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Post by Dinotoyforum on Feb 7, 2008 14:27:03 GMT
Where do you buy your dinosaurs from? Which online stores do you recommend or disapprove? Which online stores are reliable? Are products well packed? Good value for money? Delivered rapidly? Which stores would you not touch with a barge pole?
I'm thinking of producing a top ten or something...
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Post by itstwentybelow on Feb 7, 2008 17:37:58 GMT
The vast majority of my collection comes from all the neat little specialty toy shops in and around my hometown in the Seattle area...but that doesn't help you guys much I don't think.
A good online store I would recommend is Healthstones. They have a large selection, selling pretty much every major line for reasonable prices, and I know for a fact that they still carry the Kaiyodo Dinotales US series 1 release (oddly enough, the Pacific Science Center in Seattle has a TON of them in the giftshop, I recently discovered). The few Carnegies I've gotten from this site have come sealed in the factory bags, with little plastic base pieces around the limbs to make sure they don't warp. All in all a good site.
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Post by tomhet on Feb 7, 2008 17:43:29 GMT
healthstones, tgftoys.com, dinosaur farm, but mostly Ebay (yeah, I know, it sucks)
The problem here is shipping. It can be very expensive, but there must be more European sites for you, Adam. Shipping from North America would be pretty pointless (unless it's something extraordinary) Perhaps Piltdown knows about reliable European stores.
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Post by EmperorDinobot on Feb 7, 2008 19:31:26 GMT
The vast majority of my collection comes from all the neat little specialty toy shops in and around my hometown in the Seattle area...but that doesn't help you guys much I don't think. A good online store I would recommend is Healthstones. They have a large selection, selling pretty much every major line for reasonable prices, and I know for a fact that they still carry the Kaiyodo Dinotales US series 1 release (oddly enough, the Pacific Science Center in Seattle has a TON of them in the giftshop, I recently discovered). The few Carnegies I've gotten from this site have come sealed in the factory bags, with little plastic base pieces around the limbs to make sure they don't warp. All in all a good site. Wow...I didn't know the PSC had Kaiyodo...I want to go Science, Art and more is the store you're referring to, right? In Houston, there is no such store. I recommend Amazon...they have the Kinto/Favorite ones at reasonable prices. + More. They have uber-fast shipping too.
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Post by nobs on Feb 8, 2008 19:03:54 GMT
Excellent Topic. TGFToys has been mentioned, I'd also like to throw out Storeforknowledge.com Ive made a few transactions with them and been pleased, shipping was made via UPS the packages made it within a week, and were well packed ie: shredded paper, original plastic wrap around figures.
To go along in tangent to this thread, does anybody know where to pick up some of the Invicta dinosaurs? other than Ebay of course....they always seem to have the same 3-4 figures on there
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gus
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by gus on Feb 15, 2008 2:50:34 GMT
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Post by Dimetrodon on Feb 25, 2008 19:55:47 GMT
I just bought some dinos off healthstones. Can't wait to get them!
I do have a question though. Where is the best place to buy the Dinotales (Dino Mania?) line from Kaiyodo? I want to buy a set, but ~$80 seems like an awful lot for 20 small figures. Any help would be great!
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Post by Dinotoyforum on Feb 25, 2008 20:58:42 GMT
As Piltdown pointed out in a recent thread, the problem with Healthstones is that they no longer deliver outside of the US. If you live in LA though, you are one of the lucky ones I just bought a couple of Dinomania from Ebay, although I was quite reluctant to do so.
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Post by piltdown on Feb 25, 2008 21:49:35 GMT
For Dinomania on eBay the likeliest seller will be udf_animal--he has most of the series. However, he is infamous for not answering emails and for sending off packages 2-3 weeks after he receives payment, so one should be prepared to wait. Otherwise, clawmarktoys.com has fairly decent offerings. Some of their critters are grossly overpriced though--$30 for a Kaiyodo dunkleosteus?
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Post by Dinotoyforum on Feb 25, 2008 22:57:23 GMT
the likeliest seller will be udf_animal--he has most of the series. However, he is infamous for not answering emails I noticed
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Post by piltdown on Feb 25, 2008 23:08:43 GMT
*Sigh* udf_animal once sent me more figures than I ordered, so I returned them to him, paying the return postage out of my own pocket. I didn't receive so much as a thank you email
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Post by richard on Mar 14, 2008 2:28:59 GMT
healthstones, tgftoys.com, dinosaur farm, but mostly Ebay (yeah, I know, it sucks) The problem here is shipping. It can be very expensive, but there must be more European sites for you, Adam. Shipping from North America would be pretty pointless (unless it's something extraordinary) Perhaps Piltdown knows about reliable European stores. so, by the way, do you know of any toy store that sells them? I have serious problems acquiring dinosaurs,
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Post by tomhet on Mar 15, 2008 3:18:24 GMT
Not actual stores. Here in this nutsty country people just don't like dinos (of course, they like JP ) If you want to buy dinos, you need to buy them online
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Post by richard on Mar 15, 2008 17:46:01 GMT
^^ I don't trust internet, you just don't know who is the one offering you the figure, not even if there is a figure
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Post by EmperorDinobot on Mar 24, 2008 20:18:28 GMT
Well, I'm having a lot of trouble locating a store that sells Carnegie dinosaurs here in Houston. All I see is those dumb Learning Express places that sell Papo stuff at outrageous prices...
And the Museum never has anything new (They're starting to carry REAL Schleich at least)...and it's pissing me off!
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Post by Rubicon on Mar 24, 2008 23:05:35 GMT
There used to be a Dinosaur Store in Orlando, Florida.. That was about 9 years ago.. Not sure if its still around..
They are very well stocked on Safari replicas, and fossils..
Also, I remember FAO Schwarz carries the Carnegie line.. but I suppose they have down-sized in recent years..
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Post by sbell on Mar 26, 2008 3:13:27 GMT
My two cents--TGF toys has become my go to store--prices are good, shipping is reasonable (I'm in Canada, so that is even more of a consideration) and the selection is equal to or better than most. I used to go through Miniature Zoo, but the owner (Gary) suspended it and then sold it, and I don't know the new owners (however, they may have some old stock kicking around, meaning there may be some discontinued things there). Link & Pin (AKA Triceratops Ranch) has probably the widest selection, but 1) they are among the most expensive I've seen and 2) they are discontinuing Schleich (as an aside, I am not a fan of Schleich dinos, so no real loss IMHO). H&H Winners Circle is primarily horse-focused, but they also have a good selection, especially in the Wild Safari lines. However, as a non-american I am expected to pay a $25 handling fee just for ordering (guess how often I do that?).
Finally, for those in Europe, I was quite happy with Dinotime.de when I ordered some Bullyland dinos and AAA hyaenodons; I know other people that have also ordered there quite happily (and this is folks from North America, where the shipping can be higher than the cost of the figures!)
And yes, DinoFarm is good too--in fact, their service has always been top notch for me, but because they focus entirely on prehistorics (in my collection, I don't) I am less inclined to go with them--on the other hand, they are getting in Procons this spring, so I may go back to them after all!
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Post by tomhet on Mar 26, 2008 3:51:18 GMT
Do you know if TGF toys will be carrying the Procon line?
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Post by piltdown on Mar 26, 2008 4:53:44 GMT
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Post by Rubicon on Mar 26, 2008 15:07:28 GMT
Gosh.. those are pretty awful IMO..
The new releases do look much more promising..
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