Unearthing old dinosaurs
Posted by Huw,
Yesterday I was rummaging around in the garage looking for a 9V motor in my 'LEGO stuff I'm never likely to need again' boxes when I came across a bag of parts for the dinosaur sets released in 2001.
Given the increased interest in dinosaurs this year, what with Jurassic World and new fossil discoveries, I thought I'd resurrect them and post a quick article.
The short-lived Dinosaurs theme consisted of eight sets, four in canisters and four in small boxes in some parts of the world and in polybags in others. They were not the first dinosaurs LEGO had made (you can read about LEGO dinosaur history here) but they were the most realistic and revolutionary to date.
The four sets in canisters consisted of two sand green herbivores and two sand blue carnivores. Each one provided parts for numerous species, one well known one and three others. In fact, so many combinations are possible that there isn't really a right and a wrong way to construct them.
The two herbivores, Brachiosaurus and Styracosaurus are the best of the bunch in my opinion although the former's head looks very crude to today's standard.
The T-Rex is less successful in my opinion, the arms don't look quite right and its eyes, moulded rather than printed, are a bit lost in the detail of its head. As with all four, the quality of the printing on body, legs and head is first-class.
The Mosasaurus demonstrates the flexibility of the parts: add some flippers and a huge jaw to the body that's used in all the sets, and it's transformed from a land-based animal to a fearsome sea creature. This particular one comes with back legs so you can make a pretty terrifying two-legged beast, too.
Virtually every part was created especially for these sets. The body is made from two each of three new parts which connect by Technic pins. Two heights of legs, a head and several different tail/neck/horn pieces that I think had been used elsewhere beforehand, complete the model.
The instruction sheet provides instructions for four different species, and also attempts to teach how to pronounce their names.
Later in the year the parts were reused for a Spinosaurus in the short-lived Studios Jurassic Park III sets and in 2003, the body parts were used for elephants in two Adventurers Orient Expedition sets. They haven't been seen since. A bit like my 9V motors...
I thought I'd be completing the article by suggesting that they are easy to come by at reasonable prices but I see that a complete set of four on eBay.co.uk is fetching over £50 at the moment, so clearly there is still interest in all things Dinosaur and prices are holding up.
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31 comments on this article
They're also compatible with the old dewbacks, basilisk, and all black versions of both, I think from Ogel Deep Sea sets. Their system ended up being quite widespread, and I think the tailpieces are still in use.
Many of the parts found their way into 7255 General Grievous Chase, for the creature Obi-Wan rides.
Ah, I had the triceratops! Loved these! They're also compatible with the rare Orient Expeditions elephant (Edit: I see now that you mentioned this in the article - never mind...).
I too was surprised at the price hike of these--as I remembered they were far cheaper a few years back. It must be the increased interest from Jurassic World, especially in regards to the Mosasaurus, that make these far more valuable.
You found them in your garage in a large lump of amber........
Life found a way.
I recently found 2-3 of those in a box of Lego i bougth. A Triceratops and Brachiosaurus.
I had never seen them before. Must have come out in my dark age.
But i also had a green foot.
I thought they looked a little weird when I was 15 (when they came out), but I wish I bought them because dinosaurs are awesome. Plus with what we get today I wish LEGO kept this style around.
This are awesome, giving the lack of herbivores and of a Mossasaurus in this line of sets we can pretty much use these for MOC.
Great article! By the way, you missed the baby dinosaurs series, coetaneous to this one.
No, I didn't miss them, I just didn't include them :)
I always wanted these as a kid, it's a shame they're still pretty expensive.
Some of the Dinosaur parts were actually used in other sets you didn't list.
The head and body of the mosasaur returned in black in 2002 in the 4797: "Ogel Mutant Killer Whale". Star Wars also used the bodies and the legs for the 2004 Dewback in 4501 "Mos Eisley Cantina" and for Boga in 7255 "General Grievous Chase" Some prototype images showed the Vikings Midgard serpent had been proposed to reuse the dinosaur bodies and the mosasaur lower jaw http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/LBaixinho/MyStuff/7018c.jpg
AS for the horns, the Brickset Database says that the part: Design no. 40379 started showing up in 2001. Only Jurassic Park III and Dinosaur sets that use it in that year. The part has changed slightly since it was first produced (being made of softer plastic as well as having a hole on the site as opposed to being completely solid).
