3 reasons why you should buy LEGO's epic new Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil skeleton today
We're heading back to Jurassic Park this summer with Jurassic World: Rebirth (so much for the 'end of the Jurassic era'), and you can now bring the iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex into your home.
LEGO has launched its biggest-ever Jurassic World set with the Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus Rex model. It's a 1:12 scale replica of the T-Rex that was brought to life using real-life images of T-Rex fossils and references from the Jurassic movies.
But is it a must-have for Jurassic Park fans? I sat down ahead of its release to build the new set and dug into all the details.£219.99 at LEGO
The LEGO Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus Rex set contains 3,145 pieces, spread across 25 bags with 743 steps to complete the detailed skeleton that measures a whopping 105cm long and 35cm high.
It also comes with two minifigures of Dr Ellie Sattler and Dr Alan Grant who get their own dig site display, which can be attached to the model or kept separate, depending on your display choices.
Talking of display choices, the T-Rex fossil skeleton has articulated joints which include a movable head, opening jaw, posable arms and tail so you can set your T-Rex up however you prefer.
If you're a LEGO Insiders member, the Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus Rex set is available to buy right now after being made available to LEGO Insiders members on Wednesday, March 12.
It costs £219.99 in the UK, $249 in the US and €249.99 in Europe, and if you're a LEGO Insiders member, you can get 1,760 points for your purchase.
Buy the LEGO Tyrannosaurus Rex set
Don't worry if you're not a LEGO Insiders member as it's free to sign up and you can use any points earned towards rewards, exclusive offers and early access to new sets such as this T-Rex set.
If you don't want to sign up, the Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus Rex set will be released on general sale from Saturday, March 15.
Although be warned, sets can sometimes 'sell out' on the Insiders sale and you'll potentially face a longer wait to get your claws hands on it.
It might not be the cheapest Dinosaur Fossils set (for instance, you can get just the T-Rex skull for £34.99), but the increased price pays off with the awe factor of the completed fossil skeleton.
Wherever you find a space for it in your home, it's an impressive statement piece much like last year's huge Lord of the Rings set. It's not just the intricate details in the skeleton, but also the scale of it at more than a metre long. (Luckily the base isn't as long, so you don't need a metre-long space to display it.)
As mentioned above, the fossil skeleton has several movable parts to allow you to display it however you choose. Whether you want your T-Rex roaring or in quiet stalking mode, it's easy enough to customise.
The head is quite stiff movement-wise where I feared I might break it if I moved it too much, but the jaw, tail and arms move easily and without any fear.
As with any LEGO build, there are fun details to be excavated, such as a mosquito trapped in amber or – my personal favourite – a frog that lives in the centre of the skeleton in a nod to the use of frog DNA in creating the dinosaurs in the original Jurassic Park.
I've built my fair share of LEGO sets in my lifetime – including the likes of Barad-dûr, Jaws and The Nightmare Before Christmas sets in the past year alone – and I still found aspects of the T-Rex fossil a challenge.
Once the skeleton is on the display legs around bag 10, you then have to build out the skeleton details directly onto the model and it's a delicate procedure. There were a few times that when putting one bone onto it, I'd accidentally knock another one off.
Because you have to build out both sides of the skeleton, there are repetitive stretches of the build along the way. It's easy to get cocky as you've done it before, only to miss out a certain brick or put one on the wrong way around. Or at least, I found it easy to do that.
But there's no denying that the finished result is worth any hassle along the way. Once you see the full skeleton, all the effort is worth it and the challenge makes it one of the most satisfying LEGO builds I've done.
Some LEGO builders might need total silence to concentrate on a new build, but for me, I like to pair my builds with a background watch of a relevant movie or TV show like a nerdier version of a wine pairing at dinner.
The T-Rex set, of course, gave me an excuse to rewatch Jurassic Park – not that I ever really need one. But hearing the iconic score from John Williams certainly lends the build a suitably epic feel, even before you complete the entire skeleton.
Of course, it's a hefty build so I was barely done with my seventh bag before Jurassic Park ended. At this stage, you could just rewatch Jurassic Park again, but I ploughed on with the rest of the series.
In total, I managed to get to the end of Jurassic World by the time I was attaching the Ellie and Alan minifigures to the model.
It was a build of nearly eight hours in total for me, but you could probably shorten that by not being so picky over the placement of the skeleton's bones where I wanted them just right and lining up with each other on both sides.£219.99 at LEGO
LEGO's Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus Rex is for LEGO Insiders members, ahead of general sale on Saturday, March 15. at sky.com at Pandora at at amazon.co.uk at at amazon.co.uk at digitalspy.com at amazon.co.uk at amazon.co.uk at Apple at digitalspy.com at disneyplus.com at amazon.co.uk at amazon.co.uk
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