Jurassic Park 2009: Deluxe Electronic Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 2009

Accessories:

-Forest Hunter General

-Missile Launcher (with missile)

-Off-Road Vehicle cut-out (Note: since this last “accessory” is actually a part of the figure's box, it will not be reviewed here.)

Description: this Tyrannosaurus figure, though heavily retooled, is still the largest of all JP dinosaur toys ever produced. It measures a good 70 centimetres in length and about 20 centimetres tall. This Rex stands in an active pose, with its left leg moved forward and its right leg posed backward, as if walking. Its head is quite large, almost as big as its belly. It can swallow human and smaller dinosaur figures whole, but they have to be retrieved via the same way they came in. The head, neck and tail are made of a more flexible material than the rest of the figure, with the eyes being small transparent orbs with a black spot (the pupil) painted on them. The T-Rex features poseable arms, legs and even feet (which sport huge toes and claws, including the smaller ones on the side of the lower legs). On its belly, the T-Rex carries a visible speaker unit and battery cover, as well as a little switch, with 'On', 'Off' and 'Try me' printed next to it. The actual sounds are activated by pushing the little button on its back, above the upper legs. In the case of the latter option, the figure only makes noises when the button is pushed, while when in 'On' mode the figure also produces sounds at random. Overall, this figure produces at least thirteen different sounds, including stomping sounds which can be produced by bashing the feet on any surface (this also works when the figure is still boxed).

This large T-Rex features a basic three-way paint job. Colours on the softer parts of the figure's body are more vivid because of the different materials used. The underside (most of the lower jaw, throat, belly and most of the lower part of the tail) are painted greyish beige. The limbs, flanks and middle part of the tail are coloured grey. The top parts of the body (most of the head, neck, back and upper part of the tail) are painted orange. Black lines run over the orange colouring, while additional black colouration is found on the head on the snout, in a a big cluster around the eyes, with a line running out of this part around the chin and in a wave pattern over the lower jaw. Diffused black stripes and spots adorn the flanks, knees and tail, while black bands are found around the lower arms and end of the tail, and a row of black spots runs over each toe. On the upper jaw near the snout the creature sports small triangular blue shapes, two on each side of the face, with black lines around these. The claws on both fingers and toes are painted black. The Rex has beige teeth (some of them broken off or worn out) and the inside of its mouth is pink, with the tongue coloured a darker shade of pink.

The Forest Hunter General wears a dark grey jacket adorned with lighter grey spots and shapes and revealing a grey shirt underneath, as well as silver tags around his neck. He also sports a black utility belt, dark grey trousers and black boots. His pants and shirt sport some slight tears, like he’s had a run-in with an unpleasant dinosaur. He has brown hair and eye brows, black eyes and a rather grim look on his face. He stands in a very odd pose, left leg stretched forwards and right leg braced backwards, left arm reaching up and right arm pointing down, as if he's startled by some prehistoric vermin in front of him. He comes with a missile launcher, which is coloured in a slightly metallic dark grey paint job, with a dark pink missile sticking out of it on both ends. Pushing the end of the missile sort of launches it, though it doesn’t work very well.

Analysis: it took a while, but Hasbro finally did something else than just repaint figure after figure for this toy line, though only once. In this case, they dug up an old T-Rex sculpt, the biggest and baddest around, and revamped it to become the new top predator figure. With great results, since this is by far the most impressive, awe-inspiring and daring figure Hasbro has produced since the JP III line!

Even though this Deluxe Tyrannosaurus uses the specifications of the classic and much beloved Bull T-Rex figure from the TLWS1 toy line, it's a totally different animal altogether. It can still swallow figures, but these can only go a short distance instead of making it all the way to the belly and being retrieved via a big slit in its belly (which also means this new T-Rex incarnation doesn't have a big hole there). That's probably why this Rex doesn't come with a survival pod, since human figures won't be retrieved and thus won't survive being gulped down by the latest Tyrant Lizard King. The figure's poseability has been maximized. This time it can move more than just the arms. The legs and even the feet (which is wholly new for JP toys' standards) are also poseable, increasing playability.

The new paint job is okay, but not the figure's most appealing feature: the grey, beige and black feels fine, the orange less so. It seems too colourful and cheerful on a massive predator like this, though it does feel in place in the already very brightly coloured JP 2009 line. It does also hint at the dismally ugly orange paint job from the Chaos Effect Omega T-Rex predecessor though. However, overall it's an acceptable paint job, and also fairly detailed. All the claws have been taken care off, the tongue is coloured differently from the rest of the mouth, and there's various lines, spots and stripes to give the animal more character. The triangular blue shapes on the upper jaw are a nice little touch for example. The Rex also retains its glassy retina, something only used three times now in JP toys lore.

The sound system of this T-Rex has been expanded a lot compared to the previous Rexes. Though the sounds are not as loud as before, there's an awful lot of them instead of only two or three. At least thirteen different noises can be heard, varying from movie accurate roars to snarls, growls, chomping and stomping sounds. Some of these may be familiar, as they were used for the Bull T-Rex and the JP III T-Rex figures. The difference between a 'Try me' and an 'On' option is a nice touch, but makes little difference overall.

This Deluxe Tyrannosaurus comes with a Forest Hunter General figure and its missile launcher. The human figure is completely dwarfed by the huge T-Rex, and is only useful as prey for this berserker beast. It fits in its mouth and throat easily. Basically Hasbro provided the Rex with its own snack. Unfortunately the General is not painted differently from its regular appearance in this toy line, which makes it less original. The weapon is still totally lame and does absolutely no damage to the hulking carnivore.

Overall, this is one of Hasbro's finest releases and certainly the main attraction of JP 2009. It's not surprising many dinosaur collectors totally ignored the rest of the line and only got themselves its crowning achievement. It should come as no surprise if this becomes a much desired and valuable toy over the next decade, as has been the faith of most big JP figures before. It sincerely deserves such a future.

Unless Hasbro starts to milk this figure to no end as well...

Repaint: yes, more or less. Though at first glance this figure appears a mere repaint of the TLWS1 Bull T-Rex, only its bare shape and size have survived the heavy retooling this sculpt underwent for this toy line. The torso and limbs are now composed of hard plastic, while the head, neck and tail are comprised of softer material than before. The original three Bull Rex sounds are still there, but now backed up by new roars and growls, as well as the JP III T-Rex figures' noises. Overall, this figure might as well be a totally new sculpt, even though it doesn't appear to be. The Forest Hunter General appeared in the exact same paint job in his own set in this toy line, but was originally a JP III figure, which by itself was already repainted for JPD2. The missile launcher originally came with the JP III Military Diver figure, appeared again with that figure repainted in JPD2 and has also been featured with the Diver of this toy line.

Overall rating: 8/10. Probably the best addition to the world of JP toys since the better JP III sculpts were first released in 2001. Though the paint job is not perfect, the many new features, much improved poseability and overall size make for a formidable dinosaur toy. The General and his weapon (as well as the cut-out vehicle) are nice little additions but are hardly noteworthy compared to the main attraction here, though they add some additional fun. This set wasn't rare on release, but that swiftly changed. Because it's such a good and huge toy, it was quite sought after and has by now become almost as valuable as the original TLW Bull T-Rex it was based on. Don't expect this one to be an easy find, despite it not being a very old toy.

