Nothosaur Review: Fantasy Silicone at Half the Price, With Trade-Offs

The Catalog & Prices

The catalog is broad for a maker at this price. Fantasy dildos are the core, starting with werewolf knots (Graemen is the flagship), horses (Hunter Jack, Conola), dragons, tentacles (Alla), ovipositors, and a run of anthro and creature designs. Around those sit butt plugs, masturbators, packers, cock rings, urethral toys and their own lube. If Bad Dragon's range is the reference point, Nothosaur covers most of the same creature territory with fewer iconic single designs and more variants.

The prices come straight from their store data, because they are the whole argument for the brand. Graemen, the knot, runs $59.99 in Small, $69.99 Medium, $99.99 Large, $139.99 XL, $179.99 XXL, then climbs through XXXL at $349.99 to a 4XL "Legendary" at $499.99. Hunter Jack, the horse, goes $59.99 to $339.99 across six sizes with Medium at $119.99. Conola, another horse, $79.99 to $179.99. Alla, the tentacle, $79.99 up to about $380 at the top size.

Put a Medium Graemen at $69.99 next to a Bad Dragon Medium at $85 to $175 depending on options, or a Mr Hankey's piece at $150 to $300, and the gap is the product. For a first fantasy toy, or for someone who wants to try a shape before committing real money to it, that gap is the reason to read on.

One caution on the store itself. Exact dimensions live in size-chart images on each product page rather than in text, so read the chart carefully before choosing a size, and remember the fantasy-community rule that a Medium from one maker is a Large from another. Conola's own product page warns that suction strength drops in the larger sizes, which is the kind of honesty I'd like to see more of.

“A $70 Medium knot in platinum silicone that ships from a warehouse this week is a real offer. Just don't mistake it for the toys it's priced against.”

— Sasha, on the value proposition

Material & Firmness

The material is platinum-cure silicone, and Nothosaur does something most budget brands don't. They post third-party test documents. The site links two SGS test results for their silicone and describes it as body-safe and hypoallergenic. I confirmed the links exist and lead to documents; I haven't audited what's in them, so treat this as "documentation posted" rather than "verified by me." That's still a level above the brands that just print the word platinum on a product page and hope you don't ask. For what those tests mean and don't mean, the body-safe materials guide covers it.

Firmness is where the brand loses its footing. Nothosaur offers three levels, Soft, Medium and Hard, on a proprietary scale they label 5, 7 and 9. No Shore hardness values are published anywhere, which matters because Shore is how SquarePeg and Hankey's let you compare across brands. And the most common complaint from people who own them is that these toys run soft. Two sponsored blog reviews say it in different words. One found the firmer of the Alla's two options "slightly too floppy" for penetration, the other called the Medium "still pretty squishy." A Trustpilot one-star from a buyer who paid over $160 apiece for the hardest option says they "aren't even usable. So soft." On Reddit, an owner recommending the XXL Graemen still warns the material "may be a little on the soft and floppy side." Not everyone agrees, though. One multi-model owner on r/SexToys rates the Medium as identical to Bad Dragon's Medium. But the softness reports come from sponsored reviewers, angry buyers and happy buyers alike, which is what makes them hard to dismiss.

There is also no dual-density. The brand says so itself in its firmness guide. No firmness splits, no fading from a firm core to a soft skin. Dual-density is what makes the expensive realistic pieces from Hankey's and NYTC feel the way they do, and it's a big part of what you're paying for there. Nothosaur is single-pour silicone, and at these prices, that's the trade.

If soft-and-squishy is the sensation you want, none of the above is a problem. If you want a firm knot that stays put under pressure, order Hard and expect it to feel like another brand's Medium, or shop elsewhere.

“Three different kinds of source, one complaint, and the complaint is too soft, even on Hard. With no Shore numbers published, the community consensus is the spec sheet.”

— Sasha, on Nothosaur firmness

Ordering, Shipping & Returns

Nothosaur runs a hybrid model. Stocked "limited color" versions ship from warehouses in the United States, Germany and Japan, which is a real convenience advantage over the made-to-order queues at the indie makers. Custom colors and custom-firmness pieces are made to order in China and ship from there. The stated processing time is 7 to 10 business days before dispatch for most orders; custom work "may require a little extra," with no firm figure published.

