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Reader's Review: LEGO Indiana Jones Lost Tomb

Posted by: D. Martin on January 18, 2008 at 01:04 AM CST


LEGO Indiana Jones Lost Tomb Playset reviewed by Chris Perley.

The Lost Tomb playset. This set recreates the Well of Souls scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. As with the Temple Escape and Stolen Treasure sets, this box is very collector friendly. Nice image on the front.

First step as always is to dump all the pieces in a big pile. If you build this set on a hard flat surface, beware. There are a ton of cylinders in this set that will try and escape. I always like to start with the minifigs. The Indy is identical to the other three sets, but this time he has no gun (if you insist on giving him one, the Motorcycle Chase comes with an extra). The skeleton figure is a standard, and this one actually has the evil face as shown on the box, unlike the Temple Escape.

The unique figure with this set is the Marion Ravenwood. The deco print on the dress isn't bad. The surprise here is the double expression. One side of her head is smiling, and the other is scared. The smile side is decent, but there have been some concerns over the scared side. The combination of the lips, teeth and a thin black line makes her appear to have a mustache. The lips could have been a shade darker, and the black line could have been brown, and the look would have been better. The hair is reused from the Hermione figure. Apart from Indy and Henry Sr, every character from all four sets have had either reused hair or faces. Kind of a disappointment.



As for the playset itself, early on, you will see this set suffers from RCS (Random Color Syndrome). LEGO has a habit of tossing in the oddly colored brick. While it's often not visible in the final model, it stands out when trying to use the bricks for other projects. Here, the glaring RCS brick is a large white block under the stairs. Brown or tan would have made more sense. The construction of this model is fairly easy, as it's mostly open space. There are a few decals to apply, which I am not a fan of. But these apply much easier than the Temple Escape set. Also, there a re a few unclaimed decals left over at the end of building.

The first of two action features is the snake drop. This consists of a trap door above the ark platform that releases snakes down on our hero. The effect works fairly well, so it should provide some fun for kids. The use of color in the visible portions does make sense. The alternating red/blue cylinders give a nice Egyptian feel to the set. The gemstone at the top seems a bit out of place, but it allows for some alternate play scenarios. And the opening provides another space to (attempt) to attach the whip.

In front of the snake drop is a flat panel edged with gold. And while I really like this new pearlized gold color (not plated like the coins), it's the decal that bothers me. Most of us know that R2-D2 and C-3PO can be seen as hieroglyphics in this scene in the movie. But here they are front and center. I wouldn't have minded as much if they were smaller, and placed more discretely off to one side of the model. This placement is too obvious, though, and I have chosen to leave that decal off.



When it comes to the ark itself I'm torn. I really like the fact that's it's made entirely out of regular bricks rather than specialty pieces. And as I mentioned, I really like this new gold color. But I have a few problems with it. First, The ark isn't tall enough. The "lid" is more than half the height. I would have liked to see four more round gold plates used as feet. Second, the ark isn't entirely gold. The base is brown and yellow (a comment was made that it looks like an ice cream sandwich). Third, it is too wide. The poles are farther apart than a minifig's hands, so they can only hold one pole at a time when carrying it. No easy solution there without sacrificing design. And lastly, the ark doesn't open! (Though, that may be a good thing, seeing what the result of doing so is.)

Moving on... The next part of the set is the jackal statues. The jackals look ok. Not great, but they work within the context of this set. To make them more accurate would require a much larger model. My biggest problem with the jackals is their hands. They are a separate piece from the arms, and they are quite loose. I foresee these getting lost with time. The axes they hold don't help either. When reaching into the playset, they get in the way. The chance of them falling off is high. My second issue is with the jackal's action feature. They are on pivoting bases, so when you pull the pin, they crash through the back walls (pointy ears + stickered walls = disaster). On the release pin, they have placed a red ball cap so you can grip it. Well, the ball doesn't stay on the pin at all... Another piece that will be lost quickly.

Behind one wall is a skeleton. Hanging by a chain. Attached to his head. Sort of gives the effect that he swings out when the wall comes down. Problem is, he gets in the way of the wall. The effect isn't very strong.




Once finished, you realize how small this set actually is. Reaching in to play around the ark is a challenge. As mentioned, the jackals' spears get in the way, and the openings on the sides are pretty tight. Smaller hands probably won't have the same difficulty. This is not a set to be played with to me, but more like a diorama to be left on the shelf.

I give this playset 2 out of 5 hats. It is the weakest of all four sets. The good: Marion, snake drop. The bad: Ark design, release pins, obvious Star Wars reference. $20 is not too bad a price for this set, but now I see why the truck is $10 more. It's a much better set. This set will look ok on display, but not great for playing.

And where's Sallah?!?!


About the reviewer: Chris writes for IndyFans. Follow this link to check out it out: IndyFansFilm.com.



Photography by Brandon Kleyla



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