A Million Little Bricks

by Sarah Herman

  * * *

  Jørgen Vig Knudstorp was quick to recognize the importance of TLG’s longest running play themes. “A brand like LEGO is very iconic but also nostalgic and well established and it’s something that the consumers understand,” he told Business Management magazine. “They also understand the play value—the number of play hours associated with the toy—is very high.” As the world began to feel the effects of the late-2000s recession, LEGO products suddenly became a more reliable, more economically justifiable toy. While competitors were selling cheaper products or expensive electronic items, the LEGO Group was selling the same products parents had played with as children themselves, toys that lasted for generations and kept children happily occupied for hours on end. Godtfred’s Principles of Play that he’d issued to employees in 1962 were equally relevant in the twenty-first century to cash-strapped parents as they had been then. But while the classic product lines such as LEGO City continued to be top sellers for the company, story-based themes like LEGO Star Wars were emerging as front-runners in some markets. Undeterred by the relative failure of previous unlicensed adventure themes and buoyed by Star Wars’ success, the LEGO Group found some new and improved ways to bring action and fantasy to fans. By introducing more contemporary building styles, colors, and tongue-in-cheek characters with interesting backstories, a number of distinctive-looking themes have emerged that fans have wanted to invest in.

  Rock Raiders (1999–2000)

  Despite only being available for two years, making them one of the shortest-running LEGO themes in recent years, the Rock Raiders mythology was surprisingly elaborate, with the characters and storylines being extensively developed by PC games and comics, which came with first editions of some of the sets. Despite the fact that the Rock Raiders were the crew of a spaceship and on a voyage of the planets searching for energy crystals, they were not a sub-theme of Space. All of the sets released refer to the action on an alien planet in another galaxy. After the Raiders’ ship was sucked into a wormhole, they focused on the mining and transportation of crystals but were soon confronted with the local wildlife, including the territorial Rock Monsters. The sets themselves were fairly modest, the largest of which was the Rock Raiders HQ—as a processing and transportation center for the crystals, it included a crane and a laser. There was also a bulldozer (4950), a drilling “Chrome Crusher” (4970), and a flying transport unit (4980) that all followed an industrial brown/gray color scheme with touches of teal. The minifigures had distinctive, detailed torsos as well as teal-colored details and various accessories including saws and axes.

  LEGO EXO-FORCE (2006–2008)

  Among the LEGO-building community, mecha building—the construction of robotic mechanical machines controlled by humans—is a popular medium often referencing Japanese manga and anime. Combinations of LEGO bricks and Technic parts enable builders to design other-worldly creations with both organic and mechanical properties. The LEGO Group had touched on this kind of toy previously with Space themes such as 1994’s Spyrius and 1997’s Roboforce line, but EXO-FORCE was the first theme with a detailed storyline that centered on the idea of human-controlled mecha versus machines. Between November 2005 and March 2008, TLG released forty issues of the EXO-FORCE online comic, detailing the ongoing storyline that related to the waves of toys they released. These stories were embellished in a series of books for young readers as well as extended TV commercials.

  Set on Sentai Mountain, EXO-FORCE referred to a group of elite human pilots chosen to protect their home, which was under attack from drone machines controlled by a rogue robot called Meca One. To arm themselves against the giant robot fighters, four EXO-FORCE members piloted their own uniquely designed mecha weapons. The comic followed the team as they battled the relentless robots, searched for new technology in the legendary Golden City, and eventually traveled to their enemy’s jungle base to save their leader.

  The first wave of toys released in 2006 included individual battle machines Grand Titan (7701) and Mobile Defence Tank (7706) powered by their EXO-FORCE pilots, as well as individual robot machines such as Thunder Fury (7702) and Sonic Phantom (7704). The largest sets for kids to get their hands on were Striking Venom (7707)— the robots’ intimidating mobile battle station used to dig their way into the mountain and recharge their batteries—and Sentai Fortress, which at 1,499 pieces included Meca One’s personal battle machine and EXO-FORCE’S blue Silent Strike. The 2007 toys were set in the Golden City and centered on the Fight for the Golden Tower (8107). The EXO-FORCE had a range of new mecha to play with and their robot enemies had also upgraded their machinery. In 2008 when the action moved to the jungle, there were new vehicles to pilot, but no base set where the EXO-FORCE leader, Sensei Keiken, was being held prisoner. The medium-size sets included the robots’ Storm Lasher (8117), with its spinning turbine wings with blades to slash through the jungle, and the Hybrid Rescue Tank (8118), with moving treads, rotating blaster cannon, and detachable flying vessel.

