Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 3: Velociraptor and Stegosaurus two-pack

Year of release: 2005

Description: the Stegosaurus stands in an active posture, with its body bent, its head and tail pointing towards the left, like it’s defending itself from an aggressor. Its dominating colour is light brown, which is found on its head, sides of the neck, flanks, all of the limbs and both sides of the tail. Its underside (throat, belly and most of the lower part of the tail) is coloured white. The top parts of the animal (top of the head and neck, the back and upper part of the tail, as well as all the back plates) is painted black. On either side of the figure several black shapes stick out of the main black colouring, running over the flanks and tail. The tail spikes are coloured white, while the figure's claws are not painted and it sports small black eyes (with white pupils) and a black JP logo on both upper legs.

The Velociraptor stands in a stalking pose, its right arm and leg stretched outward and its head raised upwards with its mouth open, as if it means to jump on something. The tail is raised upwards and bent at the tip. The figure is entirely painted beige, with the lower body parts being only slightly lighter in colour hue than the top parts which appear a bit more brown (especially around the head and neck). A series of thin blue stripes and shapes are found in a random pattern on the back of the head, neck, back, upper legs and front part of the tail. The inside of the mouth and tongue are painted black, while the figure has white teeth and cat like yellow eyes with black pupils. The Raptor sports black claws on its feet (but not on its fingers) and a black JP logo on both upper legs.

Analysis: and here's yet another dinosaur two-pack for you. This time the all too often repainted Velociraptor is paired with the less often repainted Stegosaurus, and both sculpts have been done much more justice before. The colour schemes on both figures are rather boring. The Raptor's is undetailed and overly simple, and the way the mouth is painted is just damn ugly. The Stegosaurus is not much better. If you feel the paint scheme looks familiar, you're right, since it appears almost a copy of the one used for the JPD2 Stegosaurus figure, except for the shape of the stripes sticking out of the black colouring and less detail on the plates. The used combination of colours, black and light brown, is also far less inspired than the green, dark brown and yellow combination we saw last time. Honestly, how often have we seen JP dinosaur figures painted in black and brown before? It has become almost a cliché!

As for which dinosaur would win in a fight, I'm inclined to bet on the Raptor. It has speed and agility at its side, as well as those nasty claws. The Stegosaurus might do some damage with its tail if it was fast enough, but would most likely meet an untimely end.

Repaint: yes. Both figures are repaints of dinosaurs that originally came with human figures for the JP III line. The Velociraptor teamed up with Alan Grant (first wave release), while the Stegosaurus was paired with Paul Kirby. Both figures have been repainted before for JP III Camo-Xtreme and JPD2: the Raptor would be featured again in this toy line, and would also appear in JP 2009.

Overall rating: 4/10. There's nothing new to both sculpts, unless you don't own the previous releases yet. Both figures are adorned with dull and uninspired paint jobs, making this one of the less appealing dinosaur two-packs. Like most two-packs from JPD2 and JPD3, this is not a rare set. It can still be found fairly easily, usually for low prices because it's just not very popular or sought after, for obvious reasons.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 2: Electronic Brachiosaurus with Micro Stegosaurus

Year of release: 2004

Description: this Sauropod (large four legged animal with typical long neck) stands in a fairly neutral position except for the tail, which is bent to the left in an almost circular fashion, and the right front leg, which is lifted off the ground and points forward, so the dino strike action can be activated more easily. This attack feature consists of a swinging tail strike (though the figure's package seems to have put it in reverse and mentions 'stomping action', no doubt activated by pushing the tail back and forth), accompanied by a low roaring sound. A second sound can be produced by pushing the white button in the dino damage wound: when pushed, a shrieking roar can be heard, as if the creature is howling in pain. The wound is located on the right flank, and is basically a dark red spot of muscle tissue with small white bones sticking out of it. As usual for Hasbro figures, the wound cannot be covered up, but is constantly exposed. The figure’s long neck is bendable, but only slightly.

Green is this Sauropod's colour of choice. Its underside (a very long throat, the belly, and the front half of the lower part of the tail) is painted greenish beige, while the rest of the figure is covered in two different shades of green, the darker one found mostly on the top parts (neck, back, upper part of the tail, upper legs) and the lighter shade between the greenish beige and the darker green, most notably on the head, legs, end of the tail and flanks. The two shades of green gradually dissolve into one another instead of being clearly delineated. The neck, back, front half of the tail and legs sport a number of black stripes, with all of them except those on the neck featuring smaller brown stripes in their centre. The stripes are randomly applied to the creature's body. This Brachiosaurus has small black eyes, white teeth, a pink tongue, a black inside of the mouth, black claws on all toes and a big white JP logo on its right upper leg.

The miniature Stegosaurus is basically coloured in four layers. The lowest layer (the belly, throat, most of the lower jaw and underside of the tail) is painted light grey. Above that, the second layer is white, covering the legs, flanks, both sides of the faces and tail. A number of dark grey spots and stripes adorn the white parts of the figure. The top layer is coloured black, covering the creature's back, upper jaw and face, top of the tail, and most notably, the plates and tail spikes. In-between the white and black parts of the Stegosaurus there's the final layer, an orange line on either flank of the figure, running from the base of the neck to the end of the tail, ending just under the last set of plates. The eyes are yellow with black pupils and a black JP III logo can be found on its left back leg. The animal stands in an active posture, with its body bent and its tail dangerously sticking out, like it’s defending itself from an aggressor.

