Tag: Lego Dino

Dino Defence HQ Feature Small

Lego Dinosaurs – T-Rex, Raptor & Coelophysis

Lego Dinosaurs - Dino Defence HQI picked up the largest of the new Lego Dinosaurs set on special the other day – Dino Defence HQ (set 5887) from the Lego Dino theme launched in 2012.

My kids haven’t seen Jurassic Park (I’m an over-protective mother), but I am a fan of the books and movies created by Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg respectively and these sets continue the “dino + man coexisting” concept.

The main draw-card of the sets is of course the Lego Dinosaurs and Lego has created specific molds for the creatures much like they did for their similar Dino Attack theme, in 2005.

I had not seen a Lego Dinosaur up close and, being such a fearsome creatures in reality, I was interested to see how intimidating they are to your average, regular sized Lego minifigure.

It turns out they are pretty awesome.

Lego Dinosaurs

Lego Dinosaurs T-RexThe Lego Dino set Dino Defence HQ came with three specifically molded dinosaur “figures”.

A Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Raptor and a Coelophysis.

Now I’m not a 5 year old child so the only one of those names that really sounds familiar to me is the venerable T-Rex.

The raptor I know vaguely from the Jurassic Park movie and I consulted Wikipedia about the Coelophysis so I know it looks a little like the raptor but smaller and more bird-like.

The three lego dinosaurs come sealed in their own plastic bags, the largest two (T-Rex and Raptor) come unassembled while the small Lego Coelophysis comes pre-assembled within in a protective plastic mold.

It’s an impressive attempt on Lego’s part to protect all the “special” pieces, much like they have done with “bagging and boarding” the instruction books lately.

Putting the dinosaur figures together is easy if you follow the instructions (I won’t embarrass myself and tell you how many attempts it took for me without the instructions – I think there is a reason why man didn’t design the universe!)

Lego Dinosaurs Vs Minifigures

Lego Coelophysis vs Minifigure

I wanted to compare the dinosaurs and minifgures by size just to see how effective the theme would be in capturing that sense of primal fear in the minifigures.

I decided to give my poor “volunteer” minifigure a little bit of protection by way of a dino-suit and then started him off with the tiny Coelophysis, working our my way up to the T-Rex. Was he intimidated?

Well you can see the results for yourself – my minifigure is missing now by the way.

Lego Raptor vs MinifigureLego T-Rex vs Minifigure

Lego Dinosaurs

Overall I am impressed with the quality of the Lego Dinosaur figures.

The legs on my T-Rex were a little loose, which took away some of his fearsome presence but apart from that I would recommend them to add to a child’s existing Lego collection, particularly if your children are already into Dinosaurs (which let’s face it, most kids are).

As mentioned earlier, these three Lego dinosaurs can be found in the largest of the current Lego Dino sets, the Dino Defence HQ which retails for $99 US.

Lego Dinosaur Video

Lego Dino – Set Guide, News And Reviews

LEGO Dino 2012 LogoLego Dino is a theme of Lego first introduced in 2012.

The theme borrows from movies such as Jurassic Park which reintroduce ancient dinosaurs into a modern world with humans. The Lego Dino sets feature militarised vehicles with large molded dinosaur figures.

Lego Dino T-Rex Hunter 5886Lego Dino Sets 2012

  • Lego 5887 Dino Defense HQ
  • Lego 5882 Ambush Attack
  • Lego 5883 Tower Takedown
  • Lego 5884 Raptor Chase
  • Lego 5885 Triceratops Trapper
  • Lego 5886 T-Rex Hunter
  • Lego 5888 Pteranodon Chase

Lego Dino

Jurassic Park must be one of the Lego company’s favorite movies because they have mixed Dinosaurs with human battle vehicles in themes a number of times in the years since the movie’s release.

Jurassic Park was a huge hit in 1993 and centered on a billionaire who genetically engineered dinosaurs, keeping them on an isolated island with hopes to open a theme park to show them off. Of course everything goes wrong and the dinosaurs get free, demonstrating their innate power over man as they cause havoc on the island. The book and subsequent movie adaptation were very popular and continue to attract attention from new and old fans.

Lego has seen the appeal of mixing natures ultimate battle/eating machines with humanity’s most powerful creatures. In 2005 they released the theme Dino 2010 (also called Dino Attack) which bears a striking similarity to the current Dino theme of 2012.

As in that earlier theme the dominant dinosaurs in the current series of sets are Tyrannosaurus Rex, Coelophysis, Triceratops, Pteranodon and the Raptor. The dinosaurs are  are featured in sets with playsets or vehicles designed to subdue and capture the dinosaurs.

The Lego Dino theme was possibly designed to ride on the success of  Terra Nova, a TV series launched in late 2011. Like Jurassic Park, the series pits humans and dinosaurs against each other.

Lego Dino Gallery