Random set of the day: Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7621 Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb, released during 2008. It's one of 11 Indiana Jones sets produced that year. It contains 277 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$19.99/£17.59.
It's owned by 6,731 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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58 comments on this article
I actually recently took this set apart and bagged it up for a friend. Some cool stuff in it. Also I appreciate they included the Star Wars easter eggs from the movie as a sticker! Shame that sticker's a STAMP though.
How fitting as there are rumours about resurrecting the theme out there!
I remember really wanting this set when I was younger.
I don't even remember this set from when I was a kid, but I was never a huge Indiana Jones fan (unlike my best friend IRL, who named his son "Harrison". But he was also a huge SW fan, so I guess, that was pretty inevitable).
Of course it’s one of the sets I don’t have.
Man I was so pumped to get Indy sets. It’s too bad more of them weren’t from the original movies.
I like those old halberds / axes.
they need to update and release these sets like they did with the 20 years star wars ones.
@MCLegoboy said:
"I actually recently took this set apart and bagged it up for a friend. Some cool stuff in it. Also I appreciate they included the Star Wars easter eggs from the movie as a sticker! Shame that sticker's a STAMP though."
Aww thanks friend! :]
I have this one! One of the first on coming out of my dark age. I just rebuilt this and 7623 and have them in my office.
I have some of the parts from this. Here's hoping we get some more Indiana Jones sets based on the original films!
What the heck is wrong with Marions face!?
Never got to appreciate these sets, my only real memories of the line aside from the games are these sets getting unceremoniously destroyed and me losing the Minifigures (some permanently— I don’t think Jock has shown up in a decade and a quarter). The only memory I have of the Crystal Skull Temple is my brother shoving it off of the table I was building it on so he could make way for our cousin’s drawing stand or something, and to that I ask why the hell would you need a stand for it? I might not have ever finished that set and for that I wish I could’ve been older when this line came out, because at 4 or 5 I was too stupid to know how to rebuild these or even consider it, and I’ve either lost or broken the parts necessary to rebuild the temple… okay, I’ve said too much.
Amazing set, maybe the best of the line, and one I have been able to rebuild completely.
I was looking at the picture thinking, How are the statues' arms attached? That looks like a nipple tile, but those didn't exist back then." It's been a long time since I built the set, so I couldn't remember the details. I had to go to the set's More Images tab to refresh my memory.
I have to wonder how many people thought the Star Wars Easter egg that @MCLegoboy pointed out was just the Lego set designers being cute, not realizing it was actually the movie set designers.
It seems too much is crammed into a very limited space. Those were the economical days I guess. If desigend today, this would be larger set with a higher price tag.
I have all the Indy sets and this is my favorite ... it best captures the fun of the first movie and looks a like the movie.... much more than the Temple Escape or Temple of Doom sets...
Man, I always wanted this one! I love the pieces here. I don’t know why I didn’t buy it. That’s my fault. I only have the motorcycle one with Indiana and his dad.
@MCLegoboy:
The SW sticker references one of three Easter eggs I know of in the first film, but isn’t actually based on it. For those who aren’t aware, if you pause Raiders at the following spots:
1. 00:11:12 - The tail number on the float plane is “OB-CPO”.
2. 1:06:08 - While it’s visible for much of a previous shot, you’ve only got about ten frames to catch this one. On either side of the Ark’s casket, there are slender pillars with giant snakes spiraling up around them. About shoulder height to Indy (before Sallah blocks your view), you can see a hieroglyph of R2-D2 with a humanoid figure (jury’s still out on whether this is Princess Leia recording her video, or C-3PO). I’ve been able to track down a clear photo of a second hieroglyph showing the two droids in the exact same pose, but with a seated Egyptian on the left, but have not been able to determine if this appears anywhere in the film, or indeed if it was part of the movie set.
3. 1:44:04 - All those floodlights surrounding the Ark ceremony? The shades are R2-D2 heads. Due in part to how they’re used, you never get a clear view of them, but perhaps the best shot is at 1:48:18, right after the lid has landed on the Ark. The very next shot shows Indy and Marion tied to one of the light poles, and you can see a distinctive ring of cutouts in the shade above Indy’s head that matches the blue panels on R2’s head, which conceal the radar and periscope in Ep5, and Luke’s lightsaber in Ep6.
