Jurassic Park Series 2: Electronic Gallimimus

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-One piece of capture gear

-Collector’s Card # 47

Description: this bipedal dinosaur features a rather plump body, a long neck, and an elongated bird like beak. It stands in a largely neutral posture, with its beak opened (it can't be closed), revealing a long thin tongue. Despite its big round torso and comparatively short tail, it can stand quite well balanced on its slender legs, also thanks to its big feet (though these have very short claws). Gallimimus comes with a leg kick attack action: a large button is found on its back, which, when pushed, causes both legs to move back and forth. This also activates screaming noises, three identical screeches in rapid succession.

This figure's predominant colour is light brown, which is found on its flanks, the sides of the tail and neck, all of the arms and legs and parts of the head. Its underside (belly, lower parts of the tail and neck) is coloured beige. A big blue stripe runs from the back of the head over its neck and back all the way to the end of the tail. Red stripes run over this blue colouring, three on the upper part of the neck, seven on the back and eight more on the tail. An additional red stripe runs on each side of the neck under the blue stripe. The red paint on the neck and head is of a slightly darker shade than the red stripes on the other body parts. The upper jaw is also red, while the inside of the mouth (including the tongue) is pink. This creature has small black eyes. Its claws are not painted, and it comes with a red JP logo on its right upper leg, next to the number .24.

Gallimimus comes with a single piece of capture gear, namely the typical cuff like tag that accompanies every JPS2 dinosaur. It's quite small, though the circular part above the cuff that carries the JP logo is bigger than on the other tags of a similar size that are seen in the JPS2 toy line (for example, those of the Pachycephalosaurus and Tanystropheus). The tag fits best around the lower legs or the neck.

Analysis: after being left out of the JPS1 toy line completely, Gallimimus finally got a figure of its own (as well as a hatchling) for the JPS2 toy line, no doubt because Kenner was bold enough to produce figures of little known prehistoric creatures, and Galli belongs to that category, even though it was seen in the actual JP film. The Gallimimus figure turned out pretty well, featuring a decent enough paint job, though additional stripes or spots on the limbs and painted claws would have made it better. It has a neat design, though it looks a bit fat and has weird feet and a beak that looks plain ridiculous (and unfortunately can't be closed to make the animal appear less silly). An interesting aspect of this sculpt (as well as of the Baryonyx figure of this toy line) is the fact that it is a fair size bigger than the JPS1 electronic dinosaurs (the carded ones, not the big figures like the Red Rex). This trend of making medium sized electronic figures would be continued into Kenner's TLWS1 toy line.

Gallimimus most original feature is its action option, which is labelled a 'leg kick attack' action, though when in use it seems more like he's making running movements than doing any kicking (after all, he's not nicknamed 'Speeder' for nothing: running away was his main role in the JP movie). Also, you have to hold your Galli in a weird angle if you want it to actually kick its victims. Legs are not often equipped with a main attack feature, so this was a new concept on Kenner's part, which would be occasionally repeated in following toy lines. The TLWS1 Parasaurolophus uses the same system, but that figure has one major flaw the Galli does not have: the Galli's legs are capable of being posed independent from another. So it's not like when you pull the left leg back the right leg moves along, they can be used separately (which is why the figure can stand up straight, unlike the Para, which has issues in this regard), but they are both moved back and forth when the button on the figure's back is pushed. Whether you apply it to running or kicking, the Galli's leg mechanism works well. It also activates the screaming noises, three in a row. They're high pitched screeches, which fit well on this creature (in fact, they're nigh movie accurate).

A single JP tag completes this set, but it's a totally useless accessory. The whole notion of tags carrying the JP logo to indicate they're JP dinosaurs is redundant considering the dinosaurs are already marked by JP logos on their bodies. The JP tags are often a nuisance because then tend to make complete figures harder to find, and this is notoriously true in the Galli's case: the tag of the Gallimimus is so small it's easily lost, and therefore complete loose samples are very hard to find. The best way to get a complete Galli figure is to get one MOC, but those are almost equally rare and usually fetch very high prices, effectively shutting a lot of collectors out from getting complete Gallimimus figures. Fortunately, not all collectors are obsessed completists.

