Review – Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape [75929]

June 2018 is the month to get yourself a Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape set at the LEGO® Store. All month long, this set will score you double VIP points. It will also get you this month’s freebie, the Creative Storybook set (click here to read my review). Today’s review set was on my wish list for the Jurassic World theme because of the Carnotaurus. It was a great deal, and the set did not disappoint either.

SET SUMMARY

NAME: Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape
SET #: 75929
THEME: Jurassic World
COST: $99.99 CAD
BRICK COUNT: 577
MINIFIGURES: 3
OF INTEREST: Carnotaurus & Baby Dinosaur
RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2018

SUMMARY REVIEW: 76%

VALUE: 70% (A bit expensive at $0.17 per brick.)
BUILD: 90% (Nice gyrosphere launch, satisfactory truck.)
MINIFIGURES: 90% (Nice Minifigs, loads of accessories, awesome dino!)
ENTERTAINMENT: 55% (Really expensive build-time, but fun set.)

REVIEW

VALUE: 70%
With 577 bricks, and a price tag of $99.99 in Canada, each piece in Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape will cost you $0.17. That price is a little high considering that the average price per brick in the last LEGO® catalog was $0.12. The set is licensed though, and you get a large dinosaur, so the higher price is not completely unexpected. I give Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape 3.5/5 (70%) for value.

BUILD: 90%
You get a couple of builds in this set. The first is the dilapidated gyrosphere launch. The structure itself looks old and overgrown, as it should considering Jurassic World has been abandoned. The gyrosphere even comes with printed cracks, and with less vibrant blue paint than in the 2016 sets. There is a small nest with some eggs on the side as well, and a baby dinosaur. I really like the look of this build. I didn’t put the stickers on most of this set for re-usability reasons, but I liked the gyrosphere sign quite a bit, so I put that one on.

There are two play features on the launch site. One is a fairly typical trap door that allows “lava” to fall from the tree canopy. I guess it is meant to be volcanic material flying through the air after an eruption. The other play feature is the gyrosphere launch. It works by simply pushing a rod. Both features work well, but are nothing new.

The other build that you get is a truck, and a trailer for the gyrosphere. The trailer also has a launcher feature. As for the truck, it is not my favorite, but it’s not bad either. I find that the frame of the truck is too high off the ground, but I do like the simulated shocks. I miss the science-y touch that the 2016 sets had though. They each came with some partially accurate research equipment. This set lacks in that department. Sure, there is a satellite dish attached to the trailer, and a work bench in the truck. But, I miss the parabolic antennas and computers displaying recorded sound waves from 2016.

The gyrosphere launch is great, and gets full points. The truck is ok, but a little lack-luster. It also loses a little for the lack of science equipment. I would give it 8/10. So, if we average the 100% for the gyrosphere launch with the 80% for the truck, this whole set earns 90% as its build score.

MINIFIGURES: 90%
Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape comes with three Minifigures: Owen Grady, Claire Dearing, and Franklin Webb. Owen and Claire were, of course, in the last Jurassic World film. I suppose we will find out who Franklin Webb is when Fallen Kingdom hits theaters on June 22. I have to say that I do really like the Minifig though, especially his look of horror. It is interesting to note that Owen and Claire also came together in the truck set from the 2016 line of Jurassic World sets (Raptor Rampage – click here to read my review). Without going through my whole rating system (you can click here to read the details if you are interested), I would summarize these Minifigures as being pretty nice. I don’t like this version of Owen as much as the 2016 version, but overall, I would give these characters a design rating of 27/45. You also get a few accessories, namely a baby dinosaur, three eggs, a shovel, a gun, a wrench, four darts (2 green, 2 blue), and two bones. Those bring the score up to 40/45 (89%).

 

I did not include the Carnotaurus in the above score because it is not really a Minifigure. But, it really was the main reason that I bought this set. It is really nicely detailed, and features seven points of articulation, one of which moves in multiple planes. The body mold is identical to the Indominus rex from the 2016 sets, only in a different color. It features a new arm and head mold though.

Though I didn’t count it in the Minifigure design score, I will count in the Carnotaurus in the brick-to-Minifigure ratio. With 577 bricks, 3 Minifigures, and a big dinosaur, Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape has a brick-to-fig ratio of 144:1. That is really not bad at all. In fact, it is actually really good. I give this set 4.5/5 (90%) for its ratio score. Averaging that with the design score gives Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape an overall Minifigure rating of 90%.

ENTERTAINMENT: 55%
Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape took me 94 minutes to build. While I greatly enjoyed the build time that I got, it was expensive. At $99.99, each minute of assembly cost me $1.04. Again, with the licensing, and the specialty pieces involved in the dinosaur and gyrosphere, a high price tag is not entirely unexpected. But, it still earns this set a low build-time score of 1/5 (20%).

Despite the expense involved with this set, I still really like it. The dinosaur is amazing, and the gyrosphere launch is a lot of fun. I can see this set having some great play value for kids. If I had space to build my own Jurassic Park, I would totally adapt this set as one of the rides in my park. I probably would not keep the truck built as is though, it just doesn’t impress me much. The trailer might be a keeper though, to help transport gyrospheres around the park. I will give this set 4.5/5 for my enjoyment of it. Averaging this with the build-time score gives Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape an overall entertainment rating of 55%.

OVERALL: 76%

Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape has a lot going for it. You get some really nice Minifigures and accessories, as well as a fun set with lots of play value. Most importantly, you get a big, new dinosaur. This set really suffers from a high price tag though. You can offset the price a little in June 2018 by taking advantage of the LEGO® Store’s double VIP points offer specifically for this set. That will also allow you to get the concurrent promotion of the free Creative Storybook set. Alternatively, you can wait for the Jurassic World sets to go on sale. I like this set a lot, but I would recommend waiting for a sale, or taking advantage of another promotion before buying it.

How do you feel about Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Until next time,

-Tom