5918 - Scorpion Tracker

Rating:
Pros: A fun period piece, nice introduction to the Adventurers theme
Cons: Some people don't like the specialized pieces.
Contents: 34 pieces including 1 mini-fig and 2 scorpions.
Price: $3.99
Reviewed: 31-Dec-1997
Reviewed by: Joseph Gonzalez

The madness at the digging site of Selket-Set continues in its seventeenth day. It was only four hours ago that the site was hit by a powerful storm of lightning (which blasted and disintegrated the larger structures that had been excavated) and an incredible rain of scorpions that overran the site and poisoned any workers that remained outside.
Tom awakens from the nightmare under a partially collapsed column at the temple of the goddess Selket herself. After freeing himself and emerging from the smoke and rubble, he carefully makes his way back to camp and the hope that he'll still find the jeep he has carefully prepared with supplies and rations to leave this terrible place.
By early dusk he approaches the camp and possible salvation, terribly aware that there may very well be more than scorpions waiting for his return!

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This is my very first 1998 model and it has turned out to be a nice experience. The scorpion tracker is a simple set comprising the new adventurer hero and his trusty desert jeep, some supplies, a map and a couple of scorpions to keep things interesting.
The main novelty of the set (and the subject of some debate among hardcore purists) is the tan seating element. The length of this element is five studs and the width at the base is four, but the width actually widens out to almost 6 studs just above the base. This extra-wide piece allows two seats to sit adjacently on either side of a centered line of studs for a stick shift or control-painted tile - just like in a real car. There is a vertical slot located behind the seats for storing a 2x2 tile. Debate is over the fact that this specialized element takes the place of what could have been built with say eight or nine pieces and thus detracts from the number of "all purpose" building bricks included with the set. (Other fans may also not care for the fact that the cab disallows opening doors.)
I confess that I originally didn't care for the seating piece either but the piece does make for a more streamline jeep cab than would have been possible with regular bricks and the allowance for a driver and passenger to sit side by side (practically a first in original Lego design) also sways my opinion toward accepting the new piece. Lastly, the one-piece double-seater element reminds me a great deal of similar pieces I used to use in assembling military models (like Tamiya or Monogram World War II stuff) from my teenage years, so nostalgia wins out and I find myself accepting the new element.
Other new pieces included in the set are an open 3x4 brown crate, the new spoked tire rims in tan, a 1x2 double-sloped tan piece (look for LOTS of new bricks in tan with these Adventurers sets), grill-and-headlamp element for the car, 1x4 clear hinged windshield element (not preprinted), a 2x2 preprinted map/hieroglyph tile, the new mini-fig and hat, and binoculars. Also, two oversized black scorpions now add nicely to the Lego animal kingdom.
The company is sadly sliding into producing more elementary models (with more specialized pieces reducing the number of simple building bricks) but I still enjoyed this simple model and look forward to see what else awaits us in the Adventurers series.