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An 8! OoooooOOOoooo! Got this one for my son at $50 from TRU. A great set.
Bruce
In lugnet.reviews, Joseph Gonzalez writes:
> 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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 | | 4x2ReVu: 5988 Pharaoh's Forbidden Ruins
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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 (...) (25 years ago, 12-Nov-99, to lugnet.reviews, lugnet.adventurers)
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