400th Post!: The Lost World Series 1: High Hide with Nick van Owen

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Nick van Owen figure

-Backpack

-High Hide with missile launcher and missile

Description: the High Hide is basically a small dark green platform with a mechanism attached to it which allows it to be pinned to anything strong enough to hold it: most convenient thing would be the edge of a table, no more than five centimetres thick. The parts of the mechanism that clamp to the table are covered with black rubber, to make sure the structure doesn’t slip loose. Some small silvery grey fences can be pinned to the green platform, so the figure doesn’t fall off. One of these fences on the front side of the set is a door which can be opened and closed, and has a TLW logo sticker on it. A metal framework can be pinned to the fences on either side of the set, so the High Hide can also hang onto things. Additionally, this set comes with a missile launcher, sporting a paint job consisting of dark grey and silvery grey highlights and a red button on top to fire the missile, also coloured red. The missile launcher is attached to a pole standing on the green platform, allowing it to be turned 360 degrees.

The missile launcher has a hole in it. This allows the backpack, also coloured in a dark grey paint job with silvery highlights, to be attached to it via a red hook, which is attached to a piece of black string coming out of the pack. This string can be pulled out of the pack to an extent of about 20 centimetres. The backpack has a red button sticking out its right side. Pushing this button inwards makes the string get stuck so it can’t be pulled out further. Pulling the button out makes the string be yanked back inwards with force. This system allows the Nick figure to hang onto the High Hide set via the pack attached to the missile launcher; the pack can be pinned onto Nick’s back. Pulling the red button then causes Nick to shoot upwards to the platform, away from hungry predators on the ground.

Nick himself sports gloves and a sweater with the same dark grey paint job as the missile launcher and the backpack, but now adorned with dark green highlights, same colour as the platform. He does have a silver harness with a hole in it on his back so he can be pinned to his backpack. The sweater has a yellow JP: Site B logo patch on the right upper sleeve. Nick’s pants are coloured beige with a non removable yellow rope and hook on the left leg’s side. On his right upper leg he’s got a knife and a pocket coloured in the same beige so hardly noticeable. It’s simple ornamentation, you can’t do anything with it. Nick’s shoes are dark greyish brown. Nick has dark hair and eyebrows. He stands in an active pose, with his left leg positioned in a forward motion and his right leg in a slight backward stance.

Analysis: this is a great small play set and a welcome relief from small vehicles with exclusive figures. It adds some variety to the toy line. The mechanism that pins the High Hide to a surface works well, even though it has a limited range. The missile launcher is a somewhat predictable action feature, but also works fine: it’s always handy to have the option to fire missiles to ferocious creatures lurking beneath your observation post, in case they come to close. And it’s just fun to shoot at action figures with launchers like these.

The backpack with its up-and-down system is a neat feature, but unfortunately breaks easily. This is mostly due to the force by which the pack is pulled upwards, which makes the wire slip loose or even snap in half. The pack also crashes into the platform quite roughly, especially with Nick attached to it, which may cause paint wear. It’s a fun action feature, but could have used a better design. After all, nobody wants a broken backpack.

Nick himself is a decent enough figure. The paint job isn’t too exciting, but clearly sets it apart from the regular TLWS1 Nick, and as far as the colouring is concerned it’s obvious this figure and this play set belong together.

Playability: the High Hide itself provides for some great playability, though if you don’t want the backpack to break you should be careful with it, thus limiting options. Still, the various ways in which this set can be attached to things, hanging or clamping, increases playability possibilities. The set is largely detachable (otherwise it wouldn’t fit in its box). The missile launcher can also be detached from the pole, though it’s too large for Nick to handle properly. Nick himself has the usual range of poseable body parts, but the way in which his legs are positioned may hinder things a bit, though the figure would have looked silly and not at all life like dangling from the High Hide in a completely neutral pose.

Realism: Nick’s head sure looks a lot like Vince Vaughn’s, just as with the hatless variation of the regular TLWS1 Nick figure. His outfit is totally different from what Nick wore in the film, but since Nick didn’t use the High Hide anyway some poetic license is permitted. The High Hide itself is a typical action figure version of the High Hide seen in the film. It’s considerably smaller, basically a one man observation post, and not a place of refuge for a small group of people, like intended in the film. Of course the missile launcher is totally made up: the humans in the film used guns only. They also didn’t use a backpack to get up and down from this set, but a cable system instead. Still, this is a good toy version of the High Hide as seen in the TLW movie.

Repaint: no. None of the components of this set would be repainted for later toy lines either.

Overall rating: 8/10. Despite the fragility of the backpack, this is a great set with a good enough figure and several interesting action features. It’s also a good addition to the larger play sets. It’s relatively easy to find in some territories, but was never released in others, making it much harder to find there. Ebay is a good solution as always. It may not be cheap, but this set is worth every JP toy fan’s while.