Best of the Big Cats?

I was checking through the SUY Big Cats thread and saw a bunch of beautiful figurines, but I was wondering, what do people consider the very best representatives of each creature? I'm a stickler for detailed paint jobs and realistic sculptures. So if you had to choose one (or a few) of the very best for each animal, which would it be? Feel free to acknowledge genetic variants such as black leopards, king cheetahs, white tigers, etc.

I'd especially like opinions on the following, but please offer recommendations for others not listed (such as those who don't quality as "big cats" like Ocelots or Bobcats) and cubs/kittens.

Tiger
Lion
Jaguar
Leopard
Snow Leopard (I personally like Papo's best)
Cheetah (I have CollectA's King Cheetah, but no regular one)
Cougar
Clouded Leopard

Papo Papo Papo. Papo is your big cat brand.

I like several models of big cats from brands (the big 6, I'm unfamiliar with Japanese brands). Later I will post my picks for you.

LeeAnn wrote:

Papo Papo Papo. Papo is your big cat brand.

Yup, agree 100% Oh and what a sweet avatar LeeAnn

Hehe thanks!

Papo is the best for almost all cats. But the most realistic jaguar was produced by Schleich. For the lion male perhaps Mojo, it's really good, perhaps better than Papo adult male lion.
Clouded leopard from Mojo is also great if it get the right painting.

NightLioness wrote:

LeeAnn wrote:

Papo Papo Papo. Papo is your big cat brand.

Yup, agree 100% Oh and what a sweet avatar LeeAnn

Yes, it's cute

Talking only about Major brands ( No Japanese)

Tiger: Papo, Papo and Papo
Lion: last Mojo
Lioness: Papo, Papo and CollectA
Jaguar: Schleich but maybe the 2015 Safari Ltd
Leopard: Papo
Amur leopard: CollectA
Snow Leopard: Papo
Cheetah: Papo and CollectA
Cougar: Mojo
Clouded Leopard: Mojo (with a better painting)
Iberian lynx: Mojo
European lynx: CollectA

The suggestions already made by Christophe and Anna are great and very comprehensive.

I'll throw in my two-cents even though my opinions don't differ much:

TIGER - Definitely Papo. Papo Male Tiger, Papo tiger holding cub, Papo female with suckling cubs.
LION - I prefer the most recent Papo. I have both Mojos, but ended up giving the newest one to my toddler. It just didn't do much for me. Part of it was the paintwork on the face.
JAGUAR - The Schleich is wonderful. Best Jaguar out there.
LEOPARD - Papo stalking leopard is great. If the Papo Jaguar were painted like a Leopard, it'd be even better.
SNOW LEOPARD - Papo, no question
CHEETAH - I prefer the Cheetah by Schleich that comes with the Bayala figure, "Liassa."
COUGAR - Safari Ltd. I really like this figure. Better than Mojo's, although the latter is good too.
CLOUDED LEOPARD - Is there anything other than the Mojo? I don't think so. Fortunately, the sculpt is very nice. (Unfortunately, the paintwork is very mediocre.)

My opinions are almost the same as previous:
Tiger, Papo walking
Lion, Mojö 2nd version
Lioness, Papo
Jaguar, Schleich (2014 Safari looks promising)
Leopard, Papo
Clouded leopard, Mojo
Cheetah, Papo
Puma, Mojö
Eurasian lynx, maybe CollectA
Iberian lynx, Mojo (no competitors)
Bobcat, Safari is also the only one
Snow leopard, Papo

I know some of these are not big cats but once it is not a scientific taxon I included all felines.

scot(t) wrote:

CHEETAH - I prefer the Cheetah by Schleich that comes with the Bayala figure, "Liassa."

Same here

Here is my point of view to the cats:

TIGER - Papo, all male and both females.
LION/LIONESS - Papo, both male and two females but CollectA couple is very good too.
JAGUAR - I like Papo again for the pose and painting, although the Schleich one has much realistic proportions. Maybe the new Safari one will be good too.
LEOPARD - Papo.
AMUR LEOPARD - CollectA, maybe only one of his kind.
BLACK LEOPARD/PANTHER - I like the old VEB Plaho ones from GDR era (smaller figures).
SNOW LEOPARD - Papo, although the Schleich/Safari Vanishing Wild family is not bad.
CHEETAH - I like Schleich "Liassa" one but the Papo cheetah is good enough.
COUGAR - Safari Ltd., if You can accept larger scale, then Breyer cougar can be interesting too.
CLOUDED LEOPARD - Kaiyodo Choco-Egg one, good shape, 3 color variants and way better (more detailed) painting than Mojo one.
OCELOT - K&M Int. adult and young animal - if You can accept larger scale.
SERVAL - Yujin is the best, Colorata is smaller but acceptable too.
IRIOMOTE CAT - Kaiyodo from 2014.
BENGAL CAT - Kaiyodo/Furuta Choco-Eggs from the set No 5.
EURASIAN LYNX - CollectA.
IBERIAN LYNX - Mojo, maybe only one of his kind.
BOBCAT - Safari Ltd.
CARACAL - Play Visions (smaller figure).

Dang, I got busy. I agree with everything posted here, Papo is the majority winner.

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Dang, I got busy. I agree with everything posted here, Papo is the majority winner.

Paige, there's lots to disagree with. Safari or Mojo Puma? New Papo or Mojo Male Lion? Papo and "Liassa" Schleich Cheetah? Papo or Schleich Jaguar?

