Crisis in animal figurine collecting?

pipsxlch wrote:

Ricardo, I also collect a line of statuary called Windstone Editions, since they started in the 80s and have been a member of their few online communities since they started 20 years ago or a little less. The figures are in no way comparable to those we celebrate here. Even the root of the drive to collect them is different. I only mentioned their forum as it's an illustration of death by Facebook. As I refuse to join FB, I can't attest to the dedication of the members there, but I have noticed lots of pop in once looking for something then gone people on the forum since that group got going.

I also hope for the rebounding of Safari and Bullyland. Safari is the brand of my daughter's childhood, so my introduction to what animal toys could be.

Bullyland accompanied Schelich in our childhoods, they were like cousins....
And Safari... has given us some of the best figures ever, daring even with unprofitable models... I've always been fascinated by their vibrant color finish... I sincerely hope it will gain strength again in the near future

Simply yes

Hello countryman, there are seasons when one is more or less active, it is normal. The reasons you state can all be factors, especially economic uncertainty. That said, I'm out of your statistics, I'm Spanish too and I'm very interested in vintage brands. Greetings.

It's a very interesting topic, thank you for opening it! I feel like I need to think about it longer.

But just a quick thought for now. A few years ago I mostly (but not entirely) switched my collecting interest from wild animal models to equine and domestic animal models. The model horse hobby is a lot bigger and it grows and invites more and more people each year. I don't think I've noticed any stagnation even now in times of financial struggles. While the wild animal figures' hobby seems to stay small and grow slower. It would be hard to point out just one reason for this. It's probably a combination of things.

But here are a few of my ideas about why the model horse hobby is so popular and makes people stay for longer.
(Other than, obviously, horses in general are and always have been a popular interest in many age groups.)

-the creative side of the hobby - it seems to be a very popular idea to not only paint and customize the models you have but also make accessories, dioramas, scenes, tack, blankets, and more

-opportunities for interactive online play like photo shows or photo competitions. Or best custom competition.

-group activities for example online model painting months, tack-making months, miniature barn building, etc. People share ideas, inspiration, and tutorials.

-Live Shows - hobby events where you can meet other enthusiasts and share ideas or just talk about the hobby. It also has a competitive element for those who like it

And generally, when the hobby grows it presents more ideas, and more content creators like bloggers or YouTubers, and as a result gets more exposure.
I'm sure I've missed other reasons too. This is just from my perspective. If you think there is more, please share your thoughts.

It's very interesting that there are more horse model collectors than the animal model collectors. Logically thinking, that shouldn't be the case because there is more variety in animals than in horses, so animal collecting should attract a wider group of collectors.

Your observations of why horse model collecting is more popular is very interesting. I think all the things you mention create the impression that horse model collecting is a serious hobby for adults, whereas animal models often still has the "stigma" of being for children. I think that's partly the fault of the manufacturers, who market their animal models more for young children, whereas horse models are marketed more for older children and adults. The animal manufacturers should probably think more about how they can popularise animal models for adults too; it would help them sell more.

This is a very interesting topic and I'm glad I came across it.

I have been a member of the STS family for 12 years and have had many wonderful moments discovering collecting in it´s full meaning here. This place has always been a great source of information, entertainment and communication with friends.

Yes, I am one of them… the deserters who discovered the world of social media, which in it´s beginnings was a nice change and fun. I partially left STS, but I still felt like a member here. A big attraction for me was the quick ability to share photos and the ability to immediately react to and discuss them. However, it was never that I didn't feel comfortable here. Quite the opposite. I have always felt at home here. In a way, I have fully developed here. For me, social media were and are just another platform where I can share my hobby with other people. At first, FB felt a lot less anonymous to me. I often got the nicknames of members wrong here, if they didn't give their name I had a hard time talking to them because I just got lost. It was a bit frustrating for me because I have always presented myself as Martin… (funny observation for me now I had this in my mind) ... anyway as time went on social media started to change a lot. People began to treat each other differently and this was also reflected in collecting of animal figurines. As the founder of one of the first and larger groups about this hobby on FB (which was not originally the group's intention at all), I suddenly found that this hobby is starting to turn into a popularity contest, in competition who has more figurines and more positive reviews. Sadly negative and mean posts found a place here as well. I've faced several death threats myself from "collectors" just for deleting their post that violated the rules. It was really strange to me and it got me thinking.