Playability: just fine. Galli has poseable legs, which can be posed separate from another despite the leg kick action which makes both legs move. The arms are also poseable, but they look odd in most postures because of their 'hanging down' stance. The leg movement action feature works fine and can either be used for kicking aggressors or running them over. The single JP tag doesn't really add anything though, except annoyance over the fact that most Gallimimus figures have lost theirs.

Realism: unlike most JPS2 dinosaur figures, Gallimimus was actually seen in the Jurassic Park movie (as well as in The Lost World). It did resemble this figure a lot, but it's not a complete match. This sculpt has shorter legs, a plumper body, a shorter neck and a bigger beak, but the basic shape is not too dissimilar. The paint job is not identical (no red and blue on the movie's Galli), but the overall brown scheme looks relatively the same. This figure's screeching noises are quite similar to the sounds the Gallimimus made in the movie, and surprisingly so, since none of the other JPS1/2 electronic dinosaurs produced noises that were even close to movie accurate (which was especially disappointing on the Rex and Raptor figures).

Repaint: no, this is a new sculpt. It would not be repainted for later toy lines.

Overall rating: 7/10. This is a fun new figure, with a decent enough paint job and an interesting (and up till this point, original) action feature. It has some minor design flaws though, most notably its goofy head sculpt, and it comes with one single accessory whose main function seems to be to annoy collectors. However, it's worth getting your hands on. That is going to be a challenge, since this is one of the rarest of Kenner's dinosaur figures. Even for loose samples prices are often high, while they tend to soar to astronomical heights for MOC figures. If you decide you want one, be sure what you get yourself into.

Jurassic Park Series 2: Ian Malcolm

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-Launching Tranq Missile gun

-Tranq Missile Dart

-Backpack

-Gallimimus hatchling

-Collector’s Card # 41

Description: Ian Malcolm is stylishly dressed in an all black suit, except for his shoes which are grey. He has a long sleeved jacket on which extends over the upper parts of his pants. On his shirt he has a silver tag with a black JP logo on it. He dons black sunglasses, has black curly hair and a rather smug look on his face. His pants are rather tight compared to those of other figures, making Ian look somewhat thin despite his broad shoulders. He stands in a largely neutral pose, except for his right lower arm which is raised a little, to facilitate him holding the big missile launcher.

The Tranq Missile gun is quite a big and bulky piece of equipment; when loaded it's almost as big as Ian himself. It's basically a big tube with protrusions sticking out. It has a small handle on its front underside and a big pin at the back, and a long extra handle sticking out its end. A small round button is found on top for firing the missile. It has small circular holes on the handles and the front part. It sports an entirely, somewhat shiny, metallic grey paint job. The missile is almost as long as the launcher itself. It consists of a transparent green tube with a tripod apparatus on top. It has a thick triangular collar, which is retractable. There's a small hole in the dart itself so it can be stored on the backpack.

The backpack is a very strange looking device. It's mostly black, covered with small holes and protrusions sticking out (including a big one for storing the missile. In the middle of the pack there are two tubes with a large hole sticking out on their lower part. These are coloured the same transparent green as the missile, giving the impression of a tranquillizer fluid of sorts, which the backpack “contains” so the missile can be “refilled” when attaching it to the pack. The backpack is quite flat by comparison, which gives the impression there's not as much to it as you would at first glance think due to its complex design. The pack has shiny metallic grey straps on it so Malcolm can carry it on his back.

