PNSO : New for 2023

[Quiversaurus]

Meraxes
Lots of images...



Common issue: some detail losses on feet and along the back, tiny hole behind articulated jaws.



New Giga for comparison:



Pleasant natural paints, hint of purple on the head (though slightly too much gloss, head somewhat shines in light), back and chest, stripes are sufficiently irregular.






Good teeth again, although Meraxes' head isn't as handsome as Giga's. Tongue is slightly too red (oops screwed colour temperature):



Both Giga and Meraxes have so far the best jaw articulation, lengths match perfectly, jaws have good friction and close, joints are tighter on the neck (quadratojugal part of the joint is partially open on Giga/Meraxe, on Acro etc it's closed and connects to the neck). Meanwhile Acro has thicker and loose joints, slightly short lower jaws that closes too much.




Carcha and Acro lack fused sole pads (quite some detail loss too) of Giga/Meraxe:




Giga's details are sharper that other three with less losses, seems museum line in general tends to have better quality mould:



Size comparison:




Overall the Meraxes figure presents unique characteristics of published individual very well (hence sufficiently different from other Carcharodontosaurs). It has brilliant paint design and more interesting pose. Quality is on par with other prehistoric line figures and lower than recent museum line figures.

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Ahhh I really love new Giga, what an imposing, bulky beast (would be perfect figure if vertical view of the tail wasn't slightly twisted, probably caused by messed up mould). Price is nearly double of Meraxes' though...

Wow thank you for the comprehensive photo comparisons and the close-ups of the figures! The Meraxes' colour scheme really is a breath of fresh air compared to its predecessors, but putting all the species together in one photo makes for a beautiful display.

I find it so interesting that the Museum line and Prehistoric Models lines differ quite apparently in the mould department, I had previously thought there wasn't much of a difference...

[Gwangi]

I appreciate the turtle doing a bit of a photo bomb in some of those pictures @Faras. 

[CARN0TAURUS]

I appreciate the turtle doing a bit of a photo bomb in some of those pictures @Faras. 

LOL

[CARN0TAURUS]

@Faras

About the fused heel, is this a genetic difference between the species or is it PNSO growth as they continue learn how to perfect the way that feet should be modeled on these toys?

And it's undeniable that the museum line mold has a lot more fine detail on it, it's reassuring that they are not just arbitrarily just charging more for the box and posters, the paintwork also looks to a lot more sophisticated.

Thank you so much for posting these awesome images!!!

[CARN0TAURUS]

I definitely prefer lips, but remain unconvinced that arguments on either side are definitive, so I remain open to either interpretation, though, if there's a choice, I'll take the lipped version.

I fully agree on this. Also, PNSO is in the lipless camp and at least they explain why they are convinced that theropods didn't have lips. I don't agree with them on that, but I do understand that as long as the evidence for lips isn't conclusive, they won't change their approach with their models.

Do we have any idea how Rebor did with tusk and kiss in terms of sales?  Did kiss sell more than tusk?  Or was it the other way around?  I thought if Rebor's sales of kiss did well that if might convince PNSO to dabble with multiple versions of the same sculp or at least have a premium/museum version that allowed you to exchange the heads that you want to display it with. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though I generally prefer the way lipless theropods look a bit more aggressive and menacing, I still think it's a mistake to put all your eggs in one basket.  PNSO should release some of their better sculpts like Zhuchengtyrannus with lips too.  If for no other reason than there are so many people in the lipped camp and I think recognizing that fact would be good for sales.

I can't tell you how many times I've read people post that if it comes with no lips that they are not going to buy it.  If I was producing these toys I would come up with a reasonable solution by either releasing two versions or one version with two heads.

And this goes for the movable jaws too, it sure would be nice if versions of these animals came out with preset poses with either open or closed mouths but also without the unsightly seams in the neck and head areas.

Kiss is sold out completely while Tusk is still available, so Kiss definitely did better in that regard. However, REBOR explained in the Kiss & Tusk topic on this forum that they just wanted to make two models called Kiss and Tusk. Therefore they created a lipped and lipless variant of the same model. PNSO on the other hand doesn't believe that theropods had lips to begin with, so they won't bother creating them.

Also as a company PNSO has a completely different business model, releasing a high amount of figures in quite a short time. The Meraxes is a good example of that. REBOR on the other hand takes a lot more time to create their figures before the go to market, most of the time with two color variations of (largely) the same sculpt. They are completely different companies with different approaches.

