Mattel Jurassic World Legacy Collection Dr. Sarah Harding & Stegosaurus Action Figures Mattel, 2022
Day #2,683: February 15, 2024
Dr. Sarah Harding & Stegosaurus Set Two Stegos, One Julianne Moore
Jurassic World Target Exclusive
Item No.: Asst. HLN49 No. HTK48 Manufacturer:Mattel Includes:n/a Action Feature:Pull tab to reveal app-scannable DNA on baby, press plate to activate thagomizer on parent Retail:$39.99 (or less on sale recently) Availability:July 2022 Other: Target Exclusive
I got this Dr. Sarah Harding & Stegosaurus Set at Target last Christmas for about $11. It wasn't even clearance - the sale prices on a bunch of in-stock items bounced up and down all season, and $11 for Maude Lebowski herself and a couple of dinosaurs was too good of a deal to pass up. Sarah Harding is exclusive to this set, as is this particular baby Stegosaurus mold. The adult Stegosaurus mold was a reuse from the first wave of toys from the Fallen Kingdom movie, with new colors. They were all packaged in a fancy box that obscures what you actually get inside, which may be why these were still in stock 18 months later in some stores.
This is a pretty good set. You get a human that's about a $8 toy, a baby that's also about a $8 toy, and the rest is the big stegosaurus... and $24 might be on the high side for an old mold. But on clearance, or a sale? This set is a treat. It's worth noting there are newer adult Stegosaurus molds, and a Hammond baby is also available - but from where I sit, this was $11 and I don't prize articulation enough to pay a premium for dinosaur toys with knees. This is absolutely good enough to make me happy, and Mattel's Jurassic kiddo offerings are, on the whole, pretty satisfying in the non-raptor non-t-rex variety.
At 14-inches long, the adult Stegosaurus - even for a repaint - is impressive. When you look at other action figure lines, you don't see a lot of creatures or vehicles with this level of detail, or action mechanisms, at this size for this price. The limbs and head are all more or less ball-jointed, giving them some degree of articulation for dioramas but not ankles or knees. Maybe it's just me being old, but having grown up with largely unjointed dinosaur toys until Dino-Riders or Zoids and Robo-Strux, this seems like quite the upgrade. The dinosaur makes a decent toy because one of her plates activates a swinging tail attack, with the bony, painted, and flexible spikes knocking over anything they hit. Within reason. She more or less matches the appearances in The Lost World, but the colors are much more saturated. While the plates in the movie seemed a little brown, these ones are not quite vibrant, but very red. The green to lighter green skin patterns look great, and I'm also keen on the eye deco. I have no doubt with a higher budget, you could achieve something more incredible - but this is very good for what it aspires to be. Also she has a plate with a hidden DNA strand sticker in it, if you're into that.
Her baby i similar, but simple with rotating legs, a moving neck, and a swivel tail. It's very cute with giant eyes and a stubbly little tail, and you can get some personality out of it with the head movements. The legs don't do much since you'll probably want all four legs on the ground at all times. I don't believe this particular mold has yet to see individual packaged release, but if it did it would probably be in that roughly $8 assortment and would be perfectly nice. The scale textures are great, the plates feel sturdy, but I always do worry about those DNA sliders snapping off in the hands of rough kids. I'll keep an eye on Goodwill in case they ever show up. Sadly, the plates on the neck and tail are not painted, but you can see red tips on the back decorated nicely.
Rounding out the set is Sarah Harding, who had a later-release Kenner figure back in the 1990s. This one has rolled up sleeves and a camera, with a decent Julianne Moore likeness. It's not perfect, but it's recognizably her with decent eye paint and exaggerated - but recognizable - hair color. She has articulation like many of the earlier human figures, with ball-jointed knees, hips, shoulders, and elbows - nothing too fancy. In terms of proportions her head seems a little small and her hands are a little big, which is not uncommon for kid-friendly figures that interact with accessories. Since she wears her camera, smaller hands or a bigger head probably wouldn't be the worst change when they do the next one. It's a pretty decent kid-scale figure that has better-than-expected articulation for the era we're presently in. An equivalent Hasbro figure might have similar articulation at a slightly higher price, while Spin Master's DC figures are more or less the same basic build.
I assume it's vexing when an exclusive set comes out with a repaint of a toy you have and one or two new figures. Goodness knows that was how a lot of Star Wars sets were done over the years - but at least the deco on the big stegosaurus is unique and the mechanism is fun to use. The other two smaller toys are mostly there to be posed and look neat, but hey, it builds out a moment in The Lost World and it's nice to have vibrant colors on a dinosaur. If it's still cheap and on sale, run to the store to get it. At $30 or under, I feel like I'm stealing, and I got this for under $12.
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