PNSO: New For 2021

[SidB]

Seems a little quiet on prehistoric releases from PNSO....

I've noticed PNSO have been posting their animal figures on instagram. Hopefully this is an indication of a pause in releases, plus I haven't seen any news or reveals regarding new figures. If anything, I only expect two more museum line figures to be released for the rest of the year.

I guess that would include the Mamenschisaurus and, @Bread , very hopefully , the new Triceratops @1/35.

[Andre]

Memenchisaurus available at amazon: https://www.amazon.com/PNSO-Dinosaur-Museums-ER-MA-Mamenchisaurus/dp/B09B7LV9ZV?ref_=ast_sto_dp

[Bread]

Thanks for the link A @Andre! Price is lower than I thought, $60 plus the $20 shipping price, however, I can wait till this is prime so shipping will be free. Hopefully get some size comparisons soon.

S @SidB I was originally thinking a Spinosaurus and Triceratops would be the two last releases. But you never know with PNSO...

[Sim]

My thoughts on new PNSO figures:

Yutyrannus - Looks brilliant, I'm eager to get it.

Allosaurus - It's weird how PNSO treats it as A. fragilis when it's clearly A. jimmadseni.  I've ordered this one and it should be in one of the boxes I've received but not opened yet.

Helicoprion - I would have preferred PNSO made Edestus.  Maybe PNSO can make Edestus in the future!

Tarbosaurus - I'm glad PNSO made Tarbosaurus and not Zhuchengtyrannus.  Tarbosaurus really deserved a good figure, while Zhuchengtyrannus is just jaw pieces.  I can understand wanting a Zhuchengtyrannus so the Favorite Zhuchengtyrannus and Sinoceratops can both be replaced by PNSO figures though.  That being said, a Tyrannosaurus figure can act as a stand-in for Zhuchengtyrannus...

Torvosaurus - I'm really happy PNSO made a Torvosaurus tanneri!  This species has been neglected for too long.  I don't like the nostril position on it but it's still a must-have for me, finally a Torvosaurus tanneri!  I don't see anything wrong with its horns.

Nanotyrannus - I don't see the point of this figure.  They already made four tyrannosauroid species, Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Yutyrannus and Qianzhousaurus, did they really need to make another, and a dubious one at that?  On the plus side though @Halichoeres can replace his ugly grinning DeAgostini Nanotyrannus.  As for people using the PNSO Nanotyrannus to form a family with Andrea and Wilson, isn't one of the noteworthy things about Nanotyrannus/juvenile T. rex that it occupied a different niche from the adult T. rex?  So the juveniles wouldn't be spending time with the adults.

Dunkleosteus - PNSO HAD to make one, didn't they?  ...Boring.

Stegosaurus -  First of all, I don't care about the baby.  The sculpt on the adult is excellent, and I'm glad it represents the S. stenops holotype while taking into account Sophie - this was needed.  Compared to PNSO's previous Stegosaurus, the new one's mouth anatomy looks more believable, and the throat armour is present on the new while it was missing on the old.  The colouration of the plates also looks better on the new.  But... why is the paint on the rest of the new Stegosaurus so muddy!?  I can't imagine what whoever was responsible for this was thinking.  Why do good Stegosaurus figures keep getting overly dull colourations, first the 2019 Wild Safari and now the 2021 PNSO.  Also, it's disappointing to see in videos that this new PNSO comes with some of its plates bent.  I think I will pass on this figure due to its colouration.

Kronosaurus - It's disappointing.  The unattached part of the tongue is weird, and the tail just doesn't make sense on a plesiosaur.  I also don't know why PNSO created a Marine Museum section on their Amazon store when the box for the Kronosaurus still says Dinosaurs Museum.  And why isn't the Mosasaurus in this section?  I find it hard to imagine a Marine Museum section would contain enough figures to justify making it, but I guess it's all for marketing.  It would be nice if PNSO made a plesiosauroid with a VERTICAL tail fin though.  Cymbospondylus would also come out well in PNSO's style I think!

Tyrannosaurus "Andrea" - I also don't see the point of this figure.  Why does it have an articulated jaw which it can't use unless one makes space under its head?  Why did PNSO even make this figure when, as @Gwangi mentioned, it doesn't go well with Wilson, due to the different style of their integument?  I hate resting poses in animal figures, but for those who like them you got an excellent Tyrannosaurus in one.

Mamenchisaurus - I don't understand why it was made.  PNSO's previous Mamenchisaurus was a great figure which didn't need replacing, and I find it superior to this new one which has creepy eyes and goofy teeth.  I'm also not a fan of all the additional things PNSO is including with this figure.  I find it frustrating that PNSO doesn't give their sauropodomorphs and theropods lips, and this Mamenchisaurus shows how very silly it can end up looking.

