If you ask anyone that has bought my in the way of LEGO kits (whether for themselves or for other people), one of the first things that person will probably say is that LEGO is expensive. While that's undoubtedly true compared to many other toys, LEGO fans will point to the hours of creativity that each kit provides, not to mention that each kit is compatible with every other LEGO kit ever made. From that angle, LEGO is definitely worth the money - but again, that's a big picture view. When you start looking at individual sets on a store shelf, you generally are comparing apples to apples and not thinking long-term. Instead, you are holding two boxes in hand and wondering which one should you get...or at least that's what I did any number of times when thinking about buying LEGO 75929: Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape versus some other set. And you know what? Every single time the "other" set won out and I put the Gyrosphere Escape set back on the shelf. For me, the value didn't seem to be there...but lo and behold, I hit my local Wal-Mart just right a couple of weeks ago and found this set on the super clearance shelf. At only $30, the set became an instant buy - and so with that great find, let's take a closer look at the set and see whether or not my initial off-the-shelf assessment of value was correct.
The Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape set comes with 577 pieces including three minifigures and one large dinosaur (the aforementioned Carnotaurus). The set originally retailed for about $80.00 USD which is definitely high in terms of price-per-piece but less expensive when you consider the fact that the set is both licensed and includes a large plastic dinosaur. For that money, you get a large vehicle with trailer as well as a fairly large Gyrosphere launch center that's overgrown with lots of vegetation. The real star, however, is of course the giant Carnosaurus so let's begin with him.
Right off the bat, I have to say that the Carnosaurus was immediately my favorite LEGO dinosaur that I owned as soon as I built him. The level of articulation is incredible and I love the color scheme of the dino.
He's also quite large - easily towering above a minifigure like Claire Dearing and I'm sure scaring them silly! You'll notice the little stubby arms, those are actually fairly accurate as to how the Carnotaurus was believed to have looked, his arms apparently were even more comically useless than T-Rex's were.
Moving on from the dino, the first part of the actual build consists of the truck and trailer.
For me, the truck looks kind of silly - it sits up way too high for my liking. I do think that the back end of the truck looks pretty good - I believe LEGO was going for a black tarp-like covering...at least if I remember the movie correctly they were. I do wish LEGO didn't feel the need to put a stud shooter on everything, but I guess kids must like them so I won't hold it against the set too much.
On the other hand, the trailer is pretty much a waste of parts if you ask me. Yes, it does hold the Gyrosphere nicely - and yes, there is a slight action mechanism on the trailer where you can "launch" the Gyrosphere by pushing in the gray pin...but that doesn't make any sort of sense thematically. The Gyropshere was part of a ride - and this set comes with the ride's launching spot no less.
At least when the Gyrosphere ball is on the trailer the entire truck looks alright. You can see poor Franklin Webb scared out of his mind inside the Gyrosphere. Somehow he looks more terrified than did Clair despite her standing directly under the Carnotaurus a moment ago!
The final part of the build is the fairly large Gyrosphere launching spot, complete with a volcanic dumping ground?!
My initial first view of the Gyrosphere launching area was that it looked satisfactorily overgrown to me. I love all the vegetation and LEGO was much more generous with vegetation here than they often are (I think you get more greenery here than you did in any similarly sized LEGO City Jungle set, for example)! The only downside to all that vegetation is that the build is surprisingly brittle for what is ostensibly a play set.
Speaking of play, the launch pad has two main play functions. The obvious function is the launch pad for the Gyrosphere. By pressing a rod in the back, you can launch the ball to start it's tour of Jurassic Park. The launching works well and is fun to do - even for an adult builder ;)
The other play feature is a little stranger - a tower of lava that you can drop down onto the space below. The space below is where the Gyrosphere sign is as well as the dinosaur nest of eggs (and yes, you also get the adorable little "baby dino" as the set calls it). Normally that mold is used for baby raptors but I think the idea here is that it can be thought of as a baby Carnotaurus as well (notice the similar color patterns).
Back to the lava though, I have to be honest. I don't get why this is there. It's not really a volcano since there is no volcano..it's simply a bunch of trans-orange lava rocks stuck up in the trees. Weird to say the least. Of course, as a kid it's probably a super fun thing to rain lava down on unsuspecting people (and dinos)...
In the end, the set ended up being almost exactly what I thought it would be when I first laid eyes on it. An undoubtedly cool set with an awesome dino (better than I expected even) but also a set burdened by a high piece count and some questionable play features (i.e. piece wasters). The truck design doesn't work for me, but it definitely does work for play - those high wheels may look stupid on display but they'll make playing in the backyard way easier and more fun for children. The set also uses a fair number of stickers (ten total) but they are relatively easy to apply here - and personally, I think they are worth it as they add a lot of color and interest to the set (plus you need the stickers for the Gyrosphere sign)!
