Power Miners vs. Rock Raiders

[Oky]

After many months of digging through the Earth, the Power Miners finally found the treasure they were looking for, the Mother of all Crystals. However, their rivals, the Rock Raiders, found it at about the same time. And so, they argue over which party has the right to claim this prize and tensions soon arise...

Little do they know that the crystal is the main source of nutrition for the baby rock monsters who are resting in the rocks around them, ready to hatch...

This scene was partly inspired by that scene in The Mummy where the two groups of treasure hunters, the Brits and the Yanks, have each other at gunpoint and argue about who gets to raid the mummy's tomb.

I built this scene a few years ago for the main purpose of displaying my PM and RR minifigs and all my crystals.

So, who do you think should win? Cast your vote in the poll above! Here are some images for comparison:

[Lord Of The Fries]

Nice build and a nice storyline!

I'm goin' for Power Miners, cos the Raiders are too old

Edited March 23, 2012 by Lord Of The Fries

[prateek]

I really like that crystal! The Power Miners definitely deserve it though

[Masked Builder]

A fun little MOC Oky! I saw it on Flickr and should have known it was you. The large crystal is pretty creative. Power Miners for me, I like the monsters better.

[Piranha]

Good idea for a poll.

I am sorry but the rock monsters will always prevail.

However I think Power Miners as an overall theme was better, so many different colors of crystals.

[lightningtiger]

AWESOME.....awesome 'Oky', Power Miners for sure !

Hey, how about a vehicle battle between two camps eh ?

[Poison Ivy]

You KNOW who I voted for..... OK, maybe you don't.

Rocka Monsters FTW! They always win in the end, you see.....

[just2good]

Excellent MOC, Oky!

Nice story line. I love the use of the tans-lime pieces. Whatever happened to the 'silver' 'lava' miners?

[K-Nut]

Power Miners easy. They have more effective vehicles, different weapons to fight with, and actual uniforms.

[Im a brickmaster.]

Quite amusing Oky, I dig the giant crystal. Not sure, it's such a hard decision!

[Ardelon]

I vote Rock Raiders, I like how theyre more gritty and rag-tag, like an isolated mining operation would be. The Power Miners just look so squeaky clean with their bright blue and lime. Their lava armor is pretty cool, though.

Your rock monsters dont impress me, those dumb beasts dont stand a chance against superior tech! Civilization and Progress FTW!

[Oky]

Thanks, everyone. It's interesting to see so much support for the PM here since they seem to be very biased toward the Rock Raiders on Flickr.

I really like that crystal!

Thanks! I was really trying to capture the shape of the small crystals.

Hey, how about a vehicle battle between two camps eh ?

Good idea! I added poll questions for the main drill vehicle and base of each faction and reference pics to those below the first post. Anything else I should add?

Excellent MOC, Oky!

Whatever happened to the 'silver' 'lava' miners?

Those were just the Power Miners with different outfits and vehicles. This is before they got to the magma core.

Your rock monsters dont impress me, those dumb beasts dont stand a chance against superior tech! Civilization and Progress FTW!

Not to mention imperialism, capitalism, and genocide! Seriously, I'm glad those poor prosecuted rock "monsters" who are just defending themselves and their homes are getting some love around here.

[has a differing opinion]

Nice topic and build,but I'm torn between the rock raiders and the power miners. The power miners stuff is better, and the rock monsters are charming, but the guys don't look serious enough! Then we have rock raiders, with their awesome minifigs, better crystals and their rock monsters are absolute juggernauts, who could easily be used as castle trolls.

Sorry to dissapoint you power miner heads, but the minifigs in rock raiders are too hard to resist. I'm going for rock raiders.

*Hides from bashing. *

[Oky]

I don't mean to bash or change your (differing) opinion, but how are the Rock Raiders crystals and rock monsters better? The Power Miners' crystals were exactly the same, except that they came in a few more colors (which is a good thing in my opinion) and their rock monsters were much larger and fearsome looking than those faceless, one-armed clumps of brown plastic that were the Rock Raiders monsters. I mean, have you even seen Eruptorr or Crystal King?

I guess I could add a "Which Rock Monsters are better?" question to the poll, but I think it's pretty obvious who would win.

[Ardelon]

...

Not to mention imperialism, capitalism, and genocide! Seriously, I'm glad those poor prosecuted rock "monsters" who are just defending themselves and their homes are getting some love around here.

Ah, but the Rock Raiders were just trying to collect enough crystals to leave the planet they were stranded on, IIRC. I dont know what the PM motivation was, nor whether the Rock Monsters of either theme were dependent or had any actual use for the crystals, or whether they just attacked anything that moved and was unfamiliar, like a raging rhino.

I don't mean to bash or change your (differing) opinion, but how are the Rock Raiders crystals and rock monsters better? The Power Miners' crystals were exactly the same, except that they came in a few more colors (which is a good thing in my opinion) and their rock monsters were much larger and fearsome looking than those faceless, one-armed clumps of brown plastic that were the Rock Raiders monsters. I mean, have you even seen Eruptorr or Crystal King?

I guess I could add a "Which Rock Monsters are better?" question to the poll, but I think it's pretty obvious who would win.

