Review: LEGO 75919 – Indominus Rex Breakout

June 30, 2015 | 10

We power through my LEGO Jurassic World reviews with the big daddy of the theme – the monstrous Indominus Rex Breakout! Featuring the primary antagonist of the movie, the Indominus Rex or I-Rex as he is fondly known by his fellow dino buddies, this set, like the fictional dinosaur its based on is large, obscenely expensive and the flagship of Jurassic World.

I received this set for my birthday from my wife (thank you, hun!) and I’m finally able to carve some time out of my schedule to photograph and review this beast! Read on to find out if you should break out your wallet (sorrynotsorry) for the crown jewel of LEGO Jurassic World.

Name: Indominus Rex Breakout
Set Number: 75919
Pieces : 1156
Price: AU$179.99 (Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA])
Exclusive to: N/A
Minifigs: 4
Dinosaurs: 1 Indominus Rex
Theme: Jurassic World
Year of Release: 2015
Instructions: Book 1

Weighing in at 1156 pieces, Indominus Rex Breakout packs an imposing piece-count and a hefty price tag to boot here in Australia. At retail, the set costs $180, which is very expensive even for a licensed set. The extravagant price tag is no doubt inflated thanks to the inclusion of the I-Rex but even then the set feels a lot more expensive than it should be.

To put things into perspective, you can add another $20 and purchase the cheapest Modular Building (the Palace Cinema) which is nothing to sneeze at. Alas, LEGO dinosaurs are an expensive pursuit and my wife generously offered to buy it for me for my birthday when Myer had a 20% off sale (bringing it down to $144), which I couldn’t say no to. And here we are.

If you’ve been following my reviews, you know that I rail on price a lot – and I have to admit that the set’s price did make me uneasy at first. The box art also did little to convince me (it’s a little boring and has poor composition) that it was going to be worth it. I started building not expecting much but in the end, my perspective and thoughts on the Indominus Rex Breakout pretty much took a 180° turn.

Note: The set is fairly large and could not fit into my usual photography light box, so some of the pictures are not as good as I would’ve liked them to be. It was a challenge photographing it!

We begin with the sticker sheet, which is an interesting mix of transparent decals and regular papery stickers. Plenty of Jurassic World logos to pimp out the I-Rex’s playpen and also 4 of the electrical warning signs which I really like.

I don’t usually do this in my reviews, but I’ll be going through each bag’s contents – taking you through the chronological sequence of piecing this set together. Being a really expensive set I figured that not everyone will be buying it, so I thought you might appreciate a more detailed walkthrough of the build.

There are 12 bags in the set and took me a good four hours total of building (at a very leisurely pace) to complete it.

We start off big, assembling the Indominus Rex who comes in her own plastic bag. No additional Technic pins necessary, it’s quite an easy process snapping all her different parts into her body. The Indominus Rex, like its genetically questionably origins elicits mixed feelings from me.

It’s a really imposing looking dinosaur – I love the spikes, oversized arms (finally, a T-Rex with no weaknesses!) and menacing red eyes but I am not a fan of its awful colour scheme. It’s simply too white for me that it almost looks like some sort of joke. Comparing it against the movie version which is visibly more grey and natural looking, the white simply doesn’t do it for me.

The larger arms also gives the I-Rex the ability to grip minifigures or other LEGO 2 X 1 elements which is always great functionality to have.

I really dig the exaggerated spikes along the I-Rex’s back – they’re a very fitting homage to everyone’s favourite oversized Lizard – Godzilla.

The I-Rex’s jaw is huge and you can fit a lot in it – it can almost totally swallow an adult-sized minifigure whole. It’s a lot larger than the regular T-rex model. Unfortunately, the jaw only has 3 positions – closed, open and gaping. As it can only lock itself securely in these limited positions, it’s a little difficult getting him to chomp down and hold things in place.

You really have to ask yourself – is the Indominus Rex worth the set’s hefty $180 price tag? Sure you get a thousand other pieces, but you’re really buying this set for the albino-looking monstrosity. For me, I collect LEGO dinosaurs and am a huge Jurassic Park fan so it was quite a no-brainer to me.

Do I like it? Yeah, I guess I do. There’s much more to like than dislike so that’s a net positive right there but just like its questionable colour-scheme, I can’t quite bring myself to shout about how great it is. At the end of the day, I’m still very pleased to own one of the defining elements of Jurassic World, a movie I really enjoyed so I’ve got that going for me at the very least.

