Review: 75931 Dilophosaurus Outpost Attack
Posted by Huw,
75931 Dilophosaurus Outpost Attack sits in the middle of the price range of this year's Jurassic World sets and I believe in some markets it's exclusive to certain stores.
There doesn't look to be anything particularly novel or remarkable about it, so let's find out if it's worth tracking down...
Minifigures
Three minifigs are provided. There are no named characters -- they are simply guards and trackers -- and all three have identical torsos and legs that have cropped up in every other Jurassic World set we've reviewed. All the heads are a few years old, too. Decent enough figures, but not reason enough to buy the set.
This one, however, re-uses a hair piece that's appeared only once before, in Dimensions 71251 B.A. Baracus.
The female has a double-sided head; the others don't.
Dinosaurs
This set is the only one in this series to include a dilophosaurus and, in common with all the dinos in these sets, it's excellent.
It's not new, though. It was first introduced in 75916 Dilophosaurus Ambush in 2015. However, the toned-down colours of this version look far more realistic than its lime green predecessor.
The cute baby dino also makes an appearance and, unlike in 75933 T. Rex Transport where its inclusion felt a but superfluous, in this one it has a nice little crate to play, and be transported, in.
Outpost
The outpost comprises three sections that are connected by clips to enable them to be angled slightly.
On the right, a watchtower with desk and computer screen underneath; in the middle, gates; and on the left, a section of fence with a 'feeding crane' in the middle.
A few pieces of foliage are provided which make it look suitably 'jungle-y'.
The new 'Flex Tube, 21 Module, W/ 3.2 Hole', introduced last year, has enabled a very decent looking fence to be constructed, that actually looks fit for purpose.
The two gates are formed using two 4x6 lattice doors each, held together with a couple of jumper plates which isn't actually very satisfactory, or secure.
There are two frangible play features: press the red cone on the back of the watchtower and the wall at the bottom pops out, and press on the Technic axles either side of the gate to remove them from their hinges. That's easier said than done, though, as it requires a lot of force to dislodge the gates from the clips.
Cranes on top of walls or fences are a common feature in Jurassic World sets. This one appears to be to enable the baby dino to be placed into the enclosure.
The watchtower can be manned to keep a lookout...
...because it seems that rather than breaking out of the enclosure, the dilophosaurus breaks in, if the image on the front of the box is anything to go by.
No doubt resulting in an inevitable casualty...
Verdict
As suspected, there's nothing remarkable about this set and I sense that it was cobbled together late in the day to fit a particular price point and to be offered as a retailer exclusive. No new dinosaur and no new minifigs, or minifig components.
That said, there's nothing particularly wrong with it. Kids will find plenty to play with and the section of fence is the best I've encountered in a dinosaur set. If there were three or four more sections of it to enable a full 360 degree enclosure it would be perfect.
The price, however, is remarkable, remarkably high. Once again the exchange rate applied is totally askew with reality. It's £44.99, 49.99€ and $39.99, which thus makes the European prices the equivalent of about $62.
On that basis I can't really recommend it to anyone Europe until there's a decent discount to be had, particularly as there are better, and better value Jurassic World sets available.
Nice dinosaurs, shame about the price...
Thanks to LEGO for providing this set for review, which is an expression of my own opinions.
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32 comments on this article
those minifigs would be a great swat/henchment army builder
You always do playing with dinosaurs right, Huw: people get et.
Great review.
I personally love these outpost/location based sets, but the price on this one is far too high.
If it was 29.99 it would be a must buy for me.
The set is a Walmart exclusive in the USA.
I like it fine for yet another famous overpriced wall set. At least this time the fence uses those old stretcher helicopter pull things (No idea what they are called as you can see.) that I wish LEGO would use more in some of the countless helicopters we get every year.
It's a licensed theme and retailer exclusive. They always seemed to be overpriced. Price in the US isn't terrible, but it does look more like a $30 set than a $40 set. Hopefully Wal-mart puts this on sale so I can pick one up.
