When it comes to Jurassic Park, you need to have the king. For the Jurassic World line in 2015 there are three main T-Rex toys. There is the small Basher and Biter, the medium Chomping, and the Large Stomp and Strike. All three look very similar in their basic colors, so there is not much variation, other than their size, and the style of gimmicks they have.
The Chomping Rex, doesn’t look that bad visually, and it has a very simplistic yet effective action for play. When the T-Rex comes out of the box, the tail is not attached. It is attached with a simple clamp, and presto, it is ready. Most of the toy is made of a hallow, hard plastic. The tail does have some bend into it, but it will immediately go back to its original shape if it is moved. The arms are also rubbery, and able to bend. For some reason the nose is different plastic material than the rest of the body, and the seam line is quite easy to see. Wait, what is that, oh my can it be, YES, there are NO SCREW HOLES! There is also no dino damage. Amazing!
The arms on the Rex are really small, which is interesting since, usually toy companies make them big for use during play. They are just little nubs with little muscle tone. The feet look weird, but that’s ok, it is the price for stability. I for one appreciate a toy that is stable, makes it easier to be played with or to be put on display. The legs and arms can rotate 360 around if you want them to. The articulation is basic but effective.
This Rex has a simple action button located on its back. When the button is pressed the mouth will open. When the button is no longer held, the mouth closes. The mouth is very loose, and this looseness will vary from figure to figure. When pressing the action button, it make a sound, that reminds me of the rattling of bones on a skeleton in a fantasy movie. It would be great at puppet shows, as the you can make it perform, when you press the button, it looks like it is talking. Anyways, the jaws are loose, with a very weak biting action, and the teeth in the mouth are rounded. Which makes it really safe for kids, no “bag of glass” on this toy.
The details are nice, but not spectacular, which one would expect with this line. I love the high amount of detail on the eyes, they just look great. The color of the Rex on the other hand is rather boring. I guess it looks close enough to the original girl from Jurassic Park, as the whole body is in a lazy brown color. There are some dark stripes across the head, but visually, that is about it for color variation. The toes are painted black, but why were the claws on the hands not painted? Is it really that hard? Anyways, inside the mouth is all pink, and the teeth are white.
Overall Appraisal: It is a nice toy. Sure this is no classic Big Red, Bull, or Thrasher T-Rex, but its not bad. The positives: It has your typical Jurassic Park T-Rex look, it is very stable, simple but effective playable action, and it has no screw holes. Ok, the fact that I get to praise this toy with having no screw holes, might mean that I am setting the bar low for this toy. It is also a really safe toy, so parents can let their kids play with it without worry. Negatives: A boring paint job, a lack of anything to set it apart as it has no outstanding features, and a jaw that is loose which can be annoying. I think a six out of ten would be a rather accurate grade for this toy.
Addendum: Hasbro has fixed the bite action by giving it a stronger spring. You will have to try the feature to see if it is the original weak spring or the updated version with the stronger spring since they look exactly the same.
Available at Amazon
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All that’s left is the Stomp N Strike, which I do have. I might do a review of it.
[…] with features such as removable armor, spikes and so forth. The Tyrannosaurus rex is based on the Chomper T. rex mould, but with added electronics, pop-up spikes and a snazzy new […]
This is an example of a badly done articulated jaw (along with Rebor’s Yutyrannus, but they’ve shown improvement judging from their Acrocanthosaurus).
It is an overly safe articulated jaw. If this toy was made 20 years ago, I would wager the jaw would have been designed without the worry of being sued. Of course, then it would have been designed by Kenner, and the whole line would have been better.
The total lack of stereoscopic vision ruins it for me. The sculptor apparently didn’t bother to do much research.
I agree that there wasn’t much research done, but due to it being a movie creation, I tend to give it a free pass in most of the anatomical areas.
The Tyrannosaurus in all the Jurassic Park films, including Jurassic World, have stereoscopic vision though.
Good point.