Jurassic Park Dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus Rex with Dino Hunter

Year of release: 1999

Accessories:

-Dino Damage skin piece

-Three pieces of capture gear

-Bow with two Arrows

-Backpack

Description: this repainted Young T-Rex figure is a recast of its JPS1 counterpart, comprised of much harder and less flexible material than its predecessor. At first glance it looks like an otherwise unchanged sculpt though. It stands in the same fully neutral posture, and still includes dino damage: on its right flank a piece of skin can be removed, revealing a dino damage wound underneath, showing white ribs and red muscle tissue. The wound patch itself is largely symmetrical in shape. The Rex’s small two fingered arms are its only poseable body parts.

The Tyrannosaur's paint job also looks a lot like the one from the original figure. Except for the underside (throat, belly, lowest part of the tail) which is painted white, the whole figure is coloured light brown. It features various shapes of dark grey surrounded by beige edges on various parts of its body, most notably on the tail and upper legs. Additional grey and beige stripes are found on the creature's neck and torso, while spots of both colours are located on its head. The figure has black eye sockets with white eyes (and black pupils), while the inside of the mouth, including the tongue, is painted red and sports white teeth. The claws on both hands and feet are black; it has a line of dark spots running down over each toe (so three lines on each foot). On its left upper leg, the figure is marked with a black JP logo, along with the number .22 and a small Site B logo. This is very odd, since none of the other JPD1 dinosaur figures carry these extra markings: the Site B logo was only reserved for TLW figures, and the numerical system for the Kenner system already had the JPS2 Utahraptor marked as .22.

Three pieces of capture gear come with the T-Rex. There's the required tag, which comes with many dinosaur figures and is quite big in this case: it fits well around the creature's neck. It also comes with a leg restraint, which can hold on to both legs simultaneously. Lastly, there is a big muzzle which can go around the figure's jaws, effectively disabling them, while also covering the eyes, so the Rex can't see what's going on. All three pieces are coloured in the same shiny metallic grey paint job.

The Dino Hunter stands in a somewhat unusual pose, with his left arm held back and his right arm held close to his chest. The position of the arms facilitates him holding his bow. His left leg is posed in a forward move and his right leg backwards, as if bracing himself while using his weapon. He wears a brown jacket with golden “armour” like highlights on his arms and chest. On his left upper arm he sports a JP T-Rex badge (the black Rex skull and arms in a yellow circle, most famously being part of the classic JP logo). Additionally, he wears green trousers, adorned with a brown gun holster on his right hip and a grey knife holster with a brown knife handle sticking out on his left lower leg. He has black boots, and wears a tan cowboy hat with a green band on top and the right flap turned upwards, revealing a second JP T-Rex logo. He has brown hair, ending in a short pony tail, brown eyebrows and black eyes, and carries a rather smug facial expression.

This Hunter comes with a bow and two arrows as his main action feature. The bow is a triangular, mechanical looking weapon (not the old-fashioned Robin Hood style wooden bow) with some protrusions sticking out, most notably a large tip up front and a rectangular plate right under this, sporting a handle on the left side so the hunter can hold it, and a little hole to “load” an arrow on the right side. A long transparent wire is used to launch arrows with: this wire runs over the bow in such a fashion that it appears there's actually three wires instead of one. The bow sports a silver paint job. Two different arrows come with it, a long one with a cone shaped tip and a shorter arrow with a flatter tip. Both arrows are metallic grey in colour and have a tiny incision at their ends so they can be loaded in the bow by sticking them through the small hole and pressing the incision around one of the strings. Pulling the string backwards thus launches the arrow. The figure also comes with a small black backpack for storing the arrows when not used. It's basically a hollow basket with straps on it so he can carry it on his back.

Analysis: not only smaller classic dinosaur figures return for the first JP: Dinosaur toy line, it also witnesses the return of the dinosaur prince, the former Young T-Rex from the very first Jurassic Park line (though the 'young' part is left out this time, but it's still not the size of a fully grown T-Rex). The creature appears very similar to its iconic forefather, but things are not what they seem... This is not merely a repaint, it's actually a recast. The old flexible 'real feel' dino skin has been replaced with stronger and harder material. Unfortunately, this was a bad decision on the designers' part, since it mostly kills the 'crunching' action mentioned on its box, as well as the dino damage option. Pressing the neck to make the jaws open just doesn't work any more; in fact, the jaws can't really be opened much at all. It even has trouble clutching the Dino Hunter between its jaws. So there goes this dinosaur's only attack option... Which leaves us with its most vulnerable point, the dino damage wound. The wound piece is still there, in the same spot as before. However, because of the new material the figure is made of, it's very hard to remove the wound cover, and even harder to put it back. Remember the difficulties with removing the TLWS1 Pachycephalosaurus' wound piece? Same thing here, but even worse! This sadly doesn't leave the T-Rex with much, except for being a decently sized good looking figure.

The paint job is also very similar to the one used on the old JPS1 Young T-Rex, which was also coloured light brown with a white underside and grey stripes and shapes on its back, but the additional beige colourations are new. Details like the inside of the mouth and the claws are not forgotten, while extra features like black eye sockets and spotted toes enhance it further. Still, it's not the best of paint jobs. It seems overly festive but dull at the same time, like confetti with all the happy bright colours removed. Overall, changes have been made to this T-Rex that shouldn't have been made, and the set suffers from it.

That leaves the Dino Hunter to clean up the mess a bit. Former Sgt. T-Rex Turner (this time actually paired with a T-Rex!) has been demoted to random 'dino hunter', but at least his paint job doesn't look the worse from it. His new colour scheme actually is a nice change from his rather dull original paint job. The position of his arms is still a bit of a nuisance, but works well in combination with his bow and arrows. This weapon works as it did before: it takes some practice but it can actually launch arrows, though these would do little damage to the Tyrannosaurus (though as we have established above, Rex won't bite back much any more). The backpack still comes in handy for storing unused arrows. This figure may not be the most likely dino tracker to pair up with the T-Rex, but it's nice to see an actually complete JPS2 figure return for a change, instead of just Jaws Jackson's head stuck on a TLW figure.

Repaint: yes. This is a repainted recast of the original JPS1 Young T-Rex (already repainted for JPS2 and as a TLW Exclusive), with repainted (and also recast) dino damage, and capture gear first seen on its JPS2 counterpart. The Dino Hunter is a JPS2 Sgt. T-Rex Turner repaint, with accessories from that same figure. Both figures would not be repainted again.

Overall rating: 6/10. Though this Tyrannosaurus is still a good figure, its paint job is nothing special and the new material it's composed of effectively kills both the biting action and the ease with which the dino damage could previously be applied. The rest of the set is okay, though also not particularly appealing, but at least not with butchered action features. This set is not the easiest find of this toy line, especially in MIB or complete condition. It could take a while to track it down, plus a fair amount of cash to acquire it. You might very well find it to be unworthy of the effort.

Jurassic Park Dinosaurs: Young T-Rex and Dinosaur Adventurer

Year of release: 1999

Accessories:

-Muzzle

-Leg cast

-Two different guns

Description: this juvenile Tyrannosaurus has long slender legs, tiny teeth and a small head compared to adult Rexes. 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 on 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.

Young Rex sports a two way paint job. The lower parts of its body (most of the flanks, belly, arms, most of the legs, throat, lower half of the head, underside of the tail and its snout) are coloured very light brown, almost yellow; on either side of its body it has an additional shape of the same colour near its back. The rest of the body (top part of the head, neck, back and upper parts of the flanks and legs and topside of the tail) is coloured green, with a single green spot on both upper legs. A thin red line literally separates both colours from each other, running from the eye socket all the way to the tip of the tail. The separate brown spots near the back also feature a similar red line on top of them. Baby Rex sports black claws on both hands and feet, white teeth, a red tongue and red eyes with black irises and white pupils. A black JP logo is located on its right upper leg.

