Today we (or I should say, I) celebrate a small milestone in my personal “career” here on the DTB. For on this day we’re looking at the very last figure in the Dakin line of “Jurassic Park” toys issued in 1992. And although I am not a completest by any means the acquisition of this toy has completed my collection of these vintage oddities. We looked at the Dilophosaurus all the way back in 2011. It’s my favorite of the lot and the most widespread and recognizable it would seem. Skip ahead 3 years to 2014 and I finally got around to writing about the ghoulish-looking Tyrannosaurus and the Triceratops, perhaps the most well-made of the batch. Just this month I decided to see this thing through and finish what I started all those years ago. The uninspired Brachiosaurus and gangly Gallimimus made their DTB debut. Now it’s the Velociraptor that’s up for review. Let’s see how she stacks up against her peers.
Any collection of “Jurassic Park” toys would be incomplete without the ever-popular film antagonist, the Velociraptor. The Dakin line produced a figure for every major player in the movie (they also made plush toys) but for many years I was unaware that they had even made a Velociraptor. That’s probably because what we’re looking at today looks nothing like the animal portrayed in the film. Missing are the elegant sleek body, the alert posture, the long stiff tail, and even the sickle shaped toe claw! I would speculate on why that last one is missing but Hasbro made the same mistake with their toys just last year. What this toy actually resembles is a generic theropod from a B-rate dinosaur movie. Think less “Jurassic Park” and more “Carnosaur.”
Like the rest of the Dakin line this toy is plagued by a dragging tail, shrink-wrapped body, club-shaped feet, and pronated hands. The toy is painted dark purple, so dark that it almost appears black. The Tyrannosaurus was painted purple too and one has to wonder why that is in both cases. Whatever the reason, it only serves to further distance this toy from the Velociraptor we see on screen. The head looks like mummified skin stretched over the skull, the white, sunken in eyes. Ribs are visible on the sides and some musculature is present in the legs and tail but the toy is otherwise devoid of much detail.
And so completes this series of reviews on the Dakin dinosaurs. This toy deviates most from the film in my opinion but it stands in well as a retro theropod, looking like something out of an old William Stout book. It also completes the set and is worth seeking out for that as well. As I, and others have also noted, the similarity to a zombie is quite evident. I don’t know anyone who has made a diorama depicting dinosaur zombies but if one felt so inclined, this and the rest of the Dakin toys would function well. This toy shows up on eBay now and again, typically for less than $20.
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Some of the others are kind of cute, in a weird retro way, but this sucker just looks evil!