Jurassic Park III: Ultra Alpha Pteranodon

Year of release: 2001

Description: measuring almost 50 centimetres in wingspan, this flying giant is undoubtedly the largest Pteranodon figure of all the JP toy lines. Because of its size there’s also room for a broader range of actions and sounds, making it a very playable toy.

Qua action features it’s not totally original: there are the usual, somewhat cliché, Pterosaur options. First, there is the biting beak: pressing the crest makes the beak open as if the animal is snapping at some poor piece of prey. Second, there is the wing flapping mechanism. Although this is new for the JP III toy line (the other electronic Pterosaurs have poseable wings too, but they can’t flap them), it has been seen on the JPS1 Pteranodon as well as on the TLWS1 Giant Pteranodon (which was less of a giant than this beast is). Something not featured with earlier larger Pterosaur figures is the foldable wing option: the upper half of each wing can be folded inward (outward too, but that just looks stupid), as if the creature is adjusting its flying pattern. It looks very much like the Pteranodon is diving towards its victim when the wings fold in.

Additionally, there are the sounds, four in total. Though two of them (the attack screech and the wound noise) were also featured on the smaller Pteranodon of this toy line, the other two are new. The attack screech can be heard when activating the biting action by pressing the beast’s crest. The wound noises are produced by pushing the button in the dino damage wound. The other two sounds can be made by pressing the button on the back which makes the wing flap. Pressing it once and releasing it, or pressing it several times over, produces flapping sounds, while pressing it a bit longer activates a swishing noise, as if the Pterosaur is swooping down on its prey.

Compared to the regular JP III Pteranodons, this creature sports a rather dark paint job. It’s primary colour is dark blue, which can be found about anywhere on its body. It also has black spots mixed in the blue, most notable on the wings. A lighter shade of blue is found on the hind part of the wings, as well as on the throat and belly of the beast. The Pterosaur’s back is adorned with metallic brown hues. It has small yellow eyes in scarlet red sockets, and a long pink tongue in its beak. The creature’s crest is yellowish beige, with small dark blue spots and stripes. The claws on the Pteranodon’s hands and feet are not painted in a different colour. A large dino damage wound is located on the giant’s back, showing red muscle tissue and white ribs. Like with other Hasbrosaurs, the wound cannot be covered up. Lastly, a small light blue JP III logo is found on the Pterosaur’s lower left wing.

Analysis: despite Hasbro’s poor jobs on most of their creatures, they totally got it right this time. This is by far the coolest and largest Pteranodon sculpt and makes one wonder why this figure is so great while the other Hasbrosaurs are such horrible abominations. The paint job, though rather gritty and dark, is not bad and provides a small glimpse into the conceptual artwork made for JP III (see the ‘Realism’ section of this review).

Granted, two of the figure’s sounds are recycled (something for which Hasbro is notorious) and none of the action features of this toy is really original, but it’s hard to think of something new when you’ve got five Pterosaurs in one toy line alone (most of them belonging to a species of which toys have been made for decades, the overly famous Pteranodon Ingens). Just be glad all of these features work properly. The biting beak is actually strong enough to hold figures, though Hasbro figures only (not Kenner’s because they are bigger and heavier). The wing flapping system is also a golden oldie and a first for this toy line. It’s great fun, and the sounds only make it more realistic. The folding wings were also featured on the small Pteranodon that came with the Eric Kirby figure, but look much better on this sculpt (and also save room, since this Pteranodon is big enough already). The quality of the sounds is quite good, and they can easily be produced. You don’t have to bash the figure to activate a certain sound, like with the stomping noise of the Ultra T-Rex. This decreases the risk of damaging this wonderful toy.

Unfortunately, even this beautiful sculpt has some downsides. Like with all of Hasbro’s work, it features a nasty wound on its back, which sadly cannot be covered up, so it’s damaged for all eternity. Also, the position of the feet looks a bit odd and due to the space required for the flapping mechanism and electronics, the figure’s body is a bit bulky. But other than that, it’s about as perfect a Pterosaur as you can get.

Playability: high. This is undoubtedly the most poseable and diverse Pteranodon sculpt of all the various JP toy lines. It can flap its wings and fold them in, has moveable legs and neck, it can open its beak and makes no less than four different sounds. It also helps this figure assumes a totally neutral pose. These elements combined make for one of the most playable Pterosaurs ever. However, it’s still an electronic figure, so if you want to keep it in working order you should take some caution handling it.

Realism: this figure is mostly accurate, though it’s quite oversized. Compared to Hasbro’s human figures (or even Kenner’s) this Pteranodon is stupendously huge. It’s not called an ‘Ultra’ Pteranodon for nothing it seems… Its paint job is very different from the Pteranodons featured in the JP III movie. However, concept art of that movie reveals an ‘Alpha’ Pteranodon character was conceived for the film, but was eventually dropped for some reason. The concept art’s colours look very similar to this creature’s paint job, so it seems Hasbro based this figure on the artwork for the Alpha Pteranodon that never made in into the final film. The smaller Pteranodon figure that came with Eric Kirby featured the same paint job, and was labelled an Alpha Pteranodon too, though it’s beyond doubt this large Alpha Pteranodon is the undisputed leader of the Pterosaurs.

Scientifically speaking, this figure is also quite accurate. There are some minor points of criticism though. The creature’s body is a bit large and plump, but this was of course done to accommodate the electronics and flapping mechanism. Also, the animal’s legs are a bit far apart and oversized. Interestingly enough, unlike the Pteranodons seen in the movie, this sculpt has no teeth, increasing accuracy, since Pteranodons did not have teeth in reality either (they’re called Ptera-nodon for a reason, meaning ‘wings and toothless’).

Repaint: no. However, the creature’s attack and wound sounds are reused from the regular electronic Pteranodon of this toy line, and would again be heard on the Tapejara figure of the JP III Wave 2 line. The Ultra Pteranodon itself would be repainted twice for the last two JP Dinosaurs lines.

Overall rating: 9/10. This is one of the coolest and most accurate Pterosaur models made for the JP toy lines, and it’s damn impressive due to its size and plethora of sounds and playability options. Also, it’s one of Hasbro’s finest pieces of work, which actually isn’t saying much since most Hasbro figures are rather disappointing by comparison. It’s highly recommended, though not always easy to get. It was given a wide release in the USA, but it’s sadly less common in other territories. Ebay usually provides a good and often relatively cheap solution.