Steven Spielberg’s thrilling adaptation of Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park came out at a time when new advances were being made in research about dinosaurs, causing the massive beasts to take on a newfound popularity in the early ’90s. More than 30 years later, fans of all ages are still impressed by the concept of the extinct creatures, as new documentaries roll out on a yearly basis to chronicle the fascinating animals, and with the new Jurassic World Rebirth set to hit theaters this summer. Whether you’re a fan of dinosaurs, the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchise, or just of LEGO itself, the all-new Jurassic World Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex is a must-have, as it’s not only a delight to build, but also results in an impressive display piece that needs to be seen to be believed.
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The set comes in at a massive 3,145 pieces, understandably putting it in line with an intended age level of 18+. The pieces are spread across 25 bags and can take a builder roughly nine hours to complete the project. Given the fairly limited color scheme of the set and the expected repetitiveness of putting a skeleton together, the project might come with some muted enthusiasm. Despite any apprehension, once you actually dig into the set and see how uniquely every single component comes together, those concerns will quickly be deflated.
The first four bags construct the base upon which the T-Rex will sit, which is essentially two, large rocky pieces that are connected to one another, as well as vertical columns that will make your T-Rex stand upright. Even though you’re just essentially building rocks, there are enough small tweaks in each foundation that their construction becomes more complex and unique than you’d initially think. Add in some key pieces of foliage in select places and you really do feel like you’re building something you might see in a museum exhibit. Adding the columns also helps you start to get a sense of the size of the project, while you can also feel the necessary heft of the foundation that will be necessary to support the large figure.
The next section of the build is the T-Rex’s spine, which is arguably one of the less exciting elements of the dinosaur. While it might not be visually exciting, there are enough variations throughout the build that it keeps you on your toes. This section also features one of the more exciting Easter eggs of the whole build. Early on in building the spine, there’s a hollow section in which a small frog is placed in front of a steering wheel. This serves as a reference to how, in the Jurassic Park films, scientists filled gaps in dinosaur DNA with frog DNA. This frog sits at the core of the entire build and is quickly covered up, so anyone looking at the constructed set would have to remove major chunks even to see the frog. This shows the love and care the designers had for Jurassic Park and the delight they aim to deliver to the builder.
As you construct the spine, you’ll find lots of odd ridges and spines, which accurately represent the T-Rex’s skeleton in the signature LEGO style. It can grow slightly repetitive, yet it never feels boring, as the progressing shift in size and scale up and down the spine offers slight tweaks to familiar pieces. One of the challenges with not just the spine, but many other larger pieces, is that since this isn’t a man-made structure with flat edges and sharp corners, it can be tricky to find the best way to physically handle the section you’re working on. As you’re pressing on one piece, you might accidentally pop off a piece in another region. This isn’t a major challenge, but something to be aware of as to not inadvertently set yourself back as pieces potentially pop off.
Bags 11 through 14 construct the T-Rex’s legs, as well as attach them to the hip joints and to the rocky foundation of the base structure. While nothing about the construction of the spine made us question the durability of the build, as you’re constructing the legs, you really get a sense of just how stable this T-Rex will be in its construction. As anyone who has seen fossils at a museum before, there are complex construction methods used to make sure bones are arranged properly and in the right place. Similarly, the leg joints are narrow where necessary, though the LEGO designers have found ways to join these pieces to keep the museum-like aesthetic without sacrificing the build’s integrity.
Bag 15 is when you’ll move on to the T-Rex’s rib cage, which helps exemplify just how engaging the build is, as well as how inventive the designers were in its construction. When you open these bags, you see a lot of pieces that look repetitive, though the inherent anatomical nature of a rib cage means it’s not actually redundant. Instead, LEGO will have you make four identical ribs, then create four more similar ribs that have an additional piece in a key joint to make the ribs longer, then more ribs similar to those, yet with another extra piece added to a key area. Approaching this section, it’s easy to assume you’ll be making a total of 20 almost-identical pieces, yet by placing key pieces to extend certain areas, you’ll get the necessary organic shape of a rib cage.
Bags 17 through 19 are focused on the T-Rex’s tail, so you’ll be replicating some of the building techniques used in constructing the spine. With it likely having been hours since you last worked on the spine, there’s still no sense of redundancy in the build, as the tail similarly repeats certain components yet makes slight tweaks in each section to create an organic shift in scale. Even though the set’s base, spine, ribs, and legs have given you some sense of the figure’s size, it’s not until you complete the tail that you truly get a sense of just how massive the set is. Luckily, its relatively small footprint with its base means you don’t need a large amount of real estate to put this figure together, yet you should surely be careful when you’re trying to walk near it so you don’t accidentally topple the whole T-Rex.
The T-Rex’s head starts to come together in bags 20 through 24, and even though we just know this is a LEGO set of an extinct animal, the jaws and teeth do showcase how ferocious the animal really was. Much like the rest of the fossil, the skull begins as a relatively impressionistic interpretation of the requisite bones, and it’s only until you come to the end of the build that the more identifying features take shape. Once the skull is attached to the neck, the jaw opens and there’s a range of motion, though the nature of LEGO means you might be apprehensive about fully exploring that range as to not damage the build. Still, between the skull and tail’s range of motion, you can set up quite the dynamic pose for the T-Rex.
The final back completes an informational plaque about the T-Rex, further replicating the idea that you yourself could come across this structure in a museum exhibit, while also including minifigs of Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler. They both sport their signature Jurassic Park gear, with their heads even offering up the chance to display their familiar sunglasses, or more neutral expressions. While we’re slightly disappointed that Grant doesn’t come with his iconic hat, it’s a small setback on otherwise adorable pieces. Making the build feel all the more complete is the fact that the plaque displaying information, as well as attaches to Grant and Sattler, can connect with the base of the T-Rex for one all-encompassing display as opposed to LEGO’s larger builds that come with detached, ancillary pieces.
Standing 13 inches tall and being 42 inches long, the completed T-Rex is truly a sight to behold. Not only was the build itself a delight at every step of the way, but displaying the figure is just as rewarding as building it, which isn’t always something that can be said about massive LEGO sets. Even at more than 3,000 pieces, only one piece was found to be missing, which is still an impressive success rate. Jurassic World Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex might come at a premium price point, but given how lengthy the build is, along with how impressive the figure looks, it’s one of the better investments you can make as a fan of the Jurassic World series or even just as a fan of LEGO’s signature take on recognizable relics. If you want to add it to your collection, you can pick one up right here at the LEGO Shop. It is now available to purchase in early access for LEGO Insiders priced at $249.99. Non-members will be able to purchase it on March 15th. LEGO provided the set for this review.