Customization is decent for the money. You pick color (stock schemes or a custom scheme, and they'll work from a reference photo), one of the three firmness levels, size, and a base, choosing between standard suction cup, Vac-U-Lock adapter, a hybrid, or a sex-machine adapter. Not every model takes every option; Graemen, for instance, can't be firmness-customized on some listings, so check the configurator before you fall in love with a combination.

Shipping is discreet, and this one I can say with confidence. Unmarked brown boxes, address and tracking only on the label, and buyers on Trustpilot and both blog reviews confirm it. EU customers get import VAT and duties prepaid on most orders, which is a nice touch. Payment options are broad, including PayPal, Apple Pay, Klarna and UnionPay.

Then the returns policy, which is the harshest I've written up in this category. There are no returns for change of mind, wrong size or wrong color, on the grounds that the products are intimate and often made to order. Defects must be reported within 72 hours of delivery, with photos. Seventy-two hours. If a flaw shows up on the second weekend you use the thing, you're on your own. Read the size chart twice, open the box the day it arrives, and inspect it under good light.

Reputation

Buyers like them. That's the first fact and it's a solid one. 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 166 reviews, 87 percent five-star, with praise for build quality, packaging, support responsiveness and the occasional freebie in the box. The negatives cluster around delivery, a package marked delivered that never arrived, shaky tracking, and the softness complaint above. Trustpilot also notes the company hasn't replied to its negative reviews, which tells you something about how much they engage when things go wrong.

The company itself is a different story. The terms of service name the legal entity as Hong Kong Kuren Group Co., Ltd., with no street address, no registration number, no founders and no facility location. The brand page says "founded in 2010" as a small independent studio, and wraps the whole thing in fictional lore about a place called Nothosaur Mainland. The domain, meanwhile, was registered in March 2019 through Alibaba Cloud in Beijing, and I found no trace of the brand before that. Maybe there's a workshop history I couldn't find. Maybe 2010 is marketing. Either way, a company that hides who it is while telling a founding story I can't check gets marked down for it, because the makers it competes with, Primal Hardwere, Bad Dragon, Hankey's, SquarePeg, all put a name and a place behind their products.

And there's the allegation I can't verify but can't leave out. In October 2023, Twisted Beast, a UK fantasy maker, publicly pointed to what it called the shitty business practices of Nothosaur and two other brands it says are affiliated, announced it would stop working with influencers who promote them, and told people to buy from Hankey's, Topped Toys, SquarePeg and "the other original makers" instead. Some Reddit commenters go further and allege design copying. That's anonymous forum talk, I couldn't verify it, and I'm not treating it as fact. The evidence thread Twisted Beast linked sits behind an age gate I couldn't read either, so even the named part of this is a public stance from a competitor, not a finding. It still matters, because a working maker putting its name to a boycott is a different thing from a Reddit account doing it, and if you care about buying from original designers you'll want to know the stance exists.

One more grain of salt. The brand runs its own subreddit, complete with official discount codes, and a lot of the glowing user posts you'll find live there. Enthusiasm from a brand-operated space is still enthusiasm; it just isn't independent.

“Buyers are happy, the silicone has paperwork, and the prices are real. The company behind it is anonymous, the founding story doesn't check out, and the people who make the originals want nothing to do with them. Both halves are true.”

— Sasha, on the Nothosaur question

vs. the Competition

Against Bad Dragon: Nothosaur is the budget version of the same idea, at roughly half the price for equivalent sizes, with faster shipping on stocked colors. BD wins on firmness options that mean something, on surface finish, on community, and on being a known company in Arizona. If money is the constraint, Nothosaur. If it isn't, BD.

Against Primal Hardwere: the ethical comparison. Primal is US-made, transparent, platinum-cure, and its lower end overlaps with Nothosaur's upper end in price. If the design-copying allegations bother you, Primal is the answer at the next price tier up, and you get the ovipositor specialists thrown in.

Against Mr Hankey's: different league. Hankey's is dual-density, firm where it needs to be, and priced accordingly at $150 to $300. Nothosaur isn't trying to be that. Anyone cross-shopping these two wants different things.

Against SquarePeg: the interesting one. SquarePeg makes deliberately soft toys and publishes the Shore values so you know exactly how soft. Nothosaur makes accidentally soft toys and publishes nothing. If squishy is the goal, buy it from the brand that means it.