LEGO BrickHeadz Jurassic World: Jurassic World 41614 Owen & Blue review

The two buddies who will reunite in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom are here together in one LEGO BrickHeadz box – so how does the format work for the charismatic hero and his human sidekick?

Price: £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99 Pieces: 234 Available: Now

The LEGO BrickHeadz range seems to be seeking to touch every licence that the LEGO Group has a link with, with this new two pack inspired by Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom a prime example. It is the only set based on the franchise, featuring stylised versions of Owen Grady and Blue the Raptor. Where expectations for this set stand depends very much on how far a fan has bought into the BrickHeadz theme – some are fully sold, some are still less impressed. The former camp will certainly want to see how a non-humanoid character translates into the unique aesthetic, while the latter camp may be at least a little curious.

At this point, everyone knows how a LEGO BrickHeadz build goes together, and Owen shows no deviation from the usual formula. He has nice printed shirt and pocket pieces that fans might find utility for elsewhere, and the syringe seems in much better scale here than it does when paired with a minifigure.

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Even Blue has the same basic body that all BrickHeadz share, but with an unusual build to turn the LEGO skeleton into a dinosaur rather than a person. There are lots of tiles involved and a couple of printed parts that are likely to be useful to those building dinosaurs. Sand Green and Dark Green parts included here might be desirable, but the price point is unlikely to be deemed worthwhile for those looking for elements alone.

Unfortunately, this set just does not work. Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady, unless given a stronger personality in the sequel to Jurassic World, is a bland everyman character with no distinct features. If not for the logo on the box, it would be hard to pick out who this BrickHeadz is supposed to represent. Not because the model itself is awful, just because the character is so bland and forgettable. The human characters in Jurassic World were not the draw, and if human characters from this franchise are on the agenda, the LEGO Group should have released the core Jurassic Park group of Grant, Sattler, Malcom, Hammond, Lex and Tim. While not the most realised characters in the history of cinema, they all had a distinctive, recognisable look and are memorable 25 years later.

As for Blue, the finished model is not recognisable as a Raptor. It is just about identifiable as a dinosaur, but the big square head does not translate many of the unique dino-traits into the model that should be included. On the box, it looks like Blue might be kind of adorable – in person, there is little cuteness to be found. Perhaps the BrickHeadz formula should have been deviated from further to get a better Raptor vibe from this build.

Anyone who has read previous reviews I have written will know that I strongly advocate freshness in the LEGO line-up, and feel that anything that offers a new experience tends to be positive. Despite building a BrickHeadz dinosaur definitely being something different, it is not well executed, so ultimately proves disappointing. This set is for the BrickHeadz or Jurassic World completist collectors only, everyone else can easily skip it.

LEGO BrickHeadz 41614 Owen & Blue is available now at shop.LEGO.com . You can help support Brick Fanatics’ work by using our affiliate links.

Author Profile

Graham
Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education.

Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.

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Graham

Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education. Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.

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