Jurassic Park Chaos Effect: Roland Tembo

Year of release: 1998

Accessories:

-Gatling launcher

-Four projectiles

-Ultimasaurus hatchling

Description: this figure looks quite odd, especially compared to other human figures Kenner produced. As such it’s not easy to describe, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Roland sports golden body armour over his chest and back, adorned with technical detailing. It has purple shoulder patches and wears large silvery grey gloves with purple dots on them. His upper arms also sport additional grey pieces of metal right next to the shoulder patches. Roland wears dark green trousers with asymmetrical leg armour over them at the front side. On his upper left leg he sports what might be a knife holster or some large pocket. He wears big black boots. On his rather grim looking bald head he has a black microphone headset (mostly around his right cheek), and he also has black sunglasses of sorts. On his back right behind his head, some sort of grey grid or other protrusion sticks out for some unclear purpose. Maybe it’s just additional detailing. Roland stands in a very butch and imposing posture. His arms are bent towards his body, as if he’s flexing his muscles. His left hand makes a fist. His legs are bent down somewhat, as if bracing himself. The look on his face makes things seem very grim.

His large gatling gun, which is coloured entirely black (unlike the gun seen on the card, which features grey loading tubes) looks quite detailed and elaborate with little feet and a handle to hold it sticking out on the bottom, as well as binoculars on top, but its basic design is simple. It sports four small loading tubes on the front, so all four of the small orange projectiles fit in simultaneously. On the back of the gun there’s a round knob, which can be turned to the right, firing the projectiles in rapid succession.

The Ultimasaurus hatchling stands in an attack posture, its left foot posed forwards and the right backwards, and its long slender arms outstretched. Its head is turned to the left and looks up slightly, as if the little creature is making a menacing move to an aggressor. Most of the beastie is coloured grey, while its belly (from the base of the neck to the base of the tail) is bright beige. Its feet (sporting sickle shaped claws) and his Ceratopsid like head (with horns and frill) are scarlet red: the latter includes small green eyes and little white teeth. On its back, from the back of the head to the very end of the tail, it carries segmented black armour, similar to that of an Ankylosaurus. Also, the tail ends in a small club, also black. On its left upper leg, a red JP Site B logo is found: this is strange, since this hatchling is not a TLW dinosaur, but Chaos Effect instead so it would have made sense to mark it with a Chaos Effect logo. Maybe it’s just a production mistake.

Analysis: this figure is without a doubt one of the most unusual and “un-Jurassic Park” figures ever produced. Of course, this can be said for most of the Chaos Effect line, but Roland here drives it to its most extreme limits. He looks more of something out of a cheap sci-fi action movie but no, the card clearly says he’s a Jurassic Park figure.

Of course, heavy armour would be useful when battling ferocious hybrid dinosaur monsters. Roland Tembo, being a ‘dino hunt master’ according to the card, probably wants to be prepared for anything. Judging from the gritty look on his face, he’s taking things very seriously. Mess with his weird armour, and he’ll be forced to use his gun on you (also because he has no action features of his own).

This gatling launcher itself looks a whole lot less silly due to its size and all black colouring. It’s an interesting new variation on the standard rocket/missile launcher idea; it’s also clearly based on real gatling guns, though its effects are less devastating (it’s a toy after all). It works quite well and hasn’t much trouble firing the projectiles over a respectable range in rapid succession, but because these are small and lightly built they don’t do a lot of damage. They’re okay for knocking over hatchlings but not much else sadly.

The hatchling is quite interesting, since it’s the only released Ultimasaurus sculpt. It sports almost the exact same paint job as the adult sculpt would have featured, though obviously less detailed due to its size. While still a baby, it looks quite nasty and it isn’t something you would want to meet in a dark alley. In a Chaos Effect way it’s also cute. Though the JP community is still mourning the loss of the large Ultimasaurus sculpt, this juvenile at least gives us a glimpse of what could have been.