@gorf43:
They put a shade line on her upper lip, but not her lower one. But forget Marion! The real question is what’s wrong with Indy’s face. I got two copies of this set. I built the one I got right after release, and it was fine. I got a second copy for parts, and pulled this guy:
https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3079065
Turns out, a bunch of Clone Wars Anakin heads got mixed in as Indy heads, and a bunch of copies shipped with this error. I did get a replacement head sent to me, but never opened the part bag. This guy is on my fridge, built exactly as shown.
@Trigger_:
Hands down, the best IJ set is the temple run from the cold opening of Raiders. It includes the entire path from the entrance to the idol, and every booby trap shown in the film.
I got this in a bulk lot a couple years back, and it was 100% complete, with instructions!!
I love the R2-D2 / C3PO pick on the wall at the back! Was so surprised to see that there
:)
Man I loved this set! Really makes me wanna go rebuild it
Given you normally only got one or two per set, that is an appreciable number of snakes. Bad luck Indy XD
Why did it have to be snakes!
What a terrible Johnny Thunder ripoff!
Really hope the rumours are true and we get to see Dr. Jones in Lego form again this year!
For all the people in here excited for Indy returning in LEGO for the new movie: Don't get your hopes up.
All the sets will probably be based on the new movie which will probably suck, and they will probably be just oversized vehicles like in most themes we have today. Don't expect a whole lot of location based-sets like in the original line.
Not to mention how the line doesn't even have any sort of very "iconic" vehicles or locations like Star Wars or Harry Potter does with their respective Millenium Falcon and Hogwarts Castle.
Most of the original Indiana Jones sets from 2008-2009 were kind of just products of their time, and wouldn't likely be made today.
Love that Easter egg! In fact, this is actually one of my most wanted Indiana Jones sets, which is saying something!
Wait what happened to random part of the day???
Why it has to be so many snakes?!
At first glance I thought it was Adventurers, but there was something odd about it. Then I noticed "Indiana Jones" and was disappointed.
No Random Part today?
@Lego_lord said:
"It seems too much is crammed into a very limited space. Those were the economical days I guess. If desigend today, this would be larger set with a higher price tag."
Thank god they didn't. So many childhood sets would have been snatched away by a hefty price tag. I do worry that Lego is becoming a rich man's toy with the lack of decent sets available under 30 quid these days.
Still have it up displayed.
One of my fav Indy set. Love all the little traps, etc.
And that GREAT sticker. Wish I had another of it.
So much fun playing with my kid. One of the best small playsets of all time and it looks good on display.
What I did was swap out the pearl gold on the Ark for chrome gold parts and it really makes the display pop.
This set is an absolute gem. The dimensions are about right for a little back of the building upgrade to 60008 Museum Break-in released in 2013.
I have this set. It's a great design with all the features one could want. Both statues can fall down and break a wall if you remove an axle. One even has a skeleton hanging behind it. The snakes can pour from above the ark, effectively distributing them accross the floor.
But personally I never 'loved' this set beside its movie significance. It's not very colourful (especially the drab hyroglyph), the functions aren't all that exiting, and there's an annoying lack of actual room for the figs to stand on the floor. The backside is also bland and featureless: there's only one good angle for it. Also, the scene is so specific that it doesn't really fire the imagination like Adventurers sets do.
In a sense it's more like modern sets: a display set with some action features to re-enact a pop-culture scene, but more economical and affordable. And with now it would feature waay more detail. And somehow one vehicle.
That's why I agree with @LegoDavid and @Lego_lord that sets today wouldn't be the same anyway.
Not to mention that my 1x1 round bricks in dark red crack one after the other every time I build it. It also happens on my 6751 Fiery Legend, which also is always scary to rebuild.
@TheOtherMike it's a yellow 4L (lightsaber) bar through two 2x2 bricks with axle hole with yellow half bush pieces.
Aside from the thought that it's exceptionally weird to see The Ark of the Covenant Law rendered in Lego, given the company's typical stance against depicting anything of religious significance, I feel like this practically looks like it could be an Adventurers set! The 'pull pin, statue falls' feature is right out of the Adventurers line, and the jackal statues themselves look like upright updates of the one I have from 5938. Not to mention the additional jewel above the shrine, the surprise skeleton reveal feature, and the (abundance of!) snakes... all hallmarks of the original Adventurers lines. Set it as an additional chamber behind 5988, it would fit right in!
