Review: 5958 Mummy's Tomb

[ZO6]

Johnny Thunder is off with his trusted companion, Dr. Charles Lightning, to raid an ancient tomb in search of the all-important red ruby. Will our heroes succeed or will the treacherous Lord Sam Sinister crash the party by finding the treasure first!?

Set # - 5958

Name - Mummy's Tomb

Theme/Subtheme - Adventurers/Desert

Year - 1998

Piece Count - 253

Minifigures - 4

Brickset , Peeron, Bricklink, Brickshelf

My box is safely stored away, however the pictures on the instructions are the same. Front of manual:

The back of the manual shows a variety of alternate models:

When you open the instructions, you're greeted by some additional images:

The last page of the instructions features the various traps and functions of the set:

A random page within the instructions. There are no piece call-outs, though there are often submodels. Again, being an older manual, this features perfect colour differentiation - no problems telling light gray, dark gray, and black apart!

All the pieces of the main structure laid out - mostly grays and tan, with some colour to make things more visually exciting (16x32 tan baseplate not pictured) :

Here is a close up of some of the more interesting pieces found in the set. Lots of lovely printed parts, and a red sarcophagus top:

The pieces for the vehicle:

The minifigures. They feature great printing on the front. From left to right - Johnny Thunder, Dr. Charles Lightning, Lord Sam Sinister, the Mummy (or Pharaoh if you prefer):

No printing on their backs:

A variety of accessories is of course included:

You start by building one of those lovely, flexible palm trees:

Now we can start on the vehicle:

A cockpit and engine is added:

The car is finished and ready to roll:

Front view. The car has a nice long front end with a powerful 6-cylinder engine. Worried about the bullet hole in the windshield? - You should see the other guys!

Back. The shovel is held in place by a clip. The car can store a variety of other goods such as the sextant and a rifle between/behind the seats:

Here we can see how low the car is to the ground. Johnny approves:

Construction now begins on the main structure:

Many pieces are added that will eventually be used in play functions of the set - these include the 1x8 black tiles, the 1x1 black technic bricks with holes, and the 2x2 turntable plate:

Work on a statue sub-model begins. The four black headlight bricks will be used to attach hieroglyphics to:

The statue is now done:

The statue finds a home, above it a trap is placed:

The resting place for the Pharaoh is located on the turntable. The tomb is built up some more as well:

The trap above the statue is completed (more on this feature in a bit):

The top of the tomb receives more attention as the turntable/rotation feature is just about done:

The tomb is now complete:

A obelisk and palm tree are added to complete the setting:

The set from the back:

Now for the fun stuff. The statue sits on tiles and is able to slide from side to side. Normally it supports a small platform containing a 2x4 brick with two spears attached. However, when the statue is moved, the platform tilts down and it's contents sent flying towards an unlucky victim:

Lord Sam Sinister VS statue/spears trap

Sinister 0 - Traps 1

Ouch! My doctor said spears should never enter my body... at any time.

The obelisk is mounted on a hinge which allows it to be easily tipped over:

Lord Sam Sinister VS obelisk

Sinister 0 - Traps 2

What a crushing defeat...

The Pharaoh stands in his resting place, he holds the precious red ruby (doesn't seem very restful, does it?). He his located on a turntable which can be rotated by the round yellow 2x2 brick on the top of the tomb. Now you see him...

...now you don't:

The complete set:

Final thoughts:

5958 Mummy's Tomb is a lovely midsized set. At $30 US when it was new, this 253 piece set didn't offer the absolute best price per piece value, but it's very easy to look past this considering it's contents and the end result. It features a wonderful structure with lots of functions (flying spears, disappearing mummys, tumbling obelisks, oh my!), a stylin' ride (unique as the low riding vehicle in the desert subtheme), 4 minifigures (nothing unique to the theme, but a nice variety to get you started), and a load of accessories. The build progresses quickly and is quite fun, adding the various traps along the way - and thankfully repetition is nowhere to be found. It's a pleasure to once again get a variety of printed pieces - a highlight in both this set and the whole theme - I just can't get enough of those hieroglyphics. The set looks fantastic on display, but as with most Adventurers sets it has near-limitless playability as well - thanks to the fully functional traps and host of extras.

As always, comments and questions are more than welcome. Cheers!

No fair, Johnny Thunder gets to ride around in his hot rod, meanwhile I'm stuck here. Better make the most of it. Alright obelisk, let's try this again...

Lord Sam Sinister VS obelisk - ROUND 2

Abandon ship! Villains and men wearing top hats first!

Final Score

Sinister 0 - Traps 3

I want my mommy... I mean mummy... I mean ouch!

Edited March 19, 2010 by ZO6
Indexed

[FinalFeature]

I love those printed pieces! Thanks for the review ZO6!

[Loganwan]

I sure like that hot rod. I could see them tearing across the dusty desert with goggles on, looking for their next adventure...or trying to get away from the Pharoah's undead army.

[Mac-K]

I'm very happy with these great quality Adventurers reviews you've been producing ZO6, I hope you plan to continue with them. This was another set that interested me, yet it managed to elude me as well. I have to say that I really like the vehicle in this set. The low-riding roadster-style of the car is just plain cool. I love the adaptability of that chassis piece in creating different vehicles. The tomb itself is quite nice, and offers a fair amount in play features, something Adventurers never failed at it seems. I was also impressed at the different colored sarcophagi Lego produced just for this one theme. Red, black, and tan with printing if I remember correctly. A good assortment for a rather large piece, I think. Anyway, nicely done ZO6, thank you for sharing!

Edited March 4, 2010 by Mac-K

[Extreme Sadness.]

Great review!All these reviews of old sets are really making me see how AWESOME the older sets were.

Though, they are also making me want them more, so not good for my wallet .

-ES-

[Rufus]

Lovely review, Z06! You've really brought the set to life. It must have taken you ages to arrange all those pieces! I'm looking forward to your next reviews...

[funkybrick]

Very nice review!

Keep reviewing!