Review and photos by Loon, edited by Suspsy
There are a lot of Triceratops figures. A lot. So when I saw that PNSO was planning to release yet another one, and at an incredibly high price, I was pretty sure I’d pass. The early photos weren’t much help either, as they made me wary of the articulated jaw (more on that later). Plus, I was just getting a little sick of constantly “upgrading” perfectly good figures for figures that cost a lot more. But, there’s something to this Trike once you get it in hand.
It comes with a nice scale model of the skull. I’m partial to ceratopsian skulls, especially that of Triceratops. The skull of the massive Triceratops prorsus on display at my beloved Los Angeles Natural History Museum is the first thing you see in their grand Dinosaur Hall, so even though it’s a different species, I enjoy it for reminding me of that.
Like many recent Trikes, this figure is roughly in the 1:35 scale range (1:36 to be exact). It measures about 9.9 inches long and a little over 3.6 inches at the tallest part of the back. Another wonderful feature of this figure is the detailed skin. I believe I read somewhere that it’s directly based on the skin impressions found at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I’ve included a picture from my 2018 trip of said impressions, and it does bear quite a resemblance.
Now, as I said, I wasn’t eager to replace my 2018 Safari Triceratops with this one. So, I compared the two a bit and ultimately did decide that I find the PNSO favorable. Not to say that Safari’s is bad; it’s perfectly good, and for the price, definitely a better bang for your buck (it’s less than one fourth the price of PNSO’s). This may also be a bit of guilt at the price I paid, which isn’t a great way to determine how to like something. But, there are certain features that are just so striking on the PNSO, as they should be for the price.
One of those cool little things is the inclusion of the uropatagium, which you can sorta see in the odd picture above. It’s the flap of skin that connects the legs to the tail. This is a first for any dinosaur toy, let alone a ceratopsian. Which, is odd as the basal Psittacosaurus is known to have had one and even its toys lack it.
It’s not all perfect, of course. Aside from the high price of nearly $65 US, there are a few issues. Most notable is the jaw articulation. I don’t usually have any issues with articulated jaws, but on herbivores, it’s always troublesome. Unfortunately, this Triceratops is no different. I feel it breaks up the sculpt in a very unpleasant way. In addition, it’s relatively annoying to operate, as it’s not that easy to get open without feeling like you’re going to pull something wrongly. Also, the top beak has a habit of blocking the lower jaw from opening or closing. The photo below shows how much you can close it without bending it in to get past the beak.
Another issue is the sheer amount of paper included with this thing. You get, surprisingly, booklets, cards, paper for you to draw on, and both large and small prints. This is all tied to the unique line this figure is part of. The feature here is that by using these prints and cards and such, as well as the figure itself, you can create structured activities in the vein of a miniature museum field trip for kids. There are also videos that PNSO tells you to watch in addition. As someone who plans to go into teaching and has an interest in dinosaurs, I can appreciate the gesture, but from a practical point of view, it seems a bit strange. These activities span around 45 or so minutes, which seems like a real stretch for an elementary school age kid’s attention span, probably my own too. If you’re not going to use it for that purpose, however, it’s just a bunch of paper that’ll sit in a drawer and probably drive the cost of the figure up a bit.
Still, none of these issues outright ruin this figure. This is such an exciting and beautiful model, I can’t help but like it despite a few qualms. It’s inspired me to take a few fun photos as well.
I felt the need to pull out every ceratopsian I own (I think) and take one big group shot. Easier said than done, as I forgot how many of these things I have.
Now, I would like to note that almost everything in this review preceding this paragraph was written relatively soon after getting this figure, and after having been exposed to a few more opinions on this figure, I’d like to make something clear. This is definitely an “expensive for expensive’s sake” product in many ways. That’s perfectly fine if you’re into that thing, but frankly, the outstanding qualities of this figure are not so much greater than anything offered in any other Triceratops figure. If you’ve bought a different one in the past few years, then odds are you’ve already got a perfectly fine representation of this animal; almost every major brand has one. Even Mojö Fun and Schleich put out decent offerings fairly recently, and CollectA’s set to release a pretty good-looking one too. So hopefully my review has helped you in some way to decide whether or not the “upgrade” to PNSO’s figure is really worth it.
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A “Swing and a Miss” for PNSO on this attempted reboot of the original Doyle (which had a wonderful prancing pose). Yes, the body design detail is an upgrade over version 1’s exaggerated scales, but artistically this one is a miss compared to Doyle 1.
