Jurassic Park Dinosaurs: Lynx

Year of release: 1999

Accessories:

-Three pieces of capture gear

Description: this muscular carnivorous quadruped stands in a rather active posture, with its right hind leg and front left leg posed forward and its other legs positioned backward, as if walking. The rest of the figure’s body assumes a neutral pose. Lynx comes with biting jaws: pulling the right hind leg back causes the upper jaw, equipped with four ferocious dagger like fangs, to raise upwards as if the creature is opening its maul, ready to close those jaws around an unfortunate victim’s body. An interesting detail: the beast’s tongue sticks out when it opens its mouth. Releasing the leg makes the jaws close with a powerful snap.

The figure sports a paint job much different from its predecessors. It's coloured completely dark grey, with subtle swampy green stripes running over the neck, torso, tail and legs. The facial area is also coloured mostly green. On its neck, back and front half of the tail small black specks are found. The Lynx has big white teeth, also inside its mouth, a red tongue and black eyes. A black JP logo is located on the right hind leg.

The Lynx comes with three pieces of capture gear, all painted blue. There’s the required tag, in this case large enough to fit around the monster’s muscled neck, as well as some leg shackles shaped like a cross to fit the figure's leg positions and to keep it from walking away. Third, there’s a head piece which can go around the creature’s head, in an attempt to keep it from using those strong jaws. It doesn’t necessarily work though, since activating the biting action also makes the figure thrash the head piece off.

Analysis: the good old JPS2 Lycaenops also finds its way into the first JP: Dinosaurs line, despite not actually being a dinosaur (though that doesn't seem to stop a lot of JP figures for which the same thing counts). Once again, it gets a different name: this time it's Lynx. Why this name change is applied is a bit of a mystery, since it doesn't look much like a Lynx, being more of a dog like creature. It might be an abbreviation for Lycaenops, but certainly this name isn't harder to pronounce than Tanystropheus or Ornithosuchus and those figures kept their respective names intact. An odd decision, but there it is.

Lynx has an interesting though simple paint job. At first impression it looks rather dull, since the murky green stripes are only really abundant and appealing on closer inspection or under the right lighting. The paint job might have used some more work on details like the inside of the mouth and the claws, but it works well enough the way it is now. Apart from the green, the paint job is reminiscent of a common seal's colouration, being grey with a variety of black spots and cute big black eyes. And like a seal, Lynx bites when you get to close, hence the huge fangs. The biting action is as good as ever, a powerful chomping motion which hooks its jaws around unfortunate human figures. The extending tongue remains a nice little addition, though it could get in the way when biting bigger prey.

The Lynx features the same capture gear it was released with previously, in the blue Chaos Effect paint style, which does look odd on this figure; the traditional metallic grey paint job would have been preferable, considering it was used for most other JP: Dinosaurs figures too. It still does en effective job restraining the figure and provides for a nice creature-breaks-free-of-restraints option when the jaw movement is used.

Repaint: yes. This is a repaint of the original JPS2 Lycaneops, including its capture gear repainted in the same colour as the Chaos Effect Tyrannonops's gear. The figure would not be repainted again.

Overall rating: 7/10. Still a nice and unusual figure, with a bit of a minimalistic but effective paint job. Since this figure is a Wave 2 release, it is definitely harder to find than some other JP: Dinosaurs 1 figures, but it's worth a try, especially if you don't own any previous incarnations of this sculpt.

Jurassic Park Chaos Effect: Tyrannonops

Year of release: 1998

Accessories:

-Three pieces of capture gear

Description: this carnivorous quadruped hybrid stands in a somewhat active mode, with its right hind leg and front left leg posed forward and its other legs positioned backward, as if walking. The rest of the figure’s body assumes a neutral posture. Tyrannonops comes with biting jaws: pulling the right hind leg back causes the upper jaw, equipped with four nasty looking dagger like fangs, to raise upwards, as if the monster is opening its maul, ready to close those jaws around an unfortunate creature’s body. An interesting detail: the creature’s purple tongue sticks out when the animal opens its mouth. Releasing the leg makes the jaws close with a snap.

