Forgive my mediocre pun. 1 year ago today, I went to my local comic-con for my birthday and won this set for free at a building competition, I picked this set as my prize (even though it looked like one of the weaker sets of the Lego Movie 2 wave to me at first glance) since the other sets didn’t particularly interest me and I was excited to get my first Lego (adult) Raptor and I like the Lego Movie 2 theme anyway.

The Build

The Off-Roader: So, is this just another Lego vehicle we’ve seen many times before? ...kinda. It doesn’t really feel like there’s many things unique about the vehicle that we haven’t seen before, but there’s nice pieces and a good color scheme on it for sure. The right side of the vehicle uses a couple of bright yellowish green pieces (also using a sticker) and it also has a printed Rex symbol element that only other appears in Emmet’s Dream House, so nice inclusion here. The other side of the vehicle has the main dark blue color and it also has a 2 by 4 tile with a sticker of the Rex symbol on there and that just adds a little bit of detail. 2 seats are provided for our figures of the set, one to drive and the other... to be a copilot I guess, with a sticker in front of it of what seems to be some control panels. In between the seats is a little space to put Rex’s briefcase and I really liked that feature. A third seat is provided at the back of the vehicle so that you could seat another figure at the gunning position, it has a sticker on a 1 by 2 tile in front of it that’s a radar detecting incoming enemies, I really liked the inclusion of the third seating spot. As for the twin cannons, they look pretty cool, both have stickers of little arrows which could be seen as unnecessary to some. These cannons have 2 play features with one being a stud shooter and the other is the ability to rotate both of them simultaneously by turning a gear at the bottom, it was a very simple but clever play feature and I definitely like the way it was executed. Overall, it turned out better than I expected, but still nothing too special. I do like it though since it has things that are really great about it, such as the 3 spaces for minifigs, the awesome rotating twin cannon play feature and a space to store the briefcase which I really think Lego should implement more storage spaces for minifig accessories in vehicles. So definitely a solid build overall.

Rexecusaurus: Lego officially refers to this build as “Execu-Rex-o-saurus” even though it could’ve EASILY been called Rexecusaurus. Anyway this alternate build uses very little pieces from the off-roader and it’s basically just the raptor but with robo arms and a saddle on her. Yeah, this build is just meh, definitely the weakest build of the 3.

Raptor Car: This build that Lego calls “Rex-o-saurus Quad” is one of the 2 alternate builds of the set and it’s actually pretty good, which I think is ALMOST as good as the off-roader. This build is the raptor but with his limbs replaced with vehicle parts, with stud shooters on the side, a seat for a figure and the dino now functions as a car! It’s honestly an un ironically great vehicle, it perfectly resembles the fun and wackiness of Lego Movie sets and it’s definitely fun to play around with.

Plantimal: The build for the plantimal is pretty clever and I really like the use of specific pieces on it like the crab in lavender, some pieces with glitter in it, foliage elements and the 1 by 1 circular eye prints. Overall, it works very well as a colorful and unique looking enemy in the set and I wish there was at least a second one included in the set.

The Minifigs

Rex: The obvious better figure of the set is Rex, mainly because he’s less common than Emmet. His legs have some black knee pads on there and a belt on the hip, simple but nice detailing. His torso has his dark blue vest with the reflective lines and a Rex symbol printed on the front and back of the torso. His arms have some dark blue cuffs printed on them, and I always love it when there’s arm printing in sets outside of CMFs. His face prints have a smile and an angry gritted teeth face, both with his super manly stubbles and chiseled features previously hidden under baby fat! *wink. Those face prints only other come in Rex’s Rexplorer, so another nice inclusion in the set. His hair piece was made for this character and I really like the molding on it, it’s pretty impressive and I hope Lego recolors this hair piece more in the future. Finally, his accessories is a white mug and a black briefcase. Overall, a nice figure.

Emmet: Yeah... another Emmet, I don’t really mind getting so many of him though, but I can understand the frustration for some. His legs are the scratched up reflective lines and his name tag on there. His torso is his usual orange vest with the scratched up reflective lines. His face is an open smile and scared face that only other appears in the Ultrakatty set, so I like the inclusion of these expressions here. His hair is just the usual. Finally, his accessory is a flashlight. So it’s just another Emmet, but I still like the figure itself and the face print is a pretty uncommon one.

