Hinckley Posted November 19, 2010 Name: Scorpion Pyramid Theme: LEGO System/Pharaoh's Quest Year: 2011 Minifigs: 7 Price: USD $99.99 Resources: Bricklink, Brickset Packing, Instructions, DSS Exciting to see the Adventurers back and with new design and packaging. The box is pretty typical for a LEGO set. I really miss the classic builds on back. Front of the box. Back of the box. The pieces are packaged in numbered bags, which correspond with sections of the two-part instruction manual. The DSS is here, unfortunately. It'd be nice to see these pieces as decorated elements. The hieroglyphics are great, but I don't put stickers on, so don't expect to see them in this review. Sorry. New molds There are lots of new and exciting molds in this set, especially the new Anubis head and scarab shield pieces. Army builders and Fantasy Castle MOCers are going to have a field day with these. This is my favorite new mold and maybe one of my favorite molds ever. It comes in a separate plastic bag, so it's one of those special molds. It's really detailed and really well constructed. I'd like a bunch of them, not for an Anubis army, but for cool decoration on some sort of temple or ruins. This mold is going to be used in a lot of different ways in MOCs, I can sense it. It's a shield here, but I know people will have a ton of other ideas for it, too. I know I do... This piece is going to come in handy for anybody who wants their minifigs to have wings. I'm not sure this mold is one that people have been waiting for, but I think people will find a lot of creative uses for it. We'll definitely see more flying minifigs in Castle and Fantasy factions. The new sword piece. It is called a khopesh. Excellent new weapon. We'll be seeing a lot of it in Castle and other MOCs. The regular Pharaoh headress with an eagle beak. Beautiful. A new map! Fortunately, these elements are decorated and don't use stickers. These are nice designs and I know MOCers will come up with interesting uses for them. Not a new mold, but a cool one produced in a new color! I'm excited about this piece. I've seen this before at the shop, but not sure how often we've seen it in sets at this point. Sorry if it's been out for a while. It's the first time I've seen it in a set. This is a new mold. Look closely. Not sure why they made the change, but we'll see what kind of difference it makes. Minifigs The Adventurers are back, returning to Egypt and with a new cast of characters too. Johnny Thunder has been replaced with Jake Raines and Dr. Charles Lightning has been replaced with Professor Archibald Hale. Always something to do with weather phenomenon. Next time we go to Asia, will have Sun Moon Tsunami-San? There are great new villain characters too. The flying mummies and Anubis figures are excellent and have a lot of possibilities for creativity in new MOCs. The heads of our three new heroes! Front of Anubis. Back of Anubis. Front of flying mummy. back of flying mummy. Back of the mechanic character. Front of the mechanic character. Front of Professor Archibald Hale. Back of Professor Archibald Hale. Front of Jake Raines. Back of Jake Raines. New cast of characters. Here he is: Jake Raines, our new Johnny Thunder. I don't like the way he looks with the hair and the side burns. Looks to me like a bad Elvis impersonator. Johnny Thunder's look was dated. The curly mustache was ridiculous. But perhaps LEGO is trying too hard to make a dashing and rugged hero here. The hair looks odd with the minifig head. Doesn't look like a lead hero to me. Maybe if I added an Indiana Jones fedora... Professor Archibald Hale carries a purse. I love that he has a degree from Cambrick University. He's younger and less goofy the his counterpart Dr. Charles Lightning. However, I miss the goofy eyes and Santa Beard. Mechanic torso is pretty great. How many people are more ready to use that as a blood stain instead of an oil stain? I love the print on the back of the flying mummy's head. You can have a mummy with one eye unbandaged or one with an eye in the back of it's head. Kind of gross and creepy. I'm not sure I understand the concept of flying mummies but here they are and they've brought two cool new molds with them: the eagle headress and the minifig wings that attach like a backback does. The whole Anubis fig in all his glory. I love this fig! I need an army of these guys and I need it now! This mummy appears in the sarcophagus. There's a backstory on the LEGO website about the forgotten pharaoh, Amset-Ra. I believe this is him. I really love this death mask piece. I can imagine a lot of uses for it and think it is yet another new piece from this set that we will see it appear in a lot of MOCs. The build This set was designed with playability in mind. There are a lot of cool features, moving parts, trap doors, etc. The theme is highly conceptualized with moving statues and enchanted creatures made from stone. This set is well-built with sturdy SNOT techniques and doesn't drop form in favor of function, as I feel some sets have in the past. The traps fit in well with the building and don't detract from it's structure or design. The car Typical for an Adventurer's car. You can almost build it with your eyes closed. Have we seen right side steering before? Pretty typical build. I feel I could skip these pages in the instructions