ZO6 Posted August 18, 2011 I was all geared to up purchase Fire Temple from the NinjaGo theme, when all of a sudden the Dragon Fortress appeared on Bricklink for this same price that it was brand new 8 years ago (which also happens to be 5 bucks cheaper than the NinjaGo set). How could I, a massive fan of the Adventurers line possibly pass up a deal like that!? Read on as I dive into a MISB copy of the Orient Expedition flagship! Info Set# - 7419 Name - Dragon Fortress Theme/Subtheme - Adventurers/Orient Expedition Year - 2003 Piece Count - 732 Minifigures - 9 Price - MSRP USD 90, GBP 70 Links Brickset, Bricklink, Peeron, Brickshelf Box Alright, it's hard to tell in this picture (and I'm sorry for that), but this box is huge! Anyways, Lego boxes during this era were a tad boring, what with the blue stripe running around a couple of edges. This forces the picture of the actual model to be smaller than it could be. In this case, the picture of the set itself is quite fun - there's lots going on and the angle of the shot shows off the fortress quite well. Around at the back are a couple of alternate models as well as a little frame showing that the set contains a board game. The alternate builds here are pretty good, particularly the one on the left. Along the top of the box is a picture of all of the minifigures lined up. This is before it became standard practice to have the minifigures displayed on the boxes, so it's a nice treat. Contents The box is one of those ones where you lift up the front to get inside. Luckily you don't need to tear any tabs to lift up the front of the box though. You're greeted by 4 of the largest bags of parts you'll ever see. The bags are numbered, though again this was a very rare thing back in this day. Removing the bags reveals the raised baseplate, some large plates, and the instructions and board game which are underneath everything. You'll have to wait a bit to find out what's in the white box (well, maybe not too long ). Here is what's left. The mysterious white box contains all the minifigures, accessories, and pieces to build the truck (as seen in the next picture). The three largest sets in the Orient Expedition line all contained pieces to build a gameboard, as well as the supporting cards for it (while many of the other sets just contained the cards). At the top right are two plastic flags - I was hoping these would be cloth, but the plastic will probably hold up better overtime. Then of course there is the instruction manual, mini-catalog, and a flyer for a free Lego catalog. Instructions The picture on the front of the manual is essentially the same as that on the box. Johnny Thunder seems to have a pretty large hole in his map, but luckily he seems to have already found the Dragon Fortress and thus the map probably will no longer be needed. The back of the manual has a little map of Johnny's journey so far. The Dragon Fortress is the last stop. The weird animated JT figure is kind of creepy. Here's a page from the manual. Generally quite a lot of pieces are added per step, and call-outs for them are not present most of the time. It's not always obvious what kind of piece is added, so sometimes you have to think about what makes sense in order to proceed. A neat feature is that whenever a play function is added, there is also a little picture to demonstrate it. Colour differentiation is about halfway between the current kind of 'hard to distinguish' and the old 'no problem' instructions - so overall it's ok. Parts As mentioned above, the little white box contains all nine minifigures, the dragon, the accessories, and the pieces required to build the truck. Something about having these parts in a separate box seems pretty classy! I'm sure it would have helped reduce the wear on all the parts, especially the prints. Here are the contents of bag #1. The large parts on the left were loose in the bag, while the stuff on the right was in two more bags. Already we can see that there are a lot of really useful parts in the set. The contents of bag #2. Again, the large parts are loose in the bag, and there are also two more bags of pieces inside. The contents of those two bags can be seen on the right. Between bags #1 and 2, the central structure can be built. The contents of bags #3 (top pics), and #4 (bottom pics). These all get applied to the large raised baseplate and complete the build. Also floating around in the box are these five plates. You'll see in a bit that this set is built up largely by modules and them combined together. Finally, here is the raised baseplate. Though this style of baseplate has been used in a number of other sets, this printed pattern is exclusive to this set. I set these aside as not only are they pieces of interest, but also to give you a sense of the wide variety of shapes and sizes, as well as the colours present in this set. In terms of doors alone, you get a whopping 4 large ones, and 2 of the smaller ones! There is a large abundance of arches in various sizes and colours - always handy to have. Same deal with the sloped parts - lots of 'em! Building walls is also a cinch as you get 14 tan and 18 red pillars. There are a respectable amount of log bricks (8 of the 1x2s, 10 of the 1x4s), and even two types of fence pieces. 