Amargasaurus - @Takama, you forgot to add the Amargasaurus repaint to the first post.  With regards to this figure, it's annoying that PNSO released this without fixing the inaccurate double first spike.  An accurate Amargasaurus is needed more than another Mamenchisaurus.

[Concavenator]

I have seen some in hand pics of the Mamenchisaurus on Baidu (Paleofiguras have posted some as well), and I simply love it. Their previous Mamenchisaurus was certainly nice, but I find this one to be superior. And as nice as CollectA's version is, I also prefer this new PNSO one over it.

Who knows, this might be my first "museum" range figure from them (yes, I know the quality is the same as the medium sized line).

[Carnoking]

A rare case where the in-hand version looks better than the paint master, at least in regards to the head. The paint might not be as well-applied but at least the eyes don't look so buggy on the final product.

[SidB]

A comment, @Sim , on your thoughts regarding Logan the Nanotyrannus/ juvenile rex. Niche partitioning can be partial too - the youngsters ravenously pursuing smaller prey that would otherwise elude the more ponderous adults, but also "hanging around" to grab scraps from the larger victims of the adult(s). As to the degree of tolerance of the latter for the former, who knows.

[Sim]

Juvenile T. rex helping adults catch faster prey seems unlikely to me as that prey would be relatively small and thus would be insufficient food for adults.  As for the juveniles eating scraps from the larger victims of the adult T. rex, if they were doing that why were the juveniles built for speed?

Regarding the PNSO bronze statues, I noticed the Gigantoraptor and I think the Sinosauropteryx too were originally going to be plastic figures that were shown off a few years ago now I think.  I guess PNSO didn't feel they would be popular enough and decided to make them into bronze statues?  It looks like they won't be released as plastic figures anymore and that fate would also apply to the other figures shown back then which never got released, e.g. the resting Tsintaosaurus.

I saw photos of the new Mamenchisaurus and I don't understand why people like it.  The close-up photo of its head that can be seen here makes it look utterly bizarre: https://www.facebook.com/Paleofiguras/posts/3133619826865932

[Faras]

Regarding why they made new Mamenchisaurus, Zhao made some stuffs for a museum not too long ago, amongst them there's a 1:45 Mamenchisaurus model. Guess guys at PNSO thought they might as well make some easy money.

BTW the story of builing new Mamenchi vid is finally up on youtube with English subtitles, plenty of info on history of discovery and features like beaks and shoulder blade angle
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I7qAIcGPph4

[Carnoking]

Yeah I watched that video and the insight kind of made me more excited for the new one. Probably going to pick it up and decide whether I prefer it or the old one down the road

[Flaffy]

The details look rather muddled and obscured in some places. Maybe something went wrong during the moulding process?
The paintjob isn't anything to write home about either, looks even more bland than the original, with incredibly sloppily painted teeth as well. Hopefully better HD images and reviews of the figure will make it look better, but I'm not currently holding my breath.

Mamenchisaurus - I don't understand why it was made.  PNSO's previous Mamenchisaurus was a great figure which didn't need replacing, and I find it superior to this new one which has creepy eyes and goofy teeth.  I'm also not a fan of all the additional things PNSO is including with this figure.  I find it frustrating that PNSO doesn't give their sauropodomorphs and theropods lips, and this Mamenchisaurus shows how very silly it can end up looking.

@Sim
The original did need an update, primarily the erroneous head anatomy, and secondarily the posture + scale size.
This was likely the incorrect skull reconstruction used for the old PNSO Mamenchisaurus.


While the actual skull is depicted in the image below, to which the newer figure (and the mini) follows much more closely.


But I too would've greatly preferred a lipped sauropod, or heck even a new species like Shunosaurus be represented in the line.

[Psittacoraptor]

I think you guys are greatly overestimating the size of that Mamenchi figure. Its head is less than half the size of the W-Dragon Giraffatitan on the comparison photo on paleofiguras, and that figure already has a tiny head. The Mamenchi's head is probably about the size of a (small) fingernail. I'm not sure you can expect meticulously painted microscopic teeth on a mass-produced figure. I do agree, however, that the overall colour scheme is rather bland.

[Flaffy]

I think you guys are greatly overestimating the size of that Mamenchi figure. Its head is less than half the size of the W-Dragon Giraffatitan on the comparison photo on paleofiguras, and that figure already has a tiny head. The Mamenchi's head is probably about the size of a (small) fingernail. I'm not sure you can expect meticulously painted microscopic teeth on a mass-produced figure. I do agree, however, that the overall colour scheme is rather bland.

