PNSO 2016 releases

[Halichoeres]

I'll update this thread with anything that becomes available this year.

First, miniatures, approximately 3 inches in length.

The initial set of 6 babies are all stamped 2015, but as far as I know we all became aware of them this year, so I'll include them:

Baby versions of Amargasaurus, Ankylosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Spinosaurus, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus.


Allosaurus


Ampelosaurus


Archaeopteryx


Confuciusornis


Einiosaurus


Glyphoderma


Himalayasaurus


Kentrosaurus


Kosmoceratops


Majungasaurus


Miragaia


Nyctosaurus


Olorotitan


Ophthalmosaurus


Ouranosaurus


Proceratosaurus


Tuojiangosaurus


Wuerhosaurus

Age of the Dinosaurs large vinyl figures


Basilosaurus


C. megalodon


Chungkingosaurus


Euhelopus


Huanghetitan


Lufengosaurus


Mandschurosaurus


Shantungosaurus


Triceratops added November 2016.


Tyrannosaurus

Extra large resin statues starting at $500 USD, up to $2000 for the Mamenchisaurus


Huayangosaurus


Mamenchisaurus


Tsintaosaurus

[suspsy]

$2000 for the Mamenchisaurus. Jumping Jesus.

[DinoToyForum]

Halichoeres. You star! 

[Derek.McManus]

$2000 for the Mamenchisaurus. Jumping Jesus.

Wow! Costly, some nice figures though!

[DinoToyForum]

$2000 for the Mamenchisaurus. Jumping Jesus.

Its Amazon price is only 1,999.99. Save a cent!  http://amzn.to/2cLfibT

[Halichoeres]

Well, it's supposed to be 1:10, so it would have to be gigantic. And evidently there will only be 200 made. Maybe when those sell out they'll make a merely huge figure for the vinyl series.

[tyrantqueen]

Forget Rebor, PNSO is the rising star of 2016

[Sim]

I wonder why the PNSO megalodon's skin is almost entirely covered in lines?  Are there any extant sharks like this that would make it plausible?  It seems like it would make the animal less streamlined without any good reason for it.  The same applies to the PNSO Ophthalmosaurus.

[Halichoeres]

The response of a fish's skin to turbulent flow can sometimes be difficult to understand. The placoid scales of sharks create tiny vortices that shield the surface of the body from interaction with water flowing smoothly, at a slightly greater distance, around the body. Rough textures can be surprisingly hydrodynamic (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8571218, which is open access at least in the US, but I don't know about elsewhere--PM me your email address if you want the pdf). That said, I think these figures are covered with grooves mostly to make them look more "detailed."

[suspsy]

Yeah, they probably just didn't want the Carcharocles looking too smooth.

[Concavenator]

Forget Rebor, PNSO is the rising star of 2016

Meh.Some models are indeed awesome,but others are pretty bad in that matter.The Tyrannosaurus and Lufengosaurus come to mind.Though the Chungkingosaurus,Huanghetita and Nyctosaurus are great.

[tanystropheus]

Forget Rebor, PNSO is the rising star of 2016

Meh.Some models are indeed awesome,but others are pretty bad in that matter.The Tyrannosaurus and Lufengosaurus come to mind.Though the Chungkingosaurus,Huanghetita and Nyctosaurus are great.

The Lufengosaurus seems to get a lot of hate. I think it is a wonderful model that stands out quite a bit in PNSO's original set. It looks goofy in a charming way (the same way Gekkos look goofy, not that it is supposed to emulate a Gekko or anything), and the pose is one-of-a-kind. It's easily as interesting as the Yangchuanosaurus model by Safari Ltd. for the Dinosaurs of China series. 

the Mamenchisaurus is probably going to be regarded as the new 'Holy Grail' by collectors. Hopefully, they announce a 1/20 PVC version before someone makes an impulse buy.

All their core models are excellent, imo. Some of the minis have questionable (CollectA style, sometimes Kinto) paint jobs (e.g.Ouranosaurus, Wuerhosaurus comes to mind)

[Gwangi]

Forget Rebor, PNSO is the rising star of 2016

Meh.Some models are indeed awesome,but others are pretty bad in that matter.The Tyrannosaurus and Lufengosaurus come to mind.Though the Chungkingosaurus,Huanghetita and Nyctosaurus are great.

Say what you want about the PNSO Tyrannosaurus but at least it looks original, unlike the "Jurassic Park" ripoff inspired T. rex by Rebor.

[sauroid]

these figures dont deserve a "meh" from anyone as far as im concerned.

