Random set of the day: Scuba
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 8503 Scuba, released during 1999. It's one of 33 Technic sets produced that year. It contains 39 pieces, and its retail price was US$6.
It's owned by 2,508 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $31.50, or eBay.
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47 comments on this article
What is this abomination!
Sub Slizer, the Scuba Throwbot.
No region specific number, but it's still odd that there were region specific names for both the sets and the theme overall.
SCUBA!
Scuba, scuba! Scubie-dubie-duba! Here we go scuba! Come on!
https://youtu.be/DPRzl_ybmTI?feature=shared
But the true OGs will understand!
@Maxbricks14 said:
"What is this abomination!"
This beauty is my favorite Throwbot. I had so much fun with this guy...
I miss the Throwbots... This one was a bit weird due to the fragile gun piece and the tube that you had to bend, but it also had a very "submarine"-like transformation possible. Mine even flew from multiple floors to a lower level couch a few times...
I really wanted to like the Throwbots. I really did. I just couldn't stand the throwing arm, or the awkward bent limb used for everything else.
Interesting set. The jellyfish looks good.
Most of these guys felt odd-looking and incomplete, as if they were trying to create a bare-minimum set. The following year, though, I really enjoyed RoboRiders. They looked great, and usually had a cool secondary function even if the main disc-throwing function was a little off. And then of course we all know what happened the following year--and the rest is history.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"What is this abomination!"
This beauty is my favorite Throwbot. I had so much fun with this guy..."
I'm even more confused. I feel like these Technic/Bionicle sets are some sort of vision tests that I keep failing.
This one of the first Throwbots I bought. I loved these guys. They were so different, and so cool. I adored them. And this guy was a beast.
The art direction of the boxes for Throw Bots and Robo Riders remains one of my all-time favorites from LEGO. The characters themselves are pretty great too, due to being so unconventional.
@StyleCounselor I think you're failing the test because you're looking for things that aren't actually needed here. These were relatively simple, straightforward, and distinctive. Sometimes that's all you need.
Bionicle's ancestor!
Actually my first Slizer ever. Picked him up first because I like water and I thought those Medium Blue pieces were new in 1999 (which of cause wasn't correct...).
While Bionicle obviously advanced upon these in both overall proportions and articulation (well at least sometimes) I still have fond memories of the good old Slizers (I also liked there somewhat reptlian-esque head shapes).
I was shocked when I realized that those Disc packs (8508) were not sold regularly at stores in NA. What was TLG thinking? Making these LEGO.com exclusive was a VERY big mistake. Back at my school in February 1999 we had some sort of trading craze regarding those discs. Almost everyone had at least one Slizer and a whole bunch of Discs. And everyone wanted those elusive 7-lights Discs...
Even better than the 7-lights ones was only Judge's (Jet) golden 8-light one, which I only ever saw once in our school yard back then (I have 2 of them now...). It was very weird of Lego to release the most precious Slizer collectible as a guaranteed pack-in with 8520 only 8 months later.
Not shown on the instructions front is the 'space ship' every Slizer had, a simple fold up case (2 parts each with it's own Design ID, so those ARE actually Lego parts as well), where could store the 'transformed' Slizer (a simple fold up mechanism explained in the instructions) alongside all of his 6 Discs stored in special cavities. This was a novel idea for a Lego set and I actually liked it a lot.
Oh, and you clip it on your belt and you were supposed to write your name on it....
Of cause no Slizer came with all those 6 Discs, they had to be collected from the Disc packs. The images and lights 'score' was as following:
2 - The Slizer's Logo/Flag/Icon/whatever (each Slizer came package with his matching No. 2 Disc)
3 - The Slizer depicted throwing his disc (or discs in Judge's case) (each Slizer had a non matching, though pre-determined No. 3 Disc packed in; for Sub/Scuba it was the Teal City/Turbo one)
4 - The Slizer flying around in his 'space ship'
5 - The Slizer showing some of his elemental powers (?)
6 - The Slizer fighting against his region's monsters (those were already seemingly rarer in the packs)
7 - The Slizer's 'Energy Source'; a prized treasure they sought after in their regions, Sub/Scuba was powered by Energy Pearls apparently (The most rarest of Discs)
8 - Judge/Judge only, he had no 'No. 7' Disc, as he was the 'Tahu' of Slizers sorta... (Disc showed the Slizer Planet and had a golden border instead of silver)
Alongside the Parts, Instructions and the back then usual advertising flyer for other sets, each box also contained a A3 poster that showed the matching combiner model of the 'Slizer faction' on one side and one half of the available Disc collection (also matching the respective faction of cause). Judge and City came with a second poster instead of the ad flyer, showing a wordless comic where Jungle and Cyber met in a Disc throwing contest and Judge encountering the rival faction's Slizers merging up to form their 'Super Slizer', so he went gathering his allies to merge as well for battle.
