196: PNSO Acrocanthosaurus (Fergus 2022) Review

[@michaelj2276]

God, I love your videos. Thank you *so* much for all the hard work you put into these - I seem to learn something new every time!

[@DinosDragons]

You are most welcome! It's something I really love doing and I am glad there are viewers like yourself who also like the science part of things! 😁

[@michaelkawano1951]

Finally! I was waiting not so patiently for your video on this one. I actually already have mine but wanted your thoughts on the science bits. Also I could not agree with you more. The super boring poses of most of the PNSO offerings are getting old quickly. It may be the only big let down in an otherwise exceptional line of figures. I would definitely pay more for bases if it allowed for more dynamic posing. Thank you for another great review!

[@DinosDragons]

You're most welcome! This time round PNSO decided they wanted to open orders to you guys in the West much earlier than us, so added to some personal issues that didn't help! I wasn't actually going to do a review on this because I figured there would probably be plenty of reviews up by now, but I just had plenty to say about this one lol! I really miss the days when the Museum Line meant a nice cool base that added not just context, but stability to theropods. I think if PNSO were to slowly go back to that, it would be much more loved especially by Western collectors who pay a lot more than us.

[@firegator6853]

even if im big fan of classic walking poses i agree with you, some more variety would do only good

[@oscarrox]

Good model showcase with excellent scientific background. I'm a newbie and the PNSO Acrocanthosaurus is one of the models I've singled out as a possible first purchase. I'll check out your other videos, learning about the physical structure of dinosaurs is a real bonus, and the way forward in understanding these amazing creatures. Thank you :)

[@DinosDragons]

Thank you for your kind words! I love the science behind these dinosaurs, and I appreciate viewers who also like that extra material. Some of my older reviewers might not be as current as the field as well as my theropod knowledge improves! 😁

[@QuiversaurusRex]

Always good to have another of your videos, glad you're back (: It's a great model, I especially like how the paint job seems to be getting more consistent when comparing to the box/promo images. Also enjoyed your breakdown of the sail vs hump hypotheses, informative as always Looking forward to your next review (PNSO Sinraptor?), and PNSO's next offerings. Fingers still crossed for some Spinosaurids!

[@DinosDragons]

Thank you, I actually was thinking of skipping this review but just had too much to say about the dinosaur itself. Which is unusual since I don't usually pay a lot of attention to theropods 😁 Yes I'm hoping for Suchomimus or Baryonyx! And they really have to get to some dromaeosaurids!

[@massimilianopetricca2804]

I'm very happy with this figure in my collection, congratulations to PNSO once again! And again congratulations to you for the excellent review as always, the scientific part regarding the sail or hump issue is really very interesting. Greetings!

[@DinosDragons]

Thank you I'm glad you enjoy the science part of the video 😁 Acrocanthosaurus is one of the most interesting theropods out there, and so much is known about it which is a rarity!

[@bryannedelgado6479]

My new favorite therapod from PNSO easily one of their best

[@DinosDragons]

Hard to argue with that! 😁

[@MrRajithasandaruwan]

Loved the review as always my dear Sir. I eagerly waited for you to review this amazing-looking figure and as always I learned a lot too. And the wait is so worthy. Thank you so much Sir for sharing your knowledge with us. Please keep up the good work

[@DinosDragons]

You're most welcome and thanks as always for your encouraging words! 🙂

[@oscarvaldes5621]

Rewatching this review (I find these reviews odly calming and therapeutic) and during the comparison I was wondering what you think of papos Acro? Seeing as it’s one of papos better offers. Are there any papo dinosaurs you would hold to the same regard as PNSO’s Dino’s in terms of overall quality (specifically scientifically speaking)???

[@DinosDragons]

I don't have that model so I can only comment from images. I recall that one thing that disturbed me is the way that the neck connects to the torso and then where the shoulder blades are... something just didn't sit right about the anatomy to me. I'm also not sure if the pose could be obtained in real life. That said, Papo isn't about accuracy as much as sculpted detail, and here it shines as usual. The thing is just beautiful in terms of artistry. Nowadays we have the new PNSO standard to hold up to, with its fineness, but in its time Papo was ahead of almost anyone else. The only models I have are the Allosaurus - inaccurate, but so special at the time in terms of detail and scalation that I wanted it; and the Carnotaurus, which seemed to be a smaller portable version of my Sideshow Carnotaurus. To sum up, if you hold scientific accuracy very high in importance, Papo probably isn't your best choice.

