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| {{about|the 1999 LEGO theme|the tie-in video game|LEGO Rock Raiders (video game)}}
| | LEGO Rock Raiders was a playtheme released by the LEGO Company in 1999. It featured 8 main sets, 4 promotional Kabaya toy sets, and 3 Mini Heroes Collection sets. |
| '''LEGO Rock Raiders''' is a discontinued a LEGO theme focused on underground mining equipment. The theme consisted of eight main construction sets released in 1999, as well as seven smaller promotional sets released through 2000. It also had a number of tie-in products, including three books and a [[LEGO Rock Raiders (video game)|video game]].
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| | __TOC__ |
| == Story == | | == Story == |
| The LEGO Rock Raiders theme features a team of space explorers mining for [[power crystal]]s deep underground on an alien [[planet (Rock Raiders)|planet]]. Their spaceship, the [[LMS Explorer|LMS ''Explorer'']], is struck by a large asteroid, damaging it and sending it off course into orbit around the alien planet<ref name="Knight">Knight, Anna (1999). ''[[Rock Raiders (1999 book)|Rock Raiders]]''. [[DK Publishing]]. pp. 2–3. {{ISBN|0-7894-4707-X}}.</ref> or through a wormhole to an alien galaxy where the planet is located.{{R|manual PC|p=10}} North American advertising material downplays the space aspect of the theme, instead presenting the Rock Raiders as mining for power crystals (renamed to "brickonium") as a new fuel source.<ref name="Mania Sep99">Staff (September 1999). [https://archive.org/details/LEGOManiaUS-SeptemberOctober1999-BioMedia/LEGO%20Mania%20Magazine%20US%20-%20September-October%201999/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater "The Rock Raiders Really Rock!"]. ''[[LEGO Mania Magazine]]'' (US). Issue 30. [[LEGO Systems, Inc]]. pp. 2–4.</ref> | | The Rock Raiders |
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| == LEGO Components == | | == LEGO Components == |
| === Sets === | | === Sets === |
| The Rock Raiders sets were released in July 1999. The main series of sets followed an item number scheme of 49x0, though with no set numbered 4960. In North America, the set names were the same as in Europe (unlike in older themes) but without a "the", with the exception of 4930 receiving a rename. The four Kabaya sets were only released in Japan, either in polybags or in a boxed set of all four. | | The Rock Raiders sets |
| {| class="wikitable"
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| ! Year !! Set No. !! Name !! Pieces !! Figures !! Designers
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| | rowspan="8" | 1999
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| | 4910 || The [[Hover Scout]] || 39 || Jet ||
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| |-
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| | 4920 || The [[Rapid Rider]] || 38 || Bandit ||
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| |-
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| | 4930 || The Rock Raiders<br>Rock Raiders Crew (US) || 38 || Axle, Bandit, Docs, Jet, Sparks ||
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| | 4940 || The [[Granite Grinder]] || 108 || Axle || [[Jens Kronvold Frederiksen]]<ref name="Frederiksen AMA"/>
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| | 4950 || The [[Loader-Dozer]] || 89 || Axle, Rock Monster ||
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| | 4970 || The [[Chrome Crusher]] || 167 || Axle ||
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| |-
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| | 4980 || The [[Tunnel Transport]] || 341 || Docs, Jet ||
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| | 4990 || The [[Rock Raiders HQ]] || 402 || Bandit, Docs, Jet, Sparks, Rock Monster || Jens Kronvold Frederiksen<ref name="Frederiksen AMA"/>
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| |-
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| | rowspan="4" | 2000?
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| | 1274 || 1 Light Hover || || Jet ||
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| | 1275 || 2 Chain Dozer || || Bandit ||
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| | 1276 || 3 Heli Transporter || || Docs ||
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| | 1277 || 4 Drill Craft || || Sparks ||
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| | rowspan="3" | 2000
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| | 3347 || Rock Raiders #1 || || Chief || Simeon Hankins{{citation needed}}
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| | 3348 || Rock Raiders #2 || || Bandit, Docs, Sparks ||
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| | 3349 || Rock Raiders #3 || || Axle, Docs, Jet ||
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| |}
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| ==== Play Features ==== | | ==== Play Features ==== |
| TBD
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| === Minifigures === | | === Minifigures === |
| * [[Axle]]
| | Chief is cool and not worth the price. |
| * [[Bandit]]
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| * [[Chief]]
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| * [[Docs]]
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| * [[Jet]]
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| * [[Sparks]]
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| * [[Rock Monster]]
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| === Unique parts === | | === Unique parts === |
| The theme introduces an abundance of unique parts. Many of the parts are large and have been criticised for being "juniorized". | | The theme introduces an abundance of unique parts. Many of the parts are large and have been criticized for being "juniorized". |
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| The drill, the bucket, the cockpit and roll-cage, the laser, the rock monster.
