LEGO, like Dr. John Hammond, spared no expense for this Jurassic Park-themed set. It’s a diorama full of Dino DNA, and just like the set name, it depicts the iconic moment in the original Jurassic Park where the T.Rex breaks out of the enclosure. An iconic scene from the 1993 landmark movie Jurassic Park is fully realized in a LEGO display for your shelf at home.
The LEGO DNA
Before, I get into the review of the set and what you as a toy photographer reading this review can do with it. I thought I would break down the set to its basic building blocks, it’s LEGO DNA if you will.
Set Number: 76956
Piece Count: 1,212
LEGO Designers: Casper Glahder (Graphics), Atticus Tsai McCarthy (LEGO Designer), Woon Tze Chee (LEGO Senior Designer)
This set isn’t a big set. I watched Jurassic Park a couple of times while building and it was a very enjoyable experience. You get to build a vehicle, a dinosaur, and it has a lot of really cool scenery details to add to the diorama. I am not a MOC builder so this is the closest experience I’d get to building a scene straight out of one of my favorite movies and the fact that it only took about 4 hours is a plus. The short build time doesn’t mean it isn’t full of movie references. This set has so many tiny details any Jurassic Park movie fan would love. You can tell that the design team took care to give the builder a Jurassic Park experience and the end result is a dream display.
The actual diorama
The diorama is on an 18×50 stud base. The base is made up of different size plates, which are layered on top of each other to create depth and muddy footprints, and puddles of water. The two vehicles have spots for them to be secured down, as well as the T.Rex itself. This makes it easily movable and you don’t have to worry about things moving around.
The Minifigures
This set comes with four minifigures. Dr. Ian Malcolm, Dr. Alan Grant, and the kid’s Lex and Tim Murphy. The minifigures themselves looked like they are covered in mud and drenched in rain water. The muddy arms, faces and clothes are a nice touch. The torso printing on Dr. Alan Grant’s shirt is even darker than the other LEGO versions as it’s supposed to be soaked in rainwater.
The Ford Explorer
This set includes one fully functional Ford Explorer XLT and one half of a Ford Explorer XLT with a burst tire. Honestly, until I built this set I didn’t even realize that these were Ford Explorers and I drove one for years. I thought they were in Jeeps this whole time. Aside from the fact that this vehicle looks awesome with its neon green and yellow color scheme, and Jurassic Park decals, what is even better is that all four minifigures fit inside.
In the instruction manual LEGO Designer Atticus Tsai McCarthy said he was especially proud of the use of the LEGO Speed Champions windshield as the canopy of the Ford Explorer. Honestly, this set uses a lot of established pieces in really creative ways. Like, as the use of the minifigures plate as a way to attach the T.Rex to the Ford Explorer.
The stickers really help sell these as Jurassic Park vehicles meant to bring the park goers on their tours.
Rawrr…The T.Rex
The dinosaur is probably one of the coolest things about this set. The legs, tail, arms, and head all can rotate a little bit which makes it ideal for toy photography. The T. Rex eye is awesome. Zoom in on the eye and it’s actually scary. It really stands out in photos which I love. However, it is a sticker. The T.Rex in this set is very different from other LEGO dinosaurs in that it is not molded plastic it’s a build. You can pose it easily unlike the molded plastic ones, which as a toy photographer is a bonus.
LEGO Finds A Way
Much like life, according to Ian Malcom finds a way so does LEGO. With this set, LEGO has found a way to not just display in your home but to recreate tons of ICONIC movie scenes from this just one they’ve set out for us to build. This set is full of easter eggs a toy photographer can use and repurpose to recreate a plethora of scenes from the movie. Allow me to demonstrate. 3…2…1…Action!
A Toy Photographers Version of The T. Rex Breakout
BOOM…BOOM…BOOM
“Boy, do I hate being right all the time.” Ian Malcolm
My initial thought for grabbing this set was I bet if I got that set, I can recreate a lot of scenes. And I was right. In this set you not only get to display one of the most iconic scenes from Jurassic Park. You can recreate more scenes with just this set only. I recreated an entire nine minutes of the movie with this set only and that was worth it.
When I get LEGO sets, as a toy photographer I am always thinking about what will this set give me that another one cannot. What do I gain? Figures caked in mud, two ford explorers, and of course a T.Rex what more could you want? If you are a fan of the original Jurassic Park movie and have extra cash this set is a no-brainer. Even the T. Rex with its small brain knows it.
Bonus Shot – Extra Scene
Let me know what Jurassic Park scenes you’d like to re-create or tag me in your Jurassic Park photos I’d love to see them! There are plenty of photos from the movie and beyond to recreate with this set.
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Good review, Sabrina! My favorite sets are the ones I can use for different photos. Sounds like you-ve got a winner there.