Comparing the accuracy of the Camp Cretaceous sets
Posted by Huw,
This article has been contributed by Samuel Loh, aka legOtaku.
Camp Cretaceous (2020) follows the story of a group of teenage campers left behind on Isla Nublar in the aftermath of the Jurassic World disaster of 2015.
The Netflix series bridges the gap between Jurassic World and Fallen Kingdom; and sets up shocking developments for next year's Jurassic World Dominion. 4 new sets based partially on the series have now been released, and I would like to compare their accuracy to the source material.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead!
76939 Stygimoloch Dinosaur Escape
This Juniors set is actually quite accurate. We've got a truck based on the classic Jeep Wrangler colour scheme from Jurassic Park, and I'm happy to see they included the red wheels.
The treehouse build is actually Camp Kenji; a survival shelter constructed by the main characters out of the wreckage of Camp Cretaceous after the Indominus Rex attack. The slide actually should be mirrored, but it's understandable that a new piece was not created.
Figure 2: Camp Kenji concept art (Aaron Pham)
The minifigure selection is good; although at no point does Claire Dearing interact with the characters or appear physically in the show. Brooklynn is basically a internet sensation while Ben Pincus is a nervous kid who experiences a major level of growth as the story progresses.
The dinosaurs in this set are actually some of the most accurate that Lego has ever produced. Bumpy as a baby has accurate teal printing here as opposed to the unrelated sand green baby Ankylosaurus seen last year. The Stygimoloch is based on the wildland skin from the videogame Jurassic World: Evolution and marks the second time a set has borrowed from videogame material.
Figure 3: Skin capture by Steamblust
76940 T. rex Dinosaur Fossil Exhibition
This set (whose title was originally speculated to be T Rex Dinosaur Fossil Escape) draws inspiration from the Samsung Innovation Centre (SIC) seen in Jurassic World. The plaque attached to the excellently built T-Rex fossil mimics the same format as those seen in the SIC.
Figure 4: SIC display
While a large fossil was not seen in the rotunda, the asymmetrically printed fossil may be based on the various structures seen adorning main street in the film. You could even stretch it to say it's based on the fossil seen in the common area of Camp Cretaceous based on the branding. Darius Bowman is the teams neo-paleontological expert and the same Owen minifig returns, again. Both are well-designed, but I'm ticked that the latter has to be shoehorned into sets when he doesn't appear in the show. The sand blue baby triceratops is based on a deleted scene involving Lex Murphy from Jurassic Park.
Figure 5: Unused baby triceratops animatronic from Jurassic Park.
76941 Carnotaurus Dinosaur Chase
This set takes the highest amount of inspiration from the show and includes one of the threats from Season 1.
Figure 6: Toro the Carnotaur. Note the scar on the right hand side of her head.
Toro the Carnotaur got her scar while pursuing Ben and Kenji directly into a fence and carried a relentless vendetta against the group until she was defeated in the final episode of Season 1. She then briefly popped up again in Season 2 only to be embarrassingly defeated by a transformed Ben and an adult Bumpy.
The dark orange colour scheme looks fantastic and I'm happy that the designers incorporated her asymmetric scar in the printing. Collectors be advised; it is strongly speculated that Toro was one of three Carnotaur present on Isla Nublar; so hang on to your Fallen Kingdom Carnotaur. Kenji Kon is the stereotypic son of a rich investor seen in almost every instalment of the franchise; while Sammy Gutierrez is a farmgirl who was sent in to spy for Mantah Corp; a shady company which may be tied to the plot of Jurassic World Dominion. Also, there's another Owen minifig.
Figure 7: Camp Cretaceous Mercedes AMG 6x6
The truck is meant to be a Mercedes AMG 6x6 which has had all the branding stripped off of it. However in the process of dodging the licensing most of the traits from show's model have been stripped. The wheels are grey and not red, the main body should be light grey not tan and most of the distinctive features of the real life vehicle such as the front bumper have been removed. But this is still an important step forward in terms of media accuracy and I appreciate that we finally have the roof piece in tan for the cloth top of Jeep Wranglers. The helicopter bears resemblance to 75915 but doesn't appear to resemble anything in the show.
76942 Baryonyx Dinosaur Boat Escape
This set is honestly just a bizarre mish-mash.
Figure 8: The Arcadia
The boat bears no resemblance to anything in current media, but may have drawn inspiration from the Arcadia in its concept; the landing-ship-tank (LST) cargo ship seen in Fallen Kingdom transporting dinosaurs to the mainland. A boat does appear in Season 2 of Camp Cretaceous, but it's a medium-sized black pleasure yacht. It belonged to dinosaur poachers Mitch and Tiff who attempt to silence the campers only to be eaten alive for their efforts.
