Review: LEGO 76950 Triceratops Pick-up Truck Ambush

April 14, 2022 | 7

For my next LEGO Jurassic World review, ahead of the launch of the full range on 17 April, I’ve got a quick review of 76950 Triceratops Pick-up Truck Ambush, one of the mid-sized sets of the wave with fan-favourite and iconic LEGO Dinosaur – the Triceratops.

It’s a small, but punchy set, with playability at its core, but like with all LEGO Jurassic World sets, we know that we’re all here for the new dinosaur variants introduced in this 2022 wave of sets, which ties in with the upcoming Jurassic World Dominion, which opens in cinemas in early June 2022.

Let’s jump straight into the review!

Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review

76950 Triceratops Pick-up Truck Ambush – Set Details

Name: Triceratops Pick-up Truck Ambush
Set Number: 76950
Pieces: 210
Dinosaur: Triceratops
Minifigures: 4
Price: AU$79.99 | US$39.99 | £39.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK]
Exclusive to: N/A
Theme: Jurassic World
Release Date: 17 April 2022

Some surprises with this set, I was delighted to discover that there wasn’t a sticker sheet included.

The set comes with a good number of minifigures, which really add to the playability of the set. We get 2 nameless security guards, as well as Claire Dearing and Franklin Webb, the latter of whom was introduced in Fallen Kingdom, and makes a return in Dominion.

Claire and Franklin are dressed in all-black outfits, which look very stealthy, and the guards are attired in typical civilian clothes – they come with yellow dart rifles, with the LEGO syringe element making an appearance in yellow for the first time!

Claire has a stick with a carrot attached to it, to lure or placate the Triceratops.

Here’s a look at their back printing and alternate faces – Claire and Franklin have scared faces, and they are pretty expressive – Claire’s grimace reminds me a lot of old LEGO Harry Potter minifigures for some reason.

This set revolves primarily around the vehicles and Triceratops, and as such would be a great pickup for young boys or girls who enjoy playing with trucks and dinosaurs. You get a large black pick-up truck and a smaller ATV.

The All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) is as simple as they come, like something you’d expect from a polybag, but it does seat 2 minifigures which is a bit of an upgrade, I guess.

The Pickup Truck is well-designed, and I especially like that they got the height just about right, when you compare it to a minifigure.

There aren’t any fancy bells or whistles on the truck, but it looks chunky and beefy enough. The ATV can be stowed away neatly in the back.

There’s a little disconcerting feature, where the bonnet and roof use the same black element, which does look a little odd – I’m not used to seeing duplicated elements like this in a build, but as the pickup truck is predominantly black, the choice of elements were probably limited.

There is a large over-sized flashlight attached to the truck! Or maybe it’s some sort of acoustic weapon – we won’t know until the movie comes out!

There’s a small play feature built into the Pickup Truck, which works quite well – if you jab the front of the truck with a triceratops, it “pops” the bonnet off.

The feature is designed well, especially in the context of the set, and something that I think adds a bit of interactivity into an otherwise static truck.

I was impressed with the simplicity of the mechanism.

Last but not least, the star of the set. LEGO knows we all buy Jurassic World sets purely for the dinos, and we get a brand new LEGO Triceratops variant.

This Triceratops is one of the most detailed ones yet, and LEGO Graphic Designers have really taken the printing up a notch, with some really nice details like scarring all across its body, giving it a very battle-hardened look – it’s definitely been caught up with some nasty carnivores!

I’m not sure exactly what happened here… but I was surprised to see the Triceratops pop out of the box in a completely different shade than official photos.

On LEGO’s product page, you can see that the Triceratops had a more vibrant red colour, against a grey body, but the actual Triceratops has a more sand-blue hue to it, and a darker, brownish-red colour instead.

I’m not sure what the disconnect here was, but I definitely feel catfished, as I was expecting a cool red Triceratops!

That said, this is still a fantastic LEGO Triceratops, and I really like the detailed scarring across its entire body. The darker red shade does make it look a bit more natural, and less cartoony, but I’m guessing something must’ve gone wrong with the printing process, or it didn’t look as good on the sand blue base.

This is the third LEGO Triceratops that LEGO have produced using this highly detailed new mould first introduced in 2012’s Dino theme, and some other new enhancements include tan horns, and beaks, which is the first as previous ones were grey – giving it a much fresher look.

As an ardent fan of LEGO Dinosaurs, I’m pretty pleased to add this grey, battle-scarred variant to my Triceratops herd, and as you can see when compared with the “cleaner” unscarred versions, the marks across its body does add quite a bit of character to the three-horned beast.

Designer insight: When speaking to Senior Designer Woon Tze Che, who worked across the entire theme, I discovered that during the conceptual phase, designers would have free reign to build anything that they thought could be cool, and it would be considered. Then, they would get together, with Marketing and the IP-partner to decide which sets go where.

Contrary to popular belief, someone doesn’t just decide that we want X set, with a Triceratops for Y price.

That said, according to Woon Tze, “every dino has its price”, and the designers generally want to offer the biggest dino they can offer within the right price point. So for every price point they have, they try to give you the biggest dino they can give you.

What I liked:

• Fantastic new Triceratops with scars
• Generous number of minifigures included
• Pick-Up Truck looks good, and can be easily repurposed for your LEGO City
• No Owen Grady!

What I didn’t like: 

• Different Triceratops colour to the one on packaging was a little unnerving
• Feels very pricey, especially in Australia – US pricing is pretty decent

Final Thoughts:

76950 Triceratops Pick-up Truck Ambush is a pretty standard LEGO Jurassic World offering – you get a really nice dinosaur, a recoloured variant of the fan-favourite Triceratops, gated behind a fairly pricey mid-sized set.

The Triceratops is naturally the star of the set, and main drawcard, and it absolutely delivers, with a really unique scarred design, and fresh new colour scheme that sets it apart from previous iterations.

The Pick-up Truck, ATV and even minifigures are here to support and give context to the Triceratops, and they do a decent job. I do like that you get 4 minifigures in this, which amps up the playability.

I also thought it was pretty smart to not place any stickered Jurassic World branding on the Pickup Truck, which means you can easily incorporate it into your LEGO City or displays without it screaming “Jurassic World”!

Like any sets with large LEGO Dinos, this feels quite expensive, especially in the UK and Australia but if you’re lucky enough to be in the US, it’s fairly priced there.

All in all, this set is really designed for younger builders and Jurassic World fans as it’s all about playability, and with 2 vehicles, 4 minifigs and an awesome Triceratops, it delivers exactly what it needs to for that target audience.

If you’re a fan of LEGO Dinosaurs or Triceratops, you won’t be disappointed with this Triceratops. I only wish it was Red like on the box!

Rating and score: 3/5 ★★★☆☆

Build [2] – A very simple build that’s perfect for younger builders.
Real Value [3] – The new Triceratops adds a lot to the overall price, but with 4 minifigs, this feels decently priced
Innovation [2] – Not a lot new introduced here, but I do like the graphics on the Triceratops
Coolness [3] – LEGO Dinosaurs are eternally cool, and I was very happy with the new Triceratops
Keepability [3] – As a new Triceratops variant, this will be very collectable as large LEGO Dinos (especially the rare herbivore) tend to maintain their value well.

Thanks for reading my review of 76950 Triceratops Pick-up Truck Ambush. It goes on sale on 17 April 2022, alongside all the other LEGO Jurassic World sets! In case you missed it, be sure to also red my review of the Jurassic Park T.rex Breakout!

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Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review