The Tyrannosaurus Off-road Tracker Pack represents the last set released in the short-lived Jurassic Park 93’ Classic line, which was replaced last year by the (so far) inferior Jurassic World Reimagined line. I suppose it makes sense that the line wouldn’t last too far past the 30th anniversary of Jurassic Park but I think the entire range of toys released under it are some of Mattel’s best and most fun.
This set includes a Kenner inspired young Tyrannosaurus, capture gear, Jeep, and Ray Arnold figure. Although this blog exclusively features dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, I would be remiss if I didn’t say a few things about the other toys in the set.
Checking out the packaging first, what we get here is a presentation that mimics the Kenner packaging of old. You’ve got a black, red, and yellow color scheme overall with palm trees silhouetted against an Isla Nublar sunset. The Jurassic Park logo, JP logo, and 93’ Classic logo are all there and the toys can be seen behind a plastic window. The back of the packaging features the toys in a diorama setting. I’ve always loved this throwback packaging and along with the Hammond Collection and giant sauropod boxes they’re the only Mattel boxes I’ve retained.
The vehicle is a variation of the Jurassic Park Jeep that mixes features of the Kenner Bush Tracker Jeep and the unreleased Bush Devil Tracker, with coloration resembling the former and a pattern resembling the latter. It is greatly dialed back however, without the bells and whistles of the original Bush Tracker. The Jurassic Park logo can be seen on the hood over top of a spattering of red and the number 27 is printed on the sides, the same number we see on the original Bush Tracker. The entire vehicle is painted red, tan, and black. The entire interior is black except for the yellow steering wheel. The vehicle’s lights and mirrors are stickers. Pegs in the bed of the Jeep allow a human figure to be placed there. A golden spear/electric prod is included as well and can be either held by Ray Arnold or affixed to the side of the Jeep.
The Ray Arnold action figure looks exactly how you would expect him to look…if he walked out of a 90’s Jurassic Park cartoon series. He wears a removeable green chest plate with a stylized dinosaur skull molded on the front. He also wears removeable glasses, and a headset is molded onto this head. Ray is articled at the neck, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, and knees. The details of his face include nicely textured hair, characteristic bald spot, and painted eyes and facial hair. His shirt is gray, gloves and belt are red, and pants and boots are drab green. It’s nice to see Ray Arnold get some love from Mattel, because Kenner never made a toy of him. This is Mattel’s 3rd Ray Arnold!
Now onto the toy that most of us are here for, the dinosaur! This T. rex stands about 6.5” (16.51 cm) tall at the hip and measures 19” (48.26) long. It is articulated in two spots on the neck, shoulders, hips, ankles, and base of the tail. A button on the nape opens the mouth. Although a lot of people dislike the turtle-neck appearance of the double-articulated neck it does allow for some decent poses.
The body of this toy is the same exact one used for the Extreme Chompin’ T. rex, only the head is new. The Extreme Chompin T. rex is one of Mattel’s oldest figures and so that means you’re getting a low level of detail, with most of the body covered in wrinkles instead of scales. The feet are also absurdly oversized.
The head closely mimics the head of Kenner’s young T. rex, and it does a lot to elevate the appeal of this toy. It’s nice seeing a T. rex visage that isn’t Rexy’s. The head includes a fine bumpy texture and large scales running up and over the brow, down behind the eyes, and down behind where the ears would be. The teeth are rubbery inserts that appear sharp and refined. Grooves are sculpted into the roof of the mouth and the tongue has a rough texture and some scars on its surface.
The toy is painted black and yellow, making it look like the re-painted Kenner young T. rex released as part of series 2. I’m glad that Mattel went with this color instead of the brown of the original young T. rex. We don’t need more brown T. rex toys, and a black and yellow color combo is always great. The black along the back bleeds down over the yellow that dominates the head and continues down the underside of the toy. The black coloration even continues down the tail but stops about halfway down its length. I wish Mattel would have continued down to the tail tip, but I suppose I should be happy that there’s paint on the tail at all. The fingernails are unpainted but the claws on the feet are dark black and shiny. The teeth are white, the inside of the mouth is pink, and the eyes are yellow with black pupils.
Capture gear comes in the form of shackles for the legs and a muzzle for the head. It’s all a uniform silver color. I don’t care for capture gear myself, and don’t display my toys with it, but I know it’s very popular with most Jurassic Park collectors.
Due to its unique head sculpt and vibrant paintjob, this young T. rex stands out among Mattel’s other Tyrannosaurus toys, and that makes it worth seeking out. It is disappointing that Mattel didn’t use a new body though. The fantastic head sculpt is somewhat mismatched with the body of a toy that preceded it by 6 years. This also should have been a real feel toy, like the original young T. rex and Mattel’s 93’ Classic red T. rex. As for the rest of the set, the vehicle looks great but could have used a few action features and seeing Ray Arnold upgraded from an engineer to an action hero is a lot of fun. Overall, the set could have been better, but it’s still pretty darn cool, and I’m saddened to see the 93’ Classic line come to an end.
This Tyrannosaurus Off-road Tracker Pack has been available for a long time as Mattel toys go and can still be found on Target’s website. It retails for $50 but I think that’s a bit steep and waited for it to go on sale, as these things always do. There are three other 93’ Classic sets that haven’t been reviewed yet, but you can expect that to be remedied shortly and I look forward to sharing them.
Disclaimer: links to Ebay and Amazon on the DinoToyBlog are affiliate links, so we make a small commission if you use them. Thanks for supporting us!
Trending Products