This started to put me in a situation where I locked myself in my room with my collection and felt frustrated that even in this hobby there could be so much negation. I didn't want to communicate with other collectors and decided not to post in his group for a while. Anyway, I never lost the desire to collect... it's ingrained in me deep enough to be destroyed by some social network. It doesn't have that kind of power... :)))  It's due to the fact that the latest generation is already somewhere else. I was 28 years old when I became a member here. Now I'm 40 and I think about a lot of things differently. I take my collection as a source of information... I learn thanks to it and I enjoy constantly making it bigger :) And even though my partial separation took longer, I never felt like I was no longer a member of STS. I am grateful to this place for so much I can't even describe it. I found friends here. A family of my choice. People with whom we grow oldder  together over our collections and it doesn't matter if anyone doesn't understand. Maybe the new generation of collectors doesn't have that and never will.

I may have twisted the original thought of this thread, but it's my collecting experience in STS vs. social media. There are certainly and will be crises in collecting. The pandemic situation has highlighted many crisis forms. The disappearance of smaller brands (Southland´s animals), the threat of big brands (Safari Ltd., Papo) or the transformation of the biggest brands (Schleich), financial issues... However, the most difficult crisis would be if STS's existence will be threatened. As long as it's here, collectors can rest easy because they always have somewhere to come home to.

incha wrote:

Hello countryman, there are seasons when one is more or less active, it is normal. The reasons you state can all be factors, especially economic uncertainty. That said, I'm out of your statistics, I'm Spanish too and I'm very interested in vintage brands. Greetings.

Outside of statistics I also... I give more and more importance in my collection to the old figures... Also to the Spanish ones like the one you have in profile...
But, as spanish too, I think you will agree that in our country this hobby, in a deep and serious way, is practically null.

Stripedhyena wrote:

Outside of statistics I also... I give more and more importance in my collection to the old figures... Also to the Spanish ones like the one you have in profile...
But, as spanish too, I think you will agree that in our country this hobby, in a deep and serious way, is practically null.

Yes, of course I agree, but as you can see there are some.
P.S. I know a few veteran collectors of old Spanish figures.

It is really great to read each opinion about the subject and find very good and detailed perceptions of different facets of this hobby. Namely Anna's and Martin's posts are really interesting as well as many others. I was supposed to dissert a little more but most of my thought were already expressed.

incha wrote:

Stripedhyena wrote:

Outside of statistics I also... I give more and more importance in my collection to the old figures... Also to the Spanish ones like the one you have in profile...
But, as spanish too, I think you will agree that in our country this hobby, in a deep and serious way, is practically null.

Yes, of course I agree, but as you can see there are some.
P.S. I know a few veteran collectors of old Spanish figures.

Yes Luis, I don't know if Ricardo knows your blog and the book you participated in.
It is also important not to forget Alfonso @almisi43, he's been an active member on forum for a long time.

Roger wrote:

Yes Luis, I don't know if Ricardo knows your blog and the book you participated in.
It is also important not to forget Alfonso @almisi43, he's been an active member on forum for a long time.

Although sometimes we spend long periods without writing or without buying figures, collecting is a disease that is difficult to cure.

MartinH wrote:

This is a very interesting topic and I'm glad I came across it.

I have been a member of the STS family for 12 years and have had many wonderful moments discovering collecting in it´s full meaning here. This place has always been a great source of information, entertainment and communication with friends.

Yes, I am one of them… the deserters who discovered the world of social media, which in it´s beginnings was a nice change and fun. I partially left STS, but I still felt like a member here. A big attraction for me was the quick ability to share photos and the ability to immediately react to and discuss them. However, it was never that I didn't feel comfortable here. Quite the opposite. I have always felt at home here. In a way, I have fully developed here. For me, social media were and are just another platform where I can share my hobby with other people. At first, FB felt a lot less anonymous to me. I often got the nicknames of members wrong here, if they didn't give their name I had a hard time talking to them because I just got lost. It was a bit frustrating for me because I have always presented myself as Martin… (funny observation for me now I had this in my mind) ... anyway as time went on social media started to change a lot. People began to treat each other differently and this was also reflected in collecting of animal figurines. As the founder of one of the first and larger groups about this hobby on FB (which was not originally the group's intention at all), I suddenly found that this hobby is starting to turn into a popularity contest, in competition who has more figurines and more positive reviews. Sadly negative and mean posts found a place here as well. I've faced several death threats myself from "collectors" just for deleting their post that violated the rules. It was really strange to me and it got me thinking.

