RAFR – JURASSIC PARK DELUXE TYRANNOSAURUS REX FIGURE

“Welcome… to Jurassic Park!”

Anybody who knows me, well, they know one giant thing about me…

1. I have a massive obsession with Dinosaurs…

2. …my favorite Book & Movie are – DURRR – Jurassic Park!

Hard to believe, but it’s been twenty years since the Micheal Crichton novel debuted – about billionaire entrepreneur John Hammond’s island off Costa Rica that was populated by living, breathing dinosaurs made possible by cloning and destined to be the greatest theme park & zoo ever until a hurricane & industrial sabotage released the prehistoric beasts from their fences and allowed them to rampage.

The film (now 18 years old, natch), released by Universal Studios and directed by Steven Spielberg, brought the prehistoric animals to life with revolutionary CGI effects that still stand up to…

…TODAY: the Jurassic Park franchise is still going strong, with rumors of a 4th film surfacing and a series of best-selling comics published by IDW sweeping comic shops (the latest mini-series, Devils in the Dessert is being written & drawn by the legendary John Byrne and will have a review coming soon on this very site!).

It should be no surprise that the Toy Market hasn’t been left out of the runaway prehistoric franchise!

The first toy-line debuted in conjunction with the first film as well as another for it’s sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, both manufactured by Kenner. Toys for Jurassic Park III bore the Hasbro logo as Kenner had been purchased & integrated between 1998 & 2001.

A Toys R Us exclusive, Jurassic Park is a new line compromised of all the old favorites from the past lines, which brings us finally to the reason you’re here:

Of all the Jurassic Park dinosaurs I own this is hands-down my absolute favorite! I have to stress that is indeed a BIG BOY and measures over twenty-seven inches long!!!

The Alan Grant figure above, is a standard 3 3/4″ figure and is in scale to the JP Cruiser pictured and I’ll elaborate on it some more later as it was an unexpected surprise!

The articulation on the T-Rex is limited. His legs move at the hips, his feet twist 90 degrees in either direction and his arms move up and and down.

That’s it.

But it’s a GIGANTIC T-REX!!! What more do you want?!

Well – you do get more!

The original creature was released in The Lost World line as the “Bull Tyrannosaurus” and came with a cage that had an attached figure inside that could be swallowed through the rubber jaws of the beast and retrieved in the stomach via a hatch in the belly.

Hasbro removed the hatch and sealed it in this version, but it can still swallow a 3 3/4″ figure completely, ending at a plastic stopper in the throat and easily retrievable.

In a stroke of genius, Hasbro replaced the hatch with a sound box. When “On,” you hear the thundering footsteps of the T-Rex as he marches towards his victims. Pressing a button at the base of spine plays a plethora of random sounds including the infamous roar from the films as well as some grunts and chewing and crunching sounds!

Yummy!

The paint is interesting. When I first saw the orange on gray I was taken back, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the change! We’re always hearing about how Dinosaurs were probably very colorful from their link to birds. Plus I like the switch from the drab grays, browns and greens the films used.

The patterns are applied well and there’s no bleeding on the nails onto the flesh. Everything is clean. The orange-black-white kinda’ blurs and thickens, but it’s an animal – nothing in nature is ever perfect when it comes to color so the fact each one could be a tad random adds to the realism.

Now there are two extras included (as if the T-Rex itself wasn’t good enough!). The first one is pretty ho-hum – a bonus action figure just called a “Forest General” who, apparently stole Klaw’s sound-radar hand from Marvel Comics. It’s a standard figure and in scale with the other humans but I simply tossed it in the junk drawer. I dug out (pun intended) Dr. Alan Grant and armed him up with some left over G.I. Joe guns and he looks MUCH BETTER!

Now the second bonus?

Remember that Jurassic Park Cruiser above?

On the back of the box was a punch-out for the vehicle, and to be honest, usually I find these things a waste of time, but guys – THIS ONE ROCKS!!!

First – it’s scale PERFECTLY with both the humans AND the dinos! Scale means a lot to me, folks, as I put these things on display! Second, it looks VERBATIM from the first film – whoever the artist was that designed this did a BANG-UP job! It punched out quite easily and assembled in seconds. The cardboard is unusually thick and so it’s a quality little bonus integrated into usually disposable material.

All in all – this is an AWESOME figure with a lot value! Whether it’s for your kids or your own monster collection, it can’t be beat!

Unless someone makes an awesome Godzilla that has a fire breath feature.

About G.D. Strauff 40 Articles
G.D. Strauff is the pen name of an upright, omnivorous hominid. Inhabiting the central New York region, he has been sighted foraging for comics, movies, monster legends and the occasional action figure which he decorates his cave with. A shy beast, he likes dinosaurs, bats, sharks and other nerdy things…

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