The Real Indiana Jones

In the movie, the miniature buildings are between one or two feet tall or a little more, and the whole city is about thirty feet lengthwise or so, so the scale is actually fairly close. And what it comes down to, is that it is impossible to make Indy larger, and it is impossible to make most of the buildings much smaller, so this is the best solution in Lego. Again, it is not intended to be an exact recreation of the movie. I just thought it would be fun to create an Architecture set with a minifig at "King Kong scale" or "Godzilla scale" =)

Hi, I am still definitely looking for a few of these printed "UN" blue helmets, even just one or two! Does anyone have at least one or two to sell? Thanks!! =)

Ah, well maybe the collectable minifig surgeon will have a fully sculpted heart as his accessory! ;) And yes, wizardry and witchcraft and the entire concept of Harry Potter is something that would have gotten you burned at the stake 200 years ago, but nowadays very few people even think of it as a taboo anymore. And that's a great example to show that TLG will do anything with ancient religions, but they only hint very vaguely at currently-practiced religions. That is what made me do an alternate build of The Temple of the Holy Grail and an updated and fully Buddhist version of The Temple of Mount Everest. I love the way the Buddha turned out! I also just posted pics of my original MOC of The Map Room at Tanis with my re-imagined version of the lost city laid out at micro-scale. And finally, if you are an Indy fan, or like building European scenes, then you can also try my my improved Venetian gondola design. Hope you like! Indy

I did this MOC two years ago, when they announced that Indy was ending... The new-style keffiyah did not exist, so use your imagination! This shows the Map Room at Tanis, with the scale model of the city laid out in micro-scale for Indy to investigate. As an archaeologist, I had a lot of fun recreating various real architectural elements in Lego Digital Designer, and this was definitely inspired by the first few waves of micro-scale "Architecture" sets. The overall layout of the city is based on real Egyptian temple complexes and cities, here with mud-brick pueblo-style houses, silos, ovens, kilns, etc. The central Avenue of Sphinxes and pool is based on the entrance to Temple of Karnak near Luxor. The Well of Souls is designed after Egyptian Pylon Temples, with some elements from recreations of the Temple of Solomon which was in Jerusalem and since destroyed. The objects in the front are actually micro-scale palm trees, with anime hairpieces painted dark green, to complete the scene! =) Comments and crit are welcome... Please enjoy!

Ah, well then here is the perfect final element to add! >=-{D> Happy Halloween!

Thanks, and all these additions only cost about $25 or $30. The mine car track was never directly attached to the original set. I like having it as a separate element, curving around the back as an escape route, but I have some extra track, so I could possibly attach it in the future somehow. In addition to Kali, Wikipedia also has a detailed article on the real historical Thuggee. Also, regarding religious imagery, I notice that the new Joust Castle 10223 has a large book in front of a stained-glass window. The Castle theme has tons of Witches and Wizards, which was a sort of religion unto itself, but this is the first time I have seen a reference to Christianity.

Yes, but speaking of taboos, also remember that the movie Temple of Doom was temporarily banned by the Government of India because they felt it was a bad depiction! Although India still censors *kissing* scenes in movies... =D

Since Batman and Catwoman both have removable hoods, I would guess that Iron man will have a removable helmet, similar to the new style Boba Fett helmet. That would also match with the way they mocked it up in the prelim figs on display. It may look a bit oversized at first, but it is the same as Batman and Boba.

Yes, we all loved the mine cart tracks, and the Mola Ram minifig is classic... but what about the sacrificial cage? What about the giant Kali statue? Even though we have seen outright cannibalism in a Pirates of the Caribbean set, at the time TLG was probably a bit reluctant to do a human sacrifice, especially an overtly religious one. They will gladly do ancient deities like Poseidon and Anubis, but they generally shun any contemporary religious imagery, such as a statue of a Hindu goddess like Kali who is still revered today. Well as a Halloween treat, here is set 7199 as I'm sure the designers really *wanted* to create it!! There are small changes everywhere, but the main things I added are the sacrificial cage, and the giant Kali-Ma statue. Here is Kali The Destroyer, based on various images from Wikipedia, rather than being exactly like in the movie. The mechanism that lowers the cage. Note that I also created an upper level as in the movie and the game. The cage is very simple... just two ladders, two bars, and ten flexed robot-arms. The chain just loops through without attaching directly. (I drilled thru the two impaled skulls) "Indeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" =O "Sorry, Doll Face, I've got bigger problems to deal with!!" XD This little scene is partly inspired by the boss battle in Lego Indy II, but more so by the Angkor Wat guards in the first Tomb Raider movie, and the giant six-scimitar-wielding statues that come to life in all of the India levels of the video game Tomb Raider III. Comments and crit are welcome, Thanks!! It would also be fun to talk about what kinds of potentially taboo imagery TLG has created or avoided over the years... Fortune and Glory, the_real_indy

