The TBB Field Guide to LEGO Dinosaurs: A Jurassic World Compendium [Review and Infographics]

When the new wave of LEGO Jurassic World sets came out, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on the dinosaurs. The children in us immediately began stomping them around and making roaring noises. Here at The Brothers Brick, we are not ashamed to say we get giddy while playing with toy dinosaurs. We’re also not ashamed to say we are serious nerds. After our dino-dueling escapades, we began to wonder how accurate they are to the real things. As far as scientists can hypothesize, that is. So we did some not-so-archaeological digging — after all, it’s palaeontologists who study dinosaurs, not archaeologists, as Andrew our Editor-in-Chief (and resident archaeology buff) likes to remind everybody!

As it turns out, there is a vast amount of knowledge that scientists have obtained from the fossils of these creatures. That being said, there is a lot of information that they still don’t know, as well as much heated debate on the truth about each one. The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchise has been both heavily criticized and applauded for its attempts at realism. But without getting too wrapped up in the debates, we’ll take a look at the best working knowledge of these dinosaurs. So put on your favorite leather vest or red bandana and paleontologist’s expedition hat, because away we go!

The Indoraptor

We’ll start with the obvious outlier in the room: the Indoraptor.

This creepy black hybrid is the main antagonist in the most recent film, and is similar to the white Indominous Rex from the last wave, just smaller and slender-looking. He has a head shaped like a T. Rex with toe-claws like a Velociraptor, and is the biggest work of fiction in the lot (by design). Unlike other similar dinosaurs, the Indoraptor has an intriguingly long neck and arms for his body type.

This dino, which can be found in 75930 Indoraptor Rampage at Lockwood Estate, would stand at roughly 22 feet tall if it were real. That’s about head to head with a two-story building.

The Pteranodon

The giant flying predator in this new wave of sets is an identical mold to the 2015 wave, only with a different color-scheme. In fact, the original version was reused in the new LEGO Juniors set 10756 Pteranodon Escape. That version is dark grey and dark red, while this version has olive green instead of the grey.

The figure is pretty large when compared to the sizes of the other dinos, with a wingspan greater than the other’s heights (8 inches). If it were life-sized, this wingspan would be about 32 feet wide. That’s almost as long as a telephone pole.

As part of the Pterosauria order, it turns out that the Pteranodon genus from the Cretacean is not scientifically considered a dinosaur (which are part of the Dinosauria). It’s also tough to determine color from fossils. But all that aside, there are some interesting features to note. The real creatures have been found in the American Midwest and were fish-eaters, with sharp, toothless beaks for doing the job. Their crest is thought to have been for display and they could walk on all fours. Males were also much larger than females. To some extent, this LEGO version seems pretty accurate. The major difference? The real Pteranodons, although they were massive, were actually significantly smaller in comparison. They had at least a 10 foot shorter wingspan, to be exact.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex

The new T. rex is made from an identical mold as the old one, but has a very different coloration. The original version, which is very orange, was also recycled for the new Juniors set  10758 T. rex Breakout. This new variant, found in set 75933 T. rex Transport, has a more mild, tan appearance. It also has more consistent (versus mottled) striping. Standing at 11 inches long, it would translate to about 44 feet in real life. That’s about the length of a semitrailer. At its tallest, it would be about 24 feet, or the height of a modern-day giraffe.

One of the most beloved dinosaurs of all time, “the king” lived during the Late Cretaceous (68-66 million years ago), and this terrifying creature rules our vision of the dinosaur world. It is one of the most documented and studied ancient creatures on the planet. There isn’t much room for mistakes when it comes to building a replica. Fortunately, the original Jurassic Park movie did a great job of accurately portraying the hypothesized size and movements of a real T. rex. Most notably, these guys moved around with a very horizontal stance — their extremely large head was balanced by their incredibly thick tail. Describing them with a height of a giraffe isn’t actually that accurate because standing upright was a difficult task.

Did LEGO get it right? Actually, yes, the size is pretty close to accurate. The most complete specimen is a female about 40 feet long. Her hips stood about 12 feet tall, which is a tad shorter than the proportions for the LEGO figure. In addition, they are thought to have weighed over 9 tons, and believe it or not, some scientists actually think there is proof that they had at least some feathers!

