PNSO : New for 2023

[Carnoking]

There will still probably come a day that I pick up Cameron even if PNSO really is shifting back to the lipped model and that means there's an inevitable new rex on the horizon.
From where I'm standing, these lipless figures are a lot like the old Carnegie offerings: perhaps not the most accurate under our current lens, but still representing a noteworthy time in collecting and worth having for that alone. Doesn't hurt that their current therapods are still untouched in my book.

[Bread]

What exactly does Cameron bring to the table? It has got a better pose, barely, but it isn't exactly perfect. The Winter Wilson was very well received until Cameron overturned it (4.5 stars on the blog right now, with only 57 votes) and I say this as someone who isn't adoring PNSO's products.

Regarding what Cameron brings, it also has more realistic scales and doesn't have the awful crocodilian oral margin that the last Wilson had.  If you looked at that Wilson from above, you could also see the back of the jaw not being connected to the head, Cameron doesn't have that problem.

I still argue that PNSO's Cameron is nearly perfect. The issue it has is lack of lips. And if anything Cameron needed an improved paint job, but that's subjective.









I've shared these images and modified models dozens of times, but they help me get my point across. Originally I was even reluctant to purchase this model. It had the one issue I just was unhappy with for the asking price of nearly (or over) $70.
I think that is truly the problem many face with this model, it's nearly perfect but lacks lips and for that people cannot justify the price point for this model, which I completely agree with.

[thomasw100]

Another perspective comes here. Our 10 year old son is a big fan of dinosaurs has quite some dino models already. I showed him the latest pictures of the Yangchuanosaurus. He commented that this does not really look like a dino any more without the teeth being visible with the closed mouth. Children sometimes have an interesting view at things.

[TheImmortalEye]

Another perspective comes here. Our 10 year old son is a big fan of dinosaurs has quite some dino models already. I showed him the latest pictures of the Yangchuanosaurus. He commented that this does not really look like a dino any more without the teeth being visible with the closed mouth. Children sometimes have an interesting view at things.

I mean we have been conditioned, by jurassic park as a phenomenon mainly,to see dinos as gnarly beasts with teeth out , it gives them a primal ancient look i honestly prefer artisticly to lips, as those make them look ironicly as the big iguanas first thought when dinos were discovered. Its also why we rarely imagine dinos doing anything but killing and running.

[Gwangi]

Another perspective comes here. Our 10 year old son is a big fan of dinosaurs has quite some dino models already. I showed him the latest pictures of the Yangchuanosaurus. He commented that this does not really look like a dino any more without the teeth being visible with the closed mouth. Children sometimes have an interesting view at things.

I mean we have been conditioned, by jurassic park as a phenomenon mainly,to see dinos as gnarly beasts with teeth out , it gives them a primal ancient look i honestly prefer artisticly to lips, as those make them look ironicly as the big iguanas first thought when dinos were discovered. Its also why we rarely imagine dinos doing anything but killing and running.

I often see people point to Jurassic Park when discussing the lipless fad but it's important to remember that in the original film only the T. rex is lipless. The Velociraptor and Dilophosaurus have lips and continue to throughout the franchise.

I understand the aesthetic appeal of exposed teeth but there's a fine line between "cool and gnarly" and "goofy overbite". Some lipless theropods look decent enough and menacing but many of PNSO's offerings look goofy to me.



   

[Eatmycar]

@Sim While I disagree with you regarding Cameron, I am 100% in agreement re: Tusk and Kiss.

They have a sincerely evil look to them with sunken eyes. Now, I get that some extant dinosaurs (shoebill storks for example) have similar eyes, but the Rebor rexes look ridiculously stylized, I suppose that nature isn't cool enough I guess.

@Gwangi When you bring up Jurassic, my memory seems to be failing me... but isn't the T. rex the only one with exposed teeth in the first trilogy? Aside from the Spinosaurus, whose reconstruction at the time was very modern as opposed to the Allosaurs-with-a-fin aesthetic that dominated media at the time.

[Gwangi]

@Sim While I disagree with you regarding Cameron, I am 100% in agreement re: Tusk and Kiss.

They have a sincerely evil look to them with sunken eyes. Now, I get that some extant dinosaurs (shoebill storks for example) have similar eyes, but the Rebor rexes look ridiculously stylized, I suppose that nature isn't cool enough I guess.

@Gwangi When you bring up Jurassic, my memory seems to be failing me... but isn't the T. rex the only one with exposed teeth in the first trilogy? Aside from the Spinosaurus, whose reconstruction at the time was very modern as opposed to the Allosaurs-with-a-fin aesthetic that dominated media at the time.

That is correct. The Compsognathus had lips too. Ceratosaurus did not but was barely in the movie.

[Stegotyranno420]

People are overeacting so much about the rebor product. "Nature is not cool enough" just because of the eyes? When many other animals already have it. It is as if the idea that rebor is invariably "monstrous"/"awesombro" because of their first figures and now you cannot unsee it.

Back to pnso, my brother thinks that the lipped dinosaurs look more natural, but teeth looks "cooler" but if over exposed then ugly.
Most lipless pnso figures look very natural and realistic.

[Eatmycar]

That is correct. The Compsognathus had lips too. Ceratosaurus did not but was barely in the movie.

Also, Cerato was built off the T. rex if I remember right and it was a last-minute addition - so I'm not surprised.

