The Lost World Series 1: Dilophosaurus

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Three pieces of capture gear

Description: this dinosaur sports a simple paint job. Almost the entire animal is grey, except for some of its upper body parts. The back of the head, neck, back and upper side of the tail are coloured in a light blue paint which gradually changes into grey. A total of 12 darker blue stripes run down over its back and tail. Its throat and lower jaw are painted in a light green colour, as are both his crests (though only on the outer sides). The animal has a bright red tongue, white teeth and yellow eyes with frog like black pupils. On its right upper leg a JP Site B logo is found along with the number .69. The three pieces of capture gear are shiny black in colour.

This figure stands in a very neutral pose: only the tip of the tail is bent somewhat, so that it fits in its package. Its mouth is open and can’t be closed. The dinosaur has a spitting action. When dipped in water it’s necessary to squeeze its flanks so it takes in water. When squeezing it again, a spray of water is released through the mouth, as if the dinosaur is spitting venom. The dinosaur has three pieces of capture gear: one to cover the head, one to restrain the limbs (both its arms and its legs) and a third one that fits on multiple body parts, but the pictures on the card shows it’s to be put around its right leg for some reason.

Analysis: of all the repaints done for the TLW toy line, this is probably the most disappointing. This Dilophosaurus sports a very lazy paint job – it’s basically all grey except for some parts of his upper body – which is definitely inferior to the quite movie accurate paint job the original Dilophosaurs of JPS1 and JPS2 featured. Though it’s appreciable this figure was repainted at all (otherwise it would be the third time this figure sported the same paint job) they could have come up with a more interesting paint scheme, since it’s rather dull. The eyes look odd with the Kermit like pupil and its crests should have been painted on both sides. Other than that this dinosaur is the same as the classic Dilophosaurus figure. It features the same spitting action which blasts a venom spray at any target. It still works fine, though due to the involvement of water it’s better not to use it when there are electronic figures involved, since it might damage those.

This figure comes with the same three pieces of capture gear as the JPS2 Dilophosaurus had, except they’re not just reused as is most common with capture gear, but also repainted. Still, considering the other repainted dinosaurs sported new capture gear it’s a damn shame the designers didn’t bother to come up with new restraints for this dinosaur too. However, the capture gear still works fine, and unlike most new capture gear for this toy line, does actually restrain the creature: one piece covers the head so there’s no biting or spitting, the second piece makes sure the animal can’t use his arms or legs so there’s no scratching or running away, and the last piece still is rather redundant and gets lost quite easily causing complete Dilophosaurs being harder to find.

Playability: though the figure takes on a very neutral stance, it’s less playable than most dinosaurs, since only its legs are poseable. However, the arms can be used to hang onto stuff (human figures, other dinosaurs), so they aren’t a total loss. It’s a shame the mouth can’t be closed, but it’s understandable, since otherwise the spitting action might be impaired. The capture gear is a nice addition, though nothing too special. There’s no dinosaur-breaks-free-of-restraint-gear action here.

Realism: there were no Dilophosaurs in TLW, but one was seen in JP of course. Qua body structure this figure is very similar to that dinosaur, but the colouring is totally different. It’s a shame, since the Dilophosaurus from JPS1 had a paint job which was almost completely movie accurate. The spitting action is also reminiscent of the spitting the Dilophosaurus in the movie did. This figure is somewhat larger compared to the human figures, but since the dinosaur in the movie was hugely undersized, this size is more accurate.

Repaint: yes. This figure is a repaint of the JPS1 and JPS2 Dilophosaurus. The capture gear is a repaint of the restraints the JPS2 Dilophosaurus carried. This figure would not be repainted again.

Overall rating: 6/10. Though the paint job is a bummer, this is still a fairly accurate and fun figure. It’s harder to find than most TLW dinosaurs and wasn’t released in all territories, so if you want one you probably will have some trouble finding it (though Ebay often helps) and it may not always be cheap. But if you’re not a completist, stick to the JPS1 Dilophosaurus.