PNSO: New For 2021

[JohannesB]

$60 plus shipping? Forget it 

[Gwangi]

PNSO is losing me, increasing the price while decreasing the quality is not a good business move. I miss the $20-30 mid-range line!

[Psittacoraptor]

PNSO is losing me, increasing the price while decreasing the quality is not a good business move. I miss the $20-30 mid-range line!

For me as an EU-collector it's the double whammy of price-binding and added taxes which makes PNSO a lot less interesting now. For example, I bought the Parasaurolophus for 28€, it now costs 42€ for me on Aliexpress. The figure was a very good deal at the original price, which I happily paid and felt I got my money's worth. But with the substantial price hike, I'd think twice about ordering it now. The Dunkleosteus is 41€, which is almost 50USD, that's very expensive for a relatively small PVC figure. With coupons I could take 3-4€ off those prices but they're still too high for my taste. I hate to bring more negativity into this thread because there is more than enough of it already, but the new pricing strategy makes PNSO's products a lot less appealing.

[SidB]

$60 plus shipping? Forget it 

You're right. But sales do come up on Aliexpress - I got the original Mamenschisaurus for $35 or so USD plus cheap shipping during one such sale about a year and a half ago. There's hope.

[Gwangi]

PNSO is losing me, increasing the price while decreasing the quality is not a good business move. I miss the $20-30 mid-range line!

For me as an EU-collector it's the double whammy of price-binding and added taxes which makes PNSO a lot less interesting now. For example, I bought the Parasaurolophus for 28€, it now costs 42€ for me on Aliexpress. The figure was a very good deal at the original price, which I happily paid and felt I got my money's worth. But with the substantial price hike, I'd think twice about ordering it now. The Dunkleosteus is 41€, which is almost 50USD, that's very expensive for a relatively small PVC figure. With coupons I could take 3-4€ off those prices but they're still too high for my taste. I hate to bring more negativity into this thread because there is more than enough of it already, but the new pricing strategy makes PNSO's products a lot less appealing.

Ouch! Yeah, that's rough. I don't envy you collectors in the EU right now. On my end there used to be an option on Aliexpress that allowed you to buy the figure without the box, which cut the price down, and I always opted for it. That option appears to be gone. I was able to get the Pachycephalosaurus for $24.25 from My Online Toy Store but now it's $29.14. Not a huge difference but for an already overpriced figure the small price reduction was nice.

[Bread]

@Gwangi I too chose the option without box on Aliexpress. It was the cheaper option, especially for those, like myself, who did not care to have the boxes.

Since Model Toy Center's  disappearance, plus the price hike in models, I have slowly drifted away from any recently released PNSO figures. Now that is not to say I dislike any of these models, but just the price in general is a turn off for me. I simply wait for the item to become part of prime, but again the prices are still high even with free shipping. Dunkleosteus was an exciting reveal for me! However, the price.... ugh....

I just hope for the prices to become a little lower. There are quite a few models out that I would love to acquire, especially after parting with a few models, but so far the prices have been a little annoying.

[Gwangi]

@Gwangi I too chose the option without box on Aliexpress. It was the cheaper option, especially for those, like myself, who did not care to have the boxes.

Since Model Toy Center's  disappearance, plus the price hike in models, I have slowly drifted away from any recently released PNSO figures. Now that is not to say I dislike any of these models, but just the price in general is a turn off for me. I simply wait for the item to become part of prime, but again the prices are still high even with free shipping. Dunkleosteus was an exciting reveal for me! However, the price.... ugh....

I just hope for the prices to become a little lower. There are quite a few models out that I would love to acquire, especially after parting with a few models, but so far the prices have been a little annoying.

There are a few that I still plan to get, but they're ones that were released longer ago like the Pachyrhinosaurus, none of the latest releases have appealed to me. I do like the Dunk enough that I'll probably bite the bullet and get it but $40 is about the maximum that I'll spend on toys of this size. I'm really bummed out about the price of the Kronosaurus in particular. Maybe if sales falter PNSO will backtrack and produce more affordable figures again. I feel like this is the same thing that ultimately turned me off to Papo...among other things.

[Sim]

That's certainly an interesting reconstruction of Torvosaurus, especially the lacrimal crests. Looks like PNSO took inspiration from tall-crested specimens like "Elvis", and dialed it up to 100 by incorporating Afrovenator's crests.

Weird how PNSO is willing to go so speculative with the keratin on this particular figure... but on the other hand, being ultra-conservative with the postorbital bosses, lacrimal crests and keratin extensions on their Tyrannosaurs. I personally would've preferred a more conventional reconstruction based on the "Edmarka rex" specimen.

"Edmarka" doesn't have any of the upper parts of the skull preserved: https://theropoddatabase.com/Megalosauroidea.htm#Edmarkarex

[Faras]

PNSO Mamenchisaurus

Length along curves: about 49cm

Common issue: some details are lost on both sides around ribs, seamline and lost details along the spine, some lines at left shoulder (probably formed during moulding).

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Problem on mine: tip of tail wrapped from packing, easily fixed with hair dryer though careful with it (especially when unboxing) as it's very thin and soft.

