Review: 31058 Mighty Dinosaurs
Posted by Huw,
The release of two colour variations of Creator 3-in-1 31058 Mighty Dinosaurs seems to me like a good reason to re-publish our 2017 review of the original.
As you will see, it's an exceptional set and, I suspect, a perennial best-seller given the popular subject matter and low price, so it comes as no surprise that it was chosen for the product variation pilot.
The box
This year's Creator sets have a new box design with a yellow border round the edge of the front and a thin orange border around the image. As a result it looks very attractive. The 3-in-1 nature of the set is also communicated with more clarity than on last year's boxes.
T-Rex
Let's start with the 'A' model: the T-Rex. It's a fearsome looking beast, 25cm from head-to-tail, with a ferocious-looking set of teeth in its jaws.
The articulation in its hips and ankles allow it to be positioned in a variety of poses. I think the leg's design, with a fixed 90-degree knee, looks great, but it does hinder poseability somewhat. They certainly look more convincing that those on the T-Rex in 6914 Prehistoric Hunters.
The 2-clawed hands and arms are perhaps the weakest part of the design but even so they are a vast improvement on previous attempts at this scale.
Previous T-Rexes haven't had a joint in their neck, so one ie welcome here to enable more movement if the head.
The green/dark green with tan underside colour scheme looks great although I think I would have preferred the lower jaw to be green rather than tan.
The 6172459 (Plate 2X4X1 1/3 W. Side Bow, design: 47755, colour: Earth Green, new in this colour) which is usually used in vehicles, looks great representing the beast's eye sockets.
The set comes with four of the new 6175968 (Brick 1X1, W/ 2 Knobs, Corner, design: 26604, colour: Brick Yellow), used in the head.
Open wide! -- the tooth-filled jaw is hinged using clips and a 3l bar.
This joint technique, used for the ankles, utilising 4547958 (2X1 St.Ø4.9 Hole W. Half Beam, design: 85943) and 4286267 (Fric. Element, Ball Ø 10.2, design: 53585) , is employed in all three models and one I've not seen before.
Triceratops
Take the T-Rex apart to build the second-largest model, a Triceratops.
The lumbering bulk and proportions of the herbivore have been captured well.
It's horns and frill look great although the tan plate on the back is not ideal.
Some articulation of its legs is possible although the front ones can't be moved backwards very far so it can't be positioned in a typical walking pose.
Pterosaur
Finally, we have a Pterosaur. The designer has captured the look of the thing perfectly and It's as good as the A model in that regard.
The wings have three joints each which allow for a wide range of movement. And, impressively for such a small model, its legs are jointed too allowing the reptile to stand on them.
However, it can't balance on them: the tips of the wings need to be in contact with it to stop it toppling.
Verdict
This is an outstanding Creator set. All three models are superb and worthy of being 'A' models in their own right. The last Creator dinosaur set of this size, 6914 Prehistoric Hunters, despite being just 4 years old, looks very crude in comparison.
I can't really fault it at all, other than repeating what I have to say in every review of a set that uses mini ball-joints: it's about time they were made in colours other than grey!
The asking price of £12.99 / $14.99 buys you 174 useful and versatile pieces and a whole load of fun to boot. It's worth buying more than one so you can leave the individual models built: I had to dismantle them for this review but had I been able to buy more copies locally to avoid that I would have done: it really is that good.
Wait... there's more!
While looking up part numbers at the back of the instructions I noticed that a fourth model is shown, a Brachiosaurus or similar, that can be built using instructions available at LEGO Customer Services.
It looks to be as good as the others. Looks like I'll need to buy three more of this set, then...
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30 comments on this article
I have never seen this set in store since 2020
@ChromedCat said:
"I have never seen this set in store since 2020"
That’s because it was released in 2017. It’s just a re-publish of the review to get ready for the two variations in blue and sand orangey brown that are coming out in the UK
One of my local Sainsbury's has a 2-for-£15 offer on these. Or at least, it did the last time I popped in.
This is one of my favourite sets from recent years. Not sure I can justify buying six more in different colours, though!
Are the Brachiosaurus instructions anywhere now? The link in the review is broken.
@Slobrojoe said:
" @ChromedCat said:
"I have never seen this set in store since 2020"
That’s because it was released in 2017. It’s just a re-publish of the review to get ready for the two variations in blue and sand orangey brown that are coming out in the UK"
Its on back order on Lego.com, ships by 15 Sep, and limit 50.
The blue and brown ones are limit 2 !
This is the one set that I regularly take apart and put together in the alternate builds. For three years, I have kept myself from buying a second and third set thinking I should save the Lego budget for new sets I may like, and there are always new sets that catch my eye. Even when it has gone on sale, I have not caved.
If the new brown and blue variants make it to Canada, I will feel so satisfied with the how that self control has paid off! Here is hoping!