[The Atroxious]

Needs more theropods.

Seriously though, these are really nice. The stegosaurs are all beautifully graceful looking. If there weren't already so many other figures by different companies I've already got my heart set on, I'd be tempted by that Chungkingosaurus even though it doesn't really fit in my collection. The Lufengosaurus is also quite nice, though the paint job makes it look mummified, and the head looks awfully cartoony compared to the rest of the figure. The Basilosaurus is also undeniably awesome, but I can't really justify purchasing a mammal figure at that size and price.

I might get the Archaeopteryx at some point. It's quite the charming little guy, though I do wish it had the retracted second toe. The Confuciusornis looks a bit silly for my tastes,  and unfortunately reminds me too much of the Alexornis from WWD3D.

[stargatedalek]

Forget Rebor, PNSO is the rising star of 2016

Meh.Some models are indeed awesome,but others are pretty bad in that matter.The Tyrannosaurus and Lufengosaurus come to mind.Though the Chungkingosaurus,Huanghetita and Nyctosaurus are great.

Say what you want about the PNSO Tyrannosaurus but at least it looks original, unlike the "Jurassic Park" ripoff inspired T. rex by Rebor.

That's probably what I like best about this line thus far, how unique they are. And in a scale typically reserved for very small animals or model kits! Perfect for someone like me who mostly focuses on modern animals, unless I'm displaying them next to rorquals there really isn't much for modern fauna in the typical dinosaur scales.

Forget Rebor, PNSO is the rising star of 2016

Meh.Some models are indeed awesome,but others are pretty bad in that matter.The Tyrannosaurus and Lufengosaurus come to mind.Though the Chungkingosaurus,Huanghetita and Nyctosaurus are great.

The Lufengosaurus seems to get a lot of hate. I think it is a wonderful model that stands out quite a bit in PNSO's original set. It looks goofy in a charming way (the same way Gekkos look goofy, not that it is supposed to emulate a Gekko or anything), and the pose is one-of-a-kind. It's easily as interesting as the Yangchuanosaurus model by Safari Ltd. for the Dinosaurs of China series. 

the Mamenchisaurus is probably going to be regarded as the new 'Holy Grail' by collectors. Hopefully, they announce a 1/20 PVC version before someone makes an impulse buy.

All their core models are excellent, imo. Some of the minis have questionable (CollectA style, sometimes Kinto) paint jobs (e.g.Ouranosaurus, Wuerhosaurus comes to mind)

I disagree, I think most of the first series (sans Huanghetitan) were only remarkable in regards of their origins and scale. Most of them are shrink-wrapped (to varying degrees), the Lufengosaurus has an incorrect posture*, and the feathered Tyrannosaurus was feathered in such a way as to (whether intentionally or not) basically say "Yah we know it had feathers, but we don't like feathers so we're doing the bare minimum we can".

*And for the record no I don't think it's at all fair to compare it to the Safari DOC Yangchuanosaurus. The latter is a theropod depicted bent forward scratching its head, it only leans on its forelimb out of necessity to balance the pose. The PNSO Lufengosaurus however is in a fairly generic (not that generic is bad, I for one prefer neutral poses) pose for a sauropod(omorph). The posture is simply incorrect, it wasn't a necessity of some deliberately diverse or elaborate pose.

I don't understand what you mean by "questionable" paint jobs. If anything most of these color-schemes are very conservative and frankly I find them rather boring. Remember these were animals with excellent color vision, most likely far better than our own (birds can even see entire color ranges that humans can't, and we have the best color vision of all mammals). They probably didn't have earthy elephant-like color-schemes because unlike elephants they actually had a use for bright color.

We simply lack adequate comparisons in modern animals to properly equate Mesozoic palettes to modern fauna, most modern reptiles are living camouflage based lives, and there are so few significantly large modern birds that they don't need to communicate with each other the same way smaller birds today do or that extinct dinosaurs would have. Marine environments are arguably the only ones where mammals lack of color vision has not influenced the evolution of contemporary large species, and most marine environments are voided of their own accord because of water reliant camouflage or very specific environmental dependencies (brightly colored species blend in [and loose their outlines] among brightly colored coral).

The Wuerhosaurus color-scheme in particular strikes me as very plain, it's an orange-yellow with darker orange patches and plates. Nothing particularly bold about the colors or patterns, even Papo has done far bolder before. Heck, I've seen gazelles with more colors on them. The Ouranosaurus is certainly bright, but hardly unreasonable (I'll get to it more later).