PNSO certainly seems to march to their own unique drumbeat.  They release figures sometimes so quickly that it undermines a figure that they had just released not so long or tings of that sort.  From a business side I don't understand it, but from a collectors POV it sure is nice that they are so willing to improve upon previous efforts so quickly

[TheCambrianCrusader]

Thanks for the pics, they're absolutely gorgeous!
I don't really have the money or space to collect pnso figures all that much so I have to pick and choose which ones to get and man this Meraxes sure is tempting.

[Faras]

My pleasure

I see you got the "jumping Rex"-Skeleton I am looking forward to get.

Yup got both of the series, prices dropped a lot here, so maybe ebay etc got better offers compared to official retailers.

I find it so interesting that the Museum line and Prehistoric Models lines differ quite apparently in the mould department, I had previously thought there wasn't much of a difference...

@Faras
And it's undeniable that the museum line mold has a lot more fine detail on it, it's reassuring that they are not just arbitrarily just charging more for the box and posters, the paintwork also looks to a lot more sophisticated.

Yeah museum line sharper scales and less detail loss in general. On closer inspection, Andrea's "smooth" thighs have similar level of details as Acro's body. Tsingtaosaurus is the only recent museum figure with "scale-less" patches of skin iirc, whereas majority of prehistoric figures have them. Prehistoric line paints tend to have less layers and feel "flat", dark/muddy wash or dry brush it's often "all over the place". Seems to me museum figures were handled with more care... maybe cause folks are pretty unforgiving when expensive figures fail.

About the fused heel, is this a genetic difference between the species or is it PNSO growth as they continue learn how to perfect the way that feet should be modeled on these toys?

Hmm I suppose they'd go with published footprints first, then add it to more hefty figures when no related evidences were found.

I appreciate the turtle doing a bit of a photo bomb in some of those pictures @Faras. 

Curious bugger likes to check on whatever new stuff appearing in his domain

[Sim]

I like the size comparison image.  I don't agree with the opinion that the four PNSO carcharodontosaurids look too similar.  Seeing them together shows subtle differences between them.

[oscars_dinos]

I like the size comparison image.  I don't agree with the opinion that the four PNSO carcharodontosaurids look too similar.  Seeing them together shows subtle differences between them.

I fully agree, I actually think seeing all 4 together has made me like all of them individually more. As of now I only have the acro, I passed on gamba because I never really liked him. But when I saw the giga and people started saying he was to similar to gamba it kind of made me look at gamba in a different light. Now with the meraxes adding even more variation I can say I really do like gamba now and am honestly really excited to get this family of Dino's all together, which is something I didn't think I would be excited for so props to PNSO for that. I honestly see this group of carcharodontosaurids being like PNSO's group of tyrannosaurs, except better because they so far have been all in scale and all follow the same scale detailing

[Prehistory Resurrection]

[Sim]

I tend to like the videos by Dinosdragons but it's frustrating to hear them mispronounce Giganotosaurus over and over again.  They say that name so often in their videos, including in this Meraxes video.  Dinosdragons knows the correct pronunciation for the Greek origin word but they always pronounce it wrong when it's in an animal's name.

[KeU]

I tend to like the videos by Dinosdragons but it's frustrating to hear them mispronounce Giganotosaurus over and over again.  They say that name so often in their videos, including in this Meraxes video.  Dinosdragons knows the correct pronunciation for the Greek origin word but they always pronounce it wrong when it's in an animal's name.

I remember this discussion on the forum awhile back.
Simply comes down to if you want to follow how Rodolfo Coria pronounces the name or the actual Greek pronunciation Giganotosaurus is based off.
Along that vein, how did the gif vs jif argument end up?

[Stegotyranno420]

I tend to like the videos by Dinosdragons but it's frustrating to hear them mispronounce Giganotosaurus over and over again.  They say that name so often in their videos, including in this Meraxes video.  Dinosdragons knows the correct pronunciation for the Greek origin word but they always pronounce it wrong when it's in an animal's name.

I will clear it up (someone remind me to update with proper IPA later, but this Anglophonic approximation should be decent enough

Ancient Greek: /giga-noto-saurus/
Modern Greek: /yiğa-noto-savris/
Classical Latin: /giga-noto-saurus/
"scientific Latin" /jiga-noto-sōrus/
English: /jiguh-noto-sor-us/

[Duna]

I tend to like the videos by Dinosdragons but it's frustrating to hear them mispronounce Giganotosaurus over and over again.  They say that name so often in their videos, including in this Meraxes video.  Dinosdragons knows the correct pronunciation for the Greek origin word but they always pronounce it wrong when it's in an animal's name.