Figure 9: Chaos, Grim and Limbo from left to right.
Further, the trio of Chaos, Limbo and Grim are introduced of which the latter is the inspiration for the Baryonyx in this set. Grim was fatally shot by Tiff and Chaos is strongly speculated to be same individual from Fallen Kingdom as well as 75935. Grim's green colour scheme and orange head highlights are accurate to the show model; in spite of reusing the same inaccurate raptor claw leg designed for the Indoraptor.
The boat's is sparse in features due to the need to accommodate the dinosaur capture equipment and the set also comes with 2018's baby raptor. Yazmina Fadoula is the team's athlete and her leg print is neat to have. Darius, Owen and the ACU trooper are reuses from other sets.
Conclusion
Overall I'd say this whole wave is fairly accurate; which is pretty good in terms of Jurassic World sets. The designers have attempted to work around the design limitations and have taken some important steps forward for future sets such as the asymmetrical printing and balance of location based sets.
The dinosaurs are top par as usual and the minifigs do reflect their show counterparts in most respects. However it's still not quite there yet as the elements seem to have been hurriedly thrown together; having taken inspiration only from the general details of the show it is based on.
The campers could have benefited from the use of medium legs though I understand that could have cost the designers element tubs for other necessary parts. Darius and Ben are portrayed as their Season 1 appearances and have not yet been updated to reflect their changed outfits.
So why was this the case? With the pushback of Jurassic World Dominion to 2022; the sets meant to be released this year were accordingly moved back as well. Thus the need for new sets to be redesigned in a very short timeframe to fill the void. Elements from potential sets were thus strapped together and rebranded as Camp Cretaceous for this wave. It's frustrating, but I'm still looking forward to next year as the series will venture into unknown territory in both the story and in the brick.
The new sets were released on September 1st and can be bought here. If you are interested in looking at more Lego Jurassic World content; please consider following me on Instagram at legOtaku (where I build the dinosaurs Lego hasn't got around to yet).
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25 comments on this article
Is the show any good? I’ve seen other people talk about it but it seems entirely directed at kids. Wondering if anyone has seen it and thinks it’s fine for an older audience.
@Goujon said:
"Is the show any good? I’ve seen other people talk about it but it seems entirely directed at kids. Wondering if anyone has seen it and thinks it’s fine for an older audience. "
I can only speak for myself, but I thoroughly enjoyed the series.
The characters all have genuine growth throughout the seasons.
Despite kids being the main characters, the threats seem real, and not watered down.
It has its dumb moments, of course, but overall I recommend it to anyone interested.
@Goujon said:
"Is the show any good? I’ve seen other people talk about it but it seems entirely directed at kids. Wondering if anyone has seen it and thinks it’s fine for an older audience. "
My wife and I enjoyed watching it with our two children, ages 4 and 5. That is, until the last season, when a certain dinosaur (?) appears, and the kids deemed it "too scary" to continue. We'll finish it at some point.
Misread that as camp crustaceans. :)
@Goujon said:
"Is the show any good? I’ve seen other people talk about it but it seems entirely directed at kids. Wondering if anyone has seen it and thinks it’s fine for an older audience. "
It’s ok. There’s no real sense of danger; you know they won’t kill a kid off, and they often make the characters do stupid things as a way to stretch out plot lines. The dinosaur animation is nice.
It’s still a massive shame we haven’t got more original trilogy sets. There’s a wealth of scenes that would make fantastic sets but Universal love focusing on the JW era…
Interesting. I always thought the boat was inspired by the one in The Lost World. Although, as someone who only cares for the first two (I haven’t even bothered seeing 4 and 5), I guess that’s understandable.
Interesting this show is on my to-watch list after Castle Boreasulle and Space Coxswain
That 'Carnotaurus' set looks reeeeally good, up to the helicopter (the tails looks 'glued on'/an 'afterthought'), and pretty accurate to the source material.
Teenagers? Unsupervised and alone in adrenaline-inducing environments?
What button do I push to doubt?
I'm tempted to get 76939; I wouldn't at all mind having another baby Ankylosaurus, I like the Jeep even if it is 4+, and I'm a sucker for hair pieces in unusual colors like Brooklynn's. (The fact that I'm a huge anime fan may have something to do with that.)
Side note: my spell checker suggested replacing Ankylosaurus with Tyrannosaurus. Which isn't the first time it's recognized one type of dinosaur but not another.
I hate to whine, but I've had my fill of lackluster Jurassic Park sets in general. $20 for a big toy dino, no thanks.
The front gate was a step in the right direction for the theme.
@NotProfessorWhymzi:
Look back to the first movie, where they show how dangerous these dinosaurs truly are by having an expert big game hunter get outmaneuvered. In the fifth movie, I was actively rooting for the two new characters to get eaten because they basically did everything wrong all the time, and should have gotten a lot more than themselves killed with their actions.
