This past winter, after a prolonged period of getting skunked on Jurassic toys at Walmart, I decided to bring home the Strike Attack Dimorphodon. It was definitely an impulse buy, which I try to avoid, but those are becoming more common when I don’t want to come home empty handed from the toy aisle for the 100th time. The distribution, and selection, of Mattel Jurassic World toys has been pitiful this year and I’ve lamented that fact in recent reviews of other Mattel toys. Anyway, this Dimorphodon looked like a marked improvement over past iterations. It’s not an ugly gargoyle like the one we see in the Jurassic World films, it has a healthy covering of pycnofibers and a gorgeous, flamboyant paintjob. On top of that, it has a uropatagium, the skin that connects the hindlimbs to the tail, and that’s a rarity among Mattel pterosaurs which usually leave the legs free for articulation. Despite all this, something still looks off about this pterosaur, so we’ll have to take a closer look.
First, we’ll look at the action features and size of the toy. The only articulation here is with the jaw, which can open and close, and the action feature is making the toy flap via a button on the back. Simple and straightforward, I like that. Lightly pushing the button generates short, fast wingbeats, like a butterfly. Pushing the button harder generates a single, strong, deep wingbeat.
The toy measures 8” (20.32 cm) long and has a 9.75” (25 cm) wingspan. The actual Dimorphodon measured 3.3’ (1 meter) long and had a wingspan of 4.6’ (1.45 meters). That puts the toy at 1/5 in scale if we use length and 1/6 if we use wingspan. Although greatly out of scale with the generally 1/18 Jurassic World toys it’s neat that the wingspan is close in proportion to the body length.
In terms of accuracy the toy is mostly decent and displays the deep, bulky skull (but inaccurate teeth), short neck, and long tail with a speculative but likely tail vane. There are three clawed digits on the hands and the elongated fourth finger supports the wing membrane. The four toed feet appear decently accurate and have nicely detailed joints and padding. The pteroid bone that supports the propatagium that runs from the wrists to the shoulders is missing though. As previously mentioned, the figure is liberally covered in pycnofibers, and the skin membranes have a fibrous texture sculpted onto them.
The problem with this toy, and why it looks so off, is with the proportions. The head is entirely too small, and the body is too large, deep, and broad. These issues are even more apparent when you directly compare the toy to a Dimorphodon skeleton. It really puts a damper on an otherwise nicely made toy and sadly, the large splayed body reminds me of the terrible Hasbro Dimorphodon I reviewed years ago. That said, the body size should be forgiven, since it has to hold all the action feature mechanisms within it.
This Dimorphodon is deep blue in color with a shiny, bright red muzzle that streaks back over the face, a bluish purple lower jaw, and bright yellow eyes with black pupils. The wings are intricately patterned with emerald green, pastel orange, and bluish purple striping. The tail vane and underside of the wings are not painted. The teeth are creamy white and the tongue is pink.
The bold colors and patterns contrasted against the dark body are rather striking but also appear a bit overdone. They look like they would work better on an insect than a pterosaur. Fitting, when you consider the butterfly-like flapping action. The colors also have an artificial, stamped on decal look, which is what they are, but still.
The Strike Attack Dimorphodon is a bold and refreshing change from the typically ugly, tattered, scaly pterosaurs that Mattel usually gives us, but it also has enough shortcomings that I find it hard to recommend to anyone but kids who want a cool pterosaur or collectors that specialize in pterosaurs. As far as Mattel Dimorphodon toys go, I still prefer the smaller, more versatile Attack Pack figure and its various repaints. Had the Walmart shelves been better stocked on the fateful day I bought this toy I wouldn’t have come home with it. But then it wouldn’t be on the blog, and I’ve spent $12 on worse. Although it was common over the winter months this toy does seem to be becoming more scarce so get it while you can.
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