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The dark temple of Set lays nestled in an overlooked hollow of the valley of
Karnak. Desecrated by thieves some thousand years before Christ, something was
awakened during the break-in. Since that time any vegetation within a 50-mile
radius refuses to grow. Oases dried up, water disappeared, and it is even
rumored that the very sand burns the unprotected feet of mortals who dare to
venture too close. The few travelers that have stumbled upon it and returned
to tell the tale say that an otherworldly moan emits from the temple orifice.
Furthermore, the outside of temple has taken on the visage of an unknown
pharaoh and at the darkest of midnight the very eyes of that countenance can be
seen to glow.
It's been awhile since I got excited about a brand new theme but the release of
Adventurers in 1998 really did it for me. I loved the Pharaoh's Forbidden
Ruins set at first sight but it would take almost a year and a half to finally
be able to afford it. I often buy new sets and let them sit on the shelf for
just a bit before I open and assemble them but the 5988 demanded to be opened
immediately! It's big, it has lots of people and there are just enough
vehicles and pieces that once I was finished with assembly I didn't have to
wrestle with my kids to get equal playtime with it, there was something for
everybody.
The set is comprised of the tomb a truck and a hot air balloon. The truck is a
six-wheeled vehicle with an open bed. The cab has a hinged roof but it looks
kind of goofy because the windshield sits low on the hood and there is a large
space between that and the roof. I give the designers a "B" for effort because
a truck fits in well with the other vehicles of the theme but it needed just a
little more design time to look good.
The balloon, on the other hand, was a nice, unexpected touch. The basket fits
three or four figures. On the floor there is a hot air tank with a hose that
connects to the bottom of the balloon. There's even a lever that looks like a
valve (nice realism). Netting stretches over the top of the balloon and there
are a few sandbags hanging on the sides of the basket.
Ah, but the tomb is the masterpiece of the set. The front of the tomb is so
designed that it looks like a real face with fangs and glowing eyes. (The Tyco
company did this a decade earlier with one of their more notable castle sets.)
There is an "eternal flame" burning just to the left of the entrance (the
instructions show the flame piece laying horizontally, what's up with that?)
and a standing obelisk. The entrance has no doorway but opens immediately to a
short corridor. Each wall of the corridor is made up of a skeleton standing
between two columns. A halberd hangs just behind the last column on the left
side (that trap will be explained in a minute). A chamber lies behind each
wall of the corridor. The chamber on the right is empty while the instructions
suggest placing a sarcophagus in the room on the left. The sarcophagus has a
blue bottom with a preprinted tan lid. A ladder hanging over the right chamber
leads to the second level. This level features two trap doors. One door opens
to drop whoever is standing on top of it to the floor below. The second
trapdoor is located directly above the entrance corridor. This second door is
loaded with bricks so that as it opens it drops the bricks on whoever is
walking around downstairs (KerSplatt!). Also, a chain is attached from the
bottom of this second trapdoor to the hanging halberd so that as the door opens
the halberd drops. If the travelers make it this far, there is a black
treasure chest at the far end of the second level.
This is only the front half of the tomb. There is a second "rear" half. Each
of the halves is erected on a 16x32 tan baseplate and the plates can be placed
adjacently (to make a complete tomb) or separated as distinct stages. The
second half depicts a ceremonial area. There are columns on each side of the
area with two jackal statues and a revoling door panel making up the rear wall.
A dark grey crocodile forms a table near each lateral wall. A scroll, black
chalice and some other transparent vial sits on each table. Between the crocs
is an altar based on two scorpions facing each other (nice imagery here). The
altar is hinged and sits at an angle like a low podium. Behind this altar is
the rear wall with a revolving panel. One side of the panel is blank or can
have a standing skeleton and the other side has a magnetic base. While it
isn't specifically pictured in the instructions, I believe a bell jar with a
gem is supposed to sit on the leaning altar. When the revolving door is turned
so that the "magnetic" side faces out, the base comes just close enough to the
altar that the jar jumps from the altar to the door (and out of the reach of
the adventurers). The door would be spun once again to show the blank wall and
your adventurers are left wondering what happened to their treasure.
This set includes everybody from the 1998 lineup: the pilot, standard
adventurer guy, pith helmet girl, pith helmet professor, monocle bad guy, black
hat bad guy, mummy and three skeletons. Of course, there are plenty of
supplies: rifles, picks, shovels, etc., plus lots of creatures: dark grey
birds, dark grey bat, snakes, scorpions.
There also many unique pieces including the dark grey car cab, large tan dome
top and bottom elements (for the balloon), eight red 3x3 diagonal beam bricks,
four of the new large sloping wall elements (two prepainted, two not), two tan
colored rock/wall pieces, lots of tan wood-shaped pieces (1x2 and 1x4), a dark
grey sarcophagus lid, two grey alligators, and the black treasure chest.
There are a lot of great aspects to this set and the fact that I've seen them
on sale for as low as $65.00 lately makes it well worth a discount price.
!!!4x2ReVu Stats!!!
Rating: Eight out of eight studs.
Thumbs up for: A great stand-alone set. Lots of figures, lots of individual
assemblies to keep yourself (or a small group) busy with.
Wallet-Wise: 710 pieces for approximately $80.00 (though that price has been
seen to drop considerably for clearance by late 1999).
Date: 10/29/1999
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