Review: 7627 Indiana Jones - Temple of the Crystal Skull

[trooperdavinfelth]

Well, The people there are quite trustfull. But I looked now on Shop@home and 7624 (I posted the wrong number, sorry) is only available in Canada and the United states, so I hope it's not an exclusive.

Don't worry; I was just being negatively optimistic.

Also, the top 'flappy ears' thing which connects to the falling swords works quite well; you just have to do it fast enough and have enough room around it so the 'ear housing' doesen't jam.

[KDog]

I really want to read this review but I'm afraid of spoiling the movie for myself. I feel like I know too much about it already.

[Asuka]

Thank you for that fine review, svelte_corps!

Of course I adore ancient and mysterious temples and I always thought that this set looks pretty promising, especially with all these

fine colors and the at least somehow fair amount of plant parts. These spacey skellies and interesting natives look very good to me too.

Well, that vehicle might be a little uninspired, and the overall temple design, although pretty cool and playable IMHO, might look a bit

miscellaneous, but I´m pretty sure that it ain´t easy to incorporate all the important scenes of a presumably much bigger movie model

into an adequate and comprehensive LEGO set....

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that the temple's entrance might actually be the turret thing. If you watch the teaser, there are some very similair stone pillars surrounded by sand (there are 4 not 2 though ) and when they close up it looks like all our characters are sucked into the sand and magically appear underground going through some stone plates(which act like steps to go down) that dissapear.

Thank you for that interesting little insight and that picture, Belloq.... I´m really looking forward to compare the movie with the LEGO sets

one day as well.... I already guess they did a nice job, and some serious MODing´ll for sure fix the rest.

Amazing adventures on!

[KF-99]

Top Notch review, definately getting it. Those conquistador-skeletons look great!

[Oswald the Rabbit]

I just got this set today at my local Walmart. I made them go search the warehouse for it. I am almost through with the build and I am really enjoying it. The only thing I don't like is the central tower "stone laser" object it just seems so odd to me.

I also picked up the jungle duel and the river chase.

I just don't know what i will do with all my legos there is so much of them its hard to display.

[Svelte]

Thanks for all your feedback guys.

Belloq, thanks for that info - I haven't seen the new trailer, only the teaser. That would be an interesting way to enter the temple if it's underground. I guess then the objective is to make their way down. I don't understand where all those plants are getting their sunlight though

Asuka, I kind of agree with your view on the vehicle. Yes, it's a little odd but in the end I'm glad they allocated more resources to the building of the temple, rather than a larger vehicle with less detailed building.

trooperdavinfelth I know the casing is a little tight and I'm planning to rebuild it, but I still think it's kind of annoying. I'm a relatively experienced builder and it still didn't really make sense to me, god knows what small kids are going to make of it! The inclusion of the rubber parts to stop the 'ears' bouncing too hard is a thoughtful touch though!

Athos, I agree the design isn't perfect but I think the basic layout is OK and it definitely can be modded. Not every set can be an instant classic even in these enlightened Lego times!

hollisbrick I got these from Target on Tuesday, David Jones had the 2 middle sets yesterday. By this weekend I expect pretty much everyone will have them.

Nikola, maiq_the_liar & alexandertam And yes, my cat is cute. She usually likes to sit on the bricks when I'm building though. I think she gets jealous not enough attention is being paid to her

Edited May 1, 2008 by svelte_corps

[Belloq]

Thanks for all your feedback guys.

Belloq, thanks for that info - I haven't seen the new trailer, only the teaser. That would be an interesting way to enter the temple if it's underground. I guess then the objective is to make their way down. I don't understand where all those plants are getting their sunlight though

I though everyone knew overly bright green evil foliage required no sunlight to grow

Oh, and by the way the jugnle panther, tis the stuff poems are written towards.

[Bonaparte]

Great job on this review. It has bright (and a lot of) pictures showing all parts of this awesome set.

This is a set I'm considering buying. It reminds me of the adventures sets.

And I'm so happy to see those "native" figs cause they are also useful for Pirates (reminds me of the Islanders).

[MagPiesRUs]

Thanks for the full review, svelte

I'm rather disappointed by the lack of detail at the back and the silly-looking front, but other than that it's a pretty nice set. I really love the carved face entrance, and the waterfall is great too. The playability is truly fantastic, I especially love the shifting stairs and the Skeleton merry-go-round I really do like the collapsing stairs and skull-dropper too.