Yeah, I guess the PM theme has the benefit of some 10 years of LEGO evolution, and it shows. I still say the RR were more awesome in their day than the PM are now, though.

[Oky]

The Power Miners were sent underground to find out the cause of some earthquakes, which turned out to be the rock monsters, so they decided to collect all the crystals that the rock monsters eat in order to stop them, and later decided to hunt down and imprison the Lava monster who live deeper in the core. So, unless there is something else the Rock Monsters eat, I think it's safe to say that the Power Miners' mission was it to starve them to death.

The rock monsters in RR were the same, except they played more the role of an occupational hazard.

I still voted for the PM though since I really like their vehicles. A giant two-directional drill on spiky wheels will always be better than a regular drill on shuffling legs. But I can't deny that the RR HQ was better than the PM Station and Lavatraz combined, mostly because it actually made sense.

[LEGOman273]

The Power Miners were sent underground to find out the cause of some earthquakes, which turned out to be the rock monsters, so they decided to collect all the crystals that the rock monsters eat in order to stop them, and later decided to hunt down and imprison the Lava monster who live deeper in the core. So, unless there is something else the Rock Monsters eat, I think it's safe to say that the Power Miners' mission was it to starve them to death.

I still voted for the PM though since I really like their vehicles. A giant two-directional drill on spiky wheels will always be better than a regular drill on shuffling legs. But I can't deny that the RR HQ was better than the PM Station and Lavatraz combined, mostly because it actually made sense.

The monsters eat rocks. (This was seen in the last PM comic.) The crystals are like drugs for them.

[Ardelon]

The Power Miners were sent underground to find out the cause of some earthquakes, which turned out to be the rock monsters, so they decided to collect all the crystals that the rock monsters eat in order to stop them, and later decided to hunt down and imprison the Lava monster who live deeper in the core. So, unless there is something else the Rock Monsters eat, I think it's safe to say that the Power Miners' mission was it to starve them to death.

The rock monsters in RR were the same, except they played more the role of an occupational hazard.

I still voted for the PM though since I really like their vehicles. A giant two-directional drill on spiky wheels will always be better than a regular drill on shuffling legs. But I can't deny that the RR HQ was better than the PM Station and Lavatraz combined, mostly because it actually made sense.

The monsters eat rocks. (This was seen in the last PM comic.) The crystals are like drugs for them.

So, +1point for the RR for ethics, in my book!

[has a differing opinion]

I don't mean to bash or change your (differing) opinion, but how are the Rock Raiders crystals and rock monsters better? The Power Miners' crystals were exactly the same, except that they came in a few more colors (which is a good thing in my opinion) and their rock monsters were much larger and fearsome looking than those faceless, one-armed clumps of brown plastic that were the Rock Raiders monsters. I mean, have you even seen Eruptorr or Crystal King?

I guess I could add a "Which Rock Monsters are better?" question to the poll, but I think it's pretty obvious who would win.

Sorry, I didn't mean that the rock raider monsters ARE better, I was saying that I liked them better. Plus, I prefer chrome crystals over transparent crystals(they are rare nowadays, though). Don't get me wrong, the power miner rock monsters are better looking, but the rock raiders rock monsters are more versatile, because they could pass as castle trolls.

But I suppose you're right, the power miner ones are more deatiled by far.

[Oky]

The RR didn't have chrome crystals, only chrome drills. They were the same bright green ones that also appeared in the PM sets.

[LEGOman273]

So, +1point for the RR for ethics, in my book!

Why did you quote me, then say the opposite of my point?

RR monsters ate the crystals with no ill effects, as it was their (likely main) food source.

PM monsters ate the crystals and, in the American story, begin to shake, thus causing the quakes. In the European story, the monsters become addicted to the crystals and dig around for more, thue causing the quakes. Either way, the PM monsters ate regular rocks as their food, and crystals were like drugs.

[Ardelon]

Why did you quote me, then say the opposite of my point?

RR monsters ate the crystals with no ill effects, as it was their (likely main) food source.

PM monsters ate the crystals and, in the American story, begin to shake, thus causing the quakes. In the European story, the monsters become addicted to the crystals and dig around for more, thue causing the quakes. Either way, the PM monsters ate regular rocks as their food, and crystals were like drugs.

My post was a synthesis. The RR were trying to leave the planet, the brown Rock Monsters kept interfering. (Where did you find that they ate the crystals anyway - was it canon globally, or only in the US?). The PM went looking for trouble, though I admit It was for a good cause.

[Oky]

Alright, here's the main source of canon story for PM, at least for the US:

[Algernon]

Cute idea! I liked both of these themes, since underground sci-fi themes are so novel. But my vote definitely goes towards Rock Raiders. Like many others, I had difficulty swallowing the extremely bright colors of Power Miners, especially considering the setting. I also though the Rock Raiders minifigs were a hundred times better than the new, cartoony ones. The rock monsters, especially, were way cooler before they shrank into little gremlins. Plus, the Rock Raiders gave us this beauty: http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=4980-1

Rock Raiders FTW.

[Walter]

I just couldn't decide! They're both so cool in their own ways.

And nicely constructed scene Oky.