LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush review

If there’s one LEGO Jurassic Park set to pick up this summer to mark the 30th anniversary of the film, it’s no doubt 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush.

While offering just the one minifigure and the smallest dinosaur mould out of the entire wave of summer sets to mark three decades since the release of Jurassic Park, 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush manages to outshine all the other JP sets it releases next to, but also stands out as an example of exactly where this theme could take things moving forward.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush set details —

Theme: LEGO Jurassic Park Set name: 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush Release: June 1, 2023

Price: £20.99 / $19.99 / €26.99 Pieces: 211 Minifigures: 1

LEGO: Available June 1, 2023

— Where to buy LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush releases on June 1, 2023 as part of the 30th-anniversary wave of LEGO Jurassic Park sets and will be available at LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores, as well as presumably at third-party retailers.

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— LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush build —

It sounds silly to say, but the core strength to LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush lies in its modesty. There’s just one minifigure included here, one small dinosaur (smallest of the summer wave), a single vehicle build and a little side-build, yet between those four things are everything needed to wonderfully capture an entertaining and memorable moment from Jurassic Park – and offer just as much playability as any of the larger Jurassic World and Jurassic Park LEGO sets it will be sharing shelf space with.

The other reason we and a number of other reviewers are so sweet on this set is because it manages to tick a lot of boxes that its counterparts cannot, at the same time coming in at one of the best value prices for a Jurassic World or Jurassic Park LEGO set in a long while. That roughly 10p-per-piece ratio on this set is usually nothing to shout about – it’s held as standard good value for a LEGO set – but in the context of years of Jurassic sets offering far-reduced piece counts at much higher price points, it’s a price-per-piece ratio that positively stands out, even more so in 2023.

But to be a bargain, relative or not, 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush still needs to be good, and good it is. The minifigure for Dennis Nedry and the smaller mould for the Dilophosaurus that debuted in 2019’s 75934 Dilophosaurus on the Loose, then appeared in last year’s 76951 Pyroraptor & Dilophosaurus Transport and is recoloured here, are the only characters needed for this scene and their translation once more into LEGO form is spot on – from the quite elaborate printing on the dinosaur to the design across Nedry, and the (completely fictitious) venomous spit across his face.

Their interaction on screen is at once both scary and funny and is centred around two props: a broken road sign that Nedry desperately needs so as to get off the island in the rainstorm, and Jeep 12 that he has taken and since gotten stuck after crashing into a tree off-road. The side-build for the road sign is all it needs to be, thanks to the ability to spin the arrow in any direction you want, while the jeep is one of two versions of a long-awaited vehicle from the franchise making its debut this summer.

Admittedly it may come in a little over-sized in scale compared to the minifigures, but it remains a nicely executed design that interestingly varies in how it’s built between its appearance in this set – complete with mud-spattered colour scheme and canvas roof – and its clean, roofless appearance in 76960 Brachiosaurus Discovery. That’s something rather unexpected from the LEGO Group, to vary the design of two very similar models like this when it otherwise isn’t wholly necessary, but for those picking up both sets it’s something to really appreciate and enjoy.

There are details through the build that serve the model’s accuracy, perhaps none better then the muddy footprints on either side of the vehicle’s sidesteps representing on the one side Nedry getting in and out in the rain, and on the other side the Dilophosaurus who then joins him inside.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush characters —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush only includes the two characters, one of whom is a minifigure for Dennis Nedry similar in design to his appearance in 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage, albeit with different face prints on both sides, including the poison ink-splattered expression. It’s a faithful translation into LEGO form wonderfully offset against the colourfully-printed Dilophosaurus that continues to benefit from being downsized a few years back. The scaling between creature and minifigure is so much better for it, even if we lose some articulation as a result – it’s something we really need to see adopted as an approach for the Velociraptors that otherwise continue to loom way too large in every set they appear in.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush price —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush is the cheapest set in the summer 2023 range of 30th-anniversary LEGO Jurassic Park sets, priced at £20.99 / $19.99 / €26.99. Beyond being the cheapest, this is one of the most complete and engaging LEGO sets in the range and so offers some of the best all round value you can find in a LEGO Jurassic World or Jurassic Park set at the moment.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush pictures —

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush pros and cons —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush is the complete package that few LEGO Jurassic World or LEGO Jurassic Park sets before it have been, particularly when considering the very low price point it comes in at. Combining a limited piece count, just one minifigure, one small dinosaur, one side build and one main build and still being this fun and playable is testament to clever design maximising the full potential of LEGO. If you only pick up one LEGO Jurassic Park set to mark the 30th anniversary, this is the one.

76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush pros	Dilophosaurus Ambush cons
The jeep is finally in LEGO form!	Highlights just how expensive the other Jurassic Park and Jurassic World sets really are
Dilophosaurus in smaller scale continues to shine	Jeep scale is slightly too big
Excellent value

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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— Alternatives to LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush is the cheapest LEGO Jurassic Park set releasing this summer and is probably better compared with other licensed sets that come in at around the same price, such as 71421 Dixie Kong’s Jungle Jam, 76917 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) or 75575 Ilu Discovery.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76958 Dilophosaurus Ambush FAQs —