LEGO Jurassic Park 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex minifigures review

Take a closer look at the two exclusive LEGO minifigures in 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex and see how they compare to their inspiration from Jurassic Park.

LEGO Jurassic Park 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex is a display model first and foremost, but like its Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series counterparts, the 3,145-piece set includes an info plaque accompanied by a pair of minifigures. In this case, Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Alan Grant are both present with exclusive new designs based on early appearances in the original Jurassic Park movie.

We’ve already tackled the giant T. rex fossil in 76968 in our original review, but if you’re after a closer look at the minifigures and how accurate they are to the 1993 film, read on.

Dr. Alan Grant

This isn’t our first LEGO minifigure inspired by Sam Neill’s Alan Grant – far from it – but it is the first to recreate his outfit from the beginning of Jurassic Park, when he and Ellie Sattler are working at an excavation site in Montana. The LEGO minifigure captures his red flannel shirt, white undershirt and dark tan trousers with full arm and leg printing. He also has a double-sided head – one with sunglasses and a slight frown, the other sans sunglasses with a grin.

Alan Grant does indeed wear sunglasses in this scene, and later removes them, and it’s fair to say he both grins and grimaces at various points. There are maybe only two places the LEGO Group could have improved even further on this minifigure: dual-moulded arms to represent his rolled shirt sleeves, and an additional hat to swap out for the hair (bonus points for a moulded hat-and-hair combo piece).

All in all, though, this is a fine representation of Dr. Alan Grant from the opening of Jurassic Park, and as a minifigure begins to hint towards the budget that the designers of 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex had to play with. There’s a lot going on here, with three brand new prints across head, torso and legs.

Dr. Ellie Sattler

Remember what we were just saying about dual-moulded arms? Well, Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler does get them, here representing her rolled blue shirt sleeves. Presumably the LEGO Group decided to favour printing Alan’s flannel shirt pattern to offer even further distinction between the two minifigures, while Ellie’s plain blue shirt allowed for dual-moulded arms.

What Ellie doesn’t get is printed legs, and while she’s only wearing jeans the LEGO Group has designed specific prints for denim trousers before, so it’s not too unreasonable to have expected some decoration here. Her unique and detailed torso print makes up for it, though – as does her new double-sided head, which like Alan’s features two different expressions and the option for sunglasses or no sunglasses.

Where Ellie falls down compared to Alan is in the choice of hairpiece used for Laura Dern’s character. Unlike her counterpart, she doesn’t actually remove her hat in the excavation scene, so in the absence of a new dual-moulded hat and hairpiece, the LEGO Group has plumped for the same hairstyle she wears later in the movie, with a piece previously used for Ellie’s pink-shirted outfit in the 2023 Jurassic Park 30th anniversary sets.

76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex minifigures

That really is the biggest point of contention with these two minifigures, however – and the only one that goes beyond nitpick territory – and if that’s as bad as it gets, well, you know you’ve got a pair of very good LEGO Jurassic Park minifigures on your hands. The focus in 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex is obviously not the minifigures, so the designers could have taken the easy route and either given us plainer versions or omitted them altogether. It’s to our benefit that they didn’t.

Perhaps the true downside to this pair is that they’re locked behind a £220 set, but then if you have any interest in LEGO Jurassic Park (and, erm, the space to display a 105cm-long dino skeleton), this is one well worth picking up for more than just its minifigures.

LEGO Jurassic Park 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex is available to LEGO Insiders from March 12 (and everyone else from March 15) for £219.99 / $249.99 / €249.99.

Read next…

• 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex review
• Eight things 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex is longer than

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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