Jurassic Park 2009: Battle Growlers: Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 2009

Description: like almost all of Hasbro’s medium sized dinosaur models, this electronic Tyrannosaurus doesn’t stand in a neutral posture. It's posed in a bent position, head, arms and tail positioned to the right, in a walking mode with the left leg posed forward and right leg backwards, as if circling potential prey. It has a large dino damage wound on its right flank, revealing red muscle tissue and white ribs. Inside this wound a button is located: when pushed it activates a rather high pitched growl. A second button is placed on its throat. Pressing this button produces a fierce attack roar, and makes the jaws open. Both the arms and legs are fully poseable.

This T-Rex features a fairly intricate paint job. Its underside (lower jaw, throat, belly, lower part of the tail, underside of the arms and inner part of the legs) may be plain beige, but the sides of the animal (sides of the neck, flanks, back parts of the arms and legs and sides of the tail) are coloured brightly green instead, and the top parts (neck, back, upper part of the tail, forward sides of the arms and legs) are painted yellowish brown with dark brown stripes. The face and top of the head is bright red, while the area around the lower jaw is coloured a darker shade of red. The Rex has small yellow eyes (with black pupils), white teeth, a pink tongue, a red inside of the mouth, dark grey claws on both fingers and toes, and a white JP logo on both upper legs.

Analysis: despite the overt abundance of little Rex sculpts and the presence of a huge Tyrannosaur figure in this toy line, Hasbro also felt the need to repaint this often used medium sized Rex sculpt once more, making this the most T-Rex intensive JP line so far. Few people would have lamented its absence, but if it was missing from this line they would have missed out on a pretty neat paint job. If red has been used to colour the flanks instead of green, it would have been very tiger like. The use of many stripes coupled with green and brown colouring gives this animal a distinct jungle feel: one could see this as an attempt at an unofficial Camo-Xtreme Jungle T-Rex. Details have been taken care of, including all the claws, and the difference in colour between the tongue and the inside of the mouth is a nice touch, hardly ever done before. The face and the top part of the head being coloured so separately feels a bit odd and out of place, but it harkens back to the good old Camo-Xtreme Arctic T-Rex which had a similar thing going on (it worked better in that figure's case though).

Apart from the appealing and colourful new paint job, there's little of interest to this figure. The posture it assumes is still a nuisance if you want to play with, the biting action which needs to be activated by an inconveniently placed button has little practical effect and the huge gaping wound on its right flank is still bloody annoying. But once again, we have proof that a solid paint job alone can make a sculpt look much better than it actually is.

Repaint: yes. This is a repaint of the JP III T-Rex figure (Wave 1). It has been repainted several times before for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2 and JPD3.

Overall rating: 6/10. A half decent sculpt, but a pretty good new paint job making it look much cooler. This dinosaur figure is not at all rare and can still be found easily. Since this set was a Toys'R'Us exclusive that could change over time, but probably not for the next few years.

Jurassic Park 2009: Dino Trackers: Forest Hunter General VS Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 2009

Accessories:

-Dino Claw weapon

Description: this General wears a dark grey jacket adorned with lighter grey spots and shapes and revealing a grey shirt underneath, as well as silver tags around his neck. He also sports a black utility belt, dark grey trousers and black boots. His pants and shirt sport some slight tears, like he’s had a run-in with an unpleasant dinosaur. He has brown hair and eye brows, black eyes and a rather grim look on his face. He stands in a very odd pose, left leg stretched forwards and right leg braced backwards, left arm reaching up and right arm pointing down, as if he's startled by some prehistoric vermin in front of him. He comes with a Dino Claw weapon,basically a large hand held contraption which ends in two comparatively small claws than can hook around dinosaur body parts. The claws are operated by a handle on its top side. The Claw is coloured totally black.

The T-Rex stands in an active posture, its head curved to the left and its arms stretched out as if attacking something. The tip of the tail is bent, pointing upwards and to the left. It has small pads on its feet to give it extra support, though it still tends to fall over at times. While its underside (most of the lower jaw, throat, belly, arms, most of the legs, feet pads and lower part of the tail) is painted simply grey, the rest of the body sports a more intricate paint job. The upper jaw and face, neck, back, and top part of the tail are coloured in a very dark shade of brown (which at first glance seems black) with rounded stripes running out of this colour over the flanks, upper legs and sides of the tail. Vague regular brown colouring is applied around the edges of the darker brown colour, while lighter brown spots are found on the head, neck, flanks,upper legs and both sides of the tail. The Rex has white teeth and a red tongue and inside of its mouth, as well as small yellow eyes with black pupils. Its claws are not painted, but it has a black JP logo on each upper leg.

Analysis: JP Dinosaurs 2 might have been able to do without them, but human figures are back for JP 2009 (Hasbro's, unfortunately). A more realistic approach is taken for their paint jobs, as illustrated by this Forest Hunter General and its camouflage army gear (maybe not enough green and brown for forest stealth, but still pretty concealing colours). His outfit looks gritty but fitting on him, much darker than his JPD2 predecessor and his more brightly coloured attire. He retains his idiotic and awkward posture though, which continues to hinder both his playability and his ability to stand up straight. His rocket launcher has been exchanged for what was formerly Alan Grant's grappling claw, still a silly and highly ineffective piece of equipment that looks overly complicated but works very simply (though, generally, not at all). Its new black paint job goes well with the General's sombre new look. The officer has a hard time holding on to it without falling over though, so it would have been preferable if either the weapon was made smaller (which shouldn't have been too hard considering less than half of the thing actually is of use to the clawing action) or the General's overall pose was adjusted, but Hasbro opted for the more simple solution of just not giving a damn.

The military man comes with the same T-Rex whose presence dominates the four dinosaur two-packs of this line, making this its fourth appearance in JP 2009. Though its underside could definitely have used more work and detailing (painted claws and pads would have been appreciated), the upper half of its body features a pretty good new paint job, fairly detailed and original, complimenting the General's darker and grimier new look. Still, this is one sculpt we definitely don't need to see again, ever, and it would have been nice to see this human figure paired with another miniature dinosaur than its original counterpart, for diversity's sake. If they can give him another weapon, they can give him another dinosaur, but it seems we have to make due with the same line-up as before. Which means the General is dead meat, considering his lame Dino Claw is no match for this ravenous little Tyrant King.

Repaint: yes. This set is identical to the Military General set of the JP III line, except for the weapon which originally came with JP III Alan Grant. The General has been repainted once for JPD2, while the T-Rex has already been repainted over a dozen times for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2 and JPD3 and would be used several times again for this toy line. The General would also make an appearance in the Deluxe Electronic T-Rex set of this toy line, with the exact same paint job. The Dino Claw weapon was also repainted for JPD2, and would be featured a second time in this toy line.

