The current Jurassic World Survival line from Mattel has proven somewhat lackluster so far and put a pause on my Jurassic World toy collecting. As a result, my list of Mattel toys to review has been whittled down to only a few figures, including the remaining ’93 Classic Collection toys. So, the silver lining in this year’s lull is that I can finally feature these toys on the blog, check them off my list, and finish off the ’93 Classic reviews.
Today we’re looking at the Dr. Alan Grant Tactical Claw Pack. Although I normally like to review Mattel toys while they’re commercially available, I was unable to do so with this one. That’s partly because it wasn’t a set I planned to buy and review but then came across it at a clearance price I couldn’t ignore. You can see the clearance price sticker on the box and I think you’ll agree, it was a deal!
This set comes with Dr. Alan Grant sporting a pair of binoculars and a tactical vest, a claw/grabber tool, a grappling hook, Gallimimus with capture gear, and a baby Velociraptor. Like all the ’93 Classic toys, this set pays heavy homage to the Jurassic Park toys of the 90’s, particularly those by Kenner. This includes the packaging, which features retro-styled artwork of Dr. Grant attempting the capture the Gallimimus while the Velociraptor is in pursuit. The back of the packaging shows the toys in a diorama setting, a list of what’s included in the set, pictures of the toy’s action features, and images of other toys in the ’93 Classic line.
We’ll get the human out of the way by briefly featuring Dr. Grant and his gear first. Although this is strictly a dinosaur toy blog, I would be remiss to sideline everyone’s favorite fictional paleontologist. Besides, he’s kind of the centerpiece here.
Dr. Grant stands 3.75” (9.53 cm) tall and is articulated at the head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, and knees. In likeness I feel like he looks far more like Sam Neill than the Hammond Collection Dr. Grant does! His outfit resembles that of the Kenner Dr. Grant from the Jurassic Park series 1 toy line. He’s sporting his iconic hat, a tight blue shirt, green cargo pants, brown boots, and a gray tactical vest that can be removed. A set of green binoculars hangs around his neck.
The details are quite good here. His brown hair is nicely detailed, and his eyebrows are dark brown. His eyes are blue with black pupils and precisely painted on. Folds and creases are sculpted into his clothes, and his pants are a bit baggy and sculpted with pockets and kneepads. The vest appears armored and has a couple large pockets attached. Laces and textured soles are sculpted on his boots. His hands are sculpted so that they can hold the gadgets he comes with.
Turning our attention to the aforementioned gadgets, we get the tactical claw and grappling hook. The claw is neon green and can be extended forward via a small nub on the back of the darker green barrel. The grappling hook is dark green with a blue hook. It is built and works like a crossbow, with the hook launching from its barrel via a button on the back. The string attaching the hook to the crossbow measures about 11” (27.94 cm) long. I perpetually display Dr. Grant dangling from the crossbow along the side of my display shelf.
Now for the dinosaurs! We’ll look first at the Gallimimus. It stands about 3.25” (8.26 cm) tall at the hips and measures 6.75” (17.15 cm) long. This appears to be the standard Gallimimus toy that Mattel has been using since the beginning. It has a paintjob mimicking the Kenner Jurassic Park series 2 Gallimimus. This same paintjob was also used on an Attack Pack Gallimimus in 2021 so now I have two Gallimimus toys that pay homage to the Kenner toy that I don’t have!
The Gallimimus is articulated at the base of the neck with a ball and hinge joint that allows it to twist around and move up and down. The arms are articulated at the shoulders with ball and hinge joints, and the legs can twist around at the hips. The figure is “ok”, but the legs are too large, and the feet are even larger still! The head sculpt is really nice though, with big bright eyes and tiny labial scales along the mouth. Most of the toy is detailed with skin folds and wrinkles. The body and legs are hard plastic, but the arms and tail are soft and rubbery.
The toy is orange with dark flecks. Blue runs from the head, down along the back, and to the base of the tail and has red stripes overlaid on top of it. The eyes are black. There are no paint apps on the arms, legs, or tail. While I appreciate the Kenner homage this figure’s paintjob is halfhearted and the wonky proportions don’t do it any favors either.
The capture gear includes shackles for the legs and another set for the arms that attach to a muzzle. They’re gray in color and sculpted to look like chains and metal parts with some padding around the muzzle.
The Velociraptor is a simple little guy that harkens back to when Kenner included baby dinosaurs with their human action figures. It has a gangly, gaunt, and awkward build befitting a juvenile. In this case, the large head, hands, and feet, and short tail work in its favor. There are some good details with this tiny figure, including sculpted musculature and underlying skeletal elements, skin folds, and scutes on the toes.
The raptor is green with dark green along the back, dark green flecks elsewhere, and yellow eyes. The pupils are elliptical and not painted and the claws aren’t painted either. The Velociraptor measures 2.75” (6.99 cm) long.
The Dr. Alan Grant Tactical Claw Pack is a fun assortment of toys that harkens back to the Kenner era and reminds me of the many hours spent playing as Dr. Grant in the various Jurassic Park video games of the 90’s. I’ve always found it humorous; the narrative pushed in JP toys and video games that the scientists meant to preview the park wouldn’t hesitate to become action heroes risking their lives to capture dinosaurs. And as absurd as that premise might seem, there is a touch of that in the novel, which I’ve also always found absurd. Anyway, this is definitely a toy set made for us that grew up in that era and played with those toys or maybe didn’t but still appreciate it. Although this set is out of production it can still be easily found for retail price or cheaper on eBay and elsewhere online.
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