Starting a Dinosaur Collection, Question….

For my work with childrens i will start a small new collection of figurines- dinosaurs and other extinct animals. In the near of my work was founded bones from extinct animals and so was my idea to start a collection.

But i dont wish T_rex and Co , i wish to collect dinosaurs and other extinct animals from Europe, especially from Germany or better who lived in this regio.

But i dont collect this kind of figurines and so i dont know a lot. I only know a few from Bullyland (example Plateosaurus and Europasaurus) but not more and not more what other brands (Major or small) have too.

So please help me with europian or german Dinosaur figurines from the other brands.

Many many thanks :)

For Europeian Dinosaurs. CollectA is the way to go.

A few of there Dinosaurs come from England

Theres Neovenator

Lilinsternus

Proceratosaurus

Hypsilophodon

just to name a few

This sounds VERY interesting !!!
Could be fun to see a list of dinos from Central Europe

Perhaps ask the museum in Stuttgart ?

I found a lit of extinct, European animals ( not dinos though ) here : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Andreas, I think Takama is correct that CollectA probably has the largest selection of more obscure dinosaurs, including many from Europe.

One list of dinosaurs is here. I don't know how reliable it is: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I have to confess: Other than a few of the recent dinosaur releases by CollectA, I am not a big fan of their figures. To me, they are often awkwardly sculpted and misshapen.

So, of the dinosaurs listed in the entry mentioned above (excluding Allosaurus), here are some of my favorites.

Iguanodon by Bullyland or Safari (Carnegie). I like both of these models. Iguanodon is a must-have European dinosaur.

Pelecanimimus by Favorite. Impossible to find, but very awesome.

Plateosaurus by CollectA. This is one of my exceptions to my dislike for CollectA's earlier dinosaurs. I love their Plateosaurus.

Stegosaurus by Bullyland (or even schleich).

Miragaia by Carnegie. This is an awesome figure. You must get it.

Ceratosaurus by Wild Safari. Ceratosaurus is mainly a N. American dinosaur, but apparently there were some in Portugal.

Baryonyx by Safari. Decent figure.

Archaeopteryx by Papo. Another classic European dinosaur.

I hope this is helpful.

Invicta made a few European dinosaurs, off the top of my head I can name:
Ichthyosaurus (not a dinosaur but still european)
Cetiosaurus
Baryonyx
Iguanodon
Megalosaurus
Scelidosaurus

Andreas wrote:

But i dont wish T_rex and Co , i wish to collect dinosaurs and other extinct animals from Europe, especially from Germany or better who lived in this regio.

Andreas, das ist eine wirklich gute Idee. Zum Thema "Dinosaurier in Deutschland" geben z.B. diese
Seiten einen ersten ausführlichen Einblick.

Andreas, perhaps these homepages can help you:

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

Many many thanks for your help friends:)

Thank you widukind for starting the thread. I am also looking to collect some dinos and I really appreciate the input from scot(t) with his best of the bunch' list.

(Now only if scot(t) and Takama get together and work on a such a list for all the available dinosaurs species from all the main makers - that would be a dream come true!)

My son turns 3 tomorrow and loves dinosaurs. I've been collecting wildlife for almost 10 years, but never dinos. I'd like to know what brands people here feel are the best when it comes to prehistoric life.

I'd like the dinosaurs to be bigger if possible, so size is a factor.

Thanks for any recommendations.

I suppose it really depends on what you mean by best. Do you mean accurate to known fact? most in scale to each other? Aesthetically pleasing sculpts? Paint jobs? Texture? Variety of prehistoric available? Safety? Durability?

If you're basing it on what he might like, if you have a Toys R Us nearby, it might be worthwhile to take a look... They usually have some selection of various brands and sizes.

Toys R Us carries a line of soft (not plush... just a soft plastic) dinos under the animal planet name that are... a foot long/tall depending on the dino... they're durable, but a bit bulky. And the stegosaurus doesn't kill your foot if you step on it... and not too expensive per square inch...

