Review and photographs by Triceratops83 and Plesiosauria
Available from Amazon.co.uk here.
The PNSO brand has taken the dinosaur collecting world by storm, releasing within a year a respectable range of impressive figures and high end models. PNSO dinosaurs have become known for their realistic sculpts and the recently released Triceratops is no exception. We recently unboxed it on our Youtube channel and here we’ll take an in depth look.
This Triceratops is a hollow PVC figure and doesn’t have any of the prominent seam lines present in the other large PNSO dinosaurs (there is a slight seam around the neck but it is subtle). The model has branding hidden on the underside of the feet – “PNSO” on the right foot, “Made in PRC 2016” on the left foot, “CE” on the left hand, and what appears to be a signature (presumably the sculptor’s) on the right hand. The model is about 37 cm long and fits in comfortably with other 1:20 scale dinosaurs. The pose is in mid-stride, as if it were pawing the ground with its front limb just before charging. Its pose and general appearance are reminiscent of the Safari Ltd Great Dinos Triceratops, but larger and significantly more detailed.
Anatomically, this brilliant Triceratops offers little to criticize. It’s not too shrinkwrapped like some of the other large PNSO models and is quite stocky. Its head is properly proportioned in size to the rest of the body. The back is nicely rounded, reaching its peak above the hips and the tail is the correct, short length. The front limbs are slightly bowed and sprawling, and the hands are oriented correctly, inclined away from the body. At first glance the hands appear quite stubby, so maybe the fingers could be a little longer, but it’s not really bothersome. The number of fingers and toes is correct, as is their arrangement.
The figure is highly detailed, showing fine skin texturing all over the body. The hide is lovingly sculpted with small round scales, interspersed with the larger, raised nipple-shaped scales (which are sometimes interpreted as the bases of quills in other ceratopsian figures). Along the spine is a line of rectangular scutes. The underside looks like that of a crocodile, with symmetrical lines of broad scales. There is no obvious cloaca. Along the outer edges and rear of the frill appears to be a series of growth lines, resulting in an oyster like effect.
The paint application is well done, if a little sloppy on the underside. The body is predominantly blue-grey, with the belly scales a creamy brown. The head subtly fades into orange, with black markings around the frill and eyes. The eyes are neatly picked out with tiny black pupils. This subdued paint scheme invokes large modern day mammals. One notable paint detail is a white wash between the scales on the upper body, creating the impression of dust caked into the skin like a Serengeti elephant.
The model comes packaged in a quality box with a sleeve featuring impressive photographic artwork of the model in a forest setting. The figure also comes with a fold-out leaflet/poster. We’ve included ‘Age of the Dinosaurs’ in the title of this review under the presumption that the Triceratops belongs to that line, but the information is almost exclusively in Chinese so we aren’t sure.
In our opinion this is one of the very best Triceratops figures on the market. It is scientifically accurate, beautifully detailed and realistically painted. It is easily available on Amazon.co.uk and is reasonably priced for such a large and well done model. A must have for any collection!
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Sheer brilliance, wonderful pose. You can quibble about the size of the head being a bit large, but this is my favorite large-scale Trike out there. So much so I customized one to be looking up and straight ahead for a “Cadillacs & Dinosaurs” diorama I did a few years ago. A shame PNSO ended this large hollow figure line as they were wonderful!
Good day. regards. Could you do the size comparison with the triceratops from Jurassic World in a photo please? Thank you for your attention and time
Having just received this figure, I can only say WOW! Magnificent. The only drawback is that it’s hollow. I like a bit more ‘heft’ when handling a figure this size. And I have a bit of a seam line around the neck. Might even be a little gap there. But it isn’t very obvious.
But other than that, beautiful. Can’t wait for the PNSO ‘Doyle’ Triceratops and ‘Wilson’ T. rex to arrive.
Hopefully PNSO will soon return to the Dinosaur fugure business to give us animals like Deinocheitus and Therizinosaurus.
The epocipitals are also accurate along the frill.
I LOVE Ceratopsian models, especially those by CollectA. Also the models by PNSO. PNSO never disappoints us. This is indeed a very scaly reptilian Triceratops, especially the underbelly. I would love to see quills on the tail of this model, Like CollectA does on its ceratopsian models.
Someone has noticed that this model looks very much like the previously reviewed : The enormous Triceratops[ Advance Megasofubi by Kaiyodo] ? There has been a lot of revews of Triceratops models recently on the DinoToyB;og which include the triceratops by Advance Megasofubi By Kaiyodo, the blue triceratops vintage by field-o-Rama and finally, this one. I know that TAKARA TOMY also has done two beautiful Triceratops models; a green and a brown Triceratops. I love the details on the eye area/ eye socket; the small black stripes.
LET ME KNOW WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE CERATOPSIAN IN THE DINOSAUR WORLD, WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE CERATOPSIAN MODEL AND THE BRAND YOU LOVE FOR MAKING EXCELLENT CERATOPSIAN MODELS.[I am sure you will vote for CollectA, LOL :D] It has released a Regaliceratops , An Einiosaurus like Safari ltd and a Styracosaurus for the year 2017. [ On YouTube, watch SpinoDude’s review on the brand new 2017 einiosaurus by Wild Safari by Safari Ltd] NICE REVIEW.