NOTE: I purchased the Brick-Built Mosasaurus Boat Mission (76974) set myself, and this review is not sponsored in any way. I strive to always provide my honest opinion on LEGO® products. If you are curious about how I generate scores in this review, I invite you to read about the True North Bricks rating system.

INTRODUCTION

I was on the fence about buying the Brick-Built Mosasaurus Boat Mission. Generally, I don’t like brick-built animals. I also love my molded dinosaur figurines. Consequently, I was giving serious thought to skipping this set in favour of some of the new dinosaurs from the 2025 wave of LEGO® Jurassic World sets.

As fate would have it, this set came my way anyways. I rented a cottage for a couple of weeks far away from any cities. The idea was to disconnect for a bit. I didn’t even bring any LEGO® lest I be tempted to blog. However, I got the build itch. So, I drove an hour to the nearest Walmart (also the nearest LEGO® retailer) to buy a set. The only June 2025 release they had was the Brick-Built Mosasaurus Boat Mission. With limited options and not wanting to waste the long drive, I bought it. Let’s see if it was worth the drive…

SET SPECIFICS

QUICK REVIEW

FULL REVIEW

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Value Score Breakdown:

I’m a little surprised about the Mosasaurus Mission cost/brick. It is actually good. Scratch that… it is great. LEGO® Jurassic World is a notoriously poor value theme. You pay a lot for those molded dinosaurs I love so much. However, this set is the Brick-Built Mosasaurus. It does not come with any dinosaur figurines. My best guess is that pulled down the cost of the set significantly. I rate the cost/brick at 98%.

The build time you get for the price is also pretty good. It is far below both the Jurassic theme average and the average for LEGO® in general. Again, I think this boils down to the set containing only bricks and no dinosaur figurines. It earns a score of 95%. Averaging this with the cost/brick score gives an overall value rating of 97%. In terms of the price, the Brick-Built Mosasaurus Mission is the best value set in the new Jurassic World line-up.

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Build Score Breakdown:

The first two bags of the Mosasaurus Mission did not leave me feeling like the set was money well spent. The first bag includes pieces for the boat. The boat features prominently in the Jurassic World Rebirth trailers, and the LEGO® version does not do it justice. For starters, the ship is far too small when compared to a still from the trailer. What you build is a little motor boat, not a ship. It feels like a crappy side build from a City set.

The build gets better after the second bag.

While you do start building the Mosasaurus with the second bag, a lot of it also goes to more garbage side builds. You assemble two small coral sections that really serve no purpose in the set. They look bad and add nothing to the play or display experience. They are not substantial in terms of brick count, but those parts could have gone to making a better boat all the same.

Thankfully, the Mosasaurus saves the set. I don’t generally like brick-built animals, and I am still not 100% sold on this one. But, it was an interesting build experience. While the techniques are not identical, they reminded me a lot of building the T. rex tail in the Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage set. If you missed that set, this is a far cheaper way to learn how to articulate a snake-like LEGO® body. It is not possible to completely hide the joint gaps using this method. However, the set designers did a decent job of narrowing some of those gaps.

Another aspect I greatly appreciate is the lack of stickers on the Mosasaurus. The boat has a few, adding to my dislike of it. But, the dorsal pattern and eyes of the Mosasaurus are all printed elements. Despite not generally liking brick-built animals, I don’t dislike this Mosasaurus. It is a solid build that looks great too. If only those first two bags could be erased from memory… I rate this build at 80%.

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Minifigure Score Breakdown:

The Brick-Built Mosasaurus Boat Mission only come with two Minifigures. In a 858-piece set, you are getting 429 bricks per minifig. No matter how you slice that, it is a really low Minifigure count. It fails monumentally on my usual scale, earning 27%. I counted at least six people on the ship in the movie trailers. The LEGO® Group could have put a few more characters in this set, even if they are duplicates from other sets.

In terms of designs, neither of these characters has a double sided face. While the LeClerc minifig couldn’t really support one, Atwater could. I would have loved to see a terrified face in this set. Otherwise, both characters have nice front and rear torso printing. Atwater also has detailed leg printing. However, LeClerc only comes with plain black legs.

In terms of accessories, you get two guns, six darts, a magnifying glass, a megaphone, and a couple of printed control panel tiles. Nothing to write home about. I rate the character designs and accessories at 83%. They are not bad, but this set cuts corners in terms of Minifigures all the same. Averaging this with the Minifigure count causes the overall score to plummet though. These Minifigures earn 55%.

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Entertainment Score Breakdown:

I like the Brick-Built Mosasaurus Boat Mission set more than I thought I would. However, I also feel it needed better execution. While the value is good as is, I would have been willing to pay more for a more substantial set. The LEGO® Group has produced FAR better boats than this one. To keep the price down, they could have provided a more substantial, non-floating build similar to the Creator 3-in-1 Cruising Adventures set from 2018. While still not the correct scale for the Jurassic World Rebirth ship, it certainly would have been closer and would have looked better.

I am also still on the fence about the brick-built mosasaurus. Don’t get me wrong, I like this build… but I also love my molded dinosaur figurines. Perhaps a better trade-off here would have been to give us this same brick-built body but with a molded head that better resembles the movie mosasaurus. There is precedent for that, just look at almost all Ninjago dragons and the Avatar beasts.

This set was a lot of fun to photograph. I built the set while on vacation at a cottage conveniently located next to a river. Even though the boat does not float, I was still able to make it look like it does and play with my set in the water. The Mosasaurus is well articulated, making it ideal for LEGO® photography or actual play.

Ultimately, I found the Brick-Built Mosasaurus Boat Mission far more enjoyable than originally thought it would be. Would I have executed it differently as a designer? Yes. But does that make it not enjoyable? No. I rate the entertainment value at 90%.

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Where the set falls flat is in the side builds. They are terrible. The set needs a more movie accurate and detailed boat. Additionally, the Minifigure designs are good, but they are not great. And why do we only get two characters? The set could easily include a few more, even if they are merely duplicates offered in other sets.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Brick-Built Mosasaurus. However, the boat mission part left a lot to be desired. I would also prefer a molded head element. What do you think of the set? Let me know in the comments or reach out on social media.

Until next time,

-Tom

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