The 'Super Slizers' were combiner models of 4 Slizers each:
-humanoid titan robot (Fire/Ice/City/Sub): Had 2 throwing arms and a 'torso' made up of stacked slizer torsos, allowing him a very flexible spine...
-T-rex/raptor robot (Judge/Jungle/Rock/Energy): had 2 throwing arms with 'flapping' action, highly articulated neck and a third throwing arm at it's tail
Like the Toa Kaita and similar combiners they suffer from a garish color mish-mash, but otherwise they were not too bad for a combiner gimmick.
Alongside the first (friction at least) ball joints ever, the throwing discs and arms, Slizer was notorious was including colorful Technic gears found nowhere else. Back then that was somewhat cool, because Technic elements used to be all grey and black (no blue pins back then oh my...). Half of them also had very complex faceplate prints (designed by Christian Faber) however these caused confusion, as they had mouths printed on them,
despite the Slizer head piece already having a sculpted mouth...
Also Slizer was probably one of the first Technic themes to feature Tan and Medium Blue parts, continue Cyber Slam/Competition's use of (old) Purple and Teal and introduce Trans-Brown before Star Wars!
Sub/Scuba here is also one of the rare examples of a pneumatic tube found outside a 'pneumatic' set. Also note that most sets I have seen opened contained a color switch between the two plates that make up the connection of said hose - the photos show him with a yellow modified plate and blue regular one, though he came with the opposite colors.
His stance is a bit awkward, especially since it hinders his leg articulation a bit. I also don't feel like this stance gives him much of a more 'aquatic' look - but heck, it's an easy fix. It was funny how they reused System parts for their tools/weapons, but unlike their succesor RoboRiders, they didn't come in exotic recolors.
The Boxes were special as well (and would have been cool if they did open on the 'correct' side, which they don't. Very annoying). There was a little cutout so could see the front of the 'space ship', the back showed the inventory (very unusual for a Technic set) as well as the entire line-up in a way more reminiscent of action-figures than of Lego. If you looked close enough, the background artwork also showed a 'monster' for each Slizer, though they often made less sense then the ones depicted on the discs - Judge for example had an... um Angry Targeting Ring?
Also these might be the first line of Lego sets where every set had the same box size.
Lorewise, Slizer was pretty messed up between regions. UK was most extreme with labelling each Slizer as explicitly GOOD/EVIL. The T-rex guys were the bad, whille the titan guys were the good. In most other locales, they were more in a general conflict over their harsh planet (the name 'Slizer' came from the planet's 'pizza slice' layout I've heard) where they would meet up annualy at the 'Slizer Dome' located at the planet's north pole (where the 'slices' connect) to battle in throwing contests over um... something. Judge is the only Slizer without a region, but he rules over the Slizer Dome and well, judges the throwing matches (which kind of makes him their leader). Usually, the Slizers keep to themselves, fighting the afore mentioned monsters rather than fight each other. They fight the monsters because they guard the energy items the Slizers need for survival.
In late 1999, Lego introduced a ninth Slizer, not belonging to either of the 2 factions, having no 'continent'/region or space ship, instead he came with a Technic built bike (having way more parts than the other Slizers) and 2 unique matte gold painted parts (not to be confused with the later Drum Lacq Warm Gold, though rather similar). His only 2 Discs were the elusive 8-lights disc from Judge and his own 9-light (!) Disc in said matte gold (it's actually tan underneath).
He was foreshadowing the coming of the 'Slizer Mutants' - the 2000 and final wave of Slizers. When a meteroid struck the Slizer planet, one half of it was shattered and the 4 Slizers which inhabited said regions were... killed (a term Lego usually tries to avoid). From the killed Slizers (Judge, Jungle, Rock, Energy) and parts of the shattered planet formed the evil 'Slizer Mutants' who fought against the surviving Slizers for supremacy over their shattered world. Two of the mutants (Flare and Spark) were similar to the old ones in regards to piece count and packaging (Flare introduced a new color) whereas Blaster was larger (though not as large as Millenium) and featured a faceplate that had half of Judge's and half of Jungle's face on it. Not much was said about the story afterwards, since Lego abandoned the theme in favor of RoboRiders. Also no Disc packs for the second wave, though each of the 3 new ones had 2 exclusive Discs (some Glow in the Dark) although with the new late 1999 Technic logo.