Oh dear, that's awful! Dead threats?! What on Earth is going on in some people's heads?! I hope you at least reported them.

Some communities on FB can turn rather toxic. And every now and again there is a hobby drama. I try to stay away from most social media for that reason too. But at the same time, there are good things too, like monthly art challenges or similar events. But I agree, there is something about those platforms that make people compete for likes and that's not nice.
For me, it all creates a feeling of losing energy every time I open FB or IG. So basically now I open FB sites once a week just to not miss one or another event, but it still often feels like a chore. I never had such feelings on any forums, quite the opposite.

Martin, I remember very well your "departure" for FB. At the time I wondered what we had missed, what mistake we had made, but I quickly realized that you were young and that you were trying another experience. I tried to follow you on FB but unfortunately I already didn't have enough time to devote to STS so I was quickly forced to give up.
Others have formed new groups on FB and frankly I have not followed, reviewing the same images posted by the same people in different media seems to me without interest.
Your experience also brought us something, when the friends of DTF decided to open ATF, we did not experience it as a rivalry or a betrayal, other collectors were trying a new adventure and it was a good thing, STS did not hold the truth on its own.
I'm sorry that you have received horrible messages from other collectors, unfortunately there are people everywhere who behave like consumers, who think that everything is due to them and that they can crush everyone to make prevail "their right". There are loads of them on social media.
We also had our share of problems but not of this magnitude.
The forums are now outdated (FB too...) but we still offer something that other media can't allow. Here things are done more slowly, less easily, you have to devote more time to really participate actively. Impossible to like or dislike an image seen in a hurry and move on the next second like a bulimia crisis. Here everything takes longer and that's good, slowness is a luxury.
I've often said it but it's the truth, STS was built in an emergency for and by a band of collectors in distress. It was originally a makeshift raft built by a group of good friends. Here we are not only a place of discussion and parade for collectors, we are above all good friends.
As long as it stays that way there is no reason for STS to go out.
To quote the city of Paris motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur. "It is tossed by the waves, but does not sink".
And it's great to see old friends come back from a long trip.

incha wrote:

Stripedhyena wrote:

Outside of statistics I also... I give more and more importance in my collection to the old figures... Also to the Spanish ones like the one you have in profile...
But, as spanish too, I think you will agree that in our country this hobby, in a deep and serious way, is practically null.

Yes, of course I agree, but as you can see there are some.
P.S. I know a few veteran collectors of old Spanish figures.

So there is two Spanish collectors here and a French macaque have to do the job about Spanish brands on TAW ???!!!

Luis I read your blog regularly, Ricardo I know your appetite and knowledge about old brands. Maybe it is time to help an old monkey, Spanish brands are under-represented on TAW, it's intolerable. wake up guys uncle kiki needs you

Kikimalou wrote:

Luis I read your blog regularly, Ricardo I know your appetite and knowledge about old brands. Maybe it is time to help an old monkey, Spanish brands are under-represented on TAW, it's intolerable. wake up guys uncle kiki needs you

You're right, I added some photos a long time ago, maybe it's time to get back to work.

If you don't have enough time Luis and if you agree I could use your pics and do the job of course. It would be a great help

Kikimalou wrote:

If you don't have enough time Luis and if you agree I could use your pics and do the job of course. It would be a great help

If it's okay with you, I can add more photos to my blog and you can upload them to TAW, for me it would be faster and easier.

