Last year, LEGO released the LEGO Jurassic World Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex (76968) and they are back again this year with another fossil set, the Dinosaur Fossils: Triceratops (77985). This new set has 1,154 pieces and retails for $109.99 is is currently available on the LEGO Shop.
Minifigure
There is one exclusive minifigure in the set which is Dr. Gerry Harding. He was in the first Jurassic Park movie tending to the sick triceratops during the tour.
He wears a short sleeved shirt with some blue pants. The pants are somewhat inaccurate as he has more light brown pants in the movie. The head shows him with some sunglasses and a mustache. His accessories include a flashlight and a medkit.
Build
Although they’re connected together, the build consists of the base and the triceratops fossil. The base is a little rocky area with some plants scattered around. Hidden inside one of the plants is a printed mosquito in amber 1×1 brick. This is a reference to the mosquito that the Jurassic Park engineers used to extra DNA from. There are some Technic beams that connect to the fossil which we’ll get to later.
There’s also an information plaque that gives some information about the triceratops. Next to that is a spot for the Gerry Harding minifigure. Next to where Dr. Harding stands is a little plant which represents the West Indian Lilac which made the triceratops sick.
For the triceratops itself, it’s a lot smaller than the Tyrannosaurus Rex but it is a good scale. It’s not overly big but it’s also not overly small.
It is mounted using two Technic beams that secure the skeleton very nicely and it doesn’t distract from the overall build.
Since the skeleton isn’t mounted on the legs like the T.Rex, they are free to move around and pose. The toes are also articulated so you can pose it as if it is walking.
The bones on the legs are well represented in the model such as the ulna and radius on the front pair.
At the torso, the shoulder is attached on ball joints and behind it is a row of ribs that are scaled down to fit the size of the model. They’re attached using some clips and can be angled in a way that it should look like.
Above the ribs is a row of vertebrae that goes all the way to the hip. At the pelvis, more notable bones are also represented like the pubis and the ischium.
The tail is somewhat repetitive as you build the various vertebrae sections multiple times. It does seem a little shorter than it should be and a couple more sections would’ve been nice.
Finally we get to the head which has the overall shape of what you usually see in a triceratops fossil. The distinctive feature here is the frill which is built using five sections. This gives you the curved shape although it does show some gaps. The two horns are on ball joints but the gray looks off with all the tan surrounding it.
The mouth has a little beak that opens up using a couple of hinges. There is another Easter egg here with the frog at the back with it representing the frog DNA used to create the dinosaurs at Jurassic Park by filling in the gene sequence gaps.
Results
The LEGO Jurassic World Dinosaur Fossils: Triceratops (77985) is a fairly accurate set considering the scale it was given. It is considerably smaller than the T.Rex but is a good compromise at the price point.
The support beams are mounted to the body and not the legs and that makes the legs free to move. However, I feel that this also makes them more dangly and it looks a little weird.
The included minifigure of Dr. Harding was an easy choice since he was a prominent character in the scene.
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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