Review and photographs by Jose Carlos Salas (Jose_S.M.), edited by Suspsy
Proceratosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived during the Middle Jurassic in England. It is one of the earliest known members of the Tyrannosauroidea clade, which contains Tyrannosaurus rex and its ancestors. It was a relatively small animal that measured about 3 meters (9.8 ft) long. Like most of the earlier members of its family, there’s not a lot of representations of this particular animal in toy form, the best examples being the one released by CollectA in 2011, and the PNSO miniature figure, which is the subject of this review.
This figure, nicknamed Daun by PNSO, was released in 2016 as part of a relatively extensive collection of miniatures. It measures about 3.5 inches long in a straight line, but if the tail was held straight, it would be around 4.5 inches, making it about 1:25 in scale. Due to its small size and its legs being rather thin, it’s supported on an oval-shaped base. There’s no sculpt or decorative details on said base; it’s just for support means.
Daun is sculpted in a walking pose, with its jaws closed, head slightly tilted to the right, and tail bent down. The sculpt is good for such a small figurine. The top of the neck, torso, and tail are feathered with a particularly nice texture at such small scale. The scaly parts are not so detailed but there are still some wrinkles on the lower limbs and tiny scales on the face, while the lower body is mostly smooth. There are also really tiny sculpted teeth that are most noticeable in the left side of the head, at least in mine.
The body is painted in brown tones. The feathery portion is light brown with chocolate spots while the legs and underside are yellowish brown. There are some orange splashes on the chest, the back of the legs, and the lower jaw, which to me look a bit sloppy and out of place. The head is done in a more flashy coloration with bright blue in the face and a purple crest. There’s also a purple stripe going down the sides of the neck and up to the middle of the torso, and in my figure, one of the lines goes longer than the other. The claws and teeth are not painted, making it look like Daun has lips from a distance. The base is plain cream-colored and there’s a dark wash that’s most noticeable in the legs and scaly parts.
Accuracy-wise, this figure looks very correct. The hands are not pronated and the fingers seem to be about the right size, with the middle one larger than the others (this difference is more apparent in one of the hands than the other, but still bigger in both). The crest is a different shape than most restorations I’ve seen, but the remains of Proceratosaurus‘ skull are fragmentary and the complete crest is not known so its shape is speculative. I know that in more “advanced” theropods, the tail can’t bend down the way it’s portrayed on this figure, but I don’t know if that’s true for earlier species.
The figure came in a very nice package: a small blister pack with a background depicting the skeletal reconstruction of the species. This background is removable and when unfolded, presents some information about PNSO and Proceratosaurus on one side and a poster of the animal on the other, colored similarly to the figure.
This is a very nice figure for its size and I would recommend it. It’s the only PNSO I have, but judging from the photos I’ve seen, this is my favorite of the theropods released in the first wave. The only criticisms I have is that the claws are not painted, that the base is bland, and my figure leans a bit to the left, but fortunately is still well-balanced. I like the size and shape of the base, it doesn’t seem very disruptive of play.
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At least from the angle the photos are taken at, it seems that the hands are, in fact, pronated.
Great review. The other Proceratosaurus figure that I know is the Proceratosaurus from the Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom line by Mattel. It is great to see at least, this early tyrannosaurid has few incarnations, although it is an obscure species.
Always great to see an early tyrannosauroid!
Honestly in this case it is superior to other figures of homologous protoceratosaurus of other brands.
The problem I find in the figure is that it has a very weak base and what is worse that does not hold up to my misfortune, the same happens with other figures of mini theropods of PNSO.