PNSO - New for 2024

[Joel1905]

I too think PNSO has been affected by Haolonggood.  I think PNSO's break in releases after their Camarasaurus was because they wanted to put everything they were working on on hold and release a Lokiceratops before Haolonggood.

Lokiceratops isn't of interest to me however, so for me it's back to waiting for PNSO to make something that I like...  Which might take a while if Ichthyovenator, Mosasaurus and Tyrannosaurus are coming from PNSO.  I want those to be made so that they're over and done with and I can start looking forward to something from PNSO again.

I am sorry but you are not the one to decide whether there is a need for a debate or not. A healthy debate emerges from people arriving at different conclusions. And at the end there may be agreement or not. Or there may be a need for more data.

Seriously?  It's simply a matter of different people having different opinions, which have been expressed.  What debate is there to have?

Personally, the prospect of a fully lipped Tyrannosaurus Rex & an updated Mosasaurus from PNSO are wonderfully exciting!

Are there more obscure/lesser represented animals that I'd love to see in figure form? Of course, but Tyrannosaurus Rex is Tyrannosaurus Rex, and my collection feels empty without one in lipped form. Yes I know about the Eofauna one, and I do have it, and I do appreciate it. However I'd be lying if I said it ticked all the boxes that a PNSO one would.

[thomasw100]

I meant debate in the sense of a scientific debate. Exchange of opinions and arguments with sometimes opposing views. Cannot see what problem you have with that.

I just think that it's unrealistic to have a debate on the topic.  Whether the colourations look alike depends on a person's opinion, clearly.  You don't think they look alike probably because of your preference for duller colourations as you've expressed in the past, while others think they do look similar.  This doesn't seem to be a topic that one can debate.

In principle we could run the images of different figures through AI image analysis software and task that software with analyzing them in terms of similarity / dissimilarity. We could also ask the AI software to consider criteria such as patterns, colors and color tones separately. This would give us a comparatively objective answer. I say comparatively because the AI software uses algorithms that were programmed and trained by humans to begin with. Unfortunately I have no competence in using AI image analysis software so I am not up to the task.

[Tracewyrm!]

What a wonderful sculpt! I tend not to be terribly interested in ceratopsian figures, especially of more minor genera, but this figure does such a stellar job of depicting all the dynamic shapes in ceratopsian anatomy. Even at a glance you can just tell this was an active animal.
I really like the ridges at the base of the horns on the frill. I think it's something they've done before and it looks wonderful.

PNSO is hard to beat when it comes to sculpting work and, despite not being a particularly large figure or depicting a flagship species, Frederik's yet another impressive piece of work coming from them. The reduced pace is a little unfortunate, but there's not much you can do about it, so I don't worry about it. I only recently managed to get to Aymen so perhaps a little break is nice haha   

[Leyster]

Seriously, people, are we even serious here? Those above are not even the most original poses! In how many poses can you put a walking ceratopsian? Then what, Haolonggood copied the Battat Triceratops?


And, by the way, since we're talking about inspiration, what about this?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

yeah I think I mentioned the Krentz Trike as an inspiration a few pages back on the HLG topic? His work is very popular among Asian collectors and fans so no real surprise there.

[thomasw100]

What a wonderful sculpt! I tend not to be terribly interested in ceratopsian figures, especially of more minor genera, but this figure does such a stellar job of depicting all the dynamic shapes in ceratopsian anatomy. Even at a glance you can just tell this was an active animal.
I really like the ridges at the base of the horns on the frill. I think it's something they've done before and it looks wonderful.

PNSO is hard to beat when it comes to sculpting work and, despite not being a particularly large figure or depicting a flagship species, Frederik's yet another impressive piece of work coming from them. The reduced pace is a little unfortunate, but there's not much you can do about it, so I don't worry about it. I only recently managed to get to Aymen so perhaps a little break is nice haha   

Fully agree on that. The sculpt is really excellent with so many subtle details. Even better in my view than the most recent Haolonggood Triceratops. I wonder how PNSO would do a new version of Triceratops? Maybe this is even in the making. Hopefully PNSO will make a few more ceratopsians in the near future.

[oscars_dinos]

What a wonderful sculpt! I tend not to be terribly interested in ceratopsian figures, especially of more minor genera, but this figure does such a stellar job of depicting all the dynamic shapes in ceratopsian anatomy. Even at a glance you can just tell this was an active animal.
I really like the ridges at the base of the horns on the frill. I think it's something they've done before and it looks wonderful.

PNSO is hard to beat when it comes to sculpting work and, despite not being a particularly large figure or depicting a flagship species, Frederik's yet another impressive piece of work coming from them. The reduced pace is a little unfortunate, but there's not much you can do about it, so I don't worry about it. I only recently managed to get to Aymen so perhaps a little break is nice haha   

Fully agree on that. The sculpt is really excellent with so many subtle details. Even better in my view than the most recent Haolonggood Triceratops. I wonder how PNSO would do a new version of Triceratops? Maybe this is even in the making. Hopefully PNSO will make a few more ceratopsians in the near future.

