Subject:
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Re: The all-new LUGNET .Underground
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.underground
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Date:
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Mon, 16 May 2005 16:38:53 GMT
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Viewed:
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8635 times
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In lugnet.underground, Nelson Yrizarry wrote:
> Q: Why didn’t LEGO continue with this theme? Isn’t the Underground theme
> ‘dead’?
>
> A: It is probably more accurate to say that the theme was modified. In the
> Ultimate Lego Book by DK, there are images of the Rock Raiders product
> development, as described in this thread: It would appear that the
> Underground theme would have been expanded over several years, with ties to
> Insectoids, Space, etc.
>
> The Rock Raiders video game has levels with “lava” and “ice” environments. It
> would have been interesting to see what sets/products would have been
> produced. On that basis, it can also be argued that the Underground theme
> served as a precursor to the Alpha Team series, and to the Mission to Mars
> subtheme.
From what I've heard, there was some "really cool stuff" slated for the second
phase of the Underground theme. Unfortunately, it sounds like it never quite
lived up to their expectations, so they didn't run with the new theme.
Adventurers was probably the first in this new theme development model. The
focus of the sets was on particular characters and a set of adventures rather
than the typical (at the time) theme, which was more on a setting in general.
The shift to character-based themes seems to have made its way to Adventurers,
Underground, Life On Mars, Alpha Team, Knight's Kingdom, and arguably Bionicle
(or even Galidor!).
At a guess, it seems like the early Adventurers and Alpha Team themes were
successful, as well as the new Knight's Kingdom, but later incarnations haven't
been quite as good as hoped. Dunno though, that's based on some hearsay, and
some obvious evidence (like the fact that we haven't seen any more LOM sets). No
hard facts or anything.
Despite the bad flak that Rock Raiders got from some AFOLs, I thought it was
really cool. Complaints typically dwelt on its bizarre color theme and
juniorization levels, but I always thought (as with many current themes) that it
gave us lots of new tidbits to work with:
- That ultra-cool printed 32x48 baseplate
- Dark grey "kepi" hat (existed before in blue)
- The 'boulder' piece
- Funky visor helmet - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30325
- Chrome drill - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/x210c01
Plus, it introduced us to lots of other pieces:
- The wierd crossplate piece - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30303
- 3-blade propeller - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30332
- Big dump bed - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30300
- Rock Monster - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30305c01
- Cockpit cage - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30298
- Cockpit bucket - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30299
- Big "laser" piece - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30346c01
- Evil Chassis - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30295
- Plastic wheels - http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30324
And at the time, it was a precious source of dark grey bricks (and teal, too,
although that wasn't really as covetted).
There was also lots of disappointment about the new female minifig head. People
loved the print, but hated the fact that it had a microphone on it, making it a
little harder for generic use. I believe some people used Exacto knives to try
and remove the microphone. In general, though, the figures were fantastically
useful as "workers", with pocketed vests and well defined character faces.
All in all, a very cool theme.
DaveE
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: The all-new LUGNET .Underground
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| In lugnet.underground, David Eaton wrote: snip (...) Thanks for your reply, and for the long list of other cool parts!! I'll add them over on the (URL) CRUST> page, with the others. (...) Agreed! Now, we just need to see some new "underground" MOCs (...) (20 years ago, 18-May-05, to lugnet.underground, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | The all-new LUGNET .Underground
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| Announcing the all new LUGNET .Underground page: ===...=== (2 URLs) The LEGO “Underground” theme seemed to have never quite reached it’s full potential... kind of like a ‘diamond in the rough’. I felt that the one official subtheme (Rock Raiders) (...) (20 years ago, 15-May-05, to lugnet.underground, lugnet.announce, lugnet.adventurers, lugnet.space, lugnet.town, lugnet.trains, lugnet.general, lugnet.build.mecha, FTX) !!
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