Velociraptor (Jurassic Park, Hammond Collection by Mattel)

I must confess. Although I credit Jurassic Park with introducing me to the magnificent group known as dromaeosaurs, and the very concept that birds evolved from dinosaurs, I have grown mighty weary of scaly raptors. Jurassic Park is almost 30 years old now and although the scientific image of Velociraptor and its kin has changed dramatically in that time, the pop culture image of it has remained frustratingly unchanged. Ironically, it’s the same franchise that modernized dinosaurs 30 years ago that now holds back progress. For that reason, although I collect Mattel dinosaurs, I have deliberately avoided their raptors. I was content with my old Kenner toys depicting the outdated animal, and those few Mattel raptors that I do have are bycatch, tagalong toys that came with other figures that I wanted.   

With the release of Jurassic World: Dominion we are finally getting feathered dinosaurs in the franchise. But the addition of the feather clad Pyroraptor is almost negated by the addition of yet more scaly dromaeosaurs, in the form of Atrociraptor. Like the franchise’s Velociraptor, don’t expect to see many Atrociraptor toys on my shelf, if any. Although I can put up with Mattel toy inaccuracies, the image of a scaly dromaeosaur is now as unnatural to me as a scaly eagle or flamingo would be. All that said, with the release of the highly anticipated Hammond Collection I have finally caved in a bought a Mattel Velociraptor. But it stands on my shelf to represent the movie I love and its creatures, not Velociraptor itself.

The Mattel Hammond Collection Velociraptor measures about 7.5” long and stands roughly 3.5” tall. In Jurassic Park the raptors stand about 6’ tall so that puts this toy in the 1/20 scale range. This means it scales well with the human figures in the line.

Like all the Hammond Collection toys this toy has more articulation than the mainline toys and that is the main appeal with the figure. Here we see 14 points of articulation. The mouth can open and close, and the head and neck can each swivel about. Like with the Baryonyx the head and neck articulation are disappointingly limited with an up and down motion of about an inch or so.

The arms and elbows can swivel in and out and rotate completely around. The legs can rotate at the hips, knees, and toes, and the range of motion here is well executed. The tail comes packaged separate from the body but once inserted cannot be removed. The tail can rotate completely around and is made of rubber with a bendable wire inside. The wire ends about an inch away from the tail tip so the very tip of the tail is just rubber and cannot be bent. I am hesitant to play too much with the tail for fear of breakage.

I am impressed with the overall petite build of the figure and how it still manages to incorporate the articulation despite its delicate features. The arms, for instance, are extraordinarily skinny yet the articulation works smoothly, and I have no real fear of breaking the toy. I would not feel as comfortable playing with a similarly sized toy by a higher end action figure company. There is one exception though. The feet are absurdly enormous. They’re the same size as the mainline figure’s, even though the figure itself is slimmer overall. I understand that this is for stability, but it looks ridiculous.

The detail on the HC raptor is a significant improvement over the mainline raptors. Although detail mostly consists of wrinkles, skinfolds, and defined musculature there is also extremely fine scale detail, especially on the face, legs, and tail. Labial scales are evident around the lips and small raised bumps are present on the back of the head. Bird-like scutes run down the toes and fingers.

The teeth, however, look better on the mainline toy. The teeth on the mainline toys are individually defined and nicely painted but on the HC raptor they’re more uniform in length with thick, sloppy paint application that makes it difficult to discern them individually.

It should also be noted that although this is meant to be a Jurassic Park raptor the mold used is from a Jurassic World raptor and this is particularly obvious with the head. Since even some of the mainline raptor toys have more accurate JP head sculpts the absence of that here just comes across as lazy or absentminded on Mattel’s part.

The paintjob is a big improvement over the mainline toys as well, and in conjunction with the articulation also the main appeal with this figure. The figure is painted in a variety of brown tones like the original Jurassic Park raptors. It is darker dorsally with dark bands running down the legs and tail.

The jaw, throat, and chest are painted with a paler shade of brown and all the colors gradually blend nicely. All the claws are painted with a shiny black finish, except for the hallux toes which are difficult to spot but are indeed there. The eyes are green with black elliptical pupils. The teeth are creamy white, and the tongue and roof of the mouth are pink. Overall, the paint is nicely applied, save for the inside of the mouth.

If you already have 100 Mattel raptors, including those in the now defunct Amber Collection, then this figure to me is not a significant enough improvement to bother with. That I have so few raptors in my own collection was my main motivation behind getting it, although I thought about holding out for a more appealing Lost World or JP3 raptor there is no certainty that we’ll get those. To me, having few Mattel raptors, this was the Jurassic Park raptor to finally get and of course, if you’re a completest, you’ll have to have it. It’s the best raptor we’ve gotten in this scale from Mattel, and it’s a lot of fun to play around with too. You might even want to get three of them but I’m not that dedicated. The Mattel Hammond Collection Velociraptor is currently available in stores and online and retails for about $13.