I'd love to see a new Lego theme based on Ancient Egyptian designs like this, Adventurers, and Pharaoh's Quest. It would just be a really cool subject matter to revisit ^^
A fun detail about this set is that some of the hieroglyph artwork is taken directly from the Adventurers line.
I still have bits of this set assembled in my bin. The ears do not want to come off those anubis statues.
Last year was the year of Indiana Jones LEGO for me.
I lucked into an open box (sealed parts) for a good deal last year...same with the Temple of Doom Set with Mola Ram..that box had some water damage, but parts were sealed. I got the Shanghai Chase in a random tub, was missing some parts, but now is complete. Then in a Facebook group, I got 3 small sets Ambush in Cairo, Jungle Duel, and River Chase for a good deal. Then right before Christmas, I got a mostly complete Temple Escape. I still need a few pieces for that one, including the crazy priced boulder, though I can always temporarily subsitute a cheaper gray color (or use the one I have in my Scorpion's Palace set).
I'd really like to get at least one set with Sean Connery, the plane one preferably, but it's a bit pricey unless I find a deal. The Fight on the Flying Wing looks like a fun one too.
Fun to score so many when I previously had none...and I wasn't specifically seeking them out, just came across deals on ebay and one Facebook.
^ @sbpyrat, very lucky! Awesome.
I was just coming out my dark ages when the Raiders sets came out, and I couldn't justify spending the money on them. Now, many years later, I am spending much much more money to acquire them, and I have no problem with it.
Seriously why is no one talking about the lack of random part of the day????
@Goujon said:
"Seriously why is no one talking about the lack of random part of the day????"
I can't speak for anyone else, but today's Random Part is showing up on the homepage just like normal for me. Here's the link:
https://brickset.com/article/70244/random-part-of-the-day-flap-3x12x2-3-w-fork
It's probably just the box (and to an extent the effects of inflation) but this looks very substantial for $20.
Only Indiana Jones set I ever bought, wish I bought more; but this set is still great even if a bit fragile in parts. I did chase down a Henry Jones Sr. minifigure on Bricklink once, but have yet to try and buy any full sets so this one set still remains my only one I own from that theme.
As well as swinging the two Anubis, there was a clever lever at the back which allowed you to drop all the snakes on top of the Ark, plus a chain to swing Indy on to escape the snakes.
One of my earliest LEGO sets. (Thanks mother!)
I chose it because I was really into egyptology as a seven year old.
I had only a fleeting knowledge of who Indiana Jones was.
Aside from the whip I'm certain I still have all the pieces and even all the stickers still attached in decent condition!
Good gods, the Indiana Jones sets were great. I'm not really a vehicle-guy, but those designs were amazing.
Had they be released today I would've gotten almost every set in the line, and I've never had that desire for any other theme (except maybe Pirates of the Caribbean and Atlantis).
I really hope the theme properly returns this year or the next.
When I got this set in 2008, I was surprised and somewhat disappointed to find an Anakin Skywalker head instead of an Indiana Jones head. I wondered if there was some kid somewhere who opened up 7669 and was disappointed to find an Indiana Jones head instead of an Anakin Skywalker head.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Trigger_:
Hands down, the best IJ set is the temple run from the cold opening of Raiders. It includes the entire path from the entrance to the idol, and every booby trap shown in the film."
I haven’t been able to rebuild that set completely since I’m missing a boulder track and a few other pieces so I can’t form an opinion on it. I’d say that this is probably the best deal in the theme if nothing else, though, but that’s just what I think personally.
One of my favorite sets as a kid, but that sticker over multiple parts is a horrendous crime
@LuvsLEGO_Cool_J said:
"^ @sbpyrat, very lucky! Awesome."
I definitely lucked into some deals. Still paid a bit, but definitely under market value (especially for the sealed sets).
Hmm, timely...story's going around, we're getting more Lego Indy this year...don't know how: Indy 5 has been delayed for another year...
@GSR_MataNui said:
"One of my favorite sets as a kid, but that sticker over multiple parts is a horrendous crime"
Tell me about it; I've lost quite a few of the stickers from the jeep set when it was taken apart because of that method. Thankfully, the one from this set is still intact and I intend to keep it that way.
@brick_r It's likely that they're gonna base the sets on the existing films
Huwbot getting ready for the new Indy film.
