Roger's 2020 Arrivals - 19th October update with two new Papo models!

This year I will try to show all my additions.
I collect quite slowly and actually most are very common figures but I may have some surprises to show later.
I tend to collect a single representative of a certain animal but I am not still able of avoiding several exceptions.
I started with an exception, the Papo roaring tiger, I have several other Papo tigers but watching it locally in a shop for an affordable price, was enough to not resist.
This figure is really dynamic and we only can see how exciting it is when we have it in our hands.

Papo roaring Tiger
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Later, I acquired the black-browed albatross.
Since it was correctly identifyied by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]? it turned into a mandatory figure in my collection.
It is surprisingly small and weigh just 8g! It is around 15 cm wide and it was recently retired and replaced by the cormorant.
I was thinking initially in getting a single albatross but it seems I have to get also the CollectA and Safari ones.

Papo Albatross
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... and today, just arrived this amazing gift from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]! It was a gift of my choice, it is a fact, and I don't need an American alligator at all, I have the amazing CollectA figure.
Though, it is again not a replacement. It is an excellent figure with very well marked Papo signature of quality The jaw is moveable.
Again the amazing strategy of Papo of replacing a similar figure for a different species. This one took the place of the gharial in their range.

Papo American Alligator
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All together
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] also offered me a fox but it will be shown in its own topic.
I want to thank [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], it is my favourite from these three and thanks to everyone for watching.

Hurray, additions from Roger Congratulations and thank you for showing them! I'm pretty sure I have some figurines for you somewhere Can't wait to see more additions from you!

I am glad to see this familiar alligator finally getting to Portugal after leaving from western France and passing through southern France

That's a beautiful figure, which fits perfectly well with its Schleich counterpart and, I must admit, surpasses it.

The roaring tiger is, in my opinion, the most amazing tiger figure on the market, that's a must-have you could not miss.

Finally, you had a good idea buying this albatross just before it is removed from stores. I may follow your example and get it too tomorrow morning since it is much more compatible with my collection than CollectA's as far as size is concerned (and it's not the same species). I know you don't really mind about scale but I have to warn you : CollectA albatross is HUGE, much bigger than anything I could expect when ordering it

This Papo alligator is the best alligator since the original 1997 sculpt by Safari!

Congratulations Roger! All three are brilliant.

very nice additions Roger, especially the albatross

Thanks everyone! I am very ahppy with them!

Tarunyada wrote:

Hurray, additions from Roger Congratulations and thank you for showing them! I'm pretty sure I have some figurines for you somewhere Can't wait to see more additions from you!

Where is somewhere, Julie?

RtasVadumee wrote:

I am glad to see this familiar alligator finally getting to Portugal after leaving from western France and passing through southern France

That's a beautiful figure, which fits perfectly well with its Schleich counterpart and, I must admit, surpasses it.

The roaring tiger is, in my opinion, the most amazing tiger figure on the market, that's a must-have you could not miss.

Finally, you had a good idea buying this albatross just before it is removed from stores. I may follow your example and get it too tomorrow morning since it is much more compatible with my collection than CollectA's as far as size is concerned (and it's not the same species). I know you don't really mind about scale but I have to warn you : CollectA albatross is HUGE, much bigger than anything I could expect when ordering it

Thanks Tas for your contribution to make this alligator arrive to Portugal. Nobody is selling it around and I was excited to get it. Fortunately, it is as nice as I expected.
Yes, with the increasing quality of the new figures, it is being a problem to avoid some newer releases, what happened with this tiger, could easily happen with the new CollectA lion if I could find it locally, ... and the new hippo, ... rhino, etc. ... yes, CollectA just kills me and Papo too.
As you can understand, with so many figures to get, I think the CollectA albatross can wait, they don't use to retire their figures so early.

Wonderful news !!!

You picked some very interesting models, - and yes, I we can all agree that this tiger is the best ever, - perhaps the only ones that threaten it 1st prize are the other papo tigers        
Personally I am totally besotted by the tiger mom with tiny kittens, but taht may be an old girl thing  

How great it must be to be able to see the models in real before you buy, - but also it must be extremely tempting

Roger, you wonderfully silly crocodle, - why do you say your photos are not good ?  
They are PERFECT      

Roger wrote:

Thanks Tas for your contribution to make this alligator arrive to Portugal. Nobody is selling it around and I was excited to get it. Fortunately, it is as nice as I expected.
Yes, with the increasing quality of the new figures, it is being a problem to avoid some newer releases, what happened with this tiger, could easily happen with the new CollectA lion if I could find it locally, ... and the new hippo, ... rhino, etc. ... yes, CollectA just kills me and Papo too.
As you can understand, with so many figures to get, I think the CollectA albatross can wait, they don't use to retire their figures so early.

