Jurassic Park Series 2: “Jaws” Jackson

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-Capture Trap

-Trap Backpack piece

-Flash light

-Dilophosaurus hatchling

-Collector’s Card # 51

Description: “Jaws” Jackson stands in a fairly neutral pose, though the way he holds his arms makes him look like a cowboy reaching for his guns in a main street shoot-out. His facial expression is quite grim and his face has a Native American quality to it, which hints at his part Blackfoot ancestry as mentioned on his collector's card. His blond hair and eyebrows (with black eyes) reveals his mixed heritage accordingly. He wears a red baseball cap with the classic T-Rex logo on it (though with an orange instead of yellow background). He wears a beige shirt with pockets on his chest and has shiny golden shoulder patches on with a sort of armour look to them. Additionally, he sports grey pants with similar patches of the same colour on his lower legs. He also wears black boots and a black belt around his waist.

His main accessory is the so called hair trigger capture trap, which is like a bear trap except a few sizes bigger. It consists of a boxy apparatus with two large rectangular “jaws” (hence Jackson's nickname) on each side and a big black pedal between them. When the trap is opened, pressing the pedal causes the jaws to close, trapping anything caught between them. Except for the pedal, the trap is coloured entirely in a shiny metallic grey colour, except for a small black antenna at the back which can be turned inwards. Though the trap has a small handle on each side so the Dino Tracker can hold it with his hands, it also comes with a black backpack (for lack of a better term) that can be attached to the back of the trap so Jackson can carry it on his back. It fits perfectly over Jackson's back, but can be carried by various other human figures too. As an extra gadget, this set comes with a large black flash light with a handle on top so figures can hold it, and a flat underside so it can stand stable on the ground.

A Dilophosaurus hatchling completes this set. It stands in a walking mode, with its left leg moved forward and the right leg back. Its mouth is opened and the creature stands upright which its head posed down, as if the creature is staring at the ground. This hatchling has an intricate paint job, consisting of a largely orange head, legs, arms and flanks, with a black stripe running from its snout over the head crest, neck and back to the end of the tail. The belly, throat and lower part of the tail are coloured pink, as is the small frill on both sides of its neck and parts of the crest on its head. The hatchling has small black eyes, tiny white teeth and a white JP logo on its left upper leg.

Analysis: another valued member of the Dino Tracker team is Jackson, who earned the nickname “jaws” due to his huge dinosaur trap. Jackson sports a simple but effective set of clothes, with less “armour” like highlights on his suit than team leader Turner, keeping him more mobile to scout for dinosaurs while still offering some protection in case things get rough. He seems like a very serious man, given his emotionless face. But then, trapping dinosaurs isn't an occupation you should take for fun, since such a view might cost you your life on a dinosaur infested island.

The dinosaur trap is an interesting and original new piece of equipment, though it's a bit bulky in size. It works quite well: pushing the pedal closes the jaws with enough force to sufficiently trap anything that comes between them. It looks best when it's used like regular traps sporting this mechanism, lying on the ground (preferably camouflaged, though that's unlikely with a trap this size), waiting for prey to pass along. However, Jackson can also carry it on his back (in both opened and closed states), making for an excellent defence mechanism in case some sneaky carnivore decides to attack him from behind. But considering the size and weight of this weapon, Jackson is hardly able to stand up straight when carrying it on his back; it would certainly hinder his mobility as a Tracker. Also, it just looks plain silly when he's carrying it around (the thing is almost as big as himself), but at least this trap has some options. The trap is capable of trapping almost any dinosaur, though it seems most suited for big figures: after all, smaller figures would be severely injured when they got stuck between this weapon's teeth (even though it's not very sharp material), while hatchlings would just be cut in half altogether. The flash light is just an extra gadget and has no action features of its own.

The Dilophosaurus, a repaint of a JPS1 hatchling, is still a cute and decent hatchling figure. Its paint job is more elaborate than on its predecessor (though the pink paint job on its underside is of little quality), but his posture continues to be less than impressive. His tiny legs don’t always support him, especially since his tail doesn’t hit the ground, making him fall over often. It's good to see the designers really made the crest and frill stand out this time, instead of painting it the same colour as the rest of the figure so it was hardly noticeable he even had them. Overall though, this is one of the less successful baby dinosaurs.

Playability: good enough. Jackson has the usual range of poseable body parts (arms, legs and head). The capture trap is a nice addition to the toy line, it works well and is made mobile because it can be carried on the figure's back, adding playability options. The flash light has no particular function but is a nice extra tool regardless. The Spitter hatchling, like other hatchling figures, offers no poseability of any kind.

Realism: Jackson is a character invented specifically for the Dino Trackers/Evil Raiders line, and as such wasn't featured in the movie. Therefore, he's not supposed to look like any particular actor. His outfit is slightly reminiscent of that worn by Dr. Gerry Harding in the first movie though, and as such Jackson makes for an excellent Park Ranger figure. The trap basically functions like real bear traps (though it's fortunately just a toy version and isn't in any way harmful), but its size makes it an unlikely instrument to carry on one's back (especially because it looks weird). The Dilophosaurus is recognizable by the crest on its head (which this type of dinosaur had in reality) and the little frills around its neck (which Dilophosaurus did not have in reality, but was invented solely for the movie). However, its paint job differs radically from the colour scheme the creature in the film featured, and also looks nothing like the paint jobs of other Dilophosaurus figures. It seems the designers just got imaginative on this one.

Repaint: no, this is an original figure with new accessories. Only the hatchling is a repaint, from JPS1 Dennis Nedry's Spitter hatchling to be precise. Jackson would be repainted whole once, for the TLW Exclusive Utahraptor set, along with reused accessories. Jackson's head sculpt would be repainted for the human figures from both the Pachycephalosaurus and Dinosaur Trainer and the Young T-Rex and Dinosaur Adventurer sets from the first JP: Dinosaurs line. The baby Dilophosaurus would not be repainted again.

Overall rating: 7/10. It's a nice new human figure with an interesting, though a bit cumbersome, new weapon. The hatchling still isn't anything special despite the funky new paint job. “Jaws” Jackson got a wide release in the States and a limited release in other territories, making this JPS2 figure relatively easy to get your hands on for decent prices.