Analysis: you can't (and shouldn't) keep a good sculpt down, especially if it's a Sauropod because the various JP toy lines have made far too little use of those awesome beasties. Therefore, JP Dinosaurs 2 sees the return of Hasbro's Brachiosaurus sculpt. It has remained unchanged, so the neat whipping tail action, funky dinosaur sounds and somewhat bendable neck are still present, but unfortunately so are the irritating dino damage wound and awkwardly bent tail.

This Brachiosaur's paint job is a lot different that that of its predecessor. It's neither an improvement nor a disappointment, but a nice solid new paint job which fits this figure rather well. The green is dark and smooth enough to not feel ridiculously 'in-your-face' green, but a bit more natural instead. The brown stripes are a nice touch and could also be viewed as old battle scars (in which case; poor creature, to have run into so many conflicts!). Overall, this figure might also make a good Camo-Xtreme Jungle Brachiosaurus (though Brachiosaurs would probably be too big for an actual heavily forested environment in reality).

Its Stegosaurus companion is a nice little bonus, but nothing else. Though its paint job is still okay, the fact that it's a reuse instead of a repaint makes it feel like a wasted opportunity. Also, its colouration feels completely inconsistent with its bigger herbivorous counterpart: though it's nowhere stated explicitly that dinosaur paint jobs in two-packs should feel complimentary, these two paint jobs clash a little too much.

Overall, aside from the new Brachiosaurus paint job this set offers nothing new, but it's a good chance to expand your line-up of herbivores, since they're grossly outnumbered in the JP toy lines by their meat eating brethren. And of course, any fairly big Sauropod is welcome, considering this is only the second decently sized Brachiosaurus figure in 13 years of JP toys.

Repaint: yes. The Brachiosaurus was originally released in the JP III line (Wave 2). It is a first time repaint and, so far, last time repaint too. The Micro Stegosaurus is more or less identical to the figure from the Camo-Xtreme Arctic two-pack, though the paint job might feel a bit harder. This particular sculpt was originally paired with Paul Kirby in Wave 2 of the JP III line, and has since been repainted for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2 and JPD3.

Overall rating: 7/10. Not so bad a repaint set. Granted, neither sculpt is new and the Stegosaurus is even a simple reuse, but it still has a solid paint job. The Brachiosaurus is one of Hasbro's better sculpts, and this new paint job fits it fine (though it's not as good as the previous one). Like the other JPD2/3 electronic dinosaur figures, this two-pack was common a few years ago, but has since become much harder to find, in this case even more so than the other JPD2/3 Electronic/Micro sets. If you really want this one, patience is most definitely required, and in this case probably a fair amount of cash as well.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 2: Spinosaurus and Stegosaurus two-pack

Year of release: 2004

Description: the Stegosaurus stands in an active posture, with its body bent, its head and tail pointing towards the left, like it’s defending itself from an aggressor. Its dominating colour is green, which is found on its head, neck, flanks, all of the limbs and both sides of the tail. Its underside (throat, belly and most of the lower part of the tail) is coloured yellowish beige. The top parts of the animal (top of the head and neck, the back and upper part of the tail, as well as all the back plates) is painted dark brown. On either side of the figure several brown stripes stick out of the main brown colouring, running over the flanks and tail. On all but the really small back plates a thin reddish brown stripe is located in a triangular pattern. The tail spikes are coloured black, while the figure's claws are not painted and it sports small yellow eyes (no pupils) with black eye liner and a black JP logo on its left upper leg.

The Spinosaurus is positioned in a crouching move, its right arm resting on the ground, possibly stalking potential prey. Its left arm is raised upwards and its mouth is opened wide. Like the Stegosaurus it features a three-way paint job. The underside (belly, front part of the lower tail section and top parts of the inside of the limbs) is painted beige. Almost all of the head, the sides of the neck, the flanks, the rest of the limbs and most of the tail is coloured very light greyish brown. Lastly a thick light blue stripe runs from the neck over the back very close towards the end of the tail and also covers the back sail. On each upper limb, an additional pair of small blue stripes is found. The dinosaur has black claws on its feet, but the claws on the hands are not painted. The tongue and inside of the mouth are coloured dark pink, the teeth are white, and the space between the teeth and the edges of the mouth are black. The animal has small black eyes and a black JP logo on its left upper leg.

Analysis: finally, some other figures repainted! We've seen repaints of both this Stegosaurus and Spinosaurus before, but not nearly as often as some of the other JP III miniature figures. It's a welcome change, but a far cry from new figures of course. Both figures feature okay new paint jobs. In fact, in the case of the Stegosaurus, the paint job might actually be more interesting than on its first try (JP III Wave 2 if you recall), but not as daring as the one seen on its Camo-Xtreme counterpart. Green works well on Stegosaurs as we've observed before. The differently coloured tail spikes and the adorning of the bigger back plates are also a nice touch. Too bad the claws are not painted though, and the lack of pupils looks kinda creepy (for some reason such an effect works much better on carnivores than it does on innocent herbivores).

The Spinosaurus is less successful on the paint job front and has been done more justice on the previous two specimens. It's not necessarily bad, but the combination of light brown and blue feels too soft for a super predator and lacks the feel of menace which would suit it better. More use could have been made of the sail, since this is the figure's most distinctive feature. The little blue stripes add a bit of diversity in the paint job though. The lack of pupils, as stated above, works much better on a carnivore like this and gives it an eerie, slightly twisted feel. A shame the claws on the fingers are not painted while those on the feet are, this feels rather sloppy!

In a battle between both figures my money would be on the Stegosaurus. It's bigger, bulkier and has those nasty tail spikes to slap opponents in the face with. And because of the abundance of plates the Spinosaurus has a hard time finding a good place to sink its teeth into this herbivore. Apparently, the Spino is aiming for a low angle attack. Or the Stegosaurus has already brought the Spinosaurus to its knees... your interpretation really.