I used to be like you, only collecting one figure of each species. Then I realised that it was more fun and nicer to display groups of animals, especially when the species is a social one.

CollectA is becoming the best brand in my opinion. However, I have been disappointed by their 2020 releases as far as species choice is concerned. I expected uncommon, unknown animals but they chose species that have all already been made by other major brands. The Komodo dragon had already been made by Schleich and Papo, the mountain gorilla by Papo, the three-toad sloth by Schleich and Papo, the malayan tapir is just a Baird's one repainted... I will probably get all of them anyway (except the tapir cos this is just a Baird's repainted and I prefer my Schleich one) because they all look gorgeous, but I expected more surprise from CollectA...

SUSANNE wrote:

You picked some very interesting models, - and yes, I we can all agree that this tiger is the best ever, - perhaps the only ones that threaten it 1st prize are the other papo tigers
Personally I am totally besotted by the tiger mom with tiny kittens, but taht may be an old girl thing

Unfortunately, most Papo tigers I find in local shops (except this roaring one) are badly painted Anyway, they are too large for my Schleich collection.

SUSANNE wrote:

How great it must be to be able to see the models in real before you buy, - but also it must be extremely tempting

Isn't Papo distributed in Denmark ?

Indeed, finding figures in shops is much more fun and rewarding than ordering online, that's why I travelled quite a lot to find my Schleich retired models !

RtasVadumee wrote:

SUSANNE wrote:

How great it must be to be able to see the models in real before you buy, - but also it must be extremely tempting

Isn't Papo distributed in Denmark ?

Indeed, finding figures in shops is much more fun and rewarding than ordering online, that's why I travelled quite a lot to find my Schleich retired models !

No, we only have Schleich !
And when "Fætter BR", a chain, which had almost monopoly, and which leased ToysRus, went bankrupt, even Schleich can be hard to find.
But Schleich has trained the Danish people, so when somebody see my collection, they say "Ahh ! Schleichdyr !"   ( which means Schleichanimals in one word)
If I try to explain that there are other brands, they ALWAYS say : " Oh, and much cheaper aren't they ? "
All nicer plastic animals are Schleichdyr in Denmark , and everything else is just cheap junk, no matter how brilliant they are .

Ahah, you always make me laugh so much Susanne and I see exactly what you mean ! Some people tend to think like that in France too but they may be much rarer than in Denmark.

landrover wrote:

very nice additions Roger, especially the albatross

Same words from me :)

SUSANNE wrote:

Wonderful news !!!

You picked some very interesting models, - and yes, I we can all agree that this tiger is the best ever, - perhaps the only ones that threaten it 1st prize are the other papo tigers
Personally I am totally besotted by the tiger mom with tiny kittens, but taht may be an old girl thing

How great it must be to be able to see the models in real before you buy, - but also it must be extremely tempting

Roger, you wonderfully silly crocodle, - why do you say your photos are not good ?
They are PERFECT

You're always very kind Susanne!
About tigers, we have now very decent alternatives to Papo renditions. Last Schleich is a very good tiger, last CollectA also as well as it is the Mojö Fun very Papo inspired. Even the already aging Safari's 2007 tiger is a nice figure but I believe a new generation from Safari is soon to come.
Though, while other brands are trying to fight for a good looking tiger in a classic pose, Papo is already several steps forward once they gave use many great tigers and tigress in less conventional designs.
When the Papo walking tiger was released in 2005, the panorama was completely different and Papo«s figure was absurdly better than the rivals of other brands available in the market.
Just to give you an idea which ones were available at the moment, see below these official pictures. With all the respect for Schleich's, CollectA's and (this rare) Safari, it seems evident how far better was the Papo one.
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RtasVadumee wrote:

Roger wrote:

Thanks Tas for your contribution to make this alligator arrive to Portugal. Nobody is selling it around and I was excited to get it. Fortunately, it is as nice as I expected.
Yes, with the increasing quality of the new figures, it is being a problem to avoid some newer releases, what happened with this tiger, could easily happen with the new CollectA lion if I could find it locally, ... and the new hippo, ... rhino, etc. ... yes, CollectA just kills me and Papo too.
As you can understand, with so many figures to get, I think the CollectA albatross can wait, they don't use to retire their figures so early.

