Review: 76975 T. rex River Escape
Posted by CapnRex101,
Jurassic World: Rebirth has just been released in cinemas and features a sequence adapted from Michael Crichton's influential Jurassic Park book, omitted from the original movie and its multiple sequels since, until now!
76975 T. rex River Escape takes inspiration from this scene, in which a T. rex chases an inflatable raft down a river. There has been criticism of the set's price and understandably so because £44.99, $49.99 or €49.99 seems totally absurd for 199 pieces, although the presence of a large LEGO dinosaur is clearly a major factor.
Summary
76975 T. rex River Escape, 199 pieces.
£44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99 | 22.6p/25.1c/25.1c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
This is an enjoyable set and not as overpriced as it first seems, but still expensive
- Lots of functions and playability
- Uniquely patterned T. rex
- Excellent minifigures
- Cabin is very small
- Overpriced, despite some larger pieces
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
I have been impressed with the minifigures in the Jurassic World: Rebirth range and these two are no exception. Xavier Dobbs wears an open shirt and shorts, both featuring splendid detail, with a simple pendant around his neck. Additionally, Xavier's double-sided head is new and the nervous expression in particular looks perfect.
Teresa Delgado expands the Delgado family from 76972 Raptor Off-Road Escape. I love how her shirt is worn off-the-shoulder, helping to distinguish this colourfully-dressed minifigure from others. Unfortunately, her head is not unique, hence the two smiling faces, which are obviously not ideal when being pursued by a Tyrannosaurus rex!
Xavier comes equipped with a machete, while Teresa carries a walking cane. Most interesting, however, is her red life jacket, which normally appears in orange and is new in this colour.
The Completed Model
Unsurprisingly, Tyrannosaurus rex is quite common across the Jurassic World range, but they are mainly limited to larger and more expensive sets because of their size. On that basis, I am happy to see one here and the T. rex is decorated with a new tan, dark tan and dark bluish grey pattern, which looks very natural.
The designs on the head are particularly striking, including pointed details along the upper jaw and dark brown patches around the eyes, which look marvellous. As normal since these T. rex parts were produced in 2012, the neck is articulated and the mouth opens, with almost enough room for a whole minifigure inside!
The arms, legs and tail are also articulated, although the latter joints are not very useful. I wish the ankles were moveable too, providing further options for stable poses. Similarly, rotating the tail breaks up the pattern along the dinosaur's back. However, the general shape of the T. rex is excellent, as always.
A small quad bike is provided to evade the T. rex on land. This design is very basic, using the standard tyres and mudguard pieces, but it looks good. The bullbar and single headlight work particularly well. Also, there is room for both minifigures to ride on board, which is welcome for play.
There are only 199 pieces included, so even the main structure is simple. However, this gives some indication of the river setting and the wooden building looks reasonable. Perhaps a sign could have been included to show what purpose the building once served, although not having that kind of thing avoids the need for any stickers in the set.
Apart from the relatively costly T. rex pieces, I expect this inflatable dinghy had some effect on the price as well. This iteration of the dinghy is more spacious than its predecessor, with a 4x6 studded area giving more space for minifigures inside. The reddish brown seats look great and the lime green frog is a nice touch, frequently appearing in Jurassic World sets.
The rocks behind the raft serve as a launcher, activated by sliding the green switch, pictured below, forward. The function works well and I appreciate the clip holding the boat in place for launch. The bone mounted on another clip on the back is a bit odd, but could be used for play, perhaps luring the T. rex.
I like the medium azure plates forming water around the cabin and jetty, although it would look even better if these continued all the way across the front. Otherwise, the plant life growing on the structure looks superb and there are some nice external details, including a light above the door and a spider crawling over the opposite wall.
Inside is a narrow table with a mug on top and a broken dinosaur egg on the ground. I know we have seen the crown piece used for eggshells many times before, but I still think this is a clever idea. Also, I appreciate the use of sand green bricks or what remains of the roof.
The front wall and door are deliberately attached via only a couple of studs each, so they are easily toppled by a marauding Tyrannosaurus rex! I assume this is why the roof is incomplete, which is a shame, although it could equally have collapsed with the passage of time.
