Rounding out my reviews of Mattel’s ’93 Classic Collection we’re looking at what might be the most absurd assortment of figures in any of these sets; the one that includes an airborne mathematician carting around a baby Triceratops as if it were a briefcase. This is the Dr. Ian Malcolm Glider Escape Pack, and it’s the last ’93 Classic set left to be reviewed on the blog.
As usual, we start by looking at the packaging, that with its retro styled artwork mimics the Kenner packaging of old. Here we have Dr. Malcolm swooping in to rescue a delightfully chubby baby Trike from a Dilophosaurus and firing a missile at it in the process. In the background we get the Jurassic Park gates and some palm trees silhouetted against a red and yellow sunset. It hits all the right nostalgic notes. On the back of the box we get a diorama similar to the artwork on the front, pictures of the various contents and how they work, and images of other toys in the ’93 Classic line. It hits all the right nostalgic notes.
As preposterous as the image of a leather-clad Jeff Goldblum with a backpack glider is, this toy is not without precedent and is based loosely on a few different toys from Kenner. Both the Jurassic Park and The Lost World lines included Ian Malcolm toys that came with a “Launching Tranq-Missile Dart” and The Lost World line had a glider that came with an exclusive Ian Malcolm figure.
Since Ian Malcolm already had a badass outfit in the first Jurassic Park there was little need to tweak it for this toy, unlike other characters like Ray Arnold and Dennis Nedry. He’s still sporting an entirely black outfit but this time with a black undershirt and fingerless gloves. His outfit is nicely detailed with a collared, button down shirt with pocket, belt with buckle, seams and sags on his pants, and black boots with sculpted laces and soles. The character likeness is on par with the Hammond Collection toy and much better than the Legacy Collection one. His hair is nicely quaffed, and his sunglasses can be removed. Ian stands 3.75” (9.53 cm) tall and is articulated at the neck, shoulders, elbows, waste, hips, and knees.
The glider attaches to Dr. Malcolm via shoulder straps and can be removed. Two green canisters rest within the back of the glider. These are a reference to the original Kenner Dr. Malcolm’s backpack but I’m not sure what purpose they serve here. Fuel for the glider? Also included is an oversized missile launcher that I’m sure is completely safe and non-lethal to dinosaurs. Maybe those green canisters hold the gas used to subdue them. The neon green missile can be launched via a button on the gun, and it occurs to me that Mattel REALLY likes the missile launching gimmick. I have several Mattel toys that include it and I’m sure there are more that I don’t have.
Turning now to the Dilophosaurus, it is clearly meant to mimic Kenner’s Jurassic Park Series 1 Dilophosaurus that doubled as a water pistol. Like that figure, it has no flared frill, but there is a relaxed one sculpted against the neck. The paintjob is also similar, though far simpler. Like its predecessor, it is green, but it replaces the white wavy line along the flanks and patterns over the face and crests with yellow. The lower jaw is also yellow, the teeth are white, and the inside of the mouth is pink. The eyes are red with black pupils. There are no paint apps on the tail, legs, or arms. Details mostly consist of wrinkles and musculature but there are some small details, like grooves on the crests and labial scales along the mouth.
This figure is an entirely original sculpt made for this set and is not available as a standalone figure. It measures about 5” (12.7 cm) long, not including the curves in its neck and tail, and stands 3.25” (8.3 cm) tall to the top of the head. I think this is Mattel’s smallest Dilophosaurus toy which means it probably scales better with the humans than the others do. Certainly more so than the Hammond Collection one. The mouth can open and the arms and legs can rotate around. The figure does not spit water. It’s a fine little Jurassic Park Dilophosaurus and I’m happy to have it.
The capture gear that comes with the Dilophosaurus includes chains and shackles that lock onto the legs and arms, and a muzzle. These are completely gray and are detailed with little struts, rivets, and claw gouges. I find the capture gear that comes with all of these toys to be so specialized and seemly useless in design that you can’t help but laugh. The greatest example of this is certainly the backpack-like clamp with handle that locks onto the back of the baby Triceratops. I love the idea of Jurassic Park’s dinosaur handlers commissioning something so specific as a carrying case made especially for a baby Triceratops. Spared no expense, indeed!
The Triceratops is cute and chunky and a reference to the baby Triceratops that was included with Dr. Ellie Sattler in the Kenner Jurassic Park line. It is jungle green in color with white horns and white markings over the face. The eyes are big, bright, and black. The little Trike is surprisingly well detailed with a scaly hide, large osteoderms along the back, grooves in the beak, and epoccipitals along the edge of the frill. It has a bewildered expression that would suit a baby Triceratops being whisked away into the air by a handle attached to its back.
Thanks to the absurd premise it presents, and the addition of a new Dilophosaurus sculpt and cute baby Triceratops, this might be my favorite of the three ’93 Classic packs (Malcolm, Grant, and Nedry) and worth seeking out for Kenner nostalgics, kids, and kids at heart. I do think including the Dilophosaurus with Malcolm instead of Nedry was an odd choice, and there were a few of those odd choices made with this line. That said, I think this was one of Mattel’s most unique, interesting, and ambitious toy lines and am sad that it ended. I would have loved to have seen more dinosaurs, vehicles, and humans that paid homage to the Kenner toys and it’s sad that we never got Sattler, Hammond, Tim and Lex, or other silly action figures of the Jurassic Park cast. So far, the Reimagined line meant to replace this one has not lived up to it. Thankfully, although out of production, this set can be easily found online for low prices.
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