I used to be like you, only collecting one figure of each species. Then I realised that it was more fun and nicer to display groups of animals, especially when the species is a social one.

CollectA is becoming the best brand in my opinion. However, I have been disappointed by their 2020 releases as far as species choice is concerned. I expected uncommon, unknown animals but they chose species that have all already been made by other major brands. The Komodo dragon had already been made by Schleich and Papo, the mountain gorilla by Papo, the three-toad sloth by Schleich and Papo, the malayan tapir is just a Baird's one repainted... I will probably get all of them anyway (except the tapir cos this is just a Baird's repainted and I prefer my Schleich one) because they all look gorgeous, but I expected more surprise from CollectA...

Your disappointment is mainly because you build your collection based on Schleich assortment and complemented by other company models.
The Komodo dragon is completely new in CollectA's range, they never did it before, the same for the sloth and the Mountain gorilla is a different species from the previous model that was really needing a replacement. Malayan tapir is a disappointment in all senses.
I believe not many Schleich collectors are disappointed because a red panda or a snow leopard were introduced, they are new species for the company although we can find earlier releases from other companies. Schleich was not introducing a new species of feline in their series for the last 17 years!
Obviously Id love to see CollectA expanding the diversity as they did before but I find clever from them replacing their outdated nuclear models by new common but outstanding animal replicas. Soon, you will see a CollectA catalogue with a unbeatable average quality of models.

Wonderful photos, Rogério. I think the croc is especially magical. I think commercially, it's better to replace a figure with another figure that's quite different, because then people who have the old one are more likely to buy the new one. For example, I have never understood why good old Britains usually replaced older figures with almost identical new figures. Who wants to have both?

You're perfectly right Rogério and it's my meeting with this Papo walking tiger (and the Papo walking lioness) in a shop in 2005, that made me collect again animal figurines FOR ME, like in my far childhood, and not (almost ) only for my childrens with Schleich ones as until this moment.. I felt something important was arriving in the world of animals replicas!..

Thank you for these remembering pictures!

I started collecting animal figures again when I met my childhood Schleich seller in his new shop, in my parents' town.

He used to work in Laval's main bookstore when I was a child and he has now his own business, selling books for children and board games. And he still sells Schleich animals !

So, I bought a pangolin and my father offered me a puffin and that's how it all started again.

Roger wrote:

Tarunyada wrote:

Hurray, additions from Roger Congratulations and thank you for showing them! I'm pretty sure I have some figurines for you somewhere Can't wait to see more additions from you!

Where is somewhere, Julie?

In one of the 50 moving boxes in my father's home, where my collection is I'm always hoping on finding more interesting stuff for you and some other STS friends!

Nice additions! The Alligator looks so lifelike!!

Thanks everyone!

rogerpgvg wrote:

Wonderful photos, Rogério. I think the croc is especially magical. I think commercially, it's better to replace a figure with another figure that's quite different, because then people who have the old one are more likely to buy the new one. For example, I have never understood why good old Britains usually replaced older figures with almost identical new figures. Who wants to have both?

Vintage times were completely different. It was not so easy to produce new moulds and their ranges consisted in somewhat coerent collections. I believe most of the figures that were replaced for similar ones were due to the use of new materials or due to new manufacturing readjustments. Collectors of vintage figures take these variations in a very serious way even if the figures look the same.
Among modern companies, namely Schleich, you can see often some figures replaced for very similar new ones, somewhat updated in their style but in very similar poses. Schleich's new generation is being better in this regard. A good example are cheetahs. First and second generations are standing, one looking to the left and the other looking to the right. The 3rd generation is already in a much nicer pose.
What is happening with Papo is even more interesting, all these tigers are so different in their poses that they do not replace previous versions, they are just added to the range once they have their own commercial interest.
The Alligator is a different strategy but also interesting. Papo do not expands infinitely their collections as CollectA is doing. They assumed that a certain number of crocs is enough and to avoid many figures disputing the same niche of market, they replace figures for other related species. So, to introduce the alligator, they retired the gharial. to introduce the cormorant they retired the albatross... even their black rhinoceros was also a replacement for the previous white rhinoceros. I love it as long as it is not made as CollectA did with their tapirs using the same mould.

