Never buy a rig.

Animating without a rig would be like puppeteering without a puppet! Everyone knows that that is just absurd. Luckily, there are some really great free rigs out there. Seriously, no need to buy a rig. For a great array of free rigs, check out Animation Buffet.

Here is a list of some of my favorites. Starting from simplest to more complex.


Flying Fox 
This is a great rig to start out with. Practice bouncing ball and obstacle course exercises with this bugger.  You can hide the tail and ears. When you want to take it up a level, show the tail/ears to practice follow through and overlap.

Simple Bot
When you conquer the bouncing ball and tail, add some legs! This is a great rig to test walk-cycles and simple jumps and runs. Show the eyes to get some expression.

Höbö 
I haven't animated this guy yet but it would looks like a good stepping stone to a full humanoid rig. If you get a chance to animate with this rig, tell me what you think.

Joe
This little guy is just so cute. When you are ready to add arms and a head, animate Joe. He is simple and cartoon-y. This guy is just unrealistic enough that you can get away with some fun animations. You can squash and stretch his head and animate his tubular arms 50's style.

Bee-boy
This rig is a lot like Joe. Simple but great for animation exercises that don't need a complex facial rig.

There are a number of full blown rigs out there. You can find them pretty easily but just to make life even easier, check out this list of recommended rigs by The 11 Second Club.

I would just like to add that Malcolm is a fantastic rig.