as all the Adventurer's cars have the same basic structure to them. I love this feature of the instructions and wish they'd had it when I was a kid. It's very convenient to make sure you're not missing anything. It took me a while to start using it since I did without it for so long, but now I check it before each step to make sure I do everything that step of the instructions requires. I really like the colors used here: dark red and dark tan. We haven't seen some of these molds in these colors and it's nice to have them as I like to use these colors more and more in my own building. Right side steering?? The completed car. The instructions show Jake Raines driving while aiming his gun. He's a multi-tasker. The rock scorpion Reminiscent of an Aqua Raiders sea creature, this rock scorpion is well constructed with curved slopes and hinge bricks. A good amount of articulation is possible with this design. Although strange, the creature is cool and fits in well with the theme's concept of each sacred site being guarded by an enchanted statue. I was, at first, surprised to see the weak connection of the hinge plates hanging on the ends of the 1x1 round plates. However, plates come in over top of that and it is a pretty sturdy build. The space allows for the hinges to be turned so the scorpion's legs can be at two different angles. This is a cool creature effect with a relatively simple technique. The scorpion's claw is pretty simple, but uses some cool new decorated pieces, not to mention one of my favorite pieces, the 1 x 1 modified plate with tooth. The completed scorpion in attack mode. He's coming to get you! Continued in next post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hinckley Posted November 19, 2010 The pyramid I really like the design of this pyramid. The way I build nowadays, the designs don't matter to me as long as the set is a good parts pack. However, this set achieves a cool design and a good parts pack. So this set is good for collectors and MOCers who like tan and dark tan basic bricks, tiles and plates. See? The instructions call for stickers, but I do not use them. There are quite a few stickers meant for the baseplate. There is a hidden chamber under the stairs. It appears we are preparing a feature of some sort! The sarcophagus of Amset-Ra. It's excellent to see the return of this mold. The sarcophagus is loaded into this chamber behind the trigger shown above. Next, the mechanic character "sets" the dynamite... ...and the chamber explodes revealing the sarcophagus of the forgotten Pharaoh. I think this is how archaeologists actually work. As far as I understand, they just blow things up. Gears for opening the front "gate" of the pyramid. OK, so I actually used the decals here. They're kind of cool, but I also wanted to show the full effect of the feature. There's a nice shape to the pyramid. I do wish there were 2 x 2 corner slopes on each level, maybe because I love the piece, but it's a great shape to fit in that space. Once it's all constructed the technique isn't as annoying as I first found it. I suppose it would've been huge if it had been built as a perfect pyramid. At least it wasn't built like an A-frame house. Look, structure! It's nice to see them re-enforcing the design and making it sturdy. If LEGO decided to skimp on these parts, the design wouldn't be quite as sturdy as it is. It's excellent to see this mold back in production. This one is pearl gold. A trap door feature! Whoever's standing underneath that when it is set isn't going to be happy! Unless it's me. I love 1 x 2 dark tan bricks. The sides of the pyramid are completed with a cool SNOT technique and provide us parts monkeys with a good amount of tan plates and dark tan tiles! Add an (supposed to be sticker-covered) obelisk and the whole pyramid is complete! I do like the shape of it, despite the fact that it's not a perfect pyramid. The designers stuck to an excellent pyramid design which invokes Ancient Egypt and the previous Adventure sets, without compromising the cool action features and traps. Some side and angled shots... So, there you have it. LEGO Adventurers have returned and brought us back to Egypt. The most exciting aspects, for me, are the new molds and the abundance of tan and dark tan pieces. The new character heads and torsos, and the new Anubis, scarab and headdress molds are going to be fantastic additions the palette of the MOCer who likes Fantasy, Castle and Adventure themes. Collectors will be happy with the classic feel and sturdy build, as will kids with the action features and characters. The amount of new molds and abundance of parts in great colors make this an excellent set for parts monkeys too! Summary review Playability: 10/10 (Sturdy traps and action features. Kids will like the articulation of the rock scorpion.) Design: 10/10 (Excellent for design and as a parts pack.) Price: 8/10 (It seems slightly high to me. You get a lot for the price, but it seems to be less than the average used to be. Perhaps we're moving up a tier in inflation, or LEGO is protecting itself from potential losses from the ongoing recession...or perhaps I'm justy getting stingy with my money. ) Overall: 9.3/10 (Highly recommended, amazing set for new molds, great design and parts pack!