That is a great scenario, but it does not explain why his plume and tent are the Dragon colors. Anyway, they obviously designed his armor and horse barding to be an all-purpose Black Knight that can go into any faction, or just be independent... A smart design move. I think I will change his plume and tent to blue or dark blue, as a nod to the 80s sets, and use my blue guys as his squires.

But notice in one of the pics of the minifigs in a lineup, the Black Knight is sitting down... Hmmm.... The only reason I can think of is that they wanted to hide his legs and torso with the possible intention of changing it later! Just dong my part to feed the rumor mill here!! =) Again, KUDOS TO LEGO!!

Yes, the Black Knight is usually a solitary figure in Medieval stories, so we do not need to have a whole faction. And I agree with Albero-BEL, et al... If LEGO is reading this, they should just put the standard Castle theme on hiatus for a year and introduce just one or two waves of "CASTLE: ROMANS". That is all it would take. Everyone would be ecstatic if it was announced as a temporary shift. As a bonus, we could also use it as a beautiful alternate location for the Wonder Woman and Thor minifigs in 2012, assuming that we will not get a fully-fledged Olympus set for Wonder Woman's Greek Mythological World, nor a fully-fledged Asgard set for Thor's Norse Universe. =( KUDOS TO LEGO!! =)

Yes, TheRitter is definitely correct. Good eye. The first picture shows what you can make if you combine two sets. That explains why we see four guards, and so much repetition in the side buildings... BUT STILL, $120 is a great price for 1575 pieces! Totally glad I just got the MMV now! =) Kudos to Lego

All right, at last, ALL of the dragon sets are now posted on Toys R Us, including 2507 Fire Temple, and the TRU Exclusive 2521 Lightning Dragon Battle!! Most of the smaller sets like 2254 Mountain Shrine and 2509 Earth Dragon Defense are available for shipping in the USA right now, although the big red and blue dragon sets are still out of stock for the moment... And I notice that the links that are supposed to alert you when they get back in stock do not seem to work right, since they did not alert me when the Earth Dragon and the Mountain Shrine came back in stock, but I trust that some eagle-eyed AFOL will announce it here as soon as they are available... just as soon as you get the Order Confirmation for your own loot, right?! Here is a shortcut to the TRU Ninjago page, so you can feed your addiction by "chasing the dragon" every few hours! http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=11161920&s=A-ProductAge&pg=1 Also, they are still not in stock at LEGO Shop at Home, but here is the link to that page, so you can scope it out too. http://ninjago.lego.com/en-us/Products/Models/Default.aspx#2521 Happy Hunting!! Indy

@Gregorovich Good question! I think that up until recently the new sets would always come out quarterly on Feb 1, May 1, Aug 1, and Nov 1... but LEGO might be staggering the releases more now, to accomodate movie-tie-ins, and just to make sure that there is always something fresh on the shelf. I guess all you can do is be patient, buy some older sets to hold you over for a bit, check the LEGO website under "What's New", and look at the mailed catalog when it comes. The new Star Wars sets were just released in Germany, and I heard that all the announced NinjaGo sets will by out before Mid-July. Any other info?

Good call! I ran a search for "Tiamat" here on Eurobricks, and I am shocked that so few people have ever thought of creating the undisputed god of the D&D Universe. A search on Google Images reveled this... My linkhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/esteemedhelga/4886615979/sizes/l/in/photostream/ It might also look great to use the Ninjago dragon heads with the head of the Midgard Serpent from the Vikings sets, or any of the dragons from the Fantasy Era sets or the other Viking sets. To really support five heads, you could also create a body, or just the front half of a body emerging from the underworld, using red Tecnic/Bionicle/Hero Factory parts from Lego Digital Designer or BrickLink.

