I don't think people really appreciate how weird Batman made the 1990s. Kenner designers succeeded in pitching the concept that, to sell Batman toys, he needed a gimmick - "all of those wonderful toys," specifically. Other toy lines followed suit with big backpacks, launching rockets, and claw weapons - Jurassic Park could not escape so we've got multiple Ian Malcolm figures... of which this is the most ridiculous. I bought this in the late 1990s, finally opened it up in April of 2015, and the claw weapon broke open within 30 seconds. Amazing. It needed to be reassembled, but that was certainly a fine example of why delayed gratification just plain does not work.
Since Jeff Goldblum was a decent draw in the 1990s he got a decent share of toys, many of which actually look vaguely like him. Were this 5-inch figure to have been revealed to be from some other, random line you probably wouldn't be surprised as Ian Malcolm never wore a Devo costume with black gloves and a boot with a knife in it. I sure as heck don't recall snap-on armor in the movies, plus rarely took his glasses off - not never, but rarely. The head sculpt could probably be argued to be pretty much anybody, particularly when you compare it to other Malcolm figures that looked a bit better. This head could just as easily have been a Superman figure, and the "JP" credentials are merely painted on and aren't part of a sculpted tag. Clearly Kenner was thinking ahead to a future of additional repaints, which is smart given that some lines like Congo and Robin Hood: Price of Thieves were built on the back of other licensed toy lines.
The sculpting here is.... well, just look at it. This figure could be just about anybody, and his coloration looks more like a recent Drag Strip toy from Transformers in terms of coloring. He has no problems standing or sitting - even with his spring-loaded claw weapon - so it's a solid toy if you can get past that whole "broke right out of the package" thing. The proportions are certainly creative, and seeing what Kenner was doing in that era puts this figure in focus. Beast Wars was another line focusing on hybrid creatures, although those ones turned into robots. And also hit the clearance racks.
The Dino buddy is a T-Rex hatchling which looks a lot like the Omega T-Rex sold in this line, in that it's orange. He has the JP logo, white eyes, and a maroon streak running down his back - it's a cute little figure and he has no problems standing. It's neat, but I don't think it's particularly impressive.
In the context of the greater Jurassic Park line, wholly-original Kenner-drafted characters were no big surprise - and neither were deluxe costumes for movie characters that had nothing to do with the movie. This one departs from the kind of fashion of the times and if you told me this came off a pitch of an abandoned syndicated TV show, I'd believe you. After all, that was the impetus behind the ALIENS line. Regardless of origin, this is a figure that you probably shouldn't buy unless you're trying to complete a set. It's just too friggin' weird and colorful, and not in the pleasant way the dinosaurs are. The only other human sold on an individual card for this particular line was a Tembo in a similarly insane costume.
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