Tyrannonops is adorned with an intricate and colourful paint job. The dominant colour is orange, which can be found over almost all of its body, especially on the limbs, around the throat, the midsection and the base of the tail, as well as behind the eyes. A darker, almost brown, shade of orange is located on its back, above the legs and on top of the midsection. The creature sports small beige spots surrounded by black stripes on its tail, and larger versions of this colour scheme around its waist and near the head. The monster’s lower jaw is beige, while the upper jaw is black with a purple spot on each side containing its beige eyes (no irises, unlike the Tyrannonops featured on the card). It’s got some small black spots on its back, the small claws on all four feet are also black, and a black JP CE logo is found on the upper right hind leg, along with what appears to be the number .66, though it’s a bit hard to tell (it might also be .06, .86 or .96).

The Tyrannonops comes with three pieces of capture gear, all painted metallic dark blue. There’s the typical handcuff, in this case large enough to fit around the monster’s muscled neck, as well as some leg shackles shaped like a cross to keep the beast from walking away. Thirdly, there’s a head piece which can go around the creature’s head, in an attempt to keep it from using those strong jaws. It doesn’t work though, since activating the biting action also makes the figure thrash the head piece of when it’s on.

Analysis: another older creature sculpt makes its way into the Chaos Effect toy line, also sporting a colourful makeover. In the case of the Raptor Alpha, the figure benefited from its new colour scheme. Tyrannonops has a less appealing and even somewhat ugly look to him, though this is of course a subjective comment. The combination of orange, black and beige, albeit on the original side, just isn’t my cup of tea.

Fortunately the designers didn’t mess with the biting action, labelled ‘saber strike fangs’ on the figure’s card. Pulling the leg back makes the Tyrannonops open its mouth stupendously wide and sticking its tongue out (it looks a bit silly, but it’s a neat little touch). The jaws snap back with force, tightly gripping anything unlucky enough to be in their path. Be careful though, doing this too often or too rough may cause paint wear (minor though, but paint wear nonetheless). It’s one of the more effective and powerful biting actions off the various toy lines, and always a blast to perform.

The capture gear, also repainted, does its job relatively well. Though the cuff isn’t very useful, the legs restraints secure the monster’s feet to a satisfactory extent. The same isn’t necessarily true for the head muzzle, since the creature has the ability to sling it off using its forceful jaws. But by its own accord the head piece sticks to the head well enough. Other than this, the capture gear doesn’t add much, as usual.

Playability: Tyrannonops comes with the usual range of poseable limbs as well as a moveable upper jaw. Though its legs are positioned in a walking mode this doesn’t hinder playability much. The creature is equipped with a strong and easily accessible biting action, capable of gripping human figures and smaller dinosaurs without problems. However, the tongue of the figure might get in the way when biting something. The three pieces of capture gear form a nice way to restrain the animal, but aren’t much use otherwise, though the head piece can be removed by activating the biting action, so there’s a dinosaur-breaks-free-of-restraints option involved to some extent.

Realism: being a repaint of the Lycaenops sculpt, this figure obviously shows too much Lycaenops features and no hint of Rex DNA whatsoever. Though the orange paint job echoes the colouring of the large Omega T-Rex of this toy line, it’s the only link to Tyrannosaurs one can spot here. It would have made more sense to call it a cross between a Lycaenops and some other four legged predator, maybe even a modern day animal like a tiger (hence the tiger like paint job). Given the fact the Tanaconda and Compstegnathus figures of this toy line also featured present day creatures’ DNA, it wouldn’t seem strange Tyrannonops underwent a similar genetic makeup. Now this creature just doesn’t live up to its name.

Repaint: yes. This figure is a repaint of the JPS2 Lycaenops, featuring repainted capture gear which originally came with that same sculpt. A second Lycaenops repaint, including the same capture gear, would be released in the first JP Dinosaurs line later on.

Overall rating: 7/10. The sculpt is good as ever, still featuring the powerful biting jaws it originally had, but the new paint job is nothing special and even a bit ugly. This is one of the more common CE figures and thus is easier to find than most of the other figures of this toy line. It shouldn’t prove too hard to find one at a decent price either.

