Category: Reviews

Jurassic World blind bags

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Jurassic World blind bags

Earlier today I found the Hasbro Jurassic World blind bags at Toy Champ, a popular toy store chain in Belgium and the Netherlands.  They had two boxes with blind bags and are 2,99 EUR each. The idea is kinda similar to the LEGO Mini Figures blind bags (they’re even the same price here), you don’t know what you’ll get. I got 12 bags in total and was allowed to take the box home as well The box and the bags feature some really nice artwork, which is rare with Hasbro’s 2015 toy line. The dinosaurs are made of very cheap plastic…

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Jurassic Park series 1 Robert Muldoon

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Jurassic Park series 1 Robert Muldoon

The Jurassic Park series 1 Robert Muldoon toy was released in 1993. It was designed based on early sketches for the character, long before the Bob Peck casting was done. This explains why the face and body sculpt is way off compared to the movie version. (This was kinda corrected in the series 2 toy line) Robert Muldoon comes with a grenade launcher complete with 2 different grenades. These can be stored in the backpack that’s included. It’s a bit tricky to remove the packback again. The little pins that hold the strap easily break after a while. The hatchling…

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Jurassic World T-Rex Lockdown

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Jurassic World T-Rex Lockdown

T-Rex Lockdown is a playset featuring the Jurassic World gate and a Tyrannosaurus Rex figure. The set is clearly inspired by the Jurassic Park III Raptor Attack set, which in return re-used the accessoires of the Jurassic Park Command Compound from 1993. Although the Jurassic World set looks similar, it was produced from a whole new mould. The outerbox features really great and exciting artwork, reminiscing the hay-days of Kenner packaging. There’s a slight difference between the USA and European box, the latter is way more sturdier compared to the flimsy USA version. The set comes with the Jurassic World gate (which…

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Jurassic World Ceratosaurus

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Jurassic World Ceratosaurus

Ceratosaurus is part of the Jurassic World wave 2 line. Although this dinosaur didn’t appear in Jurassic World, it had a small cameo in Jurassic Park III. There are some design elements and colours that are very similar to the Jurassic Park III version of this dinosaur. Many fans consider this Hasbro’s best effort and I kinda agree. It is a very cool looking toy, but it certainly has a few flaws. The head sculpt looks really good, but the teeth are a big failure. It looks like a grandmother who isn’t wearing her dentures. By pushing down the tail,…

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Jurassic World Dilophosaurus

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Jurassic World Dilophosaurus

Dilophosaurus is one of my favorite Jurassic Park characters. I see her as the Boba Fett of the Jurassic Park Cinematic Universe. Unfortunately she only appeared in the first movie and had a small cameo in Jurassic World. But that didn’t stop Hasbro from producing different toys based on Dilophosaurus since 1993. Thanks to that small cameo, Hasbro went ahead with a whole new sculpt for their Growlers line. The paint job is definitely way too pale for my taste. It doesn’t represent the original colors as seen in the first movie. The Jurassic Park III toy version of Dilophosaurus…

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Jurassic Park potato chips

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Jurassic Park potato chips

Back in 1993 Universal was selling Jurassic Park licences like hotcakes. One of those licensees was a Dutch potato chips producer called Smiths (now part of the Lays group). They sold dinosaur-shaped Jurassic Park potato chips. I kinda remember I didn’t really like the taste and only bought them because they were Jurassic Park branded… Anyway, I kept one of the empty wrappers:

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Jurassic Park: The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood

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Universal Studios Hollywood

Quite a few years back in 2008 I visited the Universal Studios park in Hollywood. I had been to the Orlando resort before and quite a few times after (last time was last year). But there’s something special about the Hollywood park: first it’s an actual movie studio with a great tram tour riding past props and actual movie sets and second it features the first ever Jurassic Park attraction. Like most themed areas in the park, the Jurassic Park area is quite small (especially compared to Orlando) and features just the attraction and a few themed shops and restaurant.…

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The Lost World: Jurassic Park – Parasaurolophus

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The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Parasaurolophus

The Parasaurolophus is an electronic dinosaur from the The Lost World: Jurassic Park toy line. Sadly, in my opinion, the dinosaur has just one flaw. One of its legs sticks weirdly out to the back (not shown on the pictures) to make it look like its running. However this makes it very difficult to make it stand on its own. By pushing the button on the back, the dinosaur will make its iconic trumpet sound and it kicks the weird standing leg forward. By playing a little bit with this, you can make the Parasaurolophus stand on its own. Despite…

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Box artwork: Bush Devil Tracker

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If there was something that Kenner REALLY owned back in the 80’s and early 90’s, it must have been their amazing box artwork. I vividly remember staring at these boxes in the toy store and see those scenes come to live in my mind. Copyright Kenner / Hasbro The Bush Devil Tracker jeep features one of those really neat designs. It shows the Electronic Velociraptor from series 1 being chased by the Jeep Wrangler from the movie (although the brand is not mentioned on the box or toy) with Alan Grant behind the driving wheel, Tim Murphy handling the Dinosaur Snare and Robert Muldoon…

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Chaos Effect: Compstegnathus

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Chaos Effect - Compstegnathus

Compstegnathus is part of the Chaos Effect line which was released in 1998 after the succes of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It featured hybrid dinosaurs that were created by mixing the DNA of different species (Jurassic World anyone?). The design of most new sculpts look very sleek, smooth and very colourful. It’s rumoured there was supposed to be a Chaos Effect animated television series, which might explain the cartoon-like look of this toy line. Some of the dinosaurs in this toy line are repaints, but Compstegnathus is one of those new sculpts. According to the package, it’s a hybrid of Compsognathus, Stegosaurus and…

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