The Lost World Series 1: Dieter Stark

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Two different guns

-Compsognathus 

 

Description: Dieter stands in a sort of walking position, with one leg in a forward move and the other in the opposite direction. His eyes stare mindlessly in the distance. He has brown short hair and is quite muscular, but his head is somewhat disproportionate (i.e. too small) compared to his body. Dieter sports a bit of a military look, with camouflage pants (green with beige spots) and a shirt that has an orange and red spotted paint job. His sleeves are greenish brown and 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 green pocket on his right leg, as well as a black InGen logo “tattooed” on his left arm. His torso can move around to a small extent, in order to accommodate the figure’s dino action.

Dieter comes with two different black 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 provides the action. Since I’m not an expert on weaponry I can’t determine what type of guns we’re dealing with here, but they look much more realistic than the regular weapons the human figures carry. Dieter can wrap the biggest of the two guns around his shoulder, while the other one fits in his hands only.

Another way in which this figure differs from other human figures is that it doesn’t come with a dinosaur hatchling, but an adult. It’s a Compsognathus, one of the smallest species of dinosaurs, so it’s still the size of a hatchling. This Compy sports a mostly yellow paint job, except for the upper part of its body (back, neck, snout, upper tail) which is coloured green. Over the rest of its body there are some vague tones of green as well. A black JP Site B logo can be found on its right upper leg. Its eyes are black with large yellow pupils. The Compy stands in a crouching position with its tail raised upwards and its snout touching the ground, as if eating something. It looks a bit odd in this way, but there is an explanation for this pose: there’s a small magnet in its mouth, and another one in Dieter’s chest. This way, the Compy can be attached to Dieter’s chest and clings to it, as if the Compy has jumped on Dieter and is taking a bite out of him.

Analysis: this figure looks pretty cool, but does not resemble Dieter Stark at all. It’s better to consider it another dino tracker or equipment specialist, since it seems well outfitted for that job with those camouflage trousers, numerous pockets and realistic weaponry. These weapons are also a welcome change from the usual weird weapons the toy designers come up with. They don’t feature any action or anything, but add some realism and diversity to the toy line.

The Compsognathus sports a nice paint job, though a little less yellow would be nice. It would also have been better had the claws and teeth be painted in a different colour, but this will do. It’s a shame the Compy stands in such a weird pose though: it would have been much preferable for this sculpt to feature poseable body parts, especially since it’s the only Compy figure in the line. Better yet would have been to make a play set featuring a pack of Compies, as shown in the movie, but it seems we have to settle for this one Compy.

Together with the Compy Dieter provides for an interesting dino attack action: the Compy can be attached to Dieter making it appear he’s being attacked. By pulling the arms back and letting them go, Dieter can swing his torso around somewhat and push the little predator off of him. It’s a fun idea, but it doesn’t always work properly. The Compy slips off Dieter’s chest easily, so it often falls off before you have the chance of pulling Dieter’s arm. A stronger magnet might have been advisable. Still, it’s a nice and original action feature.

Playability: Dieter and the Compy together provide a neat little action feature. Apart from that Dieter is fully poseable and as an extra addition has a moveable torso. The Compy however does less well on its own, since it stands in a very active and thus un-neutral pose and has no poseable body parts. The weapons don’t add much playability options either since they don’t feature action options.

Realism: as stated earlier, this figure does in no way resemble the Dieter Stark seen in TLW. For one thing his clothes are totally different. More importantly, he is in no way reminiscent of Peter Stormare. He might as well be a random InGen mercenary. The weapons are more realistic and don’t look much unlike guns that could have been used in the JP movies.

The Compy is pretty similar to its movie counterparts, both in shape, size and paint job. He lacks in detail somewhat – for one thing his teeth aren’t supposed to be yellow – but the overall strong green tone and body structure (small, bipedal carnivore) make him identifiable as a Compsognathus.

Repaint: no. The Compy wouldn’t be repainted either, though the Dieter figure and the weapons would be repainted for JP Dinosaurs 1 (Young T-Rex & Dinosaur Adventurer). However, his head was replaced by a different figure’s head for that line.

Overall rating: 7/10. This is a cool figure with an interesting new dinosaur action. It has some downsides, most importantly the disappointing Compy figure, but it’s well worth your attention. It’s not hard to come by and certainly not very expensive either.