Jurassic Park Series 2: Lycaenops

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-Three pieces of capture gear

-Collector’s Card # 44

Description: this muscular carnivorous quadruped stands in a rather active posture, with its right hind leg and front left leg posed forward and its other legs positioned backward, as if walking. The rest of the figure’s body assumes a neutral pose. Lycaenops comes with biting jaws: pulling the right hind leg back causes the upper jaw, equipped with four nasty looking dagger like fangs, to raise upwards, as if the monster is opening its maul, ready to close those jaws around an unfortunate creature’s body. An interesting detail: the creature’s tongue sticks out when the animal opens its mouth. Releasing the leg makes the jaws close with a powerful snap.

This figure sports a rather old-fashioned paint job (the typical brown with black stripes/spots scheme), which does look pretty good on it but isn't very original. Most of the beastie's body (legs, head, neck, flanks, and parts of the tail) is painted brown, while its underside (inner part of the legs, belly, lower part of the tail) is white. On its back and tail the creature has a row of black stripes (most of which are attached to each other, but also some separated). It also has a thick black stripe on each side of its face. Additionally, it has small black nails, orange eyes with red pupils, white teeth (both the fangs and the teeth on the inside of its mouth, and a pink tongue and mouth detailing. A black JP logo is located on its left hind leg, with the number .12 next to it.

The Lycaenops comes with three pieces of capture gear, all painted metallic grey. There’s the required tag, in this case large enough to fit around the monster’s muscled neck, as well as some leg shackles shaped like a cross to keep the beast from walking away. Thirdly, there’s a head piece which can go around the creature’s head, in an attempt to keep it from using those strong jaws. It doesn’t work though, since activating the biting action also makes the figure thrash the head piece off.

Analysis: adding an unknown prehistoric creature (not even a dinosaur) like this to the JPS2 toy line was a bold move on Kenner's part, and we can only applaud the decision because this figure turned out quite well (as did most of the other little known creatures made for JPS2, though some of them remained unreleased until 1997). One can imagine Kenner feeling the need to add a sabre toothed cat (an iconic prehistoric creature) to its JP toy line, but since that would have little to do with dinosaurs they opted for this critter instead, since it has a similar body shape and teeth to match (even though Lycaenops isn't a dinosaur either, but most people don't know that anyway). Lycaenops is one of the finest additions to the JP toy line, with a cool and powerful attack action. And even though the paint job isn't very imaginative (not much unlike the JPS1 Velociraptor or even the Young T-Rex), it suits this creature well. Also good to see the designers didn't forget the inside of the figure's mouth, adding some realism.

The biting action basically is nothing new. The JPS1 Dimetrodon had the exact same attack option, but Lycaenops improves upon it. Because of its longer legs it's easier to operate, while its mouth opens much wider, allowing for bigger prey to be seized. Its bite force is also much stronger, and the big fangs make it harder for its victims to escape. The upward movement of the tongue, which accompanies the opening of the jaws, is also a neat extra detail, though sometimes it might hinder the mouth space for bigger prey. Fortunately the tongue is made of pretty strong material so there's little risk of breaking it when the biting action is in use. Likewise, the biting mechanism is also less easy to damage, unlike the one of the Dimetrodon which often got damaged so the jaws only open, but won't close any more. In short, Lycaenops' biting action is superior over Dimetrodon's in any way (as well as over most figures with a similar attack feature that followed).

The capture gear does its job pretty well (when put on, Lycaenops can't walk or bite), though the head piece can be removed by activating the biting action, so there’s a dinosaur-breaks-free-of-restraints option involved to some extent (something which is lacking on the other JPS2 dinosaur figures, but would be a common feature in he Lost World toy line). The tag doesn't have a particular function, but at least it's not as small as with most other JPS2 dinosaurs, so it's less easy to lose.

