Review : LEGO Ideas 21320 Dinosaur Fossils

As promised, I suggest you take a quick tour of the LEGO Ideas set 21320 Dinosaur Fossils (910 pieces - 59.99 € / 74.90 CHF) and to give you in passing some very personal thoughts on the contents of this box.

As a preamble I would like to point out that if we had to demonstrate once again that when fans vote for a project on the LEGO Ideas platform, they only express their interest in the idea developed by the project leader, this set Today brings a new rather spectacular confirmation.

There isn't much left of the original project in this new box except the general idea of ​​featuring dinosaur skeletons. The official version is more like the project 6 in 1 Fossil Dinosaurs still in the process of recruiting support for the project Dinosaur Fossils Skeletons - Natural History Collection by French fan designer Jonathan Brunn aka Mukkinn.

The LEGO designer in charge of adapting the initial idea, Niels Milan Pedersen, took such ownership of the project that I think he forgot a little that 10.000 supporters enthusiastically supported the original idea. Exit the beige color of the bones and the delicacy of the skeletons which gave an organic side to the whole probably at the cost of a very important fragility, we find ourselves here with more massive representations, even coarse and a mix of colors not always very judicious. We will have to do with it.

Two of the three skeletons, the T-Rex and the Triceratops are perched on a display from which they cannot be removed without having to partially dismantle the support. We build from the bottom up, starting by firmly anchoring the legs in the base which guarantees excellent stability but deprives us of the possibilities of staging these skeletons in other contexts such as for example the discovery of one of between them in an excavation field.

Fans of the LEGO Star Wars range will also have a feeling of déjà vu by assembling the legs of the T-Rex: Looks like those of an AT-ST, pins Technic and plate-based cladding included. The result is a little disappointing: the framework is very thick and some pins and other colored joints remain too visible for my taste on the finished model.

The recipe is the same for the Triceratops with legs well anchored in a black base which hides a few colored pieces and a patchwork of shades for the rest of the skeleton. As with the T-Rex, the tail is articulated and can be oriented at different angles to save some space on your shelves. For the rest, this skeleton is logically very static, only the head can (a little) move. The finish on the legs is in my opinion very disappointing, especially at the front, and these little sloppy finishing details confirm that the whole will look especially good from a distance.

The Pteranodon is assembled in three minutes flat. Nothing very exciting in the structure of the animal which is in fact the most mobile of the three specimens thanks to the joints of the wings and the head. Here, I find that the creature looks good and it is the one that in my opinion most closely resembles the style proposed by the bearer of the reference project.

Overall, I find the dominant white color inappropriate. The few touches of beige (Tan) and gray present on the different constructions are not enough to give a realistic aspect to these skeletons. I challenge you to find skeletons of such immaculate white in your favorite museum, but if you've invested in the LEGO Jurassic World set 75930 Indoraptor Rampage at Lockwood Estate (2018), you have here something to expand a little the museum on the ground floor of the building already symbolized by a creation of the same style, that's always taken.

The set is presented as a product suitable for people aged 16 and over. In my eyes, nothing really justifies this classification except perhaps the very large number of small parts and the white tint of the different models which could possibly make this set difficult to assemble for the youngest. The construction techniques used here are mostly widely available to fans who are under the age of 16.

But how many parents will simply ignore this mention on the box when this type of product should be within the reach of any young dinosaur fan? If parents read me, buy this box, help your children to assemble the different models if they stumble on certain steps and offer them in the process a copy of the excellent LEGO Dino book which will be the perfect companion to the experience offered here.

The designer added a minifigure and a touch of humor inside the box, two welcome elements even if I have the impression that it is more marketing than creativity that motivated these additions. Minifigs sell, especially if the content of the set is having a little trouble standing on its own, it's no secret.

We therefore obtain a paleontologist with his large magnifying glass, his notebook, some bones, an egg and several tools gathered in a crate, all accompanied by a human skeleton perched on a base dressed with a sticker bearing the mention Lego sapiens. In principle, there is often a minifigure that vaguely resembles the original project owner in these boxes, but it looks more like the LEGO designer than the fan who had the good idea to start ...

The set can be assembled in several because the manufacturer still had the good idea to separate the assembly instructions into three separate booklets. Unfortunately, these booklets contain very little information on the three dinosaurs in question and LEGO didn't even bother to insert a few facts through the pages.

The description of the three species is two pages long with a font size that is not really easy to read. As usual, the booklets are in English and you will need to download the French version in PDF format as soon as it is uploaded to the manufacturer's server if you have an interested young fan at home who has not yet mastered Shakespeare's language.

What in my opinion could have become a nice product with a pseudo-educational vocation is ultimately only a slightly sloppy adult toy and I find that a shame for a manufacturer that does not fail to pride itself on training future astronauts and other engineers in the making thanks to its ultra-creative products.

In the end, I find the whole a bit too quickly shipped and reworked to really pay tribute to the work of Jonathan Brunn. However, there had to be a better compromise to be made between the draft version and this total reinterpretation. Do not let this prevent you from supporting Jonathan Brunn by buying this box sold at a reasonable price, he will receive his commission on sales like all project leaders who have seen their creations go down in history. You can also vote for his new project online on the LEGO Ideas platform: 150 Years of 20 Leagues Under the Sea.

THE SET 21320 DINOSAUR FOSSILS ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

THE OFFER IN BELGIUM >> THE OFFER IN SWITZERLAND >>

Note: The set shown here, supplied by LEGO, is included as usual. To participate in the draw, all you have to do is post a comment (avoid "I participate, I try, etc ..." be a little more constructive) on this article before the October 31, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory. 

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.