3 of the 4 sets that I'm reviewing for this anniversary special also contain latters - I'm sure the minifigures really appreciate these! One thing that I really like about this set is that one of its play functions is quite elaborate and even requires gears to function. I've rounded up all of the accessories together for your viewing pleasure. Lots of weapons, tools, jewels, some printed parts, and even some gold chrome stuff. Minifigures Here are all of the good guys. From left to right we have: Jing Lee (aka The Wanderer), Johnny Thunder, Dr. Charles Lightning, Pippin Reed. Save for appearing in a polybag, Jing Lee is exclusive to this set - and she's a beauty. Johnny and his uncle are essentially the same as when they first appeared in the Desert subtheme (Johnny has a slightly different face, but unless you're looking close you won't notice). Pippin has a new face design for the Orient Expedition line, and frankly now she looks like a little girl instead of a beautiful woman. The bad guys + 1 neutral. From left to right: The Guardian (exclusive), Emperor Chang Wu (exclusive), guards x2, Sam Sinister. I absolutely love Chang Wu's cape, and the guard's hats. Holy heart failure, Batman! What an amazing looking dragon! This is the treasure that Johnny and his gang are after, and i don't blame him. The Build The first thing that you build is the truck. The construction of this starts off with pretty standard affair as far as Adventurers vehicles goes. As per usual, you've got the moulded cockpit piece, a front grill, but this time you get two crates at the back! Next you add some make-shift suspension. It's this feature that sets this truck apart from other vehicles in the theme. It's simple but fun. Here's the completed model. It's kind of reminiscent of the vehicle from the recent Pharaoh's Quest Scorpion Pyramid. Though the PQ truck has got better aesthetics, I find this one more fun to mess around with thanks to the suspension. It's got oodles of storage space at the back, the map can be tucked into a slot in the cockpit, and the chain at the front can be used in part of a play feature as demonstrated later. Now construction can start on the fortress. The first several steps have you building up the walls and adding doors. The little fenced in area with the jewels acts as a hiding spot for them and will be covered up by the throne in the next step. The throne is pretty simplistic, but it's also appropriate enough. The technic beam will be used in conjunction with a trap door as seen in the next picture. The red inverted slopes and grill bricks are nice details that will be hidden by the roof and only seen again when viewed from a low angle. Two traps have been added - the trapdoor and the rock chutes. I had always been under the impression that the trap door was simply something that a minifigure would stand on and fall through, but it turns out that you actually place two round 2x2 bricks on it and drop them on unsuspecting figues below. Luckily the walls have been built up high enough so that the trap door can actually drop the bricks on a figure below instead of just swinging down slightly and smacking them in the head (Scorpion Pyramid, I'm looking at you again). Some roofing has also been added to 3 of the 4 sides of the fortress. Yay, a ladder! All too often minifigures have to defy physics in order to reach higher levels of structures, but not in this fortress! The other parts added her are the last before the roof goes on. Here's the first look at the front of the fortress. The addition of the dragon heads from the old Dragon Knights theme on the roof and at the front are a nice touch. The flags and poles plug into a pair of headlight bricks, and the lanterns attach to the bottom corners of the roof. Looks nice! I really like the crossbows on either side of the structure as opposed to some clunky catapults. The plates and flags on the doors look great. Unlike the roof for the second floor, the top floor gets coverage for all 4 sides. At this point the sand green cone in front of the trap door should have the gold helmet on it, but apparently I forgot to add it until the end. I know I said that this set is mostly modular. It also makes use of the baseplate that was miss-used in a number of castle sets from the past decade. You're probably worried at this point that things are now going to go downhill. Fear not! Luckily a good 3/5th or so of the total pieces have already gone into building the central structure. The pieces that get added to the baseplate, as well the little corner modules that will be built are well utilized and make for a large unified structure in the end. Three sets of stairs are added - the main ones at the front, and two small ones on either side. In this case, the main stairs have no dastardly function. The construction of the two torches of either side of the steps is pretty neat. A couple other parts are added later on, but we've essentially finished placing pieces directly onto the baseplate. The central structure will later fit directly over the part with the black arches with brown bits on top. Here's the first of the two front modules. For the most part I'm not a huge fan of catapults, but I don't actually mind this one - it looks decent and actually functions pretty well. The second module is basically the same as the first, but this one is outfitted with a barrel to hold fireworks (don't worry, they won't be flick-fire fireworks or anything ). The two modules are put in place. These are effective at covering up the pits in the baseplate without being too large and distracting. The little bit of vegetation helps to add some contrast in colour. Next up, two little gatehouses are built. Here's the construction of one of them - the second is the same but mirrored. Not only does this look pretty neat, but it also serves a vital role in an elaborate play function. The second gatehouse is built, and they are both attached at the rear of the baseplate. Some steps beside each gatehouse are also added - these provide access to the central structure. Almost done! It's time for the removable wall which hosts the guardian and two keys. Front and back view provided. Here's the inside of the wall. The idea of the Orient Expedition theme is that Johnny Thunder and his friends are supposed to collect three golden items - a sword, shield, and helmet. They are to present/equip these items on the guardian, and he will then allow them to have the two keys at his side and...whoops, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll go into more detail about all of this in a bit along with a video to demonstrate the play function. The wall fits into the rear of the fortress as seems at the right. This leaves a large area in the center of the baseplate for the placement of the dragon. The central structure