The new LEGO Jurassic World Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex (76968) is the largest set the theme has had coming in at 3,145 pieces while retailing for $249.99.
Minifigures
There are two minifigures in the set, Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler who are in their Badlands outfits at the beginning of Jurassic Park. Alan has on a red patterned shirt with tan pants. His double-sided head shows a smile on one side and him wearing sunglasses on the other. His accessory is the Velociraptor claw that he uses to scare the kid. I wish LEGO used a black piece instead of a tan one.
Ellie is in her blue outfit which has a watch pouch on the back of the torso. Her double-sided head also shows her with a smile on one side and wearing sunglasses with a shocked expression on the other. Her accessory is just a shovel.
Build
The Tyrannosaurus rex is in a 1:12 scale and measures 41.5 inches long and 13 inches high. The whole skeleton is supported by the rocky base as well as the support beams which kind of look out of place but they do the job.
The base itself has three rocky sections which are detailed with different shading and grassy spots. The pillars go directly into the larger rocks and the designer did a good job in integrating the two.
There are Easter eggs hidden in the rocks such as some transparent-orange bricks showing a mosquito trapped in amber as well as a printed Tyrannosaurus skull tile.
The T.rex toes fit between the spots but you have to angle them correctly for them to be snug. The legs are rigid so once you have them in place, they aren’t moving.
At the hips, the legs are slotted in using ball joints and this gives the impression of having a larger section of the skeleton aside from the head.
The pubis bone is created right beneath the hips with the ischium using a rubber spike piece.
At the top of the hip, there is a whole row of vertebrae that goes from the back of the head to the tail. LEGO pretty much used curve and slope pieces to achieve the look.
The tail has four smaller sections that are connected together using some pins. They are build in a similar fashion in descending size. Since the sections are on pins, they can easily swing left and right while also having some sturdiness.
Head back towards the front of the skeleton, the rib area has another Easter egg hidden item which you can’t really access after you built the area. There is actually a frog driving the Tyrannosaurus which is a reference to the frog DNA to fill in the dinosaur gene sequence gaps.
The ribcage itself is pretty standard looking using a number of sections while increasing in size as we get closer to the arms.
Right in front of the ribs is the scapulae and the arms. The bone structure is connected at the front using a number of ball joints. The little arms also have ball joints to give them some movement.
For the upper neck area, there are some new joints made to handle the weight of the head. These joints allow the head to bend and rotate simultaneously and is kind of satisfying to spin it around without being afraid of it falling off.
If the Tyrannosaurus head looks familiar, that is because it was pretty much inspired by the Dinosaur Fossils: T. rex Skull (76964). LEGO Designer Benjamin Liboriussen, as a passion project, started building a body from the previous skull which eventually became this set.
The head has some slight changes from the previous version. The top part of the skull is pretty much the same as before but the jaw has been upgraded to have smoother movement on it and is slightly larger than before. With this new change, the jaw can now open wider as well.
Lastly, we have the minifigure display stand which can be slotted in the front between the pillars. There’s a printed plaque with the details of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The specimen number on the bottom lists it as LIH23-5987 which is another Easter egg. LIH23 is the location and year of when the set was developed, LEGO Innovation House 2023. 5987 is a reference to the LEGO Adventurers Dino Research Compound (5987), the first appearance of a T.Rex mold.
Next to the plaque is a little plot of land where Alan and Ellie are digging up a skeleton.
Results
Overall the LEGO Jurassic World Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex (76968) is a great looking set and is highly detailed even though it’s mostly bones. The pillars used to stabilize the skeleton are somewhat of a distraction but are need to keep it upright especially with the heavy head. The minifigure selection of Alan and Ellie are on point and their exclusiveness is something that is welcomed in a set this size. Speaking of size, you’ll need a fairly big area to display it as it is very long.
Thank you to LEGO for sending in this set for me to review. The content above represents my own opinion and not the company. Review sets sent in does not guarantee a positive review.
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