Overall
I am pleased to see the rafting scene from the original Jurassic Park novel finally represented onscreen and therefore in LEGO form. 76975 T. rex River Escape achieves a great deal given the relatively low piece count, including some good, though basic, functions and offering lots of play value, in my opinion.
However, the price of £44.99, $49.99 or €49.99 is inescapably high. Clearly, the T. rex and the orange dinghy account for a considerable proportion of that, but it still seems overpriced to me. Even so, this is the cheapest non-4+ set to contain the moulded LEGO T. rex yet produced and the dinosaur is uniquely decorated, so this could be a worthy purchase once discounted.
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41 comments on this article
No mention of the loss of printing on the T-Rex that started with no white teeth and now no claws!
Naw... I'm good.
@SMC said:
"No mention of the loss of printing on the T-Rex that started with no white teeth and now no claws!"
I can defend helmet holes and printed kamas for simply being design choices. But removing printing from a dinosaurs claws? Yeah, that's just straight-up cost cutting.
@nashikens said:
"Naw... I'm good. "
I could have another... but I probably should not
The definition of overpriced; the lack of printing on the claws is unacceptable. Glad that I have so many of the older T. rexes.
@BabuBrick said:
"The definition of overpriced. The lack of printing on the claws is unacceptable. Glad that I have so many of the older T. rexes."
Totally agree with you, I completely lost interest in the new dinosaurs due to the lack of properly painted pieces and in some cases also loss of articulation. I'm glad I already have a bunch of them from older sets back when Lego used to manufacture proper dinosaurs.
JURASSIC WORLD: ATTACK OF THE JORTS
Honestly, the T. Rex might just be offering some firm but fair fashion-critiques - and you know what, I think I agree with the T. Rex.
@bricks4everyone said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"The definition of overpriced. The lack of printing on the claws is unacceptable. Glad that I have so many of the older T. rexes."
Totally agree with you, I completely lost interest in the new dinosaurs due to the lack of properly painted pieces and in some cases also loss of articulation. I'm glad I already have a bunch of them from older sets back when Lego used to manufacture proper dinosaurs."
Well both of you should get new Velociraptor. Even smaller, beautiful and must have.
Very interesting review. Thank you for the work. I am going to buy all 5 sets. 1/5 sets at the moment. I go from cheapest to most expencive.
This set is the meaning of when the lack of printing and overprice come together to create a monstrosity of a highly sophisticated interlocking brick system.
$15 build/minifigs with a $5 boat and a $20 dinosaur. And it's still overpriced.
Even my normal method of adding $20 to what a set should cost failed to accurately predict how overpriced this one would be.
€20 set + €30 T-Rex
Mind you, 60373 Fire Rescue Boat has large pieces and a small boat as well for a €20 set.
And perhaps with 2025 rates in mind, there's 60456 Police Boat , still just €30 for an even larger boat + small boat.
But apparently this is not just a LEGO thing, even unlicensed Playmobil dinosaurs and big animals are very expensive compared to their boats and vehicles.
I already had this theory about the small GOTG 3 set but I think it's gotta be true for this one; this was designed as a Juniors set but was changed to 5+ (therefore out of the Juniors range) because of how bloody the film is. There are smaller pieces but we're starting to see those in 4+ sets. I certainly thought it was a Juniors set at first glance, and Jurassic is one of the biggest licensed themes in 4+.
I will not get this set outright unless I apply a few Insider points.
As someone who doesn't pay any attention to JP sets, all I have to say is:
WTF are those prices?
lack of printing on the at-Rex claws and teeth just shows they're cutting corners at every single opportunity. and despite that, the prices continue to be laughable.
@TurtleFinland said:
" @bricks4everyone said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"The definition of overpriced. The lack of printing on the claws is unacceptable. Glad that I have so many of the older T. rexes."
Totally agree with you, I completely lost interest in the new dinosaurs due to the lack of properly painted pieces and in some cases also loss of articulation. I'm glad I already have a bunch of them from older sets back when Lego used to manufacture proper dinosaurs."
Well both of you should get new Velociraptor. Even smaller, beautiful and must have."
I like the new Raptors, but I still like the old Raptors more. I know they were oversized, but I miss the movable parts that the new ones are lacking. Not to mention that the new ones don't have printed claws, which is a major downgrade.