I think you may have convinced me to buy this set... although I'll have to try and buy it off eBay or bricklink to get it for a half-decent price

Although, it looks like you placed the sticker on the left tower upside down...

Thanks again, and congratulations on your new title

[Doctor Sinister]

Great review, thanks - I now want this set when I didn't before, mainly for the parts though.

Oh, and your cat is gorgeous, so beautiful, makes me sad slightly as both my cats are gone, I love that your cat is in a few of the pictures, really getting involved in the build!

Dr. S.

[legobear]

"(e) Central turret thing

This thing is kind of annoying and doesn't really sit or work well. It's kind of like a laser beam sending messages to space, I guess."

Actually it may be legitimate in a sense. My major is in Chinese so this may be out of my field. However, during my days in middle school, I did remember reading about some rumor alleging Quetzalcoatl (Aztec Creator God) to be an alien from space who came one night to blow up the giant Aztec pyramid (forgot the name). When the Spanish conquistadors (led by Hernan Cortez) was there one night, the structure did indeed combust and explode, although it contradicts the technology of explosives they had during that time I guess. You guys can check it up, if you read into the history of the Aztec empire and Cortez's expedition, pretty out of this world story but its in the books. How legitimate is the alien explanation? Who knows. But, it ties in with this set in a sense. I hope that helps

One more interesting fact, they found an old mechanical clock (made from stone and iron I think) that absolutely contradicts the technology of that time (its in a museum, and was on the discovery channel), which also led to discussions about aliens and what not. I guess the advanced nature of that civilization (or simply our pompous view of the world) relates to why these outer space themes always relate back to that time in history.

Edited May 3, 2008 by legobear

[VBBN]

Great review! I still have no desire to get this, just because it's not my style.

Alex

[Axle]

Nice review, but could you post a picture of the bottomless pit, if it's not too much trouble.... Thanks.

[Svelte]

Although, it looks like you placed the sticker on the left tower upside down...

That's what I thought too when I was posting these pics... but then I went back and rebuilt this section to see if this feature would work better (it does) and the stickers are positioned like that in the instructions as well. So either it's a mistake there or it really is supposed to look wrongly reversed

Axle, I will try and post a pic of the pit tomorrow, although you can see the sticker on the pic of the sticker sheet. (The legacy of xwingyoda, we'll always have the DSS!). I definitely misaligned that one though, thankfully it's hidden! The clear-printed stickers are much harder to 'adjust' than ones printed on the white paper, and the pit one is in an awkward spot.

Thanks for the info legobear - very interesting theory!

Dr Sinister, sorry to hear about your cats . Mine does like to get involved in the build - usually she likes to lie in front of me on the pieces as I'm building. I think they massage her tummy, or something! Cat-shiatsu! She also likes to chew those long thin aerials common in City sets

Edited May 4, 2008 by svelte_corps

[zouave]

Thanks for the review. The set looks okay... It could be better.

[captaintau]

Ah, it all makes sense now.

Sort of.

The set isn't arranged in the order that the scenes are seen.

I wish we'd had some other minifigs with this, like Marion, Mac or Ox.

[Svelte]

Ah, it all makes sense now.

Sort of.

The set isn't arranged in the order that the scenes are seen.

I wish we'd had some other minifigs with this, like Marion, Mac or Ox.

The order of the set is a bit weird.

I'm seeing this tomorrow - so hopefully it will become clear then

[Derek]

I just saw the movie. Where are Marion, Mac, and Oxley in this set? The latter two were important characters and we dont have them in Lego at all!

[M'Kyuun]

Here are my thoughts on the Temple set, having seen the movie yesterday:

First, i think playability was the definitely the emphasis over accuracy. I don't remember the tracked vehicle at all, but i'm not complaining. One needs to use his imagination a bit to see the sequence of flow in the layout, but given the amount of space and shape of the baseplate, i think they did ok. Many of the traps, including the breakaway stairs, are TLC's contributions.

The 2 vertical slabs that raise and spread are actually meant to be flat and rise to vertical. Also, there were 4 of those slabs in the movies, as can be seen in the trailers. While TLC's version looks like the slabs house a transmitter or some such device, there's nothing like that in the movie. There is only reference to an obelisk, which is what i understood the 4 slabs rose to form, but nothing technological nor mystical is implied. The circle of skellies makes little sense until you see the movie, and would have been so much cooler if TLC had made the entire skeletons from clear plastic, to match the crystal skeletons in the movie. Too, the natives hide in the walls, similar to the EP2 Geonosians, so it would have been cool to have a hidey hole for at least one of them to pop out. While there were several waterfalls in the movie, there was no waterfall in the temple itself, but i think TLC put it in there either as an interesting detail, or as a nod to the end when the alien craft lifts off and the hole where the temple had been fills with water, eliminating all traces. The door with the sticker depicting a skelly with red brick around it would have been closer to the movie had the designers made 2 sliding doors, AKA the Hoth Base hangar doors.

