Behold The Sphinx Secret Surprise! The Crowning Glory of The Lego Adventurers Egypt Series!
Written: May 03 '05
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Pros: Awesome figures, stellar sarcophagus, unique baseplate, tons of fun to build!
Cons: No longer made!
The Bottom Line: If you want to get one of the best sets in the Egypt series, look no further than this one!
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO - Sphinx Secret Surprise |
I have always loved the Lego Castle series and when the designers released the Egypt line under the Adventurers theme I went bonkers for them .. I wasn’t alone in slobbering over them either. My boys have always had a passion for learning about the Egyptian culture, lifestyles, hierarchy and theories about the afterlife so when they expressed an interest – a genuine interest – in getting some of the larger sets I couldn’t deny them. When they were younger they had a deep respect for Lego sets but it wasn’t until they got a little older that I let them get into the larger themes that not only cost more money but also required a little more patience to build. The Sphynx / Sphinx Secret Surprise set isn’t that complicated to build but it does take some time to complete the process. The instructions that come with it are easy to follow and the end result is definitely worth the time to build but this isn’t a set that beginners should try to tackle without some help from friends, siblings or mom and dad around. The booklet spans about twenty pages and comes with a nice little comic strip that helps to fill in the plot holes of the Adventurers ongoing quest. This is a nice set to have if you are trying to recreate one of the burial sites or even if you are branching out and trying to build your own Stargate scene – the cartouches are a nice touch and the baseplate is truly unique!
Sphinx Secret Surprise
This is a large sized set when compared to the rest in the series; the 342 piece count is made up of both large and small elements and you do get your moneys worth from this. The set is broken up into several smaller piece when building it so you aren’t working on one huge set at the same time. The largest piece is that of the baseplate; it has a lot of detail and depth to it and really adds a lot to the final impact. Just like most burial sites of kings and queens there is a main chamber into which you can slide the sarcophagus or just have the mummy figure resting peacefully. On top of that there is a large and somewhat strange looking sphinx; I only say that it looks strange because it is kind of hard to get an accurate looking sphinx from Lego bricks without having it about two feet in size. There is also a small guard statue to the one side [this can be moved to wherever you like it once you have built it]; as much as I hate to say it, this smaller monument looks better than the larger one. If you build the set according to the instructions then you will end up with a lot of cool surprises – like the pop out door to the main chamber, the tilting trap door and hidden treasure. The map pieces that come with the set are really nice and if you have collected ones from others then you can assemble them to have the figures go on a nice little hunt. The boys loved collecting these from all the sets but sadly most of them were identical pieces however the ones that you get with this set [four total] are all different.
There are some nice extras in the set like the gold coins, car, faux wooden crate, pick axe, shotgun, treasure orb, movie cameras, dynamite tiles, golden challis, magnifying glass, campfire set, tent [this is nice but not as nice as the older ones in the Jungle sets] and about twenty other little goodies. The car that comes with the set is easy to build and gives it a nice bit of flare – it is sort of a cross between the car in the Scorpion Tracker and Dr. Lightning's Car. There is a lot that you can do with this is you are up to the challenge and most of the pieces can be used to enhance the scene and make it a little more like an excavation site than a treasure hunt. And yes, there is a difference.
A Baseplate To Die For!
You can usually weed out the Lego fanatics from the run of the mill Lego fans by what they classify as “must have” pieces and in this set the baseplate is simply awesome. It is unlike any other – some of the castle sets had large green mountain like formations on which you could build your scene but this one has a large tan one that is just packed with awesome extras. It’s from this baseplate that you build the secret / trap door area, erect the sphinx, hunt for treasure and have adventures. This is the kind of thing that everyone fights over at conventions because it’s rare, worth a pretty penny and from it you can build any type of scene that you like. It isn’t until you see thing up close that you can appreciate it – the stenciled details like rocks, hieroglyphics, steps and ridges are what make this a true collectors item. If you are worried about it being fragile or that it might break easily don’t give that a second though. It’s made of a thick plastic that does have a bit of give to it but it’s strong enough to support the scene if you want to move it around. If you really want to make something that will knock peoples socks off add some sand around the edges of it when you have completed it – it looks awesome!
The Real Attractions!
Without a doubt the coolest pieces in the set have to be the ones that are stenciled with the Egyptian designs. There are three obelisks that you can position anywhere in the scene, what sets these apart from the ones that are featured in other Egypt sets is that they have a really nice pyramid at the top of them. These aren’t meant to take away from the large sphinx in the middle of it all but you can’t help but get sucked into looking at these awesomely detailed pieces. These are a lot like the ones that are featured in the other larger sets but instead of dealing with simple panels to decorate walls or tombs, these are full columns. I really like the fact that the designers decided to go with a large sphinx but some of the features of it are a little too complex to try and depict them with Lego bricks at this scale. I do have to give them credit for trying to stay accurate with the original plans that were made so many thousands of years ago but when you look at it up close it does look a little odd. It took me about four months of looking but I did eventually find a better piece to use for the nose.