This set seems more of a battle pack for the generic guard figures. Besides their price the set would be a good army builder
"The price, however, is remarkable, remarkably high. Once again the exchange rate applied is totally askew with reality. It's £44.99, 49.99€ and $39.99, which thus makes the European prices the equivalent of about $62."
No exchange rate is applied. TLG will charge what the market allows.
^ and if enough people buy it, the market allows it and it isn't Overpriced. So, if you think it is too expensive, don't buy it at full price. Hopefully lego will notice and put similar sets at a lower price point.
Casper, they did that with the $150 City sets have come down to $120 and the Advent Calendars were $10 more one year, and then got lowered back down.
Meh. I think I'll try to get three sets with T-Rex instead. Transport for dad, Jr for 4 year old, and Duplo for 2 year old! (then dockyards for mom? ;))
Okay, I've just gotta ask... how do you know what's realistic coloring for a dinosaur? :)
Based on contemporary depictions in the media: I don't recall seeing lime green dinos in recent films but correct me if I'm wrong.
@560heliport - You do know how old Huw is, right?
Like this alot, wish there was a triceratops or a brontosaurus in lego form though,
Also the tackers/guards look like
S. W. A. T/Armed response officers..
legoavenger14 - As my son recently made me aware, using the term Brontosaurus shows your age. Most recent (5-10 years) dinosaur literature don't include that name as Brontosaurus is considered to be an Apatosaurus. My son prefers the more generic 'sauropod' which include all dinosaurs with long necks, long tails, small heads and four stout legs regardless of whether they are Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, etc. Nothing like a 5 year old to teach you how much you don't know. And don't even get me started on my 8 year old's math homework.
@560heliport we've found fossils resembling pigment structures in soft tissue preservation. They were probably mostly brown.
"the inveitable casualty"
I love your reviews, @huw
@JonMarten Thank you! I just learned something! :) Maybe aliens will visit us and say, "Last time we were here, we took some pictures. Do you want to see what dinosaurs really looked like?"
I learnt a new word today "frangible". Now I have to work it into a report at work.
At this point, I think the prices are there just to take the mickey. "Let's see how absurdly-overpriced we can make this one!"
Also, the jumper plate issue ... is it me, or is there a plague of these things in Lego city at the moment? Nobody uses simple 2 x 2 plates anymore, it's all 2 x 2 jumper plates, that don't work as well and don't look as nice. I'm starting to tire of those myself, a bit.
Once again, there's an inevitable dinosaur accident. I'm just happy to see the Dilophosaurus getting some love. But I'll definitely be skipping this set.
@mroper295 Actually there is recent evidence showing that Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus fossils might have been different enough for the Bronto to belong to "separate groups". I was very excited when I first read this, as the Brontosaurus ("Thunder Lizard") is one of the coolest dino names. :)
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brontosaurus-is-back1/
(...getting back to Lego) I love all of these Jurassic World sets, but as many before have stated, too expensive. If I can find them on discount, I'll have them all!
Not a great stand-alone set perhaps, but I think it'd pair/play very well with the 75926 Pteranodon Chase set, as they have little-to-no overlap and compliment each other quite nicely. Kids especially would get a lot more play value out of this one having a vehicle to use with the gate.
The baby dino "felt a BUT," I think you mean "bit." Nice review otherwise.
I was planning on purchasing 2, but that will be hard considering the price in Norway is almost TWICE AS HIGH as in the US!
If it was cheapre I would buy 3 - Love all the builds!
I will wait for a discount.
Still pricey but all around a nice set. I'm putting my money into the raptors but this is cool nonetheless!
Still pricey but all around a nice set. I'm putting my money into the raptors but this is cool nonetheless!
It would be a must buy for me if it wasn't $40 dollers. Shaking my head. Would be more worth it if it just had a small ATV or something.
I think that the set is missing something. The fence is nice, but it looks kinda blank on it's own. Besides that I think that the crane looks missplaced.
I still can't believe that the triceratops hasn't made its way back yet. I've been salty for the past eight years.