Subject:
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(most of) 1999 Adventurer's theme review
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.reviews
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Date:
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Wed, 6 Jan 1999 11:03:19 GMT
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Viewed:
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2054 times
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This isn't quite a full theme review, because I can't find either 5956 (the
airship) or 5902 (raft). The airship I'm not expecting to be much of a loss,
the raft I would like to see.
But otherwise, I'm treating it as a theme review.
Overall rating: Good
(fantastic, v. good, good, average, poor, v. poor, horrid)
New Elements: 1x2 brick with attachments(horizontal rod & vertical clip),
spider & spider web, decorated tiles (map,movie) new torso for female
minifig, 3 minifigs ('bad guys'), new gold, umm, thing?, green 'indian'
feathers, decorated headress, new style of 'native' minifig, various slopes in
new colors (grey, brown), new 3-piece palm tree (argh!) new palm leaf,
First Impression: great ideas, some good models, and a well-rounded theme.
Second Look: fairly well-balanced as a theme, and quite playable. The models
don't come across as well after a bit of play/thought, I have misgivings about
a slide towards town Jr.-ish construction.
Pro's: Good ideas, and theme is consistent across the models.
Con's: implementation is not so good. Most of the models look decent, but are
poorly constructed.
Comments: All-in-all, not a bad start to the new year, and worth getting once,
but I'm probably putting most of my Lego budget this year into Star Wars.
5925 Pontoon Plane: V. Good
71 pieces (~$.12 per)
Price: $8.99 Canadian (~5.00 US)
First Impression: Great model! Good playability, fairly solid construction,
with several rare or difficult to find parts, esp. the brown pieces and the
clear 1x2 thin wall. The storage compartment behind the seat is a neat
surprise that I didn't notice on the box.
Second Look: Still decent. The instructions have several nice alternate
vehicles pictured, and I was able to do one or two other things as well. I'm a
little disappointed in the lack of generic parts, after the enthusiasm of
harder to find ones wore off - exactly 3 standard bricks. I like the way the
wings are attached to each other, a 1x4x2 arch brick and a 1x2x2 train window
(sans glass) did a good job as wing struts.
Pro's: good playability, good alt. models, and hard-to-find parts for a decent
price.
Con's: another ubiquitous dynamite tile, minimal basic bricks or plates.
Comments: It's definately worth having for the price, but unless you're an
Adventurers fan, or want the hard-to-find parts, one is probably enough.
5936 Spider's Secret: V. Poor
121 pieces (~$.15 per)
Price: $18.99 Canadian (~$10.50 US)
First Impression: Hrmph. Stupid car, dumb trap.
Second Look: Hmm, it has some redeeming qualities. There's a bunch of animals
and accessories. I definately like the idea of 1x2 bricks coming with
attachments - I wonder why TLG hadn't done it before? A couple good ideas
(spare tire on car, camera stand) but you don't need to go farther than the box
to see them. On the negative side this set seems to continue some unpleasant
trends in new sets - decorated bricks rather than stickers, molded car body,
skimping on bricks. The trap is poorly designed. It's similar to the falling
axe in Ninja Surprise (60??), but it's only theoretically hidden. I think this
set is relying on the spiderweb to sell it.
Pro's: the brick+attachment idea, 6x12 green plate
Con's: many, listed above.
Comments: If you're an Adventurers fan, this may be worth more to you, but
otherwise, I'd suggest getting it only if you want a spiderweb or the gold
thing for less than $60.00.
5976 River Expedition: V. Good
313 Pieces (~$0.19 per)
Price: $59.99 Canadian (~32.50 US)
New (?) element: 2x2x3 brick, in brown
First Impression: Good playability, nice alt. models (although I didn't do much
with it) The boat is great! I was pleasantly surprised to find the forecastle
built of 3 molded parts and 1 multi-angle plate - I was expecting a molded hull
piece. The temple looks great until you turn it around. The dock extending
off the baseplate into the 'water' is cool. The trap is good, and a nice range
of parts.
