It’s that time of year again – when Prime Time Toys ambushes the hobby with a completely unexpected blaster. 2022 surprises us with the Jurassic Pro at a US $65 price point.
The packaging leans into the license, with Jurassic World Domain logos and theming tweaking the typical Adventure Force Tactical Strike packaging.
The Stats
The Jurassic Pro is a prop duplicate ( proplicate? ) of the semi-automatic tranquilizer guns used by the Jurassic World Park Rangers in the recent, Jurassic World and later, movies. The Movie props themselves were designed for the movie, per the Jurassic Props featurette. You can find several screencaps of it in action at the Jurassic Park Wiki.
In the box, we find the blaster itself, a removable stock, a two-part sight, an optional barrel extension, a ‘taser’ muzzle brake, a screw-in loading handle, a 12 round half-dart ammo clip, a half-dart ammo clip adapter, a 12 round full-length magazine, and 12 of each length Adventure Force Pro darts. Let’s start with the accessories before getting to the blaster.
The barrel extension has a nice twist lock that keeps it solidly in place with very little wiggle. The inner diameter is large enough that barrel drag should not be an issue. Similarly, there’s plenty of room for an extended metal barrel. The muzzle brake is purely a decorative piece, unlike previous pro blasters. Sadly, we won’t be firing Mega or Rival rounds out of this muzzle. The muzzle friction fits snugly but not permanently.
The half-length and adapter are the same as we’ve seen with other blasters while the full-length has a slanted design mimicking the movie design. Aside from that, there isn’t much new or unexpected here other than the lingering question about why continue with both dart types.
The loading handle is a nice, chunky handle with plenty of grip texture. On top of that, it attaches to either side of the blaster with a robust threaded rod into a set metal nut. Ambidextrous, removable, and replaceable with a top slide? Check.
The stock is, if nothing else, novel. The design mimics the air bottle stock of the movie prop with some liberties taken that line up nicely with the blaster design and help make it clear this is a toy. The majority of the stock is made with translucent amber plastic, braced with grey. There’s even a clever nod to the series origin – a printed slide of a mosquito floats in the center of the bottle. The stock inserts deep into the handle, making it VERY stable. The length is decent – just under 28 cm/11″. I’m just under 6′ and found it a good size for me and the top of the stock was an acceptably comfortable cheek rest.
The larger rear sight resembles a peep sight without the lense. It lines up nicely with the smaller flip-up sight and appears to be useful at typical blaster ranges.
This leaves us with the core of the blaster. This is a much bigger piece than the initial pictures suggested. I expect this is more in keeping with mimicking the prop design than any mechanical need for the blaster. There are some concerns with the grip and trigger, both in size and shape. I didn’t find it to be as uncomfortable as it looked like it might be. The squared-off bit above the grip didn’t bite at all, though as with all things ergonomic, hand size will play a factor. DZ-style rails cover nearly the entire length of the back and a short bit where a bipod might be useful. There’s also a prime reset release embedded in the top rail – though not where the documentation says it should be.
The prime has been improved to not slide around in the slop space between full and half-dart sizes. There should be no surprise the prime is stout, roughly like the Aeon Pro. As with all Pro blasters, there is a push-through safety lock.
One of the more surprising things for me was the decoration. The entirety of the leaf-litter brushstroke and Jurassic World logo is not a sticker as we would expect for the number of colors and size. The edges are very sharp and precise and there is no overspray or other signs of paint. Whatever this new technique is, it provides a sharp, fairly detailed illustration of a kind we have not seen on a blaster before.
Internals
Internally, the Jurassic Pro resembles a magazine-fed Dart Zone Pro Mk II that had children with an Aeon Pro. It features a slightly oval plunger tube that is roughly the same volume as the Aeon Pro. From there, the breach and metal barrel mimic the Aeon. The yellow cap, seen below, clips rigidly into place over the end of the plunger tube, making its removal difficult. Sadly, the grey cap on the back that looked like it might provide quick spring change access is simply a cover piece. The trigger and safety are housed in an internal clamshell that also acts as the grip plate and stock receptacle. This feels like a sturdier or thicker plastic.
Performance
Honestly, there’s not a lot to write about here. This blaster performs as expected, in line with its Pro line siblings. I had an average of 135 FPS with Full-length and 145 FPS with Half-length Adventure Force Pro darts. Larger test samples might provide additional data – I will leave that to reviewers who specialize in that topic.
Upgrade Potential and Concerns
The only immediate concern I see with upgrading this blaster is the plunger tube cap. Both the tube and the cap are made of sufficiently rigid plastic that I was unable to remove the cap without cutting it out. The plunger tube assembly has enough support that it shouldn’t be a problem, though it is a small challenge to reassemble, higher spring loads might require three hands. If you do decide to cut this, I recommend leaving the tube in the shell and gently scoring the tabs until they break. This should help prevent a spring explosion as there is a little bit of precompression.
The unjam system is somewhat dependent on the top rail, any “flattop” replacements may see challenges there.
The most obvious cosmetic modifications lie in two places. Altering the prime to a pump or top prime should be available in days. The other option I expect to see shortly is a replacement for the cosmetic grey cap to N-Strike Stock and Buffer Tube options.
Closing Thoughts
This is not a bad blaster. It has a couple of ergonomic issues that folks with larger than average hands may want to borrow one before purchasing. If you aren’t a Jurassic Park and/or bolt load fan, this might not be the blaster for you. In absence of the other members of the store shelf available Pro/Max lines, I feel no qualms about recommending this purchase to someone entering the competitive spaces in the Foam Sports hobbies. When that isn’t the case, it is a qualified recommendation – other blasters may better suit your ergonomic and budgetary considerations.
Ordering
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Don’t Take My Word for it…
Other reviews, as discovered.