LEGO Jurassic Park T. rex designer says the minifigures are where ‘worlds collide’

The LEGO designer behind 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex says the set’s exclusive Jurassic Park minifigures were chosen because they represent where ‘worlds collide’.

Available from today for LEGO Insiders, 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex is the biggest LEGO Jurassic Park and Jurassic World set to date, and includes two exclusive minifigures of Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler in the outfits they’re wearing at the start of the original 1993 movie. This is the first time we’ve seen either of these characters in their get-ups from the excavation site in Montana.

According to 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex’s designer Benjamin Liboriussen, the minifigures were an obvious choice as part of the wider palaeontological package that the model aims to deliver.

“It ties back to the whole tribute this set is to palaeontology in general, and the movies,” Benjamin told Brick Fanatics and other LEGO fan media in a recent roundtable. “Where those two worlds collide is where we see [Alan and Ellie] at the dig site for the first time. And of course, we wanted to make these as exclusive as we could.

"We have never made these versions before, and it just all fit together: we have a skeleton, let's do them in their dig site clothing, and just give you all that you could want for a palaeontology set in the Jurassic Park franchise.”

The rest of 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex’s 3,145 pieces go into realising the biggest buildable fossil ever to stomp its way out of Billund, and one that’s decidedly not to scale with its tiny plastic people. But like the characters included in non-minifigure-scale Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series sets, these minifigures are essentially a bonus to display alongside the main model.

Yet where chucking in a TIE Pilot with 75382 TIE Interceptor or Luke Skywalker in his pilot fatigues with 75355 X-wing Starfighter makes logical sense, Ellie and Alan in their dig site outfits have a deeper narrative and thematic connection to the Tyrannosaurus rex, and everything this particular LEGO set is trying to do.

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“This is the first time that we get to know palaeontology [in Jurassic Park],” Benjamin adds. “This is the first time we see these characters. And if you've seen the movies, you’ll remember the claw scene where [Alan] kind of threatens that little boy with a Raptor claw. This is a perfect moment where we see and get a feel of how dangerous these creatures were, and how amazing is all the research around it.

“So there was not really any doubt – we wanted to do them in these outfits, and this is the perfect opportunity to give them that treatment as minifigures.”

You can add these exclusive versions of Drs. Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler to your LEGO Jurassic Park collection by ordering 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex, which is available right now for LEGO Insiders (and from March 15 for everyone else), and currently qualifies for a free copy of 40762 Mixed Flowerpot.