Repaint: yes. Both figures are repaints of dinosaurs that originally came with human figures for the JP III line (second wave in both figure's cases). The Spinosaurus teamed up with the Military Diver, while the Stegosaurus was paired with Paul Kirby. Both figures have been repainted once before for JP III Camo-Xtreme: the Stegosaurus would make a second appearance in this line, as well as a final appearance in JPD3. The Spinosaurus had to wait until 2009 to be featured again in a JP toy line (the aptly named JP 2009).

Overall rating: 6/10. There's nothing new to both sculpts, unless you don't own the previous releases yet. These new paint jobs are pretty nice, though nothing really special or appealing. It's good to see some of the less often repainted figures for a change. Like most dinosaur two-packs from JPD2 and JPD3, this is not an uncommon release (though not as common as the rest of them, it appears). It can still be found fairly easily, usually for low prices because it's just not a very popular set.

Jurassic Park Dinosaurs: Stegosaurus with Dinosaur Hunter

Year of release: 1999

Accessories:

-Dino Damage skin piece

-Four pieces of capture gear

Description: as is usual for Stegosaurs, the most noticeable thing about this creature is the double row of plates running from its neck to halfway over the tail. In total, this sculpt carries 22 plates (one of them on the dino damage piece), all varying in size. Additionally, at the end of its tail there are the four spikes Stegosaurus uses to defend itself with. These spikes are also the main ingredient of the action feature this sculpt is equipped with. Pressing the two back plates behind the dino damage piece together causes the tail to swing around, giving this beast the opportunity to knock figures down. This mechanism works fairly well, though it gets damaged easily. This animal's dino damage piece is located right above the right front leg: removing this piece reveals white ribs, a shoulder bone and red muscle tissue.

The Stegosaurus assumes a sort of walking posture, its left hind leg in a forward move and its right hind leg moved backward. Its front legs are neutrally positioned though. His head is posed to the right, as if the animal is looking down at something. Green is the predominant colour of this figure’s paint job. The entire upper part of its body (upper part of the tail, back, neck, top part of the hind legs, upper part of the head) is painted dark green, including all the plates, though the larger ones on its back (not on its tail, since the figure’s tail section is composed of a different material to facilitate the attack action) are toned even darker green. The creature’s flanks, sides of the tail and head and most of the legs sport a much lighter shade of green, while its underside (belly, throat, lower jaw, lower part of the tail, inner part of the legs) is coloured bright beige. The spikes on the end of the tail are painted dark green at the base, which gradually changes into beige too. The Stegosaurus has very small yellow eyes (with black pupils and white irises), and a black JP logo on its lower right hind leg. The small claws on its elephant like legs are not painted in a different colour.

This figure comes with four pieces of capture gear, which can be assembled together to form a hind leg and tail restraint. It basically shackles the legs, which via a wire are connected to what can best be described as a box that goes around the tail, keeping the animal from using its spikes. This also makes the tail attack option a dinosaur-breaks-free-of-capture-gear action: pressing the plates together makes the Stegosaurus whip its tail, break free of the box and smash it in two. It doesn’t get rid of the shackles though. All pieces of capture gear sport the same shiny silver metallic paint job.

The Dino Hunter stands in a largely neutral pose, except for his right leg which is moved slightly forwards. He sports an almost military outfit, namely a light blue shirt with a black vest and dark blue straps over it, as well as light brown gloves, dark blue pants with light blue stripes in an asymmetrical pattern suggesting camouflage on them, and black boots. He also has a pair of black sunglasses on. He has a stone cold facial expression and brown Elvis like hair. He’s got some detailing on his pants, though it’s hardly noticeable because it’s coloured in the same blue as the pants themselves: on his left leg he’s got one pocket, while on his right leg he has a knife as well as some damage to his pants, indicating he’s had a close call with a hungry carnivore.

Analysis: the only other larger dinosaur figure of the first JP: Dinosaurs line is brought to you from the TLWS1 line instead of the original JP toy line. It's the Stegosaurus, and boy, did they do little with this figure! The sculpt itself remains unchanged, which is for the best compared to the Tyrannosaurus JPD1 brings us, which was recast so badly it had no action features to speak off left. Stegosaurus fares better in this regard: both the whipping tail action and Dino-Damage (Trade Marked, according to the box) wound work as well as they did before (which in the latter's case means it keeps falling off on its own accord). The paint job is very similar to the one seen before, but with different hues of green being used. Unfortunately, the green we had was fine, while these other greens are kinda ugly together. It also lacks painted details, like the big nails on its feet and such, but this is of course common for this line (though at least the T-Rex got more than its fair share of detailing). It would have been nice to see a Stegosaurus coloured something other than green for a change (this is the third time in a row!), but apparently the toy designers can't come up with different colour schemes for this species. A shame, but not a loss we can't overcome. The animal comes with the same capture gear as before, which still does what it's supposed to do: either contain the animal's tail or be destroyed by it, your choice.

The Dinosaur Hunter has undergone a small change compared to its original sculpt: he has had a head transplant. This does give us some variety, considering we already saw both the head and the body before in this toy line. Fortunately they go well together. The figure's paint scheme remains the same, but this time blue is used instead of grey. An interesting choice of colours, but not different enough to make it stand out next to the original figure, unlike the other Ajay body repaint from this line. Sadly, this figure does not come with a set of weaponry, so he can only hope the Stegosaurus' capture gear will keep the beast in line. Wishful thinking...

Repaint: yes. This is a repaint of the TLWS1 Stegosaurus figure, with repainted dino damage and the same capture gear as its TLW predecessor. The Dinosaur Hunter is a TLWS2 Ajay repaint, with a repainted head sculpt from TLWS1 Peter Ludlow. Both figures would not be repainted again.