Great Let’s go

Kikimalou wrote:

Martin, I remember very well your "departure" for FB. At the time I wondered what we had missed, what mistake we had made, but I quickly realized that you were young and that you were trying another experience. I tried to follow you on FB but unfortunately I already didn't have enough time to devote to STS so I was quickly forced to give up.
Others have formed new groups on FB and frankly I have not followed, reviewing the same images posted by the same people in different media seems to me without interest.
Your experience also brought us something, when the friends of DTF decided to open ATF, we did not experience it as a rivalry or a betrayal, other collectors were trying a new adventure and it was a good thing, STS did not hold the truth on its own.
I'm sorry that you have received horrible messages from other collectors, unfortunately there are people everywhere who behave like consumers, who think that everything is due to them and that they can crush everyone to make prevail "their right". There are loads of them on social media.
We also had our share of problems but not of this magnitude.
The forums are now outdated (FB too...) but we still offer something that other media can't allow. Here things are done more slowly, less easily, you have to devote more time to really participate actively. Impossible to like or dislike an image seen in a hurry and move on the next second like a bulimia crisis. Here everything takes longer and that's good, slowness is a luxury.
I've often said it but it's the truth, STS was built in an emergency for and by a band of collectors in distress. It was originally a makeshift raft built by a group of good friends. Here we are not only a place of discussion and parade for collectors, we are above all good friends.
As long as it stays that way there is no reason for STS to go out.
To quote the city of Paris motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur. "It is tossed by the waves, but does not sink".
And it's great to see old friends come back from a long trip.

It was absolutelly not about you did something wrong here. Not at all! I was stillhaving myeye open what is going on here :) I wanted my expanding collection to have more impact for more collectors. It helped me a lot in finding the older models, which I am very happy about. And I'm still very active on social media, but I'm doing it more for myself and the actual collectors who somehow find their way to my content and enjoy it. I have two groups, one of them is focused on outdoor photos, which is probably what I enjoy the most. And I don't waste energy on the dramas of other collectors anymore.

Ana wrote:

Oh dear, that's awful! Dead threats?! What on Earth is going on in some people's heads?! I hope you at least reported them.

Some communities on FB can turn rather toxic. And every now and again there is a hobby drama. I try to stay away from most social media for that reason too. But at the same time, there are good things too, like monthly art challenges or similar events. But I agree, there is something about those platforms that make people compete for likes and that's not nice.
For me, it all creates a feeling of losing energy every time I open FB or IG. So basically now I open FB sites once a week just to not miss one or another event, but it still often feels like a chore. I never had such feelings on any forums, quite the opposite.

Well I did report them but I have no idea if it was worth. I found there was one person with multiple profiles (male, female) and he was trolling on many other groups and attacking many collectors. Even really big ones. I was just a drop in the sea because my group had more members than his. This behaviour was really strange to me because at the end of the day...we were all in groups about collecting toys and I had to deal with this nasty s**t. Others were more violent and crazy and that was totally different circus. But even this helped me in a weird way to gain an overview and see things in a little more true perspective.

I think that's the one universal thing about the model hobby, no matter what country you're from : So Much Drama.

It's enough to put anyone off, and one of the main reasons people drop out or take a step back and hide from 'the hobby' til things settle and they feel brave enough to dip back in. It doesn't even have to land directly on your own head to be offputting, just reading the drama is enough to leave a collector disheartened and not wanting to bother taking part in the wider community any more.

You know I'm into a wide range of brands and scales, and my painting's decent enough never to have got snarked or laughed at, so you might not think this has ever effected me, but yeah, I've been there.
The model horse hobby does try hard to be welcoming, and twenty years ago when I got going there were lovely lovely people out there making it friendly and giving newcomers a helping hand - and on the off chance you're reading this and thinking 'But I know you, I hope I didn't make such a bad impression?!', I will say that it's not YOU - the long-time friends I've made are brilliant supportive and accepting people who I wouldn't say a word against.

But there's also a more elite kind of hobbyist who just don't want the amateurs who aren't willing to spend the money on top-quality competitive models. If your brand is seen as silly or unrealistic, they're going to look down on you a lot. And if one of those unfashionable toy type horses should BEAT the proper models and take a championship place, then you better be pretty thick-skinned.
There's only so much muttered swearing, and eye-rolling, and snide commentary online afterwards, before you think 'This isn't something I want to be involved with any more' and drop out.

