We don’t cover Mattel products very often here at AIPT. That’s not due to any bias against them. It just happens that one of the only folks we have who consistently covers toy news (me) has chained themselves to the albatross that is the current state of Hasbro’s Star Wars and Marvel Legends products.
Side Note: If you’re interested in covering Mattel products for AIPT, please consider applying to join our team.
Today, however, Mattel Creations began a crowdfunding campaign that could not be ignored — both for its inherent awesomeness and the stark contrast it displays between Mattel’s crowdfunded offerings and Hasbro’s.
Behold, the famed Jurassic Park Entrance Gates. The project is officially called “Jurassic World: The Gates,” but you get the idea.
This beautiful diorama piece comes with a boatload of features and accessories:
- Motorized doors that can also be opened/closed manually.
- Sound features that play the Jurassic Park theme, a door opening effect, and ambient jungle noises.
- Electronic flickering torch lights.
- A 3.75″ scale Hammond Collection Ford Explorer #5, which was one of the only vehicles that came out unscathed from the first Jurassic Park film.
All of that can be yours for $250 if the project reaches 5,000 backers/units sold by July 26, 2023 at 11:59 PM PT. Standard shipping for me in the southeastern states winds up being $31.95. After adding in tax, the grand total is a little over $307.
Oh, and if the project funds by July 11, then all backers will also receive six Jurassic Park paddock signs.
Before we dive in on the stretch goals, let’s compare this to Hasbro’s recently failed Engine of Vengeance crowdfunding campaign. While the car and figure were undoubtedly cool, they weren’t the iconic/classic versions that most folks envision when they think of Ghostrider. The base cost was also $350, which came with significantly higher tax and shipping costs.
It should be noted that shipping was free for Pulse members, but there aren’t a lot of folks shelling out $50 for that program these days.
Meanwhile, $100 less gets you an iconic diorama piece with electronic lights…AND sound…AND movement. No, the JP Ford Explorer isn’t as nice as the Engine of Vengeance (nor the same scale), but it’s the side offering — and a pretty great one, too.
Most importantly, it will only take 5,000 backers/units sold to fund this project compared to 9,000 for the Engine of Vengeance.
In addition to being an absurdly high number for the HasLab campaign, 9,000 backers/units put the Engine of Vengeance’s stretch goals completely out of reach. In fact, getting to the first one, a pretty meh figure of Madelyn Pryor, required 10,000 backers/units. Considering that the campaign barely pulled in 5,000 backers/units total, there wasn’t a chance in hell (heh) that Daimon Hellstrom (11,000 backers/units) or Mephisto (12,000 backers/units) would ever get made.
Meanwhile, 10,000 backers will unlock all three of the Jurassic Park Gate stretch goal tiers. Let’s take a look at those now.
At 6,000 backers/units sold, everyone receives two sets of 9″ x 14.8″ enclosure fences (with working/blinking warning lights) along with a 3.75″ scale Hammond Collection figure of Tim after being electrocuted.
At 8,000 backers/units sold, everyone receives a gorgeous Hammond Collection “Buck” T-Rex, which ended up terrorizing San Diego in the final act of The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
At 10,000 backers/unit sold, everyone receives a Hammond Collection figure of Lex and the ill-fated goat from the first film, which has a detachable hind leg.
Even if you believe that the Engine of Vengeance campaign’s base offering is comparable to this one, there’s no comparison between the stretch goals — especially when you include that fantastic T-Rex.
As for where my money’s going, it may surprise folks to learn that a dinosaur lover like me has never bought a Jurassic Park figure. I’m more inclined to spend my money on Creative Beast Studio’s Beasts of the Mesozoic line. I’m also still miffed at Mattel for allegedly shutting down the sub-licensed Dino-Riders line reboot a few years ago. I get why they had to from a business standpoint. Just because Mattel owns the Dino-Riders license doesn’t mean they can use Jurassic Park tooling to create it Also, doing so could’ve caused them to lose the JP license altogether.
That doesn’t mean I can’t be grumpy about it, though.
But with the upcoming Cyberzoic toyline (also from Creative Beast Studios), my need for armored dinos will be met — along with some incredible dragons! What this Child of the ’90s still needs, however, is a diorama from one of the most iconic movie sets/scenes in history. This definitely fits that bill and then some. It’s so cool, in fact, that I might even start buying some Jurassic Park toys for myself my newborn son to play with.
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