I don’t think the price is that bad. I've sold similar dinos after parting out sets for £30-35. Those parts are much more valuable than 10 cheese slopes.
Compare to Playmobil 71523 at £50 or 71819 at £60.
@SMC said:
"No mention of the loss of printing on the T-Rex that started with no white teeth and now no claws!"
The teeth being the same color as the lower jaw looks PARTICULARLY cheap.
What do you all think about the Jurassic World theme going in the wrong direction? That it's no longer being put into the same way because the dinosaur claws or Velociraptors are smaller...
Is this a Star Wars?
Way overpriced for what it is. And I really wish they wouldn’t add little bits of flesh tones to minifigure legs and torsos and arms as I can’t convert them to yellow.
50 bangers for that!
Ha ha hah ahahah ha ha hah ah ha hah ah hah haha hahahahahaha ...........(breath)......ha ha ha ha hahahhahahahahahah ahahahhahaahahah hahaha..........phew!
SOrry but with LESS prints this dino should be worth LESS
@Reventon said:
"Way overpriced for what it is. And I really wish they wouldn’t add little bits of flesh tones to minifigure legs and torsos and arms as I can’t convert them to yellow."
I'm the same but the other way around, converting yellow to fleshie.
But many of the promotional shots show Xavier in shorts with his shirt open. There is no way they can do a screen accurate design and not print flesh on the parts. Plus there are plenty of generic torsos and legs, without the flesh markings these wouldn't really add much.
That’s no cabin. That thing is barely a shed, a cabin? No, definitely not.
What would the price have been if it included a similarly-sized brick-built T Rex, instead of the pre-fab one?
@Rimefang said:
"Is this a Star Wars?"
Is this a pigeon?
I think it’s pretty funny that AFOLs here are getting up in arms about the T Rex’s lack of varnished claws.
It’s probably more realistic that their claws blended a bit with their skin colour, and I can’t imagine they had access to the best dental hygienists available either, so their teeth were probably pretty yellowed/tan coloured back in those good ole Jurassic days.
Regarding the price, I’m just going to point out that seven years ago I paid MSRP $49.99 for 10758 because it was only the second set to come with the TLBM Phantom Zone version of the T-Rex, and loose ones on BL had been selling for…$50. Plus shipping. Minus any other parts. The parts I got may have been garbage, but I’ve used a few (and I’ve used the money I saved by hitting the “free shipping” threshold on LEGO.com). The parts in this are much better, and that means that even with the loss of printing, it’s still an improvement in the price category.
@Rimefang:
Yes.
@Reventon:
Yellow Sharpie.
@CCC:
It’s okay. You can learn to embrace the yellow. We’re here for you.
@Prairiebricker:
Plus the cost of 31058, minus the cost of the molded T-Rex. Maybe $45, at best?
@BabuBrick said:
"The definition of overpriced; the lack of printing on the claws is unacceptable. Glad that I have so many of the older T. rexes."
You can just use an acrylic paint marker and draw your own claws. I can testify that it works.
@MandoEli37 said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"The definition of overpriced; the lack of printing on the claws is unacceptable. Glad that I have so many of the older T. rexes."
You can just use an acrylic paint marker and draw your own claws. I can testify that it works."
That's kind of beside the point. This t rex is the one with the lowest production cost since 2000, but they're not changing retail prices to reflect that. It's just another insult to consumers as Lego continues to rake in multi billion dollar profits by cutting corners and overcharging us for underwhelming toys.
@Pollywanna said:
" @MandoEli37 said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"The definition of overpriced; the lack of printing on the claws is unacceptable. Glad that I have so many of the older T. rexes."
You can just use an acrylic paint marker and draw your own claws. I can testify that it works."
That's kind of beside the point. This t rex is the one with the lowest production cost since 2000, but they're not changing retail prices to reflect that. It's just another insult to consumers as Lego continues to rake in multi billion dollar profits by cutting corners and overcharging us for underwhelming toys."
And yet ….. we all (& millions of others around the world) keep buying them!!
@Pollywanna said:
" @MandoEli37 said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"The definition of overpriced; the lack of printing on the claws is unacceptable. Glad that I have so many of the older T. rexes."
You can just use an acrylic paint marker and draw your own claws. I can testify that it works."