The Dinosaur Adventurer stands in a mostly neutral pose with one leg in a slight forward move and the other in the opposite direction. His black eyes (with black eyebrows) stare mindlessly in the distance. He has black hair and is quite muscular, but his head is somewhat disproportionate (i.e. too small) compared to his body. He wears a green cap with the JP T-Rex logo on it. He sports a bit of a military look with camouflage pants (brown with blue spots) and a yellow shirt that has a lightly brown spotted paint job, as well as a dark brown collar and sleeves. His shoes are black. He’s got black utility belts with pockets around his chest. Other details include pockets on his sleeves, a black machete on his left leg and a large pocket on his right leg, as well as a black InGen logo “tattooed” on his left lower arm. His torso can move around to a small extent, courtesy of the original sculpt's dinosaur action, which is lost in this repaint since it does not come with the necessary Compsognathus figure.

Dieter comes with two different light brown (almost orange) guns: these guns do not have any action options like most of the weapons that come with human figures do, but are mere extra gadgets, since in this figure’s case the figure itself was supposed to provide the action. Since I’m not an expert on weaponry I can’t determine what type of guns we’re dealing with here, but aside from their colour they look much more realistic than the regular weapons the human figures carry. The Adventurer can wrap the biggest of the two guns around his shoulder, while the other one fits in his hands only.

Analysis: the junior T-Rex is back with a vengeance for Wave 2 of the first JP: Dinosaurs line! Good thing too, since its predecessor featured a hideous paint job, forcing this successor to do better, which fortunately, it does. This paint job is a whole different thing altogether, and comes with various details too add to it. Granted, light brown and green are not the best of friends from an artistic point of view, but they work well enough on this figure. The Yin/Yang effect achieved by having one spot of the one colour pasted in the other colour's territory is a nice and original touch, as are the red lines separating both colours. The attention to details is certainly there, which is not only proven by the fact that all claws are painted, but also the effect in the eyes which this time have both irises and pupils painted, making them look much more real and almost alive. Also, the way in which these eyes are painted makes it look like the Rex is staring right in front of him, eyes focused on potential prey no doubt. Apart from the successful paint job, this remains a solid dinosaur figure. It looks very close in shape to the little T-Rex seen in the TLW movie, a likeness that hasn't been seen all too often in JP dinosaur action figures. The leg action is a fun option, and also nigh on movie accurate, though it has its downsides (leg cast covers only half the leg and looks silly, leg often swivels back on its own accord, leg is somewhat fragile, etc.). The muzzle and leg cast have been repainted to be a bit more shiny but are otherwise unchanged.

The Dinosaur Adventurer's new paint job is less radical than that of its extinct companion. The paint scheme is the same as before, but the colours used this time look less appealing together, not to mention less sufficient for camouflage use. Also, this is the second time we see this particular head sculpt in this line, meaning this might as well be a twin brother of the Dino Trainer that came with the Pachycephalosaurus of this toy line. A different head sculpt would have been preferred to add some diversity in human figures to this line. This figure still has a moveable torso, which adds a little bit to playability even though it has no real function in this set. The new paint job of the weapons is awful; the original black looked much better and more realistic on them.

All in all, this is a pretty good set with an imaginatively repainted dinosaur figure and a passable human figure. Sadly, both sculpts have no action features to complement each other. The T-Rex logo on the Adventurer's cap is a nice little reference to its pet though, albeit unintended since it was already there to begin with.

Repaint: yes. This is a repaint of the TLWS1 Junior T-Rex, with repainted accessories from that same figure. It was repainted only a short while before for JPD1's first wave of figures. The figure would be repainted a fourth time for JPD2. The Dino Adventurer is a TLWS1 Dieter Stark repaint (with repainted accessories from that same figure), featuring a repainted JPS2 Jaws Jackson's head sculpt.

Overall rating: 7/10. This Young T-Rex sports a much more original, appealing and detailed paint job than its Wave 1 counterpart, and it's still one of the most movie accurate sculpts. The Adventurer is a decent repaint, but nothing too special, and his weaponry looks pretty dull. As part of Wave 2 of this toy line, this is one of the rarer JPD1 releases, and it can prove tough to find, especially in MOC or complete condition.