Overall rating: 5/10. Not the best sculpts and accessory, but the paint jobs are fairly okay, certainly compared to some of the more zany repaints in this toy line. This set is not rare and can still be found with little effort. Since this set was a Toys'R'Us exclusive that could change over time, but probably not for the next decade.

Jurassic Park 2009: Dino Battlers: Velociraptor VS Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 2009

Description: the T-Rex stands in an active posture, its head curved to the left and its arms stretched out as if attacking something. The tip of the tail is bent, pointing upwards and to the left. It has small pads on its feet to give it extra support, though it still tends to fall over at times. Its predominant colour is dark grey, which covers all of its body except for its underside (lower jaw, throat, belly, inner parts of the upper arms and legs and most of the lower part of the tail) which is coloured greenish beige instead. On the neck, back, upper legs and first half of the tail, green stripes are found, most of them forming triangular patterns, resembling lightning, or cardiographs. An additional pair of green stripes runs over the eyes (blue with black pupils) on the figure's face. The Rex's teeth are white, while the tongue and inside of the mouth are red. Its claws and the pads on the feet are not painted differently. It carries a white JP logo on each upper leg.

The Velociraptor stands in a stalking posture, 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. Its underside (lower jaw, throat, belly and most of the lower part of the tail) is coloured beige, while this colour also runs over the flanks, the hind parts of both arms and legs and on the face around the eyes (cat like, yellow with black pupils). The rest of the creature's body is light red, while dark red stripes run over the back and tail. The Raptor's teeth are white, while the tongue and inside of the mouth are red. The claws on the feet are painted black, though those on the hands remain unpainted. The Raptor sports a white JP logo on each upper leg.

Analysis: we wanted original paint jobs, it seems we got them... Both dinosaurs look positively festive, as if they're on a night out for a prehistoric carnival. Whether that's a good thing is up for everyone to decide for themselves, but at least it's imaginative. Granted, it does feel kinda odd for two vicious carnivores like these, since it makes them stand out a lot and would hinder their attempts at seizing prey. This two-pack has a kind of Chaos Effect feel to it, weird and colourful. Maybe Hasbro went for more colour to attract the kiddies, since most collectors won't think much about these bizarre paint jobs. Plus, this is just more of the same, two sculpts that we're really tired of seeing repainted by now, getting yet another makeover, as if Hasbro is trying to find an ultimate colour and paint scheme for these sculpts (this would not be it for sure). Original colouring not withstanding, unfortunately some of the details are still off: the Rex's claws and pads should have been painted, and the same goes for the claws on the Raptor's fingers, though the latter at least got those big claws on its feet painted differently this time.

Rex VS Raptor, who would win? Under normal circumstances a Velociraptor would never fight a T-Rex, but these figures are more or less the same size. Though the Raptor is more agile and has those nasty sickle shaped claws on its feet, you can't compare that to a bulldozing, bulky heavyweight like this little T-Rex, so that would be your best bet. It's a tight match though.

Repaint: yes. The T-Rex originally came with the Military General for the JP III line and has already been repainted over a dozen times for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2 and JPD3 and would be used several times again for this toy line. This Raptor sculpt was paired with Alan Grant for the JP III line and has also been repainted many times for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2 and JPD3, and would also be featured in various JP 2009 sets.

Overall rating: 4/10. Imaginative and funky, but rather silly new paint jobs. Otherwise there's just nothing of particular interest in this set, unless you don't own either one of these sculpts yet (if ever!). This set is not rare and can still be found with little effort. Since this set was a Toys'R'Us exclusive that could change some day, but probably not for the next decade.

Jurassic Park 2009: Dino Battlers: Spinosaurus VS Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 2009

Description: the small Spinosaurus figure 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 typical three-way paint job. Its underside (throat, belly and most of the lower part of the tail) is painted greenish beige. Most of the head, the sides of the neck and tail, the flanks, the tip of the tail and the limbs are coloured brown. The back of the head, neck, back, sail and most of the upper part of the tail is painted green. It features several greenish beige stripes on the head, neck, back (including the sail) and tail. The claws on the hands and feet are not painted. The inside of the mouth is painted red, while the creature carries white teeth and has small red eyes with black pupils. The Spinosaurus carries a white JP logo on both upper legs.

The T-Rex stands in an active posture, its head curved to the left and its arms outstretched as if attacking something. The tip of the tail is bent pointing upwards and to the left. It has small pads on its feet to give it extra support. Its predominant colour is grey, which is found not only on all of its underside (lower jaw, throat, belly, limbs, lower part and tip of the tail) but also on most of its back and on the upper legs. The rest of the body (the rest of the head, the neck, the flanks and the rest of the tail) is orange. It features several dark grey stripes and spots on its head (around the eyes), the back, the forearms, the lower legs and the front half of the tail. The claws on the hands and feet are not painted, nor are the pads under the feet. The tongue and inside of the mouth is painted red, while the creature carries white teeth and has small green eyes with black pupils. The Tyrannosaurus carries a white JP logo on each upper leg.

Analysis: good idea, Hasbro! Let's pack the same two miniature big predator figures together... again! It's only been done a bunch of times before so who will know or care? Of course us JP fans care, but apparently we don't really count when there's the potential of making money off kids around. So we are cursed with yet another crappy set of repaints, once again with totally unappealing paint jobs. The used combination of colours is ugly on both figures, though it's definitely worst on the Rex. Grey and orange are just not meant to be used together as this figure successfully demonstrates. Also, the lack of painted details is appalling. Neither figures have their claws painted and the pads on the Rex's feet are woefully neglected. There's just nothing in this set a collector could want, except to add the set to his/her collection to make it complete.

So, assuming anybody cared, who would win this conflict? The Rex is the likely choice. Not because it is the dinosaur king as some zealous fanboys keep reminding us, but simply because it is a much heavier figure and easily knocks over its opponent.

Repaint: yes. The T-Rex originally came with the Military General for the JP III line and has already been repainted over and over again for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2 and JPD3 and would be used several times again for this toy line. This Spinosaurus sculpt was paired with Amanda Kirby for the JP III line and has likewise been repainted often enough for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2 and JPD3. In JP 2009, this would be its only appearance though.

Overall rating: 2/10. Same old same old. Not very impressive sculpts repainted and packaged together too often already, and these paint jobs aren't great. There's just nothing of particular interest in this set, unless you don't own either one of these sculpts yet. This set is not rare and can still be found rather easily. Since this set was a Toys'R'Us exclusive that might change some day, but probably not for the next decade.

Jurassic Park 2009: Dino Battlers: Triceratops VS Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 2009

Note: this particular set comes in two variations, both more or less equally common. This review concerns the set with the darker coloured dinosaurs, which is generally regarded to be the original, while the set with the brighter coloured figures is usually seen as 'the variation' of the two.