The Velociraptor

LEGO has designed a few different color schemes for the hugely iconic Velociraptor, all with the same body. One of the original figures was a vivid lime green, and — you guessed it — was also recycled for the new wave of Juniors sets. This time, it appears in set 10757 Raptor Rescue Truck. One of the two new 2018 versions is a generic flesh and dark brown color and is found in the fabulous throwback set 75932 Jurassic Park Velociraptor Chase.

The other version is one of the protagonists of the new films, Blue. We’ve seen Blue before, but the body pattern is really nice this time around. Blue can be found in the previously mentioned set 75930 Indoraptor Rampage at Lockwood Estate, or in set 75928 Blue’s Helicopter Pursuit. Both of these Velociraptors stand roughly 2.75 inches tall, which translates to 11 feet tall in real life.

The Velociraptor is one of the most hotly debated dinosaurs in the entire Jurassic Park universe. The dino that officially goes by the name “Velociraptor” is a small, heavily feathered creature that stood barely 50 cm (1.6 feet) tall. Some critics say the ones depicted in the films are complete fiction, but that’s not totally true. The Velociraptors that we know were actually modeled after a cousin, named Deinonychus. The name actually means “terrible claw” and refers to the massive, sickle-shaped talons on the inner toes.

Both the original author of the book, Michael Crichton, and the director and producer, Steven Spielberg, agreed that the name “Velociraptor” was much cooler than the alternative, but that these dinos would still closely resemble Deinonychus. Again, one of the only parts left out was that the creatures were thought to have had some feathers.

The Carnotaurus

Carnotaurus has the same body shape as the old Indominous Rex, but with tiny arms, which are even smaller than that of T. rex. Its head has those iconic horn-like ridges above the eyes, as well as a shorter snout. It does not have a predecessor in earlier LEGO sets.

The figure stands about 5.75 inches tall, which would make it about 22 feet tall in real life. But like the T. rex, standing upright was not likely typical. Based on this figure’s comparison to the T. rex dino, we would assume that the real Carnotaurus was slightly smaller.

It turns out that the “meat-eating bull” (which also lived in the Late Cretaceous) actually was smaller than the T. rex. But the figure, which can be found in set 75929 Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape, is proportionally a tad big compared to the real thing. The real dino tended to be less than 30 feet long, or half the length of a bowling lane. It was also a surprising lightweight, averaging less than 1.5 tons. Apparently this dinosaur was also surprisingly fast, and unlike the others, there is no indication that it had feathers.

The Stygimoloch

Finally, a leaf-eater! The Jurassic World universe needs more herbivores! The Stygimoloch is a really unique dinosaur that can be found in set 75927 Stygimoloch Breakout. In this form, it almost looks like some alien that you might find under a very difference license.

Aside from the obvious difference of the head, the body is similar to that of the Velociraptors. There are minor differences in the arms and legs, which make it slightly less menacing, maybe even cute. The figure stands roughly 3 inches tall, which would make it about 12 feet tall in real life.

The actual Stygimoloch got its name based solely on appearance. With the addition of the species name spinifer, it means, “thorny devil from the river Styx,” which is rooted in Greek mythology. Scientists think the horns were for display and/or protection. Interestingly, they also believe that this may actually just be a juvenile form of another type of dinosaur, and that the horns reduce with age, leaving the dome prominent. The Stygimoloch is thought to have been 12 feet long and only about 3 feet tall, which is drastically different from the LEGO version. Even if it were the assumed adult size, it still wouldn’t be taller than a human’s shoulder.

The Dilophosaurus

The venom-spitters! Everyone knows to watch out for these guys! The mold for the new Dilophosaurus, found in set 75931 Dilophosaurus Outpost Attack, is identical to the one from the first wave of Jurassic World LEGO sets back in 2015, but there is a drastic difference in coloring. As with the other dinosaurs, LEGO chose to go with a much more neutral color scheme this time around, sporting tans and more earthy greens, as apposed to the bright lime green. The new versions also has a greater level of detail in the skin.

This particular figure has the arms of a Velociraptor, and the legs of a Stygimoloch. The head is similar to the former, with the obvious additions of the iconic crests and frills. It stands roughly 3 inches tall, which would make it about 12 feet tall in real life.

