Around this time last year, I reviewed a slightly unusual LEGO Jurassic World set: a fossilised T-Rex skull. I concluded a glowing review by hoping that the fossils line would continue; ideally, in my mind, with my favourite dinosaur – the Triceratops – to come next. Clearly someone at LEGO was reading, as LEGO Jurassic World 76969 Dinosaur Fossils: Triceratops will grant both wishes at once when it releases next January 1! You can pre-order it now for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £39.99 (you might also find it on eBay or Amazon once it does release), and although it has fewer pieces (468) than its predecessor, it does include a whole extra minifigure. Does that make it a good prospect? Grab your fossil-hunting tools, and let’s find out!
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
The box and contents
The box is a square affair. On the rear, there’s an image of the ‘fossil’ as it would presumably appear in a dig site.
Digging into the box itself, we find 5 plastic bags…
…Plus the instructions, and a solitary sticker. The instruction book starts with a double-page spread showing off the various times Triceratops (Triceratopses?) have appeared in the Jurassic Park/World movies.
The build
Before we build our skull, we need something to put it on. So we’ll start with the stand and minifigure, which we’ll take a look at later on. It kicks off with some Technic pieces, with a small rock formation placed at one end.
The actual portion on which the skull will sit is a triangular Technic beam structure, reminiscent of the kind of thing you’d find in Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series sets, among other things (albeit in simplified form here).
A-frame plates set the other side at an angle to make the shape a bit less homogeneous. There’s a mosquito encased in a 1×1 trans-orange brick of amber hidden round the back.
Our only sticker goes on around this point, onto a rather interesting piece. This has appeared previously in the Stuntz LEGO City line and in a Sonic set from last year. It was a ramp in those sets, but it doubles as a display plaque here.
The last part of the stand to be built is a fun one. To start off with, we have a basket-style base, with a bunch of medium nougat tiles.
Into all that, goes a microscale version of a Triceratops fossil, skull and all!
It could either be a maquette of a dig site, or it’s one of those sandpits that some natural history museums have, which allow kids (and, ahem, some adults) to ‘dig out’ a fossil of their own. Either way – it’s a fun inclusion!
Now that the stand is complete, let’s move onto the main focus of this set. We have a core of brackets with a few Technic axles and a ball joint in dark tan sticking out.
It’s not long before we cover up said brackets with some plates. The white hinge is where the eyes will be attached later, so you can kind of get an idea of where this will sit within the larger build.
We have Technic connectors pointing every which way by the end of bag 2. This is presumably where the large bony frill will connect to later on.
Most of the next bag goes to extending this core upwards and outwards. The slot for the stand is created here, and it’s locked in nice and strong with plates on their sides.
Being a herbivore, Triceratops had what can better be described as a beak than a jaw. In this model, the lower half is accomplised with plates either side of a couple of brackets, giving an accurate gap where the fleshy bits would go.
It uses double-stacked hinge plates, which give it a bit more friction and therefore make the jaw connection a little sturdier. It’s strong enough that the skull so far can rest with the lower mandible in the ‘open’ position.
The remaining few parts add a few more features to the outer surface of our fossil, including the eye sockets.
We’ll set that aside for now, as the snout is its own subassembly. The main structure is just a stud wide.
A few arches and a transparent 1×1 brick give it the structural shapes on the inside, with curved slopes attaching to the sides to give it the full, rounded shape.
This is then connected to the main model with the help of a couple of Technic axles and a single 1×2 slope. Once again, it’s all very strong.
The name ‘Triceratops’ means ‘three-horned face’. And having made one of the horns on its snout, we move onto the two bigger ones next. This tail piece has been used in a few dinosaurs already, but it’s the first time we’re getting some in tan.
With those attached, our skull has taken on a rather creepy appearance. I daresay it would make a good mascot for a death metal band at this point!
Fortunately, our last bag has the parts to make it slightly less demon-like. And here we have another new addition to the tan-coloured parts family: a 3×8 wedge plate. Even in other colours, this has only been in five other sets so far, mostly Star Wars ones.
And speaking of Star Wars, the way they’re connected uses the same trick as 75397 Jabba’s Sail Barge did for its front hull plating. Hinge plates connect two opposing pairs thanks to some clever LEGO geometry.
There are two click hinges either side of this central portion, which are colour-coded by side (black on the left, white on the right).
Thanks to some judicious placing of other elements, these hinged sub-assemblies are actually locked in pretty well, so there’s no danger of them being knocked askew.
All that remains now is to attach the frill to the skull, and we’re done building.
The minifigure
One of the changes rung by this set relative to the first one is the inclusion of a solitary minifigure. I don’t think it’s representative of anyone in the Jurassic World cinematic universe – at least she’s not named.
The torso is a double-sided print, depicting a simple black t-shirt with the Jurassic Park logo on it – presumably the sort of thing you could pick up from the gift shop. It’s a nice, generic print that could easily be used in a sig-fig or generic town setting.
The head is also double-sided, with a happy expression on one side, and a happier expression on the other.
The finished build
With the skull seated on the stand and our minifig in place, we have a very nice looking display model!
Other than the bug in amber, there isn’t much to see round the back. I find it interesting that the designers chose to attach a ball joint to the rear of the skull; perhaps some talented MOC builders might make an entire skeleton to go with it?
The jaw can open and close as you like; personally I think it looks better with it open. There isn’t a huge amount of room to do it, as the stand is quite cramped. The jaw doesn’t really need to open further, but it would be nice if it just had a little more room to breathe.
Making the stand a bit bigger might have helped it when placed next to the T. Rex set, too. Although the Triceratops skull takes up more room, its stand doesn’t quite have the same presence. Still, the two do feel like they could be exhibits taken from the same museum’s collection – just maybe not in adjacent displays.
Conclusion and recommendation
This is the ‘tricky sophomore album’ of the Dinosaur Fossils collection, in that it’s hard not to compare it to the T. Rex that came before it. And it doesn’t compare all that well: there are fewer parts, it’s more expensive, the build is marginally less interesting, and while there is an added minifigure, it does feel a bit superfluous.
But that isn’t to say it’s a bad set – in fact, I think this is still very fair value for money. The skull is a great representation with some nice shaping, and what the stand’s side-build lacks in part count and presence, it makes up for in creativity. It’s not the mega-bargain that the T. Rex skull was, but few sets are. So if you want an affordable, dinosaur-themed display piece, and you already own 76964, I can recommend picking the Triceratops skull up.
LEGO Jurassic World 76969 Dinosaur Fossils: Triceratops Skull contains 468 pieces and one minifigure, and will retail for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £39.99 Pre-orders are open now, and it will ship from January 1, 2025. You may also see it on third-party seller sites like eBay or Amazon.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Check out our full gallery of pictures:
The post LEGO Jurassic World 76969 Dinosaur Fossils: Triceratops Skull – Tricera-top notch? [Review] appeared first on The Brothers Brick.
Leave a Reply