Granite Grinder

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

The Granite Grinder is a fictional mining vehicle in the LEGO Rock Raiders theme. It is depicted as a large but speedy walker 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. Its pivoting legs consist of two large feet connected to each other and the vehicle body by Technic liftarm pieces. Attached to its front is a chrome-coloured Rock Raiders drill, exclusive to it and the Chrome Crusher.[1] Its body largely consists of a large cockpit and brown roll cage, which are also used by other large Rock Raiders vehicles.[2] On its back are two dark turquoise wheels meant to represent turbines.[3] The rear end is topped by a large Rock Raiders arch piece[4] that widens the vehicle's profile.[5][6] It seats one minifigure, and has two clips on each of its feet at minifigure height for holding tools.[7]

The Granite Grinder was designed by Jens Kronvold Frederiksen at LEGO Futura.[8] The pivoting technic liftarm leg design was previously used in the 1997 Roboforce sets Robo Raider (2151, designed by Henrik Rubin Saaby)[9] and Robo Raptor (2152);[7] prior to Roboforce, brick-build walker legs had been used in LEGOLAND Space sets going back to the 1985 set Xenon 2 Walking Machine (6882).[10] Two earlier prototypes of the Granite Grinder 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.[11] Two other prototypes are known and will be added later. While the final model uses only one drill, the upgraded version in the video game uses two, positioned on each side of the front, similar to some prototype designs.

  • Early prototype model

    Early prototype model

  • Later prototype model

    Later prototype model

Set information

The Granite Grinder was released as LEGO set #4940 The Granite Grinder in 1999.[12] It was advertised as containing 108 pieces and includes a minifigure of Axle[13] and three tools. It is the only main Rock Raiders set to not contain a power crystal.[7] 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.[14][13] In the United Kingdom it was released in August 1999.[12] In Russia it released in September 1999.[15]

Depiction

In the story of the LEGO Rock Raiders theme, the Granite Grinder is one of the mining vehicles used by the spacefaring Rock Raiders to drill for power crystals. It is referred to as the "big brother" of the Small Digger.[16] Its robotic pivoting feet can traverse rocky debris and rough terrain safely and with ease.[3][16] The vehicle is powered by its two turbines.[3] 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).[17] Its large chrome drill can quickly cut through hard rock and large boulders.[18] While the physical model has no storage capabilities besides its tool clips, one book describes it as having some kind of space in its back that can carry small objects,[19] and another states that it has an emergency grappling line.[17]

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.[17] A Granite Grinder driven by Sparks is also seen mining in chapter 2 and on the book's front cover,[20] although Sparks is shown remaining on the LMS Explorer for the entire book.[21] 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.[3]

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.[22] 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.[19] After later rescuing Axle, Sparks drives the Granite Grinder at its top speed back to the surface while outrunning an impending volcanic eruption.[23]

Game information

The Granite Grinder drilling in-game

In the Windows version of LEGO Rock Raiders, the Granite Grinder is classified as a Large Vehicle.[24] It costs three Energy Crystals to teleport down one Granite Grinder.[16] It teleports down at the Super Teleport.[25] Rock Raiders must be trained as drivers to use it.[16] Like other large vehicles in the game, its roll cage is opaque and its driver is hidden inside it.[24]

The Granite Grinder can travel across land and moves at a speed of 0.5 blocks per second.[24] 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)[24] 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.[24] 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:[16][26]

Art of the Granite Grinder with Engine and Drill upgrades

The Granite Grinder has the following upgrades:[16]

  • 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.[24] 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.[24] 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 (the top plate appears to clip through the cockpit piece).
  • Scanner: Costs 5 pieces of Ore (1 Building Stud). This upgrade gives the vehicle a scanning radius of 5 blocks.[24] A large scanner, identical to the one that the Chrome Crusher has, is attached to the top of the vehicle.

Internally, the Granite Grinder is uniquely made of two objects: WalkerLegs and WalkerBody.[27] WalkerLegs serves as the main object, with WalkerBody and all upgrades mounted to it.[28][29]

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

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.[11] 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 (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.[30][31]

References

  1. ↑ "Sets which Contain Part 71612cx1". BrickLink Reference Catalog. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023.
  2. ↑ "Sets which Contain Part 30298". BrickLink Reference Catalog. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Grant, "Let's Get Building", pp. 46–48.
  4. ↑ "Sets which Contain Part 30296px1". BrickLink Reference Catalog. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023.
  5. ↑ LEGO Group (1999). LEGO System 4940 instructions. LEGO A/S.
  6. ↑ "Inventory of Set 4940-1". BrickLink Reference Catalog. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 R.R. Slugger (3 September 2021). "LEGO 4940 Granite Grinder ~ R.R. Slugger's Rock Raiders Retrospective!". YouTube.
  8. ↑ Frederiksen, Jens Kronvold [lego] (11 April 2019). "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!". Reddit. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Saaby, Henrik Rubin [HSaaby] (11 November 2022). "Sets designed by Henrik Rubin Saaby". Brickset. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023.
  10. ↑ LEGO Group (1985). "The most exciting universe on earth!". LEGO and DUPLO Catalogue '85. LEGO UK Ltd. p. 25.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Pickering, David; Turpin, Nick; Jenner, Caryn (eds.) (1999). "The Design Concept". The Ultimate LEGO Book. DK publishing. pp. 30–31. ISBN 0-7894-4691-X.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 LEGO Group (1999). "Rock Raiders". LEGO catalogue "New for 99". LEGO UK Ltd. pp. 6–7.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 LEGO Shop At Home Services (1999). "Get the Brickonium Before the Rock Monster Gets You!". LEGO Shop-At-Home. Summer 1999 "Rockin' Adventures". LEGO Systems, Inc. pp. 4–5.
  14. ↑ LEGO Group (1999). "Rock Raiders". LEGO System catalogue (Americas). LEGO Systems, Inc. pp. 6–8. Item no. 4127017.
  15. ↑ LEGO Group (1999). "Rock Raiders". LEGO catalogue "1999" (Russia). LEGO Russia Ltd. pp. 42–43. Item no. 4321375-SNG.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Instruction Manual, p. 79.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Grant, "What's up Docs?", pp. 30–39.
  18. ↑ Staff (September 1999). "The Rock Raiders Really Rock!". LEGO Mania Magazine (US). Issue 30. LEGO Systems, Inc. pp. 2–4.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Birkinshaw, pp. 20–21.
  20. ↑ Grant, pp. 14–15.
  21. ↑ Grant, p. 6.
  22. ↑ Birkinshaw, pp. 14–17.
  23. ↑ Birkinshaw, pp. 40–41.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 24.6 24.7 Main Lego Config File, line 2670–2697. WalkerDigger {} section.
  25. ↑ Instruction Manual, p. 70.
  26. ↑ Main Lego Config File, lines 3237–3265. Dependencies {} section.
  27. ↑ Main Lego Config File, line 2016–2031. VehicleTypes {} section.
  28. ↑ Data Design Interactive (25 September 1999). WalkerLegs AE file. LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. File path: Rock Raiders\LegoRR0.wad\Vehicles\WalkerLegs\WalkerLegs.ae.
  29. ↑ Data Design Interactive (25 September 1999). WalkerBody AE file. LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. File path: Rock Raiders\LegoRR0.wad\Vehicles\WalkerBody\WalkerBody.ae.
  30. ↑ Stipkovic, Marin [Marin_S_] (10 July 2023). "Models Marin Stipkovic worked on". Brickset. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023.
  31. ↑ JESmamamaakt (9 May 2023). "Review: 31139-1 - Cozy House". Rebrickable. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023.

Sources

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