Overall rating: 6/10. This Stegosaur's paint job is not as appealing as before, but not a complete atrocity either, and it's still a very nice sculpt regardless. The same thing basically goes for the Dino Hunter, though it's a shame he doesn't come with any weaponry like the other human figures of this line. This set is not the easiest find of this toy line, especially in MIB or complete condition. It could take quite some time to track it down, plus a decent amount of money to get your hands on it.

Jurassic Park III CamoXtreme Arctic Spinosaurus & Stegosaurus

Year of release: 2002

Accessories:

-'Arctic' Collector's Card (no number)

Description: the miniature Stegosaurus is basically coloured in four layers. The lowest layer (the belly, throat, most of the lower jaw and underside of the tail) is painted light grey. Above that, the second layer is white, covering the legs, flanks and both sides of the tail. A number of grey spots and stripes adorns the white parts of the figure. The top layer is coloured black, covering the creature's back, upper jaw, top of the tail, and most notably, the plates and tail spikes. In-between the white and black parts of the Stegosaurus there's the final layer, an orange line on either flank of the figure, running from the neck to the end of the tail, ending just under the last set of plates. The eyes are yellow with black pupils and a black JP III logo can be found on its left back leg. The animal stands in an active posture, with its body bent and its tail dangerously sticking out, like it’s defending itself from an aggressor.

That aggressor could be the Spinosaurus that completes this 2-pack. It stands in a walking posture, with its left leg posed forward and the left arm raised, its mouth opened as if roaring and the end of the tail bent pointing to the right. It sports a mostly light blue paint job, which gradually turns into black on the animal's back, neck and upper parts of the tail and head, and dark grey on its belly, throat, inner side of the legs and lower part of the tail. It has a row of orange stripes on either side of its sail. Its claws are painted black (something they did not bother to do with the Stegosaurus), and it has yellow eyes with black pupils, white teeth and the inside of the mouth is coloured bloody red. A black JP III logo is found on its right upper leg.

Analysis: Hasbro's long time affinity with dinosaur 2-packs started with the CamoXtreme line, which delivered some of the very few actually appealing 2-packs ever produced. This Arctic 2-pack is among those. Though the Stegosaurus lacks some detail (unpainted claws, spikes and even plates), both figures sport an interesting paint job which very well might help them blend in in an icy environment (except for the orange highlights maybe). Aside from the paint jobs, there is little else to warrant attention to this pack. Both figures are nothing new and have zero playability options. The Spinosaurus is still a decently realistic miniature figure, which in a lesser regard applies to the Stegosaurus as well, though its front legs are still overly long compared to its hind legs and it has a rather goofy expression on its face.

Repaint: yes. Both figures were originally featured in the JP III toy line. The Spinosaurus came with Amanda Kirby in Wave I of that line, while the Stegosaurus had to wait for release until Wave II when it was paired with Amanda's (ex-)husband Paul Kirby. The Spinosaurus would be repainted several times again for JP Dinosaurs 2/3 and JP 2009. The Stegosaurus would only be repainted for JP Dinosaurs 2/3: interestingly enough, this Arctic Stegosaurus would be reused in its entirety (so no additional paint work at all) for the JP Dinosaurs 2 'Electronic Brachiosaurus with Micro Stegosaurus' set.

Overall rating: 7/10. Nice paint jobs and a funky collector's card are the only attraction in this set, unless you don't own the original JP III sculpts yet. The CamoXtreme 2-packs are a bit harder to find than most other Hasbro JP dinosaur 2-packs, but not (yet) excessively so. You can still find them irregularly on eBay for a fair price. These 2-packs were imported in the Benelux in decent quantities, making them also fairly easy to find there.

Jurassic Park III: Paul Kirby & Stegosaurus

Year of release: 2002

Accessories:

-Stegosaurus figure

-Net launcher (with “net”)

Description: this figure sports a light red, almost pink, shirt with a pair of binoculars over it, a gold watch, dark grey pants with darker tones mixed in, brown shoes and a brown belt. He shows signs of being attacked by some ferocious creature: his right leg features some rips in his pants, showing skin underneath, while his lower left leg is covered in bandages and part of his pants is missing. Paul has red hair and green eyes, but actor William H. Macy’s famous moustache, featured heavily in the JP III movie, is noticeably missing. The figure doesn’t stand in a neutral pose: his legs are in ‘walking mode’, with one leg moved forward and the other backward. His arms are bent, like he’s holding something. The figure has some slight balance problems and has a tendency to fall over.

The net launcher is entirely painted in metallic grey. It looks pretty sophisticated, but it’s a very simple design despite the detailed look: just push the lever and the end part moves upward, launching the net (or any item presently sitting on the device). The net is quite small, and all black. It’s got two ‘balls’ on its sides, with which it can be attached to the launcher.

The Stegosaurus certainly isn’t a hatchling (its plates are way too big), but appears to be a miniature version of an adult Stegosaurus. It’s basically coloured in three layers. The lower layer (the belly, legs, and undersides of the tail and neck) are painted grey with black stripes. The middle layer is coloured blue. The upper layer, consisting of the back, top of the head and tail, as well as the spikes and plates, is black. The eyes are yellow, and a black JP III logo can be found on its left back leg. The animal stands in an attack posture, with its body bend and its tail dangerously sticking out, like it’s defending itself from an aggressor.