So, the idea of a group of teenagers surviving an even more dangerous scenario without any casualties sounds like something that’s being marketed directly at kids who have hit the age where they start to believe they’re experts in everything.
The treehouse should have been the biggest set of the wave honestly. Hope we will get a set with adult Bumpy as well.
The show itself is really fun and characters are actually written very good.
I really hated Camp Cretaceous for it has nothing interesting to say and is a straight-up power fantasy.
Then again, my taste leans heavily towards the more introspective, experimental and deconstructionist side of the spectrum (my favourite TV series is Neon Genesis Evangelion), so Camp Cretaceous wasn’t going to appeal to me from the start.
Additionally, the character designs, animation style, and dialogue are atrocious.
Haven't got Netflix so can't chime in about the quality of the show. But the premise in itself is enough to turn me off, so no thanks.
Would really love more sets based on the original JP movie, but I guess that's not really in the cards.
I made a better 6x6 back when the Lego Jurassic world game came out, I now want to rebuild it in red and grey now…
@PurpleDave said:
"So, the idea of a group of teenagers surviving an even more dangerous scenario without any casualties sounds like something that’s being marketed directly at kids who have hit the age where they start to believe they’re experts in everything."
How insane there’s entertainment and corresponding merch marketed directly to kids.
Welcome to our planet, extraterrestrial visitor!
@TheRightP_art said:
"I really hated Camp Cretaceous for it has nothing interesting to say and is a straight-up power fantasy.
Then again, my taste leans heavily towards the more introspective, experimental and deconstructionist side of the spectrum (my favourite TV series is Neon Genesis Evangelion), so Camp Cretaceous wasn’t going to appeal to me from the start."
Dunno whether to applaud or guffaw. Truly worthy of America’s Finest News Source.
https://www.theonion.com/i-appreciate-the-muppets-on-a-much-deeper-level-than-yo-1819583976
I understand the single piece dinosaurs are for a young audience, but they just don't appeal to me as nothing to build apart from the T. Rex Dinosaur Fossil Exhibition.
The Netflix show is pretty good even for an adult watcher. Depends how much you like dinosaurs and the Jurassic World idea. But to have the same Owen Grady again and again in almost every set is almost as bad as a HP minifigure, with the difference that the later actually makes sense. And all the kids should have gotten medium legs. Brooklyn looks like a grandma.
@tttwlam:
No, I get that. I know YA fiction takes up more space than the sci-fi/fantasy section at the bookstore. But I’ve said before that by the time I was the target market for YA, I’d already outgrown it. Being aware of it doesn’t mean I have any desire to partake.
Looking at the show's designs (and their Lego version), sheltering at Camp Kenji would definitely be a wet and windy experience, given the (fictional) Muertes Archipelago's history of torrential storms...
@tttwlam said:
" @TheRightP_art said:
"I really hated Camp Cretaceous for it has nothing interesting to say and is a straight-up power fantasy.
Then again, my taste leans heavily towards the more introspective, experimental and deconstructionist side of the spectrum (my favourite TV series is Neon Genesis Evangelion), so Camp Cretaceous wasn’t going to appeal to me from the start."
Dunno whether to applaud or guffaw. Truly worthy of America’s Finest News Source.
https://www.theonion.com/i-appreciate-the-muppets-on-a-much-deeper-level-than-yo-1819583976"
You laugh, but the Muppet Show is clearly a stellar example of postmodern nihilistic existentialism. Kermit is obviously a reaction to Ronald Reagan, and don't even get me started on Gonzo's symbolic identification with the death of the American Dream. That said, it's totally ridiculous that the wires and strings are clearly visible when the puppets are manipulated. I mean, suspension of disbelief only goes so far...
@Mr__Thrawn said:
"...the Muppet Show is clearly a stellar example of postmodern nihilistic existentialism....
That said, it's totally ridiculous that the wires and strings are clearly visible when the puppets are manipulated. I mean, suspension of disbelief only goes so far..."
Funny, I never noticed anything manipulating Muppets back in the day. I would suspect those wires and strings are appearing on your modern, much higher-definition screen because the process of remastering the original recordings has made the once-invisible mechanisms as much sharper and clearer as everything else. Win some, lose some.... :-)
There's some decent world-building in the show regarding Dr. Wu and possibly some things that might play out in Jurassic World: Dominion next year. If you're a fan of the movie series and Camp Cretaceous is not your vibe, I'd recommend at least reading a synopsis to get some of the lore.
While the show skewed a bit young for my taste I did enjoy getting to see more of what the park offered, and the first season has some great moments of viewing the events of Jurassic World's Indominus Rex breakout from a different perspective.