Jurassic Park Series 1: Electronic Velociraptor

Year of release: 1993

Accessories:

-Collector’s Card # 12 (alternate card (#65) for 1994 re-release)

Description: the second Raptor of the first JP toy line sports a wholly different paint job from the regular brown version. Its back, back of the tail, neck and upper part of the head are painted light red. This colour is also found in stripes on both upper legs. The flanks, side of the tail, rest of the legs (except for the inward parts), arms, throat and most of the head are coloured light orange. The inward parts of the legs, belly, and lower part of the tail are white. The creature has dark grey claws, including the infamous sickle shaped claws on the feet. It has light green eyes with cat like black pupils, white teeth and a brownish pink tongue. On its right upper leg it sports a large black JP logo, with the number .10 next to it and curiously a small JP Raptor emblem (Raptor foot with sickle claw in a circle) as well, something the other dinosaurs of this line lack (except for the Electronic Dilophosaurus).

This Raptor stands in a fully neutral pose, with its long tail slightly tilted up. It has a more robust look to it compared with the regular Velociraptor and has a bigger, rounder head. Its mouth is opened and can’t be closed. Unlike with most other Raptor figures the claws on its hands are turned inward as if the beast is holding something. This was most likely done to make the creature look more menacing when the attack action is activated. Pulling the creature’s legs back (or pulling only one leg back, the legs are interconnected) makes the arms move away from each other as if the Raptor is preparing to strike. Releasing the legs causes the arms to revert to their original position like the critter is clamping some prey between them. Activating this strike action also causes an nasty attack scream to be heard.

Analysis: this is a fine second Raptor figure for the original JP toy line. Like most other JPS1 dinosaurs it is a well remembered classic figure in itself. It also is dissimilar enough, both in paint job and action, with the non electronic Raptor to make a good difference and add something to the toy line. However, it looks similar enough to keep it an obvious Raptor figure, thus encouraging people to make flocks of different distinguishable Raptor sculpts.

To start with the most obvious difference, the electronics work fine. The attack option easily activates the scream. This sound, though not movie accurate, fits the figure well enough and is quite eerie and chilling. It sounds more like an unfortunate victim’s death scream but firmly establishes this Raptor as vicious hell spawn.

Unlike the regular Raptor sculpt this figure does not come with biting action. In fact, the mouth can’t be closed at all, but is always open. This is a bit of a nuisance and a real shame since it wouldn’t have cost the designers much trouble to develop a creature with a poseable mouth. Instead, this figure uses its arms as weapons. Pulling the legs back makes them move while releasing the legs causes them to shut close. It’s a real blast to hold this Raptor by the legs and pretend it’s jumping on suitable prey, like human figures, and traps them between its terrible claws. This action feature works quite well and is rather original too.

The paint job is less appealing. It’s rather bright and colourful, instead of gritty and darker like the regular Raptor. The red and orange also don’t go really well together. The stripe pattern on the legs looks rather cool though, but otherwise this paint job isn’t much of a success.

Playability: this Raptor is about equally playable as the first Raptor sculpt of this toy line, except for the non poseable jaws, though we get a neat sound in return. It features moveable arms and legs, and because of the attack action the arms not only move up and down but sideways as well. However, since the legs are interconnected by the attack mechanism inside they only move as a pair, which hinders poseability at times. The figure also has trouble standing occasionally, since the front part is slightly heavier. Keep in mind this is an electronic figure, so don’t play too rough with it if you want to keep it intact, and avoid figures using water (like the Dilophosaurus or Dennis Nedry).

Realism: like the regular Raptor sculpt this figure’s bipedal stance and small size as well as the large sickle shaped claws make it a dead giveaway and firmly establish its identity as a Velociraptor or a close relative. The different colour scheme is a bit of a breach in continuity, but isn’t so dissimilar it might as well be another species; a different sex at best. Both the figure’s paint job and sound aren’t movie accurate. Also, its size compared to human figures is too big for a Velociraptor, but would make it more of a Deinonychus. However, it’s well known that the Jurassic Park Raptors, both the toys and their movie counterparts, are hugely oversized.

Repaint: since this figure belongs to the very first JP toy line it’s naturally not a repaint. However, the figure would be repainted once, for the first JP Dinosaurs line.

Overall rating: 7/10. This is a good enough classic figure with a fine attack action and a spooky sound, but it has several minor downsides and its paint job isn’t great. It’s not hard to find, even MOC, and is likely to be found for relatively low prices.