Playability: Lycaenops comes with the usual range of poseable limbs as well as a moveable upper jaw. Though its legs are positioned in a walking mode this doesn’t hinder playability much (but the right hind leg will always snap back when moved because it's attached to the biting action). The creature is equipped with a strong and easily accessible biting action, capable of gripping human figures and smaller dinosaurs without problems. However, the tongue of the figure might get in the way when biting something, but since its mouth can open so wide (over a 90 degree angle) there's plenty of room for grabbing prey with its strong jaws. The three pieces of capture gear form a nice way to subdue the animal, but are of little use otherwise.

Realism: Lycaenops wasn't featured in any of the JP movies, making the choice of an action figure in its likeness daringly original. It looks quite similar to the actual Lycaenops, albeit a bit oversized when compared to human figures (Lycaenops was rather small in reality). It also looks not much unlike similar prehistoric creatures like Cynognathus and Gorgonops. Colour is of course something we can only guess at, but at least this figure has a paint job similar to its hatchling counterpart of this toy line, adding some consistency.

Repaint: no, this is a new figure. However, it would be repainted twice, the first time for the Chaos Effect line (Tyrannonops), and again for the first JP: Dinosaurs line (Lynx). Both repaints would feature repaints of the same capture gear this Lycaenops comes with.

Overall rating: 8/10. This is an excellent new figure, though with (an improvement over) a standard attack action and a rather bland (but in this case good looking) paint job. It seems to have been released in the USA only, but it is one of the more common JPS2 creature figures. It's not always easy to find though, and costs may vary, but it's worth tracking down.

Jurassic Park Series 2: Alan Grant (Bola)

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-Double-Barreled Bola Launcher with bola

-Bola Launcher harness

-Bola support stick

-Lycaenops hatchling

-Collector’s Card # 40 

 

Description: The second Alan Grant figure of the JPS2 toy line stands in a totally neutral position. He wears a grey jumpsuit, with brownish orange pieces mixed in around the torso and a scaly silver shirt underneath. On the left part of his chest he sports a silver badge with the JP logo. His pants carry pockets and an odd TV-screen like ornamentation (or is it a knee patch? If so, why doesn't he have one on his other knee too?). He sports brown boots, orange gloves, a big red arm patch over his left lower arm, and a small grey walkie-talkie on his back. Being Alan Grant, he naturally comes with a white cowboy hat. His eyebrows and hair are dark brown.

This set comes with a Bola launcher, a double bola, a harness to attach it to the figure, and a stick to support it while attached to the figure. The Bola Launcher is basically two big tubes stuck on a smaller triangular apparatus with a big grey button in the middle, a small hole at the tube's intersection point (for the support stick), hand grips on each side so Grant can hold it with his own hands and a bigger grey grip on the lower end to attach it to the harness. The weapon is painted entirely bluish grey (except for those parts described above). The double bola itself consists of two big silver darts, resembling claws, with a black string between them. The harness is a small silver pack that fits around Grant's torso and features points to attach the launcher to on both sides. The support stick, also metallic silver in colour, ends in two hooks on top and has a handle on one side for Grant to hold it. After loading the launcher, pressing the button causes the double bola to be shot away, hooking itself around any creature in its trajectory (though its range is somewhat limited and because of the length of the string between the two bola darts it's less effective on big dinosaurs).

This set also comes with a Lycaenops hatchling. This muscular dog like creature is sitting down, its short tail on the ground and its front legs stretched wide, assuming a relaxed posture. It has a big boxy head with a closed mouth, some of its upper teeth sticking out. Its underside (belly, throat, lower part of the tail and inner part of the legs) is white, while most of the tail and neck, its back and upper part of the head is black. The rest of the figure (most of the head and legs, flanks and the sides of the neck and tail are coloured brown. Very near the back of the head this baby has blue eyes with black, cat like pupils. Finally, a black JP logo is located on its right leg.