Now that that's off my chest, I'm gonna give a go at my thoughts on each of the actual models.

The baby dinosaurs are interesting, and I'm glad to see them available individually as I've really never been one for mismatched sets (if I get a set I typically expect something more along the liens of a Kenner play set, that is to say things that are intended to go together). Triceratops is faithful to known infant specimens, the rest are speculative so I can't judge aside from the Spinosaurus being shrink-wrapped. The color-schemes on the box art look so much better, shame they weren't used.

Allosaurus is quite disappointing. The base looks like a soap cake, the colours are largely dull (points for reverse counter-shading), and the back of the skull juts out of the neck.

I don't know much about Ampelosaurus, just that the layout of its osteoderms is entirely speculative. Earthy yellow with flecks of brown and a grey back, hardly seems befitting a giant well defended creature like this, looks better suited to a small animal hiding among rocks.

Archeopteryx is so hit-and-miss that I'm struggling with what to think. The wings look full and powerful, the neck and body are properly fluffed and don't look like feathers glued on a dead bird, and yet the alula is missing (it's no longer a particularly speculative inclusion, given we now have proof enantiornithes had them), and the middle finger extends far beyond what would otherwise have been a realistic and full wing. I may get one and just chop the fingers off, they should be entirely obscured by feathers alula or not. Colors are accurate but still manage to include new patterning in the unknown regions making an effective and inspired appearance.

Confuciusornis is in the same boat. It's middle finger is correct this time but the absence of the alula in this case is not even a speculative possibility. Colors are realistic for the niche, complex patterns but comparatively dull colors for camouflage.

I don't know much about ceratopsians but that Einiosaurus looks shrink-wrapped to me. The colours, while at least not earth toned or lizard-like, still don't feel particularly unique or interesting.

Glyphoderma is great, no complaints here. Should make a great companion to the Safari Henodus.

Himaylayasaurus is well sculpted, but I don't feel grey > lighter grey > yellow makes for particularly effective counter-shading. Yes I know many sport-fish take on yellow but those species can change color. Finally a shastasauridae without a dorsal though, and not one of the better known two at that. I'll probably get it and repaint it.

Kentrosaurus legs look a might thin for my liking. And I'd have preferred if the spines, at least near the tails tip, had been angled more horizontally. Another earthy yellow figure with green markings, at this point I think the yellow is just the plastic itself.

Kosmoceratops again has some strangely gangly legs and neck like Einiosaurus, and more earthy brown.

I'm skeptical Majungasaurus tail was that flexible. Also another soap cake base. Colors are bright even if the patterns are not particularly much ado.

Miragaia, finally a figure that really managed to showcase that long neck, shame it's in camouflage colors. It's a ball of spikes with a brain, what's it possibly hiding from.

Nyctosaurus patterns are interesting and unique, although the colors really don't showcase it very well. I'll be getting two, one to remove the sail. This figure showcases really well why the sail is such an unlikely structure. Tupandactylus and kin get away with it by not living in an oceanic environment with powerful winds, and by not being about two feet tall (plus crest). Nyctosaurus was the size of a large gull with a structure almost the size of a moose antler on its head, last thing it needs is to make that structure any heavier or have it catching wind.

Olorotitan looks alright to me, yes it's very bland, but it's done in a way that actually looks realistic instead of just earthy washes. Reminds me of shorebirds.

Opthalmosaurus is cute, and points where it's oh so due for not copying WWD, but the wrinkles feel obtrusive to me. This was a relatively large animal, those wrinkles would be large enough to grab onto on a full sized adult.

Ouranosaurus colours are very bright, but not unreasonable for a large herbivore, especially from a group generally considered to be highly social animals. Hadrosaurs have whenever the opportunity presented itself proven time and again to be bold patterned, loud, and sporting any number of decorative features even on a skeletal level. This was a group of animals that was very dedicated to displaying. Similarly to Nyctosaurus this model showcases very well why Ouranosaurus shouldn't be depicted with a sail. Just look at those vertebrae, so wide and bulky, no way those were covered by just skin.

Proceratosaurus has the same base and neck issues of Allosaurus, with the added issue of its shoulder jutting out. The way the black spots are painted one don't look like natural patterning, especially not on feathers.

Tuojiangosaurus legs may be a bit thin, but overall that's how you make a stegosaur! Thagomizers point somewhere useful? Check! Creature who's entire life was clearly not spent hiding from anything lacking camouflage? Sort-of check! It's still elm tree green, but has some interesting pattern to it.