Meanwhile Kaiyodo with their >$4 thumb-sized gashapon figures:




If overseas collectors are paying $60 for what is supposedly a deluxe "museum series" figure, I expect something a little better than a singular fused line of white paint that doesn't even coat all of the teeth. (notice the line of paint completely misses the teeth at the front of the head).

Would've been much better if no teeth showed at all if I'm being honest.

[JohannesB]

Looks like what Invicta would make, if they were making their dinosaur toy models nowadays. I like the dull, virtually monochrome paint scheme - dull/dirty colors are better for small scale figures, because it simulates the effect you get when looking at real life animals from a great distance, like what we effectively have here, with a small figure of a huge animal. (Macro photo's (like these) are a different experience altogether, though.) I think for such a tiny head, they were able to get in a lot of detail. I think I might get it and put it with my Invicta collection - see if it can hide in between them there, without standing out too much :-)

[SidB]

Juvenile T. rex helping adults catch faster prey seems unlikely to me as that prey would be relatively small and thus would be insufficient food for adults.  As for the juveniles eating scraps from the larger victims of the adult T. rex, if they were doing that why were the juveniles built for speed?

Regarding the PNSO bronze statues, I noticed the Gigantoraptor and I think the Sinosauropteryx too were originally going to be plastic figures that were shown off a few years ago now I think.  I guess PNSO didn't feel they would be popular enough and decided to make them into bronze statues?  It looks like they won't be released as plastic figures anymore and that fate would also apply to the other figures shown back then which never got released, e.g. the resting Tsintaosaurus.

I saw photos of the new Mamenchisaurus and I don't understand why people like it.  The close-up photo of its head that can be seen here makes it look utterly bizarre: https://www.facebook.com/Paleofiguras/posts/3133619826865932

No, that wasn't my point. The juveniles would chase down food intended for themselves alone, since they alone were suited for that type of prey. However, opportunistically, they could and would, hypothetically be able to scavenge scraps from the adults when available, and be quite able to scurry away if the adults became irritated, due to their superior speed and agility.

[Psittacoraptor]

@Flaffy Those look, well, like they cost 4$ The Mamenchi's head is probably around the size of those Kaiyodo's figures' heads. I think there's a good amount of detail for something so small. That's all I was saying, that the head is really, really tiny, and you won't even see the teeth from a normal viewing distance, especially because the head is such a small part of the animal. The paint can still bother you, of course, I was just trying to put it into perspective.

[Flaffy]

@Flaffy Those look, well, like they cost 4$ The Mamenchi's head is probably around the size of those Kaiyodo's figures' heads. I think there's a good amount of detail for something so small. That's all I was saying, that the head is really, really tiny, and you won't even see the teeth from a normal viewing distance, especially because the head is such a small part of the animal. The paint can still bother you, of course, I was just trying to put it into perspective.

And well, the Mamenchisaurus certainly doesn't look like it should cost $60. If Kaiyodo manages to paint their miniature-figures with such precision (the teeth are even individually painted in some cases with minimal bleeding), then I don't really understand why PNSO isn't willing to put a little more care into their paint application when these figures are presented as "premium" products.

[Sim]

@Flaffy, the skull you're presenting as the accurate one is the skull of M. youngi.  As you can see in the image below, other Mamenchisaurus species have skulls that look different.

  (Image source)

You are right though that the head of the previous PNSO museum Mamenchisaurus is inaccurate, if it represents M. hochuanensis which I thought it did since the tail club is based on that species.  Perhaps it can work as a M. jingyanensis (whose skull looks similar to the figure's) or another species of Mamenchisaurus which doesn't preserve the skull?

As for the posture of the older figure, I think a Mamenchisaurus could make that posture by lowering its neck.  The scale size of the older figure doesn't look too big to me.


S @SidB, sorry for misunderstanding.  Thanks for clarifying!

[SidB]

@Sim , no problem, glad to unpack my statements more effectively. Your critiques are always welcome.

[Faelrin]

Wow that sloppy paint on the teeth is really disappointing for something that costs and is generally treated as a premium product. Hopefully this isn't a widespread issue. Other then just not liking the aesthetics of the exposed teeth (especially on sauropods), apparently having them exposed opened the door to this issue unfortunately.

I also agree that the meticulous paintwork on Kaiyodo figures is nothing short of impressive (and many of those were made in the early 2000's), especially having a few in hand so I agree with @Flaffy this could have been avoided.

This isn't the first time one of their museum figures had paint issues unfortunately. Thankfully we live in a reality with a much cheaper alternative that to my knowledge avoids this issue entirely.