The Triceratops has a hinged jaw on a spring, so his mouth will clamp shut. His tail is also on a hinge, while the tip is a swivel. His four legs are also connected to his body by swivels. This gives him a decent amount of articulation, but I originally thought it was better. You’ll notice that his feet are actually separate pieces from the legs, and the way they’re shaped gives the impression that they’re connected with a hinge joint. This is misleading. The feet are flush with the legs and can’t move without something breaking. I’m not really sure why Mattel did this. The feet are already a separate piece and molding them to be hinge joints shouldn’t have been more expensive.
The mechanical Rider bits also have a few moving parts and action features. Both the side mounted cannons can swivel up and down. When the gray button in the middle is pushed the triangular wedge shoots forward like a battering ram, but it still stays connected to the cannon. The rear gun also swivels at its base and fires that large hook with a decent amount of force. I kind of wished they would have attached a string to it though. A giant hook becomes a bit obsolete if you don’t have a way to reel it back in.
Accessory wise, the little neon green dude comes with a drill, body armor, and a chunk of crystal that are all made of translucent yellow plastic.
The Triceratops retails for about $14. Maybe I’ve been buying too many expensive domestic and import figures, but that cheap price seems like a deal to me. He’s a sturdy toy that’s a nice large size compared to both the human figures and other cheaper dinos in the line. I’m still pretty annoyed about the faux ankles, but aside from that I’m happy him. Now where’s my Stegosaurus?
Oh man, that looks awesome! I freakin’ LOVE dinosaurs. Darn it, now I have to find a store that stocks Imaginext here! Thanks a bunch, IAT!
Yeah, dinos are the best. They’re pretty easy to find, so you shouldn’t have much trouble. TRU, Target, Walmart, and K-Mart all carry them. There is an exclusive K-Mart two pack though, but it’s just the Raptor in green and the Pterodactyl in blue.
I am more and more impressed by the Imaginext line. The ‘dino-riders’ line is very impressive (and would have been on my must-have list at 8 years old!) but some of the other sub-lines just blow my mind, like the whole ‘quasi-retro’ airplanes thing. And playsets. The Batcave playset is astonishing.
And then, at (of all places!) a ‘Burlington Coat Factory’ outlet I stumble on what I consider the most amazing thing ever.
Police Tank.
There was a sub-line that was kinda sorta… I don’t know, future dystopia? Where cops have tanks and armored power suits and the crooks have powered suits as well? I’m not sure and I don’t care because POLICE TANK!
And it’s a mini-tank. With a big-ass gun. Yeah, that’s right, it’s kinda sorta Dominion Tank Police. I think I need to go back and buy that thing.
First I start buying select My Little Ponies*, now I’m going for Imaginext. I think I’m regressing or something. Or maybe I just want toys that are actually toys, right? *sigh*
*you want to talk ‘off model’ crisis? Why can’t Hasbro make a show-accurate Applejack with a proper cowgirl hat? huh? HUH!?
I’ll have to check out that police tank, it sounds pretty cool.
Also, I have no idea why Hasbro can’t seem to make a cowgirl hat for Applejack. It’s like the simplest request, but they can’t seem to pull it off.
Oops, posted at the wrong reply, but that’s OK because I can put this here:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=7081&e=robotpolice
And is it too much to want cartoon-accurate looking Ponies, really? 🙂
(actually, yes, as that would mean new ‘bucks’, more sculpting, blah blah when they already have in-place a huge ROI in the existing product)
my only complaint, being a dino-nerd, would be the scale… that triceratops should be much larger in the overall scale of things, in comparison to the other dinos.
and yes, after real steel, faux joints are in my sights as well. what a cruel thing to do to a toy.
Scale wise he is a bit small, but maybe he’s just a young Triceratops. 😉
Spread the cause. Down with faux joints!
Fun review, as always! I’m just glad these things aren’t done in a realistic fashion, or I’d be wringing my hands over how to get them, and then how to pay for them, and then where to put them.
And false joints do indeed suck thagomizers big time. For shame, Mattel!
Thanks Beedo. You’re definitely not alone. I seem to be suffering from a similar lack of money and space.