The Real Indiana Jones

Looking at the patterns printed on their heads and bodies, I think the creatures from Pharaoh's Quest are definitely intended to be colossal stone figures that have been magically brought to life, and have been sleeping patiently. I think they have realized that the most successful formula for a new historical theme is to have it be "modern explorers versus gods/immortals/undead/mythological creatures". That way, you can include modern guns and vehicles, plus create some cool minifigs with funky new heads, plus an awesome posable monster made from all pre-existing parts, plus it keeps it all safely in the realm of "fantasy violence", rather than real historical human-versus-human warfare, and parents definitely prefer that. The same reason that The Clone Wars, etc. is usually humans-versus-robots or humans-versus-aliens. I think that the Orient Expedition sets with the Yeti, Tiger, and Dragon-headed guardians first hinted at the trend, then the Vikings theme and the Lord-of-the-Rings-styled Castle sets developed it, and Atlantis and Pharaoh's Quest solidify it. No?

Wow, amazing MOCs! These are definitely well-researched and accurate! Since I am a newbie, I can only post 100 MB of pics, so here is one of an iconic scene I re-created... Indiana Jones in the Map Room at Tanis. I re-designed the look and layout of the city that was laid out in miniature on the floor.

The Spartan helmet has already been created and released with a collectible minifig... And if the Atlantis Temple of Neptune with the Deus-ex-Machina play-feature sells well, I definitely think we will be treated to a one-wave theme generally similar to the Clash of the Titans genre of movies, with large pose-able brick-built creatures from Greek Mythology, almost exactly like Pharaoh's Quest. That is the one last major-tourist-attraction civilization they have not created yet, right? To me, it seems like a no-brainer!

Yeah, I got your Venetian gondola right here! Goes perfect with Indy's Venice Canal Chase. You can replace the black vase with gold. Two lovers can sit face-to-face and kiss. For the gondolier, you can use black legs, red hips, the "mime" torso with normal hands, add a red cowboy bandana, and a macho Italian or Mediterranean looking face and hair. Even without the right hat, he looks immediately recognizable.

Hey everybody! As an archaeologist, I am always on the lookout for new cultural-historical themes, and new exotic global locales... In the last few years, we have gotten: 1) realistic Meso-American temples with Indiana Jones, 2) a beautiful new Arabian theme with Prince of Persia, and 3) an awesome revived Egyptian theme with Pharaoh's Quest... Is there any hard evidence for more archaeological or exotic cultural themes planned for the near future, e.g.: 1) An Ancient Greek or Roman theme, using the new fluted-ionic-column piece seen in the new Atlantis set "The Temple of Atlantis" (7985)? 2) More Japanese castles or Zen gardens, perhaps as part of the new NinjaGo theme, or taken from the Lego Universe video game? 3) New Polynesian locales or similar exotic locales, as part of the recently announced "Pirates of the Caribbean" sets? Or any others...? P.S. - I realize that a lot of these were put out in various incarnations around the late 90's while I was in Grad School, but the more recent generation of sets are all definitely much more realistic, have much more naturalistic color schemes, and have way more unique and accurate weapons and artifacts! What can we expect to see in the future? *****

Ooooh... Blonde "hot-girl-hair"!! And is it the same color as Willie Scott's and Elsa Schneider's from the Indiana Jones theme? Their hair color is listed as "bright light yellow" on BrickLink. And I agree... She's totally hot as a brunette too!! Thanks!! Douglas