Caracal wrote:

You're perfectly right Rogério and it's my meeting with this Papo walking tiger (and the Papo walking lioness) in a shop in 2005, that made me collect again animal figurines FOR ME, like in my far childhood, and not (almost ) only for my childrens with Schleich ones as until this moment.. I felt something important was arriving in the world of animals replicas!..
Thank you for these remembering pictures!

Oh, it sound so familiar. I was buying loads of Schleich to my little niece with only 3 years old at the time but I was far from being interested in collecting figures. Though, she started wanting species that were not available at the time in Schleich's catalogue, and I started searching online. I've found the CollectorsQuest and Ken pointed me to this forum. Suddenly, I've found that there was more than Schleich to collect and some pictures made me curious about a few Papo felines. When I entered for the first time in a shop selling Papo, I immediately thought, this lioness, this tiger and this cheetah are not exactly for my niece. They must be mine and I loved it! Now there's no cure! OK, don't judge me, I later found some Papo feline mothers with their cubs to my niece.

Tarunyada wrote:

Roger wrote:

Tarunyada wrote:

Hurray, additions from Roger Congratulations and thank you for showing them! I'm pretty sure I have some figurines for you somewhere Can't wait to see more additions from you!

Where is somewhere, Julie?

In one of the 50 moving boxes in my father's home, where my collection is I'm always hoping on finding more interesting stuff for you and some other STS friends!

Somewhere sounds a complicated place. You're always so kind Julie!

First I want to show two figures I acquired online.
The Del Prado Crocodile. It arrived with the Del Prado tag but no mention to the species.
Christophe lists it on TAW as a slender-snouted crocodile and Lucio suggests it to be a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Lucio even mentions that the figure was used by Timpo as a Mississippi Alligator.
That is not an accurate figure, of course, it doesn't have even the correct number of toes and it has the strangest belly but defintely not an alligator. I find other suggestions quite plausible and I enjoy to think of it as a freshwater crocodile, those are also crocs with narrow snouts and using it as a Freshie, it puts the figure close to the 1:15 scale the Southlands Replicas figures are made.

Del Prado Crocodile - Arca de los Animales
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This small vintage figure, I confess I got by mistake. It was announced as a Jecsan but it is a premium figure from Detergente Lutin.
As it was mislabeled by the seller, he suggested to send it back to get the money back. At this moment, I don't really know what to do with this little figure. Sometimes, my curiousity pushes me to get some figures out of my collecting horizons but this time it is not really what I wanted.

Lutin Wild Bull
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I also received today three figures in a trade with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. CollectA figures were high in my wish list and the cat is again my curiousity working but I am quite happy with it.
This new leopard is a sumptuous figure, I thought it could be Mojö's inspired but the figure is completely different, it is also larger and bulkier than I thought but I like the size, actually.
Proportions are excellent to those who search for a realistic approach although it may result not very attractive to younger target. Movement is fantastic!

CollectA Leopard
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Another unique design is the Indian crested porcupine. It is designed in a completely different way from all other porcupines I know and it preserves the solide feeling of any other CollectA figure. CollectA is really plotting its own path clearly aware that the company is a reference in this matter.

CollectA Indian Crested Porcupine
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My first Funrise figure. I don't know a fox from this brand, so I needed to find another animal to check how these figures look like.
It is large when compared with Schleich cats, for instance, it is also made of a very dense pvc turning it into a heavy figure. It weighs almost as much as a Schleich jaguar and it is not that large.
This particular figure is from a more recent release although it is marked "1989" as the original 12 pieces set.
Originally sold in black as a European self black cat but in 2015?, this version was sold as a British Blue.

Funrise British Blue - World Famous Cat Collection
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All beautyful and interesting

That cat is only the second funrise cat I se, as far as I remember !!
The little bull is lovely, the crocodile interesting, and the porcupine magnificent

But perhaps the one that makes me jump is that CollectA leopard !
You wrote somewhere else, that it may be a good strategy for CollectA to upgrade their more traditional models, and this is surely a perfect example  

I always admired your ability to spot fine models in the crwod we have these days, and here you did it again

I was so much looking forward to see this new CollectA leopard. I am very curious about its size actually. I may sound a little annoying again, but could you please take a picture of it next to your 2007 Schleich jaguar please ?

Never heard of Lutin before, congratulations

Marvellous additions Roger.

Congrats for the CollectA leopard which is the best from main brands according to me. I like the Del Prado croco too but what makes you think this Lutin bull is a wild one?..