I feel like its way to soon to get a new tric, doyle isn't even that old and still follows pnso's newer scale aesthetic and is still an  overall accurate figure (despite being based off a wonky specimen)

[Samrukia]

not really on 2024 topic, but i have recently seen people reporting that new copies of some old figures get an improved matte finish paint application

Corythosaurus and Machairoceratops, for example

[Samrukia]

not really on 2024 topic, but i have recently seen people reporting that new copies of some old figures get an improved matte finish paint application

Corythosaurus and Machairoceratops, for example

look at these eyes

[Eatmycar]

Those eyes are night and day! What an improvement.

[Concavenator]

[Flaffy]

The prospect of paleontologists working directly with toy companies to turn their new finds into plastic reality is quite exciting!

Hope to see more of these collaborations in the future. I'm sure having something tangible to acquire (dinosaur figures) would make public outreach easier and far more engaging than text on a screen.

[thomasw100]

It was a brilliant idea that the scientists describing the Lokiceratops collaborated with PNSO in the creation of a high quality figure. We definitely need more such collaborations. If nothing else, this way the information chain from the experts on a genus to the digital designers is streamlined preventing any information loss or incorrect interpretations. I think that the major dinosaur figure manufacturers should actively pursue such collaborations.

[Sim]

Safari collaborates with palaeontologists for their figures.  I think CollectA also has for their newer deluxe Baryonyx and Dearc figures.

[Sim]

Safari collaborates with palaeontologists for their figures.  I think CollectA also has for their newer deluxe Baryonyx and Dearc figures.

And CollectA has for their deluxe Polacanthus too if I'm remembering right!

[Faelrin]

Now that I think about it, it is good PNSO made Zuul last year, as it will give this new Lokiceratops a buddy (more or less, from the same formation at least).

I know there's also the Daspletosaurus, but I forgot if it represents the species from Judith River, or if it was based on one of the other species.

[Pachyventer]

UPDATE: Lokiceratops is now available on Amazon (US). Just got a copy for precious me

[Concavenator]

The prospect of paleontologists working directly with toy companies to turn their new finds into plastic reality is quite exciting!

Hope to see more of these collaborations in the future.

It's certainly an exciting idea, but I think it depends on the case. If the taxon in question is described based on a sufficient amount of material (as is the case here), then I think it's a great idea.

But one downside could be that the authors describing a fragmentary new taxon will also want to see their new finding represented in figure form...

Since PNSO was aware of Lokiceratops months before it was revealed to the world, that means PNSO was contacted by the authors (as confirmed in the pic I shared).

So, as I said, since it's logical to assume the authors describing a new taxon will always root for it, hopefully the figure company will be able to reject a collaboration in case they consider the taxon that's going to be described isn't of much paleontological significance. Like, imagine the authors describing Tyrannotitan had reached out to PNSO with the aim of creating a figure of their new discovery. Regardless of the nature of the figure being a collaboration between scientists and a figure company, the fact that Tyrannotitan is a poorly-understood taxon with an unknown appearance is still there. And that is something that's offered to the market, _{as unfortunately ended up happening this year}. 

All things considered, I think it's a neat idea, if properly used (and by that I mean involving species known from good remains).

[Halichoeres]

I'd obviously prefer these collaborations happened with distinctive, well-preserved taxa. But at least with a fragmentary taxon you'd get the most informed speculation and interpolation possible. Overall I'd say it's a net positive.

[Concavenator]

But at least with a fragmentary taxon you'd get the most informed speculation and interpolation possible.

That's also true, but then, we'd be facing a problem that's happened several times: a fragmentary taxon receiving figure attention when there would surely be other relatives known from more ample material that would have received little attention (or no attention whatsoever).

Like, let's imagine a new species of fragmentary dromaeosaurid is discovered and described. The authors reach out to PNSO or some other company because they'd like to see a figure of the new (poorly-known) taxon being made ^*. The resulting reconstruction will without a doubt be very accurate for the known material (and otherwise, reasonably inferred, as you mentioned). But the fact that other dromaeosaurids known from a proper amount of material have never been made as accurate figures (like Zhenyuanlong), or as figures at all (like Halszkaraptor) is still there, taxa whose reconstructions would be less speculative, and thereby, more accurate. At the end of the day, it would be a fragmentary taxon receiving attention over a well-known one situation yet again.

Of course, broadly speaking, no bad figure is ever going to come out out of a direct collaboration between scientists and model makers, like in a case like this.

When it comes to a species known from good remains like Lokiceratops, I believe a collaboration like this is a great idea, because the fact that it's a reasonably-complete animal (plus a distinctive-looking one) already makes it a good subject for a figure. So if there are going to be people asking for a figure of it, why not get to that from the beginning (and with the aid of the authors on top of that)?

Prior to Lokiceratops, there were other centrosaurines known from good remains that are left to receive a good figure, like Achelousaurus or Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis. But Lokiceratops does also have good remains, so it receiving a good figure is welcome as well. Interestingly, PNSO's Lokiceratops is the first good static figure of an Albertaceratopsini ceratopsid!

Sometimes I wish figure companies were focused on making figures of taxa known from good remains instead of solely the most famous ones or just random ones. They could really use to take a look at @Sim 's list here, for example.

^* Haha yes, imagine, because PNSO would tell them: "too small, sorry". As even a hulking Utahraptor is apparently out of the question for them!