Lastly, this set comes with a baby Gallimimus. This hatchling is sitting down, its limbs held close to its body and its tail raised in the air. It has a big head with a rather long snout and huge yellow eyes with black pupils: overall, the head has a very bird like quality. Its mouth is opened, showing a tiny red tongue. This creature has a mostly brown paint job: its entire body sports this colour, save for a big blue stripe running from the middle of its face over the neck and back down to the end of the tail. A series of eight small red stripes runs over this blue stripe. Concluding, little Galli features a white JP logo on its left leg.

Analysis: Malcolm is quite a neat figure, being almost totally movie accurate. Even though his paint job is rather monochromatic, he wears black with style, as Malcolm did in the film. In fact, the grey shoes, though adding some diversion, seem out of place. His unique style of clothes makes him distinct from the other figures. His jacket, which runs down over his pants and “hangs loose” next to his hips, isn't something seen on other JP figures. Basically, this dude is as cool as the coolness his clothing style exerts.

The same can't be said for his missile launcher. It too looks quite cool, but it's less special than it looks. The primary argument against it is the fact it's simply oversized. Malcolm has a very tough time holding it and being able to stand up straight, unless he leans backwards (something he can't do very well because the jacket gets in the way of the poseability of his legs). There's also not many places Ian can grip the gun, except for the small handle on the underside and the long one at the back of the weapon. The big pin on the underside, which one might expect would be the obvious place to hold the gun, is useless. Despite these negative points, the gun works: pressing the button launches the missile over a decent distance with a good impact force. However, in this regard it's inferior to Muldoon's bazooka, which also has the argument of originality in its favour. This Tranq Missile Launcher is basically the same type of weapon, just bigger and bulkier.

However, this gun has originality in another regard: interactivity. The missile can “interact” with the backpack. Not only can it be stored on a peg on the pack, the missile can be attached to the pack via the tripod protrusions on top of it. Moving the collar on the dart back and forth thus gives the impression of refilling the missile's tranq fluids. Of course, it's all make-belief, but it's not something seen on other figures' weaponry. As for the backpack itself, the straps should have been a little longer, since now they only fit very tightly on Malcolm, and putting the pack on his back isn't easy. Also, it would have helped if the pack was a bit bigger, since it would have helped both balancing Ian as he holds the gun, and it would have made it look more impressive: when you turn the pack around now it's basically hollow.

The baby Galli is quite a disappointing hatchling. Although it has a very nice head sculpt, looking plain cute and cuddly, its body is quite ugly. The way its limbs are attached to its body makes it look like a deformed foetus with legs that are grown together instead of apart. Its paint job isn't very good either: though it's identical to that of the adult Gallimimus figure of this toy line, which doesn't make it look bad, it causes an over-abundance of brown on this baby. Still, good to see the designers bothered to paint its tiny tongue. 

 

Playability: not bad. Ian has poseable arms, legs and head, though his legs can't move as far backwards as those of other figures because the jacket gets in their way. There's no poseability found on the little Gallimimus. The backpack has some issues when it comes to putting it on and taking it off of Malcolm, but has an interesting interactive relationship with the missile. The launcher has some design flaws, but works well enough.

Realism: this Malcolm figure is without a doubt the most movie accurate of all the JPS1/2 human figures. His outfit is largely identical, especially when it comes to the paint job (which wasn't difficult to screw up, because it's basically all black). The head sculpt is pretty accurate too, down to his smug grin and sunglasses, though his hair is a little bit too long. Malcolm's accessories weren't featured in the film, and they look a bit too elaborate to exist in reality. Gallimimus was seen in the film, but no hatchlings, adult Gallis only.

Repaint: no, unlike several other JPS2 figures this is a completely new sculpt, with unique accessories and a new hatchling. Though its head sculpt would be repainted for the TLWS1 Malcolm figures, the rest of the figure would not be, nor would any of his accessories and hatchling.

Overall rating: 7/10. A very good figure, but a lousy hatchling and half decent accessories. Malcolm himself is obviously the main draw of this set. This figure seems to have been released in the US only, but it's definitely one of the more common JPS2 figures: it's not hard to find on Ebay and usually doesn't go for very high prices either.