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| It also introduced parts like the connected skis, the cross dome plate, <s>and the dark turquoise colour</s>.
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| <gallery>
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| File:ULB early Rock Raiders drill 1.jpg | Early drill element
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| File:ULB early Rock Raiders drill 2.jpg | Later drill design; the pointed end was replaced with a stud in the final design
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| File:ULB early Rock Raiders tipper bucket.jpg | Early tipper bucket, still similar in shape to the Toolo bucket
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| </gallery>
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| == Media == | | == Media == |
| === Video games === | | === Video games === |
| {{Main|LEGO Rock Raiders (video game)|LEGO Rock Raiders (PlayStation video game)}}
| | The Rock Raiders franchise got 2 separate video games: One for PC, and one for PlayStation 1. They featured vastly different gameplay, where the PC game was a resource management RTS game, and the PlayStation game was a third-person action game. |
| | | ==== PC ==== |
| A video game of the same name was developed by [[Data Design Interactive]] and published by [[LEGO Media International]] in November 1999. Two different versions of the game were published on [[wikipedia:Microsoft Windows|Microsoft Windows]] and [[wikipedia:PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]]. The Windows version is a real-time strategy game with elements of resource management and construction. The player controls a team of Rock Raiders through a series of missions, completing tasks and constructing units while fending off hostile creatures and managing environmental dangers. The PlayStation game is an action and strategy game focusing around vehicle usage. The player controls a single character through missions, using any resources and equipment found to complete tasks.
| | The PC game was a RTS-style resouce management game where the player has to complete tasks while fending off hostile creatures and managing environmental dangers. |
| | | ==== PlayStation 1 ==== |
| Development of the ''LEGO Rock Raiders'' video game began in late 1997. Unlike previous LEGO video games, the LEGO Rock Raiders theme and game were developed simultaneously. The PlayStation version was initially conceived as a port of the Windows game before being redeveloped in only six months between February and August 1999. While released in Europe alongside the Windows game, in North America its release was delayed until August 2000.
| | The PlayStation game |
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| === Comic books === | | === Comic books === |
| Each set had comic books! | | Each set had comic books! |
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| A number of comics were also created for the theme. Each of the original eight sets featured small mini comic books in certain specially-marked releases (which ones?). There were also Rock Raiders magazine comics published in ''[[LEGO Mania Magazine]]'' and ''[[LEGO Adventures!]]'', as well as an appearance in the ''Time Cruisers'' comic and an eight-part comic in ''[[Wikipedia:The Beano|The Beano]]''.
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| === Story books === | | === Story books === |
| Rock Raiders got 3 separate story books: | | Rock Raiders got 3 separate story books. |
| * ''[[Rock Raiders (1999 book)|Rock Raiders]]'' – An illustrated storybook written by [[Anna Knight]], illustrated by [[Roger Harris]], and published in 1999 by [[Dorling Kindersley]] as part of the ''LEGO Game Books'' series. The book is divided into fully-illustrated two-page spreads, with each scene containing a short amount of story and a puzzle for the reader to solve.
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| * ''[[Rock Raiders: High Adventure Deep Underground]]'' – A graphic novel written by [[Alan Grant]] and illustrated by Robin Smith and [[LEGO Media International]], published in 2000. The story is divided into chapters, and features occasional narration by Jet, as well as puzzles on certain pages and ideas for LEGO models the reader can build.
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| * ''[[Race for Survival]]'' – A short novel written by [[Marie Birkinshaw]] and published in 2000 as part of the Dorling Kindersley ''Readers'' series. Unlike the other two books, which retell the theme's story, this story is set six months later, featuring the Rock Raiders returning to the theme's alien planet. Each page features brief articles on [[wikipedia:Geology|geology]] relevant to events in the story.
