Year of release: 2002
Description: this
Spinosaurus features an overall reddish brown paint job with black
stripes and shapes all over its body (most notably on the legs),
while its underside (belly, base of the tail and throat) is painted
beige. On the legs, especially around the feet, a darker shade of
brown is mixed in, giving those parts of the animal a muddy feel.
Most of the upper jaw and facial area, as well as the neck, tip of
the tail and sail are coloured black. On the head, around the eyes
and mouth, as well as on the sail, blue lines are found in a
symmetrical pattern. The creature has small yellow eyes, white teeth
and the inside of the mouth is painted pink. Its claws on both hands
and feet are black, while a white JP III logo can be found on its
left upper leg. A dino damage wound is located on the left flank,
showing white bones and red muscle tissue. A small button is found in
this wound: when pressed, the figure emits a high pitched shrieking
snarl. Another button is located in the throat: pushing this button
makes the mouth of the creature open and produces a vicious attack
roar.
The Spinosaurus
stands in a bent pose, as if stalking prey, or waiting to jump on its
victim. The tail, which is rather short, is bent to the left, as is
the head. The animal has large arms with very nasty big claws. The
snout is quite elongated and resembles a crocodile’s head. The
figure is very thin and has little body mass. It’s also out of
proportion: the head and especially the arms are too big compared to
the body.
Analysis: another
medium sized electronic dinosaur figure that benefited from Hasbro's
creative juices and wild paint schemes in the CamoXtreme line is the
Spinosaurus, which, like the Rex and Raptor figures of the line,
makes for a vast improvement over its predecessor, which featured a
rather bland paint job by comparison. Though the original
disappointing features of the sculpt remain (i.e. the dino damage
wound, its awkward tiny body and silly short tail compared to its
huge arms, and its impractical button to activate the attack roar),
at least the figure looks great this time around.
It has a much more
'natural' paint scheme; the muddy feeling the legs give and the
successful interplay between brown and black makes for 'butch'
predator. Details like claws have not been omitted. The blue lines,
which do add some colour and diversity within this paint scheme, do
seem out of place on a jungle figure where blue isn't that common a
colour: green would have seem more logical, but it's a nice touch
regardless. The one thing that feels awfully out of place is the
white JP III logo, but considering the more usual black version would
have been hard to spot this is an understandable though unfortunate
addition to the overall fantastic paint job. Incidentally, this
figure could also have worked as a Lava Spinosaurus: the black and
reddish brown paint job does also have a bit of a 'lava flow' feeling
to them.
Repaint: yes. This
figure was originally featured in the JP III toy line. Surprisingly,
it would not be repainted again, despite Spinosaurus' rising
popularity.
Overall rating: 7/10.
This figure proves that a great paint job can make an otherwise lousy
figure much more appealing. Despite its many shortcomings, this
Spinosaurus got a nice makeover making it seemingly more impressive than its
rather dull coloured predecessor. The CamoXtreme Jungle Spinosaurus
is not always an easy find. You can still find them at times on eBay
for various prices. This figure was also imported in the Benelux in
decent quantities, making it easier to find there.
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