The Lost World Series 1: Humvee

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Missile launcher (including one missile)

-Pivoting Stampede Seats

-Dino Pursuit Claw

-Two stun sticks

(Note: the reviewer is not an expert on cars, so any incorrect terminology, or lack of detail, should be disregarded.)

Description: this large car sports a rather sober, colourless paint job, with a military feel to it. It is coloured mostly dark green, though somewhat lighter on the driver's cabin doors. Its underside is all black, with four dark grey wheels. The drivers' seats (there's room for two figures inside) are black, with a metallic brown steering wheel. This vehicle is equipped with an abundance of accessories and highlights. It has a grey, rectangular fence on each side of the driver's cabin, protecting those inside from close encounters with aggressive dinosaurs. These fences can be lowered in a 90 degree angle and used as platforms for figures to stand on. The car also has a large grey bumper with two lights on top up front, and an additional black piece with four more lights on top of the roofless driver's cabin. On the back of the car there is a platform surrounded by metallic grey railing, so figures won't fall off the car so easily in a high speed chase. The front part of this railing, just behind the driver's cabin, carries a detachable dark green missile launcher with orange highlights (grip for loading it on the railing and button for firing the missile): pressing the button on top launches the metallic brown missile over a decent distance. On either side of the car there's a black pivoting seat, attached to the vehicle by two metallic grey cranes. Both can move over a 180 degree radius, so people sitting in them can get closer to the hunting action to catch dinosaurs, making use of the two metallic brown stun sticks that come with this car as extra accessories.

A big Pursuit Claw comes with this vehicle, which can be used separately from the vehicle, but can also be placed up front so the car can push it forward into a herd of dinosaurs to catch some of them, or it can be towed at the back of the car via the grey grip located there. The claw consists of a black grid with dark grey wheels on either side, carrying a big metallic grey grip holding a dark green contraption which is equipped with two huge metallic brown “fingers” with grey 'balls' in between to trap dinosaurs with. Once a dinosaur gets trapped between the “fingers”, it either hits the big orange button on the front of the green part, making the claw close with force so the animal can't escape, or the smaller orange button on top of the green device can be pushed, causing the same effect to occur. The claw can be tilted over a 180 degree radius as well, unless it's attached to the car in which case its range is limited to a small extent.

The Humvee comes with various stickers for ornamentation, hinting at this vehicle's purpose as a hunter's car, and giving it more character. There are rectangular stickers with black and yellow lines (covered in mud stains) for both the claw and the car itself, as well as a similar smaller sticker which also carries a 'caution' note over it for on the claw. There's a small sticker carrying the TLW logo for on the windshield, as well as one showing the InGen logo, indicating to which party this vehicle belongs. There's a total of ten 'lights' stickers, eight for the front of the car and two more for the rear section. There's also a sticker saying 'Hummer', while various stickers with control panels and buttons come with this car to lighten up the driver's cabin. Lastly, there are various tiny stickers with dinosaur skull logos on them, and red crosses over these, to show what species have already fallen prey to this Humvee capture vehicle.

Analysis: the largest vehicle of the TLWS1 toy line (with the exception of the Mobile Command Center, which is more of a play set), this Humvee is more than a match for most vicious dinosaurs, being designed for capture and close combat with prehistoric vermin. It sports a rather sombre and dark paint job, very different from the jungle colours we've seen on more cheerful cars like the Ground Tracker and Jungle Explorer, indicating it's not to be messed with: the dark green, grey and black colour scheme hints at a serious occupation, and give it a more realistic feel (though the small orange highlights feel out of place in this regard). There's space for at least seven figures. It also comes with various tools to aid in the process of catching dinosaurs, especially those that don't feel like being captured.

