Friday, July 31, 2015

Jurassic Park III Ultra T.rex (and it's repaints)

*sigh* The largest Hasbro T.rex from 2001 from Jurassic Park III is hated among most fans. I personally hold no qualms towards it except for the fact that it is fragile and that the jaw/right arm mechanism is often broken.


A delicate dino, this figure is prone to breaking, and quite common. Recently it was revealed that this is the Junior T.rex from The Lost World. Last you saw HIM, he was chomping up a carcass, until Dr. Grant and his foolish troupe connected it with a rampaging Spinosaurus on Isla Sorna AKA Site B. We all know how that ended. The figure sports a massive wound to the side.





Everyone I know hates this figure. And I know why. Buuuut let bygones be bygones. The colors are nice, and the electronics are nice. Push the arm, it opens the jaw letting out that "woooohhh..." or "noooooo" like in TLW when Roland Tembo shot it. The side button causes it to go "noooooaaaghhh!" in a higher pitch with some added garbage. Nice SFX, as most JPIII dinosaurs have in my opinion. This is as long as a young T.rex from JP1, 35+ cm long. It's articulated on both the legs and arms, something we had not seen on a large dino since the Thrasher T.rex. The colors are really good. So what's the issue? The face. I swear it looks like a friend I had in 2nd grade who was a class A suck-up. Every one of us has a personal problem with this T.rex. Mine still works, 14 years after it's release, but it still does not belong with the Kenner JP populace. Why? Because by this point Kenner is dead.




As you can see, mine is rather...uhh...dusty.



Oh no the ATDT Billy has found it! KEEP IN MIND ATDT Billy is NOT Kenner Size, but Star Wars sized: 3.5 inch tall.



I saw Alessandro Nivola in American Hustle. But he is now eaten. By my Ultra T.rex. Too bad!



But the fun never ends because Ultra T.rex was repainted 3 times!!! CamoXTreme Canyon T.rex, the Jurassic Park Dinosaurs 2 and 3! Same mold. Might as well review the other three. CamoXtreme Canyon T.rex is made of a grey plastic that is ESPECIALLY BRITTLE, it yellows over time, AND IT BREAKS. Good luck finding one that isn't broken. For a time it was thought to be unreleased and scalpers were selling them at 600 a piece. Once they suddenly became common at KB toys, everyone grabbed them, including myself, in a massive attack. I just wanted to have one MIB and one loose. The loose one has yellowed even though I kept it away from the sun. I expect it to disintegrate in 10 years. The other two repaints were released only on Toys R Us (and KB) and are not easy to find. All the ones I've had to sell were broken and had non working electronics except for one, which is found here: http://stores.ebay.com/Lulus-Mesozoic-Emporium?_dmd=1&_nkw=ultra



It is what it is. 2001 Hasbro fresh off the Ep1 failure. All of Kenner has gone by now. It's a really sad story, really. But everything happens for a reason. This is an underappreciated dino because of how common it is and because it was a shelf-warmer for a bit. Heh. Good luck finding one that works! 3 A72 Batteries, which costs approx. $10 to acquire will fix these...some of the time. My opinion is null, this is the JR. T.rex from TLW after all. Sarah and Nick saved it only so it would be killed by Spinosaurus. Meh. Animatronic Spinos go for $300+ as of this writing, so who's the winner now?

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Battat Museum of Science Dilophosaurus

One of my favorite lines ever, which is currently seeing a revival, the Battat Dilophosaurus is one of my favorite Dilophosaur figures ever.



A proportionally correct figure, the one thing that bothers people the most is its tripodal posture, especially when it's highly unlikely that their tails could curve in that fashion. There's several variants to the figure, mini, version 1 and version 2. I believe this is version 1, let me know if I'm wrong.









Very few dinosaurs come in this particular tripod posture, and the colors are pretty interesting as well. Dark forest green over a sort of darkish warm grey with brick colored crests. It's hard to read this figure. It almost looks like it's...communicating. Not hunting, not looking around, maybe yawning? It's...definitely...uh...interesting.



The most interesting aspect about this figure is really its rarity, and it's pose. I believe it will get a repaint sometime within the next 72 months and be made available at Target stores across the USA, but I'm not sure on that.





Proportionally longer than its kin, and because I am biased, this is one great Dilophosaurus figure. I love them all. If you see it, buy it. Prices are likely to decrease due to the repaint, or maybe they'll go up. I got this in a very lucky lot, but I've seen people pay $40+ for it. It's up to you, the buyer, if this dinosaur is worthy. I think they're all worthy, no matter the cost but...well...I spared no expense, hehe.

I would review the Carnegie Dilophosaur pair here, but I already did here: http://dinotoyblog.com/2014/10/15/dilophosaurus-pair-carnegie-collection-by-safari-ltd/

That review is exclusive to the Dino Toy Blog. And follow their link, because I often sell that pair!

That's it for Dilophosaurus! Watch out for a new review later today! I'm back! Let's make this fun!

Christ Almighty!!!

It's been...Since MARCH that I reviewed something! I apologize for letting this blog die. BUT NOW BEHOLD ITS RESURRECTION!!! I was busy with school and stuff. I graduated and while I will continue school as a post-bac, the load is gonna be easier. Aaaanywho, let's get on to the next Dilophosaurus!