@DavidSkyroller:
Lewa Mata, Kopaka Mata, Pohatu Mata, and some Visorak used those limbs as well.
Throwbots, RoboRiders, Bionicle, Mixels...
Loved all of the (relatively) cheap series of sets where you build a little thematic freak.
Hope we get another one at some point.
One thing I think is quite funny is huge swaths of the BIONICLE fandom have elected to ignore both Slizer's and BIONICLE's own canon lore to headcanon them as being a species in the MU, as way to pay tribute to ol' grandpa and keep 'em around. There's someone on Tumblr who's been making some really cool Dark Hunter themed revamps of the whole lineup lately, and they look awesome!
@Atuin said:
"
Not shown on the instructions front is the 'space ship' every Slizer had, a simple fold up case (2 parts each with it's own Design ID, so those ARE actually Lego parts as well), where could store the 'transformed' Slizer (a simple fold up mechanism explained in the instructions) alongside all of his 6 Discs stored in special cavities. This was a novel idea for a Lego set and I actually liked it a lot.
"
Lego used to add play features to the packaging all the time, and it's a shame they don't do it that much anymore. That said, those minifig pods and Vidiyo beatboxes had a similar vibe, but they're still not quite the same.
In a year that introduced LEGO Star Wars, it was just as incredible to 10 year-old me to see the launch of "Throwbots". Here was something radically different from anything else I knew LEGO produced, but my young mind was open to the different pieces and the "cool" factor of the art and action-figure nature of the sets. Scuba and Torch were the two I wanted the most, but my first one that year was Turbo, acquired during a weekend trip to Target.
Turbo was fascinating nonetheless, but there was almost nothing of the ball joints that the other three possessed. Scuba in that regard is typical; one arm is the "Throwbot arm", while the others and the legs are the same. The feet are tridactyl and the head is on a gearbox that can be pitched up and down by turning a gear on the back. Before I owned a single Throwbot, I was over-imaging how the sets would transform, as the LEGO.com catalogs promised things like Scuba here turning into a submarine. Well, you really have to stretch your imagination to see that when you fold the legs and arms in, but really, the most fun I had with Scuba, Torch, Ski, and Turbo was posing them. I imagined all sorts of battles with the elemental dangers teased in the box art and on the discs, but it wasn't enough. When Roboriders came on the scene the following year, I gave up collecting all of the Throwbots (my last one was Blaster). But I didn't forget them, and obviously, neither did LEGO!
Today, Scuba and the gang are almost forgotten in my larger collection, but I need to give them more credit than my playtime with them showed. The age of ten is probably when a lot of boys start to naturally phase out of LEGO, but the double-whammy of Star Wars and these guys kept me on the hook for a few more years (and then BIONICLE sealed the deal). Imagine if Star Wars sets AND Throwbots didn't come out in 1999? I would have definitely been out of LEGO by 2001, or even worse, ignored the appearance of "BIONICLE". So the Throwbot line, short-lived as it was, was a crucial moment of innovation that hooked me (and undoubtedly a lot of others)!
I loved this theme, especially the bipedal models with visor prints. Those had infinitely more appeal than the quadrupedal models without visor prints. And I'm still a sucker for those glorious 2-lights throwing discs featuring sleek and elegant elemental symbols.
Fantastic colors, practical packaging with lore relevance and an elemental theme that paved the way for so many great waves of future sets. This was a standout line for me at the time, even though I don't owe any of these sets. (Blaster has been on my list ever since, actually. Time will tell.)
Jellyfish with creepy brains showing!
I find it fascinating that Brickset lists this set using its US name of Scuba, but classes its subtheme using the UK name of Slizers. Would have thought people would disapprove of that kind of mix and matching
"If I can't (have) Scuba, then what have I been working toward?!"
- Creed Bratton
Ah, Throwbots/Slizers. For those who don't know, this was the very first constraction theme and the grandfather of Bionicle.
When I was younger I owed Jet/Judge, City/Turbo nd Ice/Ski. Why the double names? Unlike Bionicle, the lore for this theme is far from clear and differed from region to region. Even the names! Nontheless there clearly is a lot of worldbuilding in the images of the disks alone. You just have everything open-ended.
I later ended up 100% completing the theme, including all the disks. What can I say? They're pretty and look great! And all the sets are quite unique. Scuba/Sub here is one of the more humanoid ones actually.
