Review – Jurassic World Chomping T-Rex

I’m a Jurassic Park fan and general dinosaur enthusiast. I make that no secret. I have a collection of Jurassic Park toys that is likely physically larger than any of my other toy collections. Every time I hear that new toys are coming out in the line, I get excited. Unfortunately, so many toys that I want come out so often and I have less money to spend on them, especially since I’ve shifted my “toy” purchasing to that of the electronic and tool kind, so that I can justify them as being “useful”. This means I have to be selective about what toys I buy. And after looking at the mostly uninteresting Jurassic World toy line, I chose the Chomping T-Rex figure.

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I won’t say I’m really that disappointed with it. I’m just underwhelmed. For a $15 kids toy it’s great. But I’ve seen Hasbro do so much more at that price range as well. And I’m not sure it’s worth the regular $20 price and definitely not the $30-$40 it can be found for on eBay already. I’ve never found the Jurassic Park toys to be great toys, but they were far and away the best dinosaur toys out there. And that’s what I’m really disappointed in: the state of dinosaur toys now and always. They never get better, even though it’s been proven that every single kid loves dinosaurs. As far as “toys” (The Papo models are awesome, but they have almost no movement, so I wouldn’t call them toys) go, Jurassic Park (World) is still the best. Now, getting back to this toy. I like it. The articulation is limited (another thing I wish dino toys would improve on: a little less scaly skin, a little more joints in the knees.) The limbs rotate at the elbows and hips. There is a button on the top and pressing it opens the mouth. The action is solid and looks good, but is unsatisfying.

Chomping

The detailing is good, the scales look nice and it’s fairly dino-looking, if not scientifically accurate. The paint is lackluster, and it is sparsely applied. And many of the sculpted details (the finger claws are the most noticeable) are not painted at all. It could have been done much better, but it’s adequate. I’d say the play value is fairly limited as it only really stands one way, so the movement in the limbs isn’t very useful, and the jaw action prevents the jaw from being held open for roaring, but it does aid in holding figures in its mouth. The entire thing is pretty solid, though the spring is the weakest link, so it’s good for rampaging.

Overall, pretty much everything could be improved, even for $15. The detail, paint, and articulation are above the bar, but the bar is really low. The jaw mechanism is uninspired, but it works, as does the overall design. As a kids toy it’s fine; as a collector’s model to display there are better looking ones, but this one is branded, and a bit cheaper in some places. I don’t really have much reason to recommend it, but no reason to hate it either; I’m meh on the review side. (But on the personal side I’m very happy with it, and I’m not entirely sure why.)