TRICERATOPS

JURASSIC WORLD (MATTEL)

I am a child of the ‘90s.  That means I was pretty much contractually obligated to go through a period of being super into dinosaurs.  In my case, it was actually a shorter period than for most.  I mean, it’s not that I *don’t* like them, but I haven’t actually bought any proper dinosaur toys since I was like 5.  There’s a new Jurassic World movie coming out, and thus some new toys coming out, courtesy of our friends at Mattel.  Oh goody.  I’m giving them, and dinosaur toys as a whole, another try, though.  Let’s see how this goes.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Triceratops is part of the first assortment of Mattel’s Jurassic World: S.T.E.M Fossil Strikers.  The Fossil Strikers come packaged disassembled, and have to be assembled.  The slightly rubbery plastic can make getting some of the parts popped together a little difficult, but otherwise it’s a rather of painless process.  When fully assembled, the Triceratops is 3 1/2 inches tall and 6 inches long, with 35 points of articulation.  In a similar fashion to the assembly process, the articulation can be a little tricky to get working in some parts.  The joints are tight enough that if you aren’t careful, you can end up popping pieces off instead of moving the joints.  It takes some slight getting used to.  The sculpt is pretty solid, especially for the price point we’re looking at here.  The bones are all textured, and look fairly realistic.  There’s some slight tweaking to a few of them to make room for the articulation, and some of the assembly points are still visible after assembly.  Compared to your average collector-oriented figure, it’s pretty solid work, and it’s especially nice coming from Mattel, whose sculpts can sometimes be a little bit too soft.  The Triceratops has no paint, being just a consistent bone white.  Given the whole “assemble it yourself” concept, this isn’t terribly surprising, and it looks decent enough.  I suppose a wash or something would help to bring out the details some more, but it’s not essential.  The Triceratops includes  his special “DNA Key” which unlocks his “striker” action.  In his case, it swaps out for the neck piece and uses a spring-loaded function to swing his head up or down, depending on how the piece is oriented.  Nothing terribly impressive, and mine won’t be keeping it for display purposes, but they tried to do something more exciting, I guess.  The Triceratops also includes a display stand (made to look like a wood-grain base from a museum or something), and a stanchion with a little card detailing all of his features.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I just sort of stumbled upon this guy at a Target, while out and about with Tim.  That other dinosaur toy I mentioned getting back when I was 5?  A rubber triceratops, picked up from a supermarket trip with my Nana.  Since then, I’ve always had a soft spot for these guys.  This guy was $10, and that was low enough to get me to bite.  This isn’t a revolutionary toy or anything, but it’s still pretty cool, and definitely worth what I paid for it.  If you’re into cool dino toys, this line’s definitely worth checking out.