Granite Grinder

Art of the Granite Grinder from the LEGO Rock Raiders video game

Art of the Granite Grinder with Engine and Drill upgrades

The Granite Grinder is a fictional mining vehicle in the LEGO Rock Raiders theme. It is depicted as a large but speedy vehicle with a powerful drill, and is the only vehicle in the theme with legs. The Granite Grinder was released as its own LEGO construction set in the summer of 1999. It appears in LEGO Rock Raiders books and comics and can be used in the theme's tie-in computer game.

Design and origin

The Granite Grinder is a two-legged walker vehicle. It is referred to as the "big brother" of the Small Digger. Its robotic pivoting feet can traverse rocky debris and rough terrain safely and with ease. The vehicle is powered by two turbines located on the back of its body. It can be turbo boosted to run faster, and in one instance is shown using this ability to leap across a small river (though it sustains damage from doing this). On its front is a large chrome drill that can quickly cut through hard rock and large boulders. The cockpit is covered by a large brown roll cage that protects the driver from flying debris. Its two large feet each have two clips for tool storage. While the physical model has no other storage capabilites, one book describes it as having some kind of space in its back that can carry small objects, and another states that it has an emergency grappling line.

The Granite Grinder was designed by Jens Kronvold Frederiksen at LEGO Futura. Two earlier prorotypes of the vehicle are shown in The Ultimate LEGO Book. One photograph shows an early prototype featuring a design with a blockier build, smaller legs, a narrow roll cage, and tubes on either side like the Chrome Crusher has; an early Rock Raiders minifigure is also shown with it. A later Granite Grinder design with two drills and legs closer to the final version's can also be seen on a table in another photograph. Two earlier versions of the Rock Raiders drill used by the Granite Grinder and Chrome Crusher are also shown in the book. The drill piece was originally much smaller and had a regular plastic appearance to it. Later, it was made larger and given a chrome look, but had a sharper point and a Technic pin on its rear end: the final version replaces the sharp point with a LEGO stud, and the pin with a hole for a pin to be inserted into. Two other prototypes are known and will be added later.

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  Early prototype model

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  Later prototype model

Set information

The Granite Grinder was released as LEGO set #4940 The Granite Grinder in 1999. It was advertised as containing 108 pieces and includes the minifigure Axle. It was released in the United States as Granite Grinder on 1 July 1999 with a retail price of $16.50 and a recommended age range of 7–12. In the United Kingdom it was released in August 1999. In Russia it released in September 1999.

Game appearances

The Granite Grinder in-game

In the Windows version of LEGO Rock Raiders, the Granite Grinder is classified as a Large Vehicle. It costs three Energy Crystals to teleport down one Granite Grinder. It teleports down at the Super Teleport. Rock Raiders must be trained as drivers to use it.

The Granite Grinder can travel across land and moves at a speed of 0.5 blocks per second. This speed is equal to that of the Loader Dozer and Small Mobile Laser Cutter and faster than only the Chrome Crusher and Large Mobile Laser Cutter. It can strafe (move to the side rather than turning) by pressing Z or X, an ability shared only with the Rock Raider, Hover Scout, and Tunnel Scout. It takes the Granite Grinder 0.8 seconds to drill Dirt, 2 seconds to drill Loose Rock, 180 seconds (3 minutes) to drill Hard Rock, and 4 seconds to drill Seams. While its speeds for drilling most rock types are between those of the Small Digger and Chrome Crusher, its Hard Rock drill time is identical to that of the Small Digger, and far slower than the Chrome Crusher's 1 second.

The Granite Grinder has the following dependency:

• Rock Raider
• Tool Store (Level 1)
• Teleport Pad (Level 1)
• Power Station (Level 1)
• Support Station (Level 2)
• Super Teleport

The Granite Grinder has the following upgrades:

• Engine: Costs 20 pieces of Ore (4 Building Studs). This upgrade increases the vehicle's speed to 0.8 blocks per second, a 60% increase. Two extra turbines are attached to the bottoms of the arch piece.
• Drill: Costs 20 pieces of Ore (4 Building Studs). This upgrade increases the vehicle's drilling speed to 0.4 seconds for Dirt, 1 second for Loose Rock, 150 seconds (2.5 minutes) for Hard Rock, and 2 seconds for Seams. This doubles the speed for most rock types, but is only a 16.67% increase for Hard Rock. The vehicle's chrome drill is removed and replaced by two drills positioned on each side of the original, held in place by two 2×10 plates.
• Scanner: Costs 5 pieces of Ore (1 Building Stud). This upgrade gives the vehicle a scanning radius of 5 blocks. A large scanner, identical to the one that the Chrome Crusher has, is attached to the top of the vehicle.

