The various Jurassic Park lines have given us many Velociraptor toys over the years (and more still to come). One of the more interesting ones is the battle-hardened “Cyclops.”
Cyclops first appeared in the 1997 Lost World line, but like many of the smaller JP toys, it was re-released in subsequent years. This version is from the 2004 Dinosaurs line. Its main colours are bright green and white with dark green and black stripes, black claws, white teeth, pink mouth interior, and red eyes. There are also black accents around the eyes and mouth and bloody claw marks on the body, which I’ll touch on more later.
Cyclops measures about 24 cm long. It’s sculpted in a crouching pose with its head raised, as if it were about to pounce on some unsuspecting prey. Like all JP Velociraptors, its skull is too wide, its hind limbs are too thick, and it completely lacks feathers. On the positive side, it lacks a flaw common to all the other raptors: pronated wrists. Yes, Cyclops’ hands are actually positioned properly. Whether this was just happenstance or deliberate on the part of the sculptor is anyone’s guess, but it makes me happy.
Cyclops’ shoulders and hips rotate and its head turns from side to side when you manipulate its tail. Its body has a wrinkled texture for the most part, but there are some scales around its mouth. The interior of the mouth looks crude and unfinished, sadly. What really makes this toy stand out are the many injuries. Cyclops’ tail has clearly been broken. Its left eye has been slashed, hence its name. Larger, deeper slashes are to be found on its back, both thighs, and near the base of its tail. The blood red colour of these wounds indicates that they are recent. Unfortunately, the one on the left thigh is ruined by the white JP logo that’s been painted right on top of it. And curiously, the tail wound consists of four slash marks. Is there a Smilodon or an Arctodus lurking somewhere on Isla Sorna? Or perhaps a giant Ceratosaurus?
Cyclops is one of my favourite JP toys. It’s woefully outdated, yes, but it has a real personality to it. And unlike the ugly flank wounds on the JP3 and upcoming JW toys, Cyclops’ injuries actually make it look cool and tough. Any raptor that can take that amount of punishment and still be walking is definitely not one to cross! Available from Ebay.com here.
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Change the ‘sickle-claw’ and give it an extra finger and it could be a pretty good Herrerasaurus toy.
I actually like the original version of the toy a lot better, it had a nicer color scheme and the damage was made to look like old healed scars instead of fresh wounds. Made this guy look like an old battle-scarred warrior, and it was probably my favorite of all the JP raptor toys.
The original never showed up in Canada to the best of my knowledge. I would have snagged it if it had. Indeed, this version never showed up in Canada either. I think I came across it at a KB Toys during a trip to the States.
Its a shame KB went out of buisness, they had great sales on toys. I do wonder why the origianl Cyclops version is the only one, to my knowledge, that has one painted blind eye?
Hi.
Good review. I think is not necesary to complain about lack of feathers in a JP old toy.
I have 2 original Cyclops, and they are not gore painted, but there’s one paint point that makes the diference to me. The damaged eye is actually painted in white dead, showing clearly it is not functional anymore. The paint in this new version seems that the eye is damaged but still functional.
[img]http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110117192528/jurassicpark/images/4/44/Cyclops.jpg[/img]