In 2008, LEGO released the first four sets in its newest franchise: the spectacular adventures of Indiana Jones.

Although LEGO altered some of the particulars for these sets (downplaying potentially touchy subjects such as religious iconography and Nazis as toys), in most of the details these sets are remarkably faithful to the original films.

Most gratifying of all, of course, is the introduction of the Indiana Jones minifig (making Harrison Ford hands-down the most minifigged man in history*) — complete with Indy's trademark fedora, bullwhip, satchel, and whiskered smirk.

Temple Escape

The granddaddy of the first four sets recreates the first set piece in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The LEGO designers managed to cram nearly every trap and pitfall from the South American temple into a corridor comprised of only five 12x12 baseplates. They're even laid out in (almost) the correct order:

on the way in — the carved entrance to the cavern the giant spikes that fly out of the wall (complete with the impaled skeleton of Forrestal) the spider web (which in the film was the first obstacle encountered) the pit the booby-trapped approach to the idol room (w/ darts that shoot from the walls) the very sinister idol room and on the way out — the idol room falls apart the stone wall on the far side of the pit comes down the giant boulder comes rolling down out of the ceiling and finally, waiting outside to swipe the idol from Dr. Jones is Belloq They've even included Indy's getaway plane, complete with pilot Jock, his fishing pole, and his pet snake Reggie.

Indiana Jones™ and the Lost Tomb

Clearly this is supposed to be the Well of the Souls, resting place of the Lost Ark. Even though they toned down the name, the LEGO designers didn't hold back on the snakes. "Asps. Very dangerous. You go first..." They also included a simple but unmistakable Ark of the Covenant:

Race for the Stolen Treasure

What seems strange about this set is that they substituted the Ark of the Covenant for a generic box of jewels, even though they did decide to include the Ark in another set (see above). The truck and jeep are nicely done, though, and if combined with the motorcycle and sidecar (see below), plus several more Nazis, you practically have the whole convoy from the desert chase scene. The trick here, of course, was to include Nazi minifigs without overemphasizing the fact that they're Nazis. After all, these are supposed to be toys aimed at a young audience. Luckily, the baddies in the movie mostly wear generic military fatigues (except for the officers, who all wear uniforms replete with eagles and swastikas, which may explain why they don't appear in these sets). At any rate, the end result is generic bad guys free of politically unpleasant markings.

Indiana Jones™ Motorcycle Chase

LEGO gave Temple of Doom a skip for the first release and decided to give Indy and Papa Jones some attention. Not a terribly exciting set, especially when there were so many more grand set pieces in both Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade. But definitely the one to get if all you're after is the Indiana Jones minifig.