Does anybody else think CollectA makes the best animal models?

[SAgirl2004]

When it comes to choosing animal models to have, to me CollectA takes the cake. Their models are incredibly detailed and anatomically accurate. It is almost as if they shrunk down a real animal to a model. I have quite a few models from CollectA and it fascinates me how accurate they really are.
Now I want your opinions on whether or not CollectA is the best animal model brand.

[EpicRaptorMan]

I like CollectA best for their ungulates.

[Sim]

CollectA isn't the best for me.  Their releases are extremely mammal-heavy, and as someone who doesn't like most mammals CollectA only rarely makes something I like.  I have a few figures by CollectA that I like a lot, but for modern animals Safari and Papo make more that I like, I think.

[EpicRaptorMan]

as someone who doesn't like most mammals

Hate to break it to ya, but I'm willing to guess you're one of these "mammals"   

[NSD Bashe]

CollectA did make a really good anglerfish and goblin shark in recent years.  Difficult for me to assign "best" to any given brand since I tend to appreciate different things about them.

Also CollectA is one of the very few current brands to have a babirusa, which is one of my all time favorite land animals

[sphyrna18]

Is CollectA good?  Yes.  They have some amazing figures.  They also have some real duds.  It depends on the animal - by and large, their big cats, for instance, are far from the best.  Papo in the past, and recently, Safari (or, really, Doug Watson), have been dominating that field.  Same is true with CollectA's wild dogs.  If another brand makes the same species, they tend to do it better.  But CollectA's ungulates are top notch.  So it really depends on the animal in question.  No brand dominates all the time (except Doug Watson ), they all have their "bum" figures, and they all seem to have their top shelf figures that blow other companies away.  Not only that, but they all have good years and bad years, some figures with great sculpts and crap paint, and some figures with crap sculpts but super paint.  To claim CollectA is your favorite because they make a particular animal and that figure is the best, in your opinion, is completely valid and normal.  But I've always found it a little nauseating when people try to claim that one brand is better than all the others all the time (or even most of the time). 

[sbell]

In general I've always liked the modern animals from CollectA, but like every company they miss sometimes.

Overall my favorites still tend to Japanese companies like Kaiyodo, Yujin and Colorata. But I'm more species driven than brand driven anyway.

[Sim]

as someone who doesn't like most mammals

Hate to break it to ya, but I'm willing to guess you're one of these "mammals"   

Do you mean I'm a mammal?  If so, I know, I have to accept it!  I have to admit it is good being a human though..

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I think CollectA is great in its own ways, but being the "best" is a relative opinion. For instance, I am primarily a canine collector. And while many of their models are very nice for other species, their gray wolves and fennec fox leave A LOT to be desired. Safari Ltd. far exceeds them in this regard (at least for the wolves for certain).

I tend to agree with others in that each brand has its strong suits, and no one is the best of the other as a whole. Papo has great cattle and big cats, CollectA has great ungulates and horses, and the other 4 big brands have their strong areas too.

[SAgirl2004]

Is CollectA good?  Yes.  They have some amazing figures.  They also have some real duds.  It depends on the animal - by and large, their big cats, for instance, are far from the best.  Papo in the past, and recently, Safari (or, really, Doug Watson), have been dominating that field.  Same is true with CollectA's wild dogs.  If another brand makes the same species, they tend to do it better.  But CollectA's ungulates are top notch.  So it really depends on the animal in question.  No brand dominates all the time (except Doug Watson ), they all have their "bum" figures, and they all seem to have their top shelf figures that blow other companies away.  Not only that, but they all have good years and bad years, some figures with great sculpts and crap paint, and some figures with crap sculpts but super paint.  To claim CollectA is your favorite because they make a particular animal and that figure is the best, in your opinion, is completely valid and normal.  But I've always found it a little nauseating when people try to claim that one brand is better than all the others all the time (or even most of the time). 

I agree. There are some duds with this brand. For example, their flamingo isn't that great.

[JimoAi]

speaking of duds their older sharks esp the great white, hammerhead, whale shark and tiger sharks are duds.

Their newer sharks like the Megalodon onwards are phenomenal

[EpicRaptorMan]

speaking of duds their older sharks esp the great white, hammerhead, whale shark and tiger sharks are duds.

Their hammerhead represents the uncommon [in toy form] Scalloped Hammerhead — so it gets extra points for that.
And I'm quite fond of their Tiger Shark as I find the stripes to be distinct enough but not overdone and unrealistic. Also less cartoony than what SafariLtd offers.

[Sim]

The CollectA tiger shark isn't a dud.  It's one of my favourite CollectA figures.

[MudpupWaterdog]

Like most people here, I agree that Collecta has some great figures but it depends very much on the figure. I don't really collect many mammals, so I'm not interested in a lot of Collecta's offerings, but I do have the wild Asian Water Buffalo and the Saola - they're probably two of the most beautiful figures I own.

I probably get one or two of their releases every year. I'm still waiting to grab the angel shark and the Amazon dolphin, I just haven't had the chance yet since HappyHen was sold out of dolphins and Collecta isn't really easily available in America otherwise. I like that they choose interesting species and I'm glad that they have a diverse lineup even though I'm not buying many of them.

[EpicRaptorMan]

@MudpupWaterdog the minizoo website is pretty quick about getting the new CollectA models in.

Granted shipping is a bit more but I'll typically save and get more at once.

[MudpupWaterdog]

@MudpupWaterdog the minizoo website is pretty quick about getting the new CollectA models in.

Granted shipping is a bit more but I'll typically save and get more at once.

Thanks for the tip, I'd always assumed shipping would be too expensive but I never actually checked. I'll put through a batch order when there are enough Collecta models to make it worth it.

I know there's a store called Dinosaur Farm in South Pasadena, California that has a surprisingly large amount of Collecta for sale too, it's mostly dino-focused but they might be able to order directly from Collecta. It's the only place I've really seen Collecta figures available in-person in America.