Analysis: this figure evokes mixed feelings. Though Paul’s paint job is quite good, the sad fact he misses his trademark, the moustache, is a disappointment. I reckon many people had no trouble applying a moustache themselves though. The pose he takes on in also somewhat irritating: he easily falls over because of the position of his legs. The odd way in which he holds his arms, especially his left, also doesn’t help. But other than that this is a pretty good sculpt.

Unfortunately the net launcher is a different thing: it downright sucks. It looks ridiculous, and the net is far too small to catch anything. The nets are launched, but don’t get very far and rarely hit something (at least: they don’t catch anything). Even the Stegosaurus with its plates and spikes is easy to miss with this sucker. The material of which the net consists is also quite a bummer: one can’t help being remembered of all the wonderful nets the Kenner lines featured. The paint job of the launcher further diminishes the set: though the device is pretty detailed, it’s coloured in a monotonous paint job, like they couldn’t be bothered painting some of the details.

The Stegosaurus is fifty-fifty. The animal looks pretty good, but the paint job could have been better. Especially the dull black of the spikes and plates makes one want to get some paint and customize the poor creature. The attack posture looks pretty scary and aggressive, but it stands in the way of playability since the sculpt is in defensive mode only. A neutral pose would have been preferable.

Playability: quite limited unfortunately. The figure has the usual poseable body parts, but his position doesn’t help the playability. The Stegosaurus, which is not poseable in any way and stands in a very un-neutral pose, further hinders possibilities. The net launcher is just a disgrace to the very term ‘net launcher’ and should be utterly ignored.

Realism: Paul Kirby’s facial features look quite similar to those of Paul in the movie, despite the moustache being absent. His outfit is also different, but still pretty realistic for an everyman posing as a millionaire adventurer. There were no net launchers in JP III, and seeing this miserable contraption we can be nothing but grateful for that. The Stegosaurus is easily recognizable as a Stegosaurus (or a close relative), but doesn’t look much like the Stegosaurs featured in both TLW and JP III (we only saw a few shots of them in JP III anyway): the most noticeable difference is the paint job this figure sports. But also the position of the plates and spikes, as well as the relative long front legs this figure has, differ from its movie counterparts. It’s still relatively paleontologically correct though, except for the front legs maybe.

Repaint: no. However, the Stegosaurus would be repainted for future toy lines: once for JP III Camo-Xtreme, and twice again for JP Dinosaurs 2 and 3. (Note: one of the JPD models actually had the same paint job as the Camo-Xtreme model, so it was a reuse instead of a repaint. But JPD still featured two more paint jobs for this sculpt.)

Overall rating: 5/10. The figure looks pretty good, but is hampered by his posture, and the Stegosaurus even more so. The net launcher is just a plain disaster, the less spoken of it the better. This set isn’t very hard to find in the US, and probably at low cost, so if you feel you need one you can get it without much trouble. It’s a bit harder to find in overseas territories, but still not impossible to locate.

The Lost World Series 1: Stegosaurus

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Four pieces of capture gear

-Dino damage wound piece

Description: as is usual for Stegosaurs, the most noticeable thing about this creature is the double row of plates running from its neck to halfway over the tail. In total, this sculpt carries 22 plates (one of them on the dino damage piece), varying in size. Additionally, at the end of its tail there are the four spikes Stegosaurus used to defend itself with. These spikes are also the main ingredient of the action feature this sculpt is equipped with. Pressing the two plates next to the dino damage piece together causes the tail to swing around, giving this beast the opportunity to knock figures down. This mechanism works fairly well, though in some cases it gets damaged easily. As stated, this animal has a dino damage piece, located right above the right front leg: removing this piece reveals bones (including a shoulder bone) and red muscle tissue.

The Stegosaurus assumes a sort of walking posture, its left hind leg in a forward move and its right hind leg moved backward. Its front legs are neutrally positioned though. His head is posed to the right, as if the animal is looking at something on that side. Green is the predominant colour of this figure’s paint job. The entire upper part of its body (upper part of the tail, back, neck, upper part of the head) is painted dark green, including the plates on its back, though the larger ones on its back (not on its tail, since the figure’s tail section is composed of a different material to facilitate the attack action) are toned even darker, and a bit shiny, green. The creature’s flanks, side of the tail and head and most of the legs sport a lighter shade of green, while its underside (belly, throat, lower jaw, lower part of the tail, inner part of the legs) is coloured beige. The spikes on the end of the tail are painted dark brown at the base, which gradually changes into bright beige. The Stegosaurus has very small yellow eyes, and a beige JP: Site B logo, along with the number .24, is located on its lower right hind leg. The small claws on its elephant like legs are not painted in a different colour.

This figure comes with four pieces of capture gear, which can be assembled together to form a hind leg and tail restraint. It basically shackles the legs, which via a wire are connected to what can best be described as a box that goes around the tail, keeping the animal from using its spikes. Like most TLW dinosaurs, the attack option is also a dinosaur-breaks-free-of-capture-gear action: pressing the plates together makes the Stego break free of the box and smash it in two. It doesn’t get rid of the shackles though. All pieces of capture gear sport the same shiny silver metallic paint job.

Analysis: after the disappointing JPS1 Stegosaurus with its totally incorrect appearance, this differently designed TLW counterpart comes as a relief. Maybe it’s because the designers had the Stegosaurs from the TLW movie to use as examples instead of building it from scratch, but this figure came out pretty well qua design and realism. It’s relatively movie accurate and sports a good green paint job, not even that dissimilar from the JPS1 Stego which was also painted in green.

Additionally, where the JPS1 Stego featured a pretty lame attack option (if you can even call it that), they put a little more effort in this one, resulting in a superior tail swinging action. Though its range is limited, up to about ten to fifteen centimetres at best, it works quite well and provides for a lot of fun. It doesn’t always do a lot of damage, especially to larger dinosaurs and vehicles, but it should knock over most human figures and smaller dinosaurs.