@NickF22 said:
"Are the Brachiosaurus instructions anywhere now? The link in the review is broken."
https://www.lego.com/cdn/product-assets/product.bi.additional.extra.pdf/31058_X_31058%204th%20Model.pdf
I'll update the link.
This has to be one of the great Lego sets. It does what Lego have always wanted you to do. Build, take apart, build something else. I know the colour variations will be in my house.
It's rare to find a good quality 3rd set, or even a very good 2nd set in creator series, but this and the Shark one, are the only sets I actually own 3 copies of due to the high quality across all the builds.
The cheap price point helps too
Funny set. I got it for my birthday from my mother. I am over 45 and stil getting Lego for my birthday. Best mom ever!
3 Mighty Dinosaurs plus a Pterosaur :)
The fun doesn't stop there, as there are lots of alt builds on rebrickable for this always popular set.
https://rebrickable.com/sets/31058-1/mighty-dinosaurs/?inventory=1altbuilds
Some of which (like the elephant) will work even better in the new colours.
(edit: I can't get this link to go straight to the alt builds, I think brickset is overriding my use of the old octothorp, but you can work it out, it's just an extra click for you - sorry!)
“I can't really fault it at all, other than repeating what I have to say in every review of a set that uses mini ball-joints: it's about time they were made in colours other than grey!”
Yep, still waiting
Got major Turaga Nuju vibes from that face-on shot of the triceratops
Really like this set, and got 3 when it first came out.
Also like the fact that it's the same 3 dinosaurs in 21320.
Ordered the new colours, although I'm not over convinced by blue.
@TerryWright said:
"
One of my local Sainsbury's has a 2-for-£15 offer on these. Or at least, it did the last time I popped in."
Yes, £15 for two is the current offer across the Sainsbury’s-Argos group. Every Sainsbury’s and Argos should do it at that price even if the offer is not displayed - just ask the store’s manager.
Your photography has come on a long way since then, Huw!
There are three more official alternate builds available here: https://www.lego.com/en-gb/service/buildinginstructions/31058
@mediAFOL:
Is that the elusive planeosoar?
@PurpleDave said:
" @mediAFOL:
Is that the elusive planeosoar?"
Don't forget the green scorpion mutant with two stingers (one on each front appendage) and one extra leg at the back.
I bought 31058 Mighty Dinosaurs all the way back in 2017 and I still think it's a good set. That said, I think the 't-rex' looks more like a generic bipedal carnivore. It always reminded me more of the Jurassic Park Velociraptors (the real ones looked different from those) than a T-rex. It just looks like it could run very fast!
Still one of the longest 3-in-1 sets to be available, December 2016 - now is impressive for such a small set.
Creator 3-in-1 is Lego's best theme and this set is near the top. I'd actually put it behind the sea creature 3-in-1 (that, like this one, has four builds).
All the builds are fantastic and (crucially) they are all dinosaurs (or sea creatures). And the sets do it with no minifigs and no license.
I agree. This is an absolutely brilliant set. It also has the stamp of approval of my kids. It's constantly getting taken apart and rebuilt into all different species. One of the best value sets.
Got the green one, ill get one of the other two colors and have all three dinos in diff colors. Maybe get another green one for all four.
Makes ya wonder outside the constraints of the creator theme what they couldve done with brick built dinos for Jurassic Park.
No, I didn't much care for these large brick-build animal Creator sets, but I bought one of the dragons a little while ago, and that changed my mind. This set was definitely one of my favourites. The T-Rex looks so good, in person, even better than I thought it would.
I'm really excited to try and find the blue-and-yellow variant, I'm just not super-thrilled that it's a UK exclusive, for the time being.
That these photos look dated and inferior to those in more recent reviews is a testament to the Brickset team's dedication to continuing to develop their skills and improve the already-high quality of the site. I have always been impressed by the pictures taken by @Huw and @CapnRex101, and back in 2017 (when I first read this review) these images were top notch. I truly appreciate their obvious investment in photo box/light tables/equipment and continued growth as product photographers.
My favourite MOC of this set is a grasshopper.
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-12685/apparat/31058-grasshopper/details
Green, it turned out, does not work that well for backgrounds, it looks a bit wishy-washy!
I LOVE all builds. I made one into dragon even!
@Huw:
Green is a tough color to work with. It’s hard to find a green makeup for characters like the Wicked Witch from Oz that doesn’t look vomit-inducing on human skin. Green stage lighting has the same problem. I once did a lighting design that called for a green wash that quickly got branded the “death light” because it made one of the cast members look like a ripe corpse. At the director’s request, I sampled a couple similar shades until I found one that everyone was okay with, but I never had that problem with any other colors. Just green. My first digital camera also made basic LEGO green look exactly like teal. The only other major issue I had with it was that LEGO red had a slight orangey tint to it, but it was still close enough that nobody every contacted me to ask where I got certain parts in orange.
the dinosaur eats the princess :D
https://bit.ly/3CcBSRd