The Lost World: Exclusive Young Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Dino Tracker figure

-Three pieces of capture gear

-Dino Damage wound patch

-Tranq Bazooka (with two missiles)

-Backpack

Description: this repainted Young T-Rex figure has not been retooled from its JPS1 counterpart, except it stands reared upwards more than the original because of the way it is packaged. Asides from this, it stands in a fully neutral posture, and still features “realistic” dinosaur skin (though there is no such thing of course, since we’ll never know for sure what dinosaur skin felt like), made of a more flexible and softer material than the regular hard plastic. The figure’s arms, lower legs and inside of the mouth are not composed of this rubbery material. On its right flank a piece of skin can be removed, revealing a dino damage wound underneath, showing white ribs and pink muscle tissue. The wound patch itself is largely symmetrical in shape. The Rex’s small two fingered arms are the only poseable body parts. The jaws of this Rex, which can be opened by squeezing the creature’s neck, provide the main attack option, revealing a very bright pink tongue and inside of the mouth, and clean white teeth.

Apart from the noticeable pinkness in this creature's mouth, this Young Rex sports an otherwise dark paint job. At first glance it might as well be entirely black. However, on closer examination, this figure's paint job is made up of dark green with dark brown tones randomly mixed in all over its body, most notably on the tail and upper legs. Its underside (belly, throat, lower jaw, lower part of the tail) is of a lighter green than the rest of its body, but still very dark. The colouring on the lower legs and arms is much brighter, presumably because of the different material they're made of. These body parts are painted in a mixture of brown tones, one dark and one much lighter, making them stand out more. Especially the hind part of both legs and the underside of the feet are of a much different, brighter colour quality than the rest of this figure. Additionally, the dinosaur has black claws on hands and feet, as well as small white eyes with black pupils in black eye sockets. As is the case with the other TLW Exclusive dinosaurs, there's no JP logo found on this figure.

Three pieces of capture gear come with this Rex. There's a cuff like tag, which comes with most dinosaurs featuring capture gear, but is quite big in this case, and fits well around the creature's neck. It also comes with a leg restraint, which can hold on to both legs simultaneously. Lastly, there is a big muzzle which can go around the figure's jaws, effectively disabling them, while also covering the eyes, so the Rex can't see what's going on. All three pieces are coloured in the same metallic grey paint job.

The muscled Dino Tracker stands in a largely neutral pose, though his right leg is pointed outwards to some extent, making him look like he's bracing himself for something. Also, he holds his arms quite close to his torso, more so than other human figures. He wears short blue pants adorned with pockets, a belt and a knife at the back, all in the same colour. He also sports a black vest, revealing a muscular, bare chest underneath. The vest comes with green and red detailing and a JP T-Rex logo (black Rex skull and arms in a yellow circle) on the left part of his chest. Additionally, the Tracker wears black boots with blue socks sticking out, a black belt around his waist and a dark green baseball cap (which he wears with the flap at the back of his head) with a second JP Rex logo on it. His skin colour is somewhat lighter than on most other human figures. He also has black hair, a beard with moustache, black eyes and eyebrows, and a rather stony facial expression.

The Tracker is equipped with a large bazooka, basically a black tube with a small box at the end and a big one up front. On top of the gun near the front end there’s a large red button. When the bazooka is loaded with either one of the two red missiles it comes with, pressing the button makes the missile be fired with force, with a firing range of almost two metres and a good impact force. It’s one of the more effective and powerful weapons Kenner produced. This set also features a black backpack with black straps so the Tracker can carry it on his back. The pack has two holes in it, one for either missile.

Analysis: as if two huge Rexes, a hatchling and a Junior Rex weren't enough for the TLW lines, a repaint of the JPS1 Young T-Rex was issued as an exclusive set, expanding the Rex family so it incorporates tyrant king lizards of all ages. None of the TLW Rexes sport the same paint job however, and this Young Rex is no exception, featuring a rather dark, Gothic looking colour scheme. It's a rather original paint job, but looks quite monochromatic on first sight. However, those who take a closer look will find a very naturalistic and “life like” paint job, instead of one of the typical 'brown with black stripes' schemes that have been so overused. However, the arms and legs, and especially the idiotic pink inside the mouth feel out of place on this figure because they're so different, like the Rex sports an unsuccessful mixture of paint styles. But still, the effort to do something different should be applauded.