I will clear it up (someone remind me to update with proper IPA later, but this Anglophonic approximation should be decent enough

Ancient Greek: /giga-noto-saurus/
Modern Greek: /yiğa-noto-savris/
Classical Latin: /giga-noto-saurus/
"scientific Latin" /jiga-noto-sōrus/
English: /jiguh-noto-sor-us/

Scientific names should be pronounced in vulgar latin. Not in classical latin, not in ancient greek or with English letter sounds. Here in this video the paleontologist Palaeos explains it very well (you can use the Translate option of the subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SrZCiFK-ks&t=15s

As Spanish derives directly from vulgar latin, it's easy for us to get the correct pronuntiation almost every time with very few changes in sounds (for example -dae is -de, -nae is -ne, ch is qui o k/c sound, ph is f...
So it's Giganotosaurus (spelt like it's written). Gi-ga-no-to-sa-u-rus (not soros).

[Thialfi]

I speak some Greek and the accents in the name would be pronounced different in Greek as to how it's usually pronounced, which would render the usual pronunciation 'incorrect'. It doesn't really matter. DinosDragons isn't a native English speaker and his skill of the English language is excellent.

[SRF]

I speak some Greek and the accents in the name would be pronounced different in Greek as to how it's usually pronounced, which would render the usual pronunciation 'incorrect'. It doesn't really matter. DinosDragons isn't a native English speaker and his skill of the English language is excellent.

Exactly this. Also his reviews are by far the best you can find on YouTube when it comes to the science behind the models. 

[Thialfi]

Definitely @SRF, I love his channel! I go there not just for the reviews, but the scientific part as well. He manages to condense everything into an understandable package.

[ceratopsian]

I myself would prefer not be overprescriptive on pronunciation of words with loan elements @Stegotyranno420. Personally I'm used to working in a multi-lingual environment where people come from different linguistic backgrounds, which influences their pronunciation when employing English. I'm used to dealing with technical words (often from Greek or Latin roots or components) being pronounced in a variety of ways. The important thing is that we all understand each other. I'm happy with a fair amount of fluidity!

And purely on grounds of general accuracy, it's too simplistic to state that "g" in a word in English that has been created from an Ancient Greek root is always pronounced "j" before the vowel "i". Think of "gigabyte" etc. Here the "hard" g is transmitted into English.

[SidB]

I speak some Greek and the accents in the name would be pronounced different in Greek as to how it's usually pronounced, which would render the usual pronunciation 'incorrect'. It doesn't really matter. DinosDragons isn't a native English speaker and his skill of the English language is excellent.

I find the linguistic discussion interesting, but as in all things of this sort, I find myself obliged and usually rather willing to be tolerant of various idiosyncracies, etc. I live in a multiethnic urban center, and more to the point, most of my friends and acquaintances are members of various minorities of one sort or another, so pronunciation is all over the place. I'm hilarious, I know, when I try to pronounce Chinese, Iraqi (Arabic), etc. words, but people here in Toronto are very tolerant, as a general rule, to a multiplicity of variations on vowels pronunciation and syllabic emphasis. It is quite advantageous not to be overly fastidious in such day to day matters, particularly as they apply to the folk with whom we rub shoulders.

[Cretaceous Crab]

I tend to like the videos by Dinosdragons but it's frustrating to hear them mispronounce Giganotosaurus over and over again.  They say that name so often in their videos, including in this Meraxes video.  Dinosdragons knows the correct pronunciation for the Greek origin word but they always pronounce it wrong when it's in an animal's name.

I will clear it up (someone remind me to update with proper IPA later, but this Anglophonic approximation should be decent enough

Ancient Greek: /giga-noto-saurus/
Modern Greek: /yiğa-noto-savris/
Classical Latin: /giga-noto-saurus/
"scientific Latin" /jiga-noto-sōrus/
English: /jiguh-noto-sor-us/

I've always read it and pronounced it in English, based on my understanding of the words "giant" and "gigantic." The only differences I pronounce the first syllable with a long "i" and with an emphasis on the second syllable [ jI-GAN-noto-sor-us ].

It was