The most notable minifigure included in the set is Dr. Wu played by none other than B.D. Wong in the movie. I’m a big fan of Law & Order: SVU so I can’t express how elated I am to finally own a BD Wong minifig.

Dr Wu’s (totally not related to Ninjago’s Sensei Wu) minifig is great in nearly all regards. The skin colour is a little off, he’s a lot tanner than what you’d expect from an Asian person but I guess the accurate skintone isn’t something that can easily be replicated. Dr Wu has a quizzical (and a little condescending) expression on his face and a white lab coat that befits a scientist of his stature.

His torso has some great details such as his signature black jumper beneath his coat, and the security ID card hanging off his collar is a neat touch. It’s a really great combination that can be repurposed for any LEGO laboratory.

The only downside is that the printing fades rather horribly when it crosses over to his legs. It’s really shoddy and ruins what would’ve been an outstanding minfig. I absolutely detest inconsistent printing on my minifigs.

Dr. Wu’s back printing sports the Jurassic World logo. No idea why they even lab coats get emblazoned by the theme park’s logo but hey I’m not complaining. He has a happy but slightly sinister smile for his alternate face.

Dr. Wu’s accessory is a vial of mysterious green goo (?) and one of the coolest accessories in Jurassic World – a mosquito fossilized in amber. This is an amazing nod to how the dinosaurs were cloned in the first Jurassic Park movie and is a must-have element for any fan of the franchise.

Meet Zach, the most irritating character in the movie. In Jurassic World, he’s your troubled teen that’s too cool for dinosaurs and seems to embody the worst bits of Justin Bieber, Harry Styles or whoever the latest tweenage heartthrob is these days. UGH, just recalling his presence in the movie makes me mad. If you’ve watched the movie, you’ll know what I mean.

Zach is as generic as they come which isn’t as bad as it sounds. He’s got a youthful smirk on his face and a great looking grey hoodie over a red t-shirt combo that’s really versatile and handy, especially if you’re a fan of urban or city minifigs.

The torso’s impressive details are a head above regular City torsos. In case you were wondering, yes, I am wasting no time in coming up with ways to behead Zach.

Zach has back printing and an alternate face where he has a bit of a shocked expression – probably due to him realizing that staring creepily at prepubescent girls is not normal social behaviour, or because he’s under attack by a 18 feet high genetically modified (damn GMOs!) dinosaur.

A jumbo Jurassic World set wouldn’t be complete without an ACU (Asset Containment Unit) Trooper and in Indominus Rex Breakout, we get a black individual! LEGO’s Jurassic World theme has been absolutely brilliant in terms of minifigure diversity, which I think is a fantastic move by LEGO to be more inclusive and representative of different races.

The ACU Trooper is almost identical to the one found in 75917 Raptor Rampage, except that he has a visor-ed helmet and is of course black.

The ACU printed body-armour vest is a superb accessory and I don’t mind having more of them in my inventory.  Here’s a look at the ACU Trooper’s brilliant back and front torso printing as well as his alternate shocked expression face. An awesome accessory, awesome torso printing and an awesome non-flesh coloured head make the ACU Trooper a pretty awesome minifigure.

The last minifigure is yet another nameless Vet not unlike the Vet found in Raptor Escape except that this guy looks a lot older and has a wide brim hat. He’s kinda boring and nondescript and very much feels like a filler minifigure.

The Vet has back printing featuring a Jurassic World logo which is decent I guess. Overall, the Vet is quite plain I would’ve rather had an alternative character like another ACU Trooper or even the nanny in charge of watching the kids in the movie.

4 minifigures in  the largest set of the theme is kind of low, in my opinion. I would’ve come to expect at least an extra 2 minifigures included in this set. Perhaps another ACU Trooper or fringe characters like the Nanny or even Jake Johnson’s lovable computer expert character.

In fact, why isn’t Chris Pratt’s character included in this set? Actually, silly question – I know the answer to that – to sell more sets.

Okay, let’s get on with the build!

Here’s Bag number 1, which contains Zach, the ingenious Gyrosphere and the launchpad.