[@thomasmonroe7947]

Aha! There you are! Great review, again. Top notch appreciation of the figure, which is very nicely sculpted other than the atrophied tail, and the right amount of introductory background science to give added “life” to this beauty. Got concerned that we hadn’t heard from you in some time. If you have nothing else current, review something out of the cutlery drawer…. 😃

[@DinosDragons]

Thank you very much! I've not been well and have had a slew of other things coming all at once, and hence the delay. The fact PNSO released these for order to the West a whole week earlier than to us didn't help 😛 Tanks for the vote of support lol! Actually I do have some pretty good kitchen knives and I used to have a couple of nice Spydercos and a Gerber...I'll rummage around if things ever get desperate! 🤣

[@feuermetalz]

Imagine ordering this and a full scale acro arrives at the door in a gaint trailer

[@DinosDragons]

Imagine ordering this and nothing comes at all, but you get a delivery notice saying that it was delivered! 😡 Happened to me. 🤣

[@mauragon7311]

@@DinosDragons Don't scare me like that... I just ordered this online and expecting to arrive in a few days...😬😬😬😬

[@richardparrott7192]

Love this detailed review! The markings on this beastie are lot more interesting and it looks like a worthy model for anyones collection.

[@DinosDragons]

Indeed! They are a welcome standout, especially compared to plainer models that are still very nicely sculpted, but let down by a lacklustre paint job. I really like the Sinraptor, but visually compared to this, it's just no contest.

[@thgirwsporp]

I don't think anyone will read this comment, being so far from the video release, but I just picked up a Fergus and wanted to put my thoughts somewhere. There was something that really bugged me about the sculpt but couldn't place my finger on it. Then it hit me - its the hip area. There's no hip bones. If they sculpted a shelf for the hips the legs wouldn't appear so short and stubby (Compare these legs with, say, the Meraxes - they're way shorter!). The dividing line between body and "hump" would be drawn higher, over the hips and I'm sure this would even make the tail appear less short, and the whole stance (IMO) would be improved. Interesting to note, on IG when PNSO draws this area, the hip bones are shown and are higher up. Also, this is the worst skin Integument in any recent PNSO I purchased. In many areas the folds are soft, the foot pad detailing is soft, some areas like the base of the tail the skin texture is so soft that it's just smooth/shiny plastic. The seams are much more apparent as well. Maybe this is just on mine and is a bad pull (?). The head and paint job are awesome. But that hip area and the fact the legs are so much shorter than the other Carcharodontasaurid offerings might be an irritation I can't live with! BTW, mine stands up! Made it all the way thru the nite!

[@DinosDragons]

My apologies for getting back to yo uso late! I do make an effort to reply to comments, especially long ones like yours, but as the comments have increased since I started doing this it's taking a lot of time. Plus a two week vacation didn't help with the back log! Anyway! I think I understand what you mean. You are saying that because of the height of the ilium, the acetabulum should be below where it is, and the start of the femur correspondingly lower? I have seen various skeletal reconstructions that don't look obviously different to this. SirBlameson's skeletal on DeviantArt looks pretty stubby. From the top, it looks fine to me. Reconstructions I have seen has this area quite narrow. I did not find an obvious poverty of detail in this one, but perhaps it's easier to overlook thanks to my being in love with the pattern and colour scheme of this. of course looking at it now, and especially comparing it to recent work, the fineness is detail is a little lacking.

[@JohnAvery-zl2yq]

@@DinosDragons You are right, Acrocanthosaurus has smaller legs comparing to other carcharodontosaurids and allosaurids. In porportion with the femur both tibia and metatarsals are smaller than usual allosauroid, 80% and 35% respectively. For A. fragilis is 85% 44%, M. gigas 86% 38%, C. saharicus 83%*, G. carolini 82%... And for the ilium I think is more due the chunky look they give to the model and the amount of muscle and shoft tissue.