Wuerhosaurus colors feel utterly uninspired and its thagomizers are a great example of where not to put them.

I'm still not really sold on the idea of Basilosaurus as a snake whale instead of, well a whale, to me it feels like a remnant from a bygone age when it was thought of as a reptile. Admittedly the little change in the size of the vertebrae along the back does indicate it was doing something unusual with its movement, so by no means am I saying the snake whale is implausible, just seems a tad bit wishful as if deliberately trying to make it more unusual than it needs to be. Similarly the hind flippers need not be quite so pronounced as they are here, they were already long vestigial by this point. Hopefully I will never need to utter these words again but; I wish it was more like the ARK: Survival Evolved version. https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/ark.gamepedia.com/5/5a/Basilosaurus_Dossier.jpg

Megalodon is, well it's a megalodon. It's got a lot of nice detail, and I think it's a sure win for best and most original megalodon on the market, but I still don't think it's that original. I want a megalodon to be based on, at very least a mako, before I'm shelling out.

Chunkingosaurus is overall very nice, and I love that the plates angle towards the sides gradually. But then the thagomizers point back up again afterwards and spoil it. Still my vote for best stegosaur on the market right now, the vibrant colors definitely help.

Poor Euhelopus is starving to death, and brown, not just brown but like, actually dirt coloured. Still an interesting depiction of a behavior that we actually have an overwhelming amount of evidence to support, would benefit greatly from a quick touch of paint and perhaps filling in some of the more painful looking gaps of missing flesh.

Huanghetitan is the only one from the first release that I'm tempted by, finally a large sauropod figure that's not made of fragile resin. Elephant reminiscent colors are a tun off though, this animal dwarfed any and all potential predators, surely it would do better by capitalizing on that fact with an impressive appearance.

Lufengosaurus looks like a lizard, and for the price I could get a lot of really nice lizards.

Mandschurosaurus and Shantungosaurus aren't bad, but we have (albeit marginally) more accurate models of similarly built species that would make doable stand-ins as far as I'm concerned.

The way Tyrannosaurus tail bends feels unnatural. Combined with the generic flesh toned color and minimalist feathering to the point of redundancy it's not a particularly appealing figure visually by any means.

[tanystropheus]

Stargatedalek,

Excellent, well-elaborated post. And, while I agree with most of your points, I do believe the 'starved' 'emaciated' and 'shrink-wrapped' appearance is intentional/artistic license (and will appear in future PNSO products). Kinto Favorite's Araki is also known for giving his models a starved appearance.

I would be curious to see a modded Nyctosaurus. Keep us posted, if you happen to go forward with that project.

[stargatedalek]

Stargatedalek,

Excellent, well-elaborated post. And, while I agree with most of your points, I do believe the 'starved' 'emaciated' and 'shrink-wrapped' appearance is intentional/artistic license (and will appear in future PNSO products). Kinto Favorite's Araki is also known for giving his models a starved appearance.

I would be curious to see a modded Nyctosaurus. Keep us posted, if you happen to go forward with that project.

It does seem as though in general these new sculpts are moving away from shrink wrapping, and while I admit emaciated dinosaurs actually do look quite visually impressive in their own right it's just not a style that I'm fond of outside of science fiction media. If Papo has released these I very well might be jumping all over them, but the context of including them in a line focused on accuracy (and otherwise succeeding) is what I find off-putting.

These sculpts are so beautiful in general, I'd love to try my hand at a serious customization (as opposed to repainting or lopping off unwanted chunks of plastic) like beefing them up a bit. I may someday.

I'm definitely going to get on that Nyctosaurus though, the only question is when.

[DinoLord]

Great thoughts stargatedalek. I agree that the shrinkwrapped models from the first one were offputting; this is why I only got the Huanghetitan, Mandschurosaurus, and Shantungosaurus.

The latest models definitely seem to be a step up in terms of consistent accuracy. From what I can tell (the angle of the stock photos make this a bit difficult) the Chungkingosaurus' thagomizer isn't too far off. The last pair of spikes is more horizontal than the others which matches the literature. I wonder if the smaller stegosaurs may have had thagomizers oriented more vertically than Stegosaurus, the largest of the stegosaurians. I can imagine Chungkingosaurus using more vertical spikes to get all stabby in the face of an approaching Yangchuanosaurus if need be.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

They might as well rename the 1/20 figures "The Ely Kish Tribute Line". Some of those are dead ringers for Kish paintings, what with those bones sticking out all over the place.

Any of those minis 1/40-ish scale?