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| ==History== | | ==History== |
| In the summer of 1995, [[Advance]] artists [[Christian Faber]] and [[Jan Kjær]] developed [[Cybots]], a concept for [[LEGO Technic]] action figures with moulded limbs and heads. The concept's backstory involved the titular robots having been created by humans to mine deep underground, tasked with collecting energy crystals and discovering secrets, before some of them rebelled. Though the Cybots concept was never continued, the idea of LEGO action figures and the ball joints they would have used would go on to form the basis for [[Slizer]] in 1999 and [[Bionicle]] in 2001. The underground setting and the idea of mining for energy crystals would go on to form the basis for Rock Raiders, according to Faber.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://faberfiles.blogspot.com/2012/04/beginning-birth-of-ball-joint.html |title=The beginning. Birth of a ball joint |last=Faber |first=Christian |date=8 April 2012 |website=[[Faber Files]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117213944/https://faberfiles.blogspot.com/2012/04/beginning-birth-of-ball-joint.html |archive-date=17 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Several other concepts for underground LEGO themes were developed at [[LEGO Futura]] during the mid-1990s, leading to the creation of prototype drill bits and other mining elements. One of these concepts included a [[LEGO Space|Space]] subtheme that was considered for release in 1996 instead of [[Exploriens]]; this concept was allegedly cancelled due to it being too similar to the then-upcoming [[Aquaraiders]] subtheme of [[Aquazone]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks |last=Konstanski |first=Daniel |year=2022 |publisher=[[Wikipedia:Unbound (publisher)|Unbound]] | p=202 |ISBN=978-1-80018-196-0}}</ref><!-- The Aquazone series, which Christian Faber was the art director for,<ref>>{{cite web |url=http://faberfiles.blogspot.com/2014/03/aquazone-my-art-direction-debut-on-lego.html |title=Aquazone - My Art Direction debut on a LEGO projec |last=Faber |first=Christian |date=24 March 2014 |website=[[Faber Files]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119113746/http://faberfiles.blogspot.com/2014/03/aquazone-my-art-direction-debut-on-lego.html |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> focused on underwater civilizations collecting crystals vital for survival (though for oxygen, not power), and the 1997 Aquaraiders subtheme in particular featured vehicles with mining equipment.{{citation needed}}-->
| | The Rock Raiders theme began production in 1997 with the codename "Underground". The sets stopped being produced in 2000. |
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| [[File:ULB Rock Raiders Concept Art.jpg|thumb|Early concept art]]
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| The Rock Raiders theme began development in 1997 with the codename "Underground".{{citation needed}} The Rock Raiders development team at [[LEGO Futura]] consisted of [[Jan Harder Blæsild]], [[Søren Dyrhøj]], [[Jens Kronvold Frederiksen]], [[Troels Halken]], and [[André Sang-Tae Stenbryggen]].<ref name="credits Thanks"/> The Rock Raiders construction sets took eight months to develop.<ref name="Ultimate Design">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ultimatelegobook0000unse/page/30/mode/2up?view=theater |title=The Ultimate LEGO Book |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Pickering |editor-first2=Nick |editor-last2=Turpin |editor-first3=Caryn |editor-last3=Jenner |pages=30–31 |year=1999 |chapter=The Design Concept |ISBN=0-7513-5948-3}}</ref> | |
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| The designers looked to past science fiction art for inspiration for the theme; ''[[The Ultimate LEGO Book]]'' shows two examples of art used during development, both by [[Wikipedia:James Gurney|James Gurney]] from his 1995 book [[Wikipedia:Dinotopia|''Dinotopia: The World Beneath'']].
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| At the time that Rock Raiders was in early development, ''[[LEGO Island]]'' had just released and [[LEGO Media International]] was looking to expand into the video game market.
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| was to be developed in conjunction with a tie-in video game
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| The LEGO Rock Raiders theme followed a new policy where development of the construction sets and the tie-in video game would influence each other, creating a larger universe for the whole theme.<ref name="CGW">Moltenbrey, Karen (March 2000). [https://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2000/Volume-23-Issue-3-March-2000-/Legos-Come-to-Life.aspx "Legos Come to Life"]. ''Computer Graphics World''. Volume 23, Issue 3. CGW Magazine. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230118103532/https://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2000/Volume-23-Issue-3-March-2000-/Legos-Come-to-Life.aspx Archived] from the original on 18 January 2023.</ref> | |
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| LEGO Media approached British developer [[Data Design Interactive]] -->
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| === Prototypes === | | === Prototypes === |
| RR Prototypes r kewl. Here's some random pics of them: | | RR Prototypes r kewl. |
| <gallery>
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| ULB 4940 Granite Grinder Prototype.jpg|Early set 4940
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| ULB 2x3 Slope & Prototype Sets (Granite Grinder).jpg|Early set 4940
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| ULB 4950 Loader Dozer Prototype.jpg|Early set 4950
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| New1 1155 drilling-cutting machine.jpg|Unreleased set 1155
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| New1 1156 mini loaderdozer.jpg|Unreleased set 1156
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| ULB 2x3 Slope & Prototype Sets (hover vehicle).jpg|Unreleased set 1157
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| New2 1157 transporting hover vechicle.jpg|Unreleased set 1157
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| New2 1158 single stone transporter.jpg|Unreleased set 1158
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| IP1 Repair exosceleton.jpg
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| IP2 Mobile excavator 2.jpg
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| IP3 boat.jpg
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| IP3 hovering personel transport unit.jpg
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| IP4 driller.jpg
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| IP5 The Thing 2.jpg
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| </gallery>
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| === Release=== | | === Release=== |
| Rock Raiders was commercially okay-ish. | | Rock Raiders was commercially okay-ish. |
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| === Legacy=== | | === Legacy=== |
| Many speculate the Raiders are still Rocking to this day. | | Many speculate the Raiders are still Rocking to this day. |
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| A second wave of Underground sets named "Magma Mites" was planned to follow Rock Raiders. The theme was pitched by the Boston branch of LEGO Futura, but was rejected due to the LEGO Group's financial struggles at the time. It would have taken place in molten caverns and featured heavy mining equipment with electronic elements, which could have been controlled with tie-in computer software. The titular Magma Mites were planned to have flame-shaped heads, which would have made them the first minifigures with non-traditional head shapes (following previous attempts in unreleased LEGO Space lines, such as the "Sea People" in [[Sea-Tron]]).<ref name="Eaton BN"/>
| | LEGO Rock Raiders was succeeded by the incredibly popular BLock Raiders - an absolute marvellous game made by Stewart Green, a legendary computer programmer. |
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| ''LEGO Rock Raiders'' was succeeded by the incredibly popular ''BLock Raiders'' - an absolute marvellous game made by [[Stewart Green]], a legendary computer programmer.
