Monday, August 27, 2018

Toy Review: Land Rescue Convoy from Matchbox: Jurassic World by Mattel

   There is nothing I love more than when a toyline starts to go deep. I'm talking releasing characters and/ or vehicles that you didn't even know existed deep.  Yeah, I always expect/ hope/ pray that a Star Wars, Marvel, or DC toyline will go deep, but when something else does? It's crazy. Remember Toy Biz's Lord of the Rings line? They released an action figure of Theodred who is pretty much a toy of a dead guy. That's deep. With Aliens and Predators, NECA is releasing Kenner themed variants and creatures. That's deep. Remember Ghostbusters Minimates? They released a figure of the Mayor. That's deep. One of the recent lines that is going unexpectedly deep is the Matchbox Jurassic World line. Mattel just keeps cranking out Jurassic Park themed vehicles and, considering they're cool and a buck or so, I'm happy to keep buying them. Today I'm checking out the new 5-pack Land Rescue Cnovoy. Jurassic Park vehicle super expert Kooshmeister recently informed me that this set was coming out soon and I was delighted to find it at my local Wal-Mart on Saturday evening. The Land Rescue Convoy features a nice mixture of vehicles from Jurassic Park and Jurassic World (up until this point Jurassic Park vehicles seemed reserved for the Target exclusive Legacy Collection only), and costs less than $5 bucks. How could I resist? Let's check this new set out after the break...



 The Facts:

Includes: 5 vehicles

Length: Around 3 inches each

Non-Scalper Price: $5 dollars
Humvee

 * First up is the Humvee, probably based on the HM General HMMWV that the InGen security division uses in Jurassic World. Want to know what HMMWV stands for? High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. That's what. Apparently this is an older Matchbox sculpt that may have been used in the original The Lost World diecast line. It does look a bit dated and soft, but it also looks fairly accurate to the source material. The InGen logo is clean and neat, though.

 '93 Ford Explorer #4

* Next up is another one of the tour cars from the original Jurassic Park. Mattel gave us car #5 (the tour car Grant and Malcom were in during the T-Rex attack) as both a single packed vehicle and in the Island Explorers set so it's nice that we now have car #4, the car that Lex, Tim, and the blood sucking lawyer Donald Gennaro were attacked in. The muddy splatter effect on this one works really well, although I still want a "ruined" version of this car at some point. 
 Comparison:


* Other than the car number on the rear sides and the muddy paint across the bottom, these two cars are exactly the same (which is as they should be). Here's the review of the original release, '93 Ford Explorer #5.
 '14 Mercedes-Benz G-Class #5 (Black)

* This black repaint of the 2014 Mercedes- Benz G-Class is a bit unusual as, like the green Textron Tiger, it seems to be made up for the toyline. It's a cool looking vehicle, though. it is a simple repaint of the silver and 2014 Mercedes-Benz G-Class from the Island Transport Team set.
 Comparison:

 * Here's a side by side of the black version of the Mercedes- Benz G-Class and the standard silver version. The black version has tinted windows rather than the blue windows of the silver version and all of the labels, while the same, are printed in grey.
 Jeep Wrangler #29

* Another repaint, Jeep Wrangler #29 has the distinction of appearing in two films. In the original Jurassic Park this is the car that transports John Hammond and Donald Gennaro from the heliport to the visitor's center. In Jurassic World it is the car that Zach and Cody Gray fix up and drive around in. This definitely looks like the version from Jurassic World as it's much muddier, probably covered with nearly 20 years worth of dirt, dust, and grime.
Comparison:


* Here's a comparison shot of the earlier release, Jeep #18 (on the left) with Jeep #29. I still hope we get a Jeep #10 and I still want to track down the single packed Jeep #12, too.
 Kawasaki Teryx4 LE

* Last and certainly not least (although it absolutely is the smallest) is the Kawasaki Teryx4 LE. These are little maintenance flitting around Jurassic World that function like more powerful golf carts. The sculpt is really nice and features a lot of open space in the cab, which fits the design well.


* The back of the Kawasaki Teryx4 LE has a nice amount of sculpting, including actually having Kawasaki sculpted on the back. It's listed as #26 on the side as well.
  With a nice mixture of new sculpts, reused sculpts, and repaints, Mattel has put out another solid 5-pack in this line. This is a Great set with some very creative choices here. It makes for a fun addition to a Jurassic Park car collection or even just a movie car collection in general. There's a lot of coolness here and the work is overall very high quality. I noticed a second new 5-pack called the All-Terrain Fleet, although it seems to be all repacks except for one truck (the Unimog). If you didn't pick up all of the other vehicles in the set it's probably worth looking into, too. Now, we need a few vehicles from Jurassic Park III in the next set of releases.


For more Matchbox: Jurassic World reviews, check out the following:
'10 Textron Tiger (Green)
'93 Jeep Wrangler #9
Armored Action Transporter
Armored Action Truck
Island Transport Team 
Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 5020
Off-Road Rescue Rig  

21 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Darn right. Mattel is doing a super job with these.