Description: the T-Rex stands in an aggressive posture, its head curved to the left and its arms stretched out. The tip of the tail is bent pointing upwards and to the left. It has small pads on its feet to give it extra support. While the underside (lower jaw, throat, belly and lower part of the tail) of the Rex is coloured white, the rest of the figure is painted light brown. The creature features two big dark brown stripes on its back, and a third at the base of the tail. Additionally, brown bands are found on the figure's lower legs (two each), arms (one each) and tail (three near the tip). The pads under the feet are painted in this same dark brown colour, as are the claws on both fingers and toes. The tongue and inside of the mouth are coloured red, while the teeth are white and the Rex sports small cat like yellow eyes with black pupils. It has a white JP logo on each upper leg.

The Triceratops appears to stand in a brace-for-impact posture, its head (almost as big as its torso) held low to the ground (and slightly posed to its right), the front legs more or less in the same position, while the left upper leg is stretched backwards. The tail curves to the right. Most of this creature's body, including the head, is painted grey, while its underside (throat, belly and the first half of the lower part of the tail) is light blue instead. On its back and tail the figure sports some vague green spots, while a trio of red spots covers most of the head crest. The beak and the horns (including those on its cheeks) are painted beige. The Trike has small green eyes with black pupils and a white JP logo on each upper leg.

Analysis: Dear Lord, not this T-Rex again! As if we haven't seen this sucker enough in the previous repaint lines, Hasbro thought it a good idea (or they likely just didn't care at all) to present us with this particular sculpt four more times in their JP 2009 line. This is one of them, and compared to some of its more zany repaints out there, its paint job is rather conservative, being a typical brown on top, white below and some dark stripes to complete it all. It's just not a very interesting or imaginative paint job. Also, it's a shame to see the claws on the feet painted in the same colour as the feet pads, since now it looks as if the two have melted together. The Triceratops also isn't a very successful release. After its surprising first appearance in JPD3, the shock of this most recently released sculpt has disappeared and it's now as conventional as the rest of these repaints. Its paint job is rather dull, though it uses much more very different colours than you might think at first glance (grey, blue, red, beige and two different shades of green). But the result just isn't very appealing.

In combat between these two, the Triceratops would probably emerge victorious considering those nasty spikes which it could use to stake the Rex to death. The Rex just isn't much bigger and would have a hard time getting a good bite out of the Trike unless it took it by surprise. Whoever wins, as far as the quality of this two-pack goes, we lose.

Repaint: yes. The T-Rex originally came with the Military General for the JP III line and has already been repainted over and over again for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2 and JPD3 and would be used several times again for this toy line. The Triceratops first popped up in JPD3 for which it was used twice. Its appearance on JP 2009 remained limited to this two-pack.

Overall rating: 4/10. Not a very appealing set of paint jobs. The sense of 'newness' experienced for the Triceratops when it first appeared in JPD3 has waned, and by now everybody is really sick of this damn T-Rex. There's just nothing of particular interest in this set, unless you don't own either one of these sculpts yet (which in the Rex's case seems unlikely by now). This set is not rare (in either variation) and can still be found rather easily. Since this set was a Toys'R'Us exclusive that might change some day, but surely not for the next few years or so.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 3: (Ultra) Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 2005

Description: this larger T-Rex figure measures some 25 centimetres in length and stands just over 15 centimetres tall. This Rex sculpts stands in an attack posture, with its tail bent upwards and its head slightly tilted up. Its legs stand far apart from each other. This Rex is pretty skinny and has little body mass. It’s mostly head, limbs and tail. A very large dino damage would is found on its right flank, showing white ribs and red muscle tissue. The upper piece of exposed rib is actually a button which activates a shrieking roar, as if the creature is in pain. A second roar, more aggressive and imposing, can be made by pulling its right arm down: when doing so the mouth will also open. A third sound, the stomping noise, can be made by having the T-Rex stomp on the ground. The sound quality of all three sounds is not very good, some static is heard as well.

This (Ultra) T-Rex sports a darker paint job than its previous incarnations. Except for its underside (throat, belly and lower part of the tail), which is coloured light grey, all of its body is painted dark grey. The darkest parts of grey are found on the head and back, while the tail and limbs are of a slightly lighter shade of grey. Red stripes run from the neck over the back to the end of the tail, while there are also a few of them on the upper legs. The stripes on the back are more pronounced because the torso section of this sculpt is composed of harder material. The claws on both hands and feet are painted very light grey, almost white. The Tyrannosaurus has a pink tongue and inside of its mouth, as well as small red eyes with black pupils. It carries a white JP logo on each upper leg.

Analysis: the not so impressive Tyrant King of Hasbro returns a third time to do a quick cash grab from kids and collectors alike! At least this time the paint job is totally different, instead of a pale copy of the original JP III Rex like the JPD2 release featured (though it's also not nearly as ingenious or appealing as the Camo-Xtreme Canyon T-Rex's paint scheme). A darker and grittier colour scheme is found on this T-Rex, hinting at its status as a terrifying large carnivore with big nasty pointy teeth. The combination of dark grey (almost black even) and red stripes also makes it look a bit like a possible Camo-Xtreme Lava T-Rex. It's a good paint job, but also a bit too simple: just dark grey with a few small red stripes and a light grey underside. For such a big sculpt, more detailing would have been appreciated.

Aside from the new paint job, this Rex is otherwise no improvement over its JPD2 predecessor. It's still a big but skinny creature standing in an awkward posture that hinders playability, with an unimaginative and ineffective attack feature, and the same old sounds of crappy quality with weak electronics to support them. It still features silly stomping sounds which can only be activated by bashing the figure's feet to the ground, only speeding up the process of the electronics inside dying an all to quick death. Even though JPD3 is a fairly recent toy line, it's quite common for MIB samples to be unable to produce sounds, and it ain't just the batteries being dead. Overall, the new paint job is the only potential worthwhile thing in this set.

Repaint: yes. This is a repaint of the JP III Ultra T-Rex figure. The sculpt has been repainted before for Camo-Xtreme and JPD2.

Overall rating: 5/10. A different and dark paint job for this T-Rex, which suits it well but is a bit bland. The sculpt itself still is quite disappointing for a big figure. Like the other big JPD2/3 electronic dinosaurs, this figure was common a few years back, but, in terms of availability, its numbers are in swift decline. You might still get one for a decent price now, but don't expect this situation to last much longer.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 3: Electronic Tyrannosaurus Rex with Micro Triceratops

Year of release: 2005

Description: like many of Hasbro’s medium sized dinosaur models, this electronic Tyrannosaurus doesn’t stand in a neutral posture. It's posed in a bent position, head, arms and tail positioned to the right, as if circling potential prey. It has a large dino damage wound on its right flank, revealing red muscle tissue. Inside this wound a button is located: when pushed it activates a rather high pitched growl. A second button is placed on its throat. Pressing this button produces a fierce attack roar, and makes the jaws open. Both the arms and legs are fully poseable.

This T-Rex is mostly coloured light brown, which is found on the head, neck, back, upper arms, most of the legs and top part of the tail. Its underside (throat, belly and front half of the lower part of the tail) is painted white. In-between these brown and white colours, a sickly greenish brown colour is found, most notable on the flanks. This colour also covers most of the arms and lower jaw, the feet and the inner part of the lower legs. On the head, neck, back, tail and upper legs, black spots and shapes of various sizes cover the light brown colouring in a random pattern. The tongue and inside of the mouth are painted pink, while the animal sports white teeth, small red eyes with black pupils and black claws on both fingers and toes. A white JP logo is found on both upper legs.