The game's manual refers to the Granite Grinder's legs enabling it to cross rubble and debris with ease. However, no vehicles are slowed down by rubble in the game.

Internally, the Granite Grinder is uniquely made of two objects: WalkerLegs and WalkerBody. WalkerLegs serves as the main object, with WalkerBody and all upgrades mounted to it.

The Granite Grinder does not appear in the PlayStation version of LEGO Rock Raiders.

Depictions in print

The Granite Grinder jumping over a river

In chapter 3 of Rock Raiders: High Adventure Deep Underground, Bandit and Jet take two Granite Grinders on an expedition underground to find Docs, who has gone missing. The Granite Grinders are stated to be slower than Hover Scouts, but offer more protection and can drill new routes while searching. After finding some power crystals, the two Granite Grinders are attacked by a lava monster and an ice monster, which they escape from with a "turbo boost". Upon finding Docs on the other side of an underground river, Jet runs her Granite Grinder towards the river at full power and leaps over it into a group of lava monsters. Jet's Granite Grinder is damaged from the jump, so she takes its emergency grappling line out and uses it to carry herself and Docs back across the river while the lava monsters salvage the power crystals from the wrecked vehicle. A Granite Grinder driven by Sparks is also seen mining in chapter 2 and on the book's front cover, although Sparks is shown remaining on the LMS Explorer for the entire book. At the back of the book is a collection of LEGO models resembling some of the LEGO Rock Raiders sets but constructed out of different pieces, shown to give inspiration to readers who do not own the sets but want to build the Rock Raiders models out of the LEGO pieces they have. The Granite Grinder model shown uses several Insectoids elements, including the theme's electric stinger as the vehicle's drill and two transparent neon green domes as its turbines.

In Race for Survival, Sparks drives a Granite Grinder into the winding tunnels under a mountain in Quadrant 14 to find Axle, who is trapped behind a rockfall two miles underground. Axle hears the Granite Grinder's engines and communicates through the boulder pile with Morse code. Sparks and Jet (who had followed him on a Hover Scout) use a blue 1×12 LEGO plate that the Granite Grinder had been carrying in its back to (unsuccessfully) try to clear the boulders. After later rescuing Axle, Sparks drives the Granite Grinder at its top speed back to the surface while outrunning an impending volcanic eruption.

Legacy

The 1999 visual encyclopedia The Ultimate LEGO Book prominently features the Granite Grinder in its entry on how the LEGO Rock Raiders theme was developed. The section contains a photograph of a prototype model of the vehicle, and a later Granite Grinder design can also be seen in a different photograph. Two earlier versions of the Rock Raiders drill used by the Granite Grinder and Chrome Crusher are also shown, detailing the piece's evolution. The Granite Grinder is also one of the LEGO models featured on the front cover of the book.

The 2023 LEGO Creator set Cozy House (set #31139) features a miniature Granite Grinder model. Designed by Marin Stipkovic and released on 1 March, the set contains a number of "micro builds"; seven of these represent toys of the set's child minifigure and are based on previously-released LEGO sets. Six other toy builds are featured besides the Granite Grinder, representing themes ranging from 1979's LEGOLAND Space to 2010's LEGO Atlantis.

References

Sources

• Birkinshaw, Marie (2000) Race for Survival. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0-7894-5458-0.
• Data Design Interactive (25 September 1999). Main Lego Config File. LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. File path: Rock Raiders\LegoRR1.wad\Lego.cfg.
• Grant, Alan (2000). Rock Raiders: High Adventure Deep Underground. LEGO Systems, Inc. ISBN 1-903276-05-5.
• McPhail, Jim (13 December 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders Instruction Manual (UK FRONT, BACK, I/F & I/B COVER). LEGO Media International. Serial no. IB2G-ROC3 2299598.