The LEGO Rock Raiders theme was a popular, discontinued product line from 1999 to 2000. It focused on a team of humans who accidentally piloted their space ship into a deep cavern beneath the Earth's surface, where they had to mine energy crystals to power their ship and escape.
Theme Overview and Story
The storyline was detailed in the instruction booklets and a tie-in video game. The team of Rock Raiders had to establish a base, build specialized mining vehicles, and face various underground hazards like landslides, lava, and the native rock monsters and an ice monster. The sets are now collector's items in the secondary market.
Key Characters
Commander Stone: The leader of the Rock Raiders team.
Axle and Bandit: The two primary drivers and pilots of the vehicles.
Jet and Docs: The geologist/engineer and pilot, respectively.
Rock Monsters: Antagonists who would sometimes try to steal the energy crystals.
Notable Sets
The theme included a variety of vehicles and base stations, many of which had electric motors, light-up bricks, or sound bricks. The colors were predominantly blue, yellow, and black.
Rock Raider HQ (Set number: 4990): The largest set, featuring the main base of operations inside the cavern, complete with working lights and sounds.
UFO set Rock Raiders HQ (Set number: 4980): An alternative version of the HQ with a similar structure and features.
Power Miners (Set number: 4970): A vehicle set with a drilling machine and an energy crystal station.
Chrome Crusher (Set number: 4970 - Note: set number conflict, often referred to as 4970): A large mining vehicle with a working drill and a small monster figure.
Rock Blaster (Set number: 4930): A small, motorized drill vehicle.
Loader-Dozer (Set number: 4920): A basic earth-moving vehicle.
Video Game Tie-in
A well-regarded real-time strategy (RTS) video game, also titled LEGO Rock Raiders, was released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. The PC version featured 25 missions where players had to manage their team, build up their base, and mine energy crystals while dealing with disasters, while the PlayStation version was a simpler, mission-based game.
Successor Themes
For fans of underground mining and monster themes, LEGO later released:
Dino Attack (2005): A conflict-focused theme.
Power Miners (2009-2010): The direct spiritual successor, featuring a new team of miners battling different kinds of rock monsters.