PNSO: New For 2021

[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!

Yall are finally coming around

It's not new, I've been complaining about this since around the time of the Pachycephalosaurus release. I only have 10 PNSO figures in my collection. There are a few more I plan on getting but they definitely fall closer to $30 than $60.

[Bread]

I think the museum line is what really is displeasing. Here is a small assessment at what I believe is worth the price and the too expensive to get kind of figures.

There are a few mid-sized figures that are overpriced, two mainly being the Pachycephalosaurus and Juvenile Tyrannosaurus (Nano), with the quality not matching the price. A few successors since the rise in price would be the Parasaurolophus and Tarbosaurus in my opinion. Their Museum Line Stegosaurus being the worst in my opinion, their slightly (yes slightly) smaller Stegosaurus part of their mid sized line being superior and almost the same...

I am not trying to bash PNSO, but for someone who can't afford buying their entire line(s) priorities must be made. I really do like their products, but their prices need to be addressed. Would love to read/hear about why PNSO figures been increasing in price as compared to their past releases.

[Gwangi]

I think the museum line is what really is displeasing. Here is a small assessment at what I believe is worth the price and the too expensive to get kind of figures.

There are a few mid-sized figures that are overpriced, two mainly being the Pachycephalosaurus and Juvenile Tyrannosaurus (Nano), with the quality not matching the price. A few successors since the rise in price would be the Parasaurolophus and Tarbosaurus in my opinion. Their Museum Line Stegosaurus being the worst in my opinion, their slightly (yes slightly) smaller Stegosaurus part of their mid sized line being superior and almost the same...

I am not trying to bash PNSO, but for someone who can't afford buying their entire line(s) priorities must be made. I really do like their products, but their prices need to be addressed. Would love to read/hear about why PNSO figures been increasing in price as compared to their past releases.

I couldn't agree more about the Stegosaurus, that was extremely disappointing. I didn't get it, and I didn't get the Parasaurolophus either. I did get the Corythosaurus but it was a high priority purchase for me that straddled the line of what I consider an acceptable price. I'm also really bummed out about the Kronosaurus, I was really excited about that one. I would pay $40 for it, but $60 on top of all the inaccuracies, I can't do it.

[Medzo]

I got my third PNSO figure today (the Yutyrannus) and so far I'm very much satisfied with the quality. Only the price is getting a little out of hand with most of the models - considering shipment costs too.
Thus I only plan to order around four or five figures yearly. Fortunately the nodosauridae are on the cheaper side of the palette, those do not have any serious competition in this price-quality range imho.

On the other hand GR Toys may knock PNSO out with theropods if they are going to further release models like the Charcaro. I think PNSO should focus more on herbivores the next year.

[SidB]

Yes, @Medzo , I'd like to see that too, both for the sake of diversity and cost.

[Sim]

Two thoughts I have on things recently mentioned:

1. The old PNSO Stegosaurus is inferior to the new one in anatomy.  The paint on the plates is better on the new, while the paint elsewhere is better on the old except for the silly pink around the eyes on the old.

2. PNSO shouldn't focus on herbivores.  They've already focused on ornithischians.  What they need to focus on is sauropodomorphs, and this is coming from someone who only likes the bipedal members of this group and Amargasaurus.  Although if they give them exposed teeth again maybe it's better if PNSO doesn't make any more.  It's frustrating, really.  I would also like PNSO to make certain theropods that they've been neglecting, e.g. Suchomimus, Herrerasaurus, Austroraptor, Xiongguanlong (I know I said no more tyrannosauroids for now but I'd love a model of this one ), Acrocanthosaurus, Sinornithosaurus.

[SRF]

Now that PNSO hasn't released anything new for a while (well, by their standards at least) I'm also reflecting on what to think of their more recent models. I've never complained about their prices, but it seems clear to me that one figure gives more value for money than the other. Of course it also depends on what kind of deal you can find, so for me the price I've purchased the Pachycephalosaurus for wasn't all that bad at the time (about €18,-) while how it stands now, it would cost me almost double that with the new EU taxes and all. And since the Nanotyrannus is the same price as the Pachy, I've decided not to get it.

