The Lost World Series 1: Triceratops

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Two pieces of capture gear

Description: this four legged rhinoceros like dinosaur sports a predominantly dark green paint job. Most of the animal (flanks, head, legs, tail, parts of the back) is covered in a certain shade of dark green with slightly different shades occasionally mixed in (especially on the crest). On its back another, even darker, tone of green is found in two large blob shaped spots and several spots around it. The underside of its tail, throat and belly are coloured in a yellowish beige which gradually changes into aforementioned green. The horny features on its head (beak, spikes, stumps) are coloured in a similar beige paint job. Its eyes are yellow with black pupils and the creature has a pink tongue. The claws on its feet are not coloured unfortunately. On its right hind leg a JP Site B logo can be found, with the number .44 next to it.

This figure stands in a relatively neutral pose, though one might also say it stands in a defensive posture with its head lowered and legs braced for attack. The end of its tail is bent slightly to the left. The animal has an attack action: when his right hind leg is moved back, his head raises considerably upwards, as if the animal is giving a head butt with its spiky head. The figure comes with two pieces of capture gear which can be clicked together forming one head piece that can go around the Trike’s head yet stands on the ground, as if holding the animal’s head down.

Analysis: this is a decent Triceratops figure. It’s smaller than the JPS1 Triceratops model and its paint job is quite similar to the one that figure sports, so it’s often labelled a juvenile by JP toy aficionados. It’s a decent paint job (apart from the claws which aren’t painted) and it adds some consistence between the toy lines. Like practically every Ceratopsid action figure, this sculpt has the typical head butting feature: it may lack originality, but it works fine in this case, though the leg has to be pushed back quite far to make the head action look impressive enough.

This figure comes with two pieces of restraint gear that can be attached to one another forming one larger piece that can be shoved over the creature’s head. It stands on the ground however, and can not actually be attached to the figure. This is done to accommodate the dinosaur-breaks-free-of-restraint-gear action: when activating the Trike’s head ramming action while the gear is in place, the animal will move its head and smash the restraints. This at least is the general idea, but often it does not fully work because the two pieces of gear are quite strongly attached, making it hard to smash them apart. It’s not the best capture gear or breaking-free action. It’s also a shame the inner workings of the mechanism are so clearly visible: when one looks behind the animal’s crest one can too clearly see the mechanism exposed. They could have patched it up better. But this does suffice.

Playability: well enough. All four legs are poseable, though they don’t get very far since the figure’s body gets in the way when the limbs are moved around too far. The head is also moveable, either with or without the butting action. The capture gear doesn’t really add much.

Realism: the Triceratops seen in TLW was a lot bigger, especially its crest which was almost gargantuan in size. But like stated above, this figure is often called a juvenile Trike, in which case size doesn’t matter. Still, the paint job is also a lot different, since the Trikes in the JP movies were more greyish brown instead of green. The head with its noticeable crest and three horns makes this creature unmistakably a member of the Ceratopsian family, though not necessarily a Triceratops.

Repaint: no. However, this figure would be repainted three times: once for JP Dinosaurs 1, a second time for JP Dinosaurs 2, and a last time for the JP III Wal-Mart exclusive Dino Tracker Adventure Set. The capture gear would only be reused for the former repaint.

Overall rating: 7/10. It’s not the best Trike, but it does what all Trikes are supposed to do: it has a decent head butting action which provides for some fun trashing action, and it doesn’t look all that bad either. It’s not rare in some territories, but a lot harder to find in others. Ebay usually provides the solution. You might check it out if you’re interested in this figure.