Playability: about average by the standards for human JP figures. Roland has moveable arms, legs and head, like most human figures. However, due to the way in which his arms are posed playability is hampered somewhat. Also, his left hand forms a fist and as a result he can only hold things with one hand. The Ultimasaurus hatchling isn’t poseable in any way, which is of course normal for hatchling figures. Its attack posture doesn’t help either. Qua playability, the most important thing of this set is the gatling launcher, which works decent enough.

Realism: as is the case with almost all of the Chaos Effect line, realism isn’t much of an issue with this figure. Roland looks in no way like the Roland Tembo seen in the TLW movie as portrayed by Pete Postlethwaite. The only similarity to that actor is the bald head. This figure looks more like a cyborg than a human being, considering the abundance of armour and metal. So by normal Jurassic Park standards (if there is such a thing) this Roland Tembo is plain ridiculous, but it fits in well enough with the rest of the Chaos Effect toys. The same goes for his weapon, which actually is less farfetched and resembles real gatling guns; so it’s basically a good toy version of such a weapon. The baby Ultimasaurus, another hybrid creature this line is so fond of, is a nice little addition to the toy line. Never mind the weirdness of genetically mutated dinosaur hybrids gone bad, this cross between a Triceratops, Ankylosaurus and Velociraptor (or any closely related cousins of these animals) looks pretty menacing, making the fact the adult version of this monster didn’t get released even harder to bear.

Repaint: no. This figure was most definitely designed for this toy line (which is pretty obvious when you look at it) and wasn’t repainted for later toy lines either. However, this entire set (Roland, Ultimasaurus and gatling launcher) was originally planned to be repainted for the Chaos Effect Night Hunter Series, in a set with a repaint of the unreleased large Ultimasaurus even, but that whole line was scrapped and so was the second Chaos Effect Roland.

Overall rating: 6/10. Though the figure looks utterly ridiculous, it’s fun enough. But the Ultimasaurus and gatling launcher are definitely the best things in this set, which still isn’t overly appealing though. This figure is somewhat harder to find than most other carded Chaos Effect sculpts (especially in territories where the Chaos Effect line wasn’t released), but not impossible to get your hands on: costs may vary though.

The Lost World Series 1: D.A.R.T. With Roland Tembo

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Dino Auto Restraint Transport with capture gear and missile launcher

-Missile

-Roland Tembo figure 

 

Description: the Dino Auto Restraint Transport (i.e., D.A.R.T.) is a vehicle with bike like qualities, which features a fold-out platform on its back part equipped with capture gear for holding a dinosaur figure during transport. When the restraints are not in use, the platform can be folded in so it saves space and makes the vehicle quicker. Up front, the transport carries a small, shiny silvery painted, missile launcher which comes with a single missile, coloured in a more diffuse shade of shiny grey. When folded out, the D.A.R.T. measures about 25 centimetres in length, reduced by about 7 centimetres when folded back in. The capture gear on the platform can also be folded in somewhat when not is use instead of hideously sticking out.

Most of the “bike” part of the transport up front is painted dark green, with silver highlights including the chassis and foot supports for the driver. Additional parts are coloured black, including the steering handles and the saddle. It's adorned with various stickers, including a TLW logo and InGen logo sticker and various logos of dinosaur skulls with red X-es through their eyes, indicating kills or captured prey. The platform at the back of the vehicle sports a metallic brown paint job, with the restraints and/or their supports coloured in either a light or darker shade of metallic grey. Most noticeable are the head restraints, which look a bit like a cage (which it basically is of course). Via a smaller support this piece holds a grappling arm for subduing the torso of any prey the D.A.R.T. carries. There are also small restraints for holding creatures' arms, attached to the back part of the platform, which is adorned with yellow/black stickers carrying a red sign that says 'Caution'. The vehicle has three black tires, one up front, two on the back part of the trailer.

This set comes with an exclusive Roland Tembo figure. It stands in a neutral posture, legs spread apart somewhat to accommodate him mounting his transport without looking silly. For that reason, Tembo also features bendable knees, instead of only having poseable arms, head and legs. He sports a beige shirt under a black vest, adorned with a brown utility belt around his torso, a brown strap over his left shoulder, another brown belt around his waist, brown gloves, shorts in a darker shade of brown including a gun holster over his right upper leg, and even darker brown boots with a knife of the same colour strapped to his right lower leg. He also wears a dark brown hat with a beige band on top and an InGen logo on its right side. His facial expression is bland and emotionless, and his eyes are also coloured brown.