The Gyrosphere is one of the most interesting components in the Jurassic World sets, namely because it actually does a great job emulating the ones from the movie. You can roll the LEGO Gyrosphere around and the functionality works remarkably well, suspending and keeping the minifigure in place as long as you’re not too violent with it.

It’s a really fascinating and creative object that’s a lot of fun to play with. The build is solid and the transparent sphere looks gorgeous but it’s not without its flaws. For one thing, separating the two hemispheres is a little tricky as they’re sealed firmly so you kinda have to yank the two halves quite hard to release the minifigure inside.

Oh, I also love how the Gyrosphere reminds me of Gashapon from Japan.

Bag 2 is a quick build, you put together the Gyrosphere “launching mechanism” which is a simple rod that you push to roll the Gyrosphere out of its dock.

Here’s the Gyrosphere attached to the wall section.

Bag 3 has you getting started on the first significant wall section which features a large glass viewing platform that sports a few cracks caused by the mighty Indominus Rex.

In Bag 4, you put together a crane that is perched on top of the viewing platform. The crane is operated by the Vet who is responsible for transferring chicken drumsticks into the I-Rex play area. I love the dark green elements used to construct the crane.

Bag 5 lays the foundation for the largest structure within the walls, the Observation Tower/Research Lab.

Bag 6 completes the Viewing Tower, which looks like it belongs in a maximum security prison. It’s probably the curved railings, large spotlights and tough looking wall sections that give it a very militarized look.

In Bag 7, you assemble a small Helicopter. Nothing too flashy about it but it has some neon green flick fire missiles, which may come in handy if the Indominus Rex starts misbehaving.

The Helicopter feels a bit like an afterthought but at the very least, it’s got a tight and lightweight design using a minimal amount of elements.

In Bag 8, you construct the foundation of yet another wall section.

Bag 9 completes this wall section, which as you can see from the image is designed to be easily knocked over and torn apart. More on how this works later.

Bag 10 features a corner section of the wall, which houses a small weapons cache that holds a tranquilizer rifle and a shock rod. That’s definitely going to put the I-Rex in her place…

In Bag 11, you begin by building yet another foundation, this time to house the gates of the Indominus Rex compound.

Lastly, you put together the oversized gate which features a really cool zig-zag design running down the middle.

You can open and close the gates manually by sliding them back and forth. It’s a decent play feature and works well thanks to the almost frictionless mechanism.

There’s also something oddly satisfying about seeing the interlocking jagged gates click together.

The Indominus Rex breakout build is fairly straightforward. In essence, you build all the different wall sections, which come together quite securely using ball joints, which give it a certain degree of freedom and flexibility that you would not otherwise achieve through clips or swivel bricks.

Voila, here’s the complete build after you snap together all the separate wall sections! It was definitely a lot larger and grander than I had expected, measuring almost 40 cm across in certain sections.

It doesn’t work well with vehicles, but I absolutely dig the blue, grey and dark grey colour scheme of the I-Rex compound.

And yes, it does look like a fancy maximum security prison designed to keep the Indominus Rex from escaping and gobbling up hapless park visitors.

The compound has a triangular shape when viewed from above – a shape that is achieved thanks to the ball joints on the connecting wall sections. The angular asymmetrical shape is quite nice to look at and gives the entire pen a really cool and distinct look.

For a large set, there aren’t as many play features as you would expect but the Gyrosphere launcher is pretty fun.

Here’s a GIF of it in action. As mentioned earlier, the Gyrosphere rolls around very satisfyingly. In the GIF, you can see how the minifigure manages to wobble around securely within the transparent ball. Yup, kind of like a hi-tech hamster ball.

You can reenact your favourite scenes from the movie such as this one where the I-Rex tries to eat the Gyrosphere whole but discovers that his jaw doesn’t open that wide.

Dr. Wu hangs out in his research laboratory which also doubles up as an observation tower.

It’s not much of a laboratory, more like an office with a single desktop computer, a yellow mug of coffee and the aforementioned mosquito in amber as a cool little memento of how far the Jurassic Park genetic program has come.

Also included: swivel chairs! The best thing about working in any corporate environment.

Watch out, Dr. Wu! Your fancy observation tower (and wimpy syringe) won’t protect you from the hungry Indominus Rex!

There’s a small helipad for the helicopter situated atop the tower. Really love how the designers decided to slap the Jurassic World logo onto every single surface possible in this set.

