Triceratops (Jurassic Park by Dakin)

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One of my first reviews, written three years ago, was for a colorful little Jurassic Park Dilophosaurus put out by Dakin in 1992. The same little toy was also a major catalyst for joining the Dinosaur Toy Forum in the first place. I was trying to find out what it was and where I could find one. You can read more about it and the nostalgia it provided on its own review but I brought it up to lead us into the toy we’re reviewing today, the Triceratops by Dakin. There were, in fact, six different dinosaurs made by Dakin, all of them representing the dinosaurs of the original Jurassic Park and released in 1992. It’s my goal to collect the whole set, I haven’t reached it yet but hopefully once I do I’ll be able to provide reviews for all of them (don’t hold your breath too long!). Incidentally, Dakin also produced the plush Jurassic Park toys that came out around the same time. If you were a child of the 90’s and a fan of Jurassic Park, you probably had one.

The Triceratops is very much inspired off of the Jurassic Park concept art by Mark “Crash” McCreery. Interestingly enough it is the baby Triceratops that never appeared in Jurassic Park (but would show up in The Lost World: Jurassic Park) that they chose to model the toy off of. There is no point in reviewing the accuracy, it’s a toy modeled off of a movie from 1993. It has the typical flaws attributed to Triceratops at the time, most notably the elephantine feet. It is at the very least movie accurate or I should say “concept art accurate.” It measures about 5” in length and is very faithful to the concept art in both color and pose, though lacking the finer details of course. The toy is mostly a dark navy blue in color with white underside. The beak, horns and nails are all gray in color. A line of bumps run down the back and the model is liberally detailed with various bumps and wrinkles. A smaller but identical keychain was also produced and yes, I have both, a baby Triceratops for a baby Triceratops. The JP logo is stamped on the left side of the back leg. You know, so you know its official. Remember, if it’s not Jurassic Park, it’s extinct! Maybe you don’t remember; refer to the JP toy commercials on YouTube.

So yeah, that’s the Dakin Triceratops! It’s a charming figure overall but probably only worth seeking out for the die hard Jurassic Park collectors or nostalgia addicts like me. The fact that it so greatly resembles the concept art for the film makes it appealing too but with Papo’s new baby Triceratops model (also JP inspired) it might not be worth the effort. These little guys can be hard to find but can occasionally be spotted in lots on eBay or even sold individually, usually not for too much.