  One distinctive feature of the EXO-FORCE line was that particular models could be combined to produce super battle machines, referred to in the storylines. For example, Thunder Fury (7702) and Fire Vulture (7703) could be connected to create a larger robot machine known as Raging Storm. This extra construction value made the comic and other online material an integral part of the EXO-FORCE play experience and encouraged fans to collect the sets needed for these super builds, as well as to create their own. Additionally, the EXO-FORCE minifigures were some of the more unusual that LEGO has created. The robots themselves are mechanical drones available in gold (Meca One), silver (Devastator), and a rusty brown (Iron Drone), while the EXO-FORCE team members have distinctive faces with larger manga-style eyes and chunky hair pieces available in their cartoonish spiked styles and bright colors.

  Three of the EXO-FORCE team members (from left to right), Takeshi, Hikaru, and Ryo, show off their unique hairstyles and facial expressions. © Ruben Saldana

  Due to the theme being discontinued in 2008, the final part of the EXO-FORCE storyline was never told, leaving some die-hard fans disappointed.

  Aqua Raiders (2007)

  After ten years of absence, the “Aquaraiders” name reappeared on toyshop shelves as Aqua Raiders, when the Aquazone sub-theme was reinvented as a stand-alone underwater theme. Set in the Bermuda Triangle, the new divers are the best of the best sent on a dangerous mission to uncover hidden treasures that lie deep at the bottom of the ocean using the latest technologies. According to the theme’s backstory, as soon as the divers made their descent, they were attacked by sharks, eels, octopuses, lobsters, and a host of other unusual sea creatures.

  These sets focused on predators of the deep rather than a conflict between two sets of deep-sea adventurers. Sets such as Tiger Shark Attack (7773) and Crab Crusher (7774) include pieces to build a large toothy fish and menacing crustacean that tower over the Aqua Raider’s minifigures. The divers were not without their tools, though—there was the robot arm and drill on the exploration rover from Lobster Strike (7772), the harpoon cannon and aqua-missile from Tiger Shark Attack, and the mounted harpoons on top of Sub 76 in the Shipwreck (7776). The largest set by far was Aquabase Invasion (7775), which featured the Aqua Raiders underwater stronghold—a sizable base with mini-submarine launching ramp, harpoon turret, crane arm, and observation station—and a giant squid with articulated tentacles and a transparent belly to show off its last meal—a rather miserable skeleton.

  This 2007 Aqua Raiders set included a mini-sub with the Raiders’ logo and a giant anglerfish with glow-in-the-dark jaws. © Kent Quon

  The Aqua Raiders’ base and fleet of underwater vessels were predominantly yellow and black, while their predators mainly had black and/or gray as a base color with red, green, or blue pieces added for more realistic decoration. The divers themselves, who rarely had smiles on their faces, wore black and blue zip-up wetsuits and blue snorkel-style goggles over their black helmets. Their ships and base as well as their uniforms fe
atured the Aqua Raiders’ logo—a blue forked trident.