Apart from the paint job, nothing has changed on this figure, which has had two previous incarnations already. This Rex still comes with two main action features. The first is the typical dino damage wound patch, which was found on most larger dinosaur figures of the first JP toy lines (and is also present on several larger TLWS1 dinosaur figures). Removing the Rex’s wound patch reveals a nasty wound, which makes one wonder what creature would dare attack a T-Rex (a larger T-Rex maybe?). The wound looks gory, but the shape of the wound patch is too perfect and artificial: it looks like someone just cut an almost symmetrical hole in this little Rex, instead of him suffering from a vicious attack by a rival carnivore.

The second option applied to this figure is a so-called biting action. However, these biting jaws are a rather cheap action feature, since it’s only because of the soft material the dinosaur’s skin is composed of that this biting action is produced. Various other big carnivore figures come with biting actions, but more work is put in those by adding inventive biting mechanisms instead, making this figure's biting jaws pale in comparison. Squeezing the neck does open its jaws decently though, while it can also be used adequately to trap unfortunate figures’ body parts between them. It may not look very appealing, but at least it works to some degree.

This Young T-Rex comes with the same capture gear as its JPS2 predecessor It does a very good job subduing Junior Rex, making it unable to walk, bite or even see. The tag that comes with it actually has a function here, since it features a JP logo the Rex itself is lacking, so this dinosaur can be more easily identified as a JP figure. This tag is also rather large, making its less easy to lose.

Though it's still a good figure ans hasn't been really altered aside from the new paint job, there's one slight modification made to this Young Rex which has nasty consequences. It is packaged in such a way that it stands up more straight, which can cause damage to the material that holds together the two halves of this figure (the front part, which consists of the torso with arms and head, and the hind part, which covers the tail and legs). It's not unusual to see Young Rexes that have a big split in the middle, as if someone took a knife and tried to cut the figure in half but stopped halfway through the process. Therefore, if you don't want this to happen to your TLW Young T-Rex, be careful and don't play too rough with it. (This warning also applies to the JPD1 Young T-Rex repaint which often shows the same issue, but not to the JPS1/2 Young T-Rexes, both of which rarely feature this disability because they were packaged differently.)

This set comes with a nameless Dino Tracker figure, sporting less clothing than most other human figures have, which is obviously useful in warm jungle environments where ferocious dinosaurs have to be fought. It's a good new paint job on this figure (which is also a repaint), but the abundance of black doesn't balance well with the rather bleak skin colour on this figure, making him look somewhat sickly. This is especially true of his head, which sports a big black beard and moustache that look like they're fake. However, apart from this minor complaint (and feel free to disagree) this is not at all a bad figure, all the more so because he comes with an excellent weapon. The bazooka, which remains unchanged in paint job and design from the original that came with JPS1 Muldoon, is still a formidable weapon. It works very well and has a great firing range for such a small weapon, no doubt making it the weapon of choice for most JP toy fans. The set also comes with the same backpack to store the missiles in when unused. Both backpack and bazooka are still painted black, which does make this set a little monochromatic, since the Tracker himself sports a largely black outfit as well.

Playability: for the set as a whole, quite good. Though only the arms of the T-Rex are really moveable, the flexible material allows for additional poseability to some extent (including the jaw motion). The dino damage wound patch is easily removable and can also be put back with little difficulty, but when applied to the figure it’s stuck strong enough so it doesn’t fall off on its own accord. Though usually the figure stands well balanced, more worn out Rexes occasionally have trouble standing up straight and tend to stand in a tripod pose with the tail on the ground. Since this figure is easily damaged, it's better not to play too rough with it, also given its rarity. In fact, if you want to play with this sculpt, it's better to play with its JPS1 version instead of risking damage to this figure. The Tracker has the usual range of poseable body parts (head, legs and arms). The bazooka is one of the most effective and playable weapons of all human figures. It has a great range and strong impact force, comes with two different missiles for variety and the backpack provides storage space for both of them, be it loose or on the Tracker's back. The bazooka may not be strong enough to knock the Rex over, but it's always a challenge to try and shoot the dino damage patch off the dinosaur (in which case you need to loosen it a bit, otherwise it won't let go). A bit violent for kids maybe, but fun nonetheless.

