Baryonyx (Jurassic Park: Series 2 by Kenner)

Review and photos by EmperorDinobot, edited by Suspsy

Hello, everybody and welcome to another review by yours truly. Today we’re going to be talking about the legendary (and ugly) Series 2 Jurassic Park Baryonyx, nicknamed “Snapper” by InGen staff. We’re going to be looking over its colors, playability, and whether it warrants the high price it often goes for, so let’s just get into it!

I purchased this toy used about 15 years ago for $87 shipped, and had to find its other contents elsewhere. It comes in its classic standard JP bubble packaging and comes with a JP tag and collector card #37, which I only very recently found. Only “Speeder” is now missing from my collection now, and I am absolutely chuffed to have the Baryonyx in my collection. It features a picture of Dennis Nedry’s realization that he was well over his head. Series 2 cards featured movie scenes rather than Brian Franczack’s much beloved art, but they are still highly collectable. I’d type it all out, but I’m sure I took a clear enough picture for you to read its contents.

Series 2 was to be a continuation of Kenner’s excellent JP run, but it was also a rather experimental undertaking for them. I have seen concept art for this particular figure and it is on point. The storyline involving Series 2 was intended to be exactly what you all saw, and it was to be expanded into 1995 and beyond, but when Universal greenlit The Lost World, much of Series 2 and potentially Series 3 was canceled. I have seen concept art of stuff you would not believe, but Baryonyx was one of the few brand new figures that actually made it out. Its rarity has to do with distribution rather than the series dying out. The action figure business is often messy. The fact that this figure was not available in the country I was living in during the time should be an indicator. I never even saw it in my Batman catalogs and only found out about it when I was savvy enough to use the internet.

As with many electronic JP toys, this one was powered by three A76 batteries. Most Dino Screams(TM) dinosaurs have unique sounds, but Baryonyx here is stuck with . . . believe it or not, the classic Godzilla roar, which is both funny and sad. It lends to the idea that the tail end of Series 2 was slightly rushed, and that Snapper here was released in a bit of a hurry. Its action mechanism is activated when you pull back one of its legs, which causes the neck to articulate forward and its jaws to snap. This feature is often broken in used Baryonyxes, as well as with The Lost World’s “Snapjaw” raptor. It is quite fragile.

Some of us call this figure “duck”. The concept art is a lot better, and more accurate to what Baryonyx looks like, despite it being drawn in 1993. The underbelly is apple green, the rest of the body is grass green, and there are black stripes along the back. The snout has a clouded purple haze over it, and both eyes are pure black. “Jp 23” stands in an awkward pose and has four digits instead of three on each hand, which seems to be a 90s’ artistic choice since we knew very little about spinosaurids. It measures 5.5 inches tall and about 7 inches long.

Its companion human would have been Skinner, who comes with its hatchling, which is painted differently. Speaking of that hatchling, why not review it too?

An old general misconception was that Baryonyx was sometimes quadrupedal, and the baby shows it. It’s painted in light blue and darker blue running on the top. On that note, it’s funny how Spinosaurus returned to possibly being semi-quadrupedal thanks to new research.

In summary, this is a weird and kind of rushed figure that is also hard to find. Should you get one? If you are a completist like me, and want to own one, then sure, why not. It is vintage and kind of historical, especially if you’re a JP dinosaur collector. Would I recommend it as a good depiction of Baryonyx or even a good JP figure? No! Get yourself one of the new ten or so Jurassic World figures instead. They scale well with Kenner and Mattel figures, have an actual screen model, and are slightly more accurate. Oh, and they don’t sound like Godzilla!

But this Baryonyx here is a true piece of nostalgia, especially for those of us who never saw Series 2 figures at our stores. I hope you’ve enjoyed this review and leave a comment below.