Rain Dance Ridge 6718 Pic Review

[WesternOutlaw]

Wild West, Native American Subtheme: Rain Dance Ridge 6718

71 pieces with two figs and one horse.

Unfortunately not as popular as the cowboy sets of the Wild West theme, here's a pic review of one of the smaller Native American sets, Rain Dance Ridge.

This set depicts a small stream/hideout, home to two Native Americans:

I must admit that I was not too fond of the Native American sets myslef, but after looking at some of the wonderful details, esp. the figs, one can appreciate these sets.

The section with the snake lifts up causing the snake to slide down into the stream:

A top view of the set. Very simple, but fun. I particularly like these hollowed out tree stumps. Great place to hide weapons or hide in to ambush cowboys:

What I most like in all of the Native American sets, are the very detailed figs. Look at their torsos and their faces - very nicely done. The horses are very detailed as well.

This set also includes two bows and quivers, one for each fig (only pictured one in image):

And the back of the box:

This is a nice little set and a great way to get started with the Native American sub-theme. The detail of the figs and great wilderness pieces (tree stump, blue tiles, grey rocks, bushes/twigs, make this a good set for other themes. And these figs have to be some of the most detailed figs in lego history - very nice!

[Sir Dillon]

Nice review. I always liked the Native American figs, though it puzzles me why they all have noses. :/

[WesternOutlaw]

I like the noses and their eyes. The eyes are very good. Whoever designed the paint/faces for these did a terrific job.

[Mister Phes]

Nose details weren't common for mini-figures at the time were they?

[WesternOutlaw]

I don't think they're common now. That makes these even more detailed.

[Mister Phes]

I wonder if Western Indian mini-figure heads would work as heads for Incas, Mayans and Aztecs heads...

[snefroe]

I wonder if Western Indian mini-figure heads would work as heads for Incas, Mayans and Aztecs heads...

i never tried it, but that should work... you only change the context a bit...

[Mister Phes]

The south American Indians had nice pyramids to livei in!

[WesternOutlaw]

I wonder if Western Indian mini-figure heads would work as heads for Incas, Mayans and Aztecs heads...

I think they would make very good Incas and natives too for those pirate islands.

[Mister Phes]

I haven't researched my history, but aren't the South American Indians derived from the Northern American Indians anyway? The people came to the Americas across a land-bridge from Asia then some continued to migrate south until eventually they got to the most southern point of Chile.

Before Europeans arrived with Africans there wasn't as much genetic diversity so the North American Indians didn't look that much physically different to the South American Indians physically, but obviously had different cultures and different fashions so this prevented them from looking identical.

These physical differences would theoretically be unnoticable in the level of detail provided in LEGO mini-figure faces.

[snefroe]

hm...

you're assuming that mankind evolved in one specific place in Africa and then just spread all across the world, eventually ending up in South America. ... that used to be a dominating theory, however, many scientists believe mankind evolved in pretty much the same way, at the same time, but in different places of the planet. so it is possible that indians moved from south to Central america to north america for whatever reason. Wars between tribes in the south-central area would be one of them.

i'm not a specialist of indian cultures, but i think many indian tribes in the southern part of the US, like Texas, New Mexico,... are closer related to the tribes in south and central America than to the cultures of the north...

anyway, i think it's rather difficult to print these small differences on a minifig head...

[Mister Phes]

I don't really believe humans evolved in place... Its not logistical to me...

But that's not the point. The point is would these Indian mini-figure heads look good as Aztec, Mayan or Incan mini-figure heads. Nevermind anthropological accuracies, it just has to look good!

[Dreamweb]

I think that what we see in this set is a spring, which is very simple in construction but I love the idea. This spring depicts the very essence of Lego - it's small but cleverly made, its idea is more important than the size or piece count. This is exactly how all the small sets should be designed.

[WesternOutlaw]

I agree. It's a neat little set.

[Mister Phes]

This spring depicts the very essence of Lego - it's small but cleverly made...

The esscence of LEGO? WTF!!!