Since I’m still catching up on all of the things we saw, and trying to remember exactly what we didn’t see at the Convention, I wanted to take a second and throw some praise and hopes at Mattel!
Because Mattel might have made a run for “Most Improved Showing,” with this year’s offerings looking much more promising than the “we’re not dead!” display from last year. Even the DC stuff, like the Aquaman movie toys, looked pretty fun! People who have kept the faith on Multiverse even got a little boost. For me, that time has passed, and I doubt there’s a DC figure that would bring me back to the line, but at least they snapped out of it and are actively trying to get back in the game.
But it’s the Jurassic World toys that have continued to earn Mattel praise from this here jaded sum’bitch. The Indoraptor and Collossal T-Rex are easily some of the best dino toys I ever owned, and even hold their own against the magnificent Beasts of the Mesozoic raptors. Their 1/18 offerings have been pretty damn great too, with a mix of original movie characters and decos, great dino asssortments, and some visually impressive vehicles as well. We all figured there would be more to see, and indeed there was!
But off to the side of that crazy dino display were some teasers for some 1/12 figures, that filled in over the weekend. Those were Owen, “Blue,” and Ian Malcolm!
In a world where the 3d scans of Starlord didn’t exist, this Owen figure would easily be the best Chris Pratt likeness why of 1/6. Even in this world, it stands as a pretty solid attempt. The body proportions feel a little funny to me, but the sculpt is solid and the articulation looks great. Where was this kind of figure 3-4 years ago???
My personal favorite is the Raptor, of course. The scale is perfect, the paints look pretty good for what I’m guessing will be under $30 (unless these are a two-pack), and as anyone who picked up Indoraptor knows, the balance between playability and articulation on these is great. They look good, move good, and play great.
And then there’s Ian. Ironically, in a world where we didn’t get a 3d scan of Jeff Goldblum, this is…a decent likeness. The hair and the glasses do the heavy lifting. But it IS decent, and the unique body sculpt (and similar articulation) make this one pretty damn hard to pass up.
These three figures, added to that T-Rex (and Indoraptor, even if the movie scale is a bit different) make a pretty damn cool Jurassic collection, maybe short on variety but with plenty of substance. But if Mattel is serious about wanting some of that sweet collector money, this is a great line for them to expand.
Getting a Grant and Ellie would be huge. The Velociraptor can easily take on a first-movie deco, along with the JW pen-mates. Plenty of dinos big and small could be epic for this line- I’d love a big Triceratops to square off with that Rex- and if Owen and Blue are a pack, there’s other great duos that could be done that way- Tim with a Galimimus, Nedry with a Dilophosaurus, and so on. And dare we touch on my other favorite…how badass would a JP Jeep Wrangler or Ford Explorer be?I would need several. And then we could branch off into wacky repainted like the old Chaos Theory Kenner line, and get the old Tyco Dino Riders license back and–
….no, you’re right. Baby steps. Baby dinosaur steps. But as those go, I think Mattel is making some very good ones.