It must be about ten or twelve years since I was active at live shows and on the popular (at the time!) model horse forums, and after witnessing way too much negativity and drama I took a step back, and I never have gone back to it in a big way - just finding comfortable pleasant places like this where it's less competitive and exclusive, and you don't have to fit in to fit in.
And that's the reason why this forum provides such a welcome haven for people who want the hobby to be relaxing and interesting and sociable rather than elitist and competitive. Nobody's showing off in an uppity, aren't-I-better-than-you way, we're showing off in an I-got-this-thing-which-makes-me-happy-and-thought-you-might-like-to-see way, which is so fundamentally different!
And you never see people having a hissy fit when their prestigious thing by big-name-artist is getting less attention and prizes than someone else's home-painted cheap cute thing : there's a feeling round here that no matter what you collect, nobody's going to belittle you, ignore you as a newbie who doesn't count, or tell you to grow up and buy proper models. As many people love seeing Jill's manically ugly little plastic dogs, as enjoy the super-realistic artisan models, or something very rare and precious from one of the vintage ranges

Everything and everyone is welcome, and it's so educational to have that spread of interests, as we can each learn about brands and animals we didn't know about before.

I also find I can cope with blogging instead of social media in the usual sense - just write out rambling posts on what I've bought or painted for anyone who might be interested, and in return I only read blogs by people I know aren't drama llamas or prone to bitchy rants. There's no push for likes or followers, just arrivals and custom projects and news and reviews, and you can leave a little comment if you like - much less pressure, you can be safely anonymous if you like, and no stressful networking!

Ana wrote:

It's a very interesting topic, thank you for opening it! I feel like I need to think about it longer.

But just a quick thought for now. A few years ago I mostly (but not entirely) switched my collecting interest from wild animal models to equine and domestic animal models. The model horse hobby is a lot bigger and it grows and invites more and more people each year. I don't think I've noticed any stagnation even now in times of financial struggles. While the wild animal figures' hobby seems to stay small and grow slower. It would be hard to point out just one reason for this. It's probably a combination of things.

But here are a few of my ideas about why the model horse hobby is so popular and makes people stay for longer.
(Other than, obviously, horses in general are and always have been a popular interest in many age groups.)

-the creative side of the hobby - it seems to be a very popular idea to not only paint and customize the models you have but also make accessories, dioramas, scenes, tack, blankets, and more

-opportunities for interactive online play like photo shows or photo competitions. Or best custom competition.

-group activities for example online model painting months, tack-making months, miniature barn building, etc. People share ideas, inspiration, and tutorials.

-Live Shows - hobby events where you can meet other enthusiasts and share ideas or just talk about the hobby. It also has a competitive element for those who like it

And generally, when the hobby grows it presents more ideas, and more content creators like bloggers or YouTubers, and as a result gets more exposure.
I'm sure I've missed other reasons too. This is just from my perspective. If you think there is more, please share your thoughts.

Anna, the truth is that although they are all animals, I think that the public of the equine world is quite particular and different in many aspects (and this would be enough to fill another post as long as this one ). I think there is also a notable difference -although less so- with the fans of prehistoric fauna.

PD: Still looking for your bongo

MartinH wrote:

This is a very interesting topic and I'm glad I came across it.

I have been a member of the STS family for 12 years and have had many wonderful moments discovering collecting in it´s full meaning here. This place has always been a great source of information, entertainment and communication with friends.

Yes, I am one of them… the deserters who discovered the world of social media, which in it´s beginnings was a nice change and fun. I partially left STS, but I still felt like a member here. A big attraction for me was the quick ability to share photos and the ability to immediately react to and discuss them. However, it was never that I didn't feel comfortable here. Quite the opposite. I have always felt at home here. In a way, I have fully developed here. For me, social media were and are just another platform where I can share my hobby with other people. At first, FB felt a lot less anonymous to me. I often got the nicknames of members wrong here, if they didn't give their name I had a hard time talking to them because I just got lost. It was a bit frustrating for me because I have always presented myself as Martin… (funny observation for me now I had this in my mind) ... anyway as time went on social media started to change a lot. People began to treat each other differently and this was also reflected in collecting of animal figurines. As the founder of one of the first and larger groups about this hobby on FB (which was not originally the group's intention at all), I suddenly found that this hobby is starting to turn into a popularity contest, in competition who has more figurines and more positive reviews. Sadly negative and mean posts found a place here as well. I've faced several death threats myself from "collectors" just for deleting their post that violated the rules. It was really strange to me and it got me thinking.