The same applies to the Stegosaurus which is hilarously overpriced as well. I did however pay the same amount of money for Andrea and I'm actually quite fond of her, altough I have to say that Wilson is, despite its oversized scales, by far the superior figure. And it's not only because of the pose or the strange leg position of Andrea, but especially the overall production quality of the figure compared to Wilson. The paint application of Wilson, especially the eyes, teeth, inside of the mouth and head in general, is miles better. On closer inspection, Andrea's head seems to miss some of the detailling of Wilsons head, while they are obviously the same mold. Also the material of which Andrea's head is made, is softer than Wilsons head. The scale detail on Andrea's body is of course superior to Wilsons. The paint on the bodies is about equally well done, I think I like Andrea's coloration even a bit better than Wilsons. But Andrea's nails of her hands and feet are not painted at all. So yeah, I do feel PNSO's quality in general is declining a bit, especially when comparing the two T. Rexes which are both in the more expensive Museum Line.

But off course there are also figures from PNSO which are fairly priced. If you consider how similar both species and thus their figures are, getting the Tarbosaurus for about half the price of Andrea is instantly a good deal. And then there is the Parasaurolophus, which I still feel is a work of art. These two are easily my contenders from PNSO for best figure of 2021.

[RobinGoodfellow]

..we're all forgetting that PNSO prices are far lower in China than Europe or USA.
And we're all forgetting that free-shipping doesn't exist : simply shipping prices are included into  international offers.
I don't know what is the reason behind that but probably there is only one: business is business; the more you want a thing the more you pay for it..
It's a simple rule we all created long ago. 

[Faelrin]

@RobinGoodfellow Isn't that also the case with Eofauna prices in the US for example? Their models prices do seem slightly cheaper on Everything Dinosaur or Urzeitshop (including when converted into USD), then on Dejankins, Dan's Dinosaurs, or BBTS. I could have sworn something like this came up a couple of years ago explaining the difference.


Still I must admit it does seem rather strange how most figures released in late 2020 were around $22.99, aside from the Corythosaurus and Spinosaurus, and from December on started increasing to $30 or over, with many being over $40 now, not counting any museum releases in between them all, as those have always been over $50, since 2019 (also jeez wow, looking at the current Amazon store prices, cannot believe the 2019? Amargasaurus is cheaper then the 2021 Stegosaurus  ).

In the order of release from last year until now starting with the Microraptor (I did some digging in both the new for 2020 and 2021 threads for this info, on at least when they became available on their Amazon store):

Spoiler

#29 Microraptor $22.99 (late September)
#34 Tuojiangosaurus $22.99 (mid October)
#32 Lambeosaurus $22.99 (mid October)
#28 Corythosaurus $38.99 (mid-late October, the first jump up in price)
#33 Atopodentatus $22.99 (late October)
#31 Borealopelta $22.99 (late October)
#30 Pachyrhinosaurus $22.99 (early November)
#35 Spinosaurus $38.99 (early November, the next one to jump up in price)
#38 Sauropelta $22.99 (mid November)
#41 Machairoceratops $22.99 (late November)
#40 Sinoceratops $30.99 (early December, prices from here only go up and stay up)
#39 Miragaia $30.99 (early December)
#42 Qianzhousaurus $38.99 (late December)
#36 Carnotaurus $38.99 (early January)
#37 Pinacosaurus $30.99 (early January)
#44 Parasaurolophus $42.99 (early March, the first of many at this price from then out)
#46 Pachycephalosaurus $30.99 (mid April)
#45 Allosaurus $38.99 (late April or early May)
#43 Helicoprion $38.99 (mid May)
#50 Carcharodontosaurus $42.99 (mid-late May)
#52 Yutyrannus $38.99 (early-mid June)
#51 Tarbosaurus $42.99 (mid June)
#48 Torvosaurus $42.99 (mid June)
#49 "Nanotyrannus" $30.99 (mid July)
#47 Dunkleosteus $38.99 (early August)

[close]

Edit: I also decided to add separate sorting with categories for ornithischians, theropods, and others. By doing so I noticed some interesting trends. Nearly all the theropods released from late 2020 on have been $38.99 or higher in price, with exception of the Microraptor and "Nanotyrannus". Nearly all have articulated jaws, except the Microraptor as well. With the exception of the Corythosaurus and Parasaurolophus (which are also quite large), most are either priced at $30.99 or $22.99. Not surprising the two predatory fish which also have articulated jaws (and iridescent paint schemes), are priced $38.99 like most of the theropods.

Not shocking is theropods also traditionally sell better then ornithischians, etc.