Analysis: this is an unusual but original new vehicle. Though it looks much like a big bike at first glance, it's more than that: it's really a fairly large single creature transport for moving captured dinosaurs around from the place where they were caught back to base camp for processing. The really neat part is the foldable platform which saves both box space and shelf space, without making the transport look less menacing. The vehicle also comes with a small gun for shooting creatures it happens to run into: there's no visible button, the firing mechanism is activated by pressing the steering handles instead. It's only a short range rocket launcher, but it works well enough.

The downside of the D.A.R.T. is the fact it can only carry a handful of dinosaur figures (not all at once I mean, but different figures). It's usually pictured carrying a young Pachycephalosaurus or Junior T-Rex, which are indeed the figures that work best with this transport. Other potential TLW figures are the Dilophosaurus and regular Raptor, but the other figures of this toy line don't fit due to either their size or their shape. Similarly, few human figures can really ride this car. The exclusive Tembo figure it comes with was definitely designed for it, judging from the bendable knees. Most other figures just don't fit on the saddle or look plain silly while riding it.

Now for the Tembo figure that completes this set. It's definitely one of the cooler and more desirable human figures of the TLW lines, which is explained by its more realistic outfit (no dinosaur skin for this Tembo!) and the rarity of having a Kenner figure with poseable knees. The knees make him look butch while sitting on the D.A.R.T., a great white hunter triumphantly carrying his prey on a big bike for all the world to see. Also, if Tembo's knees weren't poseable, the figure would ride the vehicle with legs outstretched, making him look ridiculous. Though the D.A.R.T. is a pretty decent but eventually flawed vehicle, this Roland figure is more than likely the main attraction of the set.

Playability: decent enough. The back part of the transport being able to fold in and out creates extra playability options and also saves space when needed. The various capture devices on the trailer can only hold a single dinosaur, and there's just a limited amount of creature figures that really fit, which narrows possibilities somewhat. The gun works fine but has a limited firing range (about 40 centimetres) and it's a light weight missile so the impact force isn't very great; only smaller figures, like hatchlings, will truly be knocked off their feet. The Roland Tembo figure is one of the more successful TLW figures, not only because it looks realistic and even movie accurate to some point, but also because it has bendable knees, which is something rarely seen on JP action figures (in fact, this Tembo figure is the only Kenner figure equipped with this feature) and thus only adds to playability. Tembo also has the usual range of poseable body parts, namely legs, arms and head.

Realism: the D.A.R.T. is a vehicle made up by Kenner and not seen in the actual TLW movie. Though it's a fun transport, it's not very realistic. The smaller dinosaurs being seen captured in the TLW movie were subdued and tranquillised on the spot, and carried in cages in the Humvee transports. However, since this toy line's Humvee vehicle lacks such cages, this is a decent alternative for people who want an explanation as to how the dinosaurs were transported. Roland Tembo by comparison is quite a life like figure, sporting both a realistic and movie accurate (not fully, but more so than other TLW figures) outfit and paint scheme, and also a facial sculpt quite similar to Pete Postlethwaite, who played Roland in the TLW movie.

Repaint: no. Tembo's head sculpt is identical (except for the paint job of the hat) to the head of the regular Roland Tembo figure of this toy line though (depending on which variation of the latter you have). Neither the bike nor the figure would be repainted for later toy lines, though a repaint was once planned for the unreleased Chaos Effect: Night Hunter series.

Overall rating: 7/10. It's a nice and original addition to the TLW range of vehicles, but it's nothing particularly special, except for the excellent human figure that comes with it. The D.A.R.T. got a wide release in the USA, but only a limited one, or none at all, in other territories. It can easily be found in the States and on Ebay for relatively low prices, the latter being the best shot for people who can't find one.

