Leyster's Collection (updated 29/03/24)

[Leyster]

S @SidB My pleasure. Well, the PNSO is nice, for some details I rate it over the GR, but the skull really bothers me. It's the same problem I have with Eofauna's Giganotosaurus.

[SidB]

S @SidB My pleasure. Well, the PNSO is nice, for some details I rate it over the GR, but the skull really bothers me. It's the same problem I have with Eofauna's Giganotosaurus.

Knowledge of the real, good in itself, can be a bit of a burden, when one is constantly frustrated by the inadequacies of the actual . No easy cure here!

[Leyster]

S @SidB My pleasure. Well, the PNSO is nice, for some details I rate it over the GR, but the skull really bothers me. It's the same problem I have with Eofauna's Giganotosaurus.

Knowledge of the real, good in itself, can be a bit of a burden, when one is constantly frustrated by the inadequacies of the actual . No easy cure here!

Yeah, I know, but after all I think it's better now (this prevents me to spend too much, too  ) than when I was in the first years of high school and I tought Papos were accurate.

[SidB]

S @SidB My pleasure. Well, the PNSO is nice, for some details I rate it over the GR, but the skull really bothers me. It's the same problem I have with Eofauna's Giganotosaurus.

Knowledge of the real, good in itself, can be a bit of a burden, when one is constantly frustrated by the inadequacies of the actual . No easy cure here!

Yeah, I know, but after all I think it's better now (this prevents me to spend too much, too  ) than when I was in the first years of high school and I tought Papos were accurate.

Grand strategies to prevent overspending (like only collecting the best of each species) make a great deal of sense. Otherwise one almost always reaches a point of diminishing emotional returns, not to mention space limitations as well as financial duress.

[Halichoeres]

I think for this reason, there will never be a Tyrannosaurus that satisfies people. It's too intensively studied.

[Leyster]

S @SidB well, aside for financial reasons, I think it's due to my university background, mainly

@Halichoeres maybe

Binomial name: Atlasaurus imelakei Monbaron et al. 1999
Classification: Dinosauria->Sauropodomorpha->Bagualosauria->Massopoda->Sauropodiformes->Sauropoda->Eusauropoda->Neosauropoda
Time: Bathonian-Callovian (middle Jurassic)
Formation: Guettioua Formation (present day Morocco)
Manifacturer and date of release: Eofauna, 2019
Sculptor: Shu-yu Hsu?
Scale: 1:40

I have some dubts on the proportions due to comments about the skeletal used by people more versed in sauropods than me, but neverthless an impressive model. Although I would have preferred thant they didn't use that strange grey drybrush on the sides and the tail.

[SidB]

@Shonisaurus thank you!

@SenSx well, megalosaurs have quite a smooth skull, but I see your point

@Justin_  I don't know, it doesn't exactly resemble Parker's pose

@Gothmog the Baryonyx what's all the hate for the Vitae Sinoceratops? Apart for its fragileness, that I can understand

S @SidB well, at each his own taste I suppose


Binomial name: Yutyrannus huali Xu et al., 2012
Classification: Dinosauria->Theropoda->Neotheropoda->Averostra->Tetanurae->Coelurosauria->Tyrannoraptora->Tyrannosauroidea->Proceratosauridae
Time: Aptian (early Cretaceous)
Formation: unknown member of the Yixian Formation (present day China)
Manifacturer and date of release: PNSO, 2021
Sculptor: somebody in the atelier of Zhao Chuang
Scale: 1:32 for the largest specimen, but see below

A long awaited model, but like many long awaited things, it turned out just a bit deluding. The skull shape doesn't match Yutyrannus, the keratin is lacking and the head is too small. More in my review, soon. Otherwise a great model.

Well, I took my Safari (!1/40) Yutyrannus and compared its skull size against the PNSO one (1/35), which just arrived in the post yesterday. Sure enough, the two are about the same size, which of course verifies what you have said about the PNSO having a somewhat small head. It seems like a strange design decision in light of the tendency of companies to often make their theropod's heads a bit on the larger size. As for me, I'll simply consider it an individual whose head is on the smaller size of possible range. Problem solved, so to speak.

[Leyster]

Well, I took my Safari (!1/40) Yutyrannus and compared its skull size against the PNSO one (1/35), which just arrived in the post yesterday. Sure enough, the two are about the same size, which of course verifies what you have said about the PNSO having a somewhat small head. It seems like a strange design decision in light of the tendency of companies to often make their theropod's heads a bit on the larger size. As for me, I'll simply consider it an individual whose head is on the smaller size of possible range. Problem solved, so to speak.

That's good, if it works for you  ! I generally prefer to stick to the fossil evidence, and we have not one, but three Yutyrannus with skull remains, which show some differencies in proportions due to onthogeny, but skull size is not one of them.

