What an incredible way to celebrate our first anniversary. Selected to Feedspot's Top 60 list and now, thanks to the incredible team at Playwise Partners, we are proud to be reviewing ToyMonster International's line of Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary CAPTIVES Dinosaur Slime Egg collectibles! I want to give a huge shout of thanks to Rachel and Sheena from Playwise for sending me all of these amazing samples! There are a lot of eggs, a lot of slime, and a lot of Dinosaurs to get to, so let's get... erm... cracking!
As these aren't traditional action figures, we will still take a look at our review categories, albeit adjusted to meet the new subjects. Appearance, Accessories, and Affordability will be our feature discussion mainly because the dinos have very minimal articulation due to the design. With that in mind, let's talk about the two smaller eggs first. For the sake of space and in trying to stick with my usual format, I will have a complete photo display at the end of the review, just before I give my overall rating.
Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary CAPTIVZ Build N' Battle Egg
These smaller gold eggs come with one Pop and Lock Dinosaur, a packet of slime, an attribute card, and the "How to Battle" fold out rules, with dinosaur list. These plastic eggs are really neat, but the first issue I honestly had was getting the plastic wrap off. There is a small arrow pointing to the perforation strip, which helps some, but for little fingers is going to present some difficulties. Parents are definitely going to want to help open these eggs. An easy little squeeze on the base of the egg helps separate the two halves, revealing two plastic packets inside. The yellow packet contains the dinosaur pieces and attribute card, while the other contains the slime. Please note that this slime is labelled as non-toxic on the packaging, but care should be taken when handling it. Make sure to wash your hands before and after and above all, don't let it touch fabric as there is a slight possibility of staining. (Something we'll discuss momentarily when we talk about the Clash Eggs.) The dinosaur pieces snap together very easily and though the heads and tails can turn, that's the extent of the articulation on these figures. This is where it gets awesome! The dinosaurs, though small, are packed with an absolutely sick amount of detail and paint applications. The first egg I opened contained the Velociraptor and my jaw about hit the floor when I got it together. The detail on this piece is stunning. The mouth features a pink paint application inside and, white painted teeth. For something so small, I thought for sure there'd be some level of paint slop, but I couldn't find ANY. The eyes are even yellow and black to match the movie. The rest of the body features incredible layers of paint to give the 'raptor different shades and hues, along with the striped/camo pattern that we see in the movies. One feature that I really like is that each of these dinos has a silver stamped Jurassic Park emblem on them, but positioned so discreetly that you have to really look to find it. The detail doesn't stop there though, as the 'raptor features it's deadly third claw on the retracted third toe. Though they are somewhat soft, the tips do have a bit of a point to them. I did open several eggs, and also pulled the Rare Metallic Gold Baby Velociraptor which is one of the neater looking dinos as well. I have to admit that I'm really astounded by the incredible details packed into these miniatures. These eggs retail at Walmart for $4.97 each. Though, I do have a couple of points of contention which I'll address with the next egg.
Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary CAPTIVZ Clash Series Slime Egg
The next egg I opened was one of the Clash Series. Unlike the BnB Gold eggs, this one had a bit of a surprise. When I peeled the plastic off and finally got the egg open, I was greated by an egg full of red lava slime. Naturally, I had assumed the slime would be in a package like the previous egg. Oh, no no no... that wasn't the case, and this slime is very runny. VERY RUNNY. I had a glob drip on our ottoman and though I scooped it up quickly, it did leave a small, but distinct red stain. If you purchase these eggs, have a bowl ready to catch the slime. In fact, the biggest area of concern with this series is that the eggs leak. After opening this egg, I took the rest out of the case and discovered dried red slime in the box. In fact, the next egg that I tried to open, had dried slime coating the plastic around the perforated edge of the wrap. Now, these eggs are actually double wrapped to ensure secure shipping, but semi-liquid contents can find their way out of just about anything, so be careful to snap the eggs back together, or find a plastic container to keep the slime safely stored in.
The Pop and Lock Dinosaur is safely enclosed in a plastic bag, along with its attribute card, within the slime. Once I finished cleaning up the mess and disposing of the slime, I tore open the plastic pack and assembled the Carnotaurus. I must admit that I was disappointed with this one as the paint scheme on my Carnotaurus seemed to be poorly applied. The back of his body had a significant amount of paint detail applied, but the tail was minimal at best and really throws the look off the toy out of whack. Though there are decent paint apps on the mouth and for the eyes, there is just a touch of color on the underside and partly down the legs. Unlike the 'raptor, there really are no paint apps on this dino's feet. The sculpted detail is incredible though, but I was disappointed especially when comparing this figure to those from the Build N' Battle eggs. You can also see, in this picture, that the gap between the tail and body is fairly wide as well. Of all of the dinos that I opened; this was the one that I had the most complaint with. The rest of them are absolutely stunning in detail as you will see in the upcoming photos.
