REVIEW: 5909 Treasure Raiders

[Bricknave]

Deep in the heart of the arid Egyptian desert; two opposing groups of adventurers (one for the education of Minifigure kind, the other for themselves) are following maps that lead to the great treasures of a lost ancient Egyptian kingdom. To search for the treasures in speed and ease, the groups have constructed vintage vehicles for themselves, although one member of the good group has decided to stay put to study an ancient sarcophagus. I give you a review of -- 5909 Treasure Raiders.

Set theme: Adventurers, Egyptian desert Sub-theme.

Set number: 5909

Set name: Treasure Raiders

Number of bricks: 192

Number of Minifigs: 4 + 1 Skeleton

Year of release: 1998

This set is the same as both versions of Desert Expedition, except that this one includes a special edition MUMMY STORAGE CASE.

The set itself is basically just 3 models; a bi-plane, a jeep, and a very small camp in the desert with a sarcophagus to study.

The Box:

(Note: The box is not in mint condition)

Quite a nice box, with the usual orange-y sky Adventurers Egypt box art. I sometimes wonder if it is supposed to be sunset or sunrise for the Adventurers?

On the back is the usual somewhat-goofy building alternatives, including special edition MUMMY-CASE alternative.

The Mummy-Case:

Very nice to have around! It's great to store your bricks in if you're on vacation, plus it makes a great collector's item.

The Minifigs:

The Minifigs aren't as exciting as the Johnny Thunder Minifig, but they are fine. The Harry Cane Minifig with the neat-looking bomber jacket and Dr. Kilroy Minifig with interesting overalls make fine editions to anyone's Minifig collection.

The bricks:

This LEGO set has a good variety of bricks in tan and white. Here is a picture of some of the more interesting bricks ...

(Note: The tail wing and compartment door bricks have stickers on them.)

Now let's get on to the LEGO brick models themselves!

The Campsite:

My ratings:

Playability: 1/5

Brick content: 2/5

Interest level: 2/5, 1/5 without the sarcophagus.

There isn't much about it that makes it special, except for the printed-decal sarcophagus.

The Jeep:

My ratings:

Playability: 5/5

Brick content: 3/5

Interest level: 4/5

A very good model, considering that it is one of the very few set models that have a black jeep cabin brick. The side-mounted rifle turret is also a nice touch, but it makes the jeep like more like a WW1 combat vehicle than an exploration vehicle (good if you're a military LEGO builder).

The Bi-plane:

My ratings:

Playability: 5/5

Brick content: 5/5

Interest level: 5/5

In my opinion, the best model in the set. It has a wide variety of bricks in tan and white that aren't usually in those colors, not to mention that the panels with the "shark mouth" stickers on them can flip out to expose the bi-plane's mighty engine!

Overall rating: 4/5

It would be 5/5, but the small campsite brought it down a notch.

Overall opinion:

This set is definitely a good one, but it isn't really an absolute must-have, unless you need more vintage vehicles for your LEGO collection. The models are great, except for the small campsite, which begs for something else to be added to it. The set is also good in terms of MOC-ability, as it offers vehicle bricks that are in rare colors.

Edited November 19, 2009 by WhiteFang
Indexed

[ILikePi]

Great review Bricknave!

Thanks for making this, otherwise this set would have been another one that I never knew existed!

I like the look of this very much. There's a plethora of intricate printed parts, and there's that huge mummy storage container, which is a great bonus! I can't believe that two versions of the set were released -2879 comes without the storage case - but were both priced at $20!

[Bricknave]

Great review Bricknave!

Thanks for making this, otherwise this set would have been another one that I never knew existed!

I like the look of this very much. There's a plethora of intricate printed parts, and there's that huge mummy storage container, which is a great bonus! I can't believe that two versions of the set were released -2879 comes without the storage case - but were both priced at $20!

Thank you very much for this nice comment, ILikePi!

I really couldn't understand why two other versions of this set were released either.

[Big Cam]

Great review, that LEGO container looks like a great collectors item.

I for some reaon really don't like the sticker on the front of the plane, it just looks to fake/army-ish for that little bi-plane.

The review looks great, I wish I could ahve been around in the LEGO scene when these sets where out. Seems like a good way to get Indie style sets before the Indie line came out.

[prateek]

Woah, the vehicles are amazing! Probably the best Adventures set.

[SeaKing61]

Very nice review, looks like a great little set. I love the shark mouth on the engine compartments on that biplane, looks fantastic for MOCs. It seems this set was released as 5948 outside of the US and without the mummy case.

Laurie

[Tom Bricks]

Wow at first glance this set looks kind of strange (the stickers) but there are allot of useful pieces in rare colors in this one. The Mummy case is neat too, I wish TLC still did things like that.

[Bricknave]

A "Thank You" from me to all of you who have added such nice comments to my review!