Random set of the day: Raptor Rumble
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 1370 Raptor Rumble, released in 2001. It's one of 46 Studios sets produced that year. It contains 157 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$20/£14.99.
It's owned by 875 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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32 comments on this article
Johnny Thunder.
If you just told me the name of this set without showing me the box, I would have thought it might be a set with a bunch of Ford Raptors going bashing offroad in the next Speed Champions wave.
That skylight seems a bit pointless. The roof below it’s completely solid!
I wouldn't worry too much about velociraptors. If you run across any, those freaky duck-billed things look like they can barely waddle. Remember, you don't have to be able to outrun the bear. You just have to be able to outrun the guy standing next to you.
@Monopoly:
I...didn't even notice it. And couldn't even figure out what you were talking about right away. However, I suspect it might not be a skylight, but a dome. This is officially licensed Jurassic Park movie merch, so that...thing might be the first official model of the famed Visitors Center from the first film.
I don't remember Johnny Thunder and Pippin Reed being in Jurassic Park III, but I get the feeling it would've been better if they had.
Afols: Lego today makes too many specialized molds!!
2001 raptors:
those raptors are...something.
Why do they have random red dots on their backs?
Jonny thunder. Adventurer, movie star.
@LegoRobo
@PurpleDave
@Monopoly
I seem to recall some Jurassic aviary thing in the third movie. I assume that’s what it is.
@LegoRobo:
Nah, the camera guy isn't in any danger. This theme was based on filming the movies, not the content itself. The duck thingies are probably just some Toho kaiju bodysuit actors dressed in giant, black, duck...osaur outfits. Worst that's going to happen is they'll trip over their own feet and land on the camera rig.
@CarolinaOnMyMind:
Yes, there was an aviary in the third film. And a hang-gliding scene. I honestly don't remember much else about the third film beyond that, and the fact that it still beat the pants off JW2.
So if this is supposed to be a movie set, are those dinosaurs supposed to be puppets or something?
I liked Lego's first attempts at brick-built dinosaurs, I really did ...
... except for these. Ick.
Only set with Octogonal 6x6 dome in transparent black/brown
Everything about the set shows it's a 2K set. Sadly at the beginning of the millenium some of the creativity was not even close to what we had in 80's and 90's.
@brickengineeringdude said:
"If you just told me the name of this set without showing me the box, I would have thought it might be a set with a bunch of Ford Raptors going bashing offroad in the next Speed Champions wave."
Which I am hoping comes out soon!
That’s an odd looking Sam Neill...
Odd choice of head for the dinos, just makes them look super cute and friendly. Johnny and Pippin are in no danger at all, the raptors just want a big hug!
Its not like Lego were just trying to use up parts either, those heads had never been in black or grey before so these were made specially for this set
@Lego_lord said:
"Everything about the set shows it's a 2K set. Sadly at the beginning of the millenium some of the creativity was not even close to what we had in 80's and 90's."
I disagree, LEGO did still have a lot of creativity even during the early 2000's (Bionicle is the ultimate proof of that). It's just that they also made a lot of stupid decisions, like thinking that kids would be interested in buying sets based off how movies are produced, instead of the movies themselves.
@legoninjago69 said:
"those raptors are...something.
Why do they have random red dots on their backs?"
Ketchup of course.
Not all brick built dinosaurs look terrible, although in this case I would change some parts for more modern elements. As well as the Octagon rooftop, the clear Revolving Door 2 x 5 x 5 30102 are also useful for your own builds.
I actualy LOVE these brickbuild dinos.
You know LEGO was going trough a bad time when a set from 2001 looks worse then sets from the '80s and '90s...
Yeah this is one of the rare times when I get to wear my rose-tinted glasses. This was a fascinating set, and even though I have no interest in Jurassic Park, I wanted it anyway because Johnny Thunder, but ultimately never got it because I simply couldn't afford any more Studios sets. Even with those on, it's still annoying to me that the "skylight" is entirely blocked by brown bricks... but having 3 non-minifig creatures in a not-so-expensive set was cool.
I did (and still do) own a couple of dinosaurs from the Dinosaurs theme, which is good enough for me.
@Tuun said:
"You know LEGO was going trough a bad time when a set from 2001 looks worse then sets from the '80s and '90s..."
Then again, a lot of AFOLs who look at the early 2000's in that way are biased, because they grew up in the 80's and 90's. Objectively, most of the early 2000's sets are about on par with an average 90's set.
Finally, a random set of the day that I own! This was actually my brother’s set originally, so the only reason I know this is the right set is those unmistakable raptors
The Lego scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could make brick built dinos, they didn't stop to think if they should.
As an owner of this set I can safely say, that is not a skylight. It's meant to represent the glass domes famous in Jurassic Park/World construction. This model also does not conform to any actual buildings in the movie, it's more like a stage set/prop for the Studios line. Because this scene is entirely fictional as it did not take place in the film itself. At no point did yellow brick people attack brick dinosaurs with a spear or climb up a building with rucksacks on.
And that is definitely not Tea Leoni.
@LegoDavid said:
" @Tuun said:
"You know LEGO was going trough a bad time when a set from 2001 looks worse then sets from the '80s and '90s..."
