#1076 JURASSIC PARK – DENNIS NEDRY, TIM MURPHY and ROBERT MULDOON (1993)

With the current update rate of this blog, it takes ages until one toyline comes again, so this time, I will present several references from Jurassic Park by Kenner. I will focus this time in the three figures that I haven´t commented yet. In entry #819 you can read about Allan Grant and Ellie Sattler.

All these three characters: Dennis Nedry, Tim Murphy and Robert Muldoon are secondary and therefore less recognizable than the previous two, and maybe that is why they were packed with very cool dinosaurs and accessories. As I mentioned in the entry dealing with Alan and Ellie, the figures were produced before the film was actually shot, and the figures do not resemble the actors. On top of that, they didn´t produce in the first place the figure of Ian Malcolm, the character that most people remember from the first film and almost the entire saga.

Dennis Nedry. The computer specialist, and also the traitor who disables the security fences in order to steal some dinosaur eggs, and triggers the whole danger and chaos situation for the other visitors… and himself. The figure is far from the complexion of the actor Wayne Knight, who played the role. The colors of the clothes are also very different from the ones that appear in the movie and the face is generic. Pity, because we are missing those Hawaiian shirts. Since the bad guys tend to sell worse than the other figures, this one was given very nice accessories: a gun with a backpack that could spit water (one of the classic accessories in most action figure series) plus an strange helmet, that may have some importance in the novel (I haven´t read it) or the original script, but that it does not appear in the movie. The dinosaur hatchling in this case is the dilophosaurus, as it is the dinosaur that best fits the character.

Tim Murphy. Is the grandson of Dr. Hammond, and one of the two kids in the movie. Why there is no figure of the granddaughter (Lex) is unclear to me, pity, again, that Kenner didn´t cast it. I guess there was already one woman in the series and it was always risky, as female figures also tend to sell worse than their male counterparts. The figure of Tim does not look like Joseph Mazzello (who was 9 when the film was shot while the figure actually looks like a teenager), and also the clothes are different. The figure came with a brachiosaurus hatchling, a cage to carry it, a red lasso-bazooka (whatever it is called) and the nightvision googles, a very small accessory that is difficult to find.

Robert Muldoon. The main InGen hunter comes in a generic uniform that is far from the more military one used in the film. The face of the figure has no similarity whatsoever with the actor Bob Peck. This figure is actually the most commonly seen together with Allan Grant, maybe because it included a T-Rex hatchling and many accessories: a red bazooka, two red missiles (different from each other) and a backpack to carry these. The weapon could really shoot. Altogether, the figure is great.

The figures are nice, even considering that they do not resemble the movie characters, but in this collection, what every child wanted to have was the dinosaurs! I guess the best business was made with the dinosaurs, and as a result, the figures today are not so easy to find, if you are looking for complete samples in good condition. The dinosaurs included no accessories (some included a piece of detachable flesh) and are easier and cheaper to find. Next time I will show some dinosaurs.

To finish the article, a “family” portrait of all human figures in the series 1 of this great Kenner toyline.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DENNIS NEDRY, TIM MURPHY and ROBERT MULDOON
• Toy Line: Jurassic Park
• Year: 1993
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 10 cm long

#845 TOYS FROM THE PAST - MUSEUM (VIII)

See more of these entries here: http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/search/label/TFTP

See you next month!

Important notice: The items on display are NOT for sale.

 

#819 JURASSIC PARK - ALAN GRANT and ELLIE SATTLER (1993)

I have presented a few dinosaurs from this toyline based on the original Jurassic Park movie, but no figures so far. This is so, because the figures came with several accesories which are difficult to find, so completing figures costed me quite a long time.

Although they were great toys, I guess they didn´t sell very well. It was already a time were actions figures were decaying in popularity against videogames, and also being the movie a PG-13, I guess not many children bought the figures as Kenner may initially have expected.

The figures are copyrighted in 1992, and the movie was premiered in 1993, that is why the characters do not resemble the actors that played the roles. Also among the dinosaurs there are some which do not appear in the movie, so probably the toyline was made from the existing scripts before the movie was actually shot.

The two main characters with which the movie starts are Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant (Laura Dern and Sam Neill), two paleontologists specialized in dinosaurs. The third main character is Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum), that did not appear as a figure in this very first Kenner release (Fail! - this character is actually the most remarkable in the first movie). The rest of characters can be considered as supporting roles. This would be correcte shortly afterwards in a second wave of figures which included repaints of all 5 figures plus 6 new ones.

In total there were 5 figures made, being the other three the bad-guy Denis Nedry, then the kid Tim Murphy and the Dinosaur Hunter Robert Muldoon, whose story is also quite secondary (many scenes were removed from the final cut?).

Most figures came with some action feature, not in the figure itself, but in the accessories. In this case, Ellie came with a firing missile launcher (well, not a missile, but a hook) and Alan came with a backpack that releases one flying sauria trap.