The most notable accessory is the big capture claw, an adequate tool for catching mostly smaller or medium sized creatures. It's not handy for use while dealing with something like an adult T-Rex, but should succeed in catching or at least knocking out Raptors, Pachycephalosaurs and other smaller figures. It can grab them between its “fingers”, which violently snap to close around such beasts when either of the two buttons is pushed. The edgy shape of the 'balls' (for lack of a better term), which function as teeth with their serrated quality, make sure few dinosaurs manage to escape when the claw is closed. Animals that respond inappropriately (i.e., that resist their capture) can be subdued using the missile launcher on top of the car. This is a decent launcher, with a somewhat limited range (usually no more then 50 centimetres), which is sufficient for creatures that have been caught when the claw was placed on either the front or back of the car (though the gun can also be used separately, like the claw). However, there's only one missile, so you only have one shot. But if that doesn't work out, the Humvee is equipped with pivoting seats to make hunters sitting on them swing forward close enough to tranquillize the dinosaurs using the stun sticks that also come with this vehicle. When the claw is positioned on the front of the car, these seats can come close enough to put the hunters in the middle of the action. However, if it's positioned at the back of the car, they are less useful. Fortunately the missile launcher can also fire at things behind the vehicle. Not all figures fit well in the seats: some have a tendency to fall out easily, or have their arms positioned in such a manner that they get in the way of the inward side of the seats. But most figures fit in well enough, especially the ones from the TLW toy lines.

The Humvee is mostly focused on offensive action, being a capture vehicle, but also comes with various defensive pieces. The railing at the rear section of the car not only makes sure human figures don't fall out of the vehicle so easily when in a chase, it's also an obstacle for dinosaurs trying to attack from behind. Creatures trying to get to the people inside the drivers' cabin will have a tough time getting past the fences on either side which do an adequate protective job, but can also be used as additional attack platforms for human figures during a chase (again, using the stun sticks, or weaponry that comes with other figures). However, the main flaw of this vehicle is that the driver's cabin has no roof, so it's open to the elements (wouldn't want to drive this vehicle during a typical Jurassic Park thunderstorm!), and also to large predators that can manage to reach in the cabin and eat the people inside (like the big Rexes of this toy line). Again, the missile launcher helps in this regard, but you only have one shot.

Playability: excellent. This vehicle is loaded with poseable parts, action features and plenty of space for human figures. The Pursuit Claw can be attached to either the front or the rear side of the vehicle, but can also be used separately. The fences on either side of the driver's cabin not only protect the vehicle against ferocious dinosaurs, but also provides additional space for human figures. The missile launcher is also detachable, but it only comes with one missile: two or more, like the Ground Tracker had, would have been preferable. Though there's no specific dino damage parts, unlike on most other vehicles, various parts of this car can easily be taken off to stand in for such a feature, like the railing on the back of the car, or the lights on top. The stun sticks are a nice bonus, but only useful for human figures: they do have an unfortunate tendency to be easily misplaced, or considered as not belonging to his vehicle, making complete Humvees harder to find.

Realism: this is quite a decent toy version of the Humvee vehicle seen in the Lost World movie as used by the InGen hunters. It's not identical, being equipped with various action options for playability's sake (like the missile launcher). However, the Pursuit Claw and Pivoting Seats were both seen in the movie, not even all that dissimilar from the ones on this toy. Stun sticks were also used by the InGen team, though they too looked somewhat different. The shape, size and even colour of this car are quite comparable to the movie's Humvee. Overall, this is one of the most realistic JP vehicles of all the toy lines.

Repaint: no, this is a brand new vehicle. Nothing has been repainted from earlier toys, except for the missile launcher, which was retooled and repainted from the one that came with the JPS1 Bush Devil Tracker (with a different missile this time). The Humvee would not be repainted for any following toy lines.

Overall rating: 8/10. This is an excellent new vehicle, with a realistic design and paint job, solid action features, some of them quite original, and plenty of room for human figures. It's well worth getting, but it's not the easiest JP vehicle to find. Prices tend to be high for complete and MIB samples.