  Agents (2008–2009)

  Although TLG retired the Alpha Team and their evil nemesis in 2005, they were not ready to leave the secret agent play theme. After much revision and a brand-new set of characters and storylines, they unleashed a new breed of action heroes with the Agents line in 2008. This time, the skilled team of special agents (with similar monikers, such as Chase, Fuse, Charge, and Trace) were fighting a more traditional villain—one who wanted money and enjoyed terrorizing LEGO City where part of the theme was set. His name was Dr. Inferno and he was helped by a band of willing henchmen including Gold Tooth, Fire Arm, Claw-Dette, Slime Face, and Spy Clops—detailed minifigures with various weapons in the place of limbs. The 2008 sets were all based around vignettes from an overarching storyline, which could be played out by amassing the entire collection. These included a secret swamp base with radio-controlled crocodiles (8632), a chase scene with the Agents’ turbo car and Spy Clops’ mecha-copter (8634), and a speedboat set with missile-wearing sharks (8633). The two largest sets were the Agents’ impressive command center (8635)— which put the Alpha Team’s equivalent to shame with five individual vehicles, crane, missiles, and light-up bricks that projected Dr. Inferno’s image onto a screen—and the climax piece of the storyline, Volcano Base (8637), where Dr. Inferno himself controlled a giant laser cannon. The Agents’ sets were mainly dark blue and gray with a hint of red, while Dr. Inferno’s men drove orange and black vehicles to match the transparent-orange bricks of their base’s volcano.

  The sets of 2009 introduced two new Agents, the action moved to the City’s streets, and the theme was now referred to as Agents 2.0. There was considerable use of Technic parts and more smooth surfaces with very few studs on display— as can be seen in the construction of Gold Tooth’s bike (8967) and the slick Aerial Defence Unit (8971). The latter gives a subtle nod to Alpha Team with its magma drones—they have gear sticks for heads, like the Alpha Team TV robot, while the Agents themselves had some of the slickest “super-team” uniforms yet. The team looked snug in their blue, green, and silver suits with silver gloves, ID tags, and the “A” for Agents logo. Not to be outdone, Dr. Inferno’s team wore orange or black zip-up jumpsuits with unusual features including a missing tooth (Gold Tooth), unibrow (Break Jaw), and slime dripping from their faces (Slime Face and Dr. D. Zaster). Agents did their bit to equalize the male/female minifigure ratio with four super ladies emerging from the theme in just two years—Agent Swift, Agent Trace, Claw Dette, and Dina-Mite. The adventure continued online with “missions” designed as computer games and more information about the various Agents’ vehicles.

  The design team’s use of a SNOT (studs not on top) style of building can clearly be seen on Agent Chase’s car in Tubocar Chase (8634). © Ruben Saldana

  Power Miners (2009–2010)

  Believing the underground-dwelling Rock Raiders were long forgotten in the tombs of LEGO past, some fans were surprised to see the launch of this new theme in 2009, with online forums jokingly referring to it as “Rock Raiders 2009” or “Power Raiders.” The theme, while not set in a parallel alien galaxy, did feature a group of adventurous miners. This time they traveled into the earth to investigate some unusual “rumblings” where they encountered a new breed of rock monster and mysterious power crystals. The Power Miners’ matching blue workers uniforms and the black, bright green, and transparent-orange vehicles had a more cohesive look than Rock Raiders, combining the heavy-duty appearance of mining equipment and the fun associated with LEGO sets. Sets ranged from small vehicles like the Stone Chopper (8956) to a large mining station with zip line and dynamite hurler (8709) and the impressive Titanium Command Rig (8964)—a mobile base that transformed into a vertical dual-geared spinning drill. There was a stronger focus on the Power Miners’ adversaries, the Rock Monsters, in this range, with a monster being included in almost every set. The largest of the monsters was the Crystal King, a LEGO construction worthy of his own set where the gray and yellow monster grips a Power Miner in his claw (8962). There were two additional medium-size monsters and four small monsters roughly the same size as the Miners.

  This onslaught of enemies was added to in 2010 with the release of sub-theme Power Miners: Core of the Underworld, which followed the miners on their 2009 comic-book adventure further into the Earth’s core where they discovered the Lava Monsters. With transparent orange now the signature color of their foe, the Power Miners sets traded it in for a bright blue, and wore silver suits to protect them from the high temperatures in sets such as Lavatraz (8191)—a prison for the most powerful monster, Eruptorr—and EXO-FORCE style mecha, Magma Mech (8189). All the Power Miners sets made effective use of Technic parts to create structures, cranes, and claws capable of picking up the monster figures.

