Review
By Roselaar:
Description: this big carnivore is bipedal, equipped with long arms with sharp claws, as well as a big sickle shaped claw on each foot (both of them poseable). This Utahraptor is much bigger than any other Raptor figures (since it's not the same species as the well known Velociraptor from the JP movies): it's a rather bulky figure with a big fat belly (and a glued-over battery cover which reveals this figure once had electronics inside), as well as huge feet. These are rather pointless since the Raptor is not able to stand on them because it lacks proper balance; it can only stand on all fours, not on two legs. It does stand in a fully neutral posture though. Utahraptor is equipped with a 'kick-slash' action: pulling both legs back and pressing the button underneath the base of its tail (the anal region) makes both legs give a powerful kick simultaneously, and also causes the head to move and the jaws to open to a minor extent.
This dinosaur figure has a beige underside (on the lower jaw, throat, belly, underside of the tail, inner parts of the arms and legs and underside of the feet) while it features yellowish brown colouring on its flanks and sides of the tail, as well as on parts of the head. It also has brown colouring on the arms and legs, but darker, mostly because of the hard plastic those body parts are made of instead of the more rubbery material the rest of the body is composed of. Utah has a big black stripe running from the back of the head all the way to the end of the tail with smaller big stripes running out from the main one over the neck, flanks and tail. It has additional black stripes on the arms, and more black colouring on the head and legs. The claws on both hands and feet are also black, including the small ones at the back of the feet, which are usually ignored in the painting process. This figure has bright green eyes with black pupils and tiny yellow stripes in it (though barely noticeable). Its tongue and inside of the mouth are pink, and it has white teeth. Like the other TLW Exclusive dinosaur figures (but unlike all other JP figures), this Utahraptor has no JP logo anywhere on its body.
This dinosaur comes with three pieces of capture gear. There's a big cuff like tag, showing a JP logo on top, which fits well around the creature's neck. It also comes with a leg restraint, which can hold on to both legs simultaneously, but is a bit too long to properly fit between the figure's legs. Lastly, there is a big muzzle which can go around the figure's jaws, effectively disabling them, while also covering the eyes, so the Raptor can't see what's going on around him. All three pieces are coloured in the same metallic grey paint job.
The Dino Tracker stands in a fairly neutral pose, though the way he holds his arms makes him look like a cowboy reaching for his guns in a main street shoot-out. His facial expression is quite grim: he doesn't look healthy anyway, since his skin tone is much bleaker than on most other human figures. He has black hair, eyes and eyebrows. He sports a dark green baseball cap with the classic T-Rex logo on it. He wears a green shirt with pockets on his chest and has beige shoulder patches on with a sort of armour look to them. Additionally, he sports brown pants with similar patches of the same beige colour on his lower legs. He also wears dark green boots and a black belt around his waist.
The Tracker's main accessory is the so called hair trigger capture trap, which is like a bear trap except a few sizes bigger. It consists of a boxy apparatus with two large rectangular “jaws” on each side and a big black pedal between them. When the trap is opened, pressing the pedal causes the jaws to close, trapping anything caught between them. Except for the pedal and a small black antenna at the back (which can be turned inwards), the trap is coloured entirely in a shiny metallic grey colour. Though the trap has a small handle on each side so the Dino Tracker can hold it with his hands, it also comes with a black backpack (for lack of a better term) that can be attached to the back of the trap so the Tracker can carry it on his back. It fits perfectly over this figure's back, but can be carried by various other human figures too. As an extra gadget, this set comes with a large black flash light with a handle on top so figures can hold it, and a flat underside so it can stand stable on the ground.
