Tyrannosaurus (Jurassic World Snap Squad by Mattel)

Forget the Amber Collection Velociraptor, Destroy ‘N Devour Indominus, or Legacy Collection Brachiosaurus. THIS is the Jurassic World toy to get. Joking aside this Snap Squad Tyrannosaurus really is the most fun I’ve had with a Jurassic World toy so far. As an adult collector, no, I won’t be putting this on my shelf but it has become quite the addictive little play thing to fiddle with. Although announced some time ago it seems as though the Mattel Snap Squad toys are somewhat difficult to find in stores and until last week I had yet to see one in person. Once I saw them it didn’t take long before I fell in love, my wife fell in love, and my daughter fell in love. There were three available and when pressed my daughter picked out the T. rex to take home. Upon arriving home I regretted not just buying them all.

So what is it about this thing that melted this grown man’s heart? It’s a unique combination of features that Mattel must have decided upon by applying some sort of brain reading technology to lab monkeys. It’s cute, that much is plain to see. These are easily the cutest of dinosaur toys. But there’s also appeal in the compact size, the way the mouth comfortably clamps onto your finger, and how all the limbs waggle about when you dangle it in the air.

The main selling point behind these toys is their strong, jaw clamping action. Working somewhat like a mouse trap you open the mouth and if you let go it will snap down hard. It won’t crush your finger or anything but the bite is strong enough that you’ll feel it, dangle it from something like your ear and it can even hurt a little too. But on your finger it exerts just enough pressure to be somewhat pleasant. This feature also allows it to clamp down on a lot of various objects. My daughter likes dangling it on the lamp’s pull chain but the curious little bugger is also fond of clamping down on other dinosaurs or Barbie doll limbs.

Although the limbs and tail are all loose and delightfully wiggle about in the air, the toy can still return to a neutral posture where is just stands there, making it the perfect desktop companion.

This T. rex is green with purple stripes along the back, I guess it’s the bull T. rex from The Lost World. A brown T. rex also exists as do the other franchise theropods and the Mosasaurus. Hasbro made similar toys when they had the franchise rights but those by Mattel are unsurprisingly better.

The toy is sturdily built; mine has suffered a few falls off the pull chain already and is holding up well. And although it appears cartoony the detail work is still nicely done with various bumps and knobs on the head. The inside of the pink mouth has a wet looking, glossy finish. The tongue is smooth and ridges are sculpted on the palate. The yellow eyes are also painted in a wet, lifelike finish.

Considering that this toy only cost me $3-4 this is, for its worth, the most fun I’ve had with a Jurassic World toy. Although perhaps not up to the collectable standards of most of our readership I think most of us can find some sort of appeal in these fun little toys. They’re great tagalong companions to keep in your car, purse, or desk but avoid the expensive online prices I’ve been seeing for these. They’re not worth $20-40 despite what online retailers are asking.

EDIT: Since writing this review I’ve acquired the brown color variant of this Tyrannosaurus. I’m including pictures of it in this review.