Year of release: 2013
Accessories:
-Dino Damage wound
patch
-Ash Skullstriker
figure
-Bow and arrow
-Sword holder with two
swords
-Gun
Description: this
bipedal carnivore takes on a neutral posture, but this can be
remedied since it sports a score of points of articulation not seen
before on a JP dinosaur figure. For starters, there is the attack
option: moving its right arm up and down causes the neck to swivel
left and right (which can also be done without pushing the arm).
Furthermore, the lower jaw and head itself can be posed downward,
while the head can also swivel left and right. The arms can move up
and down and rotate in a full circle thanks to ball joints. The legs
can move back and forth, as can the feet: the latter too can rotate
thanks to ball joints. On the right flank, a dino damage skin patch
can be applied (or removed, depending on where you started): beneath
it is found dark red muscle tissue and white ribs. To differentiate
this Allosaurus from similar looking big carnivores like T-Rex, it is
adorned with typical Allosaur traits: ridges are found above the eyes
and nose, a line of feather like appendages runs over the back of the
head and neck, and the back and the front half of the tail and
various small horny nobs are found on its back. Such features give a
rather rugged, savage look to this particular predator.
This theropod sports
a fairly colourful paint job. The dominant colour is blue, which can
be found anywhere except on the top of the back and head and on its
underside (lower part of the belly and tail, throat, hind parts of
the arms, legs and feet) which are coloured beige instead. The top of
the head and the facial ridges and various protrusions on the neck
and back are covered brownish orange, while the spikes on the back
are also blue. On the neck, back and front section of the tail,
darker orange shapes are found in a symmetrical pattern with smaller
white spots and stripes in their center. The front part of the feet
sports the same dark orange colouring. Claws on both fingers and toes
are painted black. The small eyes are red with yellow irises and
black pupils. The creature has white teeth and a dark pink tongue,
while a large white JP logo can be spotted on its right upper leg.
Pitted against this
Allosaurus is a human character named Ash Skullstriker. This muscular
character too stands in a neutral pose but is fully poseable
considering the ball jointed arms and legs and the extra articulation
provided by the upper torso, head, knees and elbows, as well as
rotatable hands and feet. Ash wears dark green pants, a black shirt
and black boots and gloves. The pants sport an empty gun holster on
the right leg and a big pocket on the left. This guy wears a brown
vest around his torso covered with various pockets and even a grenade
on the front: the vest appears to be removable, but is attached
tighter than it seems, so removing it might damage it or the figure.
Ash has dark grey hair and a goatee and eye brows in the same colour,
while his white eyes carry black pupils. To top it all, he sports a
black tattoo of an Allosaurus skull and two arrows underneath on his
lower left arm.
Ash comes with
numerous weapons to defend himself against the Allosaurus. He has a
black bow and arrow (attached to one another, so no separate arrow
that can be fired) a small black gun that can fit in the
aforementioned holster, and a brown pouch that carries a black double
sword holder, with a pin on it that can be attached to Ash via the
hole in his back. Two swords complete his arsenal, both silvery grey
with black handles, a long one and a shorter one.
Analysis: we had to
wait for good new sculpts for over a decade, but our patience was
finally rewarded when the Dino Showdown packs hit TRU stores in 2013.
The Allosaurus Assault was one of this pair, and by far the coolest
set released by Hasbro since 2001! Prime attractor in this set is the
medium sized Allosaurus, a ferocious looking predator with a number
of poseable body parts not seen on any JP figure before, making it a
definite break in style with the past and a good sign for future
releases to come. However, the new is mixed with the old as indicated
by the triumphant return of the age old removable dino damage wound!