This is all i can think at the moment, although I'm interested to see what others picked up from the movie in comparison to the various sets.

M'Kyuun

Edited May 25, 2008 by M'Kyuun

[Athos]

OK. I just put this together. Here are my intial thoughts:

1. It looks nothing like the temple in the movie. Did the designers watch the movie? I'm guessing no.

2. Why only two of those funny pillar things? Weren't there three in the movie?

3. The natives are too orange. I'm not sure what I'll use them for. Still its nice to have them.

4. Why aren't the skeletons clear? I'd rather have had only one and it be clear than three and white.

5. No Oxley or Mac? Dump the commie and give us one of them.

Steve

[Belloq]

OK. I just put this together. Here are my intial thoughts:

1. It looks nothing like the temple in the movie. Did the designers watch the movie? I'm guessing no.

2. Why only two of those funny pillar things? Weren't there three in the movie?

3. The natives are too orange. I'm not sure what I'll use them for. Still its nice to have them.

4. Why aren't the skeletons clear? I'd rather have had only one and it be clear than three and white.

5. No Oxley or Mac? Dump the commie and give us one of them.

Steve

1. TLG was given scraps. Just a few pictures and probably a short video, so, yeah, they did a hell of a good job with the ittle source material they had.

2. Actually there were four pieces in the obelisk, but then, how would you get them to open up? By forcing them open?

Do you want lego to give us a long stick to poke the little thing in the middle so the obelisk closes? Or would you prefer some breakable stone heads with real-sand pouring out? This is a PLAYSET, not scale replica!

3. The natives in the movie were gray and a tanner skin color, they weren't black, brown or yellow, but they weren't exactly flesh colored either, so...they were made orange.

4. Are you even aware of the cost of making a transparent piece? These pieces are only used when its extremely necessary and when they are used, they are included in low quantities. Plus, making transparent skeletons would have kicked the price up abot 5$ or so. If they had made thm transparent, people would probably complain about them being "just transparent and not Transparent blue, like in the movie". And besides, people wwould have been unhappy with just 1 crystal skeleton.

5. Relax about Mac or Oxley, this is just WAVE 1 of the indiana Jones Line, though I agree, they should've gotten rid of the Soldier and given us Mac.

They did a pretty good job considering what they were given, but thats just my 2 cents

[Svelte]

Just to add to the confusion, the box for the set clearly shows a night sky with full moon... whereas in the movie the temple is subterranean and all the events take place during the day

All in all, the Lego designers didn't too bad a job considering the temple was kind of a mess in the movie - a linear progression of entrance, stairwell, treasure chamber, door, skully room. Even the spinning skeleton chamber is a reasonable approximation of what was seen on screen. I like the traps featured but again their relation to the movie is non-existent.

The column thing is still kind of odd - sure it moves up and down but it doesn't really function as a minifig transport device at all.

And it is disappointing that the skeletons aren't trans clear - I would have thought if there were three identical ones in each set economies of scale would make it easier to justify their production. It's not like they wiped out the budget with the other figs either - four repeats and one new tribesperson!

[Pencoin]

1. TLG was given scraps. Just a few pictures and probably a short video, so, yeah, they did a hell of a good job with the ittle source material they had.

5. Relax about Mac or Oxley, this is just WAVE 1 of the indiana Jones Line, though I agree, they should've gotten rid of the Soldier and given us Mac.

They did a pretty good job considering what they were given, but thats just my 2 cents

hmm yes but they did a good job on star wras and im guessing they let them see revenge of the sith to do those sets

and we can only hope its the first wave

[Doris]

Is the small room with the crystal gem supposed to be the "Artifact Room"?

[Dovchenko]

Is the small room with the crystal gem supposed to be the "Artifact Room"?

Please, don't resurrect. But you're new here, aren't you? Welcome... getting to business, that's a great idea. Lego supplied no place to put your lovely treasures, only a single gem room. I am planning on making that the treasure room, maybe borrowing some jewels/idols from other sets.