Fun fact: the cable is connected to a 1x2 plate with handle which is connected to the head with a 1x2 plate. And that harpoon is from the 1997 Divers theme minifigs. The back uses a small Aquazone propeller. The visor is also compatible with those from technic figs.
From the very beginning system has been used in constraction even if it was a technic offshoot!
Oh hey, it's the only Throwbot I ever... . . . ...bought.
Actually, I bought 2. I liked it.
I think I sold them a while back.
It occurs to me that this is my all-time favorite set whose name is a single real-life English word.
@Atuin: That hose piece wasn't a pneumatic hose; those are much thicker.
@TheOtherMike said:
"It occurs to me that this is my all-time favorite set whose name is a single real-life English word.
@Atuin: That hose piece wasn't a pneumatic hose; those are much thicker."
Interesting. I always found it odd how this hose was thin enough to fit into a technic cross hole but rubbery enough to fit over a bar. So I always thought that this was just an earlier type (I don't have any pneumatic sets from before 2004). But looking it up, this specific length of hose only appeared elsewhere in 8002 Destroyer Droid. So you might be right that this was meant for... other things?
I guess I learned something new today!
@Maxbricks14 said:
"What is this abomination!"
Slizers saved LEGO, they eventually lead to Bionicle, but Slizers started it all.
@Spritetoggle said:
"The art direction of the boxes for Throw Bots and Robo Riders remains one of my all-time favorites from LEGO. The characters themselves are pretty great too, due to being so unconventional.
@StyleCounselor I think you're failing the test because you're looking for things that aren't actually needed here. These were relatively simple, straightforward, and distinctive. Sometimes that's all you need."
The graphic design that you admire is part of what makes it difficult for me to make out the toy for sale. It wasn't just these sets. Even quite a few system sets had graphic design that was interesting and fun. Nevertheless, that design acted almost as camouflage disguising the set with the background.
However, for me, it is also that I never enjoyed these types of sets. I was at an age where I had absolutely nothing to do with toys. For me, it was work, study, books, music, sports, travel, and women = Deep Dark Ages.
So, I don't recognize this type of sets as Lego. I don't recognize their parts.
is there even a market for those? I got a few of them from a friend who left his collection to me and I wanted to sell them but nobody seems to want them.
I got pieces from this theme in an ebay lot some years ago. I threw the pieces in the bin because I thought this was some other plastic toy that got mixed in by accident (or because somebody was trying to get rid of it). The plastic felt so cheap.
Only years later through Brickset RSOTD articles I found out that this is actually supposed to be LEGO.
Then again this comes from the darkest period in TLG's history where they tried all kinds of weird stuff. I got the chance to look through a catalogue from back then a while ago. It was like going through a horror cabinet (both style- and content-wise).
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"What is this abomination!"
This beauty is my favorite Throwbot. I had so much fun with this guy..."
Same! I got him on a camping trip as a kid and I absolutely adored this guy! It's on my bucket list to go back and get all the Throwbots that I'm missing.
@Johnnyred said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"What is this abomination!"
This beauty is my favorite Throwbot. I had so much fun with this guy..."
Same! I got him on a camping trip as a kid and I absolutely adored this guy! It's on my bucket list to go back and get all the Throwbots that I'm missing."
if you're ever coming to Europe, you can have mine!
Lego needs to bring back Constraction like this. Just simple, silly Technic buildable figures. No need for some deep lore like Bionicle or a revolutionary building system like Hero Factory. These guys rocked.
There is absolutely no canon in it at all: but I didn't get Sub Slizer until after Bionicle was well underway (Rock, Fire and maybe Judge were, I think, my only three I got before then, the rest I picked up here and there in later years), and so ever since I got the set I've thought of her as a girl, to match Bionicle's trend of "water element characters = female". In my teenage stories, she also was always in a secret relationship with Jungle Silzer, despite them belonging to opposite factions, and the two of them were instrumental in uniting the 'good' and 'evil' factions and ending the conflict--
Right before the Very Definitely Canon Millennium Meteor hit and wiped out the Slizers of the former evil faction. No happy ending for this couple, whoops.
I still like the idea of some of the Slizers being female; I'm no longer convinced that Sub should be the (only) lady of the species, but I also can't quite stop myself from thinking of 'her' as such because it's become so engrained in my mind over the years. Something I'm still figuring out for if I run my own take on the lore.
