Dilophosaurus Ambush (76958) Review

I am building my way through the latest wave of Jurassic Park sets from the LEGO® Group! As we all know, 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the original film in the Jurassic franchise. Jurassic Park remains my favorite movie to this day. So, of course I am hosting a Jurassic Week here at True North Bricks. Today’s set review recreates a classic scene from the first film. In it, we caught our first glimpse of a dinosaur that would shape our… erroneous… views of the species for decades to come. This is the Dilophosaurus Ambush (76958) review.

NOTE: The LEGO® Group provided this set for review. However, the provision of products does not guarantee a favorable review. True North Bricks’ usual rating system applies (click here for more information).

You might be wondering what I am talking about with regards to the dilophosaurus. Well, first off, the dilophosaurus in the movie is much too small. In fact, Michael Crichton had a much more accurate representation of the dilophosaurus in the original Jurassic Park book when it comes to size. The dinosaur was actually 6-7 meters long. It’s height at the hip was around 140 cm, meaning it could stand much taller. It was waist high at best in the movie. There is also no evidence that the dilophosaurus could spit venom, or that it had neck frills. While Crichton included venom in the book, the neck frills were a pure fabrication for the film. In defense of the movie, we really didn’t know much about dilophosaurs in 1993 and there was no reason to believe they didn’t have neck frills… but I digress.

Dilophosaurus Ambush Set Specifics

• SET #: 76958
• THEME: Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary (Jurassic World)
• COST: $24.99 CAD ($19.99 USD)
• BRICK COUNT: 211
• MINIFIGURES: 1 (Dennis Nedry)
• DINOSAURS: 1 dilophosaurus
• RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2023

Quick Review of Dilophosaurus Ambush

• VALUE: 90% (Great value bricks and good amount of build time for the price.)
• BUILD: 95% (Great, recognizable build… but it’s too narrow to fit two Minifigures side-by-side.)
• MINIFIGURES: 88% (Great minifig, nice new dino coloring, and solid character count.)
• ENTERTAINMENT: 100% (As a JP fan, this set has everything I want as a movie tie in.)
• OVERALL SCORE: 93% (Excellent set.)

What I liked	What I didn’t like as much
Pretty much everything.	If I nitpick, the car is not wide enough to comfortably fit two Minifigures side-by-side.

DILOPHOSAURUS AMBUSH (76958) REVIEW

VALUE: 90%

At $24.99 in Canada, Dilophosaurus Ambush is actually a good value. You get 211 pieces, meaning the cost/brick is about $0.12. That is better than the average LEGO® set based on my experience. It is also WAY better than the average Jurassic World set. Consequently, I rate the cost/brick at 93%. Additionally, Dilophosaurus Ambush provided me with an even 30 minutes of build time. At full price, each minute of build time works out to $0.83. For the Jurassic World theme, that is very good. Compared to LEGO® sets in general, it is fairly average. Considering both comparisons, I rate the build time at 87%. Averaging this with the cost/brick score gives an overall value grade of 90%.

BUILD: 95%

The main build is the Jeep, and it is actually branded as a Jeep. When the LEGO® Group first produced the Technic Jeep Wrangler in January ’21, I wondered if it opened the door for the Jurassic Park Jeep as well. Looks like it did. There are two in the 30th anniversary wave. Brachiosaurus Discovery also includes one. The Dilophosaurus Ambush version has the ragtop up while the other version is open. As I write this, I have yet to build the open version, so we’ll see which I like more later. With that said, I do love this car. If I ever build my own LEGO® Jurassic Park, I will keep this car exactly as it is in my diplay. My only beef with it is the interior space. You have two seats, but two Minifigures are a tight squeeze side-by-side. The space is just too narrow. Each one needs an arm up in the air to fit. But that’s a really tiny issue.

The side-build include with Dilophosaurus Ambush is awesome for Jurassic Park fans. I normally don’t care much for most side builds, but this one has great JP signage. You get the East Dock post that Nedry knocks over in the movie. Additionally, the direction arrow spins true to the film. Another great addition is the Barbasol can. Previously, we saw an undetailed version of this in Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage. However, this one is a printed brick. As a fun detail, set designers used a white frog to represent shaving foam. But you can read more about the frogs from the Jurassic Park 30th anniversary collection in my other article 😉

Come on, Dennis, you can do it… or can you?

For a small set, this is a wonderful build. The colors used and the design of the Jeep make it immediately recognizable as the vehicle from the film. I also love the movie tie-ins with the accurate sign and printed Barbasol can. I also love that this wave of sets contains two Jeeps in different kits. That way, you don’t have to buy multiples of the same set to get a fleet of these cars for your park. Though, at $25, you can hardly go wrong buying multiples of Dilophosaurus Ambush just for the car. The set would be just a teensy bit better if the car accommodated two Minifigures side-by-side though. Overall, I rate the build at 95%.

MINIFIGURES: 88%

This set includes just one Minifigure, Dennis Nedry. He has a double sided face, with one side looking panicked and the other covered in dilophosaurus venom. Additionally, his torso has front and back printing, but it is not as detailed as the version from Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage. In that kit, Nedry’s rain coat had the Jurassic Park logo on the back. Dennis does not have any leg printing, but he also wore pretty bland khaki pants in the film. The Barbasol can and white frog are the only real accessories. In this case, I rate the character design at 87%. Some pocket or belt printing might have been nice.

In terms of character count, I will include the dilophosaurus. It is large and playable after all. This is the smaller mold we’ve seen previously in Dilophosaurus on the Loose (75934) and Pyroraptor and Dilophosaurus Transport (76951). However, it features a new, more detailed color scheme. I like the darker green on this new version, it makes the eyes pop more. Additionally, the frill has two printed colors, which looks much nicer. In any case, two characters in a 211-piece set means about 106 bricks/fig. For the Jurassic World theme, that is a good character count. Compared to LEGO® sets in general, it is even better. I rate that at 89%. Averaging this with the design score lands this kit a Minifigure grade of 88%.

ENTERTAINMENT: 100%

I love Dilophosaurus Ambush (76958). As a huge fan of Jurassic Park, this set contains a lot of nostalgia and movie tie-ins. I am actually amazed at how good this set is for a $25 CAD purchase. A lot of thought went into making it movie accurate, from the Barbasol can, to the spinning sign, to Nedry’s face expressions. I actually like this set more than T. rex Breakout (76956), which was the LEGO® Group’s last (more expensive) foray into the original film. I am putting this set on display somewhere in my LEGO® room. I love the Jurassic World theme, but mostly just for the dinosaur figurines. The actual sets tend to miss the mark often in my opinion. However, that is not the case here. This set is spot on in terms of what I look for in a great JP set.

OVERALL SCORE: 93%

Despite loving the Jurassic World LEGO® theme, this is only the second time I have ever given a Jurassic World set a score over 90%. The builds in this theme tend to not relate well to the source material and lack detail. That is certainly not the case with Dilophosaurus Ambush (76958). This set recreates an iconic movie scene with the perfect amount of detail for the price point. The set is a good value too, making it accessible to all Jurassic Park fans who what a fun LEGO® set to display. No doubt, this is one of my favorite Jurassic sets that the LEGO® Group has put out. What do you think? Let me know in the comments or reach out on social media.

Until next time,

-Tom

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