REVIEW: Indiana Jones 7199 The Temple of Doom

[TheTacoMan]

Name: The Temple of Doom

Set: 7199

Theme: Indiana Jones

Subtheme: The Temple of Doom

Year: 2009

Pieces: 654

Minifigs: 6

Price: $129.99 AUD (on Lego S@H Australia)

Hi there, here is my quick, lightweight review of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom! While Svelte's review was incredible and all-encompassing (how could i top that?), I aimed for mine to be a quick 'What's what' concerning this set. I hope you enjoy it!

First off, the front of the box:

And the Back:

The contents of the box, 6 bags, 2 booklets, 4 curved track pieces and 2 sloped track pieces:

The cast of this episode. Left to right, Willie Scot, Indiana Jones, Short Round, Mine Foreman, Cult Member and Mola Ram

A close up of the Gaurds:

Mola Ram is the real star of this set. His helmet is spectacular, and his shirt AND head are double side printed:

A close up of our Heroes, Willie, Indy and Short Round. Willie and Indy are new Prints (well, Indy is only PARTIALLY a new print, as his shirt is a 'new' design as it is missing one sleeve):

A close up of Willie. Everything about Willie is new (except for her face, which is from the Shanghai Chase set). New hair mold and new body/legs print:

Like the Shanghai Chase set, Willie has a double sided head. Oh noes! Screaming Willie! Grab your ear plugs:

A close up of a mine cart. It is designed so that the 'carridge' area can swing back and forth. I quite like the design on these:

The first 'Trap'. As Indy and Willie's cart goes past the little lever on the left

It swings around, placing planks of wood on the track. This mimics a scene from the movie, where Indy throws planks of wood on the track behind him

And the cult members meet their High Speed doom!

The second trap. As Indy passes below an abandoned mine cart, he sabotages it

Pulling this pin out triggers the trap:

Overhead shot of the same scene, showing the 5x1 bley cylinders that drop to crush Indy's enemies:

And when the trap is triggered!

When i built the set, it was kind of difficult for minifigures with long weapons (such as Indy's sword, or the cult member's shot gun) to fit underneath this mine cart. I made it easier by moving the track a single stud to the right, which you can see here

Last of all, there's a cool little features at the end of the track. Here we see Indy furiously trying to slow his speeding cart

To no avail! SMASH! It crashes into the barrister at the end, causing it to snap backwards.

An overarching shot of the temple. It's supposed to sit over the right end of the track, but it is fairly easy to pick up and move independently.

The Sankara stones have a cool little play feature where you can move them in and out of the skulls mouth/eyes. Here they are at the back

And here they are brought forward:

The knob on the left controls the trapdoor. What i really didn't like was the placement of the trapdoor over the mine cart track. In the movie, the trap door was a sacrificial pit that let to a heartless (pun intended) death of fire and brimstone. In this set, the helpless victim drops down to... a mine cart escape!

So of course, I had to move the temple for this shot. Those two cool looking flame pieces at the bottom actually came with the set!

Here's a closer shot of them:

Here's a couple of vain attempts of me trying to photograph the whole thing. This set is WAY too long! It almost doesnt fit on my desk!

This one is better quality, but the end is cut off:

Lastly, i received the special edition GOLD minifig Keychain with this set! I think it looks quite cool, and was a nice little bonus ^^. Here's a picture:

Here are my final scores:

Minifigures: 5/5 - They are all brand new prints (except short round, and partial Indy) and they are phenomenal!

Parts: 3/5 - The new track is very cool, but there are not that many other good parts. At times, it almost feels like it is just a mish-mash of random 'left over' parts and colours (such as the base of the temple)

Build: 4/5 - I'm not a big fan of building things in order of numbered bags, I'm an old school Lego fan, who likes to put all the pieces in a big pile and sort through them myself. Other than that, it was still fun to put together, very little repetitive monotonous stuff

Play Values: 5/5 - You can re-create many key scenes from the movie, plus the mine carts are fun as heck to play with!

Price: 5/5 - I was expecting to pay $150 at least for a set with this high piece and mini figure count, but it was only $130!

Overall: 4.2/5 - A solid set with few drawbacks, and a great price! It also has a couple of mini figures (Mola Ram, Temple Guards) that are bound to remain exclusive to this set for a long time

[sologuy369]

Your review only makes me want this set even more .Thanks for the humor.Hope to see your future reviews .

[Whittleberry]

To no avail! SMASH! It crashes into the barrister...

Say what now?

[prof1515]

Say what now?

He probably means barrier. A barrister is a British word meaning a kind of lawyer.

[Inconspicuous]

Excellent review, The Taco Man! I know it's awfully hard to go up against Svelte's reviews (I've done it myself ) but I must admit, this is still a great review! After a while, you forget the little things, and repeat reviews can refresh them. I didn't even know that one of Indy's sleeves is missing! Once again, thanks for the review.

Edited August 16, 2009 by Inconspicuous

[Nuju Metru]

Nice review, very nice... This set looks like a fun one, with a lot of cool minifigs. However, I doubt I'll pick it up, due to both the large price tag and my already long wish list.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

-Nuju Metru

[samthelegoman1]

That Mola Ram fig better come in a smaller set!