  In this display of set 8956, a Rock Monster makes easy work of lifting a worried Power Miner’s excavation cycle. © Kent Quon

  The Fire Blaster (8188) was one of the first Core of the Underworld sets, and included a water cannon to fire at the pesky Lava Monsters. © Christopher Doyle

  Atlantis (2010–2011)

  After bidding farewell to the Aqua Raiders line after just one year, the LEGO Group brought flippers (of the lime-green variety) back into fashion with the exciting launch of Atlantis in 2010. Based around a crew’s search for the mythical underwater city, the team’s futuristic submarines and rovers were pitted against the strength of the local bad guys trying to steal their secrets.

  The backstory of the Deep Sea Salvage Crew’s mission had been detailed in the LEGO catalog and on the Atlantis mini-site online. The Crew, led by Captain Ace Speedman, was accompanied by Samantha Artesia Rhodes—the great granddaughter of a twentieth-century explorer who set out to find the Lost City of Atlantis after discovering a pyramid map off the Mexican coast in the early 1900s. With the knowledge of his adventure detailed in her great-grandfather’s journal, it was Sam’s job to complete his mission, with the help of her new brave friends. The team were up against three distinct types of Atlantic Warriors—humanoid creatures with the heads of sharks, squid, and manta rays, and their tridents for weapons.

  The Salvage Crew’s impressive fleet of red vessels included the submarine Neptune Carrier (8075), with flick-launching torpedos and a roving seabed vehicle. © Christopher Doyle

  The Salvage Crew had weapons, too, and intimidating-looking vessels such as Seabed Scavenger (8059), with its chainsaw and pincer arms; Typhoon Turbo (8060), whose dual turbine-style engines flipped round to reveal two deadly weapons; and Neptune Carrier (8075—this product number was painted onto the side of the toy)— as the largest vehicle in the fleet, she’s fitted out with torpedos and a small roving vehicle to take on ground attacks. The vessels were predominantly red with gray and transparent green detailing, and continued to employ the SNOT (studs not on top) method of building used in Aqua Raiders, Agents, and Power Miners, giving the creations a contemporary feel. TLG also produced a number of large-scale non-brick, role-play toys including a water gun, a replica harpoon shooter, and a trident similar to those carried by the Atlantic Warriors. With the introduction of this dynamic deep-sea adventure range, it’s likely the LEGO Group’s relationship with the world beneath will continue for a while yet.

  This 2010 Atlantis set, known as Gateway of the Squid (8061), shows the clever use of new parts employed by LEGO designers to produce menacing octopus and squid tentacles. © Christopher Doyle

  * * *

  Not content to see its other non-character-led toys fall by the wayside, the company continued to develop and produce other lines. While some LEGO fans are drawn purely to the building play-themes that revolve around the construction of bases, buildings, and vehicles and the minifigures who inhabit them, others were brought to the toy through their love of cars, trains, sports, remote-controlled toys, engineering, robotics, and even competitive play. Understandably, TLG did not want to lose customers it had spent many years trying to win over, and as a
result plowed ahead with introducing new toys to keep them happy in spite of the financial crisis. The consistent and, in some cases, increasing popularity of some of these lines is a testament to their individuality on the toy market; other less popular products or lines slowly disappeared as the company’s portfolio was reassessed midway through the decade.

  Racers (2001–2011)

  Started up in 2001, LEGO Racers is one of the early-2000s themes to find its place in the market and bring new fans to LEGO. Prior to this year, car racing had featured as part of LEGO Town, evolving from simple minifigure cars of the early 1990s to its remodeled face as LEGO Race in 2000 that included some unusual toy designs—Grip ’n’ Go Challenge (6713) featured two cars with pincer arms grappling for control of a ball. A decade after officially defining Racers as a theme separate from Town, the toys had developed dramatically. Racers began life as a series of small sets (most with less than ten pieces) that focused more on car racing than construction. Each set included the pieces to build a small car with a non-minifigure driver (these characters, who went by names such as Warrior, Spiky, and Rip, had brightly colored features and expressive faces, with no movable arms or legs). The sets also included a packaged sandwich-shaped launcher to release the cars at high speed.