The Triceratops appears to stand in a brace-for-impact posture (and rightly so!), its head (almost as big as its torso) held low to the ground, and slightly posed to its right, the front legs more or less in the same position, while the left upper leg is stretched backwards. The tail curves to the right. Its paint job is rather straightforward: underside (belly, most of the tail and legs and throat), as well as parts of the neck shield, beak, cheek horns and nose horn, painted brown, while the back, first half of the top part of the tail and top parts of the legs are coloured dark brown. Most of the face is also coloured dark brown, giving the impression the Trike is wearing a mask. The two horns above the eyes (which themselves are painted light blue with yellow pupils of all things!) are painted a shinier hue of the light brown colouring. The creature carries a white JP logo on both upper hind legs.

Analysis: this Rex again? Yes, indeed, but this time in the company of the “new” small Triceratops sculpt a lot of JP toy fans have speculated over many hours during the long winter nights, so despite the avid repainting in this line there's still at least one thing of interest in this particular set. The Trike is a decent though overly simple figure and has a paint job to match, which in fact looks just boring (making the specimen from the Triceratops/Tyrannosaurus two-pack of this line look far better considering it has a more original paint job). The Trike's eyes however, feature a unique colour scheme for JP dinosaur figure's standards, but the result looks too odd to be taken seriously. And apart from that, the poor critter is just lunch to the much bigger Tyrant Lizard King, who is of course supposed to be the main draw of this set.

The T-Rex also has a paint job of little appeal, one very reminiscent of many past figures' paint jobs, clearly done by an uninspired painter who didn't think originality would be appreciated on a sculpt already repainted twice before. Most of the details, like claws and the mouth, have been taken care of, but the dino damage wound, which clearly shows ribs sticking out, is painted red only, which is rather disappointing. Otherwise the T-Rex sculpt is still okay, though the posture it assumes hinders playability and the biting action should have been easier to access than pushing the creature's throat. The sounds remain the same as before, though it seems the electronics used this time around are even weaker then before considering most JPD2/3 electronic dinosaurs are dead by now in that regard, even when still boxed.

Repaint: yes. The Rex was originally released in the JP III line. It has been repainted before for Camo-Xtreme and JPD2 and would also be featured in JP 2009. The Triceratops first appeared in this toy line, but is very likely a leftover from the JP III line since it's hard to imagine Hasbro bothering to create a single new sculpt for a line which otherwise consists entirely of repaints. The little Trike can also be found in the JPD3 Triceratops/T-Rex two-pack. Like the Rex, it would be seen again in JP 2009.

Overall rating: 6/10. The mystery Triceratops pops up a second time in this line! Its appearance alone makes this set more interesting, but neither sculpt is that appealing and both are adorned with dull and uninspired paint jobs. Like the other JPD2/3 electronic dinosaur figures, this two-pack was very common a few years ago, but has since become much harder to find, despite not being a very popular set (though the Triceratops might make this set more interesting to collectors who don't own that sculpt yet). If you really want one, patience is certainly required, though it doesn't necessarily require a lot of cash once you've found it.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 3: Triceratops/Tyrannosaurus 2-pack

Year of release: 2005

Description: the T-Rex stands in an aggressive posture, its head curved to the left and its arms outstretched as if attacking something. The tip of the tail is bent pointing upwards and to the left. It has small pads on its feet to give it extra support. It's mainly coloured dark blue, though on its top parts (neck, back, upper part of the tail) it gradually changes into a greyer tone. The belly and throat are coloured light grey instead. The Rex has black colouring around and in its mouth, as well as white teeth and tongue. It also has small yellow eyes (with black pupils) and a white JP logo on both upper legs.

The Triceratops appears to stand in a brace-for-impact posture, its head (almost as big as its torso) held low to the ground (and slightly posed to its right), the front legs more or less in the same position, while the left upper leg is stretched backwards. The tail curves to the right. Its dominant colour is greyish green, which can be found anywhere on its body except for its underside (belly and throat) which is light grey instead. The figure is covered in various light brown and dark blue spots and shapes on its head and crest, back, flanks, upper legs and tail. Its parrot like beak, the three horns on its face and the two smaller horns on the cheeks are beige, while the Trike has small red eyes with white pupils. Its claws are not painted. It carries a white JP logo on each upper leg.

Analysis: oh, my! A new sculpt! And totally out of the blue! Knowing Hasbro like we do, they sure as heck didn't create this new Triceratops specifically for this repaint line, so it must be a previously unreleased JP III sculpt that finally got a release after all. Better late than never! It's a nice little figure, and fits in decently with the other miniature dinosaur sculpts that originally came with human figures. Due to its plump body and oversized head it does have more of a hatchling feel to it though, but of course hatchling Ceratopsians wouldn't be this well endowed on their head just yet: the neck crest and horns are simply too big for a baby Trike. Its paint job is fairly good. More use could have been made of the crest, but at least this sculpt isn't as monochromatic as some of the earlier Ceratopsian sculpts thanks to the various brown and blue spots.

The T-Rex however is a dismal failure. It has one of the most boring paint jobs ever conceived for a repaint. On first sight it even appears to be one single colour entirely. On second, this is not the case, but it's painfully obvious attention to details has been totally skipped. None of its claws are painted, and the facial features could have used a lot more work too. Maybe Hasbro made this particular repaint so crappy on purpose so the Triceratops got a better chance to shine. In a fight between the two, it would probably stake the Rex to death on those nasty horns. Good riddance!

Repaint: yes and no. While the T-Rex originally came with the Military General for the JP III line, the Triceratops has not been seen before. It's most likely a left-over sculpt from JP III, but there's no proof to support this theory, or proof to the contrary. This is really a mysterious figure and though it seems unlikely Hasbro produced it especially for this repaint line, it does add a little welcome surprise and intrigue to an otherwise dull toy line. The T-Rex, already repainted for Camo-Xtreme and JPD2, would be featured again in both this toy line and JP 2009, as would the Trike be.

Overall rating: 7/10. Finally a set that does include something new! The Triceratops is a decent figure, but despite the shock around its very existence it's otherwise nothing special. The T-Rex however gets increasingly boring the more often it's repainted and almost drags the level of interest of this set down entirely. Like most dinosaur two-packs from JPD2 and JPD3, this is one of the more common releases and it can still be found with little effort, usually for low prices because these two-packs are just not in high demand, even though this set does contain a new sculpt.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 3: Spinosaurus/Tyrannosaurus 2-pack

Year of release: 2005

Description: the small Spinosaurus figure 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. Its paint job is a combination of greys and greens, the former being found on its underside (throat and belly) and top parts (most of the facial area, neck, back and upper part of the tail), the latter being located on the limbs, flanks, underside of the tail, parts of the upper jaw and all of the lower jaw. The grey and green gradually morph into each other on the parts where there would otherwise be simple overlap between both colours. The sail is dark brown (almost black on first sight). The creature's claws have not been painted. The Spinosaurus has small yellow eyes with black pupils, white teeth, a pinkish beige tongue and the rest of the mouth is all black. A black JP logo is found on both upper legs.