I'm going to strongly push back against the idea of 'overreaction' here. Some people expect realistic animals from their toy line outside of things like Jurassic Park figures and I say this as someone who primarily collects Jurassic figures and Beasts of the Mesozoic.

I don't want a monster from David Silva, nor do I want one from other toy companies and I'm sure others here feel the same way. Power to you if you want a glorified, snarling kaiju on your shelves, but it's a sincere turn off for people, especially when the company in question (Rebor) claims its a 'scientifically accurate' figure.

[Gwangi]

That is correct. The Compsognathus had lips too. Ceratosaurus did not but was barely in the movie.

Also, Cerato was built off the T. rex if I remember right and it was a last-minute addition - so I'm not surprised.

Yup, that is also correct.

[Mattyonyx]

The Yangchuanosaurus model sparks an exciting debate about PNSO's philosophy. Granted, their models are labeled 'scientific', but wasn't their approach to the absence of lips scientific enough? After all, it was based on Carr's paper...

Many see the lack of lips as an issue but Cullen et al.'s proposal is not written in stone, even though is extremely valid, and some people in the field, paleontologists included, may not be convinced. Also, the whole "Jurassic Park was wrong" thing mentioned in the press releases is not that valid since T. rex too has lips and gums: yes, the teeth are exposed, but it's not so different from what we usually see in Smilodon paleoart, while Carr's paper proposes a crocodile-like facial sensory system.

Cameron features many improvements in general anatomy, scale detail, and other things. Simply enough, PNSO was not convinced by the ideas shared by Witton & Co. on various blogs and kept following Carr's paper. Any other company that put lips on their theropod figures just bet on the new proposal, which was then "endorsed" by Prehistoric Planet (understandably, if we think of the names involved in the production).

PNSO can have a different opinion, just like some paleontologists, and showed it on many videos, but they must sell their models, and it's become clear that they can't fight the "lips trend" (which I do not contest, in case you're wondering)any longer.

Sure, we can say that the current consensus requires external oral tissue on theropods, but what if a new "anti-lips" paper came out?

Think about it, it would be like what happened with Eofauna and Tyrannosaurus imperator: they announced a T. imperator model because of Paul's paper but everything changed with the next paper.

There's a high chance that those theropods were already in production when the paper came out, but again, ZHAO Chuang shared his view in the past, so I'm curious to hear what he will say about Yangchuanosaurus.

[Stegotyranno420]

One reason i was hoping PNSO remained lipless is the fact it is easier to make lips than take them off

[Carnoking]

Well said @Mattyonyx and another reason I won't be so hasty to do away with my lipless figures. IIRC, Carr remains unconvinced by the new paper, and as far as I'm concerned if one of the leading champions of the lipless model has something left to say on the matter, I'll be keen to hear it.

[Joel1905]

I have to say, the suggestion that a couple of people have made that the Yangchuanosaurus only has lips because the old one did makes absolutely zero sense.

Their old Giganotosaurus had lips, and the new one didn't? There are zero logical/sensible reasons why that suggestion would have any truth.

The figures from Meraxes to Megalosaurus were clearly all sculpted before Cullen et al was published, and the Yangchuanosaurus was the first theropod sculpted after the paper. Also, collectors are mostly asking for lipped theropods, and as noble as PNSO's intentions are, at the end of the day they're a business, and if a business wants to continue to succeed, it has to listen to its customers.

Use logic and reasoning, people, for god sake.

[Faelrin]

@Mattyonyx This is why I think Rebor's approach to this debate was the most sensible. Offer both lipped and lipless versions. I'm glad they did this with their T. rex pair, and also their upcoming Giganotosaurus (albeit one has the more JW styled head), if not their upcoming Spinosaurus as well.

PNSO could appease both sides of the aisle by offering both takes.

[Stegotyranno420]

Guys, hear me out...
detachable lips? 

[thomasw100]

Probably PNSO will now release only herbivores for several months so that we have plenty of time to think about the next theropod being with or without lips and to keep the excitement level high.

[SRF]

Probably PNSO will now release only herbivores for several months so that we have plenty of time to think about the next theropod being with or without lips and to keep the excitement level high.

Would be a smart move, in the meantime people will keep buying their lipless theropods after all because on their own most of them are the best figure available for the genus they represent.

[Bread]

People are overeacting so much about the rebor product. "Nature is not cool enough" just because of the eyes? When many other animals already have it. It is as if the idea that rebor is invariably "monstrous"/"awesombro" because of their first figures and now you cannot unsee it.

As someone who likes their Tyrannosaurus model, I too can see the far-fetched "angry eyes" as I've seen others point this out. Whether it be the shading around the eyes making it appear like this, or in general the expression of the eyes, it is a Rebor trademark at this point. So in a way, they're doing it to themselves to have this constant characteristic.

But I'm not mad at it.

I have to say, the suggestion that a couple of people have made that the Yangchuanosaurus only has lips because the old one did makes absolutely zero sense.

Their old Giganotosaurus had lips, and the new one didn't? There are zero logical/sensible reasons why that suggestion would have any truth.

Meh... It was a guess. I don't see why there is an issue with this guess as nothing has been confirmed by PNSO.

This is similar to how most of their artwork has lips, yet their figures don't? And this has been going on for a while now, even before the "pro-lips" paper.

[Halichoeres]

Would be a smart move, in the meantime people will keep buying their lipless theropods after all because on their own most of them are the brownest figure available for the genus they represent.

You had a very minor typo, I've fixed it.