Pharaoh's Quest Magnetset Dissasembly Review

[morganm]

First let me say... I'm not sure what forum to put this in. I thought either here since it's Pharoh's Quest or Minifig Mod. If it's in the wrong spot then move it, thanks! =)

I'm sure you're all aware of the technique. http://thebrickblogger.com/2011/01/lego-glued-magnet-removal/

I followed the instructions with these minor adjustments.

- Doing it one at a time is lame and a waste of time. As long as you can keep them separated (the magnets tend to want to stick together!) then you can do more than one at a time.

- Five minutes was no where near long enough. After 5 minutes I wedged a sharp knife between the back of the legs and the magnet base. Stuck them back in the water, with the knife still wedged in there, for at least another 5 minutes. This kept pressure on the pieces while they soaked some more. Even after this it took considerably more force to pry them apart than is eluded to in the instructions.

Overall I'm happy with the results. This was a fun little experiment to do with my kids as well.

The legs and arms are all still tight. Back of the legs are a little rough but whatever; I don't really care. Some of them are rough on the bottom of the feet... this I do not like as it effects how tightly they snap to studs and basically means they will not stand with out some sort of base. Now I'm already a big fan of using bases for figures during a BrikWar anyway because of how easy they are to tip over even if their feet are smooth. They still snap to studs and do not easily fall over but they are just not quite as tight a fit as regular minifigs. Not a deal breaker but something to be aware of. Another slight con is that the legs do not come off; that is the hips do not remove from the torso. I spose you could pop the legs off the hip joints to swap legs around. Again not a deal breaker but something worth noting.

The real big positive about this is the fact these magnet sets go on sale for $3.50. That means I was able to get an Anubis Guard, Amset Ra, and Jake LeDouche for $3.50. Just a quick search on Brick Link will show that Anubis Guard goes for $9 + shipping, Amset Ra goes for $5 + shipping, and Jake goes for $2. I honestly don't care about Jake; I really wanted the Anubis Guards and the mummies. One more small con here... it's not REALLY Amset Ra despite the description on Lego's own website! Bit of bait and switch here... It's Amset Ra's head on a regular mummy warrior body with the Pharaoh headdress. If you closely inspect a picture of both Amset Ra and mummy warrior you'll notice the differences. Again not really a deal breaker; really I'd prefer the mummy warrior as this is more of an 'army builder' technique anyway. Cheap way to amass quantities of Anubis Guards and mummy warriors.... and a bunch of Jake LeDouche's... for whatever reason =P

Mummy Warrior... note the lack of gold running from neck piece to waist. Also note difference in waist & neck decorations. This is the torso and legs in the magnet set.

Amset Ra.... you only get the head from Amset Ra. The torso and legs are totally different than this picture and look identical to the mummy above.

One more little bonus is that you get 3 maps with the magnet set. They pop right off; not glued on at all. I love little bits like this and this was a neat bonus. Plus you get the sweet megablocks Anubis Guard's sword, the scarab shield, and the headdress. All neat bits that again are not glued.

[JackJonespaw]

Good review, but this belongs in the Action Themes forum.