The T-Rex stands in an active posture, its head curved to the left and its arms outstretched as if attacking something. The tip of the tail is bent pointing upwards and to the left. It has small pads on its feet to give it extra support. The animal is all coloured dark brown, except for the throat and belly which is greyish brown instead. A large number of small grey spots is found on the figure's back of the head, neck, back, very upper legs and front half of the tail. The figure's claws have not been painted. The Rex has small red eyes with black pupils, white teeth, a pink tongue and the rest of the mouth is all black. A white JP logo is found on both upper legs.

Analysis: 'Haven't we seen these guys before?'

'Well yes, they've been repainted often enough already.'

'But also these two paired together?'

'Erm... yeah, they've been released together only last year.'

'So what makes this second T-Rex and Spinosaurus two-pack so special?'

Truth is, nothing does. This is total 'been there, done that' territory. Same old figures, typical super predator versus super predator in miniature mind-set, not very appealing new paint jobs. Little focus on details: unpainted claws, ugly black inside of the mouth, too little interesting skin detailing (except for the spots on the Rex maybe). It's basically a big bore, as was the previous T-Rex and Spino pairing, meaning there's also zero progress. The sculpts are still averagely decent, so you might be interested if these are new to you, but the chances of that being the case are very slim considering how often we've seen these dinosaurs already.

Of all four JPD3 dinosaur two-packs, this is the least successful, considering the other sets featured previously unrepainted figures, interesting species combinations, and in one extreme case, a whole new sculpt. But hey, the kids will probably love more Rexes and Spinosaurs because they're big and badass and butch! That's probably the thought that went through Hasbro's mind. Cases like these make it shockingly obvious that real JP fans and collectors just aren't of any real interest to Hasbro execs. Oh well, there's still the new Triceratops sculpt in the other two-pack...

Repaint: yes. Both figures are repaints of dinosaurs that originally came with human figures for the JP III line. The T-Rex teamed up with the Military General, while the Spinosaurus came with Amanda Kirby. Both figures have been repainted before for JP III Camo-Xtreme and JPD2, and would be repainted again for this line and JP 2009.

Overall rating: 3/10. There's nothing new to both sculpts, nor are these paint jobs at all interesting. Like most dinosaur two-packs from JPD2 and JPD3, this is one of the more common releases and it can still be found with little effort, usually for low prices – not surprisingly – because they're just not in high demand.

800th Post!: Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 2: (Ultra) Tyrannosaur(us)

Year of release: 2004

Description: this larger T-Rex figure measures some 25 centimetres in length and stands just over 15 centimetres tall. The sculpts stands in an attack posture, with its tail bent upwards and its head slightly tilted up. Its legs stand wide apart from each other. This Rex is pretty skinny and has little body mass, it’s mostly head, limbs and tail. A very large dino damage would is found on its right flank, showing white ribs and red muscle tissue. The upper piece of exposed rib is actually a button which activates a shrieking roar, as if the creature is in pain. A second roar, more aggressive and imposing, can be made by pulling its right arm down: when doing so the mouth will also open. A third sound, the stomping noise, can be made by having the T-Rex stomp on the ground. The sound quality of all three sounds is not very good, static is heard as well.

The overall colour of this Tyrannosaurus is dark green, with a black stripe running from its snout all the way to the end of the tail and numerous smaller stripes on its back, tail and neck running out of the larger stripe. Added to these colours are some light blue stripes on neck, back, limbs and tail. A thick grey stripe runs over the belly and underside of the tail. It’s got a pair of small red eyes with black pupils and the claws on both hands and feet are light grey. The tongue and inside of the mouth are painted pink, with white teeth. A black JP III logo is located on its right upper leg.

Analysis: this T-Rex would undoubtedly be regarded as the top figure of the JP Dinosaurs 2 toy line, being the biggest carnivore sculpt, but apparently Hasbro didn't think it worthwhile to do much work on it, probably under the impression it would sell well anyway so why waste additional money on it... Therefore, if this “new” paint job brings up a distinct feeling of déja vu, it's perfectly normal, considering the paint scheme is more or less identical to that of the JP III Ultra T-Rex, and the dominant colour is still green (though a darker variety of green this time). Close inspection and comparison between this Rex and its JP III counterpart reveals all the stripes and lines on both figures to be in the exact same spot, it's just the colours that vary. And to be frank, the red and brown colours looked better with green on the previous T-Rex. Light blue just doesn't suit a Tyrannosaurus at all. It's a real shame the designers put so little effort in this figure's paint job, considering its Camo-Xtreme predecessor got a surprisingly awesome new paint job that made the whole sculpt appear better than it was.

The paint job, though not very different from before, is the only new feature on this Rex, the rest is the same old same old. A lousy posture hindering playability, a lame and uninspired attack feature and weak electronics that don't just sound crappy, but break all too easily, making working specimens of this figure increasingly hard to find. This may be the biggest figure of this line, but it's also the biggest disappointment.

Repaint: yes. This is a repaint of the JP III Ultra T-Rex figure. The sculpt has been repainted before for Camo-Xtreme and would be repainted again for JPD3.

Overall rating: 3/10. A near copy of the JP III T-Rex paint job, and zero improvement. The sculpt itself still is quite disappointing for a big figure. Like the other big JPD2/3 electronic dinosaurs, this figure was common a few years ago, but its numbers are in swift decline. You might still get one for a decent price these days, but don't expect this situation to hold much longer.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 2: Electronic Tyrannosaurus with Micro T-Rex

Year of release: 2004

Description: like many of Hasbro’s medium sized dinosaur models, this electronic T-Rex doesn’t stand in a neutral posture. It's posed in a bent position, head, arms and tail positioned to the right, as if circling potential prey. It has a large dino damage wound on its right flank, revealing red muscle tissue. Inside this wound a button is located: when pushed it activates a rather high pitched growl. A second button is placed on its throat. Pressing this button produces a fierce attack roar, and makes the jaws open. Both the arms and legs are fully poseable.

A typical 'three-way' paint job adorns this figure. The underside (throat, belly and first half of the lower part of the tail) are coloured greenish beige. The middle section (most of the head, sides of the neck, flanks, most of the arms and legs and middle part and tip of the tail) are coloured green. The top part (back of the head, neck, back, uppermost part of the limbs and top part of the tail) is painted brown. Black spots and stripes of various sizes run over the brown colouring, while additional black spots are found around the figure's eyes (red with black pupils) and the front part of both the upper and lower jaw. The Rex's tongue and inside of the mouth are painted red, in the same colour as the dino damage wound. The creature also has white teeth, black claws on both fingers and toes and a black JP logo on its right upper leg.

