Jurassic Park III: Poseable Spinosaurus

Year of release: 2001

Description: this other large Spinosaurus toy sports yet again a typical Hasbro Spino paint job, being mostly brown. This time however, almost the entire animal is coloured in the same type of brown instead of some extra tints of brown being mixed in. The underside of the creature is mostly grey, except for some parts of its limbs: more grey is located on the flanks and upper legs of this animal. The sail on its back sports a somewhat different paint job this time round: a shiny reddish brown colour adorns the top and also runs over most of the top part of the tail, while white and shiny blue stripes run over both sides of the sail. At the base of this sail a pattern of white stripes, somewhat reminiscent of lightning, is found. The head sports a mostly grey and brown paint job with some gold on top. This creature has tiny green eyes, as well as a black JP III logo on its left leg.

The “skin” of this creature is made out of a material resembling rubber (though I’m not sure whether it is rubber or not). This Spinosaurus’ proportions are off unfortunately: the tail is too short, the arms are way too long and thin (with the characteristic large sickle like claw on each hand missing), and the legs are positioned to far towards the end of the creature’s body and its feet are also too small: the arms however are positioned too much near the base of the neck. The head is quite duck like, with a large flat upper jaw. The mouth can’t be closed. The creature is not in any way poseable either.

Interesting side comment: it’s not generally accepted this toy is an actual part of the regular JP III action figure line. Though it is clearly a Jurassic Park III toy, it does look somewhat out of place next to the other JP III Wave I figures. Some collectors consider it to be non canonical in regard to being an official JP III action figure. Another aspect which supports this is the fact that no other JP III figures are portrayed on the back of this model’s box, unlike with the other figures. And of course there is another “poseable” toy, a Raptor, which is certainly not a part of the JP III action figure line, because it is much too big. However, since this Spino’s size is relatively accurate compared to the human figures, and given the fact that this toy is less fragile than the Animatronic Spinosaurus, it is often used to play alongside canonical JP action figures. Therefore it gets a review.

Analysis: don’t get your hopes up with the “poseable” part of this sculpt, because it’s nonexistent. This Spinosaurus is not poseable at all. It hasn’t got bendable limbs or body parts if that’s what you’re expecting. That is, the arms are somewhat bendable, but they move right back. The jaws can’t even be closed, though you can clamp figures between them. The model is largely anatomically incorrect: like noted above, many of his body parts are either too small or too large, with the most notable example being the arms. They look nothing like the arms of the JP III Spinosaurus we’re familiar with, and even have a bit of a humanoid appearance to them.

The paint job is very unimaginative, and largely the same as with the other JP III Spinosaurus figures. The only positive part of the paint job is the sail, which is coloured somewhat differently this time. If you believe in the theory that Spino’s sail was used to attract mates during mating season you might say this one is doing a good job. Or it’s of a different gender, you decide for yourself. The figure stands in a neutral position, which is a good thing because it increases playability options. However, this sculpt has so many downsides that it doesn’t really matter much. This Spinosaurus is about 30 centimetres in length and stands almost 20 centimetres tall, making it the second largest figure of the JP III toy line: it’s smaller than its animatronic counterpart, yet slightly bigger than the Ultra Rex.

Playability: very limited, though its name suggests otherwise. But like stated above, it’s not poseable at all, and I think it’s very devious of Hasbro to suggest otherwise. The figure does stand in a neutral pose though, and not in some crazy attack mode like most of Hasbro’s smaller dinosaur models. This model does have one advantage over the Animatronic Spinosaurus (which is superior is almost all other respects though): it doesn’t feature electronics and thus is less fragile. Since it can take quite a beating, this model is good to play rough with (or at least more rough than with the other JP III dinosaurs). But other than that it’s just not a very good figure.

Realism: due to the disproportionate body parts of this toy it certainly isn’t paleontologically correct, that’s for sure. It is however unmistakably a Spinosaurus, if we look at the sail and crocodile like jaws. But the Spinosaurus in JP III also didn’t have such a short tail, long arms, etc. And the paint job also differs from its movie counterpart.

Repaint: no. This model would not be repainted either.

Overall rating: 4/10. It’s not a very good figure. I’m particularly vexed about the lack of poseability, when it’s clearly labelled a ‘poseable’ Spinosaurus. However, since it does fit in a bit with other JP toys in regard to size and can hold figures between it’s jaws it’s not a complete loss. The fact that it isn’t as fragile as the Animatronic Spinosaurus also helps. You may consider getting this figure if you don’t dare play with your Animatronic Spino, but do want to own a large Spino model to play with. However, it’s not that easy to find, so if you really want one you’ll definitely have to search for it: if you aren’t willing to do so, or if it turns out to be on the expensive side, don’t bother.