can now be attached, thus leaving us with the completed model. Thanks to the extra stuff that was added to the baseplate, the central structure sits up pretty high giving the set some decent height. The removable wall section integrates pretty well and fills in that lower gap nicely. I love those big flags with the dragons on them. I really like the flow of this set - basically every section of the Fortress has access to it. You've got the big staircase leading up to the front door, then on either side you've got some steps down to either the firecrackers or catapult. From the main chamber, there are steps to both of the gatehouses. I guess then Johnny and co. would have to go back out through the front and down the main steps, then go around the fortress to get to the rear doors. Then with the rear doors, you open them up to reveal the guardian. Once you've dealt with him and the gatehouses, you can then slide out the wall to reveal the dragon under the main structure. Removing the seat from the throne reveals jewels underneath. That's be awesome to be so rich that you're literally sitting on top of money... Other play functions in video form: Complete Set Once again, here's everything all together. I think this is one of the greatest looking System sets ever made. Final Thoughts Design/Build: This set is breathtakingly beautiful. Pictures cannot do it justice. It's much larger than it looks, and it just seems like next to nothing was compromised when it came to designing this set. The build is hugely satisfying. Though it's modular, it always feel like whatever you're building is substantial and special. TLC can make really great Asian structures when they want, and it's a shame they wouldn't give us more. As mentioned, I feel as though this set is one of those pinnacles in Lego history. It was expensive when it first came out and it's only getting substantially more pricy - the monetary penalty to acquire this set though is worth it. Pieces: This set contains a huge assortment of pieces in a wide range of colours! Every huge bag of parts contained something awesome. This set is sure to please everyone, and if it doesn't then you have no soul. The dragon and flags in particular are things of beauty. You get a generous helping of minifigures, with a few of them being exclusive to this set. Playability: It's not until you get this set built that you realize how much play potential there is. It's got more straightforward features like catapults and trapdoors, but it also has one of the most involved and elaborate play functions around. Bringing the Guarding the golden items to receive the keys to the gatehouses, then using the gears to release the wall, and finally using the truck to pull away the wall to reveal the dragon. Fun! Verdict: It doesn't matter if you're one of those people who likes their sets for messing around with (like me), or if you pride yourself in displaying your collections, or if you build crazy MOCs out of pieces sourced from sets - Dragon Fortress caters to all. The Adventurers theme went out with a huge bang thanks to this set. My highest Recommendation! As always, comments and questions are more than welcome. Cheers! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
-R8- Posted August 23, 2011 I've been looking forward to this review for a long time, and you don't disappoint ZO6! I display this set in my own room, separate from my other LEGO sets because of its sheer beauty and fantastic oriental design, along with the Emperor's Ship which complimented the fortress. This is one of the few sets where I can remember going to the village toy store to get, and then building for the next four hours. It really feels so accomplishing to put together one of LEGO's greatest sets. I must add, that is an amazing deal you found! The dragon is the crown jewel in this jewel of a LEGO set, and makes any other LEGO 'treasure piece' look like mere peanuts. I just love the gold printing on it, it's very ornate and oriental looking. Not to mention, jewels for eyes on a chrome gold head! It's tough for anything else to beat that. I also love the complex and well-incorporated play functions. I often find that I am disappointed with the lack of good play features in a number of large sets; not this one. The sequence involved with getting the dragon is well thought out and provides an incentive to get the other major sets. As if that wasn't enough, there's even a great board game that goes along with it. Although, did you happen to receive a die along with your copy? All in all, the MSRP might have been on the expensive side, but with the treasures that came in the set, it was well worth it. A great find and thanks for sharing this magnificent set with us! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gryphon Ink Posted August 23, 2011 Wow. Great review and a great set. No, not just a great set - this looks like one of the greatest sets I've seen. A lot of times it seems like AFOLs who talk about TLG's good old days are waxing nostalgic for merely decent sets that happened to be released when they were just getting enthusiastic about Lego. That is definitely not the case with this baby. You've got beautiful design, some cool play features, an excellent range of minifigs, a great baseplate and a gorgeous dragon statue. And it's expensive but not ridiculously expensive. I love it all! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteFang Posted August 23, 2011 Thank you so much for doing such an in-depth review for this set. I still regret the day that I put this set back into the shelves when it was up for 50% off. I like this set very much as we don't get much Asian LEGO sets apart from those inside the Oriental Expedition. The Fortress is impressive and the bad guys who are defending the fort are equally great. The videos which are showing the playing features are superb. I am going to kick myself real hard for missing this especially after reading it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
