Random set of the day: Iron Predator vs. T-Rex
Posted by Huwbot,Today's random set is 7476 Iron Predator vs. T-Rex, released in 2005. It's one of 5 Dino Attack sets produced that year. It contains 278 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$40.
It's owned by 1029 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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19 comments on this article
Yeah man, the good old fashioned red blooded American version where we're gonna blast the crap out of the mutant dinosaurs. No room for caged beasts, let's just blow them up!
I did not get the Dino Attack theme at all. I'm just glad that we eventually did get real dinosaurs, as opposed to ... these.
This was a bad point in the Dino themes. They make literally no sense.
Picked one of these sets up an op shop as part of a tub of bulk Lego.
Couldn't for the life of me workout how to replace the batteries in the T-Rex. Was impressed that the eyes and tongue still lit up.
Ah, the good old days of my childhood. Life was simpler then. No internet drama, no adult responsibilities, no social angst, just me and my brother and blowing up mutant killer dinosaurs with tanks and helicopters in the basement amidst a rushed, custom-built Lego city layout. And this was the last set I picked up the day I finished my Dino Attack collection.
Good times!
Take me back. Please.
Like @MCLegoBoy hinted at, that one time LEGO did an odd experiment with giving NA a more violent, 'blow them up' variant of a theme, while others (at least Europe did), getting a more peaceful 'gotta catch 'em all' version. With as a result that some parts only came out there, like the tan click hinges in this set.
The other version: https://brickset.com/sets/7297-1/Dino-Track-Transport
I really despise thos e dinos, they don't look like lego at all.
The sets itself were really well designed though!
It appears people fail to acknowledge that the dinos of this theme in at least one aspect plays in a different league compared with todays dinos: SIZE
And as you know - it DOES matter!
These sets very nearly lead me to walk away from LEGO. Those dinosaurs looked more like crappy Poundland toys than Lego. I remember thinking at the time that the sets were getting so bad there wasn't much point sticking around.
As much as I want to criticise the stereotyping here giving the North American version guns slapped everywhere...I will admit it looks cooler than the version we got in the UK
@Brickalili I agree! I think it's because it's not that they slapped guns on for the US, they ripped them off for Europe. The sets look half finished, this one especially. It's just a big tracked thing with no purpose without the cannon.
I think these mutant dinosaurs are very scary.
While it makes sense that Lego fans will complain about the non-Lego qualities of the dinosaurs, the vehicles for the various Dino themes looked pretty good to me. The tan-and-dark red color scheme is a good-looking combination, and that attack helicopter (in the largest set in these themes) is huge and as close as Lego gets to a modern military design, guns version or not.
Indeed, the helicoptor is so big that it is difficult to find a proper place for it!
I had the alternate European version of this set. Decently designed, though the cage was, ah... the very definite weak point of the set, just a bunch of beams slapped together that didn't look like it would realistically hold that giant monster at all. Still, I'm not sure the giant canon is that big of an improvement xD
I seem to recall Greg Farshtey (of Bionicle comics fame) mentioning, at one point, this theme was going to be a 'capture the dinosaurs for study' type of thing with a different aesthetic altogether; but when Lego market-tested those sets, kids hated them and wanted more action and violence... so this theme was born as the result.
The dinos might be cheesy looking to us cynical adults now, but back when I got this set as a kid at about 6 years old? They were glorious. They were huge, you could fit a whole minifigure in that rex's mouth! The vehicles were pretty good looking to this day I think, the helicopter and the hummer in particular. I own every one of these sets now, and I'm a big fan.
Ever played the Dino Attack flash game? Not the best, but I miss when Lego.com had many games.
Those were the good old days. I got the original attack helicopter set for Christmas 2005. I still have it, and it's built, sitting on the shelf at home right now. Pictures don't really show how big it is, it takes up a ton of space. Probably one of my favorite sets of all time, and criminally underrated.
So I'm seeing a lot of hate for this theme and I'm not sure why. When targeting 8 year old boys (at least in America, given that this is the Dino Attack theme and not Dino 2010), how could you better get your target audiences' attention? MASSIVE dinosaurs and big lego vehicles to attack them with? I remember many of my friend's getting these sets, and between just 4 of us, we had the whole series twice over. We absolutely loved them. The dune buggy was fun and the wheels spun very nicely, the HUMVEE was huge! The tank was obviously awesome - its a tank. The helicopter seemed, honestly, a little too big for us, as it was quite heavy for us at the time. I still love this theme, and especially this set!