Mini-Builds Tyrannosaurus Rex by Build Your Own Review

DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.

Reviewed by Mel S-W

I was absolutely delighted to be able to try to build my own Tyrannosaurus Rex, fed up of buying more plastic toys, it was great to find a kit that I could work together on with my little boy, so that we could spend some quality time together and work out how to build our new dinosaur. The Mini-Builds Tyrannosaurus Rex by Build Your Own (Paper Engine) is here for you. A sustainable alternative to the normal dinosaur toys, making children think, and work together… This was great!

The kit arrived quickly and was very securely packaged and protected within a clever cardboard sleeve.

So what’s included? There are 37 slot-together cardboard, a stand up dinosaur fact sheet that features and the build instructions. There’s also a QR code contained on the pack that allows you to view the instructions online or access support videos and content. The packaging is sleek and minimal, just a sleeve that wraps around itself. It’s very neat, compact and would make a great gift. What I also like about the kit is that it’s made from sustainable cardboard parts, but the parts are of great quality.

The pictorial instructions are simple and easy to follow, with clear easy numbering and lettering, indicating the steps that you need to follow. The sustainable cardboard body parts are very sturdy, but you do need to take care whilst popping them out of the sheets. I would recommend trying to pop them out slowly just to avoid tearing (not that we experienced any). I would definitely use the removal tool to aid you in getting out the small sections which could be quite fiddly. Once built, it stands about 38cm long and has moving parts, which was amazing for a cardboard kit.

The Mini-Builds Tyrannosaurus Rex recommends for children aged 8 + with adult supervision however my 7 year old and I built this together with no issues, well… I did have to keep getting him to slow down as we were going through as he kept trying to jump ahead so can see why they may recommend for children aged 8+. I really thought the pack was brilliant, really ever and a great thing to do together. I will be looking to buy future kits for birthday gifts as I’ve really enjoyed making this Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The only feedback that I really have, is that the Tyrannosaurus Rex fact sheet was quite small. I feel that the packaging could have been used for more facts or features as part of the kit, whether it was some tasks like word searches, crosswords or true and false facts, or just simply more facts. Yes it’s great to see what other kits are available, but it would have just been great to use this cardboard wrap in a different way.

Looking at the Build Your Own website, there’s a great deal of options that look unbelievable. They range from unicorns and dragons in the Junior Builder section, with 3 other dinosaur options available. There is also the option to make something a bit more spectacular, like a plane launcher, marble run and a kaleidoscope. There’s just so much to choose from and the more complex kits are reasonably priced. I must say, the Wallace and Gromit kits are just adorable! I would look to buy more, because of my experience of building this Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Rating: 4/5

RRP: £9.99

Available from buildyourownkits.com