Objectively, most of the early 2000's sets are about on par with an average 90's set."
Hahaha,...no they are not,..not in a mile! Yes I grew up in the '80s and '90s, but it is a simple fact that LEGO was at it worst in the early 2000s. Just look at those dino's...like wtf...Are you really saying that those are on par with LEGO's vintage castle dragon??
I may be in the minority here, but the "Jurassic Park" sets of Studios were some of my least favorite of the theme. Those combination brick built + pre molded dinos always felt odd to me, like some of 'em were blocky some of 'em were smooth, and it didn't quite work.
Seeing the Adventures come back as movie stars though was epic and I quite like the scenery builds. Mixed bag but nothing to turn your nose up at.
@LegoDavid said:
" @Lego_lord said:
"Everything about the set shows it's a 2K set. Sadly at the beginning of the millenium some of the creativity was not even close to what we had in 80's and 90's."
I disagree, LEGO did still have a lot of creativity even during the early 2000's (Bionicle is the ultimate proof of that). It's just that they also made a lot of stupid decisions, like thinking that kids would be interested in buying sets based off how movies are produced, instead of the movies themselves. "
I mean, Bionicle is more of a gem in the rough and even then its an acquired taste. Yes it broke lots of ground in terms of story telling, and its build system was unique; but it wasn't until Ninjago that the lessons of Bionicle were fully applied in full force to a System theme. Galidor, Jack Stone, etc. all paint a much more dire picture of early 2000's Lego than just focusing on Bionicle (and Star Wars and Harry Potter too) would suggest.
Actually Harry Potter is a great theme to dive into the flaws of Lego's early 2000's sets and compare them to modern sets. The theme was popular and along with Bionicle and Star Wars a hit of the 2000's, but the build style of those first Potter sets were horrendous. Yes combining bits to form a larger castle was neat, but Hogwarts was more a "Swiss Cheese" castle in its first iteration, being so hollow with a heavy reliance on negative space to insinuate where windows would be. Oh yes it had its charms, I loved the little hidden gems and keys in those early sets that felt much more in tune to the Potter franchise before we had seen it take its darker turn in later books and films while also a call back to classic Lego sets, but the general empty builds were not saved by the neat little hidden gems. Don't even get started on glow in the dark Snape...
In comparison look at the modern Potter sets, fully complete walls, detailed furnishing, little greebles to show stone variation and well placed stickers, solid builds, the return of the combing sets to form a larger castle gimmick, etc. In general while the charm and appeal of the Lego sets remain they have a form of elegance now that the original 2000's Potter sets lacked. When you consider that all of Lego was like that (lacking Potter or Star Wars's popularity, or Bionicle's unique world building story approach) it starts to show the issues of the era. Potter could skate by with hollow builds, but apply it to City stuff or traditional Castle (Knights Kingdom II) that lacked the name brand recognition and it shows how the sets suffered due to a general juniorization of builds and methods. Lego had to trim the fat to focus back on what made the core themes (Star Wars, Potter, Bionicle, City, etc) successful, and finally reembrace the core idea that what made Lego fun was always the building process (as we saw in 2007 with the lauded introduction of the Modular Building series). Bionicle was able to skirt by on having an easier build style by being unique and different from the main System sets, and embracing high end Technic sets like the Rahi and later on titans and vehicles to offer a challenging build at a higher price point. The return to focus System sets on better builds made future themes like Ninjago, or returning and ongoing themes like Star Wars, City and Harry Potter so much stronger as a result.
Now don't get me wrong, I certainly think Galidor, Studio et. al. for all their warts were super creative too. But having the best creatives in the world doesn't mean much if the sets themselves are cutting corners and skipping out on the needed design work to focus on the core building experience.
@LegoDavid said:
"Then again, a lot of AFOLs who look at the early 2000's in that way are biased, because they grew up in the 80's and 90's. Objectively, most of the early 2000's sets are about on par with an average 90's set."
No. They are not. 1999–2002 were the absolute nadir. Even the few good ideas were badly executed. The company had lost confidence in its own product, and was trapped in a vicious feedback loop of intentionally dumbing it down ever further in an attempt to win back customers whose antipathy they had completely misdiagnosed.
Back in those dark days of the early 2000s, before the near-bankruptcy and recovery, I worked with Lego-age children and decided to test out my theory. I brought in a stack of my old catalogs and asked them which they liked better. The early 90s won easily.
This was obvious to any Lego fan at the time simply by looking at the dreck on the store shelf, but has been extensively documented in a well-researched book after the company's remarkable renaissance: "Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry".
@xboxtravis7992:
Harry Potter...was a mess. Star Wars in 1999 looked pretty clunky compared to the last decade, but at least the sets mostly made sense, and it was easy to focus on ships because there were so many of them. HP, on the other hand, basically had one new vehicle added in each of the first three movies, and two in the fourth (only one of which got a set in the original run, while the other got the only set this time around). Everything else was largely locations, which were usually done in vignette form. The first year, especially, feels like most of their design team came with Scala/Belville experience. Where Bionicle and Star Wars each had produced over 100 new parts by 2002, HP didn’t seem to have quite the freedom to order new molds. The sets from the first two years did nothing to spark my interest in watching the films (still haven’t read the books).