Gallimimus (Jurassic Park, Hammond Collection by Mattel)

Flocking off toy shelves and into our hearts and homes, it’s the Hammond Collection Galli-Galli-Gallimimus. As part of the Hammond Collection this figure boasts 13 points of articulation and an increased level of paint and fine detail not seen with the Mattel mainline toys. As such, it should be the best Jurassic Park Gallimimus action figure ever produced but let’s take a closer look and see if it achieves the level of prestige that it aims for.

The Hammond Collection Gallimimus stands about 3.5” tall at the hips and measures about 8.5” long when measured along the back and curve of the neck. Gallimimus was a larger animal than most people might assume and is the largest member of the family Ornithomimidae. The holotype specimen measured 20’ in length and stood 6.2’ tall at the hip. This puts the HC Gallimimus at 1/21 in scale when using the hip height and 1/28 when using the figure’s length. This means that it does not properly scale with the 1/18 humans in the line and although we can make excuses for the Triceratops there’s really no justification for the small scale of this one.

The figure is articulated at the jaw, base of the skull, neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles, and tail. Aside from the hips all the articulation uses ball joints that allow 360-degree rotation. The neck has the greatest degree of movement of any Hammond Collection figure so far, due largely to its long length. The tail is made of soft rubber and has a bendable rod inside. I would have liked it if the wrists were articulated but I understand why they’re not and aside from that the articulation on this toy is well executed.

Starting with the head we get a sculpt that matches closely with the Jurassic Park animal, but it is a bit too large in proportion with the rest of the figure. Also, teeth are sculpted within the jaw but the actual Gallimimus, and those in Jurassic Park, were toothless. The Jurassic World versions apparently have teeth but since this toy is marketed as a Jurassic Park toy their presence here represents one of the figure’s greatest flaws. Thankfully they’re easy enough to hide when the mouth is closed.

Not so easy to hide are the predictably oversized feet. They don’t look as large as those on the Velociraptor but they’re large enough to make it difficult to take this toy seriously. They’re there to aid in stability but getting this figure to balance on one foot is virtually impossible. Still, the look and proportions of the legs and feet are better than those on the mainline Gallimimus toys.

The head is nicely detailed with large, wide scales on top, smaller irregularly shaped scales around the face and jaw, and labial scales along the lips. The neck is mostly scaleless but textured with various skin folds. The body, forearms, and thighs are detailed with tiny, pebbly scales, and the limbs are nicely detailed with musculature. The lower portion of the arms, legs, and tail are mostly detailed with wrinkles. The feet have large, bird-like scutes on the toes and pebbly scales along the back and sides. The detail work is top notch overall.

The figure is mostly orange in color. Brown stripes run from the back of the head, down along tail, and stop close to the tail’s tip. The jaw, underside of the neck, and belly are off-white in color, but this coloration does not extend along the underside of the tail, unfortunately. A dull brown mask runs across the figure’s large, yellow eyes. The teeth are white, and the tongue is pink. The toenails are dark glossy gray, but the fingernails are not painted. Since the Hammond Collection line is more collector orientated, I would have liked to have seen the fingernails painted, and a shiny coat over the eyes would have been appreciated too.

The paintjob doesn’t match the Jurassic Park design quite as much as I would like it to. The colors are there but I would have really preferred a pattern like what we get with the Legacy Collection Gallimimus, which is more like its onscreen counterpart.

The Hammond Collection Gallimimus is the best Jurassic Park Gallimimus when it comes to detail and articulation but falls a bit short in replicating the actual creature design that we all know and love. But those flaws that it has are not enough to warrant dismissing it altogether. I just wish, that since this is a collector branded item, that more attention was given towards making it the definitive figure we all want. Like many Hammond Collection figures this Gallimimus is ultimately good enough but not as good as it could have been. The Hammond Collection Gallimimus is currently available and retails for about $14.99.