Jungle Fighting
Jack Tenrec
Jungle Fighting Jack Tenrec
In 1993, after the Dino-Riders and subsequent Smithsonian Institution lines ended,
Tyco manufactured a toy line for Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, originally a comic book
series. The line wasn’t particularly successful and there were only a few vehicles
and figures made. Tyco again found itself in a position to capitalize on its inventory
of left over dinosaur toys from the Dino-Riders and Smithsonian lines. Four dinosaurs
were released – Triceratops, Kentrosaurus, Deinonychus and Quetzalcoatlus. The dinosaurs
were identical and had the exact same colors as the Dino-Riders line.
Unlike the Smithsonian line, these dinosaurs came equipped with weapons and gear
similar to theDino-Riders line and even had their own new brain boxes. The weapons
that were included with the dinosaurs only contained a few pieces and seemed more
like an afterthought rather than a full-blown attempt to create a cool toy. Nonetheless,
the pieces, although slightly out of sync with the futuristic theme of Dino-Riders,
do make a nice addition to the Dino-Riders collection. Of all of them, the Triceratops
was probably the coolest. It had a catapult attached by the infamous Dino-Riders
bellyband that was supposed to launch a huge gray boulder on unsuspecting victims.
The Kentrosaurus had an apparatus with a swinging hammer attached to it. The Deinonychus
was outfitted with purple gear, including ankle spikes. The Quetzalcoatlus actually
used the original mold for the Dino-Riders Pterodactyl and Tyco probably decided
to call it a Quetzalcoatlus to keep more in tune with the scientifically accurate
Smithsonian line. The Quetzalcoatlus was outfitted with two missiles that it could
drop from the sky and was also supposed to function as some type of messenger. Rounding
out the line were six human figures and three vehicles. The back of the toys depicted
a “Jack’s Garage” playset and a role playing toy gun that were never actually released.