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| Oh yeah there's also Power minurss | | Oh yeah there's also Power minurss |
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| == References ==
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| {{reflist|refs=
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| <ref name="credits Thanks">[[Data Design Interactive]] (November 1999). ''LEGO Rock Raiders'' (Windows). [[LEGO Media International]]. Credits. "Additional Thanks – A big thank you to all our families for support throughout the development of the project and to Jan Blaesild, André Stenbryggen, Betina Krøigaard, Jens Frederiksen, Troels Halken and Søren Dyrhøj at Futura."</ref>
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| <ref name="Frederiksen AMA">{{cite web |last=Frederiksen |first=Jens Kronvold |date=11 April 2019 |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/bc2o7a/hello_there_im_jens_kronvold_frederiksen_im_the/ |title=Hello there. I’m Jens Kronvold Frederiksen. I'm the Design Director for LEGO and have been designing LEGO Star Wars sets for the past 20 years. Ask Me Anything! |website=[[wikipedia:reddit|Reddit]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415165704/https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/bc2o7a/hello_there_im_jens_kronvold_frederiksen_im_the/ |archive-date=15 April 2019 |access-date=13 June 2023}}</ref>
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| <ref name="Eaton BN">{{cite web |url=https://bricknerd.com/home/rock-raiders-is-a-lego-space-theme-8-15-23#comment-66ca7552793a996448a04e36 |first=Suzanne |last=Eaton |author-link=Suzanne Eaton |title=I can see why collectors would want to categorize RR under Space. However, I worked for LEGO R&D at that time. I also managed the LUGNET set database at home. |date=24 August 2024 |website=BrickNerd |type=comment on article "Rock Raiders Is a LEGO Space Theme" by Dave Schefcik |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825120545/https://bricknerd.com/home/rock-raiders-is-a-lego-space-theme-8-15-23#comment-66ca7552793a996448a04e36 |archive-date=25 August 2024 |access-date=25 August 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
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| {{LEGO Rock Raiders}}
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| [[Category:LEGO Rock Raiders| ]]
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LEGO Rock Raiders was a playtheme released by the LEGO Company in 1999. It featured 8 main sets, 4 promotional Kabaya toy sets, and 3 Mini Heroes Collection sets.
Story
The Rock Raiders
LEGO Components
Sets
The Rock Raiders sets
Play Features
Chief is cool and not worth the price.
Unique parts
The theme introduces an abundance of unique parts. Many of the parts are large and have been criticized for being "juniorized".
Video games
The Rock Raiders franchise got 2 separate video games: One for PC, and one for PlayStation 1. They featured vastly different gameplay, where the PC game was a resource management RTS game, and the PlayStation game was a third-person action game.
PC
The PC game was a RTS-style resouce management game where the player has to complete tasks while fending off hostile creatures and managing environmental dangers.
PlayStation 1
The PlayStation game
Comic books
Each set had comic books!
Story books
Rock Raiders got 3 separate story books.
History
The Rock Raiders theme began production in 1997 with the codename "Underground". The sets stopped being produced in 2000.
Prototypes
RR Prototypes r kewl.
Release
Rock Raiders was commercially okay-ish.
Legacy
Many speculate the Raiders are still Rocking to this day.
LEGO Rock Raiders was succeeded by the incredibly popular BLock Raiders - an absolute marvellous game made by Stewart Green, a legendary computer programmer.
Oh yeah there's also Power minurss
