TMNT Paleo Patrol Tricera-Tank
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Ah, my fourth review for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Paleo Patrol toys. If you missed them, I already covered
the figures, the Paleo Patrol
vehicles and the Dino Runners earlier. Overall I've been pretty happy with the
toys. But the subject of thus review is the only Paleo Patrol toy that isn't new: the Tricera-Tank. This slightly
altered and repainted version of the original Battle Shell is the final Paleo Patrol toy that was released earlier this year.
Now they question is whether it is worth shelling out another $20 for it.
Packaging - 5/10The Tricera-Tank is packaged in a large box, about sixteen inches by ten, It is just big enough to fit the fully assembled vehicle. Of course, the vehicle isn't quite fully assembled. While the assembly is minor, a few items have to be attached, namely the triceratops skull above the windshield and the three skulls that rest on the back of the roof. Unlike the other, recent vehicles, the Tricera-Tank's box has no window. I'm not sure if this is because such a large window would weaken the box, if they felt the vehicle was too large to display inside the box or if they just didn't fell like adding one. Of course there is a large photo of the toy on the front, side and top panels. (Interesting note: if you look carefully, you will notice that they actually recycled the same image for all the panels. They just flipped the image when they wanted it to face in the other direction.) The back panel has photos of the additional accessories, small photos of some of the other Paleo Patrol toys and a short, uninformative write up about the Tricera-Tank. Like the Dino Runners, the Dino Bike and Dino Capture, the packaging for the Tricera-Tank is a mix of the new style packaging graphics (the top stripe and backgrounds) and the stone textured, Paleo Patrol graphics. And once again, I have to say that I don't understand why they didn't just use one style or the other. The mix looks rather silly.
Sculpting - 5/10For the most part, the Tricera-Tank is a direct reuse of the Battle Shell molds with some minor decorative touches added. The body, wheels roof and interior remain unchanged. While it is certainly the best armored truck toy I've seen (mostly by virtue of being the only armored truck toy I have seen) the proportions could use some work. The chassis and front end seem far too large in comparison to the body. The whole vehicle should be wider as well. This becomes particularly apparent when you place two figures in the front seats. It is possible, but a tight fit. The interior is also quite under whelming. There is a near complete lack of detail, just four benches for seats and some texturing for the floor. It is also just poorly designed. While you can fit two figures into the front as I mentioned. There isn't a full front seat. What is there is a simple bench, wide enough for one figure and centered in the middle of the vehicle. There are a handful of changes that have been made from the original Battle Shell. The obvious one is huge triceratops skull mounted over the windshield. While I was inclined to say that they went overboard with the size when I first saw images of the Tricera-Tank, once I had it in hand I realized that its size helps to distract from the otherwise overwhelming similarities to the Battle Shell. There is a similar decorative cover on the back of the roof with three smaller skulls. It does help to carry the theme across the vehicle. But sculpting lacks the sharpness in the details that the rest of the vehicle has. The missile launchers along the sides have been replaced with two cages to store captured dinosaurs. There are what appears to be large dinosaur claws mounted on both front fenders which again help to mask the Battle Shell mold. Finally, the small tank that hung off of the passenger door of the Battle Shell and S.W.A.T. repaint has been removed. The changes do quite a bit to disguise the reused vehicle mold, though their overall effectiveness is obviously limited. But in the end the vehicle still seems too modern to be used in a prehistoric theme.
Paint - 5/10The paint work on the body of the Tricera-Tank is a nicely executed camouflage. The lower half is a solid tan color which transitions to a darker green with tan lines. It looks nice and hides the thoroughly modern nature of the sculpt. Unfortunately, once you get past the paint on the body, you start to see how little effort was put into painting any of the details. The decorative covers on the roof use only two or three colors. But many areas like the wheel rims, the talons over the tires and the entire interior are unpainted. There is also a big paint splotch on the hood of my Tricera-Tank. At least it isn't too noticeable due to the camouflage pattern. There are also about a dozen stickers that are pre applied. They do add quite a bit of detail, but their application is pretty sloppy. Your average kid could apply them just as well.
Accessories - 4/10The Tricera-Tank doesn't have much for accessories. Since the missile launchers from the original Battle Shell were removed in favor of cages, there was no reason to include any missiles. But, of course cages are rather pointless if there is nothing to put in them. So the Tricera-Tank includes five little items to "capture." The items include a small dinosaur, a trilobite shell, a nest of eggs, a skull and a venus fly trap style plant. The dinosaur I can understand. But how hard is it to capture items that don't move. And why would you need to store them in a cage?
Play Value - 3/10The Tricera-Tank has three play features: a working winch on the front, the cages and the ability to transport at least four figures. Okay, three features wouldn't be too bad. But with little to put into the cages and the extremely dull interior, two of those three features end up being mediocre at best. That leaves just the winch on the front. It has a small hook attached with a string. When pulled out, the string will automatically and immediately retract. When not in use the hook can be attached to the grill guard on the front. I actually like this feature. The only problem is that the short string, only about eight inches long, is quite limiting.
Value - 5/10The Tricera-Tank sells for $20 in most stores. Just based on its size, it is somewhat surprising that it doesn't sell for more. For those who don't already have the Battle Shell or who are just fans of the Paleo Patrol/prehistoric theme, it is a nice vehicle and worth picking up. But for those who already have the Battle Shell, the Tricera-Tank doesn't have much to offer that would make it worth buying.
Happy Hunting:The Tricera-Tank has been shipping since the beginning of the year. Locally I have seen it at Toys R Us, Target and Walmart stores. It is also available online from several web sites including Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Target.com. Finding it should not be too difficult.
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