That's kind of beside the point. This t rex is the one with the lowest production cost since 2000, but they're not changing retail prices to reflect that. It's just another insult to consumers as Lego continues to rake in multi billion dollar profits by cutting corners and overcharging us for underwhelming toys."
How do you know the production costs? Wages are up, raw material costs are up, transport costs are up. It looks like shrinkflation as seen in many other products. The product is reduced (here in prints, in chocolate bars their weight, etc) but the price remains similar. Same with other sets, parts get smaller and smaller while the PPP remains the same.
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
"That’s no cabin. That thing is barely a shed, a cabin? No, definitely not."
When have any minifigure sets in LEGO been realistically sized? Trains, buses, restaurants, houses. To include a much larger cabin increases the price without really adding much to play value.
@PurpleDave Both 10758 and 76944 had their flaws being 4 junior sets
But each got 3 minifigs and a T-rex with printed teeth and toenails and several printed parts.
I love the 2 wall elements and the gate of 10758
Looks like roofs have absolutely gone out of fashion at lego. Because, this little shack provides so, so much playfeatures and depth!
@CCC:
Raw materials (specifically the plastic and rubber) have been a negligible part of the overall cost, as the reduction in piece size everyone complains about wouldn’t have been able to account for even one year’s worth of inflation, never mind nearly five decades worth. Where most of that was compensated for was shifting from high-wage areas to ones with lower wages. They shut down most of the US operation and opened a plant in Mexico (dunno how the new Virginia plant is going to save them money, but VA does have one of the lower cost of living indexes in the US). In Europe, they used to do mold production in Germany and Switzerland, and part production in Denmark and Switzerland. I believe all of the Swiss and German operations have been shut down, while they’ve got plants in Hungary and the Czech Republic now.
One additional result of their restructuring was to keep production close to their primary markets, as it turns out shifting everything to China would have eaten up all their labor savings by increasing the transportation costs. However, China did turn out to be critical to expanding the SEA market, both by keeping production local, and by giving them the ability to better combat illegal clone operations (China required them to produce in-country before they’d consider LEGO to be a “recognizable brand” and therefore deserving of legal protection).
Where raw materials _is_ starting to hit them is the shift from ABS to MABS. Polycarbonate (transparent parts) already costs about twice as much as ABS, but MABS costs even more. Where they’re supposed to end up saving money is the additional cost of generating two tools to produce one shape in both ABS and PC being reduced to only having to make one MABS mold for both opaque and transparent parts. But that process is likely requiring a lot of additional tooling work on the front end as the transition needs to be managed at a measured pace, rather than simply waiting for molds to wear out and require replacement. During the transition period they’re having to manage three different flavors of plastic (in addition to all the other types that aren’t affected by this, like PE), with stock on hand gradually shifting in favor of MABS over the other two. And besides pushing forward with premature tool replacement, the steel they’re made from has probably gotten a lot more expensive in the past five years.
@watcher21:
Shoot. I forgot about that gate. We have a show coming up in one week that’s located next to a movie theater. Last year, they played Toy Story during the event, so we were requested to work that into our display. This year, the movie is Jurassic Park, and the one person with a heavy focus on dinosaurs moved out of the area a few years ago and rarely makes it back here to do displays. I may have to dig that box out and build that crappy little micro-gate.
@watcher21 said:
" @PurpleDave Both 10758 and 76944 had their flaws being 4 junior sets
But each got 3 minifigs and a T-rex with printed teeth and toenails and several printed parts.
I love the 2 wall elements and the gate of 10758"
I found what’s left of my copy of that set. There was a baby raptor in dark-orange, which I think is where I got Rudolph for Santasaur (a polybag with a sand-green version provided the other eight). I also took out the trooper/guard uniform (but not the head), the eggs, the flames, and a few other random pieces.
This the enstickification of LEGO:
First they locked us with their interlocking brick system;
Then they locked the IP owners in with brand deals;
Now we're all stuck in the system, they squeeze us with ever-increasing prices and evermore poorly-represented IP content (e.g. here, the lack of painting).
I'm quite glad I can't afford to buy LEGO any more.
(I couldn't use Cory Doctorow's original word as it doesn't really fit on a toy website; I think enstickification is a suitable substitute because I feel that stickers are rubbish & cheap.)