Random minifig of the day: aqu012

I recently used that scuba/helmet piece for an orc based off LOTR (Lord of The Rings), I didn't actually know what it it was from, but this makes sense.

Such an interesting helmet piece. Just glad it covers that mouth thing this guy has. (Does anyone have an explanation for that weird mouth?)

@Miyakan said:
"Such an interesting helmet piece. Just glad it covers that mouth thing this guy has. (Does anyone have an explanation for that weird mouth?)"

The Stingrays are actually half human/half fish.
They got mutated by "living too long underwater" according to the story. There is even a rather realistic rendition of what these guys are supposed to look like...

https://rockraidersunited.com/gallery/image/7089-lwc-1998-6-maga-011/

https://rockraidersunited.com/gallery/image/7058-lwc-1998-5-maga-014/

The faces always scared me when I was a kid

Aquazone was certainly a quirky theme!

Man do I wish that helmet came in Dark Bluish-Gray. Then you wouldn't have to worry about discoloring

I don’t know if anyone ever did any Space Ghost minifigs, but this would make a great Moltar.

@Atuin said:
"The Stingrays are actually half human/half fish."

So…merfolk? But with the lower half of a human, and the upper half of a fish? Nobody tell Philip J. Fry!

"They got mutated by "living too long underwater" according to the story."

Pretty sure that’s not how it works. Living too long underwater usually results in you “evolving” into fish food, after you drown.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Atuin said:
"The Stingrays are actually half human/half fish."

So…merfolk? But with the lower half of a human, and the upper half of a fish? Nobody tell Philip J. Fry!
"

More “Creature from the Black Lagoon” adjacent I suspect

I have always been very fond of these minifigures, alongside the Hydronauts. The only issue I have is that their design does not inforporate transparent parts (the Hydronauts do). In the last years, I chased down almost every 1998 Aquazone sets with some extra minifigures, so I'm glad the Stingrays are also well represented in my collection.

@Atuin: thank you for the comics. Those are certainly sone of the most intriguing ones I've seen in a long time.

The Man in the Iron Diving Mask

His helmet reminds me of iron man mk1...

Coincidently I just posted a MOC just this morning inspired by this diving helmet! It reminded me of the man in the Iron Mask...

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAQRLzpIebC/

@Atuin said:
"The Stingrays are actually half human/half fish.
They got mutated by "living too long underwater" according to the story. "

Sounds like the Barraki from Bionicle... and some of them have similarly red eyes too... I'm starting to see a connection! I guess this water must have been full of pit mutagen too, to have that kind of effect...

I've always loved the Stingray minifigures' design, and the helmets in particular, but knew not the first thing about them for the longest time. I only discovered the existence of themed lines within Lego in 1999, and while the Lego Adventures magazine that taught me about them often featured themes from 1998 as well, Aquazone for some reason didn't get a look in on that count. However while browsing Lego.com in its early days, I found some 'email postcard' pictures of the Stingrays sets, with no context beyond that.

The designs, coupled with the complete lack of information about them, fascinated me for ages; I long hoped to get one of them myself someday, but that wasn't to be until just last year when I was able to pick up 6107. I wish I could say that in that time I'd developed my own entire mythology for these guys, non-canon though it obviously would have been, but sadly I never did; they just kinda existed at the periphery of my Lego interest, but I never gave them much consideration precisely because I didn't know anything about them. If I'd had any of their sets as a kid, though, I'm sure I would have come up with some wild lore for them through playing them against sets from other themes.

Personally, I like to think of the Stingrays as a morally grey faction who are neither heroes nor fully villains. I now know that doesn't align with how Lego's storytelling perceives them, but I think it makes them more interesting than just being another bad-guy faction ^^

That face looks kinda… concerning me

The Stingrays still feel mysterious to me despite that I know a great deal about them ever since the internet alowed me to find out about them.

This one's my favourite because of the hair under the helmet, an he looks the least weird without the helmet on.

Name another minifigure with more old-brown and old-gray on it…

I’ll Wait.

@BillingsBrix said:
" @JavaBrix said:
"
Name another minifigure with more old-brown and old-gray on it…

I’ll Wait."

Jedi Bob"

Well done, that’s what I was waiting for :-D
I guess it wasn't much of a challenge since Jedi Bob has been in the news recently.

Awkwardly though, Stingrays was also sometimes set to take place in a sub-terranean ocean located inside Armeron - the planet the Insectoids came to mine their Voltstones (most of Insectoids takes place underground btw).

Whilst many hints exist that Aquazone is indeed set on a foreign planet (mostly a relict from their 'Seatron' heritage I guess), it's still a bit hard to imagine how they got to Armeron's inside, especially given that the Insectoids had such a hard time avoiding all the giant insects living there (that's why their ships look like that, it's supposed to be some sort of camouflage).

Also not sure about the timeline here. The Time Cruisers audio drama vaguely puts Aquanauts and Aquasharks around 3800-3850, whereas Exploriens and Spyrius is set a long time later. With UFO having had 'contact' with both Exploriens and Insectoids, it would also put Hydronauts and Stingrays way more further into the future than Aquanauts/Aquasharks/Aquaraiders (the old Aquaraiders of cause, Aqua Raiders II was set on Earth). Given that the three older factions never had any 'canonical' interaction with the two newer ones, this would make sense.

Also note that Hydronauts were called 'Aquanauts' in some regions - so are they simply the next generation of Aquanauts? In turn could this mean there was a planned connection between Stingrays and Aquasharks or Aquaraiders? Would we have seen another 'neutral' faction (like Aquaraiders) had Aquazone continued?

@WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"Man do I wish that helmet came in Dark Bluish-Gray. Then you wouldn't have to worry about discoloring"

In my experience, it is extremely rare for old dark grey to discolour. Unlike Dark bluish-grey where I have many parts that have discoloured...

@JavaBrix said:
"Name another minifigure with more old-brown and old-gray on it…

I’ll Wait."

Both combined? Because OG Chewbacca was solid brown, Peeves was solid light-grey, and the Dragon Fortress Guardian from Orient Express was solid dark-grey.

@gaiathedj said:
" @WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"Man do I wish that helmet came in Dark Bluish-Gray. Then you wouldn't have to worry about discoloring"

In my experience, it is extremely rare for old dark grey to discolour. Unlike Dark bluish-grey where I have many parts that have discoloured..."

Can you spell "Millennial AFOL bias?"

/j

@PurpleDave said:
" @JavaBrix said:
"Name another minifigure with more old-brown and old-gray on it…

I’ll Wait."

Both combined? Because OG Chewbacca was solid brown, Peeves was solid light-grey, and the Dragon Fortress Guardian from Orient Express was solid dark-grey."

-Navigator Stinger Ray (fellow Stingray)
-Mr. Cunningham from Dino Island
-Rudo Villano from Adventurers Jungle
-Rock Raider Docs
-Rock Raider Chief
-Original 2000 Edition Boba Fett
-brown Time Traveller from 1997 RoseArt Time Cruisers boardgame
-2003 Geonosians

... and probably still some more.