Spoiler

Theropods:
#29 Microraptor $22.99 (late September)
#35 Spinosaurus $38.99 (early November, the next one to jump up in price)
#42 Qianzhousaurus $38.99 (late December)
#36 Carnotaurus $38.99 (early January)
#45 Allosaurus $38.99 (late April or early May)
#50 Carcharodontosaurus $42.99 (mid-late May)
#52 Yutyrannus $38.99 (early-mid June)
#51 Tarbosaurus $42.99 (mid June)
#48 Torvosaurus $42.99 (mid June)
#49 "Nanotyrannus" $30.99 (mid July)

Ornithischians:
#34 Tuojiangosaurus $22.99 (mid October)
#32 Lambeosaurus $22.99 (mid October)
#28 Corythosaurus $38.99 (mid-late October, the first jump up in price)
#31 Borealopelta $22.99 (late October)
#30 Pachyrhinosaurus $22.99 (early November)
#38 Sauropelta $22.99 (mid November)
#41 Machairoceratops $22.99 (late November)
#40 Sinoceratops $30.99 (early December, prices from here only go up and stay up)
#39 Miragaia $30.99 (early December)
#37 Pinacosaurus $30.99 (early January)
#44 Parasaurolophus $42.99 (early March, the first of many at this price from then out)
#46 Pachycephalosaurus $30.99 (mid April)

Others:
#33 Atopodentatus $22.99 (late October)
#43 Helicoprion $38.99 (mid May)
#47 Dunkleosteus $38.99 (early August)

[close]

[Bread]

Thank you @Faelrin! Great research and list put together.

Well seems like the $38.99 figure is the new $22.99 figure.

[Faras]

Wow awesome research @Faelrin ! Damn I had no idea global prices increased so much

Prices in Mainland China went through similar changes, I do recall PNSO officially announced price increase when they released Sinoceratops, looking at their store pages it seems they can be roughly classified:

Figures about size of palm or hand, no articulated jaw: 79yuan before Sinoceratops, ￥99 after, exception is ￥69 Atopodentatus(unpopular species).

Figures with articulated jaws and big figures: ￥149, exception is ￥99 Nano (small size).

Well-made and/or highly demanded figures (Parasaurolophus, Carcharodontosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Torvosaurus): ￥169, Torvo is ￥159 though, guess it's not good enough

Museum line: Kronosaurus is ￥249, in line with Giganotosaurus, Yangchuanosaurus + Chunkingosaurus, Mossasaurus. Stegosaurus, both new T. rex and new bookstands are ￥299, in line with big Ceratosaurus. Triceratops, both Mamenchisaurus and Amargasaurus are ￥199 (hmm bit different it seems, they cost ￥50 more than 2021 Spino).

Well seems like the $38.99 figure is the new $22.99 figure.

Hmm imho $30.99 is the new $22.99, since $38.99 ones are either much bigger or have articulated jaws.

[Bread]

Well seems like the $38.99 figure is the new $22.99 figure.

Hmm imho $30.99 is the new $22.99, since $38.99 ones are either much bigger or have articulated jaws.

True, could be that way, but I was just basing it on how both $38.99 and $22.99 are common price points. Now since the cheaper price has disappeared, I figured $38.99 is its replacement.

[Faras]

True, could be that way, but I was just basing it on how both $38.99 and $22.99 are common price points. Now since the cheaper price has disappeared, I figured $38.99 is its replacement.

Yeah $38.99 is far more common this year with only one hand-size no articulated jaw figure

[Gwangi]

Great job @Faelrin, I really appreciate that you did that. There does seem to be a correlation between price and jaw articulation/theropods. This leads me to believe that they aren't necessarily increasing their prices because they can (although, maybe a bit with the theropods) but because of the type of product they're offering. Large figures with articulated jaws probably aren't cheap to produce. Of course there are a few models that go against that theory, like the Pachycephalosaurus. I wonder what the prices would look like if they went back to producing ornithischians, that would give us better insight.

[Faelrin]

Glad compiling all that has been helpful for you folks.

@Faras Thanks for the input on mainland prices, etc. Size and articulated jaws increasing prices makes sense, as well as those with numerous/multiple paint apps (each adds to the production cost). I wonder what those would be if converted directly into USD (including conversion rates). The info about them announcing they are increasing prices after the Sinoceratops released is interesting. Again I wonder why.

@Gwangi I am wondering that as well. I do recall a post made from PNSO a few months or so ago shared here (which I saw digging for all this info) saying more ornithischians were coming but again it has been some time since then. I imagine it will be quite some time before I can get back to collecting so I appreciate the pause in products for the meantime anyways.

Edit: Don't need to wonder anymore with the recently revealed Olorotitan!

