Papo: New for 2023

[stargatedalek]

The presence of lips on Kronosaurus is not known.  And the CollectA Kronosaurus has unrealistic skin.

While technically not known, it's also not known for certain that Smilodon had lips or that Pelagornis had feathers. The only reason we got used to depicting Pliosaurs without lips is because we reconstructed them with splayed out teeth, which is considered inaccurate now. An open water swimming marine animal needs to take drag very seriously, especially one with a proportionally large head and mouth.

[Sim]

The skin of the CollectA Kronosaurus is covered with creases and bumps, which is inconsistent with its lifestyle.  As for lips on Kronosaurus, the shallowness of its jaws and length of its teeth makes me think it lacked lips.  Experts have depicted pliosaurs without lips even with teeth projecting straight downwards, so I wouldn't jump to conclusions.

[dragon53]

[Prehistory Resurrection]

[Lynx]

Reasonable title

[Prehistory Resurrection]

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Ordered mine, still waiting on it.

[crazy8wizard]

I really want to like the Kronosaurus since more marine reptile figures is something I can get behind, but in true papo fashion, the anatomy is messy and the scales are unnecessary. The skull is really cool though.

[Lynx]

I really want to like the Kronosaurus since more marine reptile figures is something I can get behind, but in true papo fashion, the anatomy is messy and the scales are unnecessary. The skull is really cool though.

I thought the anatomy was fairly decent from Papo

[crazy8wizard]

I thought the anatomy was fairly decent from Papo

The anatomy isn't necessarily bad in this case, just messy. It's alright but the torso is too compact, the head is a bit small, and it has an odd hump on its back near the neck. Aside from those bits though, it's not too bad. I've seen far worse pliosaurs before.

[japfeif]

Well, my Kronosaurus & Concavenator arrived yesterday. The Krono is amazingly awesome.....I know some folks are not thrilled with certain aspects, like the scales, but I think the figure looks fantastic, and I'm not sure that there is any evidence they did NOT have scales (I know that sea-going creatures often have smooth slick skin but not all...and given the relationship between mosasaurs & modern monitor lizards, THEY might very well have had some type of granular scales on their bodies, so why not pliosaurs like Kronosaurus? I guess we will probably never know for sure..).

On the other hand...the Concavenator, well, it's just as much of an abomination in hand as in the promo pics! In fact, when I showed it to my wife (who knows next to nothing about Papo figures or dinosaurs in general), her first comment was "what's up with its chest?...look like something out of Alien"!

Which was kinda my thought also!

Oh well...one outta two isn't too bad, yeah?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Kronosaurus is pretty awesome, received mine a couple days ago. I can't see spending money on that Cnocavenator though.

[Fembrogon]

I'm writing my blog review for the Kronosaurus currently, and I concur with J @japfeif and @Blade-of-the-Moon: this is a great figure and a return to form for Papo. I'm genuinely impressed with it so far.

[Halichoeres]

I'd say it's the best marine reptile Papo has made, although there are other versions of the genus I prefer.

[SpartanSquat]

For me papo comeback to business along with kronosaurus, mosaurus and the dragons

[Prehistory Resurrection]

[deleted]

[EuropaSuchus]

These Mosasaurus and Kronosaurus aren't really working as accurate marine reptiles, but... they make really good, cool fantasy-style, paleontology-inspired sea monsters. Want both of them.

[Fembrogon]

And that's exactly where Papo's strengths lie, historically: stylized "pop culture" dinosaur designs. The problem in recent years has been how extreme the stylization has been, sometimes to the point of breaking the animal's anatomy for effect.
Mosasaurus and Kronosaurus take a lot of creative license, but it's license built around a scientifically plausible framework, so the final product feels believable rather than cartoony.

[crazy8wizard]

The Mosasaurus and Kronosaurus are lacking some marine reptile specific accuracies like smooth skin, but they're not insultingly bad like the Protoceratops and Concavenator

[Fembrogon]

That Concavenator is a special breed of bad. Wild to see it released in the same year as the two marine reptiles.