Jurassic Park Series 2: Alan Grant (Net)

Year of release: 1993-1994

Accessories:

-Aerial Net Trap with net

-Smart Bomb

-Stegosaurus hatchling

-Collector’s Card # 53

Description: Grant sports a simple set of clothes. Most notable is his famous white hat, basically the hallmark of the Grant character. This hat is not removable since it’s stuck to the figure’s head. Second, there is the white shirt with short sleeves, which is adorned with a small, light blue tag carrying a black JP logo on the left part of his chest. Grant sports blue pants and brown shoes, as well as knee patches of the same colour. A black flash light and walkie-talkie are attached to his belt at the front side. Grant’s hair, eyebrows and eyes are all coloured in the same shade of brown. He has a rather grim look on his face and stands in an almost fully neutral position, except for his right lower arm which is raised upwards, almost like it’s gripping his belt.

The Aerial Net Trap is basically a large dark green backpack, carrying a black arm with grips on it which can slingshot the net (when loaded obviously) away when the small black lever on the bottom of the pack is pressed. Two pairs of large clamps stick out on the left side of the pack, so Grant can carry the net on his back by storing it between these. On the front side a frame of grey straps sticks out so the launcher can be attached to the figure. The net consists of two long grey sticks with small hooks on each end, and a black net between them. It can be loaded on the launcher by placing the sticks between the grips of the pack’s arm. The smart bomb is basically a thick grey tube with several protrusions sticking out, adorned with a typical ‘radioactivity danger’ logo (not painted in a different colour). Grant can hold it by gripping either one of his hands on the underside of the bomb.

The Stegosaurus hatchling is posed in an walking stance, with its right front leg raised upwards as if taking a step. Its head is posed as if the creature is looking at something to the left of him. He has very small dark green plates on his back, and no tail spikes like adult Stegosaurs have. Its predominant colour is light green: its entire body sports this colour, while its underside has some yellow mixed in. The beastie has dark green spots on his back and tail on both sides of his plates, and an additional spot on his nose. He has black eyes, relatively small for his size. A black JP logo is found on the upper left hind leg.

Analysis: there's not much new stuff in this figure, since it's basically JPS1 Grant with a different coloured outfit and a new hatchling. His new colours are a little bland, the designers could have gone with something more appealing than a dull white shirt and blue pants. They also tweaked Grant's face a bit, though you would hardly notice. The point of retooling the JPS1 figures for JPS2 was so they would resemble the actors more, but this Grant figure doesn't look much more like Sam Neill than his JPS1 counterpart does.

No modifications have been made to the aerial net trap or the smart bomb, they are identical in shape, size and colour to the gadgets that came with the previous Alan Grant figure. The net trap thus has the same ups and downs as it did before (I refer to my review of JPS1 Alan Grant for further details).

The only thing that really stands out in this set is the Stegosaurus hatchling, which fortunately does not disappoint. It's a very cute little creature, and because of his big eyes, tiny plates, the lack of tail spikes and a small plump body it's a obvious baby dinosaur. It is a great addition to the Jps1 Stegosaurus figure, due to its very similar paint job. Interestingly enough, its plates are shaped in a more anatomically correct fashion than the plates of its mother.

Playability: the same as JPS1 Alan Grant. This new Alan has the same range of poseable body parts. The Stegosaurus has no moveable parts of any kind, as is usual for hatchling figures. The Aerial Net Trap works the same way (as good, or as bas, judge for yourself) as ever. Therefore, the word of caution remains: the net easily gets entangled with other toys and is thus prone to damage. So if you want to keep it intact, go easy on it.

Realism: despite the designers' intentions, this figure looks less like the Alan Grant in the movie than the JPS1 figure did. The new outfit isn't something Grant wore in the movie (except for the iconic head). And though his facial features have been changed a bit, it's still hard to look at them and think 'yeah, that's Sam Neill'. Alan’s weaponry wasn’t like anything seen in the movie, it’s just accessories to give the figure some action features. Though Stegosaurus wasn't featured in the first movie, it's good to see this hatchling resembling the adult sculpt, so a level of consistency is added to the line.

Repaint: as mentioned, this is a repainted (and in case of the head sculpt, retooled) JPS1 Alan Grant, with a reused Aerial Net Trap and smart bomb. The only real new thing in this set is the baby Stegosaurus. Neither Grant nor the hatchling would be repainted again, but the Aerial Net Trap would. It was repainted for both the TLW exclusive Dino Tracker Set and the JP III exclusive Dinosaur Tracking Set, featuring different colours and a redesigned launching system (which was unfortunately inferior to the one used for this figure). In both cases it would come with a repainted smart bomb.

Overall rating: 6/10. This figure doesn't add much to the line, except a less interesting colour scheme and more of the same weaponry. The only reason you would want this set (other than being a completist like myself) is the new hatchling, which is its great redeeming feature since it's so cute and cuddly while staying consistent with the JPS1 Stegosaurus. This figure in nowhere near as common as JPS1 Alan Grant, though it's not really rare. Its release was most likely limited to the North American continent, so for other territories it can be harder to locate. Ebay is your best bet, usually for relatively low prices, since this figure isn't in great demand for obvious reasons.