As you might have guessed from my last Jurassic World toy review, I am a Jurassic Park fan, and a T. Rex fan. And while most of the toys from the current Jurassic World toyline didn’t interest me, a few did. The first one being the Chomping T Rex I previously reviewed, and the second being the T. Rex lockdown playset that I will be looking at this time.

The first part of this set is a T. Rex figure that is just a repackaged Basher and Biter T. Rex. It has the same paint, the same terrible proportions, and the same poor gimmick. I’m not as bothered by the many easily visible screw-holes as others seem to be, but they are a mark of getting a lesser quality product. Overall, it’s a disappointing figure that I wouldn’t have purchased on its own. It does offer some play value with its head biting and thrashing gimmick (this is accomplished by moving the tail) but there are too many faults to catch up on. At least it is almost the right size to look like a juvenile next to the larger Tyrannosaurus figure.

The other parts of the set that are not the fence are even more disappointing. The gyrosphere is really bad. It is a small sphere of plastic with a cardboard cutout of a person inside. And there seems to be a problem in the manufacturing/packaging of this product that scratches each ball in the same place (though this could be dino-damage, another thing Jurassic park toys have been doing forever that I’m not really a fan of). I just wish this set had come with a human figure to get eaten, even if he was one of the little dinky figures the rest of the line came with, instead of this ball of plastic that can barely be played with and almost (if not entirely) breaks the suspension of disbelief in toys. The other thing is the net launcher, a weird looking hook with a spring that you put a piece of rubber on and fling it across the room. I guess it’s relatively safe and it will knock the dinos down, but it won’t look like you “captured” them with a net. Still I can almost see it being a fun toy to mess with; I just wish they had used that plastic to go toward something better. If they had combined the gyrosphere and net launcher plastic and made a better version of one or the other I would be happy, but here I’m just disappointed. Both of these items went back into the box.

And finally, there is the good part of the set, and it doesn’t disappoint (for the price and size of the set at least): the fence and gate. Both of them look like redone (and slightly smaller) versions of the Jurassic Park gate that came with the command compound all of those years ago. It’s more film accurate to the Jurassic Park original than the sequel, but it looks quite nice, and the logo sticker is well done. The gate itself is smaller so older vehicles won’t fit through, and while the fences are smaller they are more solidly built, and it seems like this set should stand up to play pretty well. Some of the assembly points for the gate might be weak, but they are still stronger than the older version. There is also a secondary gate with a silly gimmick for the gyrosphere to smash through. It looks good when stood up, but I think the “shock” gimmick could have been improved. Still, it’s a decent play feature. The fences and gates are pretty well sized to keep the small bashers and biters figures in, but not really any of the larger ones.

I should mention at this point that I didn’t pay the MSRP of $25-$30, I paid $20 for this set. And, as a collector, I think the fences and gate were worth the money. But I’m not sure I would pay an extra $5-$10 for all of the rest of the junky plastic in the box. The dinosaur, gyroshpere, and net launcher are sub-par toys and display pieces, and the fence is a bit smaller than I think it really should be. I still don’t regret the purchase. I like it, and most collectors know of the problems with the Jurassic World toyline. As a toy for kids it would highly depend on the kid whether or not the set is worth it. It’s just bordering the price line where exactly how much they will like it really counts. Fun can be had with the set, but I might look elsewhere first for higher-quality toys. And as for collectors, I’d recommend waiting to get a deal on this one. It is one of the two pieces of the Jurassic World toys I would say are essential for fans, though, and maybe a little expense is justified.