This started to put me in a situation where I locked myself in my room with my collection and felt frustrated that even in this hobby there could be so much negation. I didn't want to communicate with other collectors and decided not to post in his group for a while. Anyway, I never lost the desire to collect... it's ingrained in me deep enough to be destroyed by some social network. It doesn't have that kind of power... :)))  It's due to the fact that the latest generation is already somewhere else. I was 28 years old when I became a member here. Now I'm 40 and I think about a lot of things differently. I take my collection as a source of information... I learn thanks to it and I enjoy constantly making it bigger :) And even though my partial separation took longer, I never felt like I was no longer a member of STS. I am grateful to this place for so much I can't even describe it. I found friends here. A family of my choice. People with whom we grow oldder  together over our collections and it doesn't matter if anyone doesn't understand. Maybe the new generation of collectors doesn't have that and never will.

I may have twisted the original thought of this thread, but it's my collecting experience in STS vs. social media. There are certainly and will be crises in collecting. The pandemic situation has highlighted many crisis forms. The disappearance of smaller brands (Southland´s animals), the threat of big brands (Safari Ltd., Papo) or the transformation of the biggest brands (Schleich), financial issues... However, the most difficult crisis would be if STS's existence will be threatened. As long as it's here, collectors can rest easy because they always have somewhere to come home to.

Martin, just as you say. Unfortunately Fb and other similar social networks are a breeding ground for this type of behavior. And furthermore, in my opinion, they do not go into as much depth or in such a serious and rigorous manner, shall we say, as in this forum.
I don't know which Fb page you are referring to but from what I have observed on pages of this type everything seems to be more ephemeral.

Kikimalou wrote:

incha wrote:

Stripedhyena wrote:

Outside of statistics I also... I give more and more importance in my collection to the old figures... Also to the Spanish ones like the one you have in profile...
But, as spanish too, I think you will agree that in our country this hobby, in a deep and serious way, is practically null.

Yes, of course I agree, but as you can see there are some.
P.S. I know a few veteran collectors of old Spanish figures.

So there is two Spanish collectors here and a French macaque have to do the job about Spanish brands on TAW ???!!!  

Luis I read your blog regularly, Ricardo I know your appetite and knowledge about old brands. Maybe it is time to help an old monkey, Spanish brands are under-represented on TAW, it's intolerable. wake up guys uncle kiki needs you

Haha, that French macaque is very rigorous in his interventions and contributions, it won't be easy to be at that level. But if this macaque needs help from this hyena, he just has to ask him for concrete things (as concrete as possible please, because this hyena wants to be very exact and perfectionist in the data he provides) and he will do whatever is in his hoof!

I have read over this with some interest and am finally able to take the time to respond.

I have been an active collector for over twenty years. Various fora and groups, etc. In the old times, it was just emailing around with people! I started out most interested in Carnivora, weird fish, etc. Then I got really into Schleich--up to around 2005 I probably had every single wild animal figure they produced. Plus the occasional Bully or Safari if it was a species I wanted.

Then I went all in...every Safari, as many Bully as I could, and when CollectA came along I had everything for a while.

And don't get me started on what happened when I discovered the treasures from Japan!

In recent years I'm finding less engagement with much of it. Some is personal--a change in employment changed my focus, for example. But other aspects are broader--the Social Media world really affected it (I've been part of many FB groups, and usually end up leaving most of them.

But when it comes to engagement, I find my biggest issues are time (I have other things to do) and phones instead of computers--part of the reason I took a while to respond is that my phone isn't great for longer posts. And it really, really doesn't work as well when it comes to photos. Forums were never great (so much linking and offsite storing, etc).

