This was a ‘love at first sight’ set when revealed and I was excited to put it with my Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark displays, to make a Spielberg trio. Having finally got my eager paws on it I’m very happy and, if like me, you’re a fan of Jaws, how is this not in your basket already?

Excellent Minifigs, the superb Orca boat, and the amazing shark build will have you happier than a great white in chum filled waters. Even if you’re not such a film fan, there’s still lots to like here, and the Orca will look great slotted into the docks of many a LEGO city. It’s an absolute beauty of a boat!

The first “ooh!” moment with this set was slightly unexpected, though, coming when I opened the box and found all paper packing for the different build bags (other than one tiny plastic bag). These are more sustainable, robust, open neatly, store well, and have a far nicer feel than plastic. More of this in future sets please LEGO!

As you dig through the contents, you’ll see it is good value, with 1497 bricks, three of which are big uns - new 16x16 Dark Blue Plates, which are used to form much of the set’s base. I doubt many will use the optional tail part that comes on a stand, and while it’s cool to have that option, it’s more bricks to use on your MOCs if you don’t need it!

I found a few build steps that were prone to popping apart during the construction of the Orca, but this was because of the ambitious design. There are many clever stages in the boat build - inverted and angled parts joined in ingenious ways – that will bring a smile to the most experienced builders’ faces.

The string attachment sours the mood a little, however. The rigging on each side of the mast is my least favourite part of the set, fitted with a towball on one end but only a handle tile to attach the string to on the other. If you apply it tigh, you’ll bend the flexible mast and spoil the overall look. If you apply it even a little loose, it will sag, and spoil the overall look. There’s no sweet spot here (I spent a good bit of time changing the tension to try and solve the problem) without doing some full redesign, which is a shame when so many other details are so great.

The presentation of the whole scene is beautiful with off angle elements, dramatic waves, and parts breaking out of the display base’s boundaries.

I’ve saved the shark to last and it’s a magnificent build. Lots of SNOT techniques, with clever combinations of angles and parts. I wonder how many hours of trial and error were put into making the greatest of great white sharks look... really, really great. They were worth it! My favourite part here might be the multi-angled interior of the mouth, with rows of deadly looking fangs.

Overall, despite a few quibbles, this is a brilliant set! One of the best-looking boats I’ve seen, fine Minifigs, a truly epic shark, and a fitting tribute to a fantastic film. It’s way up there on my 2024 favourites list.

I have put a few Lego sets together. My first build experience was the Home Alone house. I loved it, took pictures throughout the build, and clocked my time working on the set. It was neat to see the references and how things came together. Ultimately, this has been my experience on every build I have completed so far. From wildflowers, to Jurassic Park vehicles, to the Hocus Pocus house, I have looked forward to my builds.

However, this set did a couple of things that no other set has. It made me consider returning the set and forced me to use super glue to have a few pieces stay together long enough to get to the next step. Putting the bow of the ship together required me to super glue some of the support pieces together - allowing them to stay together as I turned the build upside down and attempted to add the additional pieces to complete the current step. While the directions were adequate in showing how to build this section, the pieces did not supply enough support in order to keep the structure together while moving on to the next step.

Overall this build is fragile. Pieces fall off from picking it up and moving it around. The strings on the boat fall off of the wheels constantly, and pieces of the shark's tail are held on with only a peg or two. While I determine the final home for this display, I have left the piece right where I completed it - afraid to move it more than I need. This is sad because every other set I have completed feels indestructible. I feel that if I were to drop the Home Alone house, there would be minimal repairs needed. However, if I look at the Jaws set wrongly, I need to get out the instruction booklet again in order to repair the damage.

Finally, while this set has more than one way of displaying it, either way results in unused pieces. If you choose to display the shark on his display base, it sort of renders the whole ocean diorama useless. On the contrary, if you display the shark and the boat on the ocean display base, then you are left with half a shark just sitting there.

While I am happy that I purchased this set, I feel that there are many things that could have been changed or tweaked to add strength to the build. I am a fan of Jaws, but building this set reminded me of Jaws 3. It was a Jaws movie, but just not the best one!

I am a HUGE Jaws fan, and once I heard about this set I knew it was a day-one purchase for me. The attention to detail is amazing, and the attempts to recreate the Orca as it appeared on screen since 1975 are commendable.
With that said, I must say this is the most unnecessarily complex LEGO build I've ever done. The boat feels flimsy at nearly every touch, which is only amplified as you must manipulate the boat constantly while continuing to build on it. I spent more time replacing parts already placed, as they would fall off (especially those blue pieces on the underside - those who have built it know what I'm talking about) when trying to place other pieces. I had no choice but to use a drop or two of glue in a couple of spots. The time spent building the Orca was doubled, having to backtrack when pieces kept falling off. Also, the decision to require the mast lines to be tied on rather than have ball joints on either end (it would work if the strings were cut to the perfect length on either side) is a real head-scratcher. It's finished, but I am hesitant to touch it again and have to put something back together again. I think more time and care could be taken for future builds to use more pieces that actually fit together and lock in completely rather than having them partially rest on flat pieces for mere aesthetics.

So, after reading several reviews and having already completed my build I thought I’d leave my honest opinion.

Jaws is only my second build, (my first being R2D2), and yes, everyone is right, the bow is fiddly and fragile, so after my first attempt failed, I slowed down, (the excitement of the build and wanting to complete it quickly meant I was desperate to finish it!).
Once I slowed down and used less pressure it all came together.
I know it may sound weird, but I love overcoming a challenge.

The entire build probably took me around 5 hours, (split across 5 days), (and I know some of you may laugh at the length of time it took, but as I mentioned, this is only my second ever build).

I did encounter one other tiny SNAFU when trying to attach Bruce to the base, again, I realised that I needed to use less pressure.

The string from the mast doesn’t leave much room for error, too tight and you bend the mast, too loose it looks naff!

But it’s these little things that make us slow down and take time. I’m a believer that things in life don’t always work first time, and if they did that would somehow be boring.

I highly recommend this set. It gave me so much joy to build, the detail is brilliant, the idea is excellent and the finished product gives so much joy. I even splashed out on a display case for it!

I actually thought the price was reasonable too.

Thank you Lego for bringing this idea to life!