I took the figures out for the following diorama pictures. Hope you like them.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: ALAN GRANT and ELLIE SATTLER
• Toy Line: Jurassic Park
• Year: 1993
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 10 cm long
   

#675 JURASSIC PARK – VELOCIRAPTOR (JP03) (1993)

The velocirraptor was probably the "star" of the first Jurassic Park movie, the most remarkable dinosaur, and the one with the most impressive scenes, like the ending scene at the visitor's center.

The toy is very nicely casted and it even has an action feature. When pressing the legs to each other, the dinosaur opens the mouth and extends the head forward. This is called, according to Kenner “Dino-Strike Slashing Jaws”.

There were two versions of this dinosaur released by Kenner, a "sonic" one and the "ordinary" version. This dinosaur here is the ordinary version. I do not have the sonic version yet. Note that the tail tip is a bit fragile, sometimes it is broken or chewed.

The same dinosaur was also released in the "The Lost World" series only with a different eye colour (green instead of yellow) and some accesories (a dino-trap).

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: VELOCIRAPTOR (JP03)
• Toy Line: Jurassic Park
• Year: 1993
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 15 cm long

#611 JURASSIC PARK - COLEPHYSIS (JP04) (1993)

These small dinosaurs were sold together in a single blister pack, since they are much smaller than the other, so putting two togehter, Kenner could sell them for the same price than the others. It also makes sense to sell two together, since such a small dinosaur lived in groups and hunted other bigger dinosaurs attacking in groups.

The dinosaur does not appear in the movie, maybe in the book by Michael Crichton, which I haven´t read. In The Lost World, a group of Compsognathus kill one of the characters, but these were much smaller than the Coleophysis, and in the movie, the scene is more dramatic with the smaller "Compys".

The feature of this two creatures is that they are articulated and have a wire to articulate neck and tail. With this feature, the dinosaurs are really poseable, and really fun to play with. ("Sprinters - w/ Constrictor Bodies!")

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: COLEOPHYSIS (JP04)
• Toy Line: Jurassic Park (Wave 1)
• Year: 1993
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 11 cm long

#576 JURASSIC PARK - DILOPHOSAURUS (JP02) (1993)

 

After a long pause without showing anything from this toyline, I return with one of the two Dilophosaurus released in the first wave of the Jurassic Park toyline. The other one is the "Electronic" Dilophosaurus shown in entry #285.

This one is a much simpler toy. The dinosaur, if you can remember the movie, could spit venom. In the movie attacks and kills Dennis Nedry, and to add some visual effects, the dinosaur had a skin around the neck that could extend when atacking. This skin is an invention for the movie, because the real dinosaur did not have that.

To this extent, the "normal" dilophosaurus is more realistic than the "electronic" dilophosaurus. Morphologically is very accurate and the plastic used is also a softer one.

The dinosaur can spit water by pushing its belly, which is a very nice feature ("with Dino-Strike Venom Spray!"). It was also present in the figure of Dennis Nedry, which had some water-launching weapon.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DILOPHOSAURUS (JP2)
• Toy Line: Jurassic Park (Wave 1)
• Year: 1993
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 13 cm long

#285 JURASSIC PARK – ELECTRONIC DILOPHOSAURUS (JP11) (1993)

I talked about this toyline before: about how did the film and its merchandise come to Spain and about my memories of those years. Find the previous article here: 

As said there, the first wave of Jurassic Park toys comprised several figures, dinosaurs, vehicles, and even the “Command Compound” playset. There were several categories of dinosaurs, each of them with some action feature.

There were 5 dinosaurs species made for this toy line in the "normal" size/price category: Dimetrodon, Dilophosaurus, Velociraptor, Coleophysis (2 units in one pack) and Pteranodon.  These were numbered JP01 to JP05 respectively.

Catalogue image of these two dinosaurs among some others. Taken from jptoys.com

There were also 4 "bigger" dinosaurs: the Young T-Rex,  the Stegosaurus, the Triceratops, and the great Tyrannosaurus-Rex, all with “realistic” plastic skin. These were numbered JP06 to JP09, respectively.

And finally, there were two small dinosaurs (Velociraptor JP10 and Dilophosaurus JP11) that were released in an alternate, battery operated version. These two came with some action feature, but also with a “Dino-Scream” or (what it is the same) an “Electronic Attack Sound”.

Mark in right leg JP11

Dinosaur plus removable frill

In my opinion the electronic dilophosaurus is much better than the normal version because it includes the colourful frill that the dinosaur opens before attacking. The normal version, however, could spit water. This frill is, apparently, fictional, and was invented for the film only. It’s good that the frill can be removed, in case you prefer to have a realistic version of the dinosaur.

 How do you like it most?

 

To activate the Dino-Scream, we have to pull one leg down. Together with the scream, the dinosaur opens its jaws. This feature is called "Striking Jaw" on the card.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: ELECTRONIC DILOPHOSAURUS (JP11)
• Toy Line: Jurassic Park (Wave 1)
• Year: 1993
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 13 cm