Second Look: Still a good set. The look of the boat is really well done, and I
think I like it better after looking at/playing with it a while. I would have
designed the cabin a bit differently (the 1x2x2 bricks are a disapointment),
and the engine placement is out to lunch, but it doesn't detract much from the
design, for me. If this was by itself, it would rate at least a V. good. The
temple looks good from the front, but is a real disapointment behind, and not
much fun to build. Behind the facade, it consists of a BURP on one side, the
alter and that's it. At least the facade was worth it (I like the 'tongue' -
red tiles between the bottom teeth), although the top half is supported by a
4x10x1 brick/plate, rather than a solution using standard plates or bricks.
The trap works well, although the skeletion wobbles a bit (unavoidable,
really), and to me, seems a bit obvious. It has a good selection of
animals/accessories without going overboard.
Pro's: The boat is the really strong point of this set, for me. Otherwise, it
has more of the brick+attachments, a decent selection of parts, and better than
1 in 10 elements is a basic brick. (Easily the best ratio in the theme) A good
selection of plates as well, a couple 1x8 grey tiles and the specialized med
slope grey roof bricks (plus 6 1x2, 5 2x2, and 2 2x4) make this a good parts
set too!
Con's: the 3-piece plam tree! Why? Was the other one too complicated? (angst
angst bitter bitter) The foliage mix (from 4 different themes) clashes a bit,
but not bad. The temple model feels only half-finished.
Comments: This is a must-have, for Adventurers fans, and the rest of us. Aside
from a great (boat) design, it's a good set for parting out. The price/piece
seems a bit steep, but I expect I'll be picking up a few of these when sale
time comes around.
5986 Amazon Ancient Runes: Average
453 pieces (~$.19 per)
Price: $84.99 Canadian (~$47.00 US)
New Element: 32x48 raised 'river gorge' baseplate: It is mirror-imaged on both
the x and y axis, so you can get a pretty good impression of it from the box
cover and catalogue pics. I will take a picture and put it up on my web page
as soon as I get a chance.
First Impression: Hrm. Some good things, some not so good. The baseplate
didn't knock my socks off, but that may just be over-anticipation on my part.
The model is a bit simplistic in structure, although it looks decent. The
traps are well-hidden. Decorated elements again instead of stickers.
Second Look: I'm still not stunned by the baseplate. The traps are very well
done, though. The statue in the front corner (by box cover) doesn't really
look like a trap when untriggered - and the box revealed by it's triggering
holds the gold, by the instructions. A trap in the central area(not really
visible on the box) has a skeleton on a chain falling down, which is really
neat, and very well hidden, although the mechanism could have been better. The
falling bridge is generic, and the spear trap sticks. The more I think about
the design of the main structure, the less impressed I am. It's a modular
design, but the modules (if stuck down) are each held by three studs at every
corner, so won't come off easily. This could have been done much better as a
single structure instead of 4 modules. The parts selection isn't bad, but
isn't stunning either.
Pro's: lots of cash - 4 red gems, 1 coin set, the gold thing. The high-hulled
boat I think is better than the other style. An ok ratio of basic bricks
(about 1 in 15)
Con's: main structure is poorly designed - not quite modular, not quite solid.
The spear trap doesn't work well. Several otherwise useful parts have
decoration.
Comments: Hrm. It's worth it for a Adventurers fan, but otherwise only if you
want the baseplate badly. At $0.19/part, its a little expensive for parting
out, and the selection in 5976 is better.
There you go. This was my first attempt at a major review, so please let me
know what you think of it. I think I used a fairly sensible format, and gave a
decent amount of info, without getting too long.
Ok, maybe a bit long.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: (most of) 1999 Adventurer's theme review
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| (...) <most of review snipped> (...) I have put this up now: (URL) I really would like some feedback on the review itself... how was the format, too long, too short, not enough, too much, etc It's my first time doing a review like that, and I'd like (...) (25 years ago, 9-Jan-99, to lugnet.reviews)
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