You may have already guessed, but other than the “lab-created” hybrids, the Dilophosaurus is the most extravagant departure from the recognized scientific evidence. These dinosaurs did not have frills to shake at their prey, nor did they spit venom. It’s a bummer, but certainly to be expected. This dino was also much longer and more horizontal than depicted in LEGO form, and like some of the others, it’s argued to have had feathers on its abdomen. What is true in comparison is that it definitely did have a pair of large, bony crests on top of its head.

The Triceratops skull

While we did not have a figure to compare, we thought it would be fun to take a look at the Triceratops skull that comes in the Indoraptor Rampage set.

It’s a really nicely done little build, and by comparison, would be (very) roughly 8 feet from snout to frills in real life. Of all the dino comparisons, this might be one of the closest in terms of size.

As an aside, it might be important to note that most of these dinosaurs actually lived in the late Cretaceous period, instead of the Jurassic. That’s a pretty big difference. We’re talking roughly 68 million years ago, as opposed to 145 million years ago. But “Jurassic Park” definitely sounds catchier than “Cretaceous Park”…

The babies

This compendium wouldn’t be complete without the babies! All the little details make them incredibly cute, and loads of fun to play with. While I admittedly have not seen the new movies, I would venture to geuess that one of them looks an awful lot like a baby Blue.

It’s really hard to put any kind of comparison on these, because they could technically represent a wide range of species. There are many examples that would make them an appropriate size, and there are many that would not. This does seem like a pretty decent size all around though, and we think they’re adorable. Comparing them to the original green T. rex baby from prior themes, these two are certainly better.

Conclusions

So there you have it. Our expedition has come to an end. Personally, I really like these dinosaurs. The minor inaccuracies are trivial when it comes to the fun that can be had while playing with them. Of course, they are all posable, with multiple moving parts, and I love the firm click you get with the new positions. One of the things that I’m most impressed with is LEGO’s consistent dedication to really high-quality dinosaurs. That’s both in terms of the strong moving elements, as well as the awesome color and design that went into the skins. Really, I can’t think of anything I would want to change.

Now, a dinosaur conga line…


If you’ve patiently come this far down the timeline, a little bonus for our Dino completists out there. Here’s a handy guide on where to hunt down these extinct beasts.


The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with copies of all the Jurassic World sets for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.


6 comments on “The TBB Field Guide to LEGO Dinosaurs: A Jurassic World Compendium [Review and Infographics]

  1. Brian H.

    More plant Dino’s would be sweet. I always had a thing for triceratops and stegosaurus.

  2. Håkan

    @Brian H.

    Some sauropods would be cool, but they’re probably too big to be economically feasibly produced.

  3. Purple Dave

    The weird thing is, there were five of the current style dinosaurs created for the 2012 Dinos theme, four of which were reused for the 2015 Jurassic World theme. Only three of them made it into this run (the Coelophysis/Gallimimus got left out this time), and we still haven’t seen the Tricerotops make a comeback. So they made it for one set, six years ago, and passed up two perfect opportunities to bring it back.

  4. Jora THOMPSON

    Agreed I really wanted to see more herbavores, I feel like apatosaur wasnt toooo big in the game and i believe would be such a great seller.

  5. Purple Dave

    @Jora:
    Given the price on the T-Rex sets, I suspect any of the really big dinosaurs would start at $50 minimum, before you added in any other pieces. That doesn’t mean it’s not doable, like maybe pack it with an original JP tour vehicle for $80-100. But for something that big, you couldn’t get away with packing it with much else or it’d price right out of the market.

    However, there are plenty of highly recognizable veggiesaurs they could go to in a smaller scale. They already have the molds to make a comparable Triceratops, but they haven’t put it in any JP/JW-themed sets for some unknown reason. They’ve done a Stegosaurus for the Adventurers theme, but they never updated it for JP/JW. And the Ankylosaurus has yet to see a LEGO release (oddly, spellcheck freaks out over that spelling, but is fine with Ankylosaur). Besides the two really big ones, that’s probably it for instantly-recognizable herbivores in the JP/JW films, but they’ve already done stuff like Gallimimus (though, since it uses the Coelophysis mold from the 2012 Dinos theme, it looks pretty chompy). And there are a ton of dinos that have yet to be produced that have appeared in one or more of the films:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cloned_animals_in_Jurassic_Park

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