With the Atlantis theme on the horizon, I thought I would take a look back at one of my favorite aquatic factions - the Hydronauts

Part 1

Hydronauts at a glance...

Year of release - 1999

Four sets, including:

6110

Solo Sub

25 pieces

Link - More info on Brickset

6150

Crystal Detector

104 pieces

Link - More info on Brickset

6180

Hydro Search Sub

297 pieces

Link - More info on Brickset

6199

Hydro Crystallisation Station

482 pieces

Link - More info on Brickset

A bit about the Hydronauts

First thing you notice when you look at the sets is all the yellow... and trans-green!! I was always a fan of the colours and thought the sets were pretty slick looking overall.

Some of the subs appear to be quite awkward looking, but when you play around with them in person the designs really grow on you.

Hydronauts saw the return of wheeled vehicles, as well as pose-able arms.

There is of course the obligatory small set...

...as well as the flagship base set.

The crew - featuring single-sided printed torsos.

The Hydronauts consisted of 3 unique members (names from LEGO Mania Magazine)- Crystal Miner, the navigator Hip "Muddy" Waders, and the captain Hank Hydro

All geared up and ready to go. The breathing apparatus allowed search lights to be attached at the rear. The minifigs could also be equipped with flippers, a harpoon gun, and a suction gun.

Some of the aquatic life included the classic grey shark, octopus, manta ray, as well as corral and the all important crystals.

The Hydronauts theme featured many of the accessories introduced with the Aquanauts and Aquasharks in 1995/1996 and introduced the suction guns/hoses. These featured rubber hoses and suction cups which could be used to pick up the crystal boxes.

Part 2 featuring an in-depth look at the sets now complete...

Edited October 14, 200915 yr by ZO6

Those suction cup guns are pretty slick.

Nice lookback on a theme that came during my dark ages.

I love the minifigs. Their prints are very nice, also usable for space MOCs. Their accessories, although just recolors are awesome, especially the chrome.

The colors used are great on their own, but together, leaves a lot to be desired. TLG's been using unusual color combinations lately, but this is just too over the top for me.

The vehicles look fun to play with (for a child) but the colors, again, are all that I do not like.

Edit:

Those suction guns look awesome. I was thinking what kind of handheld weapon was that, but it's a completely unique accessory (to me anyways).

Edited October 13, 200915 yr by Raven Brickroft

I loved the Aquazone themes of 1995 and 1996, even the first Aqua Raiders mini theme was nice.

This is just too wild for me, even as a "kid", just wild colors, wild minifigure Borg, and I'm a fan of magnets and not section cups.

However back in 1999 LEGO knew how to make a decent base, something they lack now-a-days.

Thanks for this detailed overview!

I was well into my dark ages when this stuff came out, and I have to say that none of the sets with those enormous trans domes and octagonal cockpit pieces impressed me If they were included in sets today as a fresh piece, people would be screaming left, right and centre that

'Juniorisation has taken over!' and 'Lego died for me today!' so I'm amazed that many AFOLs have a fondness for the underwater and Space themes that feature them.

I prefered the even older underwater subtheme. I remember finding some of those sets in a shop on holiday (the only time I was able to buy Lego as a child, with holiday spending money) and I wasn't too impressed with the huge differences from the Aquanauts and Aquashark sets. I bought some impulse sets from other prominent 1999 themes.

In fact 1999 was a bumper year for Lego sets for me, with 10 sets, the most ever bought me in a year, not until 2003 did I get more (I like brickset )

Looking at my collection and my bricklink wishlist, I still am not bothered by the theme. The trans-green windows are cool though.

Svelte: Isn't 1999 to early 2000s the years Lego wasn't doing so well in set design or sales?

Svelte: Isn't 1999 to early 2000s the years Lego wasn't doing so well in set design or sales?

Yep, and if you look at the City Center sets you will see why.

Part 2

The Sets

Up first is the Hydro Crystallisation Station. At 482 pieces, this was the largest and most expensive set in the theme. This really was a very expensive set, but it has a great presence when complete. Included in the set was the base itself, a good sized sub, and a small Stingray craft. The three Hydronauts as well as two Stingray figures are present. The shark, octopus, and manta ray round out the aquatic life. The station is built on the same baseplate used by the Neptune Discovery Lab (though 6195 used two of the plates), and features two of the large trans-domes that were popular in earlier Space sets.

The back of the base featured a "conveyor" section which the prison pods (more on this) could slide along. Ladders made it easier to access the main control station.

