More Jurassic World Dinosaurs!

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Mattel

 

I told ya this initial push for Jurassic World figures was appropriately massive!  Too big to contain with just one post!  Picking up where we left off last time, let's jump head first into the Wal-Mart exclusive "Dino Damage sub-line.

 

These are a little bit bigger than the $8 budget dinos and cost a bit more for the cool action feature.  This is a bit of a throwback to the Kenner figures, which had rubbery "skin" and a patch where you could remove a whole chunk, revealing some bloody guts and sometimes bone.  I'm sure that when you see these vintage figure on ebay or second-hand shops, the kids of yesteryear had made sure these chunks are lost to time.  Well, there's no fear of that happening with these homages, as the damage feature is a spring-activated, flip panel.  More along the lines of the old-school Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor figures.  Pretty cool, but they do have a little extra bump that stand out on account they need something to catch for the mechanism to work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Indoraptor is the new movie villain.  He's another cross-breed, in the vein of the Indominus Rex from the first JW.  He's mostly a larger, smarter raptor with a scary paint job and some extra spines to make him look "cool."  His slick, black look really reinforces the slimy reptilian stereotype.

 

He definitely stands out from the other figures in the line, as they went all out in the articulation department.  I'm talking Marvel Legends articulation here...from Mattel!  I know...shocking!  You can get him in all sorts of poses, and there's no action feature to hinder any of it.  The balance on this thing is great.  You can get him in some pretty low, stalking or running poses and he stands sturdy.

 

The biggest figure in the line so far is the Mosasaurus, who is about 28 inches long.  He's pretty hollow, but only $30.  His flippers rotate and hinge out and his mouth opens an closes.  No action feature aside from being huge and cool looking, but that's enough! 

I hope he isn't the last of these larger-scale figures as we definitely need a brachiosaurus or apatosaurus or brontosaurus...any of the huge, long-necks will do.

Oh, he also makes an appropriate mount for six-inch scale Aquaman!  I'm sure Mer-man from Masters of the Universe could use him in his ranks of undersea minions as well.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for more JW toys from Mattel in the next year before it cools off.  Even if this were the end, that's quite a lot of product that hit all at once!  I am pleased, but more, please!  The park is closed for now.  Please make your way to one of these Matchbox vehicles to return to port.


Raptor claw courtesy of Dinosaur Park, Rapid City, SD.

 

 

 



Jurassic World Dinosaurs

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Mattel

Jurassic Park sequels are, for the most part, turkeys.  The Fallen Kingdom may disappoint in the end, but it's already got some great dinosaur toys from Mattel fueling the hype train!  Mattel?! Now, I do enjoy their DC Universe toys, but they are notorious line bunglers.  I guess they learned something from Hasbro's pathetic JW attempt because I dare say these rival the original JP Kenner offerings.  So many different dinos of different size and features right out of the gate!

The smaller dinosaurs lack any action feature and are fairly skimpy in the articulation department.  They are appropriately articulated for the price point ($7)...and like you needed the gallimimus to do anything but be in a perpetual running stance!  Dimorphodon scores a bit higher with his posable wings and opening jaw. The dilophosaurus is my favorite here with his hinged frills and removable "spit."

The "Roarivores" are mid-sized dinos with button-activated jaws and electronic roars.  The first wave features Triceratops, Baryonyx, Allosaurus, and the hard-to-pronounce-at-first-glance Metriacanthosaurus.  They all have added articulation in their arms and their legs are able to hinge out at the hip.  I kind of wish that the jaws were closed and the button opened them instead of the other way around, but that's a minor gripe.  Chomping action is cool, not matter how you get it!

While triceratops is "tops" for most dino enthusiasts, especially in having a memorable poop scene in the original Jurassic Park, I'm going to say the winner here is Allosaurus.  He's got my favorite paint detail of the group and has some gnarly equipment.  He may not be as big as the T-Rex, but he's still top of the food chain.  I read that he would ambush attack large prey and bludgeon them by using his upper jaw like a hatchet.  Cool!  Also, I bought a replica Allosaurus claw while on vacation to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah once...works together as a neat display piece! 

There are human characters in this line from the whole film saga.  Unfortunately, the "Legacy" characters are Target exclusives.  Target is my most hated of retailers and I cringe every time I hear they are getting an exclusive.  It's pretty much guaranteed that I will have to pay higher prices on Ebay to complete a collection, mostly due to the poor stock at my local store.  Dr. Grant is packed out the most...I've yet to see Ellie and Muldoon on the pegs, and I have little hope of seeing Ian Malcom as he wasn't in the line debut.  Sigh.  It's a shame, because for 3.75 inch scale figures they don't look too bad. 

Grant comes with a small, rubbery Compy figure that can clip to his arms or legs.  This baby T-Rex was also a Target exclusive.  Ugh!  Exclusive dinosaurs!  I really hope this doesn't lead to trouble in getting a Spinosaurus later.  Anyway, Baby Rex has a button-activated chomp action sans sound.  He also has a cool muzzle accessory that fits on his head pretty snug.