[@firegator6853]

Finally i was waiting for you to review this in both simple aesthetic and scientific! it's the first figure i ever got purely by looking at the promo images and not waiting for review...this seems a risky action especially with pnso who do choose some weird angles for their promos but watching this review im relieved that its not like the promos and of course im talking about that tail, in my opinion the length is very good in the figure but it could be beefed up more i think, it would also be benefitial to make the figure itself more stable not just for accuracy but i do not think that its too thin to the point where it would make people disappointed in terms of accuracy, although as i said a bit fatten up tail would be better about the head yes in the promos it does look big but i was confident and sure that it was just perspective, pnso is famous for their weird heads in promos and its most obvious with the tarbosaurus and allosaurus where their heads look very small in the promos but in hand they are perfect overall i believe its the best acrocanthosaurus out there both in beauty and accuracy, even if it has some tiny problems i think they are too small to bother me personally as a collector who is interested in figures that are accurate or at least very close to accuracy and this acrocanthosaurus fits in the category easily

[@DinosDragons]

You make an excellent point. Not only would the beefier tail be more in keeping with most scientific reconstructions, it would have added much needed weighting to the back of the animal. This is one of the very few PNSO theropods that can't stand up on its own, and I think that a heavier tail would definitely have added stability and helped PNSO keep up its good track record of balancing bipeds! I'm glad you went ahead to get this one, especially if you managed to benefit from any kind of sale. It really is a beautiful piece, and that pattern and paint application really is much improved over the usual stripes. You should be very happy with it! 😁

[@firegator6853]

@@DinosDragons it finally arrived! wow in hand its so amazing i think it challenges the spot for my top favourite pnso figure...and of course the tail, it's not bad at all in hand...like the difference is so tiny you have to be acrocanthosaurus expert to spot it especially considering that spines also exist along the way on the tail and stop a bit after the cloaca area the proportion of the tail looks very normal to my eyes and as you say in the reviews "we are spitting hair at this point"...also i would prefer if it's nails were painted a different color from the rest of the body like black or white also mine stands perfectly and now its the second day i have it...although i hate the stand support, its a tad too shot so it barely touches it's belly

[@oscarvaldes5621]

From the second I saw this guys promo images I loved him but I’ve been waiting for your review to see how scientifically accurate it is, I think I’m willing to lo look past his one bendy arm and stubby tail cuz he just looks so nice, thanks for the review :)

[@DinosDragons]

Thank you very much! That plus his snout might still be a _little_ too long, but you are right, to reject this based on one stubby tail and one overly bendy arm would be farcical in my opinion! You will not regret this for sure! 👍

[@lostonwallace1396]

I really like this a lot! I live in North Carolina, and there's a full Acrocanthosaurus skeleton on display in our Science Museum in Raleigh. I love this sculpt a lot, but there's a few things that I don't like. First, I don't like the teeth just hanging out over the lower jaw. Most likely, this therapod had lips, and this is just a little too Jurassic Park fantasy looking in that regard -- at least for my taste. I like PNSO, but I generally prefer Nanmu over them. I just feel like Nanmu probably would have given us more realistic looking teeth. These look kind of plain, and the paint seems a tad sloppy. Otherwise though, I do think that this is the best representation of an Acrocanthosaurus that I've seen. NANMU and PNSO are the two best dino figure makers right now, in my opinion, and this one is absolutely one of PNSO's best.

[@DinosDragons]

I've always wondered what a force Nanmu would be if it were to turn its direction towards more realistic looking dinosaurs. With their current work, sculpt, paint, detail and so on, if they were to do real dinosaurs and charge at about the same prices, they would definitely give PNSO a run for the money. Happy that you have real life examples to look at and be inspired by. It's really a privilege to have a specimen in a local museum, although sadly I think the general public tends to take it for granted.

[@lostonwallace1396]

@@DinosDragons Yeah. I'm more into realistic dinosaurs a lot more than I'm into the antiquated, stylized look of JURASSIC PARK film dinos. JP dinosaurs have captured the imagination of the general public, mostly impart due to the fact that every dinosaur image they get bombarded with in media tends to be JP inspired or directly related. I'm just very, very bored of the JP look to Tyrannosaurs, raptors, etc. The "shrink wrap" skinny look of dinos with the upper teeth visible and protruding over the side of the lower jaws is passe. I'd like to see more dino figure makers move onto doing dinosaurs based a little more on fact than fiction, personally.