Apart from the green paint job and tail clubbing option, a third function this Stego shares with its JPS1 brother is the dino damage piece. In this case, the piece is often a bit of a nuisance: it comes loose way too easily, whether you want it to or not. It doesn’t always stay attached to the figure, which also increases the risk of misplacing it. There is a positive aspect to this though: unlike with most dinosaurs featuring damage pieces, firing any kind of weapon on the piece makes it drop off, like the animal is shot to death. A bit gruesome, but good fun.

The capture gear is something the JPS1 Stegosaurus, nor any of the JPS1 dinosaurs, did not feature, and gives this sculpt some relative originality. It’s neatly designed, but like the dino damage piece, it too lets go on its own accord too easily. This does make it less difficult for the animal to liberate itself though. Other than that, the capture gear doesn’t add much.

Playability: little, unfortunately. Though at first glance you might take the hind legs to be poseable, they’re not. Apart from the tail swinging action, this sculpt does not have any moveable parts. The action feature isn’t bad, though it has a tendency to get easily damaged. The dino damage piece and capture gear add some minor playability options, but not much, since it can’t be used for anything else. On a side note, the tail section of this figure is composed of a different material than the rest of it, which is sadly more susceptible to paint wear.

Realism: this figure is a definite toy version of the Stegosaurs seen in the TLW movie. Although compared to human figures, it’s not as big as the creatures seen in the movie and it’s less fat or bulky, the shape and paint job are very similar to its movie counterparts. It’s also a big improvement over the JPS1 Stegosaurus figure, which wasn’t anatomically correct at all. Of course the capture gear this dinosaur comes with wasn’t seen in the movie, since in the film the InGen hunters used a large cage to keep the Stegosaurs captive. It would have been cool to see a cage come with this animal, but this is adequate at least.

Repaint: no. However, this figure would be repainted once, for the first JP Dinosaurs toy line.

Overall rating: 8/10. Despite its limited playability, this is a fine sculpt with a good paint job and a fun and original take on an otherwise predictable action feature. Fortunately it had a wide release and as such it’s not difficult to find, though maybe harder if you want it complete. Still, it shouldn’t cost you an arm and leg if you find one.

The Lost World Series 1: Sarah Harding

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Net Launcher (with net)

-Camera

-Stegosaurus hatchling

Description: Sarah sports short green pants, along with a beige vest over a red shirt. She has dark brown boots, a black watch on her right wrist, a black belt and a JP Site B patch on her right shoulder. She has a total of six pockets on her outfit. Sarah is red haired and has a pony tail, as well as a loose strain of hair running round her left cheek. She also has red eye brows, as well as very blue eyes. It has been said there is also a variant of this figure sporting red lipstick. Sarah stands in a rather neutral pose, except she has her arms raised upwards somewhat, especially her right arm.

This figure comes with a net launching device, which isn’t mobile, i.e. it can only stand on the ground and is to be used separately from the figure. It looks very mechanic and has more detailing than appears necessary, for it only requires pressing a lever on the back end to launch the net. The launcher sports a metallic shiny grey paint job. The net itself isn’t very big and thus only handy to catch smaller dinosaurs with, like hatchlings. The net is made up of two long red sticks with a black cloth like net in between. Sarah also carries a small camera, which can be hung around her neck. It too sports a silvery grey paint job, though in a lighter shade than the net launcher.

The Stegosaurus hatchling stands in a walking posture, with its head turned to its left, and the tail turned to the right. Its right front leg and left hind leg are attached to each other. The animal has tiny plates on its back and no spikes at the end of its tail, making it obvious this is a juvenile. The underside of the animal (most of the head and flanks, the belly, legs, lower tail and throat) are all pink, with the upper body (its back, plates, neck and upper tail) coloured in a darker tone, sort of brownish purple. In between the two colours there’s a dark red stripe, running from the back of the head to the end of the tail. The little Stego has black eyes and a black JP Site B logo on its left hind leg.

Analysis: being one of the very few female figures of the JP toy lines (not counting the dinosaurs), Sarah is probably the best of them. She looks very feminine and has a cool (and relatively tight) outfit, sporting a fine paint job. The designers probably had fun creating this sculpt, since they put some neat details on her: for one thing she has a unique hair style, with a pony tail and even a loose string of hair. She also has nails on her fingers. She stands in a good pose, though her arms could have been positioned more downward.

Her net launcher is less impressive. It looks rather bulky and heavy, and doesn’t work all too well. The net easily falls off the device and gets in the way of the lever, so that activating it isn’t all that easy to do. Also, the device is very lightly build and needs to be supported by hand in order for it not to flip backwards when attempting to launch the net. Even if launched, the net doesn’t go far: it’s range is about 30 centimetres at best and it usually doesn’t land on the spot you want it to, not counting a possible lucky shot. This net launcher just isn’t very well designed. The camera Sarah carries is a fine little addition, though it could have used more detail qua paint job. It can be hung around Sarah’s neck like a real camera, so that one can pretend she’s taking pictures of dinosaurs.

In that regard having this set feature a young Stegosaurus is a good choice, because this way the set is very much like Sarah’s first scene from the TLW film in which she tries to take a picture of a little Stegosaurus and all hell breaks lose with its parents. This baby Stegosaurus doesn’t look exactly like the one seen in the movie, but it’s an adequate replacement. Though it’s paint job isn’t very good, it does look really cute. 