The Raptor: I didn’t know in what part of the review the raptor should be put in, so I just put her in the Minifig section. This Raptor is easily the best part of the set, probably for me personally since it’s my first and only Lego adult dinosaur, this identical design of the dinosaur also appears in Rex’s Rexplorer, so I appreciate the cheaper alternative way to get it. So this has the functions of any other Lego raptor as you would expect, with movable arms and legs, a jaw that can snap open and close as well as the rubber tail. Some amazing printing of blue patterns can be found on the legs, body, tail and head. The printing on it looks really awesome and they help make this raptor look very unique compared to others. A built up gun is attached to the 4 studs on the raptor’s body, the gun could be adjusted up and down and there are stud shooters attached at each side of the build. Overall, this raptor is amazing and I’m really glad to own it.

Value for Money

The price was the main thing that kept me from buying this set (aside from thinking it wouldn’t be a unique set). 30 dollars doesn’t really feel worth it to me. I know there’s a raptor included and that producing it is more expensive and it’s probably why the set is priced at 30 bucks, but if you ask me, I only see 20 or 25 bucks worth of stuff here. While the main build is good, it doesn’t feel like it’s big enough for the price, unlike the Ultrakatty and Warrior Lucy set, but to be fair, it isn’t COMPLETELY terrible, there's definitely other sets out there with a worse value. It’s one of those sets that I wouldn’t buy, but don’t mind getting for free or as a gift, luckily for me, I won it for free.

Overall Opinion

I didn’t expect much from this set in general, but I was wrong about the off-roader, it wasn’t as bland of a vehicle as I thought it would be. 1 of the 2 alternate builds are great, the raptor is amazing and the minifigures are pretty good. Unfortunately, the value of the set weighs it down for me, it’s just one of those set that I wouldn’t pay full price for. With all that said, I still think this is a pretty good set and I'd give it a 7/10 overall and I would recommend it to any fan of the Lego Movies or if you want a (sort of) cheap way to get that amazing Raptor.

Going into this set I was really looking forward to it. I found it on sale at Walmart for $25, which I find a pretty good price, but it still doesn’t even out the ppp to 10 cents, which I believe is the mark of an overpriced set. But it looks cool from the outside so let’s take a look at the contents.

Minifigures

Rex Dangervest for me was the best minifigure of this set—which doesn’t say much considering there are only two. His body is found in a couple other sets, and his head is also only found in the Rexplorer set. So he’s not that common. (Definitely not as common as Emmet). He comes with a coffee cup for an accessory, which is rextremely disappointing as a gun could have been easily included.

Emmet is not different from any other Emmets in the line apart from his head, which, though not exclusive, is rarer than his commonplace body is.

The build

Lets start with the Dino. The Dino itself is great. He has a blue patch over one eye; he also appears in the Rexplorer set. He’s not different than any other raptors except of course his color.

Now his pack leaves much to be desired. If you build it according to the instructions. The main gun (that goes over his head) is off center which, although easily fixable, seems quite odd. Also, on the sides, there are a bunch of unsightly studs that could have EASILY been covered up by some slopes or plates. It looks somewhat...unfinished.

The plantimal looks nice for a little alien. It includes several nice pieces which are recolors as well as sparkly purple pieces. For this price I think two similar designs could have been included.

Now onto the vehicle. While looking quite nice in the pictures, the end product is quite...small. There are points where ugly studs are visible which, like the Dino, could have been covered by plates or tiles. The rotating guns in the back work quite nicely, but are very loose unless you push everything together very firmly. These can be removed and given to Rex as hand held guns, but it looks more like he’s waving a banner for his favorite sports team than trying to shoot the plantimal. The slanted bumper was a neat idea but looks two dimensional, as it doesn’t even have headlights. One interesting thing is that in a set full a stickers, one piece is printed with Rex’s signature “R” which I found interesting, although quite unnecessary. But still a nice addition. Overall a sturdy build though, and a fun one at that.

Alternate builds

Several extra pieces seem to just be stuck randomly on the vehicle to provide building opportunities for two other creations. Both of which are vastly inferior to the main build. I would not recommend you wasting your time on them, unless of course they really really appeal to you. If so that’s fine.

Overall

I know that having a dinosaur in a set increases the price, as they are more expensive to make, but even so, this seems very overpriced and undersized. Don’t take all my criticism as that I despise the set—I like it very well, and had I to do it over again I would get it again. But the designers could have put a couple plates and slopes here and there to really beef it up. Also another plantimal or gun for Rex might have been nice too. Well I guess that’s about it. Thank you for your time!