The side of the base had a large gate which was used to hold the Stingrays prison in the cave.

The green window panels at the front of the base light up the cave with an eerie glow.

However, should one of the Stingrays become locked up, one of his buddies can set him free.

The front of the base featured a sinple mechanism - when the string (which was attached to a hinged plate with the green window panels mounted loosely on) was pulled, the front section of the cave would be blasted open (well... so long as there was not too much friction between the pieces, and you pulled hard and fast on the string).

The control station station featured a couple of printed panels, computer devices, and levers. Some of the all important crystals are also present to be studied and have their power put to use.

The top of the dome played host to one of the fun suction guns which was mounted on a rotating arm.

This set had a number of play functions - another one being the trap door in the control room.

The unlucky victim would be dropped into the cave below.

The dome/control station could also be easily detached from the main base.

The sub included with the set had a nice bulk to it and had quite a few details.

The side propellers were mounted on spring bricks and could be clicked into different orientations.

The back of the sub held a prison pod.

This pod, which held a Stingray, could slide off the back of the sub and along the conveyor section of the base.

The sub also featured the driver compartment, as well as an area to hold a crystal box.

The included Stingray craft was appreciated as it really added to the play possibilities.

Next on the list is the Hydro Search Sub. At 297 pieces, this futuristic looking sub was the second largest set in the theme. Included were three Hydronauts and one Stingray minigfigs.

The sub had an interesting shape, and once again was made up of many trans-green domes and windows.

The back of the sub, revealing all 5 propellers.

Like any good ship, a mini-sub could be detached.

I always loved the mini-sub. The shape was great, and it was fun to swoosh around. It had lots of propulsion, weapons, and even two suction guns/hoses.

Opening the dome on the mini-sub revealed the pilot as well as a spot to hold a crystal box.

The main ship sans mini-sub.

The rear of the main sub featured a couple crystal boxes as well as other compartments for the crystals.

The front of the sub had another one of those large cockpit pieces, as well as a jail section for Stingrays.

Either side of the ship was made up of a control station such as this.

The Crystal Detector was the 104 piece wheeled vehicle in the theme. It featured 1 minifigure and a surprising amount of playability. Making a return from the original Aquazone series are the flexible arms. It was also nice to get another compass and suction gun/hose.

The back of the vehicle had two propellers and a compartment to hold a crystal box.

The front cockpit could rotate as well as detach to become a mini-sub.

Finally there is the Solo Sub. This 25 piece set was basically just a large cockpit piece with a propeller attached. The sub also included one minifig and accessories to beef him up (search light attachment, harpoons, flippers). Although a poorly designed set IMO, I still find myself the owner of two of these, as combined with the rest of the sets in the theme it offered a number of play options.

Final thoughts

As a stand alone theme, the Hydronauts had a wide variety in their set design and offered a huge amount of playability (I personally think they look great on display as well). However, another faction - the Stingrays, were also released in 1998 to go alongside the Hydronauts. The two sides were meant to fight over the all important crystals, just like the Aquanauts and Aquasharks several years before.

I hope this has been a fun little article to read. If you would like me to add anything or take more pictures - just let me know. Questions and comments welcome

Edited October 14, 200915 yr by ZO6

Thank you ZO6 for showing this theme. I'm not even sure I've seen this theme before your excellent view back on it.

I must say that I considered power miners and atlantis colour schemes as strange, now I know what a real strange colour scheme is.

But interesting pieces and sets.

Front

Hmm, I can see why Lego had to slash the number of pieces they made a few years back. These sets feature a lot of highly specialized bits n' bobs that I haven't seen before.

As an aside, can anyone point me to a rundown of the low point in Lego's history that Peppermint_M mentions? I have heard that Lego made some drastic changes around 2000/2001. I know they reduced the brick count, and TBB mentioned a while back that some changes were controversial, but I've never been able to read about what heppened. Wikipedia's history only goes to 2000.

Anyhow, yeah, some strange single-use pieces there but I'd LOVE that big dome thing, even if there's not much I could do with it. There are a good few other bits I see that I'd love to have. The vehicles look kinda typical for the era, nothing too imaginitive that you wouldn't see in other lines like Exploriens or Space Police II. This is a great look at a line that sits in the middle of my dark age. Cheers!

Oh how I miss these... old memories... I used to tur the crane arms into serpents since they so resembled the mouth of the lego dragon.