 

Playability: well enough. Sarah has the usual moveable body parts, though her arms might have been posed in a more convenient manner. The net launcher isn’t really good and doesn’t work properly most of the times, but fortunately Sarah can hold the net herself and thus use it without the launcher. The camera gives her some extra options. The Stegosaurus stands in a fairly neutral position, but like all hatchlings has no poseable parts.

Realism: like stated above, this set is like a copy from a scene in the movie; it has Sarah, a camera and a Stegosaurus hatchling. Still, there are some differences between these figures and their movie counterparts. Sarah herself sports a different set of clothes in the movie, but this figure’s face looks very much like Julianne Moore as seen in TLW. I’m not sure whether the camera is the same type or brand shown in the film, but it’s close enough anyway. The Stegosaurus is also different, mostly in colour and size, since the baby seen in the movie was about as big as a human and mostly green. Still, because of the tiny plates and lack of spikes on its tail it’s clear we’re dealing with a hatchling here. And of course it looks cute, just as in the movie.

Repaint: no. None of the things this set consists of would be repainted for later series either.

Overall rating: 8/10. This is probably the best human figure in the TLWS1 toy line. Sarah looks very cool and her face resembles Julianne Moore’s a lot. The net launcher isn’t too good, but the net itself still comes in handy. The little Stegosaurus is just plain cute. Unfortunately this figure is definitely harder to find than the other TLWS1 figures, but not yet impossibly so. It usually fetches much higher prices though, so take that into account when looking for this one.

Jurassic Park Series 2: Alan Grant (Net)

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-Aerial Net Trap with net

-Smart Bomb

-Stegosaurus hatchling

-Collector’s Card # 53

Description: Grant sports a simple set of clothes. Most notable is his famous white hat, basically the hallmark of the Grant character. This hat is not removable since it’s stuck to the figure’s head. Second, there is the white shirt with short sleeves, which is adorned with a small, light blue tag carrying a black JP logo on the left part of his chest. Grant sports blue pants and brown shoes, as well as knee patches of the same colour. A black flash light and walkie-talkie are attached to his belt at the front side. Grant’s hair, eyebrows and eyes are all coloured in the same shade of brown. He has a rather grim look on his face and stands in an almost fully neutral position, except for his right lower arm which is raised upwards, almost like it’s gripping his belt.

The Aerial Net Trap is basically a large dark green backpack, carrying a black arm with grips on it which can slingshot the net (when loaded obviously) away when the small black lever on the bottom of the pack is pressed. Two pairs of large clamps stick out on the left side of the pack, so Grant can carry the net on his back by storing it between these. On the front side a frame of grey straps sticks out so the launcher can be attached to the figure. The net consists of two long grey sticks with small hooks on each end, and a black net between them. It can be loaded on the launcher by placing the sticks between the grips of the pack’s arm. The smart bomb is basically a thick grey tube with several protrusions sticking out, adorned with a typical ‘radioactivity danger’ logo (not painted in a different colour). Grant can hold it by gripping either one of his hands on the underside of the bomb.

The Stegosaurus hatchling is posed in an walking stance, with its right front leg raised upwards as if taking a step. Its head is posed as if the creature is looking at something to the left of him. He has very small dark green plates on his back, and no tail spikes like adult Stegosaurs have. Its predominant colour is light green: its entire body sports this colour, while its underside has some yellow mixed in. The beastie has dark green spots on his back and tail on both sides of his plates, and an additional spot on his nose. He has black eyes, relatively small for his size. A black JP logo is found on the upper left hind leg.

Analysis: there's not much new stuff in this figure, since it's basically JPS1 Grant with a different coloured outfit and a new hatchling. His new colours are a little bland, the designers could have gone with something more appealing than a dull white shirt and blue pants. They also tweaked Grant's face a bit, though you would hardly notice. The point of retooling the JPS1 figures for JPS2 was so they would resemble the actors more, but this Grant figure doesn't look much more like Sam Neill than his JPS1 counterpart does.

No modifications have been made to the aerial net trap or the smart bomb, they are identical in shape, size and colour to the gadgets that came with the previous Alan Grant figure. The net trap thus has the same ups and downs as it did before (I refer to my review of JPS1 Alan Grant for further details).

The only thing that really stands out in this set is the Stegosaurus hatchling, which fortunately does not disappoint. It's a very cute little creature, and because of his big eyes, tiny plates, the lack of tail spikes and a small plump body it's a obvious baby dinosaur. It is a great addition to the Jps1 Stegosaurus figure, due to its very similar paint job. Interestingly enough, its plates are shaped in a more anatomically correct fashion than the plates of its mother.

Playability: the same as JPS1 Alan Grant. This new Alan has the same range of poseable body parts. The Stegosaurus has no moveable parts of any kind, as is usual for hatchling figures. The Aerial Net Trap works the same way (as good, or as bas, judge for yourself) as ever. Therefore, the word of caution remains: the net easily gets entangled with other toys and is thus prone to damage. So if you want to keep it intact, go easy on it.

Realism: despite the designers' intentions, this figure looks less like the Alan Grant in the movie than the JPS1 figure did. The new outfit isn't something Grant wore in the movie (except for the iconic head). And though his facial features have been changed a bit, it's still hard to look at them and think 'yeah, that's Sam Neill'. Alan’s weaponry wasn’t like anything seen in the movie, it’s just accessories to give the figure some action features. Though Stegosaurus wasn't featured in the first movie, it's good to see this hatchling resembling the adult sculpt, so a level of consistency is added to the line.