[@venator7251]

I love this Acrocanthosaurus! Cant wait for mine to arrive! Now PNSO needs to reliese these Allosauroideas: Carlos(?) the Concavenator and Mila the Mapusaurus! :D

[@DinosDragons]

Hahah I like Mila the Mapusaurus! Although I think they have been neglecting the dromaeosaurids for far too long now!

[@Kurotitan7125]

I'm likely going to get Gamba, Fergus, and the brand new Lucas once it's out. They all look amazing

[@DinosDragons]

They will look amazing together, that's for sure!

[@ejshelby5460]

I wonder how the different makers determine what the skin tone and patterning these dinosaurs have

[@DinosDragons]

They probably reference/ take inspiration from real live animals, especially lizards and birds. The problem is that some of these colours that work in smaller animals don't often translate to larger animals. This is especially in considering pigmentation issues (as I talk about in Part 2 of my HLG Mamenchisaurus review)

[@vicgarb2288]

Thank you! Love the science portion in your videos. The stubby arms may also serve during mating to hook on to the female.

[@DinosDragons]

Good point I forgot to mention that! Certainly it makes sense to have powerful retraction to make sure the love of your life doens't get away! 🤣🤣

[@renantehitalada932]

As always a very beautiful review. and I'm happy that this model is 1:35 scale. ❤❤.

[@DinosDragons]

Thank you! I really hope PNSO can keep to around that scale unless it really can't be helped. It's really a different feeling when you have all these dinosaurs in the same scale for comparison!

[@renantehitalada932]

@@DinosDragons yes😁. I'm very much agree. It really make sense when put a human figure with the same scale beside the figure. You will be amazed how huge dinosaurs in actual size. 😁.

[@Fed.E]

Another entertained and educational video! I wonder if tyranotitan would have the same sail/hump, since it's also a carcharodontosaurid and had long neural spines. PS: I was actually worried about your absence, fortunately you're fine!

[@DinosDragons]

Thanks for your concern! I was actually pretty ill among other things but I'm glad I got this out as I had plenty I wanted to share about this 😊 Yes, in fact carcharodontids and many hadrosaurids had pretty long neural spines, and many have been reconstructed as a kind of high fleshy ridge. Although I do see variation from specimen to specimen in terms of how proportionately high these spines were!

[@ben-hr3fk]

I was waiting for your review. And as always amazing.

[@DinosDragons]

Thank you! Ten days late, but at least it's out! 😁

[@gonzalosandoval7306]

Excelente video, creo que no hay quien hagas Review con ese enfoque científico, la figura es muy buena, la cola puede ser un poco corta pero más larga de lo que mostraba la imagen promocional...estoy esperando si haces la revisión de diplodocusnde eofauna, saludos desde Chile y ojalá pnso varíe un poco las poses

[@DinosDragons]

¡Gracias! La cola en realidad, además de ser demasiado corta, también se estrecha demasiado abruptamente. Creo que por eso se ve raro. Desafortunadamente, todavía no tengo el EoFauna Diplodocus. Si lo compro haré una reseña!

[@JeanneCanni]

I discovered your channel with the Kiss and Tusk videos, love your content and all of the specific scientifical stuff you add to it. Keep on going! Also, I was thinking about starting a PNSO collection, i was thinking about getting either their Torvosaurus or their Tarbosaurus, they both are sold for the same price, which one do you recommend the most?