The Carnotaurus, Stegosaurus, and T-Rex are a couple of the largest figures in the line and feature button-activated attacks.  Carnotaurus' neck bends downward as he takes a snap forward with his jaws.  He might be my favorite dino in the line because of this fun feature...okay, it might also have something to do with his reddish color and devil horns.  His shrimpier-than-tyrannosaurus arm have some articulation where they join to his body, which I find hilarious.  I mean, what use are they anyway to merit some extra plastics engineering there!

Like the triceratops, stegosaurus is probably one of the more popular types.  Spikes and spines, and a great sculpt all around!  His action feature is great as well:  a multi-jointed tail swipe.  This low-rider must have been a tough meal to get.  Definitely don't wanna get down on his level...WHAM!

This T-rex was a Walmart exclusive, with a special "battle damage" paint job and packaged with a smaller figure, monolophosaurus.  It's one of the more posable dinos, with an extra joint section in the neck for increased head movement.  It's jaws open at the push of a button, and shows off a pretty long and gnarly tongue before taking a bite out if it's prey.  There are several different sizes and variation of T-Rex in this line, but I feel this one might scale the best with the rest of the figures.

 There are lots of Raptors to be had in this collection, with different action features, sculpts, and paint jobs.  They all feature moving jaws and some leg/arm articulation.  The green one here has spring-loaded legs to simulate a jumping action.  The gray one is from the more basic line like the gallimimus.  And Blue is from the Walmart exclusive "dino-damage" line. 

We'll take a look at the "dino-damage" figures and more Jurassic World goodness in the next installment.





Dinobots

Dinobots

Transformers - Hasbro

Power of the Primes

It's taken 12 years since the start of the Transformers Classics line to get to the Dinobots.  These long awaited additions really are the capper to my collection.  Up to now, all I had was a Fall of Cybertron video game Grimlock as a placeholder.  But now, the gang is all here!  And what's more, they are now a combiner team!  Yes, what's cooler than robots that turn into dinosaurs?  Robots that turn into dinosaurs that combine together to form a larger robot!  Maybe...anyway, let's take a look at the team!

Slag, the Triceratops...second in command to Grimlock.

Snarl, the Stegosaurus...analyst.

Swoop, the Pteranodon...scout.

Sludge, the Apatosaurus...the logistician.

"The Jurassic World line hasn't got around to making a longneck yet, so saddle up, Dr. Grant."

Slash, the Velociraptor...the tracker.

Slash is a new creation for this line and the only female Dinobot.  She doesn't officially combine with the others, but there have been some fan configurations that attach her as a backpack on the bigger figure.  As if she weren't small enough, the smaller Titan Masters or Prime Masters can ride in a compartment in her back.  She features a decent range of motion with her legs (robot shoulders/arms) and a hinged jaw...which is her weapon, since she comes with nothing else?

Grimlock, the Tyrannosaurus Rex...leader and king!

Grimmy is a Voyager sized figure.  He comes with the foot pieces to the larger robot and nothing else.  These are supposed to act as weapons for him, I guess.  They do clip on to his arms, but still...where are his weapons?  No blaster or sword?! Lame.  Oh well, I get to use the FOC placeholder Grimlock's energon sword and shield.  I think they look pretty good on this figure.

 All but Grimlock and Slash are deluxe size figures.  I heard a lot of complaining from TF fans that they should be larger: Grimlock being leader sized and the others voyager sized.  Yeah, maybe.  But I'm willing to look past that for $15 a figure versus $25. 

For the most part, I am happy with the designs in both dino and robot form.  Very Generation One...which is about all I ask for.  There are some nice translucent plastic parts that are a nice touch and throwback accurate. Aside from the missing weapons I mentioned, not a bad showing.

Power of the Primes is the third part of a trilogy of toy gimmicks for this line.  It sometimes has the power master gimmick, sometimes headmaster gimmick, sometimes combiner gimmick.  Using the latter, the dinobots can combine into Volcanicus. 

I dunno.  It sounded like a better idea that it did in execution.  He looks okay if you make some changes here and there and can get him to stand up.  He's kind of gangly.  His ape arms are too long and sit to far off his shoulders to be stable.  The mid section is way too scrawny, but can be helped if you port in some of those additional fist pieces to fill space.  I can't seem to get his shoulders to port where they are supposed to for too long.  He's pretty heavy, so if you move him, something is liable to disjoint or fall off.  As I said before, they did not include Slash in this combiner design, so you either have to toss her aside or get creative.  Overall, the dinobots are not worth the trouble in this form.

Still, I'm glad to finally have these characters in the classics lineup.  The single dino and robot forms work and are both easy and fun to transform.





