Review
By Roselaar:
Description: this Spinosaurus features an overall reddish brown paint job with black stripes and shapes all over its body (most notably on the legs), while its underside (belly, base of the tail and throat) is painted beige. On the legs, especially around the feet, a darker shade of brown is mixed in, giving those parts of the animal a muddy feel. Most of the upper jaw and facial area, as well as the neck, tip of the tail and sail are coloured black. On the head, around the eyes and mouth, as well as on the sail, blue lines are found in a symmetrical pattern. The creature has small yellow eyes, white teeth and the inside of the mouth is painted pink. Its claws on both hands and feet are black, while a white JP III logo can be found on its left upper leg. A dino damage wound is located on the left flank, showing white bones and red muscle tissue. A small button is found in this wound: when pressed, the figure emits a high pitched shrieking snarl. Another button is located in the throat: pushing this button makes the mouth of the creature open and produces a vicious attack roar.
The Spinosaurus stands in a bent pose, as if stalking prey, or waiting to jump on its victim. The tail, which is rather short, is bent to the left, as is the head. The animal has large arms with very nasty big claws. The snout is quite elongated and resembles a crocodile's head. The figure is very thin and has little body mass. It's also out of proportion: the head and especially the arms are too big compared to the body.
Analysis: another medium sized electronic dinosaur figure that benefited from Hasbro's creative juices and wild paint schemes in the CamoXtreme line is the Spinosaurus, which, like the Rex and Raptor figures of the line, makes for a vast improvement over its predecessor, which featured a rather bland paint job by comparison. Though the original disappointing features of the sculpt remain (i.e. the dino damage wound, its awkward tiny body and silly short tail compared to its huge arms, and its impractical button to activate the attack roar), at least the figure looks great this time around.
It has a much more 'natural' paint scheme; the muddy feeling the legs give and the successful interplay between brown and black makes for 'butch' predator. Details like claws have not been omitted. The blue lines, which do add some colour and diversity within this paint scheme, do seem out of place on a jungle figure where blue isn't that common a colour: green would have seem more logical, but it's a nice touch regardless. The one thing that feels awfully out of place is the white JP III logo, but considering the more usual black version would have been hard to spot this is an understandable though unfortunate addition to the overall fantastic paint job. Incidentally, this figure could also have worked as a Lava Spinosaurus: the black and reddish brown paint job does also have a bit of a 'lava flow' feeling to them.
Repaint: yes. This figure was originally featured in the JP III toy line. Surprisingly, it would not be repainted again, despite Spinosaurus' rising popularity.
Overall rating: Overall rating: 7/10. This figure proves that a great paint job can make an otherwise lousy figure much more appealing. Despite its many shortcomings, this Spinosaurus got a nice makeover making it more impressive than its rather dull coloured predecessor. The CamoXtreme Jungle Spinosaurus is not always an easy find. You can still find them at times on Ebay for various prices. This figure was also imported in the Benelux in decent quantities, making it easier to find there.
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