Fans had been clamouring for this particular action feature for many
years – mainly because of Hasbro's fervorous fondness of having
their dinosaur figures display large wounds that could not be covered
up – and it appeared somebody was listening. The piece fits
perfectly on the figure's flanks and sticks on pretty solidly,
despite not being embedded into soft 'real feel' skin as on the
classic Kenner figures, since this theropod is made mostly out of
hard plastic instead. Apart from taking wounds the Allosaurus also
can give them to antagonists with his head thrashing action, which
also is not a new feature. It works less impressively, making the
head and neck swivel a little left and right when the right arm is
pulled. It looks better if the animal has prey between his jaws, in
which case it appears to violently swing its victim around.
Ash could sure fill
the part of that victim. Like his prehistoric adversary, he is fully
poseable and looks quite butch, definitely not someone to mess around
with. However, his weapons carry no action features to back this up,
they're mere accessories. They will not help him if the Allosaurus
decides to make a snack out of him, grabbing hold of his body with
its vicious jaws which can open surprisingly wide. Despite his tough
appearance - and funky tattoo!- Ash really doesn't stand a chance
against the creature, ready to have his own skull struck, but at
least he looks cool when fully armed, reminiscent more of a G.I. Joe
soldier than a JP figure, but that's no problem since dinosaurs don't
really care much about aesthetic qualities in their food.
Overall, this is a
terrific new dinosaur figure, almost redeeming Hasbro for its lack of
care over the last decade where the JP franchise is concerned. It
looks cool, moves cool and bleeds cool. Like many recent Hasbro
figures it has a colourful paintjob but not as ridiculous or
excessive as on the JP 2009 repaints. Still, the white/beige could
have been toned down a bit, but it's a minor complaint considering we
got such a great new figure at all. Hopefully, Hasbro will continue
travelling down the road they started with this Allosaurus (and its
herbivorous counterpart, the Pachyrhinosaurus) and deliver similarly
awesome dinosaurs instead of once again resorting to needless
repainting.
Playability:
excellent. As stated before, the number of points of articulation on
this dinosaur is greater than on any of its predecessors, making it
one of the most poseable JP dinosaur figures to date. Especially
nifty is the poseability of the head and lower jaw. Its head
thrashing option by comparison is rather dull and uninspired, but
works fine enough despite being connected to the right arm. The
removable dino damage piece is a grand action feature as always. The
only real downside to the Allosaurus is an issue of balance: it has
an unfortunate tendency to tip over unless standing quite upright.
It's also prone to paint wear: rough play will definitely not make
this animal look more handsome. Its human companion Ash is also more
poseable than any human figure before. However, his accessories sport
no action features of their own other than being able to attach
themselves to their owner. Too bad, Ash could have used a bow that
can actually fire arrows to defend himself from the Allosaurus' eager
teeth.
Realism: pretty good
actually. Of course no Allosaurus has yet been seen in a JP movie,
and so it's not based on anything directly, but this release is a
definite step-up from the only other Allosaurus from JP toy history,
the one from the TLWS1 Medical Center set. It's roughly the same
size, but sleeker, more bird like in design. It's definitely one of
the more scientifically accurate JP toys yet released, representing a
rather up-to-date look of this late Jurassic hunter. The typical
Allosaur facial ridges are present, while the appendages on the neck
and back are added to make it look more dastardly. Its size compared
to the human figure it comes with is fairly close to the real deal.
Overall, dinosaur toy fans may be reminded of the Papo Allosaurus,
which could very well have been a genuine inspiration for this
particular action figure.
Repaint: no. For the
first time in many years in the history of JP toys, this is an
all-new set of figures.
Overall rating: 9/10.
An excellent new entry into JP toys lore and at the time a grand promise for the
future, this Allosaurus is one of the best dinosaur figures released
by Hasbro ever. It looks fabulous and quite accurate and is very
poseable. Its action feature (and the lack of action features from
Skullstriker's accessories) isn't particularly appealing, but the
removable dino damage wound patch and overall design of the beastie
make up for it in spades. This set was only released at Toys'R'Us in
North America and as such can prove hard to find for enthusiasts in
other territories, especially a couple of years down the road.
However, it's well worth tracking down.
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