Schleich has some interesting dinos. Some walmarts carry them, as do Meijer and ToysRUS and various farm stores.

Hobbby Lobby varies a lot in what it carries, but mine has some papo and mojo and collecta. And some miscellaneous other brands.

Michael's carries a good deal of Safari Ltd... I hear JoAnn Fabrics might as well, but haven't visited since taking up collecting...

and of course Target has Terra by Battat.

HappyHensToys.com tends to be relatively fast and my experiences with them have been positive, if you want to buy Schleich or Papo online.

I'll upload a couple pics of the ones I have for size reference...

Pics for Size reference:

Animal Planet (Triceratops - from ToysRUs)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Schleich (small) dinos
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Mojo Fun prehistoric (sabertooths + triceratops)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Safari Ltd  (Large and small spinosaurus (sp?) family)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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

Papo Baby T-Rex
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

As a note, good luck, and hey, if you decide to switch brands mid-stream, more power to you. Hope I was at least slightly helpful.

I'm really liking Papo right now. They have some at Hobby Lobby and a local Joseph Beth bookstore. They're big and super-detailed. Love the spinosaurus. My only issue is whether the moving parts would stand up to the beating my little boy is capable of dishing out.

Schleich's seem like they've improved over the years, too.

I really appreciate the advice!

It's completely my own opinion, but I would not recommend sticking with one brand. Every brand puts out some gems and every brand puts out some duds. Most dinosaur collectors seem to loathe Schleich. But I think that some of their models are very much worth having. My favorite Parasaurolophus is the Schleich "replica saurus" version (model number 16455).

If cost were not an option, here would be my "starter" set:

Basic Dinosaurs
Allosaurus: Papo (55016). It is great. This and the Carnotaurus are my favorite Papo dinosaurs.
Ankylosaurus: Definitely the Carnegie. It's the best that is readily available. (It's as big as the Papo, much more accurate and much prettier.)
Apatosaurus: The new Papo coming out this year looks great.
Brachiosaurus: Papo. It's BIG. I like the most recent Carnegie (410701) better, but as a hulking toy, the Papo is great.
Carnotaurus: Papo. It's fabulous.
Diplodocus: Carnegie. Beautiful model and big.
Parasaurolophus: My favorite was mentioned above. It's retired, but worth finding. Schleich 16455.
Stegosaurus: Bullyland. It's the best and it's big. But it might be hard to find (and it's expensive). So you may want to go for the Papo. My favorites are the Bullyland and the Wild Safari, but Wild Safari is smallish.
Triceratops: Papo is good, but I actually prefer one of the recent Schleich models (14522). I realize that most dinosaur collectors would vomit on me for saying so. The Wild Safari Triceratops is great, but it's smaller than these two. (I bought my son the Wild Safari.)
Velociraptor: The most recent (2015) Carnegie if you want feathers on it. If not, the Wild Safari version has the most verve.

Tyrannosaurus: This is the hard one. I don't really like the Papo T. rex models. I suppose the running Papo T. rex is fine (though not my cup of tea). People hate the Schleichs, but I actually find model number 14525 kind of charming, despite the fact that it is wildly inaccurate. My son has that one. I also really like the recent 2014 Carnegie T. rex, but most collectors don't like it for some reason. I don't have good advice here. Despite being a "tripod," the 2014 Carnegie is the most accurate model. Perhaps the 2015 CollectA model (88717) is the one to wait for.

Some Less Well Known Dinosaurs
Giganotosaurus: Carnegie. It's beautiful. Great color, very accurate.
Miragaia: Another beautiful Carnegie.  
Nanshiungosaurus: Terra Battat. It's what I'd get instead of all the lousy Therizinosaurus models out there. It should have feathers on it, yes. But it's still the best Therizinosaur out there (in my view). Also at Target.
Pachyrhinosaurus: Terra Battat. It's available at Target. It's great.
Sauropelta: The 2015 Wild Safari version is brilliant.
Yutyrannus: Wild Safari 2015. Available now. Completely feathered and bipedal. Not big, but beautiful.

