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Reader’s Review: LEGO’s Indiana Jones Stolen Treasure Set

Posted by: D. Martin on January 3, 2008 at 04:52 AM CST


LEGO Indiana Jones Stolen Treasure reviewed by Chris Perley.

I have been playing with LEGOs all my life, and Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite films. This toy line is a perfect combination for me. The truck chase in particular is my favorite sequence in the movie, so this is my most wanted vehicle. Not only do I prize my vintage Kenner truck, but I have been fortunate enough to sit in the driver's seat of the actual truck at Disneyland.

The pieces are divided by vehicle for the less adventurous, but it is my habit to dump all the pieces into a big pile, and dig for the pieces I need. LEGO has developed two trends lately I'm not too pleased with. First being their tendency to make very specific pieces that cannot easily be used for any other purpose. Second is their use of oddly colored brinks sprinkled throughout the sets. I hate having a great looking set, only to have it be built upon a foundation of out-of-place blue bricks. Both of those make creating other models difficult. Fortunately, neither of those seems to be an issue with this set.




After mixing all the pieces, I dove into the first vehicle, the gun car. The build time for this car is relatively short. Not too many steps overall, making it easier for younger builders to follow. The hinged fenders over the wheel wells are a particularly nice feature. LEGO did a good job capturing the essence of the source vehicle.

The machine gun just barely clears the driver's head. The gun is off to the side, so the gunner can't stand directly behind it. The addition of a 2x1 single post brick in the middle of the rail would have been a better solution. It would have centered the gun, and raised it up a bit, giving the driver more headroom. But it's a minor issue I can overlook.

The foundation of both cars is very sturdy. There is a lot of strength in a little space. Nice details here. The silver round bricks behind the wheels are great, making nice industrial-looking shocks. The cab is the largest overall piece, wide enough to allow two figures to sit side by side. Although Indy's hat forces him to lean forward a bit, he is still held in quite securely. The front engine cowling goes together well. Good use of pieces here. Matches the original very closely.




But the best part of the model for me is the truck bed. The fabric canopy is printed with a great-looking pattern. The canopy is secured by *shudder* blue pegs, but perfect side panels cover them. They really make the truck look like the real one to me. I feel they should have included one more panel for the tailgate, though. It feels a bit empty back there.

Now, for the part I like the least. This set does not contain the Ark of the Covenant, as would be expected, but rather a gold-colored treasure chest filled with coins and gems. While the chest is a nice color of gold, it is a poor substitute (of course, in the film, there is only a wooden crate back there, but you get the point). I would switch the chest with the ark from the Lost Tomb set, but that one has its own problems. I know LEGO was going for play value over screen accuracy, and this set is definitely "in the spirit of" the movie. But it still bugs me.

There are four minifigs for this set, despite there only being three pictured on the box side. The Indy figure is a wonderful representation of the character. I do wish the whip was more flexible, though. There is a place to hook it to the back of the truck, but the whip's tight coil makes this very difficult. The horse isn't quite as dynamic as an Arabian Stallion, but it works. Though all the soldiers have the same deco, they look good. I do wish the jackets were olive green rather than tan, though. The instructions show the soldiers as all having brown gloves, yet this is not the case.



Their faces, however, are a bit of a disappointment. All three are reused from other movie lines. Bruce Wayne, J. Jonah Jameson, and Viktor Krum are pursuing Indy. I wish they had created unique characters instead.

Overall, I am very happy with this set. The price is $10 higher at $30 than the Lost Tomb set, even though it has 5 fewer pieces. Still I feel it is a good value for two vehicles and four figures. There are plenty of places for Indy to hold onto around the truck, so it's quite easy to reenact the chase sequence.

I give this set 4 out of 5 fedoras, deducting only for the lack of the ark and the reused villain faces.

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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