Snap Squad | Velociraptor Blue

02.19.2020 – There are collectibles out in the wild that are sometimes underrated or unnoticed and then there are those with niche interest. Mattel’s Snap Squad is one of those rare occurrences that merge with interest with dinosaurs and super deformed adorable aesthetics that take collecting to the simpler times because they’re fun. Snap Squad is a range of collectible dinosaurs based from their appearances in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World films that were super deformed or in Japanese slang “Chibi” having an enormous head with a tiny body and one of them is the Velociraptor named Blue as its featured figure!

For those who have seen the resurgence of the interest with dinosaurs through the Jurassic World films it translates not only through box office records on earning ticket sales, but also through the merchandise tie-ins from action figures by Mattel to McDonald’s exclusive US market release of collectible toys.

Even though the last film namely Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was the most recent continuation of the Jurassic Park franchise in 2018 Mattel who still have the licence right to produce the toys still churn out the action figures they just change the packaging of the product and viola a new line has been reintroduced to keep the interest of dinosaurs moving.

But of course they have to think of something new to the collector market that would also keep interest to the greater mainstream namely the kids. The Snap Squad range of super deformed dinosaurs started showing in retail in June 2019 and making it to the Asian Market between September-November 2019.

The reception might not be as big as the time the films are in theatres, but you’ll know fans when they caught up they scoop things up capturing what would be the brand’s market interest with a new concept about the dinosaurs in this new range of figures.















Velociraptor Blue

In the first wave release of the Snap Squad there are twelve dinosaur figures which include the Velociraptor named Blue, the survivor from Owen Grady’s Raptor Pack in the first film. She was also the hero that saved the main cast from the Indoraptor from the second film and this figure was a definite favorite among Jurassic Fans.

Like all Snap Squad dinosaur characters they are packaged in an open card and the only thing that holds them are zip ties, which is an immediate danger due to being a victim of theft in some stores where you’ll find an empty card. Mattel should have used a bubble to hold the figure as to secure the product from being separated.

Blue is depicted like from the figure’s onscreen appearance, but super deformed version with an enormous head with a tiny adorable body. The Velociraptor colored in dargrey where a blue stripe running from the raptor’s back hence the name given by Owen as his favorte pet in the pack.













Snapping to Anything

The gimmick of the Snap Squad lies in the ‘snapping’ ability where the head design have a spring build to ‘bite’ anything from holding a pen or pencil to clipping it to your bag’s zipper or pretend to bite your finger as what it is designed for.

When it pretends to bite your finger it appears like its dangling as it flails when you try to shake it off also part of the design of the figure not having tight joints on the arms, tail, and legs. This is why the Snap Squad figures have found its niche popularity not just a collectible figure, but its use into biting on to things was its main design and gimmick for the reason toy photographers gravitate into picking them up.

Their aesthetics used in photography works too since cuteness sell and it finds interests why super deformed figures are popular, which depends of the execution and with cute dinosaurs with snapping gimmick it makes sense why they are popular.





Overall Velociraptor Blue is one of the favorites in the Snap Squad range of super deformed dinosaurs from Mattel, which is also the character you’ll find in the product logo design besides being the raptor that kicked the Indoraptor’s butt in the recent Jurassic World film Fallen Kingdom.

Though the figure is a hit the packaging needs to be secured as that won’t hold the toy properly. The other concern is price point as not retail pricing is the same in countries importing this, but the rest of the product is a hit with the concept and design you’d want your own Velociraptor Blue dangling from your shoelaces for sure!

Velociraptor Blue is part of the Snap Squad ranger of super deformed dinosaurs from Mattel, which retails in the Philippines for ₱499.75 Pesos [$14.86 AUD | $9.86 USD**] and distributed locally by Richwell Club!

** - Currency Converter via Google.com