Analysis: of the three TLW Exclusive sets, this one is the biggest and comes with the nastiest creature, a huge Raptor armed with big lethal claws on hands and feet, ready to slaughter anything that crosses its path, and no doubt inclined to attack bigger predators too. This is not a new figure though, but a repainted JPS2 Utahraptor. It is also retooled, having a harder skin (still softer than the regular hard plastic, but not as soft as the original 'real feel dino skin'), and lacking the electronics its predecessor was equipped with, so no terrifying screech for this Utahraptor. Why exactly they got rid of these electronics is anyone's guess, but it is a damn shame. It still has the other original action features though.
The most obvious one is the leg kick action. The kicking mechanism works well: you can pull both legs back until they set themselves in the right position, then push the button (invisible under its skin). Both legs will plunge forward violently, knocking over anything directly in front of them, including bigger dinosaur figures or small vehicles. However, it's better to raise the arms somewhat, otherwise they get in the way of the action. A great extra detail is that pushing the button also causes the head and jaws to move (though less enthusiastically than on the original figure, probably also a result of the harder skin), so the beastie isn't just giving a kick, it's also taking a bite at the same time. A really cool little detail is the poseability of the big claws on the feet. They can move in at least a 100 degree circle, and can trap unfortunate prey between them. A real shame no other dinosaur figures with large claws have a similar feature.
Despite these nice positive sides, this figure does have some negative ones as well. The most aggravating is the interdependency of the legs, so they can't be posed separately, as well as the fragility of the leg kick system, which gets broken all too easily (in fact, it seems even more fragile than it was before, so that's not much of an improvement). Other points of irritation are the overly big feet and bulky squarish torso, which make this otherwise butch figure seem silly, especially because it is not able to stand on its two legs because the front part of the sculpt is much heavier than the back part (which consists of its tail only). Also, because of the softer material the skin is composed of, this figure's paint job is more susceptible to paint wear.
Like the original JPS2 Utahraptor, this creature comes with a set of capture gear, including the tag that a lot of dinosaur figures come with. It's quite big so less easily lost, and actually has a purpose since it's the only part of this dinosaur showing it's a JP figure, given the lack of a JP logo on the figure itself. The leg piece is certainly of use in this monster's case, but a bit hard to apply because of the small amount of space between the legs. The leg piece actually is too big for this figure's legs. Also, it doesn't stop the Utahraptor from kicking. The head piece does a better job, and subdues the jaws as well as the eyes. There's no restraints for the arms however, so the Raptor can still use those: it may even be able to use its arms to pull off the head piece. This figure could have used a better thought out set of capture gear in this regard.
Like the other TLW exclusives, this set comes with a Dino Tracker and his accessories. This guy sports a simple but effective set of clothes, with some “armour” like highlights on his suit, but limited enough to give him the necessary mobility to scout for dinosaurs while still offering some protection in case things get rough. He seems like a very serious man, given his emotionless face. But then, trapping dinosaurs isn't an occupation you should take for fun, since such a view might cost you your life on a dinosaur infested island. His flash light is just an extra gadget and has no action features of its own.
His dinosaur trap however is an interesting piece of equipment, though it's a bit bulky in size. It works quite well: pushing the pedal closes the jaws with enough force to sufficiently trap anything that comes between them. It looks best when it's used like regular traps sporting this mechanism, lying on the ground (preferably camouflaged, though that's unlikely with a trap this size), waiting for prey to pass along. However, the Tracker can also carry it on his back (in both opened and closed states), making for an excellent defence mechanism in case some sneaky carnivore decides to attack him from behind. But considering the size and weight of this weapon, he is hardly able to stand up straight when carrying it on his back; it certainly hinders his mobility as a Tracker. Also, it just looks plain silly when he's carrying it around (the thing is almost as big as himself), but at least this trap has some options. The trap is capable of trapping almost any dinosaur, though it seems most suited for big figures: after all, smaller figures would be severely injured when they got stuck between this weapon's teeth (even though it's not very sharp material), while hatchlings would just be cut in half altogether. However, the Utahraptor may be a bit oversized for this trap, especially its huge feet which can be caught by the trap, but are so big the impact force is quite diminished. Also, it takes more than just this trap to stop something as lethal as this predator. Some extra weaponry would have been useful here, but this is all the Tracker's got as his disposal.