In any case, yeah; despite their flaws I like the Slizers a lot ^^ What I loved most about Lego themes in this era was the way their worldbuilding were intriguing enough to capture the imagination - pieces of background artwork like this spoke for themselves! - while also being bare-bones enough that it was possible to take what we were given and run in any number of different directions with it; it was a perfect starting point for someone like me who liked making up my own stories but benefitted from having an established setting and characters to start out with.
@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"SCUBA!
Scuba, scuba! Scubie-dubie-duba! Here we go scuba! Come on!
https://youtu.be/DPRzl_ybmTI?feature=shared
But the true OGs will understand!"
The Amazon Prime Day theme song!
@Kalhiki said:
"Lego needs to bring back Constraction like this. Just simple, silly Technic buildable figures. No need for some deep lore like Bionicle or a revolutionary building system like Hero Factory. These guys rocked."
This theme was a total flop. It was Bionicle that was the first Constraction theme that made any money.
I never see technic made a sub theme before
@Murdoch17 said:
" @Kalhiki said:
"Lego needs to bring back Constraction like this. Just simple, silly Technic buildable figures. No need for some deep lore like Bionicle or a revolutionary building system like Hero Factory. These guys rocked."
This theme was a total flop. It was Bionicle that was the first Constraction theme that made any money."
I dunno, they did a second (admittedly rather vestigial feeling) wave of Slizers in 2000, makes me think it wasn’t a -total- flop or why revisit it?
@Binnekamp:
My brother had an early Fire helicopter that had two yellow Space guns connected to a pair of these thin hoses. I’m pretty sure if you tried pressurizing them, they’d split open pretty quickly.
@ThatBionicleGuy said:
"There is absolutely no canon in it at all: but I didn't get Sub Slizer until after Bionicle was well underway (Rock, Fire and maybe Judge were, I think, my only three I got before then, the rest I picked up here and there in later years), and so ever since I got the set I've thought of her as a girl, to match Bionicle's trend of "water element characters = female". In my teenage stories, she also was always in a secret relationship with Jungle Silzer, despite them belonging to opposite factions, and the two of them were instrumental in uniting the 'good' and 'evil' factions and ending the conflict--"
Hey, hey, none of that! Throwmeo & Julibot does _not_ have a happy ending. Something about drinking tainted motor oil and shooting one’s self with a harpoon gun…
@TheOtherMike said:
"It occurs to me that this is my all-time favorite set whose name is a single real-life English word.
@Atuin: That hose piece wasn't a pneumatic hose; those are much thicker."
Just compared it to the hoses from 8040, 5218 and 5109 and I couldn't find any difference (except the one from 8040 having become much stiffer, likely due to age).
It's nteresting though, that they were rare in yellow - only other example I could find was 8250/8299 (where oddly enough it was also used only for the figure's breathing aparatus).
@Binnekamp:
Keep in mind that in most pre 2003 sets (maybe even later ones too), you were supposed to cut them to length on your own, from a very long one that came in the box. So this might not mean too much, after all Lego cuts them to size themselves, so unlike regular molded elements, any length is easily made.
@Murdoch17 said:
" @Kalhiki said:
"Lego needs to bring back Constraction like this. Just simple, silly Technic buildable figures. No need for some deep lore like Bionicle or a revolutionary building system like Hero Factory. These guys rocked."
This theme was a total flop. It was Bionicle that was the first Constraction theme that made any money."
And probably the only one too, since even the Constraction figures from Star Wars, usually a brand name that's a guaranteed money maker, were a total flop.
@AustinPowers said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @Kalhiki said:
"Lego needs to bring back Constraction like this. Just simple, silly Technic buildable figures. No need for some deep lore like Bionicle or a revolutionary building system like Hero Factory. These guys rocked."
This theme was a total flop. It was Bionicle that was the first Constraction theme that made any money."
And probably the only one too, since even the Constraction figures from Star Wars, usually a brand name that's a guaranteed money maker, were a total flop. "
Do we actually have numbers regarding the whole "Throwbots/Slizer was a flop"? As mentioned above, I suspect it only flopped in markets where the Discs were not sold at regular retail. I remember certain sets of the first wave being regularly sold out during the first 2 months here.
The second wave probably sold poorly, but then again, Lego Star Wars just began and also the early 2000s Pokémon hype being an influence here.
Also note that Throwbots/Slizer, like RoboRiders was intentionally planned as a one-year-only theme. I think Faber mentioned this somewhere in regards to Bionicle's history and Lego's attempt to bring up new short-lived concepts, internally known as "Crazes".
@Maxbricks14 said:
"What is this abomination!"