Papo are very appealling and I understand your choice. Though, you are living in the USA so you have the chance to find Safari Ltd and Battat easily, those two brands are more on the educational side, they have both more accurate dinos and Safari Ltd a far more range. That would be my choice

Considering his age and that playability would be a factor, I will put in a suggestion you consider Playmobil. They just discontinued their current series but they may still be in local shops. There is a good one with a large Tyrannosaurus and a couple of small dinos on their website for a really good price right now. Playmobil.us Dino Page
I agree the availability for Safari and Battat will be good - Battat is at Target stores and Safari can be bought at Michael's Crafts. If you have a Hobby Lobby store you might check there too for dinos, they have carried some good lines like Safari and GeoWorld I hear.

If I was a kid, without any doubts, my favorite collection of dinosaurs would surely be Papo. They are all very detailed and all designed to be appealing. Most of them are very big, scary, expressive in action hunting or acting, and fit with what is the standard knowledge of people that knows dinosaurs from Pop culture.
Obviously, they are not the most accurate, far from it and I don't like to recomend a single brand. Though, they are good enough to start educating a kid about the generic shape of best known dinosaurs.
I think also that they don't break easily, Papo uses the very exigent European standards in terms of safety.

Ohhh, Imagine having a toddler, who wants to collect animal models
If only I was a grandmother   ...or perhaps it is good that I am not...I would DROWN him in dinos

I think it might be an idea to bring him with you to a shop and see what he likes
Or if no shops have enough brands, try some different ones  ....

Tim, - for a boy who has just turned three, perhaps Playmobils are too small ?

I agree with Roger that Papo's dinos are FANTASTIC.
But perhaps a little scary when you are so young ?

Safari's models ( Scott's list would be of great help) - both Carnegie and Wild Safari - have the advantage of being quite colourfull as well as being very nice and accurate.

Well, again, - what does a 3-year young like ?  
It would be very interesting to hear about his fancies when he get some

For size You can stick with the Papo models, as some are not too small. Though the jaws should not be abused to much as they are attached by industrial glue. Schelich is the same way, but some of them are made out of a softer rubbery plastic. I assume Accuracy is not an issue here, because neathier of these two lines will fit the bill

Some of the small parts in a Playmobil set should perhaps be held back for a 3 year old. But the T-Rex is a foot tall, quite large and sturdy.

Tiermann wrote:

Some of the small parts in a Playmobil set should perhaps be held back for a 3 year old. But the T-Rex is a foot tall, quite large and sturdy.

WOW ! I did not know they made such large models
Is it the one in your avatar ?

Thanks so much, friends.

I've decided to get 4 figures. A kid needs to have a T Rex, so I'm going with the Papo running version. I'm also getting the huge Papo brachiosaurus. I believe I'll get a Carnegie triceratops and stegosaurus as well. If I'm feeling rich, I might throw in the Papo carnotaurus and allosaur. They really are terrific figures. I really think he'll enjoy the size and attitude of the Papo figures. I gave him a few of my Papo wildlife figures, and he really likes them.

I am sure he will LOVE them
Please let us know what he thinks about them
It is interesting to know what he thinks, because he is so little, he probably does not have any pr-justices at all as to brand etc

Ohh, I wished I was a fly on the whall when he gets them

nyarlahotep wrote:

Thanks so much, friends.  

I've decided to get 4 figures.  A kid needs to have a T Rex, so I'm going with the Papo running version.  I'm also getting the huge Papo brachiosaurus.  I believe I'll get a Carnegie triceratops and stegosaurus as well.  If I'm feeling rich, I might throw in the Papo carnotaurus and allosaur.  They really are terrific figures.  I really think he'll enjoy the size and attitude of the Papo figures.  I gave him a few of my Papo wildlife figures, and he really likes them.

Those are all great models. I agree with Susanne -- I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he gets them.

Glad you were able to narrow it down.

Fly on the wall indeed. :)