Playability: pretty good, especially because this set comes with both a dinosaur and a human figure (and their respective accessories), so there's more interaction options in this set alone. The Utahraptor has moveable arms and legs, and even the big claws on its feet can be posed, which is a feature not seen on any other dinosaur figures. The poseability of the legs is hindered by their connection to the leg kick action though, which also makes them incapable of being used separately from one another. The leg kick action works well and will knock over any human figures and most dinosaur figures too, but it's a very close range attack option, and the arms have a tendency to get in the way. The head and mouth motion is a neat little touch which adds some playability to this toy, and the mouth is also big enough to grab and hold human figures (though barely). The capture gear does what it's supposed to do, but adds little to this dinosaur otherwise. The leg kick action is quite fragile and gets broken rather easily, so you shouldn't play too rough with it if you want to keep it intact.
The Dino Tracker has the usual range of poseable body parts (arms, legs and head). The capture trap is a nice addition to this set, it works well and is made mobile because it can be carried on the figure's back, adding playability options. However, it's not the most efficient piece of weaponry to combat the Utahraptor with: something like a big rocket launcher would have been a more likely choice. The flash light has no particular function but is a nice extra tool regardless.
Realism: Utahraptor was newly discovered (in 1991) by the time this figure was originally designed (for the 1993-1994 JPS2 toy line), and as such not that much was known about it (like the almost proven fact that Utahraptor had feathers), so the Kenner designers basically made this into a very big version of the Velociraptor as seen in the JP movie (though Utahraptor did not play a part in the film, the Raptors from the movie are often compared to Utahraptors because they are too big to be Velociraptors, but a bit undersized to be Utahraptors). However, they still got some things wrong, mostly the bulkiness of this figure and the overly short legs and tail, making this figure seem fat and certainly not like the agile superkiller it's supposed to be. The proportions of this figure are just off, also because of the original need for space for the electronics in this figure, making it bulkier than it should be. Even though they took the electronics out for this repaint, they didn't bother redesigning it to make it look better. Of course, the designers did get some basic things right, like the long slender arms and the sickle shaped claws. The head is also not bad, though the jaws could have been a bit longer. The size of this beast in comparison with human figures is pretty close to the real deal.
The Dino Tracker is not meant to resemble any actor from either the JP or TLW movie, but he makes for an excellent Park Ranger or other employee of Jurassic Park. His Capture Trap basically functions like real bear traps (though it's fortunately just a toy version and isn't in any way harmful), but its size makes it an unlikely instrument to carry on one's back.
Repaint: yes, this set consists entirely of repaints or reuses. The Utahraptor is a repaint of the JPS2 Utahraptor, slightly retooled so it isn't electronic any more and has harder skin. It features the same set of capture gear as the JPS2 Utahraptor. The Dino Tracker is a repaint of JPS2 Jaws Jackson, with the same set of accessories that figure sported (capture trap, trap back piece and flash light), minus the Dilophosaurus hatchling. The Utahraptor would not get repainted again, and neither would Jackson (not as a whole at least, though his head sculpt would be repainted for the human figures from the JP: Dinosaurs 'Pachycephalosaurus and Dinosaur Trainer' set and the 'Young T-Rex and Dinosaur Adventurer' set).
Overall rating: 7/10. The Utahraptor is still pretty good though overly bulky, and it's a shame they got rid of the electronics, but it got a better paint job in return. The Dino Tracker is a fine repaint and makes for an excellent Park Ranger figure, with decent accessories. This set is quite rare, being a Target Exclusive, only available in the USA. Both MIB and complete sets fetch high prices, so be sure you really want this repaint instead of settling for the JPS2 Utahraptor (which also isn't the easiest figure to find) and JPS2 Jaws Jackson (pretty common), before spending lots of cash on this set.
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