, not W-Dragon except for their Giganotosaurus).

- Iron Studio: only JP, if you want bigger scale and can afford it.

[Concavenator]

G @GamingTortoise Welcome to the forum!  I'm going to try to give you some advice based on my experience over the years...

First of all, I would recommend you different things depending on what your preferences are.
If you like accurate dinosaur figures, I recommend you: Safari, CollectA, Eofauna, PNSO, Vitae, and Beasts of the Mesozoic. Though there are also new companies emerging who also produce scientifically accurate dinosaur figures, like Wild Past, Mesozoo, and Dino Hazard. But the main ones are the ones I mentioned earlier. These are my reccomendations if you prefer accurate, more realistic depictions of dinosaurs.

*I would also like to mention that if you're the type of collector who likes accurate dinosaur figures, I would try to get some Carnegie or Battat figures. These brands are now extinct (I think the Battat Terra line is pretty much extinct by now, though occasionally some forum members may say they have stumbled upong certain figures at Target stores). Regarding Battat, there is an older line, which has models that are now very rare and that are sold for pretty high prices sometimes, and there is a newer line (called Battat Terra), which started in 2014. That line has newer species and some repaints from the older line. In general, they're mostly accurate figures, just that some of the species from the older wave are now outdated in some ways due to paleontology's newer discoveries. I don't have any Battat figures myself, but I would recommend them. I also highly recommend Carnegie figures if you could find them. This amazing brand went extinct in 2015 and had figures that are mostly accurate and were very nicely sculpted. I have some of them and they are among my favorite models in my collection. Battat and Carnegie figures are rare, so I would try to get them as fast as you can, if you want them. There's also Bullyland. In general, not very accurate figures, but they have rarities (older figures of Triassic animals and museum-exclusive figures). I classify them here as they're not inspired by JP. I would recommend some of those rarities if you could get them (I have the Arizonasaurus and the Batrachotomus).

In case you don't care for scientifically accurate figures and if you're more interested in Jurassic Park stuff or just want cool looking figures, I recommend you: Papo, Rebor, W-Dragon, Nanmu and I-Toy. There are some Papo figures, like the original Green Standing Tyrannosaurus and original brown Velociraptor that are also retired, so try to get them as quick as you can if you want them.

If you like both scientifically accurate figures and JP based figures, I have already told you my recommendations for both.

I would personally avoid getting stuff from brands like Schleich and Mojo (unless you like their figures, of course, sometimes they may come up with nice figures) because, from my view, they add no real value. In general (there are some rare exceptions) their figures are not accurate, and they're not gorgeous looking cool figures either (based on JP or pop-culture), so they're in the middle.

Those are my two cents! I hope this will be helpful.

Cheers!

[GamingTortoise]

Thanks again all fo your opinion for opinion as @Concavenator, @SenSx, @Lynx and others all your advices are noted in my notepad.
And I forgot, like I saw many replies I am aiming toward more accurate models. I collected some JP stuff and I was thinking that I dont really like the look of JP dinos or toys, so I decided to look for more accurate but I was lost. As many mentioned some brand now I know which brands offer what. Now its only complicated to choose which dinos should I buy first, since there are so many beautiful models and species

[Bread]

What helped me most when I started to seriously collect was browsing the Dinosaur Toy Blog to see what is out there, and then going from there as a starting point.

This is probably the best advice you could get.

Some purchases of mine I wish I had read about in the forum before making them. So before you purchase a figure that you are not sure about, I suggest doing some research on the forum before said purchase.

Edit: I've never had a "risky" purchase. However, I've had others point out noticeable flaws in a figure, which led to me backing down on it.

[Dinoxels]

I recommend Safari Ltd. and PNSO to start with. 

[Stegotyranno420]

Here is my opinion/guide:
Safari Ltd: Best starter. moderate to high detail, usually great colors mid-price, scientific.
Collecta: low to high details, terrible to great colors, slightly more expensive than safari, scientific
Papo: High-extreme detail, great but often bland colors, kind of expensive,  really unscientific or JP-ish, but they do have really good and accurate models every so often, and are the best  of those companies that specialize in JP when it comes to accuracy, both film and real accuracy, although they do change things up like colors so they don't get sued or something
Rebor: Same as papo, but kind of like in the midway between normal figures and luxury models. And they are usually less accurate and more expensive . But their Grab N Go line is amazingly cheap and awesome. I recommend those.
Mojo: Low to high details, terrible to great colors, kind of cheap, and they range from really inaccurate to surprisingly accurate. They are basically the most ranged company. On one side you got their 2020 velociraptors, on the other you have their 2020 giganotosaurus and 2019-2020 triceratops
Schliech: They are like mojo, but with usually less accurate and usually worse detail, and more expensive. in 2018-2019 I belive, they were actually really good
Eofauna: Moderate to extremely high detail, great but bland colors, depending where you live, decent price to  very expensive, and super scientific
Nanmu: High-extremley high detail, great but often bland colors, really expensive, and only one figure(the apatosaurus i believe ) is accurate. the giganotosaurus is close but the head is to round and its shrink wrapped
W-dragon: High to extremely high detail, great but often bland colors, super expensive, and they do both accurate and pop culture figures
PNSO: High detail, Great and interesting colors, more expensive than papo , but less than nanmu. They do accurate figures
Theres more but that's all I got. I hope this helps. And might want to take it with a grain of salt, as this is my opinion and knowledge. Hope it helps

[Lynx]

Here is my updated list with every brand I can think of:

Papo: JP Style dinos, not very realistic (and extremely shrink wrapped) but the detail is great

Safari: Normally accurate dinosaurs at amazing prices. Despite some of these figures being under 10 dollars, the detail is amazing. Best starter company.

PNSO: Top notch when it comes to dinosaur figures. Their figures are extremely accurate and the detail is some of the best you can get

REBOR: Basically Papo but with even better detail and their figures are a bit more accurate.

CollectA: For the most part, it's just safari with bases included. However some of their figures are a bit more pricey.

Schleich: They are not intended to be a collector company and typically have worse detail, however some of their play sets and a few of their figures look really nice.

W-Dragon: Their figures are expensive and don't aim for accuracy. However if you are a fan of JP or Dino Crisis you will most likely enjoy their figures.

Nanmu: They have quite a mixed batch. Most of their figures are in the JP style but others are actually very accurate.  In my opinion they seem to have the best JP figures.

Vitae: The figures are quite pricey but are worth it if you want some accurate dinosaur figures. Most of their batch has species that have not been represented by other companies (which is my opinion is a bonus).

Eofuana: While they only have three dinosaur figures in their batch, all of them are worth it. They are extremely accurate and detailed while also being affordable.

Slideshow: To put the story short, their figures are pricey but worth it.

Battat Terra: Their figures are more cartoony and smaller then most of the brands on this list. Despite this their figures are worth the price they are given.

Beasts of the Mesozoic: Top notch when it comes to accuracy. Do keep in mind these are action figures.

GR Toys: Amazing accuracy but pricey and has a small batch of dinos (only two).