The Micro T-Rex stands in an aggressive posture, its head curved to the left and its arms outstretched as if attacking something. The tip of the tail is bent pointing upwards and to the left. The majority of this Tyrannosaurus figure is painted basic brown, while the belly, throat and base of the tail are coloured almost a yellow type of brown. A series of thick black stripes runs from the neck over the back and the first half of the tail, with additional black stripes on the head, black colouring around the eyes and small black dots on the lower jaw, as well as black paint near its knees and the back of the lower legs. On either side of the figure, a pair of long red stripes runs from the base of the neck almost to the end of the tail, while seven smaller red stripes are located on the upper legs. The facial area around its small yellow eyes (with black pupils) is also painted red with tiny small red stripes running out of it over the upper jaw. The inside of the mouth is not painted, but the figure has white teeth, as well as black claws on both arms and feet and a white JP III logo on its left upper leg. Its feet are supported by extra small plastic bases in the same dominant brown colour, so it can stand on its legs more easily.

Analysis: 'Once more unto the breach, dear T-Rex, once more!' Or in other words: 'here we go again'. Hasbro continues its practice of obsessive repainting with the third incarnation of this T-Rex, which features a rather uninspired paint job and a dull colour scheme. Also, it's not high on details, as the dino damage wound illustrates: the ribs are clearly showing but they're not coloured differently, they're just ignored. And while the black colouring around the red eyes may look dark and brooding, the black paint on the jaws makes it look like it has been sipping oil for some reason. Apart from the disappointing paint job, this figure offers nothing new: a not so easy to use biting action, decent and fairly movie accurate sound effects, and an annoying posture which hinders playability.

Its little play mate is even worse off, considering it's not even a repaint, but a reuse. The Lava Rex returns for no other reason but to save Hasbro designers time and the company money. The paint job is still okay, and might actually have gotten a little bit more detailed (though closer inspection on “actual” Lava Rexes reveals that none of them are a hundred percent identical, so this remains open for debate). This sculpt is getting tedious by now, and knowing how many times Hasbro used it in following lines only makes collectors more sick and tired of it. And apart from the black stripes on both figures, there's no connection between both Rexes whatsoever. They might as well be different species, the smaller one providing a meal opportunity for the bigger carnivore.

Repaint: yes. The Rex was originally released in the JP III line. It has been repainted before for Camo-Xtreme and would also be featured in JPD3 and JP 2009. The Micro T-Rex is more or less identical to the Rex figure from the Camo-Xtreme Lava two-pack. This sculpt was first conceived as a partner for the JP III Military General figure and has since been repainted excessively often for Camo-Xtreme, JPD2, JPD3 and JP 2009.

Overall rating: 4/10. Not much of interest here. The Micro T-Rex is a boring reuse, while the electronic T-Rex's new paint job isn't particularly imaginative or appealing. Like the other JPD2/3 electronic dinosaur figures, this two-pack was very common a few years ago, but has since become much harder to find, despite not being a very popular set. If you really want one, patience is certainly advised, though it doesn't necessarily require a lot of money when you stumble upon it.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 2: Velociraptor/Tyrannosaurus 2-pack

Year of release: 2004

Description: the T-Rex stands in an aggressive posture, its head curved to the left and its arms outstretched as if attacking something. The tip of the tail is bent pointing upwards and to the left. It has small pads on its feet to give it extra support. The figure is painted entirely light blue, except for its belly and most of the throat which are coloured white instead. On its neck, back, upper legs and front part of the tail it features various sharp edged black stripes, similar to simple depictions of lightning bolts. Additional black stripes are found on each side of the face, close to the eyes (eye sockets are also black). The figure has small yellow eyes with black pupils, a red tongue and inside of the mouth with white teeth and black edges around its mouth. It also sports black claws on its feet (but not on the hands) and a white JP logo on its left upper leg.

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. It's mostly coloured reddish brown (in a slightly shiny hue), though the creature's underside (throat, belly, lower part of the tail) is painted yellowish brown instead. The Raptor carries a long black stripe running from half way of the snout over its neck and back over the first half of the tail. Inside this black stripe two small thin green stripes are located, one on the head and a second one on its back. Two additional black stripes are found on the flanks, running over the very upper part of the limbs to the front half of the tail: these black stripes too each contain a pair of smaller green stripes. The figure also has a thick black spot on each knee. The figure has black claws on all limbs, black eyes with red pupils, a pinkish red tongue and inside of the mouth, white teeth and black edges around the mouth. Lastly, a white JP logo is found on its left upper leg.

Analysis: if you're looking for new sculpts in this two-pack, you're wasting your time. Both the Raptor and the T-Rex have been seen too often before already, both in this line and previous JP toy lines. Oh well, at least these new paint jobs aren't a total loss. In fact, the Raptor's colouring is rather original, apart from the abundance of brown. The little touches like the green stripes and the eerie black eyes with red pupils make it stand out a little among its brethren, though also not by too much. At least all the details have been taken care of. The same could almost be said for the T-Rex, except they forgot the claws on the fingers. Also, differently coloured pads under the feet would have been appreciated. The edgy triangular black stripes go well with the light blue colouring, though otherwise there is not enough colour variation in this figure. It could almost pass for a new take on the Camo-Xtreme Arctic T-Rex, though the quality of the paint job is nowhere near as good as that particular figure's paint job was.

Who'd win in a fight between these two? My money would be on the T-Rex. Though the Raptor is more agile and has those nasty sickle shaped claws on its feet, you can't compare that to a bulldozing, bulky heavyweight like this little T-Rex. Close call though.

Repaint: yes. Both figures are repaints of dinosaurs that originally came with human figures for the JP III line. The T-Rex teamed up with the Military General, while the Velociraptor was paired with Alan Grant. Both figures have been repainted before for JP III Camo-Xtreme, and would be repainted several times again for this line, JPD3 and 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 okay though, and by Hasbro standards for two-packs, fairly detailed even. Like most dinosaur two-packs from JPD2 and JPD3, this is one of the more common releases and it can still be found easily, usually for low prices because they're just not in high demand.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 2: Spinosaurus/Tyrannosaurus 2-pack

Year of release: 2004

Description: the small Spinosaurus figure 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. The entire animal is painted bright blue, save for the belly which is coloured beige instead. Also, a red stripe runs from the back of the head over the neck and back to about half way of the tail: the sail, which is positioned right in the middle of this stripe, is also red. On either side of the figure, another red stripe runs from the neck over the flank to the very top part of the upper leg. Both of these red stripes contain a very thin black stripe within them. This Spinosaurus has white teeth, a dark pink tongue and inside of its mouth, black edges around the mouth, small black eyes, black claws on its feet (not on its hands) and a black JP logo on its right upper leg.

The T-Rex stands in an aggressive posture, its head curved to the left and its arms outstretched as if attacking something. The tip of the tail is bent pointing upwards and to the left. It has small pads on its feet to give it extra support. It's mainly coloured dark beige (or very light brown), except for its underside (throat and belly) which is light yellow instead. A thick red stripe runs from the nostrils over the head, neck and back to the front upper part of the tail, while on its head, neck and back various smaller red stripes run out of this main stripe. Additional red stripes are found on both upper legs and the lower jaw. The T-Rex has white teeth, a dark pink tongue and inside of its mouth, black edges around its mouth, small yellow eyes (with black pupils and black eye liner), black claws on its feet and hands and a black JP logo on its left upper leg.

