5885 - Triceratops Trapper

5885: Triceratops Trapper

Year: 2012

Pieces: 271

Retail price: 49.99 (25.99)

Theme: Dino

 

Dinosaur Legos... what can go wrong, right?  Honestly, not much. I think dinosaur Legos are one of those themes that no kid could turn away from. Really, that's how LEGO makes its money. They look at what kids play with (ambulances, fire trucks, police cars, star wars action figures, etc...) and turn them into LEGOs. Brilliant really, and these dino themed Legos from 2012 were a blast. I only wish we were able to get out hands on more of them.

 

This set is the triceratops carrier. The set comes in three parts - the people and triceratops, the cage, and the vehicle.

 

 

So the people are slightly uninspiring. I think LEGO could have gone with a slightly less caveman look and instead gone with a more militaristic minifig, but to each their own I suppose. After all, the winner of this set is clearly the triceratops. Look at that monster. I have no clue if he is proportionately sized or not, but based from my observations of Jurassic Park, he is. But then again my analysis is from Jurassic Park, a fictional movie that included several dinosaur inaccuracies, so who am I to say anything. The triceratops is still awesome regardless, and has several movable parts (all 4 legs, neck). it also sits on a typical LEGO plate so that you can do some decent posing with him. Win.

 

The second part of this set is the cage for the Triceratops. I'm not too certain on the story behind this theme, but from what I can gather, people are trying to tranquilize and then capture dinosaurs. How either the dinosaurs or people got there is never quite explained, but apparently the people have modern technology on their side so in my version of the story, people are reclaiming Jurassic Park. I love the movie and no, the references to it will not stop.

 

So, in order to catch the triceratops, we have a cage. Its nothing too fancy, but it does fit the dino in it with the tail sticking out the back end of it. One flaw I see with it is that the back walk up ramps do not lock in place, meaning the triceratops only has to breath wrong for them to fall down and then escape. I think they could have done something more with the giant bar thingy at the entrance to make it be more secure, but that's just me. It kind of resembles the cage that the veloceraptor is in at the start of Jurassic Park (there we go again), only much less secure... Maybe their lack of detail to their cages is what caused the dinosaurs to escape after all.

 

The third and final part of the truck that carries everyone. It is actually a pretty decently made truck. It stands very sturdy and is actually larger than the LEGO mining truck released in 2013. Obviously not meant to go driving through a forest to get the triceratops due to it's width and length, the big wheels do give it good clearance for minor obstacles in its way. The truck comes equipped with 4 tranq rockets (how these realistically work is anyone's guess...), spears in the front of the truck (for when the triceratops escapes again), and, well, that's about it. The cage is placed on the back (although there is no winch or rope to bring the cage up on the bed of the truck) and the triceratops is brought back to headquarters for whatever they do to dinosaurs at the headquarters...

 

I know I poked a lot of fun at the set and its realism issues, however the set itself is a great set for the kids to play with, especially when paired with the other sets of this theme. Again, I wish I would have purchased them all instead of only the three we did get. Specially, I'm sadly missing either of the 2 T-Rex sets... and it makes me cry a little bit.