Jurassic Park Series 1: Jungle Explorer

Year of release: 1993

Accessories:

-Blood Sample Missile Launcher with two missiles

-Dino Damage hood

-Glass window roof

-Camera

(Note: the reviewer is not an expert on cars (especially in the English language), so any incorrect technical terminology or lack of detail should be disregarded.)

Description: this second car of the JPS1 toy line is bigger than the Bush Devil Tracker and measures about 25 centimetres in length. Its predominant colour is bright yellowish green, which can be found on both sides of the vehicle as well as most of the front and also a bit around the windows. It turns into almost full yellow on the lower sides of the car. It’s also adorned with rows of red stripes, most notably on the hood, but also on both sides. The roof on the back of the Explorer is red, while there is black highlighting around the windows and next to the missile storage compartment. The “windows” on the back of the car are entirely black. The car has four black wheels (no hub caps) and black bumpers on the back and front of the car, including lights on the front bumper. On top of the red roof section there are additional lights as well as a small black camera. The driving wheel is black, while the rest of the inside of the car including the two seats is coloured dark grey and lacks detail. The car is decorated with a large JP logo sticker on the hood, as well as long Jurassic Park text logos with the Rex symbol on each side of the car. This vehicle sports “glass” (plastic of course) in the main window and the front part of the roof (which is able to be opened), but not on the side windows. Nice little detail: the main front window sports hints of window cleaners, though there are none. The missile launcher is all metallic grey, with one large red button, while the missiles themselves are the same colour with red blood sample dots inside.

The Jungle Explorer features two main action features. First, the dino damage hood. A large section of the car’s hood can be removed, and reveals extensive damage to the engine underneath, The hood breaks off in an asymmetrical pattern as if a large ferocious carnivore tore it off with its bare teeth. Second, there’s the blood sample missile launcher which is located on a swing door at the back of the car. The door flaps open with the launcher ready for action (if loaded of course). The vehicle comes with two missiles, rocket like in appearance. While the launcher is loaded, the second missile can be stored on one of the two pins on the left end of the car.

Analysis: the Jungle Explorer is without a doubt the most well remembered and iconic vehicle of the entire JP franchise. Everyone fondly recalls this car being beaten, battered, torn to shreds, thrown off a cliff and falling down a tree in a climatic confrontation with a curious Tyrannosaurus in the first movie. Of course kids would want to repeat its behaviour with their own toy vehicle, so Kenner designed this classic Jungle Explorer toy, largely sporting the same great colourful paint job as the car seen in the film.

Unlike the Explorers seen in the movie, which were electric, rode on tracks and were defenceless, this car uses no tracks and is equipped with a missile launcher to defend itself from creatures, but also to get blood samples off the dinosaurs, according to the box this toy was shipped in. The blood sample aspect of the missiles is a bit vague: apparently it has something to do with the red dots inside of the missiles. When these are shown it means the missile is ready to be fired in order to take blood samples. If not, the missiles can be loaded but don’t get launched very far. I doubt many kids would bother with these details (I certainly never did) and just want to shoot dinosaurs instead. When properly loaded this can also be done, since the missiles (if in good working order) have a decent firing range of over half a metre and a good impact force as well (though real big dinosaurs won’t be knocked over by them). When not in use, both missiles can be stored on the pins on the left side of the car, which prevents misplacement.

The best thing about this vehicle is the damage that can be done to it, since most kids undoubtedly felt like replaying the Rex attack on their own. Kenner delivered with a good dino damage hood action. A large part of the hood can be removed, revealing extensive damage underneath. Besides that, the glass roof window, the front bumper and the little camera can also be removed, though probably not really intended as dino damage in the same sense as the hood of the car. The removable glass window (it does take some effort to properly remove it) is another nice touch, since now carnivores can attack figures inside the car from above and snatch them between their jaws, like the Rex attempted to do with the kids in the movie.

Though sporting an overall great design, the Jungle Explorer is not perfect. Most vexing is the lack of detail on the inside, making the interior of the car look rather dull. Also a nuisance is the fact that there are no side doors, so figures can only be placed inside through the roof with some effort. Lastly, there’s no good way for figures to operate the launcher on the back, since there’s no real place to put them and they have trouble holding on to the launcher. Minor issues, which could have been solved easily in the design process, but still don’t really detract from the awesomeness of this toy car.

Playability: just fine. The vehicle rolls well on its four wheels, though only on easy flat terrain. The dino damage section looks great, much more detailed and serious than on the Bush Devil Tracker. The missile launcher door swings open easily while the launcher itself does its job well. However, the missiles are a bit fragile due to the blood sample system inside the missiles, which tends to get worn out over time: this causes the missiles to be unable to be launched properly (which dramatically decreases their respectable firing range of 60 centimetres to almost zero, meaning they more often hit the hood of the car than any targets in front of the vehicle). The missile storage pins on the side of the jeep come in handy though, since now you don’t have to leave any missiles lying around. The camera on top of the jeep is only there for show and doesn’t really do anything (though it can swivel around in a full circle). The glass roof is quite aesthetically pleasing and useful as well, since the side doors of the jeep can’t be opened so figures have to be placed in their seats via the roof. It’s a bit awkward to do, but unfortunately the only way.

Realism: thanks to the yellowish green paint job and red stripes this car is unmistakably a toy version of the Ford Explorer vehicle seen, and destroyed in one of the movie’s most memorable scenes, in the first Jurassic Park film. Of course there are some differences, most notably in the back of the car (no windows, missile launcher, lack of detail on the inside), but that’s to be expected. There had to be some good action features after all, though without them this car would probably look just as cool.

Repaint: as part of the first JP toy line, the Jungle Explorer is not repainted. A repaint featuring ‘jungle colours’ (though he colours on the original seem ‘jungle’ enough to me) was planned for the JPS2 line, but got scrapped: no JPS2 Jungle Explorers have ever been seen officially. The vehicle would not be repainted for later toy lines either.

Overall rating: 8/10. A good toy version of the classic Ford Explorers of the first movie, with a grand paint job, nasty dino damage and a fine missile launcher. It has some minor flaws, but is definitely worth getting despite them. It’s not really difficult to find and got a wide release, but prices have been known to be high at times (especially for MIB ones) because it’s such a popular vehicle.