I always imagined it to be what would result if sub and diver were 1.
@Atuin said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"It occurs to me that this is my all-time favorite set whose name is a single real-life English word.
@Atuin: That hose piece wasn't a pneumatic hose; those are much thicker."
Just compared it to the hoses from 8040, 5218 and 5109 and I couldn't find any difference (except the one from 8040 having become much stiffer, likely due to age).
It's nteresting though, that they were rare in yellow - only other example I could find was 8250/8299 (where oddly enough it was also used only for the figure's breathing aparatus)."
Granted, it's been years since I played with Scuba or 8250, and I just checked 8250's inventory on Bricklink, and both the hose used in the breathing apparatus and in Scuba are listed as "Hose, Soft," not "Hose, Pneumatic." I'd suggest that maybe Europe had a slightly different inventory for the sets in question, but neither set lists any alternate parts,
@Murdoch17 said:
" @Kalhiki said:
"Lego needs to bring back Constraction like this. Just simple, silly Technic buildable figures. No need for some deep lore like Bionicle or a revolutionary building system like Hero Factory. These guys rocked."
This theme was a total flop. It was Bionicle that was the first Constraction theme that made any money."
Be that as it may, I just want Technic Constraction back. The System buildable figures just don't hit the same, and Technic could be so much more than the vehicle line it's become.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Atuin said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"It occurs to me that this is my all-time favorite set whose name is a single real-life English word.
@Atuin: That hose piece wasn't a pneumatic hose; those are much thicker."
Just compared it to the hoses from 8040, 5218 and 5109 and I couldn't find any difference (except the one from 8040 having become much stiffer, likely due to age).
It's nteresting though, that they were rare in yellow - only other example I could find was 8250/8299 (where oddly enough it was also used only for the figure's breathing aparatus)."
Granted, it's been years since I played with Scuba or 8250, and I just checked 8250's inventory on Bricklink, and both the hose used in the breathing apparatus and in Scuba are listed as "Hose, Soft," not "Hose, Pneumatic." I'd suggest that maybe Europe had a slightly different inventory for the sets in question, but neither set lists any alternate parts,"
Those ones being the only ones in yellow does indeed make me suspicious if they are the same. Also your remark regarding region differences might play a role here (it has happened before).
According to Bricklink, 4 lengths exist, spread over only 4 sets (Scuba, 8250/8299, 4093 and the Destroyer Droid).
The Lego inventory from 4093 does indeed list the hose as "4195076: SILICONE TUBE 2X32MM" which is different than modern ones. However I couldn't find any entry for pneumatic hoses from around 1997-2005, so it's not guaranteed different.
Were the hoses appearing in 1978/1979 Space sets identical to pneumatic hoses?
And yes, I explicitly do not trust Bricklink inventories, especially for sets before 2010. I have just seen too many errors there.
@Atuin:
I guess it’s a different type of hose than 6685 uses. That one was paper thin, and certainly wouldn’t grip in an axle hole like the attachment used on Scuba’s shoulder. There’s also a type of hose that has a thicker wall than pneumatic, which I managed to buy a short length of…once.
@AustinPowers:
Just on the number of waves they released, I’d guess that Hero Factory also made money. Maybe not save-the-company money, but at least justifies-its-existence money.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Atuin:
I guess it’s a different type of hose than 6685 uses. That one was paper thin, and certainly wouldn’t grip in an axle hole like the attachment used on Scuba’s shoulder. There’s also a type of hose that has a thicker wall than pneumatic, which I managed to buy a short length of…once.
@AustinPowers:
Just on the number of waves they released, I’d guess that Hero Factory also made money. Maybe not save-the-company money, but at least justifies-its-existence money."
Interesting to hear of this. It certainly doesn't answer the question if Scuba used the same hose that 1999-era pneumatics used, but it might give a hint.
My main problem here is that I do not see a reason why TLG would produce two different hoses at the same time that are so close to each other, they are barely distinguishable. It would cause additional production and storage costs and IF there was a functional difference, it might cause problematic customer confusion.
If the pneumatic hoses are intentionally thicker than those "decorative" ones, usage of the thinner types for pneumatic purposes (which is possible, I tested it with Scuba's one) they might get damaged, so could potentially cause replacement costs via customer service.
Maybe the development history might make sense regarding this, if they kept the thin ones around or something.
And of cause, Lego has done some questionable decisions especially around the late '90s so maybe we can't depend too much on logic alone here.
Another idea I just had is that color additive for yellow just wouldn't work on the regular pneumatic hoses of that time.