Needless to say, Jurassic Park was a huge hit in 1993, crushing box office records. Many companies were riding on the wave of Spielberg’s success by releasing a wide assortment of toys, collectibles, games and much more. One of the companies that hit the home run with their merchandising was Kenner.
Kenner started production on their 1993 toy line even before the script of the film was finalized, resulting in dinosaurs and action figures resembling nothing like their counterparts on the silver screen. But with their second Jurassic Park toy line in 1994 – dubbed series II – they tried to set things straight by retooling action figures and adding more dinosaurs to continu their winning streak. It’s unknown why but not all toys that were announced in toy vendor brochures or printed on card backs were actually released. Did interest in the Jurassic Park toys dropped after the movie’s release? Were vendors reluctant to stock up on toys that were not inspired by the film? We’ll never know. We do have evidence of the toys that never made it to the toy shelves.
Scrap Davis
One of the Evil Raiders that got away. Scrap Davis was going to be one of the non-movie inspired figures. He would have come with a new Dimetrodon hatchling and a mechanical arm that could be swapped out for a spring-loaded launcher.
Scutosaurus, Estemmenosuchus and Ornithosuchus
These prehistoric weirdos were never released in 1994 but got a second chance in 1997 for Kenner’s The Lost World toy line, albeit in different colors.
Gulper T-Rex
Before the Bull T-Rex from Kenner’s 1997 The Lost World line, there was… Gulper T-Rex! Just like the Bull T-Rex could it swallow small dinosaurs and be retrieved through an opening in the belly.
Jungle Explorer and Bush Devil Tracker
The popular vehicles from the 1993 line were supposed to be re-released but painted in jungle colors.
Which of these toys would you have loved to buy back in they day? Leave a comment below!
Could the reason main reason why these toys got cancelled is because they’d be too expensive to sell?
I think it could have been that, or the popularity of the line was starting to go away after the movie was out of theaters. Most toy companies back then (and probably still today) would plan a year or two in advance so in the event the line they were putting out was a hit, they’d have new products prototyped and ready to go into full production. So if the line was starting to slow down, they might have already paid for steel tooling to be made for those 3 dinosaurs that ended up getting released later on, and that Gulper T-Rex but not Scraps Davis. Scraps might not have made it past the painted prototype phase so he made it to the photo shoot when they were taking pictures for the cardback, but not actually into a steel mold. If they spent THOUSANDS of dollars to cut the steel molds, odds are you will see them at some point and Kenner did this a LOT during the 80’s and 90s.
What’s amazing to me is not that some planned Kenner toys were never released in the ’90s … but that Hasbro has not only been a continuous source of new toys for their line (including five huge sauropods), but they’ve been very successful with dinosaurs and gadgets and vehicles that were never on the big screen. Colossal versions of six or seven theropods (the Allosaurus is just coming out now)? Gimme. Jeff Golblum with a jetpack? Sure! Einiosaurus with a dino-capture truck? Yaaasss! Also: I’m not complaining.