Why do I absolutely HATE this figure? Well, its probably because of the very fact they went the “extra mile” to try to make it more realistic looking – and then totally ruined it in the end (read on).
How much do I HATE this PNSO Triceratops reboot? Let me count the ways:
1. Terribly uninteresting pose for starters – boring, but not fatal, as I have plenty of boring-posed dinos on my shelf;
2. The HEAD;
3. The Blasted HEAD;
4. The @#*)(&!^!&!!! HEAD;
Why you ask? At this point I will give you that “did you just fall off a turnip truck” stare patented by my late mother and quote her immortal followup line: “Isn’t it OBVIOUS?” ;>)
How about the ridiculous mouth for starters? Yup, no skin there, maybe it was torn off by a TRex in which case this fellow is facing an agonizingly painful prospect of starving or dying from infections.
“But you can keep the mouth SHUT, just like you do with your PNSO Torosaurus, Sherlock” I hear you saying with annoyance.
Well, sure … BUT THAT WON’T HIDE THOSE RIDICULOUS HORNS!!! I retort with greater annoyance. *LOL* (Edit: I sense that the lack of ability to add emojis to these reviews is making the humorous nature of this post unclear to some of y’all, hence this disclaimer. ;>)
It is meant to be humorous. But I really DO NOT LIKE this figure. PNSO, take note and take these lessons to heart – or Haolonggood will put you out of business. :>)
You know, I’m gonna add another pet peeve here about ALL the commercially produced Triceratops PVC toys out there: They are ALL based on Triceratops HORRIDUS.
Not one of them is based on the *WAY COOLER LOOKING* Triceratops PRORSUS.
You know, the one with the shorter frill and thicker, nastier, almost-vertical horns? Yeah. That one. Desktop model by Favorite is the only one out there (other than the 2016-issued 1/20 scale Kaiyodo Triceratops model kit).
Here’s a link to my review of the former: https://dinotoyblog.com/triceratops-desktop-model-by-favorite-co-ltd/
P.S. My review of the Desktop Triceratops is the second one down page, after Marc Vincent’s initial review.
I think both named Triceratops species are as cool as each other. They are so similar though that I personally am not interested in prorsus being made too.
The jaw tissue is based on a published paper which has been followed quite a lot. It suggests ceratopsids had jaw tissue like on this PNSO figure. It’s summarised in Dinosdragons’ review of this figure.
I don’t see a problem with the figure’s horns. The only problem I’ve experienced with it, if I’m remembering right, is that to close the mouth it has to be pushed back a bit so it isn’t stopped by the beak.
The only “problem” here is that I don’t like the look of the head. Period. Its a matter of personal aesthetic preference. Yes, the reconstruction is defensible – but that’s not my beef with it. I would prefer this body type to Doyle 1.0 – but not this head. Doyle 1.0 has a more traditional Horridus head based on far more specimens than this one, which appears based on the single skull found with freakishly long horns. Not comfortable with it. ;>)
I just received this model and I’m blown away by the details especially the scales, they are spot on when compared to those skin impressions. I love the simple yet multilayered colors that add so much depth to the overall look.
My copy has no difficulty opening and closing the beak at all. For me, this definitely now ranks as my favorite triceratops, finally the battat model has been toppled after its very long reign. I’m excited how the new CollectA will look next to this one.
Undoubtedly one of the best triceratops figures on the market, the high price justifies the figure. It is a highly scientific model that comes equipped with a deluxe presentation apart from a skull and an explanatory brochure that not only enriches the presentation but also gives valuable information to the buyer.
The modeling and painting of the PNSO figures is what I value the most, super detailed and with a highly realistic painting and muted colors that gives an impression of more realism than other figures from other companies. The price is expensive but not as high as what should be required of these figures due to their outstanding quality.
Without a doubt PNSO is one of my favorite companies and perhaps my top favorite when it comes to scientifically made dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Their progression in improving the models is brutal in a very short space of time and every day they improve.
PNSO is perhaps one of the best companies on the market whose models will be a benchmark for decades in the world of toy dinosaurs due to the modeling of figures that will not go out of date as has happened with Battat. PNSO is an example of daily improvement and hard work by a company whose production of new figures is today constant. Thank you PNSO!
It’s a fantastic sculpt, but the colour scheme is too bland for my taste and the price tag is far too steep for such a relatively small figure. I much prefer the Eofauna and Safari versions to this one. Will likely snap up the new CollectA as well.