Jurassic World

Indominus rex vs. Ankylosaurus

The best LEGO Ankylosaurus ever made, quietly hiding inside a middling playset.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 75941 · 2020

Pieces537

Minifigs5

Year2020

Set number75941

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The verdict

The Ankylosaurus is what got me here, and it turns out to be the whole reason to own this set.

It is a brand-new mould, armoured and spiky and easily the best version LEGO has made. The Indominus rex is a reused body with a smart new grey-and-silver paint job, and the Gyrosphere station is fine but forgettable. If you collect LEGO dinosaurs, this is a keeper, especially now that it has retired and climbed well past its old price.

Best for: LEGO dinosaur collectors who care more about the beasts than the buildings

The full review

What it is

This one recreates the moment early in the first Jurassic World film where Zach and Gray hop into a Gyrosphere, roll out into the valley, and end up caught between the Indominus rex and a herd of Ankylosaurus. On the box it reads like a balanced playset, two dinosaurs plus a station plus a jungle. In the hand it is really a dinosaur set with some scenery attached, and the Ankylosaurus is the star. It is a completely new mould, heavily armoured, covered in printed scales and spikes running head to tail, and it genuinely made me stop and turn it over in my hands. Reviewers across the board called it the best LEGO Ankylosaurus, and after living with it I agree.

The catch

The honest wrinkle is the rest of the box. The Indominus rex is the same large body LEGO first used back in 2015, so if you already own an older Indominus you are buying the same shape again. What saves it is the paint: a much more realistic grey with a metallic silver sheen across the legs and tail that looks a lot better than the old white version. The Gyrosphere station has a cute turnstile and a trigger that flicks the sphere out onto its rails, and the buildable trees can be knocked flat by the Ankylosaurus tail, which kids love. But the structure itself is architecturally pleasant and not much more, and the minifigs and scenery clearly play second fiddle to the animals. At the launch price of 99.99 dollars the 537 pieces felt a little lean, and most reviewers only fully recommended it once it dropped 20 percent or so.

Who it's for

So this is a set with a clear audience. If you collect LEGO dinosaurs, or you have a dino-obsessed kid, the Ankylosaurus alone justifies tracking it down, and the Indominus repaint plus five figures sweeten the deal. If you already own a decent Indominus and you are hoping the buildings will carry the set, I would let this one pass, because the station is the weakest part of the package. It has now retired, and sealed copies have climbed well above the old shelf price, so a bargain is unlikely at this point.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build splits into two very different moods. The dinosaurs are mostly a matter of clicking large pre-formed mould pieces together, so they go fast and are more about the reveal than the engineering. The Gyrosphere station and jungle are where the actual bricklaying happens, and while none of it is challenging, the designers gave the structure some angled framing so it does not read as a plain box. Younger builders get plenty of playable functions here: the turnstile, the sphere launcher, and the swiping tail that topples the trees.

The standout parts are the animals themselves. The Ankylosaurus is a brand-new mould with printed armour plating, and the Indominus body carries all-new printing in that grey-and-silver scheme, so even though the shape is recycled the surface is fresh. The clear Gyrosphere globe is a fun element to have loose in a collection, and four of the five minifigs are exclusive to this set, with Zach getting a new hair piece and a new face print. For part value it is not a treasure chest of rare connectors, but the two big printed dinosaurs are the real haul.

Fun facts

01The Ankylosaurus in this set is a completely new mould, and reviewers widely called it the best LEGO version of the dinosaur ever produced.
02The Indominus rex uses the same large body first seen in the 2015 Indominus rex Breakout set, but with entirely new grey-and-silver printing.
03Released in mid-2020 at a 99.99 dollar RRP, the set retired in December 2021 and sealed copies have since more than doubled in value.
04Four of the five minifigs (Owen, Claire, Zach and Gray) were exclusive to this set, with Zach receiving a new hairpiece and face.