Regarding sloppy paint on head, yup it's indeed about as big as nail on my little finger (head of old Mamenchi is twice as big), so it's far less visible in person. Those teeth are thinner than hair, probably need a skilled, careful and patient person to paint them perfectly.

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Plenty of stuffs in the box. Think I prefer this bundle since a base takes up too much space and PNSO bases aren't particularly well made anyways. Shame big posters are folded though, bit annoying if you wanna frame them.

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This figure has proper heft which old Mamenchisaurus and Amargasaurus lack. IMHO superb musculature and skin folding, making it feels massive both up close and from 3m away despite the relatively small size/scale.

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Details on the body is decent 2021 level with some small loses BUT the skin on neck/head/tail looks like old Stegosaurus/Spinops (note the different textures separated by neck seamline), guess they wanted to present finer scales than those on back and didn't end too well.

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Legs are much thicker than old Mamenchi's, forelimbs are mainly straight so it would probably stand better. Overall the paint is simple and okish, though slightly too greasy under artificial light.

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Personally I like bulk of this figure a lot, and lost details don't bother me much as I can hardly see them from 50cm away... But my opinions might change if I had to pay Amazon price, well honestly if I was to spend $60 on it I'd expect clear texture on neck and tail. Scales in different sizes for each part of the body is nice idea but seems we need bigger figure for it.

That reminds me... I might be overly positive for PNSO stuffs cause of paying much less than you guys, sorry about it and eeh don't take my likes too seriously, probably best to make your own decisions on pics, youtube reviews and common issues 😊

[suspsy]

Based on all I've seen, I rank the CollectA Mamenchisaurus above this one. And it's way cheaper too!

[Psittacoraptor]

@Faras Thank you again for your impressions and photos! I do like this figure, but wow the head is even smaller than I thought. I bet it would have been much easier to paint if they had just made it 1/35!

I had no idea they crammed so much extra stuff in the box now. As a sucker for good artwork, I like this approach, and it's definitely a much nicer experience to unbox such a nicely presented package rather than a loose figure in a plastic bag. However, you clearly are paying a premium for the fancy packaging and art with these museum line figures.

[Flaffy]

That's certainly an interesting reconstruction of Torvosaurus, especially the lacrimal crests. Looks like PNSO took inspiration from tall-crested specimens like "Elvis", and dialed it up to 100 by incorporating Afrovenator's crests.

Weird how PNSO is willing to go so speculative with the keratin on this particular figure... but on the other hand, being ultra-conservative with the postorbital bosses, lacrimal crests and keratin extensions on their Tyrannosaurs. I personally would've preferred a more conventional reconstruction based on the "Edmarka rex" specimen.

"Edmarka" doesn't have any of the upper parts of the skull preserved: https://theropoddatabase.com/Megalosauroidea.htm#Edmarkarex

Man you sure do love dragging up old conversations.

So what is your point? I said that I would've preferred a figure based on Edmarka as it was likely to have been a far more impressive and robust specimen. My personal preference isn't affected by whether it has skull material or not.

[Faras]

@Psittacoraptor My pleasure  Yeah skull is about 11x7.5cm, looking at my shelves... only stegosaurids and sauropods minis have smaller head Having posters in package is defo nice, PNSO have so much to offer if they continue on this path. tbh it's probably needed at this rate since they ain't dropping prices or adding base again.

Hmm double checking the figure, I think scales on body is about as small as what's possible on PVC, so loss of details on neck, head and tail is inevitable when they wanted to make them even smaller. Zhao probably did that as he worked on resin. Though loss of details around ribs shouldn't happen if they double checked and fixed moulds properly (same thing with Andrea's thighs).

[ceratopsian]

That's a shame about the folds on the posters.  I'd rather liked the prospect of the artwork but had thought they would enclose it somehow in a tube inside the box!

[Carnoking]

Welp, the gang's all here and boy do I have some mixed feelings on them. I think I'm going to have to just film a group review of these figures rather than sit here and talk about every little thing I love (and don't love) about them.

[SidB]

I'm looking forward to that!

[Sim]

Man you sure do love dragging up old conversations.

Well, I don't love it, I only do it if it appears they reflect current thinking.

So what is your point? I said that I would've preferred a figure based on Edmarka as it was likely to have been a far more impressive and robust specimen. My personal preference isn't affected by whether it has skull material or not.

I got the impression you were saying you would have preferred the Torvosaurus figure's head crests to have been more conventional like on "Edmarka", since the rest of your post was only talking about head crests.  If you meant you would have preferred an "Edmarka" because it was more impressive and robust, I'm curious to know what the source for it being like that is.  The PNSO Torvosaurus already looks robust to me.

[SRF]

Welp, the gang's all here and boy do I have some mixed feelings on them. I think I'm going to have to just film a group review of these figures rather than sit here and talk about every little thing I love (and don't love) about them.

Looking forward to that @Carnoking! I'm also curious how you compare them to the Tarbosaurus since you were so excited about that one.

[Dinoxels]

Based on all I've seen, I rank the CollectA Mamenchisaurus above this one. And it's way cheaper too!

Agreed.

[GojiraGuy1954]

PNSO is losing me, increasing the price while decreasing the quality is not a good business move. I miss the $20-30 mid-range line!

Yall are finally coming around