And I think this was mentioned, but this re-seller is saying that the Lightning Dragon Battle (2521) will be released as a Toys R Us Exclusive in "middle to end June"! So is that accurate? Either way, I added an e-mail alert onto a "saved search" on my "My E-bay page", which frees me from the rumor mill. But thanks for the info, in anyone knows for certain...

Yes, I agree 100% with Aanchir on this. To do a fair test, I took two Chinese-made Ninjago ninjas, and two Non-Chinese-made Ninjago ninjas, shook them like dice to randomize them, rolled them across my desk with my eyes closed, and then I challenged myself to tell the difference... There may have been some small quality differences last year, but now they are essentially identical if you do a fair and blind random test. Chinese factories are perfectly capable of making any quality of plastic a company requests and chooses to pay for! Great work LEGO, and great work China! Indy Out

I love the fact that all of the dragons are different. Remember how much people complained that all of the Jedi Starfighters are identical except for their colors! The fire dragon is obviously about 10 studs bigger than the ice, and the lightning dragon seems to be about 10 studs bigger than the fire. Plus it will be a full European style dragon with four feet plus wings, bigger than a Wyvern or an Asian Dragon. And the Earth Dragon looks a lot like a Quetzalcoatl, also great for a Meso-American temple. Bravo, LEGO!

True, but I just love the confident expression on the Indy and Mutt heads, so I always use them as all-purpose "male with stubble" and "male shaved" heads. Without the trademark whip and fedora, it just works as a good all-purpose macho male head, and I think that is why Dastan's head is almost exactly identical. And maybe it reminds me of the glory days when all LEGO figs had the exact same head!

OK, well if you run out to Target and grab this set on clearance for $30... Then you can make it however you like and post some photos! I am going to move on to creating cool new exotic scenes from Indy/Lego Indy/Tomb Raider video games. We especially need more Indian/Himalayan/East Asian locales to give balance. Possibly also Africa, Cambodia, and Polynesia... Have Fun! Indy

Again, thanks for the feedback! And yes, all of the Prince of Persia sets, the Pharaoh's Quest sets, and the Ninjago sets are just giving us tons of new temples and locations for Indy to explore. I just buy flesh-colored heads on bricklink to replace all the yellow-heads, and then it's just like having a brand new set for Indy! I am sure they will give us at least five or six great archaeological/exploration-themed sets per year. Indy Lives On!!

Thanks for the compliments! No, it's not a scene from the movies, but it draws from locations in the video games "Indiana Jones & The Infernal Machine", "Tomb Raider II", and "LEGO Indiana Jones". I just got "LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues" today... If I see any cool new scenes, I may work up some blueprints. All depends on time/money/energy! =) The two golden lanterns are just spray-painted. But the Buddha is a real Lego item, "Gear 852688 Golden Minifig Key Chain" in official chrome-gold for just $7 on BrickLink! Chrome-gold hands do not exist yet, so grab some spray-paint for $5 down at Wal-Mart! =) And Have Fun! Indy

Yes, good eye! The gondolier in the background also has Indy's face. Or it looks like might be Dastan's double-sided face? Those both make great faces for gondoliers.

Finally, "Indiana Jones and the Romance of Venice" is Part Three of my mini-trilogy. This is a little addition or expansion to set 7197 - Venice Canal Chase. As I said, when I build, I always like to create things that look like real sets that LEGO might design and sell for real on the shelf. It gives me that feeling we all got as kids on Christmas or on our bithday, which is next week for me! Naturally, you can build all of these yourself easily with Lego Digital Designer. I am pretty sure all of the parts needed are in the LDD inventory except for the golden goblets and of course the Gondoliers themselves. And if you make more improvements, go ahead and post the pictures here as a reply... or if you have any other ideas or thoughts, post them here and I will respond after my birthday! Indy must now face the most challenging adventure of his lifetime! He must navigate the alluring charm of the Venetian Grand Canal, armed only with his sparkling wit and tales of breathtaking adventure, on a quest to romance his lovely girlfriend before the ever-amorous gondolier-guys try to win her away! Will he find the greatest treasure of all, True Love? Hmmm... I wish I could find where I put the bridge from the Venice set, but you can imagine it looks great with a gondola gliding through it! Here is a screenshot from LDD, and you can see the complete step-by-step instructions here on my Flickr page. The gondoliers shirts are actually from the collectible minifig mime. Lookin' good! All right Kids, Fortune and Glory! "The_Real_Indy"