Chasmosaurus is surely one of the strangest additions to the Jurassic Park toyline. Although it was at least a dinosaur (unlike Dimetrodon, Estemmenosuchus etc.) it was never mentioned in the books or movies, and isn’t the sort of dinosaur that your ordinary MOTGP (Member Of The General Public…nothing to do with the Moto GP, hail Rossi) could recall from memory. Regardless, it’s a striking dinosaur and easily beat the 1990s allosaur-face Spinosaurus that was in the same price bracket at the time.
What your non-dinosaur nerd MOTGP might notice first is this animal’s very impressive head, quite faithfully recreated in this action figure. While it’s one of the more plasticky, toy-like Jurassic Park sculpts – resembling the Chap Mei monsters of latter years – it at least nicely recreates the real animal’s long, rectangular neck frill with various decorations and three horns. Pulling the toy’s rear left leg causes the head to raise up, similar to the original JP Triceratops, and a bellowing sound to be emitted. It’s quite a decent noise – much better than some of the other Jurassic Park toys. It really does sound like the animal’s not too happy about having its leg yanked, thanks.
Adding to the playability of this figure, all of the legs are articulated, meaning that it can be posed in a number of different ways, and kids can manipulate the limbs while pretending that the animal’s charging at a foe. Or something. Sadly, unlike many of the larger JP dinosaurs this Chasmosaurus, in addition to being somewhat undersized, is rather lacking in detail. Although the crocodilian scales along the back are a nice touch, it’s mostly a wrinkly beast. The colour scheme too is a little bland, but at least all the claws have been painted (unlike the original Triceratops).
Still, in spite of looking a little too much like a….toy (how very dare they?), this figure does display quite nicely – quite apart from which, Chasmosaurus figures are few and far between (making it particularly surprising that Kenner would plump for one). While it won’t satisfy people looking for a more realistic approach, the slightly cartoonish styling will be endearing to fans of dinosaur figures more broadly, as it’s certainly quite unusual. As a dinosaur action figure it’s fantastic, but as a model dinosaur a little less good.
If you fancy getting your sweaty meat-grabbers on one of these then, I’m afraid, you will have to head to eBay. Although it’s been out of production for quite a long time, it does pop up quite often (normally under “OMG RARE CHASMASAURAS JP FIGURE!!!!!!1!!”) and in a decent condition. If you’re willing to accept slightly exaggerated renditions of dinosaurs not frequently seen in toy form, then go for it – if not, then leave it be. It’s your money, you hopeless fruitcake.
Available on eBay here
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I had this figure. Loved it, too. I actually had a large number of JP toys, but I’ve only held onto one of them: the Carnotaurus (because that’s my favorite dinosaur). I should review it sometime. Like so many of the early JP toys, it has “battle damage” on its belly. I do wish I still had my red T.rex, though!
I’ll grant you that I only judge by the standards of the original Kenner lines…the JP3 stuff was, not to put too fine a point on it, dump. However, put this next to the original Triceratops and you’ll see that the Trike is in a different league entirely.
I think by JP standards this is actually one of the more realistic dinosaurs.
That’s me…sob…
at least you’re not a soulless shortcake…
hopeless fruitcake? ;D
Awww thanks. I think we have a really good mix of reviewers on here though – everyone from Actual Scientists to dismal sauropod foot fetishists like myself. It means that each review has a different ‘feel’, which hopefully keeps people reading.
You’re a really good reviewer. Not only was this review informative and clear, but it was humorous and fun to read. I’ve been following this blog for about two weeks now, and this review is by far my favorite.