Indiana Jones Toys

If you're looking for high adventure, there are few film licenses that take you to the places Indiana Jones can take you--the secrets of the ancient Middle-east are revealed, the depths of India explored, a Holy Grail found and finally, the depths of a South American Jungle exposed. In an Indiana Jones film series that is probably considered to be the most fun and exciting of its genre, we are treated to fun, action, adventure and now we're treated to toys.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull brings with it a merchandising drive the likes of which this license has not yet seen. Figures based on the first Indiana Jones film were released at the time, to not much success, and collectors seek those now with fervor.

But this time it is different, with merchandise of every variety being pushed based on this latest Indiana Jones release.

I've long been a fan of Hasbro's Titanium series of die-cast vehicles from the Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica line. They've done Spider-Man and Transformers, too. This time they tackle Indiana Jones.

With a release of 8 Titanium vehicles, varying in scale, but consistently about three-to-four inches in size (along their largest dimension), Hasbro has done what few have--brought small-scale toys to fans of the films. (Note: Micromachines did this several years ago, so Hasbro is not breaking bold new ground here, but since Hasbro bought out Galoob in 1998, this is a similar venture, even using Galoob as part of its branding.)

In the same oval packages that brought you the Star Wars and other Titanium die-cast toys, Hasbro brings eight vehicles from the four Indiana Jones films. For review today are four choice vehicles: the German Flying Wing from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Vogel's Mark VII Tank from Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade, the Jungle Cutter and Hangar 51 Rocket Sled from Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Each Indiana Jones vehicle is packaged with sepia-toned backs with printed information on the vehicles' specs and the part it played in the films. Made of a mix of die-cast metal and plastic parts, the vehicles each come with a display stand with the Indiana Jones logo brightly molded and painted on the front.

Small packages, big delights

Who can forget the classic fist-fight underneath the rotating propellers of the green German flying wing in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark? Well here it is, in one of only a few toy depictions of this vehicle available. Faithfully painted in matte green, gray underside and with yellow, black and red highlights, this airplane has rotating props (though not so freely rotating as to be ) and disappointingly, non-moving wheels. The Nazi Swastika is conspicuously absent from the tail fins.

Vogel's Tank is modeled after the British Mark VII from World War I. Its tracks surround the vehicle, unlike more modern tanks. Painted in thick beige paint, this vehicle has a swiveling turret (supposedly added by the Republic of Hatay in "Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade") and two rotating side guns. The tank tracks do not move, rather the vehicle has four small plastic wheels underneath to provide movement. The level of detail is surprisingly rich on this one.

The Jungle Cutter, seen in a silly scene in Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull apparently has the ability to cut trees so perfectly at high speeds that Jeeps can drive perfectly smoothly and at top speed behind it. But that aside, this vehicle is painted a matte black to look locomotive-like, with silver highlights dry-brushed on to appear as weathering. Like the Mark VII tank, its tracks do not move, and it, too, has small wheels underneath for rolling. Projecting from the front are two non-rotating blades poised to mow down massive trees in its path.

Perhaps most fun is the Hangar 51 Rocket Sled (also from Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). It is a green platform on four simple legs with a front-mounted drivers' seat, and a massive jet engine at the back. This version has two small figures attached to the deck, depicting the fight between Indiana and a Russian soldier as the sled jets across the Nevada desert. However, there are no wheels on this vehicle.

Due to the scale of these ships, detail is not vividly sharp, but again, this scale provides little room for such detail at this price. But above the molded detail, I find that on some of the Indiana Jones vehicles, the paint is applied so thickly that it reduces some of the detail that is molded on. While each vehicle comes with a display stand that looks like a small patch of ground, (which is nicely painted and detailed with a full-color logo splash on front) they are not always large enough to fit the vehicles they are packaged with, the worst case being the Rocket Sled with its four splayed legs, only three of which can feasibly fit at any one time.