New Jurassic Park LEGO Sets Are Breezy Builds With Cool Vehicles, Simple Dinos & Cute Easter Eggs
This year marks the 30th anniversary for "Jurassic Park," one of the greatest blockbusters ever made. Along with Mattel's recently announced collectible gates to accompany Mattel's line of "Jurassic Park" action figures, LEGO has delivered a new line of building brick playsets that bring together some of the most memorable moments from Steven Spielberg's modern classic.
Though LEGO has released "Jurassic Park" playsets before, most of them have actually been focused on "Jurassic World." Though there have been some larger collectible sets that recreate both the iconic theme park gates, as well as the show-stopping tyrannosaurus rex breakout scene, many famous sequences from the original movie hadn't actually been given their due diligence. But that changes with the new "Jurassic Park" LEGO sets, featuring the titular theme park's instantly recognizable Ford Explorer and Jeep Wrangler vehicles, a handful of dinosaurs, and even a few cheeky Easter eggs. LEGO sent over a few of the new sets for me to piece together, so let's take a closer look below.
'Ah, no wonder you're extinct'
First up, we've got a LEGO set with dinosaur DNA thief and computer expert Dennis Nedry. You know anybody who can network eight connection machines and debug two million lines for what he bid for this job? 'Cause if you can, I'd love to see them try. Nedry's LEGO minifigure comes with a head featuring either a soaking wet facial expression from the tropical storm downpour hitting Isla Nublar or the venomous tar shot at him by the dilophosaurus (also included in the playset with a jaw that can be opened and closed).
Ethan Anderton
The best part of this "Dilophosaurus Ambush" playset (available for just $19.99) is the "Jurassic Park" Jeep. This is the first time this vehicle has been offered in LEGO form, and it comes with some muddy accents to replicate the effects of the stormy evening Nedry tries to drive through in order to make it to the docks with a stolen shaving can container of dinosaur DNA.
Ethan Anderton
Also included are bricks to build a little plot of land and the East Dock sign that Nedry accidentally runs over when he can't see through the pouring rain. The arrow on the sign can be spun freely, just as it appears after Nedry crashes into it. There's also a tiny little can of Barbasol shaving cream that you can display on it or put in Nedry's hand.
Ethan Anderton
As a bonus touch, there's a little white frog that looks like a puff of shaving cream coming out of the can when situated as the LEGO manual shows. In fact, each of the LEGO sets includes a little frog Easter egg like that, a nod to the fact that the dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park" had their DNA strands drawn from prehistoric mosquitos complete with frog DNA. It's a fun touch!
'Dino ... droppings?'
This isn't the first time the neon green and yellow "Jurassic Park" Ford Explorer has been brought to life in LEGO form. But if you wanted to build it before, you had to drop $100 on the "T-rex Breakout" diorama set that includes a buildable tyrannosaurus rex breaking out of the park fences and wreaking havoc. At just $49.99, this one is much cheaper, and it includes a far less threatening moment from the movie.
Ethan Anderton
The "Triceratops Research" LEGO set includes the Ford Explorer, which is easily the reason to buy it. But it also comes with the sick triceratops that Dr. Ellie Sattler helps tend to when they break away from the proper park tour.
Ethan Anderton
You might also remember the tremendous pile of dino droppings from that scene, and you get to build what Ian Malcolm perfectly refers to as "one big pile of s***." Malcolm's minifigure even has a shovel to help scoop it up. Funnily enough, on this pile of poop is where you'll find the little brown frog Easter egg, and you can also place little pink berries inside the droppings. Only the hardcore "Jurassic Park" fans will understand that reference.
Ethan Anderton
My one complaint about this set, and all these sets, is that the dinosaurs are not buildable in the same way that the tyrannosaurs rex was in the aforementioned breakout LEGO set. Now, that's largely because these sets are intended for younger LEGO builders while the other is considered to be geared towards adult collectors. But it would have been nice to create these dinosaurs other than attaching the legs (which don't bend) and head to the body. It's a minor quibble, but one that needed to be addressed.
'Welcome to Jurassic Park'
If there's one scene that captures the wonder of "Jurassic Park" before things get dangerous, it's the first time Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Dr. Ian Malcolm see a living dinosaur on Isla Nublar. With their signature "Spielberg face" expressions on full display and John Williams' all-time great score providing plenty of musical magic, this is one of the most memorable moments of the movie, and now you can recreate it with the "Brachiosaurus Discovery" set. In fact, this LEGO set actually allows you to create a few different scenes.
Ethan Anderton
The centerpiece of the LEGO set is a tall tree and a brachiosaurus figure that you piece together. Since the LEGO set also comes with an alternate version of the "Jurassic Park" Jeep, you can easily recreate the moment that our main characters see the brachiosaurus chomping on a tree early in the movie. I can't tell you how happy I am that this set lets you build a version of the Jeep that is quite different from the version found in the "Dilophosaurus Ambush" set.
Ethan Anderton
In addition, the tree also features a platform in the middle, where you can place Dr. Alan Grant with Lex and Tim after they escape the deadly t-rex and meet the brachiosaurus a little more up close in the tree. Of course, if you want Lex and Tim, you'll have to get the "T-Rex Breakout" or the "Visitor Center T-Rex and Raptor Attack" (seen further below).
Ethan Anderton
As for the Easter eggs, there's another frog colored like one of the salmon-colored flowers sitting on the side of the tree trunk. But that's not all, because there's a literal egg shell situated at the base of the tree.
Ethan Anderton
That means you can actually create another scene from the movie, where Dr. Grant, Lex and Tim discover that the dinosaurs have started to breed in the wild. That's quite the versatile LEGO set for $79.99.
When dinosaurs ruled the Earth
Finally, the last new "Jurassic Park" LEGO set features a simple build of the Visitor Center. It's a far cry from the custom LEGO Ideas build that was proposed several years ago, but again, this is intended for younger LEGO builders. This is the only set that I didn't get from LEGO, and it's mostly because I'm stubbornly holding out for something that feels more complete. But if you're a fan of the movie, you might still enjoy this set.
LEGO
This is the cheaper way to get a bigger roster of LEGO minifigures from "Jurassic Park," as well as simple velociraptor and tyrannosaurus rex figures. But the real draw is the t-rex fossil you can piece together, as well as the little "When dinosaurs ruled the Earth" banner from that incredible shot in the film's climax.
LEGO
Within the Visitor Center, there's also a tiny cafeteria where Lex and Tim can sit before being discovered by raptors, as well as the lab where the dinosaurs are created, complete with minifigures of Dr. Henry Wu (before he went full scientist-playing-god in "Jurassic World") and Mr. Arnold. This could be a fun playset for the kids to enjoy, but as a collector, I still want something with a bit more detail, so I hope they do a larger version of this building in the future. For now, this one costs $129.99.
'Maybe it's the power trying to come back on'
For those curious, here's a look at the "T-Rex Breakout" diorama set that was released by LEGO last year. Even though it's been out for awhile, with the 30th anniversary of "Jurassic Park" upon us, there's no better time to recreate this incredible scene. Plus, this features the superior LEGO version of the tyrannosaurus rex, since you actually get to build it with smaller LEGO pieces rather than having more simple minifigure versions of the creatures. On top of that, you get another full version of the Ford Explorer, as well as the one that the t-rex ends up tearing apart.
You can order this set now for $99.99 at The LEGO Shop.