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Theme: Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time
Set: 7571 Fight for the Dagger
Pieces: 258
Price: $US29.99; $CAD39.99
Resources: Shop @ Home, Bricklink, Brickset
Introduction
The mid-range set in the Prince of Persia line is a bustling market filled with danger and excitement! Will Dastan be able to capture the Dagger of Time from bling-magnet Asoka and his suppository-shaped hat? Will Tamina leap off the balcony of the tower onto a camel's back, or will it kick her while she's down? Will the Alamut merchant lower his already bargain prices on red cherries and green apples? Would anyone notice if you swapped Dastan and Tamina's hairpieces? Read on and find out!
** All pics link to high-res flickr versions for detail fans **
Box, Parts & Instructions
Bold and brassy box art with some Arabic architectural inspiration in the background. The Hassansin in the small set was flying in mid-air, and now Dastan too! Platform game toy brick adaptations from film licenses - it's a crazy world!
The side of the box gives us character names.
The rear of the box shows the various set functions - camel labour, dagger-brandishing, and trapdoor-falling. I do love the dark red colour scheme they have with the box art pics in this theme.
The instruction manuals are really badly printed. I buy sets from the US and the European market, and the US instruction manuals are by far worse in terms of print quality and colour differentiation.
Random instruction pages showing most of the building. It does remind me of those early Harry Potter sets that were all based around 8 x 17 bricks with staircases and traps and suchlike.
We get 2 bags of parts and 1 separately bagged dark tan camel.
Wow! That's a lot of parts. The box art makes this set look kind of sparse but once you debag it you realise what treasure troves these Prince of Persia sets really are. There are *no* big BURPS or rock pieces or castle walls or large panels a la other themes. These are all pure bricky goodness, in useful colours, with some new and exciting parts!
Gold, glorious gold! I adore the dome pieces. They just have a coppery, brassy gleam that is difficult to resist. Oddly, Asoka's pointed hat is a different shade of gold to the other pieces.
The Dagger of Time is very detailed for such a small piece, especially with the difficult colour mix of having a splash of gold in the middle of the silver blade. A great piece.
We get twenty of the new arch pieces in Medium Nougat (screw Bricklink and its 2pid 'Medium Dark Flesh!
). Parts bonanza! I like that these new pieces are in quite common quantities so their Bricklink value won't climb too high. 
Dark tan goodness.
The parts just keep on giving! Here I've pulled out plants, fruits, fish, meat, telescopes, the pannier, saddle, new whip, flame piece, white plume, weapons... Brilliant!
The rest of the parts - lots of tan corner pieces and round 2x2 bricks, and lots of the new 1x1 white brick modified with stud on one side. A great assortment!
Tamina has a cape and the new market canopy piece is in dark red.
The dark tan camel rocks! I love its sardonic, quizzical expression. I added my own dark tan 1x2 brick here - it isn't included in the set.
Rear view of the camel. Nice hump!
Minifigs!
The Alamut merchant has a white keffiyeh exclusive to this set. Asoka has an exclusive white plume and a touch of the bling everywhere else. Asoka's torso under the armour is identical to the merchant's.
Back view of the minifigs. I like the keffiyeh a lot more than the silly looking turban we've had for years.
Grimacing Dastan and Tamina. Neither fig has back printing. I didn't realise Tamina had such a long ponytail until I saw the piece in person.
Back view, showing the curly wurly pony tail.
With the hairpieces swapped. They're actually gender interchangeable!
I really like that Tamina has a 'cranky' expression rather than the usual 'terrified maiden' reverse face.
Our full cast of characters for this set.
The build
The first part of the build is to enslave the camel. Poor camel! Boos! The boxes he carries contain jewels and cherries. It's Schrodinger's Camel - you are always uncertain which case contains the precious gems, and which container holds the stone fruit!
The merchant and his cart of wares. His merchandise is all vegetarian but here he's gnawing on a chicken leg. Maybe he's just taunting the camel.
The build starts off simply enough. The bley Technic bricks allow rods to be inserted which when removed will activate the trapdoor in the centre and collapsing balcony function.
The trapdoor in place in the centre and the detachable balcony submodel. When a Technic axle is pulled, the balcony will swing down.
The final model without all the accessories and minifigs. The early description posted on Amazon.com suggested this set could connect with the 7573 Battle of Alamut set but this doesn't seem to appear on the new S@H listing. I haven't built the big one yet so I am not sure if this still holds true.
Extra pieces.
Finished Model
The finished model! It's a great little playset, nicely detailed with a few different play features. It certainly captures that 'exotic market' feel.
Another, more top-down view of the set.
A close-up of that shiny dome.
Play-features activated! Asoka's spear and hat plume make him so bulky that it's actually kind of hard to fit him on top of the trapdoor, haha!
One thing the box doesn't show is a back view of the model with all the nice arch detailing.
A look back at the architecture - it is nicely detailed without being too fussy.
Alternate shots
Here, Princess Tamina makes the men in her life fight for her affections. 'Spilled blood will win my love!' she shouts from her balcony!
Sadly, a race between Tamina on an oppressed camel and Asoka on a cart dragged by the Alamut merchant was never going to replace motorcar racing as an extreme sport.
Conclusion
Parts: 9/10 - Amazing selection of pieces - just look at the pics!
Minifigs: 8/10 - Some repetition with the torsos, but some unique pieces too
Build: 7/10 - Fun, if unchallenging. Further MOC'd expansions to the market will expand this set greatly
Overall Rating: 8/10 - Great parts and a fun little build - a good mid-level set filled with enough exclusive pieces to make it a must-buy!
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