I got a nice mix of Indy in 2020 from a bulk haul. Highlights were the metallic gold chest from 7622, Indy minifig x5, the overmolded skull from 7627, and most of the jungle cutter 7626. I recognize this set as part of the mix thanks to the 1x6x5 panels with stickers.
@legoDad42:
That was one of the annoying aspects of the IJ theme. There were two sets that featured the Ark, and they used completely different solutions for the same artifact.
@ThatBionicleGuy:
Indiana Jones was an odd theme in terms of the things it included that seemingly violate internal bans on subject matter. The main villains whose mere name can get comments rejected or deleted on many sites? It has several, but never with any identifiable insignia. Religious iconography? The Grail never appears, but it’s got the Ark and some Sankara Stones. Modern military weapons? Indy flies a German D-EKVY parasite biplane against Swiss Pilatus P-2’s that were probably meant to represent the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. This might be the only major retail set to depict real, armed, 20th century military vehicles (the Flying Wing and Tree Cutter were fictional, and the Red Baron triplane and various Sopwith Camels were either D2C or GWP releases). There’s a German utility vehicle, a Russian amphibious vehicle, and some sort of small Russian boat that all have heavy machine guns mounted on them, but I don’t know if that’s historically accurate, or if they just did that for the films.
I don’t see how you do sets based on those IJ films without breaking those rules. Obviously you avoid making stickers with one particular German symbol, and they skipped the (actually-British) German tank from Last Crusade. The religion thing is tricky to nail down. Early in the company’s history, they molded a GitD cross that you could hang on your wall, which makes sense since nearly everyone in Denmark is Christian. Currently, Ideas has a flat ban on anything religious. Before that, LEGO Stores had a program where LUGs could display MOCs in the Brand Ribbon display cases, and a couple people I’ve met explained what caused a ban on religious content in that program, which had not been part of the original rules (a _lot_ of content bans got handed down at the same time, I believe). At least one of the Architecture Skyline sets has featured a tiny church, but Winter Village has avoided that staple of Christmas Village displays. Ancient religions are obviously not off-limits, as they made two metal figures based on Greco-Roman gods for one of the NASA missions, they made Ares for the first Wonder Woman movie, and Thor for several Marvel sets. They made Medusa, Disney’s Hercules/Hades, and a CMF who’s based on either Poseidon or Neptune. They’ve also made umpteen bazillion Santa Claus minifigs, but he’s clearly an exception due to how secularized the modern depiction has become.
As for RPotD, I checked after this article had posted, and no Part article appeared on the home page. I did a search to get into the RPotD feed, and yesterday’s article was the top of the list. Something clearly didn’t work right.
@ShilohCyan:
Try twisting them to get them started.
@Bricknave:
https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3079065
So you got one of these guys? A lot of people had the same thing happen, but I never heard of the reverse, so it appears to have just been one head getting stored under the other SKU. Possibly what happened is someone didn’t notice right away when a changeover happened, a tub full of one head accidentally got set down with some of the other, or they got mixed up in a single tub.
@brick_r:
Try to find a Minions set at retail when the movie comes out this summer.
@Rimefang said:
"This set is an absolute gem. The dimensions are about right for a little back of the building upgrade to 60008 Museum Break-in released in 2013."
That’s what I did to my Museum Break-in but with the smaller Scooby Doo set 75900 not the Indiana Jones
I’ve got some of the IJ sets but unfortunately not this one.
But I do have the minifigs and the ark.
Since it’s release, we’ve now got 2x2 Pearl gold plates, so you can replace the ark’s brown and yellow plates and finally make a complete gold ark, seen here: https://youtu.be/nPkrZmAsVW0
" @Bricknave:
https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3079065
"
"Sand... why did it have to be sand?!?!"
@Trigger_:
I will say that the boulder trap is one that probably depends on being able to build it correctly to work right. I vaguely remember having to tweak how the flex-tube was clipped to force the rails into the proper shape to get the boulder to behave right. The dart wall probably depends on correct technique to operate, and most likely could be improved with modern parts. And there’s nothing you can really do about the depth of the pit trap, aside from making it rectangular and filling it with spiderwebs to hide the crash pads. But the whole thing feels like it’s just missing a camera crew to film all the action. I wouldn’t be surprised if the set designer either worked on, or was inspired by, the Studios theme, though the temple run beats anything that theme had to offer.