You're either with me or against me! (I kid. :) )

@ Sheepish Re: Big Cats

Tiger
Lion
Jaguar
Leopard
Snow Leopard (I personally like Papo's best)

Technically the following are not classed as Big Cats - sure they are bigger than your average moggy but they are not from the genus Leo Panthera:

Cheetah (I have CollectA's King Cheetah, but no regular one)
Cougar
Clouded Leopard

[/center]

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Technically the following are not classed as Big Cats - sure they are bigger than your average moggy but they are not from the genus Leo:

I know, I guess I should have just said best of the wild cats since really I wanted to hear about all sorts, with special interest on the larger types. Thanks for the pics, love that tiger!

My best extant big cat picks:

best Cougar - Safari Ltd
best Snow Leopard - Papo (by far).......  AAA++++
best Clouded Leopard - Mojo (for the sculpting, but terrible for the paint job)
best Jaguar - Schleich (by far)
best Cheetah - CollectA
best spotted Leopard - Papo (stalking one)

Schleich Black Leopard is very descent also

scot(t) wrote:

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Dang, I got busy. I agree with everything posted here, Papo is the majority winner.

Paige, there's lots to disagree with. Safari or Mojo Puma? New Papo or Mojo Male Lion? Papo and "Liassa" Schleich Cheetah? Papo or Schleich Jaguar?

You're either with me or against me! (I kid. :) )

I know this comment is a little late, but better than never. I'm not as picky about figures as some people here, I believe that there is no set in stone morphology for an animal, there are many body types and individual characteristics, much like people. I agree that Papo usually has the "best" big cats for any species, but I also like Schleich's older cats, and some of safari's, and mojo's etc. etc. For example, all of the pumas out there by big brands. The ones I know about are the safari, old Schleich, mojo, and Papo figures. The papo I feel is the best in terms of detail and body type (the kind I would prefer), but it has a small head where as the Schleich has better proportions etc. for that body type. I love the safari, because it resembles a large male with a bulky body, and I like the mojo because I love the color best, and her body is great I just don't really like the ears for some reason. So, again, I like many models for each cat, it depends on personal preference of what you think that animal should look like.

Fully agree Paige - animals within a certain species like humans are not exactly identical and each will have their own characteristics. Rudyard Kipling identified this in the early part of the last century with his ‘Jungle Book’ story.

But a decision has to me made if one hasn’t enough room to have them all!

Great vintage animals Chris. I love the lionesses especially, I wish a modern brand would make a good lying lioness, or sitting (like Schleich did once). I just don't believe in "cookie cutter" animals, especially when we breed them to look a certain way. As time has told, variation is a good thing and when we try to create the "perfect" individual, we actually get animals with health flaws galore. As well, in wild animals variation is what makes things fun, makes the game of "survival of the fittest" interesting. What characteristic will be beneficial and make sure this animal survives?

I have searched if this topic existed, before I would make one myself.
And sure enough it was!
Now I wondered: is there ano 2016 changed anything in this line up?
So everyone still find that the above mentioned are the best?
Because I was just wondering exactly the same!
Especially for the Tigers the lions and the Snow Leopard and puma!

It's an interessting question, and even not owning that lot of figurines I'll try to write my opinions.

Tigers: There were three new adult Tiger since 2014, Papo wanting to bring them in a more dynamic pose and Schleich just replacing their old family. In my opinion they were all great, and you can see how much these companies have improved. But I will take the Schleich one, because I think he has a much better paintjob and has a great facial expression.
Lions: There were a lot of new Lions during the last years, but none of them was amazing, but there's still hope that the CollectA one can be the new champion,
Jaguar: I don't think there were many new models, the Schleich one still wins in terms of anatomy but in my opinion the Papo one has a much better paintjob and much more fur details, and I can't say anything about the one from Safari Ltd.
Snow Leopard: I also don't think that much things changed on this species, Papo's one is still the best even not having a really good paintjob.
Leopard: Here I'm very unsure too, the new Schleich one has definitley the best paintjob but a very strange face, the Safari one looks outdated, the Mojo one a little too angular, Papos one isn't bad but far from perfect and CollectA's one just a disappointment.
Clouded Leopard: Saddly still no other brand than Mojo has produced that species, but it's great to see that Mojo updated their paintjob and that the Schleich costumers really wanted a Clouded Leopard, even if it hasn't won it gives a little hope for the future.
Puma: Even this one not beeing a big cat, it's commonly said to be one. Also here I don't really do have a favourite, the both I know have both some really strange faces.

Dum_my wrote:

I have searched if this topic existed, before I would make one myself.
And sure enough it was!
Now I wondered: is there ano 2016 changed anything in this line up?
So everyone still find that the above mentioned are the best?
Because I was just wondering exactly the same!
Especially for the Tigers the lions and the Snow Leopard and puma!

What would I change in my list ?

Talking only about Major brands ( No Japanese). I put a link to the newcomers walkarounds  

Tiger: Papo is still the master for me because of quality and diversity. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] reached the podium, it is the first model who can compete with Papo
Lion: Last Mojo must share his crown with the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
Lioness: Papo, Papo and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Jaguar: The last [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is my favorite now. The Schleich is still a great alternative.
Leopard: Papo... What else?
Amur leopard: CollectA
Snow Leopard: Papo
Cheetah: Papo and CollectA
Cougar: Mojo
Clouded Leopard: Mojo with the last painting
Iberian lynx: Mojo
European lynx: CollectA

Thank you for the answers,
this will definitely help me with buying a number of big cats next year!

I am a bit partial to my Breyer cougar, although I like my Safari Ltd one as well.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My opinions are basically the exact same as Christophe. We are already for long years expressing a similar taste for toy animal figures.
I only don't know the Safari jaguar in real although I like it very much from pictures on forum and my resident is still the Schleich previous one.
There's also now a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] from Safari that has no competitor.