[Faras]

@Faelrin Yup, and imo those $42.99 figures are indeed a bit better than $38.99 ones. $38.99 Yutyrannus (half tongue) in mid of $42.99 releases means it's not universal increase. iirc they said increasing production costs and barely making profits back then. Here I made a list of PNSO prehistoric figures' listing prices in Chinese yuan and directly converted to USD/Euro. Chinese shops also offer monthly (well actually about 2-3 times a month, lasting 3-7 days) 10-20% off sales.

Conversion rates at 05:10 PST/11:10am CET: 1 Chinese yuan (CNY) = 0.15 USD = 0.13 Euro

Spoiler

￥49, $7.58, €6.42:
#17 Eurhinosaurus

￥59, $9.13, €7.73:
#18 Dakosaurus

￥69, $10.67, €9.04:
#33 Atopodentatus
#14 Old Stegosaurus (gone from official shops)

￥79, $12.22, €10.35:
#15 Megalodon
#13 Ankylosaurus
#16 Spinops
#26 Baby T. rex
#27 Baby Sinoceratops
#29 Microraptor
#34 Tuojiangosaurus
#32 Lambeosaurus
#31 Borealopelta
#30 Pachyrhinosaurus
#38 Sauropelta
#41 Machairoceratops

￥99, $15.31, €12.97:
#40 Sinoceratops
#39 Miragaia
#37 Pinacosaurus
#46 Pachycephalosaurus
#49 "Nanotyrannus"

￥149, $23.05, €19.52:
#28 Corythosaurus
#35 Spinosaurus
#42 Qianzhousaurus
#36 Carnotaurus
#45 Allosaurus
#43 Helicoprion
#52 Yutyrannus
#47 Dunkleosteus

￥159, $24.59, €20.83:
#48 Torvosaurus

￥169, $26.14, €22.14:
#44 Parasaurolophus
#50 Carcharodontosaurus
#51 Tarbosaurus

￥199, $30.78, €26.07:
#12 Ophthalmosaurus
#09 Basilosaurus
#10 Megalodon
Triceratops
Amargasaurus
Old Mamenchisaurus
New Mamenchisaurus
Sci-art posters collection

￥249, $38.52, €32.61:
Mossasaurus
Giganotosaurus
Yangchuanosaurus + Chunkingosaurus
Kronosaurus

￥299, $46.25, €39.16:
#11 Ceratosaurus
T. rex Wilson
New Stegosaurus
New T.rex bookstand
New Sinoceratops bookstand
T. rex Andrea

￥349, $53.98, €45.71:
Old Spinosaurus

￥499, $77.19, €65.36:
Old bookstands

[close]

[SidB]

"Barely making a profit" - hmmm, that's sure possible, but then again, it's a common refrain. On the other hand, if the workers are now gaining a better level of compensation, that's a good thing.

[Faelrin]

@Faras Wow there is a startling difference between the current international prices and the mainland prices. I guess seller fee's, etc could be the cause of that. Thank you for going through the trouble of that. Not quite Aliexpress cheap (without box option some sellers had), but nearly close. I wonder if by having those seller's selling things cheaper then their Amazon store (and Aliexpress) was financially hurting them. Aside from them introducing their store over there with the same costs as on Amazon I wonder if that's why many alternative sellers were essentially pulled and/or increased their prices to be in line with no more no box options.

Increased production costs does not come as surprising to me as we have seen it affect other companies such as Safari Ltd, and Mattel, etc in different ways.

S @SidB I agree with you.

[Faras]

@Faelrin My pleasure Yeah huge differences, afaik it's same for most Nanmu, W-Dragon and GRtoys stuffs, i.e. international prices are about double the mainland prices. I guess AliExpress sellers hurt them badly since most of them have Taobao stores, so they were basically getting stuffs at mainland retailer prices (something like 1/2 - 2/3 of mainland listing prices) and keeping all extra profits from international businesses to themselves.

S @SidB Agreed, hmm that reminds me, rumours on Chinese forums say PNSO was working with GRtoys' factory from "the revival" till before release of Microraptor. They signed different factory for Microraptor - Carnotaurus, then changed factory again before Parasaurolophus. Could explain why overall paint quality got worse from 2019 - sept 2020 - Feb 2021 while skin details improved.

[SidB]

@Faras , that's interesting. Reality is usually more complex from within than without. It's good to withhold judgement until the fact of the matter becomes more clear. One can only guess at the behind the scenes dynamics that occasioned these transitions.