The Flintmobile

The Flintmobile

The Flintstones - Mattel

 

Yabba-dabba-do!  Let's take a trip back to the prehistoric past!  All the way to 1994 with Mattel's Flintstones movie line.  I've always been a Flintstones fan growing up.  I loved the reruns, the Flintstones Kids (which makes me gag now). I had related toys and games.  I've been Fred for Halloween twice in my lifetime. And I've even been to a now defunct Flintstones theme park in Custer, South Dakota a couple of times (I have a souvenir ash tray from this park.  Talk about stone age..."souvenir ash tray?").  While the live-action movie version falls flat in the comedy department, I do love the overall look of the product.  As such, I couldn't help but buy into the toy line...and eat a billion McRibs at RocDonalds.  I'll have to dig out those happy meal toys and collectible glasses someday. Anyway...

 

The Flintmobile from this line eluded me for some reason until now.  I think it was because I had a hand-me-down Flintstones electric toothbrush set that's base was the car, and it fit well enough with the figures.  But now I'm an adult and have money to buy stupid things on Ebay! 

It's pretty simple...it looks like the car, it fits the family of four, and it rolls.  It could benefit from some paint detailing, maybe a dirty wash to get in the woodwork and stone.  The box says it "rolls with stone age sound" as an action feature.  If an annoying plastic clicking sound is stone age, mission accomplished?  It certainly doesn't have the charm of any sound effect from the Hanna Barbera library.

Insert "it's a living" joke and laugh track here.

It completes my Flintstones movie line-up save for some Fred and Barney variants.  Such a strange group.  Being able to say you have Kyle MacLachlan and Rosie O'Donnell action figures in your collection is weird enough, but to have them in these squashy toon/realistic hybrid caricatures? Bizarro.  I only wish "Viva Rock Vegas" (barf) had been successful enough to give us an Alan Cumming Great Gazoo figure.  At least Harvey Korman made it to action figure form with the Dictabird...oh, wait...dammit...must still be in storage.  Sorry, Harvey.

 



Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime

Hasbro Transformers

Power of the Primes Leader Class Figure

Transformers was one 80s property that I didn't collect as a kid, for whatever reason. I loved the cartoon and the idea behind giant robots turning into vehicles we see in our everyday lives. I'm glad I got a second chance on them much later on when Transformers Classics figures debuted as a filler line around the horrible Michael Bay monstrosities.  There have been several Optimus Prime figures since the beginning in 2006, but none as perfect as this one.  The height, the colors, the look...I'm pretty sure I will never want or need another Optimus for my collection.

As far as the gimmick for the Power of the Primes sub-line, this one is pretty darn cool.  You get two figures in one, with a smaller, pre-Matrix of Leadership Orion Pax, fitting into a larger Optimus Prime shell.  It looks kind of strange at first, when you pop the OP torso and head out of the rest of the body, but the overall transformation works.

The popped out piece is all Orion Pax after transforming.  He's a pretty sturdy, slightly-larger-than deluze size figure.  Like his later form, this Orion is picture perfect for the original Generation One design. The larger gun can be split in two to give Orion a more approprately sized weapon.  He is replacing a more modern take on the character in my collection.

While you've got Orion out in full bot mode, its strange to leave Optimus' shell just standing around.  So let's "transform and roll...away!"  If you watch any of the original toons, you'll see the trailer section of Optimus' vehicle form just shoot out of frame and disappear when he transforms.  The whole of this trailer is formed by the Optimus shell.  It fits together pretty snug, but there are a lot of lines where a truck panel should be smooth.  With the arms and legs folded inside, there isn't room to fit much of anything else.  You could probably fit a couple of really small figures in the back, but the tailgate section formed by the feet isnt really designed all that well for easy access.  Also, it would have be nice if they had incorporated Roller, his blue,six-wheeled drone/scout, somewhere in the design.  Poor Roller...always getting left behind.

When Orion is ready to burn rubber, he transforms into the truck cab.  It looks...well...it suggests the cab in overall form, but its not pretty.  This is the main detractor for this figure.  Grill forward, it's fine.  But from that point on, its' a mess of pieces that don't quite fit right.  Luckily, once you connect the trailer and see the overall picture, it's still pretty impressive.  I like how you can see the Matrix of Leadership inside the cab windows.

































Transforming back into the full Optimus Prime, Ive got one more gripe.  The figure's backside is a mess of gray from the trailer parts.  Also, Orions legs form a weird looking backpack. Like the cab, this kibble (a term that TF fans use to describe parts or pieces that did not blend with the transformation well) can be overlooked in the overall presentation.


















This Leader Class figure scales perfectly with what I consider to be my ultimate Megatron from the Combiner Wars line a few years back.  The blue, red, and yellow are true, bright primary shades as they should be.  The head, the gun, the cab, the smokestacks...Generation One perfection!  He's got a great range of motion to kick Decepticon butt in many great poses.  The Matrix is removable and can be accesessed by opening the front cab, just like in the cartoon.  If "The Touch" didn't start playing in your head the moment you gazed upon his majesty, please seek a doctor immediately.  You might have brain damage or lack of soul.