Jurassic Park Series 1: Velociraptor

Year of release: 1993

Accessories:

-Collector’s Card # 8

Description: this small Raptor figure, measuring about 15 centimetres in length, stands in a neutral posture, except for the claws on its arms; the left one is reared upwards, while the right hangs down somewhat. It stands perfectly on its two legs and usually doesn’t slouch forward or fall down, since the long tail provides ample balance with the rest of the body. This particular Raptor is equipped with ‘slashing jaws’: pressing the legs together makes the head move forward and the mouth open, and when released they violently snap back. As such, the creature makes a vicious biting move at its victims when this attack option is used.

This Raptor sports a ‘three way’ paint job. Its underside (belly, throat and lower jaw, lowest part of the tail and inner part of the legs) are greyish beige, while the upper parts of the figure (upper part of the head and neck, back and tail) are coloured black. In between these two colours the rest of the body sports a brown paint job, while its arms are brown entirely. The black colouring on top has small black stripes running down over the brown parts, most notably on the tail and neck. Additionally, the brown colouring on the upper legs is surrounded by a black circle scheme, also with small stripes running out. The animal also has black claws on its hands and feet. It has small white teeth (rather blunt too), a pink tongue and light green eyes with black irises. On its left upper leg, a dark beige JP logo is found with the number .03 next to it.

Analysis: one of the most instantly recognizable and fondly remembered JP figures of all time, it’s still one of the best as well. Most people who used to be kids back in ’93 (and undoubtedly a lot of adults too) owned one of these beasties, if not several, and these days almost any JP collector has a bunch of them lying around because they were so common back then (and basically still are). So this particular Raptor evokes warm feelings of nostalgia in many folks to this day.

And with good reason. Besides common, it’s also quite good. It comes with a butch strike action and a fine paint job (though not movie accurate). It’s always fun to attack human figures or other dinosaurs by holding this Raptor and pressing its legs together, making it snap and bite at its prey. The snapping jaws work well, though the arms can get in the way if they’re posed upwards too much. Also, in some cases the snapping system gets damaged, making the snapping jaws cease functioning though the head movement still works (as if the Raptor gives head butts). Either way, it’s sufficient to punch out any figures unfortunate enough to be in the Raptor’s direct path. Also, limbs of most human figures and various small dinosaurs fit in its open mouth, to appease the more bloodthirsty minded kids.

Playability: quite good. This Raptor has both poseable arms and legs, as well as a moveable head and upper jaw. It comes with a fine attack action that, though activated by the legs, doesn’t hinder the poseability of any limbs. The attack action works well and is enough to knock human figures and smaller dinosaurs over. It’s one of the best toys to play rough with and is also less susceptible to paint wear.

Realism: being a bipedal and small carnivore equipped with a sickle shaped claw (well, almost in this case) on each foot, this figure is easily recognizable as a Velociraptor, or at least a close relative. It’s quite similar to its movie counterpart, though it sports a different colour scheme and its head looks a bit odd due to the way the upper jaw is attached to the rest of the head. Qua scale it’s about the same size as the movie Raptors compared to the human figures. Overall this Raptor is not a flawless look-alike, but a fine toy version of the fierce nemesis seen in the JP movie.

Repaint: since this figure belongs to the very first JP toy line, it’s naturally not a repaint. However, the figure would be reused for the JP Series 2 line (meaning it’s the exact same figure, and didn’t even get a new paint job), featuring a different collector’s card and capture gear. Furthermore, it would be repainted for the TLWS1 line (originally with a very interesting new paint job and labelled as a Deinonychus, but that version got scrapped and made way for the TLWS1 Raptor we eventually got), as well as for the Chaos Effect line after that (as the Raptor Alpha figure), and finally for the first JP Dinosaurs line. As such, it’s one of Kenner’s most often used figures. But the JPS1 version is undoubtedly most well remembered.

Overall rating: 8/10. Being one of the most classic and common dinosaurs, this Raptor is a solid action figure with a fine paint job and a neat attack feature. It’s not at all hard to find, MOC or otherwise, and most likely won’t cost you much either.