The other complaint I had was that, like the Velociraptor, the Carnotaurus had trouble balancing. I realized that the legs were a bit warped and used the old action figure hot water trick to try and get them straightened out. It did work to a degree, but my 'raptor and Dilophosaurus still have a tendency to tip over. On the whole, I think I actually prefer the Build N' Battle gold eggs over the Clash eggs, mainly because of the whole issue with the slime. For each egg... I would give the Build N' Battle eggs a solid 9 out of 10. The separate packaging for the slime and the details on their dinos are outstanding. The Clash Slime egg though, I'm sorry, I'm just not a huge fan of the lake of slime that poured out and I can only imagine the mess it will create in the hands of children, plus the details on the dino were really lacking compared to its BnB counterparts. As with the BnB Eggs, the Clash Series also retails at $4.97 at Walmart. The Clash series eggs earn a disappointing 5 out of 10 for what feels to me like a decided reduction of effort.
Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary Build N' Battle CAPTIVZ Surprise Egg
The last egg we'll discuss in this review is the Surprise Egg. It's a much larger egg featuring some really cool surprises hidden within. Upon opening this egg, I discovered three packages containing my Pop and Lock Dinosaur parts. There was a package of Prehistoric Sand, a package of Amber Gel, and a package blue InGen Slime. These held the pieces to my Triceratops. There was also the attribute card and a sheet of stickers, along with the battle game rules and collectible checklist. There are a lot of good things going on in this egg and there are some bad as well. (One particular trend I noticed in both Surprise eggs and the Mega egg I received as well.) Let's start with the good. The three packets are sealed really well and even having removed the dinosaurs, I was able to re-store the packages so that the peel back wrap kept the slime from leaking out. Plus, unlike the slime in the Clash eggs, this slime seems to really hold its form much better, meaning it doesn't drip or get runny. I actually had a bit of fun messing around with it while removing the Triceratops pieces. The dinosaur itself is absolutely amazing. My four-year-old granddaughter saw the samples and IMMEDIATELY grabbed the Triceratops. I don't blame her. This guy is actually my favorite so far and will find a place on my desk at work, to be honest. The basic body is gray with a LOT of whitewash over for detail, though the underside of his neck is lacking the whitewash, which makes for an abrupt change in color pattern when you attach his head. What really sets this one apart though is the sculpting. I've seen toys from the other Jurassic Park line manufacturer and the amount of detail in this approximately five-inch-long figure far exceeds anything I've ever seen from the other company. The pebbled texture runs throughout the sculpt and the wrinkles and designs of the horns, beak, and even toes show incredible care and patience. Even the seams where head and tail connect are so well hidden that unless you knew otherwise, you'd think this was one solid piece. Unfortunately, with the good, there also comes some bad. The collectible attribute card and sticker sheet were horribly bent and creased due to the shape of the egg package. The stickers I'm not so concerned about, though if you are getting this for your child, they may be disappointed to have crumply dino decals. No, my biggest problem is with the damaged attribute card. If a collector is looking to buy these pieces and wants the cards with them, they will be furious over the condition. I, honestly, thought the front of the card was a decal and started trying to peel it. Nope, I merely succeeded in separating a portion of the front from the back. Don't think that wasn't irritating when I realized what I'd done. Much like the terrible slime packaging on the Clash Eggs, I'd hope there was a better way to package the decals and attribute cards in these larger Surprise eggs. I really like the card, but mine is ruined and frankly, that sucks. Retail price on the Surprise eggs was $9.97 online at Walmart. Overall, as I said, there is a lot of good in here, but the bad really kicks it down in my opinion. The Build N' Battle Surprise Egg gets an acceptable 7 out of 10.
Overall, I have to admit that I was surprised to find that I liked these as much as I do. The target audience is for 6- to 10-year-olds, though the packaging does say 3+. Even with that in mind, I think adult collectors that are dinosaur fans would like the Pop and Lock Dinosaurs, whether you keep the slime or not, is entirely up to you. I do think there is just enough good in these to give them a solid:
8 out of 10 TOYBOXES!!!
Well, folks... I hope this got your appetite ready as our next review will be on the Jurassic World Dominion CAPTIVZ Surprise Egg, Mega Egg and Collector Case. Until then, as always... GEEK OUT!!!!