Jurassic Park Series 1: Bush Devil Tracker

Year of release: 1993

Accessories:

-Detachable Tranq Missile Launcher with missile

-Retractable seat with Dino Snare

-Dino Damage Windshield

(Note: the reviewer is not an expert on cars, so any incorrect technical terminology or lack of detail, should be disregarded.)

Description: this open roof jeep sports a largely grey paint job with the front and back parts painted light grey, and the inside (seats, dashboard), bumpers (including non detachable wiring under the radiator) as well as the “edges” of the vehicle above the tires all being dark grey. The tires, four composing the wheels and a spare fifth on the back of the jeep, are black, as is the rope on the snare. The back of the front part of the jeep is red, including the Dino Damage windshield (which reveals grey detailing underneath when removed). Also red are the bars at the back of the jeep, the dino snare (which sports yellow highlights) and the small handled column on the retractable seat which keeps the person sitting there from slipping off when the seat is pushed out. The vehicle comes with a large dark grey gun which can be placed on the red bars in the back: it features additional yellow highlights and a yellow missile. A large sticker with the JP logo can be found on the front cap of the jeep, while the vehicle also carries a sticker with the number 27.

This jeep comes with two seats, as well as space for a third figure in the back for manning the gun. The right seat is retractable and can be pulled out so as to make it more easy to handle the snare, as well as creating space for a fourth figure. The snare itself can rotate in a full circle and move up and down. It can extend up to about 25 centimetres, but no less than about 15. Creatures can get caught with it by placing the rope around them and pulling on it until it fits tight. The missile launcher in the back can be detached and used separately but also works well on the vehicle itself. Pressing the small yellow button on top makes the missile being fired to a range of up to 60 centimetres. The jeep only comes with one missile so there’s always a risk of misplacing it which leaves the launcher useless. Lastly, the jeep features a breakaway windshield (no glass unfortunately, so the windshield seems a bit redundant since it won’t protect figures against wind or dust). A vicious dinosaur can pull it off, causing typical dino damage.

Analysis: this is a decent enough first JP jeep. Though similar to the Park Ranger jeeps in the movie, it’s no way near as classic as the Jungle Explorer vehicles, which will undoubtedly remain the most memorable JP vehicles of all. Still, it’s an okay addition to the first JP toy line with a fine paint job (though the inside seats could have used more detail), but overall just not as good as the other vehicles.

It features four distinct action features. First, there’s the retractable seat. This works quite well and allows for the snare which is attached to it to be used with greater ease. A small steering column is placed in the middle of the seat so figures can place it between their legs and not fall off the jeep in a high speed dinosaur chase.

Second: the snare. This is the vehicle’s main weapon to catch creatures (snare captures them, gun tranquillises them), but also the weakest action feature. Though it has a wide range of motion and can extend to capture bigger prey, it’s just not strong enough and won’t hold animals tight, so they’ll slip loose easily and escape. The snares of the various JP toys (JPS1/2 Tim Murphy, TLWS1 Dino Snare Dirt Bike) always were the weakest capture systems and certainly no match for a good old fashioned rocket launcher…

… like the third action feature of the Bush Devil Tracker. This detachable missile launcher can easily be removed and put back on the bars at the back of the vehicle. It looks somewhat bigger and more complicated than is necessary, but it works well enough. Pushing the button fires the missile (as is usual for Kenner’s rocket launchers) and slings it about half a metre away. However, it’s not very heavy and doesn’t have a big impact force, so unless it’s fired at close range (which is not inconceivable, since the snare is the actual capture function, reeling dinosaurs in close enough for the gun to subdue them) it won’t do much damage and will knock over smaller beasts at best.

Fourth and last, like most vehicles this car sports dino damage. It’s not very elaborate, just a removable wind shield revealing minor circuitry underneath. It’s a real shame this window doesn’t have any “glass” making it look unnecessary anyway, but the damage is easily caused and restored. 

 

Playability: good enough. The car rolls well on those four wheels, though only on easy flat terrain. The dino damage is easy to remove and restore, since it’s not very complicated. The rocket launcher works adequately, though it hasn’t got a very long range and not much impact force either. It’s a good thing it’s detachable, otherwise it would get in the way of playability at times. The retractable seat is a nice touch (even realistic, considering a jeep in the TLW movie also had one), making the snare easier to handle and adding additional space (creating place for a total of four human figures in this car), but the snare itself isn’t great. Despite being fully rotatable and long enough for all but the biggest dinosaur figures, it just isn’t strong enough to subdue them and looks damn silly. Also, it’s a shame the spare tire on the back of the car isn’t removable.

Realism: the vehicle is very reminiscent of the gas powered Park Ranger jeeps as seen in the JP movie, especially with the red and grey colour scheme, but it’s not an exact match. Those vehicles didn’t have an open roof and lacked any dino catching equipment the Bush Devil Tracker comes with. This vehicle is basically a toy version of the Park Ranger jeeps, looking similar but also sporting weaponry so as to keep the kids occupied.

Repaint: being part of the very first JP toy line, this vehicle is not a repaint in any way. A repaint featuring ‘jungle colours’ was planned for the JPS2 line, but got scrapped: no JPS2 Bush Devil Trackers are known to exist. The vehicle would not be repainted for later toy lines either.

Overall rating: 6/10. It’s a decent enough vehicle with a cool paint job, but the Snare and damage aren’t very impressive. It’s not really hard to find, but less easy than most other JPS1 figures. You may have to look for it a while and it may not always be cheap.