Wow, the alternate buildability of these is fantastic. Just a pity that these barely manage to be accurate...
This made me really nostalgic! Only had the small ones myself, but they had all of them at the after school-thingy. So much fun combining them. The long tail pieces are still widely used. I last saw them on Smaug and in the Birds set.
Some of those older dinosaurs are really great. Unfortunately, I don't have any. I do have an elephant though that uses the same legs as some of the early dinosaurs.
My dinosaurs are later than those shown including the black and yellow raptor from 2005 ( http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=Raptor01T=C ), the pteranodon from 2000 ( http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=30478T=C ) and the raptor from 2012 ( http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=Raptor02&idColor=155T=I&C=155 ).
The 2005 raptor is probably my favourite LEGO dinosaur. I'm surprised it goes for so little on the secondary market - just a fraction of the cost of an elephant.
Roborider, thanks for sharing that prototype photo. That version of the Midgard serpent would've been ENORMOUS!!!
I really loved these guys. I bought them all (although I picked up the Styracosaurus cheaply months afterwards when they were on clearance). I wished I'd bought more so I could make all the different variants.
Also reused here: http://brickset.com/sets/4797-1/Ogel-Mutant-Killer-Whale
I have the two blue ones, it's fun to make them chomp on minifigs.
I've always found this line intriguing. There is a certain charm about their designs that still makes them seem relevant to me. I would buy some, but they are a little expensive.
I have this entire theme! I wonder where they got to...
I had the Triceratops and three of the "baby" dinos- I always wanted the T-Rex, though seeing him now he doesn't look that impressive, or accurate.
The Mosasaurus parts also had some use in Alpha Team, as a "Mutant Killer Whale".
Good luck finding those motors! :D
the pedant in me wants to point out you put the horns on wrong for the styracosaurus (all four should be coming out of the four holes around the top of that head crest, not two on the holes over its eyes used when making a triceratops) so I'm just going to re-read that bit about building them however you want until its shuts up =P
however that does make me wonder what it would look like if you put horns in all the eight holes that could hold them...
Thank you everyone who has pointed out where these parts were reused. The mutant killer whale is particularly interesting, it's virtually a black Mosasaurus, isn't it.
^ You didn't also notice that the short legs should have been at the front, so what I've built, which I did without recourse to the instructions, must be a new discovery!
LEGO products like these do nothing for me. If you told me they were Playmobile I'd totally believe you.
We have quite a few of these in our collection. My 3 year old son was keen to point out that the T-Rex' tongue is a red crocodile head :-D
@ Huw.
It was basically a black Mosasaurus, with a set of arms instead of fins. Weird set, but fun :P
Just wondering, which 9 volt motor were you looking for?
These sets definitely set a new standard for LEGO animals and monsters! The dino figures from the Adventurers theme, which were smaller and had more in common with LEGO horses, didn't offer a lot in the way of building value. To be honest I kind of miss the "mix-and-match" aspect of these dinos, though obviously the newer dino figures are a lot more accurate (and there's still lots and lots of room for future improvement in that regard).
A fun thing I learned on the LEGO Inside Tour is that Niels Milan Pedersen, a long-time employee of the LEGO Group, is actually a paleontology aficionado! When he's not sculpting new LEGO element designs by hand (something he's been doing since the 80s — he created the original LEGO horse and crocodile molds!), he has a hobby of sculpting museum-quality dinosaur fossil replicas! He worked on the new molds for the Jurassic World sets, though he confessed to me that he's no happier with some of the creative liberties that movie took than many professional paleontologists!
After reading this article I just had to buy the Jurassic Park III Set 1371. A really great set with nice printing on the Spinosaurus. Even found it MISB for 30€ on eBay :D
I also own all the original Dinosaurs Sets. I like the look of these old forms. Today's ones are maybe too perfect.
I never got any of these, but I always thought they were pretty neat.
I'm jealous of your Spinosaurus.