Repaint: as mentioned, this is a repainted (and in case of the head sculpt, retooled) JPS1 Alan Grant, with a reused Aerial Net Trap and smart bomb. The only real new thing in this set is the baby Stegosaurus. Neither Grant nor the hatchling would be repainted again, but the Aerial Net Trap would. It was repainted for both the TLW exclusive Dino Tracker Set and the JP III exclusive Dinosaur Tracking Set, featuring different colours and a redesigned launching system (which was unfortunately inferior to the one used for this figure). In both cases it would come with a repainted smart bomb.

Overall rating: 6/10. This figure doesn't add much to the line, except a less interesting colour scheme and more of the same weaponry. The only reason you would want this set (other than being a completist like myself) is the new hatchling, which is its great redeeming feature since it's so cute and cuddly while staying consistent with the JPS1 Stegosaurus. This figure in nowhere near as common as JPS1 Alan Grant, though it's not really rare. Its release was most likely limited to the North American continent, so for other territories it can be harder to locate. Ebay is your best bet, usually for relatively low prices, since this figure isn't in great demand for obvious reasons.

Jurassic Park Series 1: Stegosaurus

Year of release: 1993

Accessories:

-Removable Dino Damage wound patch

-Collector’s Card #3 (alternate card (#62) for 1994 re-release)

Description: this large four legged herbivorous dinosaur figure measures just over 20 centimetres in length. It stands in a largely neutral pose, except for its right hind leg which is moved slightly forward and its head which is posed to the left as if the creature is looking at something in that direction. Stegosaurus has no poseable body parts. The figure sports a large dino damage wound with removable skin patch on its left flank, revealing muscle tissue and bones underneath. Part of the skin on the patch sticks out so it’s easy to remove. Like the other large dinosaur figures of this toy line this sculpt features “realistic” dinosaur skin, meaning its body is composed of soft flexible material instead of hard plastic like the smaller figures. This goes for all of the body, save the legs. The plates and spikes on its back and tail are also made of this material, though in reality they were made of bone tissue. This Stegosaurus carries a total of ten plates (all more or less triangular with small grooves and specks on the sides) on its back, from the neck to the end of the tail, where the line of plates ends with two smooth spikes. The first three plates (which are located on the neck) are attached to each other because of the way the Stego’s head is posed.

Stegosaurus sports as green a paint job as seems possible. The lower parts of the animal (legs, belly, underside of the tail, sides of the neck, throat and head) are painted light green, as opposed to the plates, spikes and most of the back which are coloured darker green. On the flanks the two shades of green meet and form an aesthetically pleasing combination of light green lines and dark green spots in a random pattern. The back of the beast’s head features some small dark green lines but the rest of the head is all light green. Stego has tiny bright green eyes with black pupils and white teeth, while the inside of its mouth is pink. Its small claws on the feet aren’t painted in a different colour. On the left lower hind leg a large dark green JP logo is found along with the number .07.

Analysis: though this Stegosaurus features a classic and beautiful green paint job (albeit a bit monotonous), the figure as a whole is quite disappointing. It has no poseability and no real action feature to speak of, except for the dino damage wound. This wound is much larger than the one the Young T-Rex features and also looks less artificial and more random, as if a large carnivore dared attack this spiked creature and bit a huge chunk of flesh out of its flank. The wound looks convincing enough, but the small bit of flesh sticking out of the patch to make it easily removable looks a bit odd, like the creature has an old flesh wound there.

Though the box mentions a ‘whip action spike tail’ this is a great exaggeration. The soft material the figure’s skin is made of allows the tail to be flexible, but no more so than the tail of the Young Tyrannosaurus Rex or Triceratops figures. Does this mean these creatures also have whipping tails? No. It just shows the designers didn’t bother to add a real whipping tail action feature to this sculpt, like they did later on with the TLWS1 Stego (a sculpt which corrects all of this figure’s errors by the way). Of course the flexible tail can be used to knock figures over, but it just feels and looks cheap.

Playability: almost nonexistent. This figure features no moveable body parts at all. The only real action is provided by the dino damage wound patch, which fortunately is easily removable and also not hard to restore. The whipping tail action feature the box shows is quite a scam. Interestingly enough, Stego’s neck can be twisted around, allowing for some very minor poseability, but when released it immediately flips back. The flexible dinosaur skin does make this figure sensitive to easy paint wear, especially when the tail is used in rough attack actions. It would be a shame to ruin this creature’s paint job, especially since it’s one of its few successful features.

Realism: as if the lame action feature and lack of playability aren’t disappointing enough, the creature’s design is all wrong too. Stegosaurus wasn’t featured in the first JP movie, so the designers had to start from scratch. It’s obvious they didn’t really do research to see whether their sculpt was accurate, because it turned out to be one of the least paleontologically correct dinosaur figures of all the JP toy lines. Most obviously, the shape of the plates is totally wrong. Also, Stego here has only two spikes on the end of the tail, which is even more stupid when you take a look at the collector’s card this figure comes with: the back of the card clearly states this dinosaur had four spikes, like the creature on the picture (which however has too much plates on its back). Another big mistake of this figure is the fact that the front legs are on the same height as the hind legs (which also causes the neck and head to be posed too high in the air), while in reality they were much shorter. Compared to human figures this Stegosaurus is also undersized, though compared to the other mistakes this seems hardly worth mentioning.

Repaint: as part of the first JP toy line this figure is naturally not a repaint. It would not be repainted for later toy lines either, which in understandable, since the far superior TLWS1 Stegosaurus took over the role of large spiky dinosaur figure.

Overall rating: 4/10. A good wound and a fine paint job don’t make up for a lame action feature and an almost total lack of playability. Stegosaurus is one of Kenner’s least appealing figures and as such hardly worth the effort to track down and purchase. It’s quite common, even MIB it’s not difficult to find, and fortunately it shouldn’t cost you too much should you really want one.