Picked up the Shanghai Chase set from Wal-Mart today. Along with Race For the Stolen Treasure, it's my favorite Lego Indy set. 'Course...it's my only other Lego Indy set, but I digress.
This set was definitely a pleasant surprise. The TOD car chase in and of itself isn't that great, but the cars used in it are great; it's nice to see Lego attempting old-timey style cars like this. The way you can make Willie's face turn scared simply by rotating her head is pretty neat, and the figures of Lao Che and Kao Khan are pretty decent likenesses (the box just calls them "Shanghai Gangsters" but the faces are dead ringers for Lao Che and Kao Khan).
My one complaint, really, is the Short Round figure. They've sacrificed height for his ability to actually sit in the car. To make him, well, kid-sized compared to the four adults, they gave him very short legs. Which can't bend. Meaning he can't sit behind the wheel, despite being the one who drove the car in the scene. Sure, the box art depicts him leaning out the car window, but in practice this just looks awkward. Shorty needs a pair of normal, bendable legs, height accuracy be damned.
Well, I do have one other minor complaint. This set retroactively makes Race For the Stolen Treasure suddenly not as cool anymore. Why? Because both cars in Shanghai Chase are just as big as the cargo truck! The truck is just plain dinky next to these things. Oh well. No fault of Shanghai Chase. Just Lego's lack of foresight (one assumes they didn't have Shanghai Chase planned at the time they made Race For the Stolen Treasure).
Glad I held out on it, though I did rent it back when it came out.