Realism: though no Young T-Rex was seen in the movie, a juvenile Rex much like this one played a minor role in Michael Crichton’s original novel. This figure seems to be originally based off the book instead of the movie. Of course, that doesn't matter in this repaint's case, for which its medium size in comparison to the other TLW Rex figures might have been the main reason to re-release it. Its paint job is very different from the other Rexes of the various JP toy lines, and doesn't resemble the paint scheme of the T-Rexes in the movies at all. The Dino Tracker isn't supposed to look like anybody, being an invention on Kenner's part. The bazooka wasn’t featured in the movie, though it’s a more likely weapon compared to some of the other pieces of weaponry Kenner came up with for the TLW lines.

Repaint: yes, this set consists only of repaints. The Rex itself is a repainted JPS1/2 Young T-Rex, with the same set of capture gear as the JPS2 Young T-Rex featured. The Dino Tracker is a repaint of JPS2 Harpoon Harrison. His accessories originally came with JPS1/2 Robert Muldoon, and these have not been altered in any way. The Young Rex would be repainted (and retooled) again for the first JP: Dinosaurs line, along with its capture gear. The Dino Tracker would be repainted a second time for the JP III Exclusive Dino Tracking Set, but with different accessories. The bazooka, including backpack and missiles, would be repainted again (and retooled as well) for the TLWS2 Eddie Carr figure.

Overall rating: 7/10. On close inspection, this Rex has a very original and realistic new paint job, but it hardly holds up from more than a yard away. Other than that it's still a good figure, though the dino damage provides the only real action. The Tracker himself is a fine repaint, though the beard looks a bit silly. The bazooka is still one of the best weapons ever produced for a JP toy. This set is worth getting if you happen to find it for a good price, but since it's very rare (it was only released at Toys'R'Us in the USA) and usually fetches high prices, you might as well settle for a regular JPS2 Harpoon Harrison, Muldoon's bazooka and JPS1 Young T-Rex otherwise.

Jurassic Park Series 2: Young Tyrannosaurus Rex

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-Removable Dino Damage wound patch

-Three pieces of capture gear

-Collector’s Card # 39

Description: this repainted Young T-Rex figure has not been retooled from its JPS1 counterpart. It stands in the same fully neutral posture, and still features “realistic” dinosaur skin (though there is no such thing of course, since we’ll never know for sure what dinosaur skin felt like), made of a more flexible and softer material than the regular hard plastic. The figure’s arms, lower legs and inside of the mouth are not composed of this rubbery material. On its right flank a piece of skin can be removed, revealing a dino damage wound underneath, showing white ribs and red muscle tissue. The wound patch itself is largely symmetrical in shape. The Rex’s small two fingered arms are the only poseable body parts. The jaws of this Rex, which can be opened by squeezing the creature’s neck, provide the main attack option.

This Rex has a paint job very different from its JPS1 version.. Except for the figure's underside (lower part of the tail, belly, throat, lower jaw and lower part of the upper jaw), which is painted sickly greenish yellow, the rest of this figure is coloured all dark and gritty. The upper part of the creature (upper part of the tail, back and neck) are full black, though this is at first glance hardly distinguishable of the dark blue paint job the rest of its body sports. This dark blue, which is most notable on the legs, arms and flanks, runs in several thick stripes over the yellow underside (especially on the tail and upper jaw). The dino damage skin patch is entirely dark blue. The claws on both the creature's hands and feet are painted black. Tiny yellow eyes with black irises are embedded in its black eye sockets. The Rex's mouth is adorned with nasty white teeth, a dark pink tongue and additional dark pink mouth detailing. This Young Rex sports a large yellow JP logo with the number .06 on its right lower leg, which is the same number as the previous Young T-Rex figure had.

Three pieces of capture gear complete this set. There's the required tag, which comes with all JPS2 dinosaurs, but is quite big in this case, and fits well around the creature's neck. It also comes with a leg restraint, which can hold on to both legs simultaneously. Lastly, there is a big muzzle which can go around the figure's jaws, effectively disabling them, while also covering the eyes, so the Rex can't even see what's going on. All three pieces are coloured in the same metallic grey paint job.

