Very true. The Lion-O from wave one had terrible face paint apps but the release figure looks nearly perfect (and animation accurate).Mattel loves to paint parts on prototypes and then leave them bare plastic on the finished product. They're probably the last company I trust with product photos (Barbie is even worse about how products look in promo images vs real life).
So there is a slim chance of a change occurring for Panthro, but every single photo from the early promo shots, to product shots (both professional and at conventions) show a long armed abomination.