The Terrible Toyman : Ray Arnold

Ray Arnold

Jurassic Park - Amber Collection

Mattel

Like the Star Wars Black Series, did Jurassic Park really need to be in a larger, more costly scale? It may limit the variety of dinosaurs (or starships) we can get, but what we do get sure does look purdy. Take this figure, for instance...Sam Jackson is back for the third or fourth time in this scale (Pulp Fiction, several Marvel Legends) and he has never looked better.

Mattel has really outdone themselves for a company that got by with the same suited body over and over again in the past (DC, Ghostbusters). Ray Arnold appears to be totally unique, and sports a surprising amount of articulation for a character that is just seated at a computer for most of his screen time. Double hinge elbows and knees, upper arm and leg swivels, torso ball joint, head ball joint, waist swivel...he can take service calls and leap into action to switch service breakers on a dime!

The head sculpt is great (particularly nice is the fade from hair to bald spot on top), really only hurt a bit by the execution of the glasses. Glasses have always been hit and miss on action figures, but this one fares a bit better than others. A lab coat and gray pants don’t make for an exciting toy, but the details sure make up for them. Just check out that JP patch! Pens in the pocket, tie design, striping on the shirt...nice attention to detail!

This figure doesn’t come with a stand like the others in the line...at least I don’t think he does. I had to double check the packaging/trash just to be sure. I assume they had to save plastic for his huge hunk of an accessory: a 90s desktop PC tower/monitor! It’s big, but hollow, and it’s made of a flexible, rubbery plastic. It has a JP grid system map sticker on the monitor and, I’ll have to verify with Lex, an interactive CD-ROM! Mr. Arnold also comes with a removable headset and a change of hands. Sadly, he does not come with cigarettes or a hand to simulate smoking. Yes, it is a harmful habit, but this is yet another one of those characters that it would just enhance that much more. Delivery of “Hold on to your butts” and “PLEASE! God dammit, I hate this hacker crap!” just wouldn’t be the same without them. C’mon, they even get their own close-ups:

It is a bit strange that Mr. Arnold gets a figure in this scale before Hammond, or even Sattler and Grant. It’s a testament to all Sam Jackson brings to this smaller part. Let’s give him a hand or...oh...I forgot a key accessory: