Jurassic Park III: Raptor Attack Playset

Year of release: 2001

Accessories:

-Main Gate (with dino damage pieces)

-Five fence pieces

-Rocket Launcher (with two rockets)

-Net Launcher (with net)

-Alan Grant figure

-Velociraptor figure

Description: this play set consists entirely of repainted material. The fences, gate, net launcher and rocket launcher are all repainted accessories of those same sculpts found with the JPS1 Command Compound. The Grant and Raptor figure are the same as those of the Raptor Motorcycle Pursuit from this toy line, except different colours.

The fences are all painted in silver, giving them a metallic feel. This set comes with stickers, including some yellow ones that can be wrapped on the fences, so there’s a little sign saying ‘10,000 volts’, which is of course the voltage the fences in Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar had. Other than that there’s no more colour on the fences. The gate is much more detailed than the original JPS1 gate. The doors are now painted in various tones of brown, giving them a wooden feel. The pieces of dino damage have more of an orange paint job. The little flames on top of the gate aren’t just simply red this time, but have some tints of orange and yellow in them, making them slightly more realistic. The rest of the gate sports a silvery black paint job, again giving it a bit of a metallic feel. The net launcher is painted in an orange brown colour, making it feel like it’s been rusting away for some years after being abandoned and disused when Isla Sorna was vacated. It still works fine though, even better than the original one. It can fire a small net with silver weights on it over a distance of almost a metre (if lucky). The rocker launcher also does what it suggests: when loaded, pressing its button leads to the rocket being fired with force, impacting roughly on anything in its path. It comes with two dark grey rockets with slightly different shapes. The launcher itself sports a metallic dark grey look, with some brownish and black tones (again giving it a rusty feel), and an orange button.

The Alan Grant and Velociraptor figures are the same ones as those from the Raptor Motorcycle Pursuit, again with a different paint job. Grant wears a green shirt, blue bandana tan pants, black shoes and brown gloves. He stands in a neutral position, but his knees have joints in them so he can move his legs in multiple ways. The Velociraptor stands in a stalking position and has a dino damage wound. When pushing the back of his head, his jaws open. Strangely enough this Raptor sports a mostly green paint job, an odd choice considering none of the Raptors in any JP movie were green. Apart from the green his body is adorned with dark red stripes and light blue spots. His eyes are very yellow, and his claws aren’t coloured. A black JP III logo is located on his left leg.

Analysis: even though it’s all repaints, this is a good play set. People who remember the old JPS1 Command Compound can look back to that fantastic play set with nostalgic feelings when they see this play set, while the younger generation discovers parts of those good ol’ days through this new set which adds some much needed Kenner quality in the JP III Hasbro line. The paint job is no disappointment fortunately: many components even benefit from their new look. The paint jobs of the gate, rocket launcher and fences are very nicely done and have a much more realistic look to them. The net launcher also isn’t bad, though the lower parts of this particular apparatus are too orange and could have used more darker tones. The same goes for the dino damage pieces of the gate. It’s a good thing all the mechanisms work properly though: the rocket launcher still is a powerful weapon which fires missiles at objects with great speed and force, while the net launcher works even better than the original and hurls a net at unsuspecting prey, though catching its target requires precision, since it’s still hard to predict where the net will end up and whether it will hit anything because of its small size.

The Alan Grant figure is also a fine repaint. Though it still doesn’t sport the same outfit Grant wore in the movie, and the cowboy hat is ever missing, it looks good and realistic. Since it’s the best human figure Kenner produced, because of the neutral position and the extra leg movement, it’s a good thing they decided to add this particular figure to the set (though an entirely new figure would have been preferable of course). The Velociraptor is less a cause for enthusiasm though: it’s still not a great toy with all the flaws of the original version. The dino strike action still isn’t very imposing, its attack posture limits playability and makes the creature look fat, and the dino damage wound again can’t be covered up. The new paint job also isn’t helping: green just isn’t a Raptor colour. It would have been better had they made a new Raptor figure, or a different dinosaur altogether; it wouldn’t be a Raptor attack play set then, but a dinosaur attack set would also be suitable.

Playability: this set provides for some damn fine playability. All the features are functioning perfectly and the set has a fine look to it, making it seem like an old abandoned dinosaur pen which is withering away due to lack of maintenance, but still in working order, providing the humans with a place to make a stand against their ferocious prehistoric adversaries. The new paint job is great for the most part and adds some good realism. The only nuisance is the green Raptor figure, which still isn’t a great sculpt and sports a new colour which isn’t enhancing its overall look. Of course, one can argue that there is a much bigger nuisance here: it’s all repaints and none of it is original, Hasbro just ran out of ideas or didn’t bother making its own sculpts. A valid argument, but since this play set came out so well we can live with it and should be thankful they didn’t screw up Kenner’s great old work.

Realism: Grant still doesn’t look like Sam Neill or the Alan Grant in the movie, mostly because of the different outfit and the head sculpt. The Raptor’s colours are very unusual for a Raptor figure and not reminiscent of the look the Raptors sported in JP III at all. Other than that it’s not entirely paleontologically correct either: compared to the human figures it’s oversized (like all JP Raptors), its lower jaw is too long and the animal’s legs stand in such a position that this creature looks way too fat.

The other components of this set are not seen in any of the JP movies. Though the fences and gate are certainly reminiscent of the ones seen in JP and JP III, there are a lot of differences, mostly in scale and shape. There are also some notable similarities though, like the flames on top of the gate and the ’10,000 volts’ signs on the fences. One could argue they’re just typical toy versions of their movie counterparts. The rocket launcher and net launcher are totally made up though, and don’t look similar to the weaponry in any of the JP movies at all.

Repaint: yes. This set consists of repainted parts of the JPS1 Command Compound and JP III Wave I Raptor Motorcycle Pursuit only. There are no new parts whatsoever. None of these parts would be repainted a second time after the release of this toy though, at least so far.

Overall rating: 8/10. Though the Raptor is still a lousy figure, all the other parts are great and in some cases even better than the original versions. The set provides for some good playability, especially combined with other toys (from both this particular Hasbro toy line as well as Kenner’s various toy lines). It’s also a great set to have if you’re unlucky enough not to own a JPS1 Command Compound: this way you’ll have at least some parts of that magnificent old play set. It’s well worth getting, but it isn’t always easy to find. Chances are you’ll have to search for it a bit and it may not be very cheap, but it’s recommended anyway.