LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research review

LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research is a novel and fun set, unfortunately buried behind a bloated price.

Bringing together a big dinosaur, an iconic vehicle, two lead characters and a big pile of poo makes for a unique and very strong LEGO set, except when it’s from the Jurassic Park or Jurassic World theme, as then it’s also a very expensive LEGO set.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research set details —

Theme: LEGO Jurassic Park Set name: 76959 Triceratops Research Release: June 1, 2023

Price: £46.99 / $49.99 / €52.99 Pieces: 281 Minifigures: 2

LEGO: Available June 1, 2023

— Where to buy LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research releases on June 1 as part of the Jurassic Park 30th-anniversary range of LEGO sets, available at LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores, as well as through third-party retailers.

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— LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research build —

As is the case with a number of LEGO Jurassic Park and LEGO Jurassic World sets of recent years, for the money you have to shell out to pick up LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research, the amount of LEGO that you receive will feel relatively small. The build is split between the very snazzy Ford Explorer in Jurassic Park colours and a huge pile of… dinosaur poo. The included dinosaur is six larger pieces of plastic that snap together super quick and can’t really constitute being called a build.

So for almost £50, one car and one dung pile does feel light on value, there’s no getting away from that, and it’s a shame when considering that, otherwise, everything in the box is still great.

The Ford Explorer is nigh-on identical in design and build to the one that appeared in 76956 T. rex Breakout and it also completes the pre-breakout set-up for that set, as you build Explorer number 4, which in 76956 is the one half-destroyed and upside-down. What we said in our review of 76956 T. rex Breakout remains true here too – this is a long-awaited, instantly-recognisable vehicle from the most iconic movie in the Jurassic franchise and it has thankfully been given the attention and expertise needed in LEGO form to make this model quite perfect.

Alongside the Ford Discovery build in 76959 Triceratops Research comes the moulded Triceratops, recoloured and printed with excellent detail to nicely resemble the version of the creature we first saw on screens 30 years ago. It’s probably a toss-up as to whether including this version on its feet and one that was stricken on the ground – as per their appearance in the film – would have been better, but this version on all fours is certainly far more playable, and this is an 8+ set.

And aside from the car and the Triceratops is the big pile of dino droppings. Never have we ever had to build such a large amount of excrement in LEGO form… must we really pass that much comment on what a dinosaur has passed? The berries in the middle are a nice touch to represent what was upsetting the Triceratops, while the brown frog is an even smarter reference to how the scientists in Jurassic Park used frog DNA to help complete the dinosaurs’ genome.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research characters —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research comes with Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Ian Malcolm, both excellently designed once more in LEGO minifigure form here. There are four versions of Ellie across the five LEGO Jurassic Park sets releasing in this 30th-anniversary wave, but each has been made slightly different – this one comes with hair tied up and muddy overalls, representative of her hands-on approach to helping treat the Triceratops.

LEGO Dr. Ian Malcolm’s bemused and joking expressions are also spot on for the occasion here.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research price —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research comes in at £46.99 / $49.99 / €52.99, which for 281 pieces that construct one dinosaur, one car, one poo and two minifigures, is nowhere near suitable value.

It’s the catch-22 that most of the LEGO Jurassic Park and LEGO Jurassic World sets find themselves in. They wouldn’t be complete play experiences without a dinosaur, but then the cost to produce these giant, plastic moulded creatures is so much that it ratchets up the price of any set they are included in, limiting everything else creatively and ending up with sets that – however well designed they are – will always struggle to justify their RRP.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research pictures —

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research pros and cons —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research is another victim of its price, burying a fun and amusing lower-mid-range LEGO set behind a higher-mid-range price that just leaves a creative, worthy addition to the collection otherwise feeling unnecessarily bloated. Good LEGO set, too high of a price.

76959 Triceratops Research pros	76959 Triceratops Research cons
Cheapest way yet to get the Ford Discovery	The price
Great minifigure designs
Another Triceratops for the collection

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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— Alternatives to LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research —

LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research is priced at £46.99 / $49.99 / €52.99 – for £3 more you could pick up 43217 ‘Up’ House or 75577 Mako Submarine, whilst for the same price the interesting 60398 Family House and Electric Car from City releases on the same day.

— LEGO Jurassic Park 76959 Triceratops Research FAQs —