[@DinosDragons]

Thank you! Glad that you like the science part as well, which is something I've always wanted to have in my content. It's a pretty hard question to answer without knowing more information. What are your other personal favourites? What are your goals? For example, do you care to have representatives of each major dinosaur group? Or are you interested in any figure as long as it really looks good? Do you already have other dinosaurs? How much space do you have? Between Tarbosaurus and Torvosaurus, Tarbosaurus is a better known animal and if you have no other dinosaurs than this is a good one to start with in a predator, since it is a tyrannosaurid and done in PNSO's more current style. Although some feel it's too fat, and the snout a little too long. Unless you want to wait for the new version of their T Rex. If you already have a lot of tyrannosaurs then Torvosaurus is a good reprentative of a megalosauroid which isn't that common in the toy market. But perhaps the most important guideline I can suggest for PNSO, is that if you like a figure and the paint application, get it as soon as possible. That's because PNSO is quite known for having really good paint applications for the first run, but in subsequent runs having a fall off in quality and complexity as new models are offered. So I would try to get them as soon as possible if I really like the paint applications e.g. Miragaia and Spinosaurus.

[@SuperSonicPoptarts]

Amazing video as always. I’ve been getting their ceratopsians and also using your videos to find different papers to read. Eventually I’ll be brave enough to wander off on my own 😅 but for now watching your videos have been a great first step. I noticed you never reviewed Duke the Spinops. Is there a particular reason you never did like a similar situation with Sede the Ankylosaurus or were you just not impressed with the sculpt or something else???

[@DinosDragons]

Thanks for your support! Well I actually discovered some of PNSO quite late. By the time I got the Spinops, I believe it was six months after it came out, so it was not time-relevant and there would be no value-add to putting up another video to those reviews already out. In fact, I love that Spinops for its paint application. It's not garish, and a very nice and pleasing blend of earth tones.

[@jdidnxksi]

but did it have those Spikes on the back? i dont know if i really like them

[@DinosDragons]

Yes the Creator's Models use the actual models from the game, though they sometimes embellish some details here and there. But by and large they're pretty accurate to the game. All these spikes make it real difficult to clean of dust however, and if you don't like this one I suggest you could easily use the space and money for other smaller but equally good dragons! 😁

[@KaijuRemy222]

Still can’t believe they called one of them “Bart”

[@ericralston8094]

Which do you prefer between the PNSO and Rebor Acrocanthosaurus offerings?

[@DinosDragons]

The Rebor is really stylistic and very vibrant in its colouration, and I really liked it when I got it. However right now, I prefer the subtlety of the PNSO, with its complex and naturalistic colour fades, the lack of clown feet, and in general, better anatomical accuracy.

[@paleo-logica]

Thank you for this excellent review 🙏🏻😊

[@DinosDragons]

You are most welcome; I enjoyed making it! 😁

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

Overall it's pretty amazing and I just love it so much but I also do appericate this video also informative facts in this review. Also I hope yall have a great day

[@DinosDragons]

Thanks mate you have a great weekend too!

[@LaraPosting]

I find that a better comparison for a dynamic pose would be pnso's own yutyrannus, banger review nevertheless

[@DinosDragons]

Good point. I actually forgot about Yutyrannus! Stil that pose has been rather polarizing among collectors. There is are extreme reactions on both ends. But something less radical, and still departing from the simple generic pose, is still a possbility I feel could appeal to most collectors without alienating them at all.

[@erikserrano4535]

Excelente video con toda la información que brindas saludos desde Guayaquil Ecuador

[@DinosDragons]

¡Muchos gracias! Disfruté haciendo este video.😁

[@sewasuokarin8578]

Thanks for video

[@DinosDragons]

You are most welcome! It was a beautiful model to review!

[@horse14t]

After watching Prehistoric Planet theropods without lips looks so unnatural XD Don't think I'll get this one but the name Fergus is really cute!

[@DinosDragons]

Haha yes I sometimes think that if PNSO were really dishonest about it, they could rerelease many of their theropods with lips and still find a ready market! The thing is they did offer some older figures with lips. IIRC their Giganotosaurus for example. I think it's also what you are exposed to most often. I of course grew up with lipless theropods, even though the WWD series, while the younger generation will probably see that more as an abomination 🤣

[@Megumi_pogi_21]

Best figure

[@DinosDragons]

One of PNSO's best theropods! Would be perfect if it could stand, but that's just really nitpicking 😉

[@antoniorocha3967]

Already have mine. Best one available in this range. And i love the pose, it's better to compare these figures with others in the same pose. But that's a personal take.

