A collectible duck does not need a huge printer. It needs a machine that can hold a small face together. This is a buying guide, not a ranked shootout. Duck Heroes has not published test scores for specific printers.
Build volume
Look at the largest duck you might print, then add room for a brim. A compact machine is enough for a desk figure. A bigger bed helps when you want several ducks in one job. Measure in millimeters on the product page, and compare that to the height you actually want. A 6 cm duck and a 20 cm display piece are different purchases.
Nozzle and layer height
Small features, especially eyes and a thin bill, favor a 0.4 mm nozzle or smaller and a layer height you are willing to wait for. A larger nozzle is faster and softer on detail. If the capsule eye is the point of the design, do not trade it away for speed on day one. Speed as a separate topic is in high-speed printing.
Materials you will actually run
Most of these figures will be PLA or a PLA blend. If you want silk, matte, or a second material for a small part, check that the printer can hold the temperatures those spools ask for. Read filaments before you buy a spool “because the photo looked shiny.”
One color or several
A painted duck can come off a single-color printer. A duck that is yellow, black, and orange in the same job needs a multicolor or multi-tool setup, plus the purge waste that comes with it. Buy that complexity when you know you will use it. Multicolor printing covers the tradeoff.
The unglamorous parts
A printer you can tram, a bed surface that holds a small footprint, and a parts situation you can live with matter more than a slogan on the box. Enclosed versus open matters if you print temperature-sensitive materials or if the room is drafty. It matters less for a patient PLA duck.
How to decide
Print a small calibration shape and one detailed figure you already have the right to print. Judge the eyes and the underside, not the marketing photo. If you cannot get a clean first layer, a more expensive machine will not skip that lesson. Elephant foot is the usual first-layer problem on a small base.
You do not need the printer a stranger called the best this year. You need one you can keep in tune for the size of duck you collect or sell.