Don’t get the helicopter too near the Indominus Rex! According to her, it must’ve tasted like a metallic chicken.

The I-Rex is king Queen of the roost now!

The viewing glass area is one of my favourite parts of the set, since it was actually quite a prominent part of the movie where you’re first introduced to the genetic monstrosity that is the Indominus Rex. Extra points because you can fit more than 1 minifigure on the viewing platform.

If your genetically modified dino has menacing red eyes… maybe you should’ve killed it off while it was still a baby.. #jusytsaying.

While the entire I-Rex compound may look large, it is actually quite cramped inside for Rexy. No wonder it went a little crazy and went off on a killing rampage on Isla Nublar. If I was cooped up in such restrictive living conditions, I’d go a little mental too.

The Indominus Rex’s size makes it a little hard for her to maneuver around the pen. There are only a few angles where it can comfortably stay within the walls.

It’s not a slight against the structure’s design but more of a design limitation since the I-Rex is just so damn long. From the snout to its tail, the Indominus Rex stretches close to 30cm long so you can see why housing it is such an issue.

At certain angles, the Indominus Rex is forced to poke its head out above the electrified fences.

Speaking of fences, here’s the collapsible wall in action. It’s a fairly common mechanic where the walls break apart with ease.

It provides a nice destructive play element to the entire set since smashing buildings using an oversized LEGO dinosaur never gets old.

The I-Rex’s compound is so small that sometimes, all she does is curl up in a ball wishing that she could play outside.

What I liked:

• Indominus Rex is a very impressive looking dinosaur
• The set is huge and looks really good on display (if you have space)
• Colour scheme and design makes it look like a really cool prison
• Gyrosphere!

What I didn’t like:

• Set is quite expensive
• The Indominus Rex is too white
• 4 minifigures doesn’t seem like quite enough
• Zach
• Build can be repetitive at times, especially the wall sections

Final thoughts: This set kind of grew on me as I put it together and I have to say that I quite like it. In spite of its hefty price tag, I actually think that the end result justifies the exorbitant cost of the Indominus Rex Breakout. My set has now occupied an Ikea Lack table in my living area and I sometimes turn my head to admire how good it looks on display.

With large LEGO sets, the most important question is “does it make my LEGO collection or display more awesome?”. Well the answer is a convincing “yes” with the Indominus Rex Breakout.

Because of its polarising (and maybe off-putting pricetag) you will either love or ignore this set. If you’re like me and you love all things Jurassic World, dinosaurs and large imposing prison structures, the Indominus Rex Breakout is a no-brainer. But if you’re on the opposite spectrum, there won’t be a lot of value to be discovered here.

When LEGO first announced the Jurassic World theme, I had already made up my mind to complete the theme, so in a sense, I was mentally and financially prepared to commit to the set, no matter how expensive it came up to. I’m not sure I agree with the pricing. Even with the huge custom dinosaur moulds, I still think that this set should be priced at around $150 AUD.

Judging from my trips to the toy aisles of major stores, the pricetag doesn’t seem to put off a lot of people – these sets are flying off the shelves at quite an alarming rate.

The recent deluge of LEGO sales may have something to do with it, but LEGO + dinosaurs has always been a winning combination. Slap on an official Jurassic World license and the perceived value keeps on rising.

As the flagship set of Jurassic World, Indominus Rex Breakout does many things right. I do wish that we had at least 2 more minifigs included in this set or even a goat to feed the I-Rex but for the most part, I am quite satisfied with what you get. Again, I can’t believe they didn’t include Chris Pratt’s character in the set.

If you’re a fan of LEGO Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, you almost have to get this set. I wouldn’t sleep on it for too long, as licensed sets that are tied to major summer blockbusters don’t have long shelf lives. In fact, I wouldn’t be too surprised if LEGO Australia didn’t restock the Jurassic World sets once they sell out, especially with all the new sets coming in August.

There’s a lot of fun to be had here and even if you’re like me and you don’t quite like the albino-looking Indominus Rex, you can always swap her out for some of the other dinosaurs who would happily stomp around the compound.

Rating: 4/5

Thank you very much for reading this rather lengthy review! It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a set this large and I had a blast doing so. I hope you enjoyed the review as much as I did writing and photographing it.

For more reviews be sure to check out the Review Hub and also the Jurassic World category.

Do you own this monstrosity of a set? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!