For the next of my LEGO® Indiana Jones set reviews, it’s time to head on a Last Crusade. In the last of Indiana Jones’ original adventures, the famed archaeologist reunited with his Dad and went in search of the Holy Grail. Obviously, things don’t always go smoothly for Indy and his quest is marred by nefarious forces. One of whom is included in this set as the pilot of the fighter plane which chases Dr Jones Senior and Indy. This is the smallest of the new LEGO Indiana Jones. So let’s take a look at set 77012: Fighter Plane Chase.
Product Details
Set Name: Fighter Plane Chase | Set Number: 77012 | Pieces: 387 | Theme: Indiana Jones
RRP: £29.99/$34.99/34.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 3 | Instructions: Paper + Builder App | Minifigures: Indiana Jones, Professor Henry Jones Snr & Fighter Pilot | Stickers: Sheets x 1
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail From April 1st
After retrieving the notebook from Berlin, Indy and his father flee Germany on a Zeppelin airship. But it isn’t long before their attempts to escape are thwarted and the pair commandeer a biplane. After a machine gun mishap requires them to borrow a local’s car. It’s the ensuing chase between the vintage car and fighter plane which has inspired this particular Indiana Jones set.
There are three buildable elements to this set, the first being a road sign warning of a tunnel and showing the way to Berlin. This does feel a little too modern looking. Especially as the sign shown in the scene is an old wooden one. It’s only a small part of the set, with the focus being the two vehicles.
The first of those vehicles is the vintage white Citroën 11 Légère Cabriolet. This open-top, two-seater car has a very unique appearance and it’s been almost perfectly recreated in LEGO form. The large black wheel trims look great against the white of the car. I quite like the way the sloping rear of the car has been achieved along with the larger 3×3 round tile on the back, acting as a spare tyre. The car has enough space to comfortably seat two minifigures and even has a space in the back for a truck and suitcase to be slotted in. There are a few differences between the set and the car from the film. First, it’s lacking a windscreen, although the bar rack frame used instead, provides a much better finish. It also lacks a wing mirror on the driver’s side and the front grill is a little different. But considering the scale of the vehicle, the details it does include are quite impressive.
The other vehicle is the German Fighter Plane, as with the car, the design has been tweaked not only to accommodate the scale of the set but also to remove any direct connections to the plane used in the film. With the enemies of the Indiana Jones film being inspired by the extremely evil Nazis, including them in a kid’s playset is a little tricky. So the design of the plane has become a little more generic. But its overall style is very similar.
In the film, the dimwitted German soldier decides to fly his plane into a narrow tunnel in pursuit of the Joneses. Obviously, this causes the plane to lose its wings and coast past the car in a trail of flames. Those fiery sparks have been incorporated into the undercarriage of the plane. The wings can also be easily removed to recreate the moment from the film. A word of caution when applying the clear sticker to the canopy of the plane’s cockpit. It needs to be placed a few millimetres away from the lip of the element. If not it leaves too much of a gap on the opposite side and as it’s a clear sticker, peeling it back to reapply causes the sticker to have a cloudy finish. I’d also suggest applying it with the tip of a brick separator as it easily picks up fingerprints.
The set includes three minifigures all of which are exclusive to this set. That includes a unique version of Indy, which features him wearing a tie. The updated version of the character also has a new hat piece, which now includes hair. I much prefer this version of the iconic hat over the original hat. But it seems to have divided fans. One thing I always found odd was the fact Dr Jones Snr is sporting a helmet-like hat. The previous version used the same element, yet it really is a departure from the hat he actually wears in The Last Crusade. It’s more of a bucket hat, which I guess the closest similar element would be the CMF Series 11 Scarecrow’s hat. But the rope detail it features wouldn’t fit the style of the hat, worn by Dr Jones. The character is a nice improvement over the 2008 version with much sharper print detail on both the head and torso. The pilot is fairly generic and similar to most of the other name-less goons featured in these sorts of sets.
Overall
Admittedly, it’s not as exciting a set as the Temple of the Golden Idol, but it’s a more budget-friendly means of getting hold of the new Indy minifigure. It also offers something different from the original run of sets, which previously featured another chase, but one with Indy and his Dad riding a motorcycle and sidecar. Although the plane has been rightly made more generic, the car is a fantastic recreation of what was featured in the film’s exciting chase sequence. I also like that the set has a unique version of Indy, especially as it would have been easy to just feature the same version across all three of the new sets. Shame Dr Jones Snr still sports his odd helmet hat though.
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This set was provided BricksFanz and provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
