Jurassic Park Dinosaurs: Velociraptor

Year of release: 1999

Accessories:

-Three pieces of capture gear

Description: this small Raptor figure, measuring about 15 centimetres in length, stands in a neutral posture, except for the claws on its arms; the left one is reared upwards, while the right hangs down somewhat. It stands perfectly on its two legs and usually doesn’t slouch forward or fall down, since the long tail provides ample balance for the rest of the body. This Raptor sculpt is equipped with ‘slashing jaws’: pressing the legs together makes the head move forward and the mouth open, and when released they violently snap back. So doing, the creature makes a vicious biting move at its victims.

This Velociraptor sports a mostly lime green paint job; its entire body is painted in this colour, while a series of black stripes and dots runs from the neck to the end of the tail in a largely symmetrical fashion. The bigger dots carry yellowish green dots and stripes within them. Additional black stripes and shapes run over the legs and feet. On the head more light green stripes are found, one running from the one side of the face over the eyes to the other side of the face, and a second one around the lower jaw. On either side of the flanks a single light green and black spot are located. This Raptor has orange cat like eyes, white teeth, a pink tongue and dark green claws on its feet (the claws on the hands are not painted). On its right upper leg, a black JP logo is found.

The Raptor comes with three parts of capture gear, a small cuff like JP tag, a muzzle, and limb restraints (which can be attached to both arms and legs). All three parts are painted in a shiny, metallic, light brown paint job. When the capture gear is applied to the figure, it’s nearly totally subdued, being unable to walk, use its jaws or claws and of course, kill. The small tag is just an extra gadget with no real function except to annoy completist collectors who keep losing them.

Analysis: reviving a classic sculpt for the second wave of the first JP: Dinosaurs line, this Raptor suffers from a case of poorly inspired repainting. Green just isn't a Raptor like colour as this figure proves. It just looks too much like a vegetable salad, which is not the feeling you want for a scary predator. Apart from that, the paint job feels unfinished: more detail was definitely needed, especially on the figure's underside and arms, both of which now look rather dull.

Apart from the silly paint job, there is nothing wrong with this much loved sculpt. The biting action is still effective and spiffy, while the capture gear does what it's supposed to do and restrains the creature's most dangerous body parts. This capture gear has the same colouration as the one from the Chaos Effect Raptor Alpha figure, but the 'limbs' part is not identical to the piece used for both that figure and the JPS2 Velociraptor. It's slightly longer and the arms section is wider. This may cause some confusion and annoyance to the die-hard collectors who actively seek out the right capture gear for their loose figures.

Repaint: yes. This is a repaint of the original JPS1/S2 Velociraptor, which was first repainted for TLWS1 and again for JP: Chaos Effect. It comes with repainted capture gear which originally came with the JPS2 Velociraptor, and looks very similar in colour and shape to the gear from the Chaos Effect Raptor Alpha, though closer inspection reveals very minor differences in regard to the latter.

Overall rating: 6/10. Though still a good, classic sculpt, the paint job this figure sports is just not very appealing and feels wrong for a Raptor. It's undoubtedly the least impressive (released) incarnation of this often repainted sculpt. It is the rarest though, being part of the not very common second wave of the first JP: Dinosaurs line, and as such usually not an easy find, especially complete or MOC. If you want one, you'll probably end up spending more cash on it than it's worth.