After I reviewed the unique Hammond Assortment Velociraptor, I used to be fairly forgiving of it, however fact be instructed, it has not aged properly in my eyes. Whereas I don’t remorse buying it, I finally disliked it sufficient to not trouble with the next Hammond Assortment JP3 raptors that featured all of the faults of their predecessor. I’m now of the opinion that the unique Hammond Assortment Velociraptor ranks among the many very worst of the Hammond Assortment.
So, I assumed I used to be achieved with Hammond Assortment raptors, however then Mattel went and rebuilt them, making them higher, stronger, quicker (do the younger individuals get that reference?). The poster-dino for the Jurassic World franchise was subsequent in line after the JP3 pair. Blue the Velociraptor, who will need to have at the very least a pair dozen toys to her title. Mattel made some much-needed enhancements with this one, ditching the snowshoes for extra proportional toes, bulking out the arms, legs, and torso, and refining smaller particulars just like the enamel. Regardless of what number of toys there are of Blue I didn’t have one, so I made a decision to get this one and reward Mattel for bettering upon their raptor designs.
Blue measures about 9” (22 cm) lengthy and stands about 3” (7.62 cm) tall on the hips. Blue measures about 12.8’ (3.9 meters) lengthy within the movies which places the determine at 1/18 in scale, as is meant.
Blue boasts 14 factors of articulation. Her head has an articulated jaw and is articulated at its base in addition to on the base of the neck. The arms are articulated on the shoulders and elbows like previous HC figures. They’ve ball joints that enable them to swivel and rotate each which manner. The legs are articulated with ball joints on the knees and base of the toes. The legs can rotate round and pivot out on the hips. The tail can rotate at its base and is fabricated from rubber with a bendable wire working by means of most of its size. The vary of movement right here is superb, as my images will hopefully illustrate. It could have been good if wrist articulation was included however its absence isn’t a giant deal. On my copy the jaw opens so large that it pops ahead a bit, creating an underbite when closed. It’s straightforward sufficient to push it again in nevertheless it did scare me at first. Except for that the jaw closes good and flush although.
Particulars on the pinnacle embrace properly outlined forehead ridges and smaller enamel than previous raptors. The tooth rows are nonetheless singular items of uniform size with out a lot particular person definition although. The lately launched HC Delta has higher enamel than this one, with each individually sculpted, additional bettering on the HC raptor design. The eyes, which had been painted on in previous raptors, are actually glass inserts. As has been talked about in different HC toy critiques they give the impression of being darkish and useless in low mild situations and are usually not what I might contemplate an enchancment.
On the physique you get properly outlined musculature and high quality scale element. The physique is bulkier than the unique HC raptor, which was far too skinny. Muscle definition is most appreciated within the arms, thighs, and calves. Pores and skin folds run down the again of the neck and each above and under the tail. The toes symbolize the largest enchancment general and the determine is decently steady regardless of their smaller measurement. The determine shouldn’t be as steady as previous releases, however I contemplate it a welcome tradeoff. You possibly can nonetheless get her to face in a wide range of poses and on one foot, it simply takes nice precision.
Blue is painted darkish grey with a lighter grey underside. Her blue racing stripes have skinny white edges which I want the Dilophosaurus additionally had. The stripes run by means of the thigh nonetheless, when in previous Blue toys they’ve gone over it. Which means that while you rotate the legs it breaks the stripe, which appears to be like ridiculous. That is my solely actual detrimental criticism in regards to the toy, it represents an actual blunder on Mattel’s half. Skinny grey stripes could be seen on the torso, thighs, and higher arms. Save for the tiny dewclaws the remainder of the claws are painted shiny black. The enamel are white, and the within of the mouth is pink. On my copy a little bit of blue paint truly ended up on the enamel! A minor high quality management problem.
The Hammond Assortment Blue is a wonderful determine and the one actual points I’ve with it are the vacant glass eyes and poorly positioned racing stripes. I might say that it’s most likely one of the best you could possibly hope for from Mattel however the simply launched Delta is even higher nonetheless! Though I’m blissful to see Mattel enhance in high quality, I want they’d have higher brainstormed these figures earlier of their manufacturing for the sake of consistency. As is, these vastly totally different figures don’t show properly collectively, and it makes me yearn for higher sculpts of previous raptors that we most likely received’t get. Mattel clearly might have achieved higher from the beginning however hey, higher late than by no means.
Sadly, the shelf lifetime of this determine was slightly quick and though I attempt to evaluation these toys whereas they’re in manufacturing, I dropped the ball on this one. Dinosaur toy releases (particularly from Mattel) are so frequent today that it’s tough to maintain up with them. I don’t assume Blue is accessible at retail value anymore, having now been changed on cabinets by the Pyroraptor and Delta. Hopefully for those who’re studying this you have already got this determine, it’s positively the Blue determine to get above all others.
Help the Dinosaur Toy Weblog by making dino-purchases by means of these hyperlinks to Ebay and Amazon. Disclaimer: hyperlinks to Ebay.com and Amazon.com on the Dinosaur Toy Weblog are sometimes affiliate hyperlinks, while you make purchases by means of these hyperlinks we could make a fee
Trending Merchandise