Analysis: an obvious combination of dinosaur figures for Hasbro's dinosaur two-packs for this line (as well as all of the following lines) is this pairing of a T-Rex with a Spinosaurus, so kids (and playful/bored collectors) can re-enact the infamous battle between both super predators from JP III in miniature. That would be pretty dull considering neither figure has any moveable parts, so all you can basically do is bash them against each other. The paint jobs are not the most impressive shows of Hasbro talent of this line. The Rex is downright ugly, and while the Spinosaurus' original colour scheme has some appeal, it's rather monochromatic. More effort should have been given in both cases, and judging from the identical Rex/Spinosaurus pairings still to come, this was never tried since these successors were also a big let-down.

So who would win this fight? Why, the T-Rex of course. Not because it is the king of dinosaurs as some avid fanboys keep reminding us, but simply because it is by far the heaviest of both sculpts and easily knocks over its rival.

Repaint: yes. Both figures are repaints of dinosaurs that originally came with human figures for the JP III line. The T-Rex teamed up with the Military General, while the Spinosaurus came with Amanda Kirby. Both figures have been repainted before for JP III Camo-Xtreme, and would be repainted several times again for this line, JPD3 and JP 2009.

Overall rating: 4/10. There's nothing new to both sculpts, nor are these paint jobs especially appealing. Like most dinosaur two-packs from JPD2 and JPD3, this is one of the more common releases and it can still be found with little effort, usually for low prices – not surprisingly – because they're just not in high demand.

Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 2: Tyrannosaurus with Dino Tracker

Year of release: 2004

Accessories:

-Muzzle

-Leg cast

-Hang glider

Description: this Tyrannosaurus has long slender legs, tiny teeth and a small head compared to adult Rexes, which is caused by the fact is was originally designed to be a juvenile figure. It does have the odd little two fingered arms seen on larger Rexes though. This figure stands in a neutral pose except for its tail, which is bent to the left somewhat. Its lower right leg hangs a little loose (though still attached) and can be twisted around, as if it’s broken or damaged in some way. The leg cast can be applied to the leg by sticking the pin on its inside in the little hole in the figure’s upper right leg. That way the twisted leg will “switch” back and the animal’s leg is healed; at least, that's the general idea. The Rex’s mouth can also be opened and closed. This animal comes with one piece of capture gear which can cover its head, like a muzzle. It’s coloured shiny metallic grey, as is the leg cast.

The Rex itself sports a rather blue look. Except for its underside (throat, belly and lower parts of the tail), which are painted greyish white, and a thick black stripe running from the back of the head over the neck and back all the way to the tip of the tail (and being thickest in the middle where it also runs over the top of both legs), this animal is all light blue, most notably on the head, flanks and limbs. The little Rex is adorned with various grey stripes: these are found on the flanks (two on each flank), the upper legs (three each) and the back (two stripes running from the back of the head to about half way of the tail). The claws on both hands and feet are painted black, while the ridges on these limbs are also black. The eye socket is black as well and harbours red eyes with cat like black pupils. The figure has white teeth. A white JP logo is found on the right upper leg.

The Dino Tracker wears a white sleeveless shirt, green trousers with tears on them, and black shoes. He has blond hair, blond eye brows and very bright blue eyes. He has some asymmetric details, including belts around his torso, wristband (right arm), glove (left arm), shoulder patch (left arm) and a backpack with a hole in it so the glider can be attached to the figure: all this detailing is coloured dark brown. Most notably, his left arm can move differently from the average human figure, not only forward and backward, but also up and down. The figure stands in an odd position with its legs wide apart and appears to be looking down. The glider is coloured dark red with silver highlights. It basically resembles a red triangle. The Tracker can carry it on his back, so it appears he's hanging onto it.

Analysis: the second JP: Dinosaurs line saw the unusual move on Hasbro's part of pairing its human figures from their JP III line with dinosaur figures from the old Kenner lines. This of course spawned some incompatibility issues, since the style of the human figures differs so much from the style used for the dinosaurs. This T-Rex with Dino Tracker set is a prime example of this: the Rex is the old TLWS1 baby T-Rex repainted, but compared to the Tracker it's hardly a baby at all (which is why there's no 'baby', 'junior' or 'young' in the set's title on the package. However, the figure retains its juvenile attributes (long legs, skinny body and overall cute look) which doesn't make it a very successful T-Rex choice for this set. Also, why would the Dino Tracker come with a hang glider when it's primordial companion is a land locked creature? Is he like the Jurassic Park equivalent of the Flying Doctors, scouting things out from the air looking for injured animals? A Pterosaur figure would have seemed a more obvious choice here, or a different human figure.

Aside from these issues, this set features decent repaints. The Young T-Rex (that's what it really is after all!) has been given a very interesting and imaginative new paint job, much different from any Rex paint job seen before. Blue hasn't been used all too often for JP dinosaur figures anyway, making this figure stand out amongst its fellow Kenner figures. It's also fairly detailed: claws have been painted, while eye sockets, fingers and toes have not been forgotten. The stripes on its body also add some diversity to this paint job. The only nuisance is the white JP logo which looks hideously out of place. Apart from the paint job, there's nothing new to this figure. It's still the same good old Junior T-Rex with its previous pros and cons.

The Dino Tracker is less of a success. It's nice to see him as a blonde this time around, but the white shirt looks ugly. The green pants, with the scratches and the various shades of green mixed in so it looks more detailed, make up for it somewhat. It's a good thing the alternatively poseable arm has been retained, since this feature makes the figure unique among JP human figures. Unfortunately, the figure stands in the same odd pose as before, which makes it look silly when it's attached to the glider. The glider itself sports a rather boring paint job, also very similar to its previous incarnation. It wasn't until JP 2009 until a Hasbro designer had some fun with it and made it look much more different, as well as way cooler.

All in all, it's clearly the T-Rex is the main draw of this set. The Tracker has some minor redeeming features but is little more than an accessory. Luckily the Rex has a rather small mouth and isn't in pristine physical condition so his human counterpart won't get chewed on too much... At least he can take to the air for refuge.

Repaint: yes. This is a repaint of the TLWS1 Junior T-Rex, with repainted accessories from that same figure. It was repainted twice before for JPD1. The Dino Tracker is a JP III Billy Brennan repaint with repainted glider, a first time repaint. Brennan would be repainted again (with glider) for JP 2009, but this would be the last time this T-Rex figure got released.

Overall rating: 7/10. This Young T-Rex sports a rather original, appealing and detailed paint job and remains one of the most movie accurate sculpts. The Tracker is a half decent repaint of an imperfect figure with an unimaginatively painted glider. Like all four dino/human 2-packs, this is one of the more common JPD2 releases, and it can still be found without too much difficulty, though these days prices tend to vary.