Analysis: for a second toy line featuring no less than 12 figures (even though five of them were made up for the toy line), one Alan Grant simply wasn't enough, so JPS2 featured this second Grant figure, sporting an entirely new, and definitely original, outfit. It seems to be a dinosaur-resisting suit, much more heavy and bulky in stature as the simpler outfit the other Grant figures wore, but still a neat design (and despite the obvious usefulness of some sort of protective helmet, still sporting Grant's famous white cowboy hat!), albeit asymmetric (why not a big red arm patch on the right arm as well?). Despite its odd looks, it's obvious this Grant is ready for close combat, not surprisingly since his Bola Launcher is a short range non-lethal piece of equipment.

This new weapon is one of the coolest accessories of any of the Kenner JP figures. It's a bit heavy, so it's a good thing it comes with harness and stick to support Grant when using it. When Grant dons the harness he can either keep the launcher right in front of him (supported by the stick which functions as a third leg to keep the whole set-up standing) to use on a charging dinosaur, or store it on his back when he's not using it. The Launcher works really well: pressing the button slings the bola away over a distance of roughly half a yard, hooking the darts around anything that comes in contact with the string between them. It's a great sight to see, though it's most effective on smaller dinosaurs (like the regular JPS1/2 Velociraptor or Dilophosaurus) which can actually be trapped by the bola. As for bigger creatures, it works decently well on their legs, but the bola is too small to wrap itself around their bodies. Of course, dinosaurs may get trapped by the bola, but they're not totally subdued and certainly ever aggressive. There is a likely theory circulating that the support stick is also a stun stick for stunning the captured dinosaurs. Grant would have get to come close to his prey, a task for which his armoured outfit seems well suited. All in all, this set seems quite functionally thought out in this regard.

As if the weapon isn't cool enough, a little Lycaenops hatchling completes this set. It looks very cute, almost like a puppy, but with a much bigger head and some vicious little teeth sticking out. It has a good paint job, much like the adult Lycaenops figure of the JPS2 line (but with blue eyes instead of orange). Like the Gallimimus hatchling it's sitting down, but in this case such a pose looks a lot better since its limbs aren't attached to its body. Even though it's a bit low to the ground, as far as hatchlings go this is a decent prey for the bola launcher, since the bola can hook itself around the baby's head. This is definitely one of the more attractive hatchlings of this line.

Playability: very nice. Grant comes with the usual range of poseable body parts (arms, legs and head). Baby Lycaenops offers no poseability. The Bola Launcher is a very good weapon, despite its limited range. It comes with a whole set-up to support the figure when using it, making it easy to fire for yourself. With some imagination, some of the additional accessories (the stick, and maybe the harness too considering its big points of grip) can also be used in other ways.

Realism: the only thing that really tells you you're dealing with Alan Grant here is his hat. His face doesn't resemble Sam Neill very much, nor is his suit like anything we've seen in the film. The Bola Launcher, though a bit on the bulky side, is not that far-fetched a weapon and certainly useful for trapping dinosaurs (though in reality such a weapon would be smaller so it's easier to carry around and handle). The Lycaenops is a close match to its adult counterpart, mostly because of the very similar paint job. Given the dog like nature of the adult Lycaenops, it's not surprising this baby looks like a puppy.

Repaint: no, this is one of the new additions to the JPS2 toy line. Grant's head sculpt is identical to the one from the other JPS2 Alan Grant figure though. Bola Grant (or at least his body, not his head) would be repainted as the TLWS2 Eddie Carr figure, as well as the Dino Tracker from the TLW Exclusive Dino Tracker Adventure Set. The latter set would also include the Bola Launcher with the same accessories as in this JPS2 set, which would in that case be reused, not retooled or repainted. However, a third set that came with this Bola Launcher, the JP III Exclusive Dinosaur Tracking Set, would feature a repainted Bola Launcher instead, again with all the original accessories (also repainted). The Lycaenops hatchling would stay exclusive to JPS2 Bola Grant though.

Overall rating: 8/10. Grant himself is a bit of an odd figure and slightly out of style with the other JPS1/2 figures, but he's not bad, and he comes with an excellent and original weapon, and a very sweet hatchling to top that off. This set seems to have been released in the USA only, but it's not rare in that country, making it relatively easy (and often cheap) to find on the web. All the better, because this figure definitely comes recommended.