Now that Jurassic World has hit theaters, likely been in the talk for Oscars and made eleventy billion dollars on it’s opening night (I started writing this on Thursday, so I don’t really know, but if there was ever a sure-fire bet for “making back it’s budget” in a movie, it’s something like this)… it’s time to get reviewing those sets. I picked up a few of the JW sets back in early May when they showed up with the other new summer stuff, but hadn’t gotten around to writing these reviews.
I’d like to give you some really good excuse like “waiting for the movie” or “couldn’t contain my excitement” but honestly, I’m smack-dab in the middle of the “eh…” category when it comes to Jurassic World and the related sets. Make no mistake, I love dinosaurs, enjoyed the first movie well enough, and like seeing LEGO sets with nice pieces. But It’s because I love reading about and studying dinosaurs that I’ve never been overly enamored with the Jurassic Park movies. They are certainly entertaining films, but the science in them is just so awful it breaks me out of my suspension of disbelief a lot, which makes them hard to watch. It’s also not helped by the fact that every scene in every one of the movies brings the thought “wait, how did you possibly think this was a good idea” screaming to the front of your brain.
Reviewing 75920 Raptor Escape was one of my first choices when I was signing up for these, because it was the set that seemed to have a few nice things to offer. Some interesting parts, a person of color character, not-really Velociraptors Velociraptors, and the potential to make railing jokes all add up to a fun day for me.
At $39.99 USD and 394 parts, it’s also probably the best “sticker” value of the Jurassic World sets at first glance. I believe that it’s a Walmart exclusive in the US (I picked mine up at a LEGO Store), since I’m not seeing it listed anywhere else. Even though it is distinctly lacking in Chris Pratt (something that increases the value of everything in the universe),maybe it’ll end up being a gem of the line…