Analysis: though the JPS2 line featured new and fascinating weird creatures of all shapes and sizes, it would have missed out on the most classic dinosaur of all (and the real hero of the movie) when it turned out the new big Gulper T-Rex figure would not be released. This may have something to do with Kenner deciding to repaint the JPS1 Young T-Rex figure, so this line would at least have one big Rex figure (though it's still a 'smaller' big figure, the only dinosaur of the JPS2 toy line that would beat it in size was the fierce Utahraptor, and not by much). Even though this Young T-Rex is not as impressive as the huge Red Rex of the JPS1 line, it's still a good Rex sculpt, repainted or otherwise. Kenner made sure there was enough difference between the original sculpt and its JPS2 repaint by giving this second Young T-Rex a totally different paint job, much darker and grittier. It looks quite good, but unfortunately Kenner didn't use the same quality paint as they used on the other soft skin dinosaur figures (maybe they were in a rush producing the Young Rex figures), resulting in this T-Rex being highly susceptible to paint wear. And considering the new paint job is this figure's most interesting new feature, that is a huge disadvantage.

The other new feature this repainted Young T-Rex comes with is the capture gear. It does a very good job subduing Junior Rex, making it unable to walk, bite or even see. The tag that comes with it is a redundancy like all tags, since the figure already has a JP logo branded on its leg. Fortunately this tag is a fair size bigger, making its less easy to lose. Though the capture gear does a good job, its use comes with one downside: it only adds to the paint wear. Putting the tag around the neck where it's supposed to go, or even applying the muzzle which fits really tightly around the Rex's head, can cause some nasty scratches in the paint scheme. A real bummer, since the purpose of capture gear is to be put around a dinosaur figure, and these restraints are incompatible with almost any other dinosaur sculpts.

Aside from the paint job and the capture gear, this Rex still comes with two main action features. The first is the typical dino damage wound patch, which was found on most larger non electronic dinosaur figures of the first JP toy lines. Removing the Rex’s wound patch reveals a nasty wound, which makes one wonder what creature would dare attack a T-Rex (the bigger Utahraptor maybe?). The wound looks gory, but the shape of the wound patch is too perfect and artificial: it looks like someone just cut an almost symmetrical hole in little Rex, instead of him suffering from a vicious attack by a rival carnivore.

The second option applied to this figure is a biting action. However, these biting jaws are a rather cheap action feature, since it’s only because of the soft material the dinosaur’s skin is composed of that this biting action is produced. Various other big carnivore figures come with biting actions, but more work is put in those by adding inventive biting mechanisms instead, making this figure's biting jaws pale in comparison. Squeezing the neck does open its jaws decently though, while it can also be used adequately to trap unfortunate figures’ body parts between them. It may not look very appealing, but at least it works for the most part.

Playability: decent enough. Though only the arms are really moveable, the flexible material allows for additional poseability to some extent (including the jaw motion). The dino damage wound patch is easily removable and can also be put back with little difficulty, but when applied to the figure it’s stuck strong enough so it doesn’t fall off on its own accord. Though usually the figure stands well balanced, more worn out Rexes occasionally have trouble standing up straight. Since this figure's paint job is easily damaged, it's better not to play too rough with it, also given this figure's rarity. In fact, if you want to play with this sculpt, it's better to play with its JPS1 version instead of risking damage to this figure. You can always use the capture gear on the JPS1 Young T-Rex after all, so that action feature isn't lost.

Realism: though no Young T-Rex was seen in the movie, a juvenile Rex much like this one played a minor role in Crichton’s original novel. This figure seems to be based off the book instead of the movie. Its paint job also is very different from the other Rexes of the first two JP toy lines, and doesn't resemble the movie Rex's paint scheme at all.

Repaint: yes, this is a repaint of the JPS1 Young T-Rex (known as Tyrannosaurus Rex Junior in the European release). The capture gear is new however. This figure would be repainted a second time as a TLW Exclusive figure, and again for the first JP: Dinosaurs line, both times featuring the same capture gear as this JPS2 version.

Overall rating: 7/10. This still is a fine figure and it sports a good new paint job, but the high level of susceptibility to paint wear is a real let-down, since you might as well play with the JPS1 Young T-Rex instead of risking damage to this rare T-Rex. The capture gear is fun, but nothing special. This Rex figure is much rarer than its JPS1 predecessor, and usually fetches high prices, especially MIB samples. If you don't feel like spending a lot of cash on it, you better stick to the JPS1 Young T-Rex.