[SidB]

Thanks again, L @Leyster for your illumination. As a collector who displays his PNSO's together with his Papo's, I'm used to a certain "willing suspension of disbelief." To be human is not only to be rational, as Aristotle claimed/observed, but also to rationalize, as the postmodern philosophers are fond of pointing out.

[Leyster]

S @SidB my review of the Yutyrannus, if you're interested

[SidB]

S @SidB my review of the Yutyrannus, if you're interested

Yes, I certainly am and having carefully read through it, availing myself of your ample imagery, I can readily see the points that you are making. With the clarity of your exposition, the model's shortcomings, particularly in the skull and neck become rather apparent, particularly the surprising size of the skull itself. One wonders what was going through the sculptor's mind in making these design choices, again, especially the size. If there was a conscious choice involved, I'd like to know what it was. Still, i suppose that the deviations from the fossil evidence won't be severe enough to grossly offend many or most prospective purchasers, if, in fact, they even perceive them. There's an epistemic gap here: I may see something, yet not really perceive it - until someone points out the discrepancies. In other words, we so often see what we expect to see.

[Leyster]

S @SidB Glad you liked it. Yeah, as I said many will not even notice these issues.

[Lanthanotus]

Nice presentation of your collection, with the provided scientific and manufacturer data. Keep it goin, Leyster

[Leyster]

Nice presentation of your collection, with the provided scientific and manufacturer data. Keep it goin, Leyster

Thank you, @Lanthanotus, just saw your comment

Binomial name: Tarbosaurus bataar Maleev 1955
Classification: Dinosauria->Theropoda->Neotheropoda->Averostra->Tetanurae->Coelurosauria->Tyrannoraptora->Tyrannosauroidea->Tyrannosauridae->Tyrannosaurinae
Time: Campanian? Maastrichtian? (late Cretaceous)*
Formation: Nemegt Formation (present day China)
Manifacturer and date of release: PNSO, 2021
Sculptor: somebody in the atelier od Zhao Chuang
Scale: 1:31 for PIN 551-1


*There are some doubts about the exact age of the Nemegt Formation

I still think that the Favorite Exclusive one is nicer, but it's also harder to come by.

[SidB]

In the blizzard of PNSO releases, in easy to forget some of the richness of the past. Yes the Favorite Tarbo is a very fine piece. I got one from Brett, along with their wonderful Saurolophus several years ago. It's good to be reminded.

[Shonisaurus]

That tarbosaurus is spectacular, his Favorite counterpart is at a much lower level than that figure. Highly tempting figure when buying.

[Leyster]

@Shonisaurus  I don't think so. Proportions expecially seem to match better the specimen it's meant to be represented, and it's not a kitbash of specimens like PNSO's is.

S @SidB Yeah I personally think that PNSO's stile gets boring after a bit. There are some sculptors I would have no problem owning all they produced (ie. Cheung Chung Tat, but also Forest Rogers most recent works), but Zhao Chuang atelier is not one of them. I kinda preferred when they did minis, at lest there was an huge diversity of uncommon species at a cheap price.

Binomial name: Beipiaosaurus inexpectus Xu et al. 1999
Classification: Dinosauria->Theropoda->Neotheropoda->Averostra->Tetanurae->Coelurosauria->Tyrannoraptora->Maniraptoromorpha->Neocoelurosauria->Maniraptoriformes->Maniraptora->Therizinosauria->Therizinosauroidea
Time: Aptian (early Cretaceous)
Formation: Jianshangou Beds of the Yixian Formation (present day China)
Manifacturer and date of release: Safari LTD, 2009
Sculptor: Doug Watson
Scale: 1:26 based on IVPP 11559

The Safari Feathered Dinosaurs Toob is a reminder, if any needed, to buy figures as soon as they're available, 'cause quality is going to downgrade.

[SidB]

This one caught me by surprise, I confess. I have the 1/10 Beipiaosaurus from Forest Rogers, a fine model, but I never thought of the Toob. This one would fit into my Safari diorama, which Rogers' one couldn't because of its large size.

[Leyster]

This one caught me by surprise, I confess. I have the 1/10 Beipiaosaurus from Forest Rogers, a fine model, but I never thought of the Toob. This one would fit into my Safari diorama, which Rogers' one couldn't because of its large size.

S @SidB I bought it more or less to exibit it alongside the PNSO Yutyrannus, where even if not exactly in the same scale can give a sense of how bigger Yutyrannus was compared to what was previously considered the biggest feathered dinosaur

[SidB]

This one caught me by surprise, I confess. I have the 1/10 Beipiaosaurus from Forest Rogers, a fine model, but I never thought of the Toob. This one would fit into my Safari diorama, which Rogers' one couldn't because of its large size.

S @SidB I bought it more or less to exibit it alongside the PNSO Yutyrannus, where even if not exactly in the same scale can give a sense of how bigger Yutyrannus was compared to what was previously considered the biggest feathered dinosaur

Clever! I'm assuming that you bought the Toob, or was it an individual item?