The Lost World Series 1: Roland Tembo

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Dino Stun Prod

-Knife

-Pachycephalosaurus hatchling

Description: Roland is looking very butch sporting green dinosaur skin (including a dinosaur head) wrapped around his brown shirt. Apart from that he’s also wearing ominously dark green pants (along with a knife strapped to his left leg), dark brown leather boots, brown belt and gloves, and a small neck collar made of bones. To top it off he’s sporting a very black hat with the InGen logo at the right side. Roland stands in a fairly neutral pose with his right leg outstretched to the right.

He carries a very large metallic looking device called a Dino Stun Prod. It’s painted metallic dark grey with silvery highlights on both ends. On the front end these consist of two large “claws” surrounding a smaller electronic looking device. On the back end there’s a button: when pressed the claws swing open and the front end sticks out, knocking anything it hits over with some force. The apparatus is almost as big as Roland himself. He can hold the device by sticking his arm in it, making it appear he’s got a bionic arm of sorts. When holding the weapon he can only stand by leaning the thing on the ground, otherwise he topples over. Roland has a second weapon, a small metallic grey knife.

The Pachycephalosaurus hatchling stands in a ferocious attack posture, ready to knock anything it comes into contact with down. Its body is fully outstretched with its head lowered and its skull ready for head butting: his legs stand in a running pose. The animal sports a light green paint job, with its back, tail and upper legs adorned with dark green stripes. Its underside is coloured yellowish beige. His thick skull is painted pinkish red with a large beige spot in the middle, and his eyes are beige with black pupils. A yellow JP Site B logo can be found on his right upper leg, hardly noticeable.

Analysis: Roland has quite a presence with his eerie outfit confirming his reputation as a great white hunter. Unfortunately, the dinosaur skin is just a bit too campy, especially the face with the oversized nostrils. It would have been better not to have Roland sport such dinosaur leather, it’s kind of ridiculous. Other than that his outfit looks pretty swell, especially his dark hat.

The weapon isn’t very special. Though it’s fun to have it spring open, it just doesn’t feel right. It’s simply oversized, making it unrealistic, and its look isn’t very appealing. Also, it only does damage to any dinosaur standing right in front of the weapon, and it only works on smaller dinosaurs, like hatchlings. It doesn’t do anything to larger figures. It’s just hard to think of Roland using such a weapon to hunt dinosaurs with; it would have been better if he had the gun we saw him carry in the movie, or at least a weapon firing stuff. The knife is a neat little bonus though: it looks good and feels like something Roland would use.

The Pachy is a fierce little devil. It looks ready for action even though it’s just a hatchling. The paint job is good enough and resembles the colours of the larger Pachycephalosaurus (the medium size Pachy that is, not the biggest of the three this toy line featured), adding some consistency to the line. Still, it doesn’t really look like a hatchling, apart from its big eyes maybe. It looks more like a smaller version of an adult Pachy. But it’s a good little figure anyhow.

Playability: it could have been better. Roland has the usual poseable limbs and a decently neutral position too. The weapon however doesn’t add much action options: the knife is a good little addition though. The Pachy’s active pose limits playability somewhat, since it’s basically usable for action only. It would look good in dioramas though.

Realism: though the dinosaur skin is really cheesy, the rest of Roland’s outfit isn’t farfetched and looks like something Roland might wear on hunting trips. It’s not the same as what he wore in the movie though; the outfit worn by the exclusive Roland figure that comes with the D.A.R.T. looks more like it. Still, the head sculpt sure looks similar to Pete Postlethwaite’s facial features, and the hat isn’t far off either. Though there was a stun prod in the TLW movie, this weapon looks nothing like it: it’s much bigger and more complex in design. The knife is more realistic.

The Pachy looks a lot like a Pachy in defensive mode might look like, though it’s doubtful hatchlings would also behave like this. But as said above, this sculpt looks more like a small version of an adult Pachycephalosaurus than it resembles a juvenile. It’s quite anatomically correct, though it may be missing some fingers.

Repaint: no. The figure, hatchling and weapons would not be repainted for later toy lines either.

Overall rating: 6/10. The figure and hatchling are decent enough, though both have some aesthetic downsides. The weapon isn’t great and doesn’t fit Roland’s character: the knife can’t help it be better. This figure isn’t hard to find, nor should it prove very expensive if you run into it.