22kane Posted August 23, 2011 This isn't quite my genre but after reading the review I wouldn't mind owning this. I liked the videos you included to show the play action to reveal the dragon, very cool. If I get a chance to purchase this at a reasonable price I just might. The base for this is very cool. Great review, thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alldarker Posted August 23, 2011 I can only agree with you in saying that this is one of the very best sets ever developed by Lego. It is perfect in design, perfect in play-ability and perfect in parts: there's simply nothing to fault it on. I am slightly ashamed to say that, yes, I am lucky enough to own this set, but no, it has never been built and it still remains MISB . Many times have I held the box in my hand, looking at its promises and marveling at its size and features. But the lack of space in my room and the backlog of other sets I still need to build sort of hinders me in finally cracking open this set and admiring its glory in real life! Funny thing with the Orient Expedition sets is that they seems to have been an extreme inspiration for the creators of the (later) Playstation 3 game 'Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'. The many common ideas in both the Orient Expedition sets and in Uncharted 2 are almost uncanny! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Meleca Posted August 23, 2011 I own this set, and have to agree too that this is one of the bests sets that I have. My cousing disassembled and loose some pieces, but even my wife agreed that this set is good enough to be incompleted. She counted and made the inventory of the missing pieces Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandy Posted August 23, 2011 This is still my favorite set of all time, rivaled only by the Medieval Market Village. The Dragon Fortress wins over it with the gorgeous dragon and the stylish design, though. Great review, thank you for that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clone OPatra Posted August 23, 2011 I think this is one of the greatest looking System sets ever made. It seems nearly everybody agrees with you too! Add me to that list!In fact, I would go so far to say that Orient Expedition as perhaps the all-around best theme of all time. Besides for the littlest sets, which didn't have much going for them, the rest of this (sub)theme was purely brilliant. The flagships of all three regions were great, this one being the very best. It's so odd that during a period of turmoil for a bunch of themes this beautiful set came out. This has to be the best ever use of that baseplate, and yes, perhaps even the best set of all time. There is nothing one can fault here (though I never liked the vehicle so much). I wish LEGO had released a full blown ancient China theme at the time, since they certainly knew what they were doing. I guess the one thing at fault, like you've said, is Pippin's new face. The original was so great, and much more mature looking than any of the other female faces LEGO had ever released. The new one just made her look stock, boring female figure. I really loved the new face for Johnny, though. The changes were subtle, but the added detail really spiced him up and gave him more character IMO. Still, I wonder why the main trio reverted to their original desert outfits for China when they had new ones for Himalayas and India. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Masked Builder Posted August 23, 2011 I remember this set. I put this set on my want list as soon as I saw it in the LEGO store. Sadly, I was to young, and $90 ws a lot of money to spend on a birthday present. Still, it's good to see the set represented well here. Good work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
K-Nut Posted August 23, 2011 This set has always been one I dream of having. I've always been an adventure nut and love really cool mechanisms like these. Plus that Dragon is awesome! Great review ZO6. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Destroydacre Posted August 30, 2011 Great review! Nice to see how the set comes together and to see all the great features. I know I'm not the first one to say this, but this is one of the few (maybe the only) sets to have a design that takes advantage of this weird raised baseplate. This set is hard to find and expensive as hell, but I bought one MISB last summer and I was stunned at how fabulous this set is. If you want it, but are wavering because of the price, go ahead and pick it up. You'll have zero regrets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Si-MOCs Posted August 31, 2011 Thank you for doing this indepth review - It is a set I have admired from a far for a long time, and it's nice to 'see' it truly for the first time. Sadly I will likely never actually own this set, even though it contains possibly my most favourite minifig (which I have *cough* a few of). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Algernon Posted August 31, 2011 Such a gorgeous set. I really wish this still went for reasonable prices on Ebay... oh well. Excellent review, definitely a real classic here. Johnny Thunder really is one of LEGO's best themes in my eyes. I'd love to see more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Blue Brick Posted September 4, 2011 This is such an amazing set. It also includes two of my favorite minifigure of all time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipper Posted September 4, 2011 Oh man, I can't believe I took this apart. I dunno why even, it used to be my favorite set. Thanks for the review! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nightshroud99 Posted September 4, 2011 I was fortunate to get this in Christmas 04, while still technically in my dark ages. It's a magnificent set, my favorite of all time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prateek Posted September 4, 2011 Oh my goodness, what an amazing set. If it weren't for the outrageous prices on BL, I would be tempted to get one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
