Machairoceratops (Perez) (Prehistoric Animal Models by PNSO)

The subject of today’s review is like an apparition from the past, as far as PNSO is concerned. Although the PNSO Machairoceratops is only a year old PNSO has released so many new figures since then, and gone through so many phases, that this figure can be considered ancient history in the PNSO timeline. This figure, named Perez, comes from a time when PNSO was pumping out a diverse assortment of ornithischian dinosaurs within an affordable $20-30 price range. Ah yes, those were the days.

For those unfamiliar with the genus, Machairoceratops is a late Cretaceous centrosaurine from North America that was discovered in 2006 and described in 2016. There is only one species in the genus, M. cronusi, and only a single specimen has been described thus far. That specimen consists solely of some fragmentary skull material, which does include its unique horn arrangement that in appearance looks much like Diabloceratops, which it was closely related to. Why PNSO would go with such an obscure genus instead of the more well known and popular Diabloceratops is a mystery to me but since they did this figure is now the sole representation of the genus that’s available.

Perez measures 7.5” (19.05 cm) along the curve of his back from nose to tail and stands 3” (7.62 cm) tall to the top of his horns. Because of it’s fragmentary remains it’s tough to gauge how large Macharioceratops was but estimates put it at about 20-26′ (6-8 meters) so the figure is probably in the 1/35 scale range.  

Perez is presented standing tall with his head held high and mouth open, as if standing on a cliff’s edge at dawn and announcing his daily presence with a loud bellow. All four limbs are planted firmly on the ground and there’s a gentle leftward curve in the body and tail.

The detail work on Perez is of the same high caliber as we’ve come to expect from PNSO’s dinosaurs over the last year. Perez is mostly covered in pebbly scales of varying sizes with larger scales randomly interspersed across the body. Larger armor-like scales are sculpted around the snout and eyes, and in rows moving up the frill. Flattened, square shaped scales adorn the figure’s underside. PNSO has a knack for applying different scalation on different parts of the body in a lifelike way and this figure is no exception. Even the area around the cloaca has its own varying scale pattern, much like extant reptiles do.

With its mouth wide open we get a good look inside Perez’s mouth which sports an impressive battery of small, tightly packed teeth behind the beak. A tongue is sculpted within the mouth and exposed nasal passages are present on the roof of the mouth. It all looks fantastic, unless you like your ceratopsians with cheeks. I tend to prefer cheeks myself but since they’re speculative I won’t turn up my nose at a well sculpted figure that lacks them. I should note that the paint application in the mouth is a bit sloppy but considering how small those teeth are I think we can let it slide.

Perez sports a deep laterally compressed snout, ala Diabloceratops, as well as two brow horns that curve upwards, and two frill horns that curve downwards. Machairoceratops means “bent sword horn face”, while it’s species name cronusi is in reference to Cronos, the titan of Greek mythology that wielded a sickle as a weapon, and used it to castrate his father, Uranus. As fitting a name for such a dinosaur as there ever has been.

In terms of accuracy, it’s hard to critique a figure based on scant remains but the head does match the skull elements we do have, and the body conforms to the basic body plan shared by most ceratopsians. The forelimbs possess five digits with the last two reduced and clawless while the hindlimbs posses four clawed digits. The tail looks slightly longer to my eye than it should but that’s getting really nitpicky and probably not even worth mentioning.

The paintjob here is mostly orange and tan colored tones overlaid with black, wormy markings on the body that transition to stripes on the tail. The blending of dark and light tones, especially on the face, is nicely done and teardrop shaped eyespots are painted on the frill along with some black speckling. The eye spots are white with faint yellow spots at their center. The eyes are an intense yellow with black pupils.

The horns are dark brown at their base and fade to cream at the tips, they’re also exceptionally pointy so parents, beware! You might notice from my pictures that there are a lot of scuff marks on the feet of my Machairoceratops. The figure came like this to me and evidently other collectors have received brand new figures with these scuff marks as well.

The coloration of the figure suits it fine but in typical PNSO fashion is deviates a bit from the promotional material and box art for the figure, and not in a good way. At this point, that should be expected. The paintjob is also extremely similar to the paintjob used on the PNSO Miragaia and one hopes that when PNSO gets back into dinosaurs they change up their preferred color palette and patterning somewhat. I do feel like the wormy markings make the figure a bit too busy looking and I must wonder what the figure would look like without them.

The PNSO Machairoceratops is a splendid little figure that I feel like may have gotten overlooked in the time since its release. There are a few things that might work against it, including the lack of cheeks and the uninspired and repetitive paintjob. Some might also be put off by the fact that this figure is based on such a fragmentary animal but for those looking for diversity in their collection the addition of a Machairoceratops can only be a good thing, and it’s unlikely there will be another figure of the genus showing up anytime soon. The best thing about this figure is that it only retails for about $22, for that price it’s practically flawless in my opinion.