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prateek Posted November 19, 2010 (edited) Awesome! I love this set, if not a bit expensive. I'll get at least one Pharaoh's Quest set. I want the Scarab set or the Motorcycle set. If I get any, I'll review for sure! Edited November 19, 2010 by prateek Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bfahome Posted November 19, 2010 Those new pieces are gorgeous. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Condor Posted November 19, 2010 (edited) Great review and awesome pictures! I can't believe how expensive this is being a non-licensed set. The Temple of the Crystal Skull (which this set reminded me of because of the baseplate) was licensed, had 929 pieces and cost $80. To me it seems like the IJ set had more playability too. Edited November 19, 2010 by Condor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baylego Posted November 19, 2010 Awesome review Hinckely! Every time I see the Anubis figure, I like it even more. It is pretty sad that it is $100, but it might be worth it for this wonderful set. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Commander Laquiet Posted November 19, 2010 Thanks for this fantastic review! This set looks great, although a bit bland at some points. I have to say that while the pyramid design is great, being built on a huge baseplate means that without the stickers it becomes kind of boring without something to spice it up. I can see this set being a great one to do a MOCer's overhaul on, adding detail and fun. Overall though, great set and thanks for this (very early?) review! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CorneliusMurdock Posted November 19, 2010 I think Lego wants me to be completely broke. Now I'm gonna have to sell more things on Ebay. Excellent review! If my wallet wasn't so very empty right now... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearHeart Posted November 19, 2010 (edited) Thanks for the review. I'm debating whether to pick this set up tomorrow or not since its at my local store. Can you maybe show us a side-view shot of the set, I want to see how the side walls of the pyramid look like (whether they get narrower near the top or not). EDIT: A question about the sides. Is the plate structure sturdy or is it delicate and come apart easily? Edited November 19, 2010 by BearHeart Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan the Brickman Posted November 19, 2010 I want an army of flying mummies!!! (I have no idea what I would do with one, but, I know I want it) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Corvus Posted November 19, 2010 Wow. I really wasn't expecting to see a set review this early. Is this because of your job? Anyway, wow. While I'm not terribly fond of the adventurers, I'm sure people will snap them up to use in world war/historic/apoc MOCs. The real jewel of this set are all the new molds and prints. Anubis is by far my favorite. That headpiece is simply . That pyramid sure looks like a gold mine (or tomb?) of great parts, too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearHeart Posted November 19, 2010 Wow. I really wasn't expecting to see a set review this early. Is this because of your job? Anyway, wow. While I'm not terribly fond of the adventurers, I'm sure people will snap them up to use in world war/historic/apoc MOCs. The real jewel of this set are all the new molds and prints. Anubis is by far my favorite. That headpiece is simply . That pyramid sure looks like a gold mine (or tomb?) of great parts, too. The sets are already available at some stores. Even here in Canada. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XimenaPaulina Posted November 19, 2010 Excellent review! Thanks for sharing Hinckley! Those Anubis headgears are simply... I just love the various unique elements of this set, the set is great as it is but the parts really have lots of interesting potential uses in various MOCs. The boxart design is gorgeous, well except for the creepy pharaoh skull logo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted November 19, 2010 Thanks for the review 'Hinckley'.....dam it I'm really going to be poor next year, as this is just TOO COOL and is totally AWESOME - a must buy theme or at least this set for 2011. Yay, for printed parts, but still a DSS, aw well can't win them all, the characters look very well detailed as to the playablity of this set again so COOL - I wonder if they'll make a cartoon short to air on CN....be an idea for Lego to do that....it worked for Atlantis. Keep on searching for mummies ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dragonator Posted November 19, 2010 What a stunning review Hinckley, the photographs really detail the entire set and show everything it has to offer, which is a lot! It will be several months before these are available in NZ, but I know what I'm going to be spending lots on next year. That Anubis figure is just amazing! That head has to be one of my favourite minifig moulds out there, I'd love a pile as well. The detailed printed parts in this are fantastic to see, and even the stickers don't look too bad really. As someone who missed the majority of the original desert sets and has pined after them ever since, this is like a dream come true. Unlike a lot of recent sets, I actually like this for more than just the minifigs, the design of the set looks great and has a lot of really useful parts. I'm going to need a few of these. I'll be very interested to see what the retail price is in NZ for this, it has been cheaper to import quite a few of the sets recently, unfortunately. Thanks again Hinck, you really are a star! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bort138 Posted November 19, 2010 Great review! It's great to see TLG release a pyramid since we never got one in the original adventurers line. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tiggerkiddo Posted November 19, 2010 The Professor's face really reminds me of Professor Calculus from Tintin. Dunno why, haha! Great review. It's nice for us to finally get an actual pyramid set. Love some of the touches they did with it, don't care much for the flying mummy...flying mummy, really? Great job on the review, love how well the pictures came out! Ugh on being 100. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iamded Posted November 19, 2010 Brilliant review, Hinckley! Man oh man, Adventurers have returned with a bang. These new Egpyt (sorry, Pharaoh's Quest) sets look great, especially this one. As you've said multiple times, this set is a great parts pack, as well as a great model to show off. I think my favourite part would have to be the minifigures. That Anubis is so awesome! And strangely enough, the first thing I thought when I saw the mechanic's torso was how perfect it would be for Inglourious Basterd's 'Bear Jew', Donny Donowitz. But yes, this Pyramid set is arguably the figure-head of the Pharaoh's Quest series, and rightly so with the Pharaoh minifig, and the awesome Pyramid. So, thanks again for the great review, Hinckley! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sam Vimes Posted November 19, 2010 How did you get this set so fast. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hinckley Posted November 19, 2010 How did you get this set so fast. It's available in LEGOLAND's retail shop in Carlsbad, CA. Thanks for the review. I'm debating whether to pick this set up tomorrow or not since its at my local store. Can you maybe show us a side-view shot of the set, I want to see how the side walls of the pyramid look like (whether they get narrower near the top or not). EDIT: A question about the sides. Is the plate structure sturdy or is it delicate and come apart easily? Good suggestion. I'll add this as soon as I get a chance. Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ceroknight Posted November 19, 2010 wow thank you so much! Really clear pictures Have you seen any starwars sets and are there reviews for any other 2011 sets? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonwil Posted November 19, 2010 I think the 2 x 2 corner panel piece is a new piece, I have not seen it before in any sets (and its not listed in the Bricklink database). Its a cool part though and I would like a couple in black, yellow, white and other base colors :) The new map is cool (but now I need to add yet another part to my list of "maps I need to obtain in order to have every map ever made" list :( ) The changed arch mould is in some of the new HP sets too btw. Mechanic minifig is great as is the professor. And its not a purse he is carrying, its a shoulder bag, same as Indiana Jones in the IJ sets. Damnit, the more info on Pharaho's Quest, the more I want it. Plus I want the new Atlantis And I want a Diagon Alley And I want new City And I want a new mobile phone I need more money :( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gryphon Ink Posted November 19, 2010 Great review! This looks like a really nice set. The price is a little steep for me, but I'm loving the look of the PQ theme so far, and this set looks like it has great possibilities. The scorpion looks awesome. Why couldn't they have made something like that for Aragog in the Hagrid's Hut set? Can you tell us how sturdy/poseable the scorpion is? Your pics show it with the claws resting on the ground - can they stay lifted? They look pretty heavy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hinckley Posted November 19, 2010 And its not a purse he is carrying, its a shoulder bag, same as Indiana Jones in the IJ sets. Thanks. That what we call a "joke," though. I'm well aware it's not a purse. Can you tell us how sturdy/poseable the scorpion is? Your pics show it with the claws resting on the ground - can they stay lifted? They look pretty heavy. Pretty sturdy. I did say it had a good amount of articulation and the build is sturdier than I expected. The plates sandwich the hinges together pretty well. The claws don't lift up, they are on horizontal hinges, so they can be posed horizontally and can turn, but don't lift up. They are strongly built though, yes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteFang Posted November 19, 2010 Thanks Hinckley for doing such an incredible detailed review within such a short amount of time. I hope you have recovered from your jet lag. This set is just so amazing. I am really very excited about this set and it certainly offers many new exciting parts and mould where I could play around with it. There will be so much fun in this set. I love those new weapons, prints, minifigures especially Anubis. Can't wait to get my hands onto this new theme. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites