The Lost World Series 1: Thrasher T-Rex

Year of release: 1997

Accessories:

-Four pieces of capture gear

Description: being one of the largest dinosaur figures of all toy lines (though not as stupendously huge as the other big Rex of this line, the Bull T-Rex) this toy measures a good 50 centimetres in length. It stands in a totally neutral pose, though its tail may be bent somewhat due to the way this figure is packaged in its box, with its tail in about a 100 degree angle (a shame, but understandable considering how much room this saves). Like the good old large JPS1/2 dinosaur figures, this animal has soft skin, giving it a more realistic feel (at least, insofar as there can be realism in regard to a creature that has been extinct for 65 million years). The dinosaur has two different attack options. First, a thrashing action: moving the tail left and right makes the head move in the same directions. Second, a biting action: when the mouth is opened wide, pressing the tongue makes the jaws close in a snapping way, as if chewing on an unfortunate victim.

Most of this figure is coloured in a sort of greenish grey, which is found on the upper part of the head, the flanks, the sides of the tail and neck, and in a somewhat lighter tone on most of the legs and arms. A large black stripe is running all the way from the nose to the very end of the tail, with smaller black stripes running out of this stripe over the sides of the neck, head and tail. Additionally, black stripes can be found on the upper legs and feet. The claws on its fingers and toes are also black. In between the grey and black there’s a green hue, found very faintly on its back and tail, and most notably on the upper legs. The underside of the animal (belly, lower part of the tail, throat and lower jaw, as well as the inner parts of the limbs) are painted white. The Rex has a pink tongue with the inner parts of the mouth coloured in a similar pink. It has yellow eyes, and on its right upper leg a large black JP: Site B logo can be found, with the number .29 next to it.

This Rex comes with four pieces of capture gear, all sporting a shiny metallic silver paint job. Together, these pieces form a harness strapped around the creature’s upper body and keeping its jaws closed. Via the thrashing action this beast can free itself from these restraints.

Analysis: inspired by the appearance of two adult Tyrannosaurs in the TLW movie, Kenner produced two very different large T-Rex models for this toy line. We can only applaud this smart move, since two figures means more possibilities to experiment with action features, as well as a bigger chance at least one of them turns out alright. And this wonderful Thrasher T-Rex did turn out to be a great sculpt, one of the best figures of all the toy lines.

Since the other large Rex figure, the Bull T-Rex, was already electronic, the designers apparently didn’t think it necessary to equip the Thrasher with electronic sounds or actions too. Instead, they opted for playability instead, providing this figure with poseable legs which distinctly sets it apart from about every other larger dinosaur figure of both the JP and TLW lines. Furthermore they added two neat action features, both of them original and well designed.

The first feature is the thrashing action, which of course gave this figure it’s nickname ‘Thrasher’. Gripping the tail and moving it back and right makes the upper body, particularly the head, move as well, as if the animal is violently shaking its ferocious body about. Together with the four pieces of capture gear this makes for a cool dinosaur-breaks-free-of-restraints action as well. The pieces can be attached together forming a sort of harness around the dinosaur’s upper body (from head to midsection, strangely enough not restraining its legs so it can merrily scurry off when it feels like doing so). Activating the thrashing action now causes the creature to shake off its gear, save for the part clasped around its belly. A nice system, except the capture gear occasionally slips loose on its own accord, partially because the Rex’s arms get in its way.

The second action feature concerns the head. Opening the mouth while pressing the back of the head causes a spring to be set and the tongue to raise itself somewhat. The mouth is now opened wider, making the monster look pretty butch (mostly because of the great design of the head and even the inner part of the mouth). Pressing the tongue makes the jaws close with a snap. The general idea is the Rex can clamp figures between its jaws and bite them. Again, an interesting new action feature, even though there’s not that much room between the jaws, it fits mostly human figures and parts of smaller dinosaur figures (like tails or limbs).

Apart from these two fun action options, this Rex also has other positive aspects. Most of its skin, except for the arms and legs, is composed of a soft and flexible material, giving the creature a more realistic feeling skin. This is the only new dinosaur sculpt in the TLW line that can boast this particular feature, bringing up fond memories of the large dinosaurs in the JP lines which also featured skin like this. Additionally, the Thrasher T-Rex sports a fine paint job, not all that dissimilar from the Rexes seen in the movies (especially compared to most other T-Rex figures).

Despite this being a brilliant sculpt, it too has some minor problems. First of all, due to the material of which the skin is made, this figure is more susceptible to paint wear. So even though it’s supposed to be a more playable Rex, you better keep this in mind if you want to go rough on it. Second, the Rex is out of balance: the front part of the creature is just too heavy and the tail isn’t enough to keep it standing up straight. It usually falls over, unless supported by something or standing up with its head high in the air. These downsides are a shame, but not enough to spoil the great fun this fantastic dinosaur delivers.

Playability: quite high, especially for a large Rex. This is the first big sculpt that doesn’t have poseable arms only, but legs as well, despite the softer material used for the skin of the creature. Additionally, the neutral position, the moveable mouth, the biting feature and the thrashing action provide for more options, making this Rex undoubtedly the most playable large figure around. And it doesn’t even get broken easily, so you can play pretty rough with it (though remember it’s sensitive to paint wear), hence the name Thrasher. The capture gear is of lesser quality, but adds a minor option or two.

Realism: this Rex is also one of the more realistic Rex figures around, especially compared to the Bull T-Rex of this toy line, which is quite bulky and has way too thick a neck so action figures can fit through. This Rex does not have that particular action feature, but still has a bit of a thick, muscular neck. Its head is a bit small by comparison, but not irritatingly so. Other than that this figure is near movie accurate, both in shape and size, and it looks very awe inspiring towering over human figures. The paint job is reminiscent of the colours the Tyrannosaurs in the movie sported, but not the same. The abundance of white on the lower parts of its body as well as the black stripes depart from the colour scheme of its movie counterpart, but the overall greenish grey with bits of black isn’t far off.

Repaint: no. However, this T-Rex would be repainted for the JP Chaos Effect line in the most unimaginably funky paint job sporting way too much yellow. It would again be labelled ‘Thrasher T-Rex’, since it was otherwise the same figure, with its action features intact. Unlike most JP Chaos Effect repaints this Thrasher did not come with capture gear, repainted or otherwise.

Overall rating: 9/10. This is definitely the best Rex we got out of all the JP toy lines. It has a cool paint job, fun action features and plenty of poseability, making it the most playable Rex as well. Though it was released in probably all territories and it’s not specifically rare as such, it can prove to be hard to get at times (especially MIB) because it’s quite sought after, and rightly so. Still, given its status as a highly popular sculpt it’s definitely worth your money, even at higher prices.