I'm finding the biggest problem is just staying interested. Some, like dinosaurs, seem to have split into three paths; our favorite modern companies that clearly struggle to keep making models (with production, quality and distribution issues all over the place); Mattel popular figures which are fun but accuracy is...less so; and super high end models that are priced more in line with with model kits from the early 2000s. Plus, living in Canada has made it nearly impossible to get most figures; most companies stopped distributing here directly, and my best method is shipping from Australia...And losing some of my favorites completely (Replica Toy Fish/ToyFishFactory was a major blow to me)

I find myself really, really limiting what I collect...in the past 5 years or so, I probably sold more figures than some people have! Like, on the order hundreds to thousands of figures. I still buy, but I've become really picky and focused...mostly freshwater fish, weird prehistorics, other odd animals. And budget...way more expenses, way higher costs.

One other big change--the 3D printing and custom/small batch world. I find myself more likely to spend large sums on a few artist-crafted models, rather than a bunch of mass produced ones. I mean, look at these things! https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1233911345/freshwater-monsters-full-set-painted?click_key=a1132a29e9675142321103c5cd1d9ee50b1840a9%3A1233911345&click_sum=8b605c9e&ref=hp_rv-2

All of it just leads to challenges in staying in the social realm; I do what I do, but taking the time is hard, and life is just full of other distractions. I definitely find that I don't engage with fora like I once did. I try, but in some ways it gets overwhelming, and in other ways, I feel like I've seen a lot of it before!

Very interesting! I'm going to make my own little contribution!

I am not very old in the collection of animals and dinosaurs, since 2018 only and I discovered STS in 2021!
Several reasons for this I think (which have already been said):

- It's a niche collection, much more confidential than others like pop culture (movies, Star Wars, Marvel, Pop etc.)
Therefore, the first difficulty was to find other collectors in the country, and I have the impression that there are only a handful of really serious collectors in Europe. There are more in Asia and in the USA probably.
So already you have to write and read English if you want to get information correctly, which is already a little difficulty and requires an effort.

- I think that there are things missing for this collection theme to spread better. There are not many youtube reviews, big youtube channels dedicated to our collections. But it's a powerful vector that makes you want to collect. For the dinosaurs, there are 2-3 channels, for animals I don't know any!

- If I take the example of dinosaurs, I would say that 80% of the collectors are mostly attached to the Jurassic Park universe and to Mattel toys, and very few have a real naturalistic or artistic interest for quality figurines (even if I have nothing against toy or cinema oriented collections). Besides, another member said that the community has split in 3, I agree with that, I belong rather to the hyper realistic resin figurines group.
In France for example, I don't know if there are 20 people who know the Asian brands like PNSO. We are only 2 or 3 to have resin statues!

- I think I'm part of the intermediate generation (I'm 35), I'm not an old internet guy, but I lived the peak of the forums (around 20 years old) and the explosion of social networks. FB or IG are attractive, it's fast, and information is often easy to find, but there are many negative points. Therefore, when I see a news on 10 facebook pages published in 10 minutes, the second thing I do is to go on the forums (especially DTB if it's about dinosaurs) to read what the community thinks. Because there is always a guy who knows about anatomy, paleontology, who will say how the figurine is accurate or not, the choices of the manufacturer on some details. We don't find these debates on FB or IG, the comments are often without interest.

For me, FB and IG are used to get the news quickly, but it's mainly thanks to the forums that I discovered a lot more things.

I think that FB has its glory hours behind it and that many people leave or come back on other platforms richer, more human where the ultra consumption of image and like is absent, finally, there is more exchange and meaning to debate. For IG I also think that there will be a decline sooner or later, there is too much perversion on instagram, it is a platform for the ego, with lots of abuses (not only in the field of collection but for nature photos that encourage mass tourism for example) it is very difficult to share emotions, to debate serenely on IG.

As for Schleich, even though I hate them for their dinosaurs, I like them much more for the animals and I think that's the appeal. The one that acts as a showcase for our passion, through which new collectors enter, who later may go to other brands etc. Schleich remains very important, that's why we would like them to stay on top by improving their products!

Now, there are the crises which follow one another, the economic and energy crisis are approaching and it will be complicated for many collectors to continue at the same rhythm of purchases and exchanges but I don't think that this theme of collection will stop!
Animals are vulnerable, hundreds of species in critical danger of extinction, and I find that collecting miniatures or realistic figurines is a great way to arouse interest, curiosity, learn about animals, I prefer to study an animal with reproductions than to go and see it in a small enclosure in a zoo where it is miserable. And then in 20 or 30 years, many animals will exist only as miniatures