In the front of the sphinx there is a small trap door area that can also be used to store some of the gold pieces and treasure that come with the set. This is tipped from side to side so if you have a figure walking across it the weight of it will tip the one end up and send it tumbling into the hole. There are a number of ways that this can be built and if you consider yourself an expert builder then you can add a swiveling peg to it so that it rotates a little more evenly. If you stack up a few bricks inside this space you can have it as a solid structure so that it doesn’t tip inward but that does take a little bit of the fun out of it. The set comes with a few snakes and scorpions and these are great things to have sneaking out of the doorway if you want to catch the figures off guard.
The Figures
I often say that the “make it or break it” detail to sets are the figures. This one has no shortage of fantastic figures to play with but as usual, my personal favorite has to be the skeleton. The one that you get with this set is the basic white one but he comes with an ornate headdress [white] that makes him look like some kind of a long lost king. Speaking of kings, you do get one in this set and man, he looks awesome! He’s the same figure that appeared in the Egyptian Mummy set but he has a little more color to him. While not a figure, the black sarcophagus is a really nice touch to the set and can be used with either the skeleton or the mummy. If you have never seen one of these you really don’t know what you are missing. It’s a glossy black two piece coffin that has a raised design on the lid. The boys had a great idea when they decided to take a metallic marker and give the top of it a little depth. This gave it a nice rich look to it and I often wondered why the Lego designers never thought to do this to the more elaborate pieces.
You also get some really nice explorers to go along with the set. Of course there’s Johnny Thunder and Sam Sinister but you also get Dr. Lightning and his trusty female assistant. The best thing about all the figures is that they can all make use of the accessories that come with the set – including tools, the treasure, map pieces, the vehicle, tent pieces and video camera. All of the figures have a good bit of stenciling to them and really add a lot of visual appeal to the set. The figures that come with the set do appear in others in the Adventurers and Egypt series but these are pretty hard to come by these days because both of the themes have been killed off by Lego. If you want to pick up extras check Lego fan sites like Peeron.com and BrickLink. They have honest sellers that won’t rip you off.
Price
This set was first introduced in 1998 and was pretty popular with those who wanted a little more “adventure” from their Lego pieces. Sadly, it wasn’t one of the most popular themes with Lego so it was killed off. The set has a suggested retail price of about $59.99 when it was on the open market but most people picked this up for less when they were put on clearance or sale. I found a couple of these on eBay for about $35.00 a piece and snapped them up without even bidding [I went for the Buy It Now price]. If you were to try to find this today I really wouldn’t pay more than $50.00 for it and that is if it is brand new and still sealed in the original box. Why? Because the only extremely rare piece in the set is the baseplate and you can find those for about ten dollars at Lego fan sites. Fifty dollars is the most I would ever pay for this set and I do consider myself a hard core Lego junkie. Most of the pieces can be picked up in other sets that are a little more common and easier to come by so if you can’t find this new, keep checking auction sites for it or start getting them piece by piece from brick vendors and brokers.
The Bottom Line
I am planning on buying a few more of these sets when I come across them online for a good price. Even if I don’t build them according to the provided instructions the pieces that come with the set can and will be used for other things. This is one set that I absolutely love – it has so much depth to it and the baseplate is so great to work with. You can have three or four of these in a scene and enhance them however you like and it doesn’t look like you just slapped four baseplates together. Because there is so much detail to the set if you had a couple of these on hand you could build each of them differently or just combine them to make one huge meg scene. This is one that any Adventurer or Egypt lover would kill for but like I said, don’t go bonkers and spend a ton of money on this set because they are available for under $50.00 if you are willing to put a little time into looking for them!
The Stats
Set Name: Sphinx / Sphynx Secret Surprise
Family Set: : Adventurers / Egypt
Lego Set: 5978
Number of Pieces: 342
Age Recommendation: 8 and older
Ease Of Assembly: Moderate
Time Of Assembly: 30 – 40 minutes
Cost: $ 50.00
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
Related reviews ..
Adventurers Johnny Thunder
Johnny Thunder and Baby Dino
River Raft
Sam Sinister And Baby T
Adventures Dr. Lightning's Car
Adventurers Pen
Jungle Surprise
Island Racer
Research Glider
Egyptian Mummy
Oasis Ambush
Scorpion Tracker
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): see review
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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