
Sixth Scale
Grail Diary
(Indiana Jones)
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I recently had a guest review of the excellent Sovereign
Studios custom Indiana Jones
figure. It proved quite popular, and I've gotten quite a few comments
and questions on it. Tonight's review covers another important item
that your 12" Indiana Jones must have - his Grail Diary.
A gentleman named Daryl Williams at Digital
Designs produces this set of documents for your custom Indiana, scaled
perfectly for a 12" action figure. He also produces a second set
called the Raider's Journal, with documents pertaining to the Raider's of
the Lost Ark film.
All the documents in this set are for the
third film in the series, and the PC Game of the same name. The set
includes a 36 page Grail Diary, with info and images from the movie and
game. There's also a wrapped package addressed to Professor Indiana
Jones, the Grail tablet rubbing, a Los Angeles rail ticket, a silver
certificate $1 bill, a ticket for the 1908 Henry Jones lecture, a zeppelin
ticket, tavern rules, the Italian telegram addressed to Henry Jones, a train
schedule, a tintype style picture of a young Indy and Henry, an Anna Jones
memorial card, 2 letters addressed to Henry, a 1913 map of Venice, Henry's
Princeton I.D., and a newspaper clipping about finding the lost Gospel of
Joseph of Arimathea. Whew - that's a lot of documents!
Daryl sells these on ebay, and you can
expect to pay around $30 - $40 for each set.
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Packaging - **1/2
Simply but attractive is the best way to describe the package you receive.
The documents are stored in a small zip lock bag with a header card. The
back of the header card lists everything inside, and it is done in a graphical
style reminiscent of the films. The only real importance to this package
is to give you some place to store the documents when not in use, and by using a
zip lock bag they've got you covered.
Printing Quality - ***1/2
One of the most crucial aspects of anything like this is the quality of the
print. Although many of these documents are extremely tiny, the print is
legible on all. It might require a magnifying glass to read, but it's
there.
I was particularly impressed with the photos -
the picture of Anna Jones, of Indy and his dad together, and of Henry on the
I.D. My photos can't do this stuff justice!
Paper Quality - ***1/2
The paper used is also of a high quality, and about the right thickness.
Had it been thicker, the feeling of appropriate scale would have been lost, but
had it been thinner, the small documents would have been much more prone to
damage.
Scale - ****
The scale of these documents to your average 12" figure is extremely
good. That varies a bit of course, as the size of your 12" figure
varies pretty widely - Sideshow is extremely tall, while Drastic Plastic and
Joes are on the shorter side. But these documents should look right at
home with any of them.
Value - **1/2
Getting this set for under $40 isn't a bad deal. Considering they are
custom made, and that anything related to the Indy films tends to command a
higher price than usual, I'm not surprised.
Overall - ***1/2
I'm very impressed by the quality and the detail in these documents.
They make a fantastic addition to any Indiana Jones diorama or display.
Where to Buy -
That's a bit tricky - Daryl usually sells them on ebay, so you can keep your
eyes peeled for one of the auctions there from the seller "digitaldesigns".
Daryl has additional pictures of the Grail
Diary on-line. If you have any questions, drop Daryl
an email, and I'm sure he'll be happy to help answer them.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS!
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 Figure from the collection of
Michael Crawford.
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