Overall, I give the LEGO 75929: Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape set the following rating:
The Bottom Line (out of 10):
Fun: 10
Play Value: 10
Kid Value: 7
Adult Value: 3
Overall: 5
In a nutshell, this is an amazing set full of fun play potential but it's drastically hampered by an artificially high price point. If you can find this set on discount (right now it's around $50 USD on Amazon), I think that's a perfectly reasonable price point...and at that price I'd bump the overall score up to a 9/10. But at about $80 as originally retailed? The value simply isn't there, no matter how cool the star dinosaur is!
The Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape set comes with 577 pieces including three minifigures and one large dinosaur (the aforementioned Carnotaurus). The set originally retailed for about $80.00 USD which is definitely high in terms of price-per-piece but less expensive when you consider the fact that the set is both licensed and includes a large plastic dinosaur. For that money, you get a large vehicle with trailer as well as a fairly large Gyrosphere launch center that's overgrown with lots of vegetation. The real star, however, is of course the giant Carnosaurus so let's begin with him.
Right off the bat, I have to say that the Carnosaurus was immediately my favorite LEGO dinosaur that I owned as soon as I built him. The level of articulation is incredible and I love the color scheme of the dino.
He's also quite large - easily towering above a minifigure like Claire Dearing and I'm sure scaring them silly! You'll notice the little stubby arms, those are actually fairly accurate as to how the Carnotaurus was believed to have looked, his arms apparently were even more comically useless than T-Rex's were.
Moving on from the dino, the first part of the actual build consists of the truck and trailer.
For me, the truck looks kind of silly - it sits up way too high for my liking. I do think that the back end of the truck looks pretty good - I believe LEGO was going for a black tarp-like covering...at least if I remember the movie correctly they were. I do wish LEGO didn't feel the need to put a stud shooter on everything, but I guess kids must like them so I won't hold it against the set too much.
On the other hand, the trailer is pretty much a waste of parts if you ask me. Yes, it does hold the Gyrosphere nicely - and yes, there is a slight action mechanism on the trailer where you can "launch" the Gyrosphere by pushing in the gray pin...but that doesn't make any sort of sense thematically. The Gyropshere was part of a ride - and this set comes with the ride's launching spot no less.
At least when the Gyrosphere ball is on the trailer the entire truck looks alright. You can see poor Franklin Webb scared out of his mind inside the Gyrosphere. Somehow he looks more terrified than did Clair despite her standing directly under the Carnotaurus a moment ago!
The final part of the build is the fairly large Gyrosphere launching spot, complete with a volcanic dumping ground?!
My initial first view of the Gyrosphere launching area was that it looked satisfactorily overgrown to me. I love all the vegetation and LEGO was much more generous with vegetation here than they often are (I think you get more greenery here than you did in any similarly sized LEGO City Jungle set, for example)! The only downside to all that vegetation is that the build is surprisingly brittle for what is ostensibly a play set.
Speaking of play, the launch pad has two main play functions. The obvious function is the launch pad for the Gyrosphere. By pressing a rod in the back, you can launch the ball to start it's tour of Jurassic Park. The launching works well and is fun to do - even for an adult builder ;)
The other play feature is a little stranger - a tower of lava that you can drop down onto the space below. The space below is where the Gyrosphere sign is as well as the dinosaur nest of eggs (and yes, you also get the adorable little "baby dino" as the set calls it). Normally that mold is used for baby raptors but I think the idea here is that it can be thought of as a baby Carnotaurus as well (notice the similar color patterns).
Back to the lava though, I have to be honest. I don't get why this is there. It's not really a volcano since there is no volcano..it's simply a bunch of trans-orange lava rocks stuck up in the trees. Weird to say the least. Of course, as a kid it's probably a super fun thing to rain lava down on unsuspecting people (and dinos)...
In the end, the set ended up being almost exactly what I thought it would be when I first laid eyes on it. An undoubtedly cool set with an awesome dino (better than I expected even) but also a set burdened by a high piece count and some questionable play features (i.e. piece wasters). The truck design doesn't work for me, but it definitely does work for play - those high wheels may look stupid on display but they'll make playing in the backyard way easier and more fun for children. The set also uses a fair number of stickers (ten total) but they are relatively easy to apply here - and personally, I think they are worth it as they add a lot of color and interest to the set (plus you need the stickers for the Gyrosphere sign)!
Overall, I give the LEGO 75929: Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape set the following rating:
The Bottom Line (out of 10):
Fun: 10
Play Value: 10
Kid Value: 7
Adult Value: 3
Overall: 5
In a nutshell, this is an amazing set full of fun play potential but it's drastically hampered by an artificially high price point. If you can find this set on discount (right now it's around $50 USD on Amazon), I think that's a perfectly reasonable price point...and at that price I'd bump the overall score up to a 9/10. But at about $80 as originally retailed? The value simply isn't there, no matter how cool the star dinosaur is!
Wowza. You got a great deal. Over 60% MSRP? I'm not into the Jurassic Park series, but I still would have been all over that.
ReplyDeleteBy the way... my Lego Architecture San Francisco skyline just arrived today. I'm super stoked to sit down and build it when things start to settle down in my life.
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