And now let’s tackle some Jurassic Park toys. First up is Dimetrodon. The famous finned ferocity first appeared in the original 1993 JP line. The humble toy must have been very popular indeed, as it would go on to be recoloured and re-released several times over the course of a decade. This one is from the 1999 ‘JP: Dinosaurs’ line.
From snout to tail tip, the Dimetrodon measures 20 cm long and is 11 cm tall at the sail. Its main colour is muddy green with dark green stripes on the head and shading along the back, white airbrushing on the legs, black eyes, white teeth, and a beige sail with light green markings. Not as vivid as the bright green and yellow of the original version, but an attractive, realistic colour scheme. The JP logo is on the right side of the tail.
The head is slightly oversized and the legs are a little too stumpy, but overall, this seems like an accurate Dimetrodon. A well-sculpted one too. The body is covered in a network of scales, scutes, and wrinkles and the teeth are of varying size. The spines forming the sail have small bumps on them and the tissue between the spines is wrinkled. The tail is almost entirely covered in scutes, similar to that of crocodilians or a spiny-tailed lizard. Looks a little out of place compared to the rest of the animal.
The Dimetrodon‘s sail is made of soft, safe plastic. Its legs are articulated at the shoulders and hips and its tail rotates at the base—not that there’s any point in doing so. Pushing in on the left hind leg causes the upper jaw to open wide, revealing all the fearsome teeth and a pink tongue. A simple gimmick, but a fun one. Chomp, chomp!
The Dimetrodon is well-crafted, durable, fun to play with, and unlike many other JP toys, has not been rendered obsolete in the face of new discoveries. A good toy indeed. Available on Ebay.com here.
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ÖRÖK DARAB!
Hiszen ennek első festési verziója az első Jurassic Park/World figura.Ő egy legenda!Kötelező minden Kenner/Jó nerdnek és ahogy még lett említve a Jurassic figurák között az egyik legpontosabb.Elég vicces hogy a Kenner első figurája az ikonikus filhez csak harminc évvel később jelent meg a filmvásznon.
Dimetrodon was a mammal, not a reptile, hence, not a dinosaur.
Afraid you’ll have to take that up with whichever former Kenner employee came up with the name for the series. And Dimetrodon was a synapsid, but not a mammal. It wasn’t even a direct ancestor of mammals.
Nice review and photos too! I have this one in the original paint version. It always bugged me that the cranium moved up and down instead of the lower jaw! Otherwise, one of my favourites.