[@DinosDragons]

I am glad you like it. Hopefully yours stands better than mine! 😊

[@antoniorocha3967]

@@DinosDragons Mine stands perfectly. But, of course, it's a matter of time... Must always use the support!

[@something6637]

Look cool. Torvosaurus when?

[@DinosDragons]

What do you mean?

[@The_PokeSaurus]

My third favorite theropod.

[@DinosDragons]

I'm guessing one of the first two is T Rex. What's the other? 😁

[@The_PokeSaurus]

@@DinosDragons Actually, none of the other two are Tyrannosaurus. Its Spinosaurus and Megalosaurus.

[@laughinglaughing1416]

It would be cool if PNSO make a Tyrannotitan. Idk i think it deserves a model treatment

[@DinosDragons]

Previously I would have said that given its scant remains, I doubt any nice model could be produced by PNSO. Then PNSO went ahead and gave us Zhuchengtyrannus. So I would say, anything is possible now! I would like a Lythronax and Teratophoneus myself 😊

[@oni-kaiju9524]

I got this figure is amazing one prob I have is that it has no lips non semi aquatic dinosaurs like spino doesn't have lips because it's teeth was hydrated by water but otherwise I love your reviews

[@DinosDragons]

The lips issue is still a controversial one, and probably polarizing in the more popular dinosaurs. Ultimately it comes to your individual preference, and if not having lips is a dealbreaker, you can be happy to have saved yourself some money! 😊

[@oni-kaiju9524]

@@DinosDragons I mean I just got Fergus I'd say he is amazing in person

[@calvinosaurus4514]

It seems that Acrocanthosaurus is very often depicted with yellow/orange colors. I wonder what started this trend?

[@DinosDragons]

You are right! I never even registered that but I had a quick image search and you are right on the money. I have no idea. I know why Tsintaosaurus is always green (because the name means "green island" in Chinese), but with Acrocantho I don't have a clue! 😛

[@我喝酸奶不舔盖-n4b]

前几天拼多多有活动，这个和鲨齿龙一起打包买花了不到200，非常舒服

[@DinosDragons]

哈哈，那恭喜了！现在有好几家店铺有农历新年大减价，也可以‘乘机而入’！😂 可惜我目前没有什么恐龙要买。可能看看变形精钢方面有什么新动静 🤣

[@M.R.0662]

Why you do not collect any action figures of the Beast of the Mesozoic series?

[@DinosDragons]

I do have the BOTM Spiclypeus and juvenile Triceratops. But I find them too big, and the colours are too gaudy and unnaturalistic for me, to have a large collection of. I would say that anyone should have at least one though, you won't get a better combination of articulated playability and scientific accuracy than David's work.

[@M.R.0662]

@@DinosDragons could you please do the subadult trike review? pls pls pls 🙏

[@tyrannotherium7873]

Looks dope

[@DinosDragons]

It is! 😁

[@lall6563]

GOODMovie❤

[@멀더fox]

예쁘게 잘나와서 축하해! 내것도 이렇게 도색되서 도착했으면좋겠다 그리고 리뷰도 잘봤다

[@DinosDragons]

I am confident it should the same as this! Since you are getting it on the first release on not later ones! 😁

[@ashleyartus1193]

👏👏👏👏👏❤️

[@laseriedeladilophosaure9246]

16:50 pourquoi vous n’avez pas beaucoup de dinosaures articulé ? 🤔

[@DinosDragons]

Because for me, they are more toys and not models. When you have aritculated figures, there are many compromises that have to be made, in order for them to balance, to have joints to move and hence seam lines, and once you pose them, you have breaks in colour and pattern continuity. So they really look good in just one 'real' position, where colour and patterns are interrupted. But I do have a couple of BOTM ceratopsians. They are such nice work that I want to have at least some representation of them.

[@greenbaryonyx5301]

the terrible acrocanthosaurus

[@DinosDragons]

Indeed! 😁

[@summers7775]

the slightly overlarge head and boring pose is what puts me off this model. Im still deciding whether to add this to my collection or not 🥲

[@DinosDragons]

It really boils down to your personal sense of aesthetics, and whether this would constantly be a source of irritation. I have bought models that had just that one thing that jarred, and in the end had to get rid of them. I hope you don't make that same mistake 🙂