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  2. And the final three Jurassic World vehicles, according to a friend who found them at Walmart and is sending them to me, are:

    Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6X6 (the six-wheeled ACU pickup)
    Kawasaki Brute Force 750 (the four wheeler Owen and Claire ride on; later ridden by Barry during the I. rex hunt with the raptors)
    and
    Triumph Scrambler (Owen's motorcycle)

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    Replies
    1. I checked for these last night at my Wal-Mart but came up empty handed. Nice to know they're out there, though.

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    2. They just came in the mail for me. Awesome vehicles, especially the G 63 AMG!

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    3. Where did you order yours from?

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  3. The only issue I have with the Humvee is the one in the movie had its front doors taken off. Oh well. :D

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I noticed that too. This is a pretty old model, though, so I guess the reuse was just easier.

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  4. Oh, and thanks for the shout out. But I'm not expert. I just have a knack for remembering stuff. XD

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  5. So, to sum up, we have:

    JURASSIC PARK
    -'93 Ford Explorer #4
    -'93 Ford Explorer #5
    -'93 Jeep Wrangler #12
    -'93 Jeep Wrangler #18
    -'93 Jeep Wrangler #29

    THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
    -'97 Mercedes-Benz ML320
    -Fleetwood Southwind RV

    JURASSIC WORLD
    -'14 Mercedes-Benz G 550
    -'15 Triumph Scrambler
    -Gyrosphere
    -Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6x6
    -Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupé
    -Kawasaki Brute Force 750
    -'10 Textron Tiger
    -InGen Humvee
    -´15 Kawasaki Teryx4 LE
    -MBX Tanker
    -'93 Jeep Wrangler #9 (counting it as a JW vehicle)

    JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
    -Armored Action Truck
    -Armored Action Transporter
    -Off-Road Rescue Rig
    -Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 5020
    -Deep-Dive Submarine
    -'10 Textron Tiger (convinced we do see the green one outside the mansion, or *A* Tiger at least)

    All in all, not a bad little series.

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    Replies
    1. Definitely not. I do wish we had some of the crazy vehicles from the Lost World (and the other Mercedes-Benz vehicles), some helicopters, and something from Jurassic Park 3. Maybe the boat that the Kirby's son is parasailing on?

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    2. I definitely want the InGen Agusta A109A Hirundo that flies everyone to the island in the first movie. It can easily be repainted into the InGen security A-109A seen in Jurassic World. Oh, Masrani's Eurocopter EC130 B4 (codenamed "Jurassic One"), also from JW, and the mercenaries' Bell UH-1H-BF Iroquois from Fallen Kingdom that gets into a tug-of-war with Rexy.

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    3. As for something from Jurassic Park III, why not either the Kirbys' Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, or one of the US Navy Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawks that shows up at the end?

      The Lost World has the Boeing-Vertol 234LR (InGen cargo helicopter seen flying in the Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 2450), the Bell 212 (which rescues the heroes from the worker village) or the Aérospatiale AS355 F2 Twin Squirrel (San Diego PD helicopter).

      And I just remembered there's a Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II (InGen chopper which flies Hammond to Grant's Montana dig) in the first film, too.

      So, quite a few aerial vehicles to choose from. :)

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    4. Those are good suggestions. I was wondering if Matchbox already had models for some more of the Lost World vehicles and some of the military vehicles from the end of JP III. Seems like that could be some easy reuse.

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    5. The only one from back in '97 that's really worth reusing is the Unimog, which can pass for the U 1300, provided they give it the scissor lift observation platform this time. As for other, more recent pre-existing models, none really come to mind. Most of the InGen vehicles are unique, particularly the three times of offroaders (Scout, Command and Harasser, to use the designations from Lego Jurassic World). Built on Jeep Wrangler chassis, they'd require entirely new sculpts/tools, as would the two Hummers (the two door Snagger and the four door with the enclosed rear observation platform).

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  6. Excited to find this set on the pegs. I noticed that the passenger-side detailing on the dirty Explorer is different than the clean version. The T-rex logo on the passenger side is at the front end of the car on the dirty version (after "Jurassic Park") while it is toward the rear end on the clean version (before "Jurassic Park").

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    Replies
    1. That's odd. I'll have to check and see if it's like that on the two I have.

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    2. Nope, it's towards the front on both sides on mine. It seems yours has a printing error.

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    3. Huh. JaceG, can you send me a pic or link to one in the comments? I wonder if this is widespread variant or just a paint error?

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  7. Sorry it took so long. Didn't see your pic request. My single-pack Explorer has this paint deco as does the one I just got in a clearanced "Island Explorers" 5-pack. Pic Link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/JiNWSLSMvCnHDQf88

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    Replies
    1. Interesting! Thanks for sharing. That is unusual!

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