I absolutely hate that minifigure stubble face with the sunglasses.

@Maxbricks14 said:
"How can you run a river?"

*coughCANALScough.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"How can you run a river?"

*coughCANALScough."

*CoughCANALSARENOTRIVERScough*

I wish I'd gotten this set.

@JavaBrix said:
" @Robot99 said:
"Dang, that's a pretty nice little set! Especially for the time, this was right around when Town (and Lego in general) started taking a huge nosedive in quality, yeah?"

The company's woes didn't happen until the turn of the century. 1994 was Peak Lego."

The sets surely were arguably very good and are well regarded by many, but technically TLG's bad decisions began around this year (*cough* LEGO Kids Wear *cough*). They just didn't arive at the customer yet during 1994.

Excellent!

Great little set! The only immediate flaw that springs to mind it that it's a 8x8 grate plate, meaning the figs can only be secured on the edges and middle. A grate ona raft als feels counterproductive or at least uncomfortable

It's no 7070 Catapult raft though and the tool-filled pontoons do a great job at makng this set work.

@JavaBrix said:
" @Robot99 said:
"Dang, that's a pretty nice little set! Especially for the time, this was right around when Town (and Lego in general) started taking a huge nosedive in quality, yeah?"

The company's woes didn't happen until the turn of the century. 1994 was Peak Lego."

While they weren’t in any immediate danger of going bankrupt, they were still more of a niche educational toy than anything else. It wouldn’t be for another five years that they started on a path that would see them overthrowing Hasbro as the biggest toymaker in the world. And it would be well over a decade after that before they started hiring experienced AFOLs to start designing sets that looked better than a lot of what you’d see at a typical AFOL convention.

One of my earliest sets. Pretty sure I pretended it was a spaceship most of the time

SAD THING IS IT DONT FLOAT ON WATER IF IT SAID IT ON BOX TEXT TO SMALL!!!!!

This set is great nostalgia for me, I had it and it fascinated me.

@Atuin said:
" @JavaBrix said:
" @Robot99 said:
"Dang, that's a pretty nice little set! Especially for the time, this was right around when Town (and Lego in general) started taking a huge nosedive in quality, yeah?"

The company's woes didn't happen until the turn of the century. 1994 was Peak Lego."

The sets surely were arguably very good and are well regarded by many, but technically TLG's bad decisions began around this year (*cough* LEGO Kids Wear *cough*). They just didn't arive at the customer yet during 1994."

My favourite of the 'bad decisions' was a good decision which was tangled up in all the bad decisions: SPU Darwin!
https://www.spu-darwin.org/
https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/set/assets/blt4212e2be20008c99/bits_n_bricks_s01e16_darwin_feature_and_transcript.pdf

@skypilot22 said:
"I love this set. These guys are about to have a Deliverance-style adventure. "

Paddle faster ... I hear banjos

Not the most convincing The River Wild merch....

One of my favorite childhood sets! 1994 was PEAK 90s Lego!

These smugglers have cool vehicles! And the back-of-the-box builds for this set are very creative! Just look: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/3fIAAOSwxBtk8hXl/s-l1600.webp

Took a while to realize why Elvis was so tall, like all cool dudes with a 3 pong hing plate outboard motor he's sitting on the side of the boat. Just waiting for them to hit a wave, and watch unsecured cowboy go flying.

Unlicensed movie set for The River Wild.

Marshall, Will, and Holly
On a routine expedition
Met the greatest earthquake ever known.

@Brickalili said:
"One of my earliest sets. Pretty sure I pretended it was a spaceship most of the time"

Well, it did have that 8x8 grille plate, which has shown up in a lot of Space sets...

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Brickalili said:
"One of my earliest sets. Pretty sure I pretended it was a spaceship most of the time"

Well, it did have that 8x8 grille plate, which has shown up in a lot of Space sets..."

With the pontoons on either side reminding me of rockets

@Murdoch17 said:
" @bue_car said:
"Unlicensed movie set for The River Wild. "

@WizardOfOss said:
"Not the most convincing The River Wild merch...."

If I had a nickel for every time somebody commented about this being a set from The River Wild, I 'd have two nickels. Which doesn't sound like much, but it's odd it's happened twice."

Imagine how much you would have if you got a dime every time!

@Maxbricks14 said:
"I absolutely hate that minifigure stubble face with the sunglasses."

Are they twins?

Who'd they buy it from, Blacktron Army Surplus?

@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Atuin said:
" @JavaBrix said:
" @Robot99 said:
"Dang, that's a pretty nice little set! Especially for the time, this was right around when Town (and Lego in general) started taking a huge nosedive in quality, yeah?"

The company's woes didn't happen until the turn of the century. 1994 was Peak Lego."

The sets surely were arguably very good and are well regarded by many, but technically TLG's bad decisions began around this year (*cough* LEGO Kids Wear *cough*). They just didn't arive at the customer yet during 1994."

My favourite of the 'bad decisions' was a good decision which was tangled up in all the bad decisions: SPU Darwin!
https://www.spu-darwin.org/
https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/set/assets/blt4212e2be20008c99/bits_n_bricks_s01e16_darwin_feature_and_transcript.pdf"

Whoa!

There's always more to find out... Thanks for sharing!
Really impressive for it's time.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"How can you run a river?"

*coughCANALScough."

*CoughCANALSARENOTRIVERScough*"

*coughCANALSAREARTIFICIALRIVERScough*

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-differences-between-a-river-and-a-canal.html"

*coughCANALSAREMANMADESOTHEREFORETHEYCANBECONTROLLEDcough*

This was my first ever LEGO System set! Very fond memories of it for sure.

@Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"How can you run a river?"

*coughCANALScough."

*CoughCANALSARENOTRIVERScough*"

*coughCANALSAREARTIFICIALRIVERScough*

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-differences-between-a-river-and-a-canal.html"

*coughCANALSAREMANMADESOTHEREFORETHEYCANBECONTROLLEDcough*"

Ah, so at last we agree that canals are a type of river that can be controlled.

@Atuin said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Atuin said:
" @JavaBrix said:
" @Robot99 said:
"Dang, that's a pretty nice little set! Especially for the time, this was right around when Town (and Lego in general) started taking a huge nosedive in quality, yeah?"

The company's woes didn't happen until the turn of the century. 1994 was Peak Lego."

The sets surely were arguably very good and are well regarded by many, but technically TLG's bad decisions began around this year (*cough* LEGO Kids Wear *cough*). They just didn't arive at the customer yet during 1994."

My favourite of the 'bad decisions' was a good decision which was tangled up in all the bad decisions: SPU Darwin!
https://www.spu-darwin.org/
https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/set/assets/blt4212e2be20008c99/bits_n_bricks_s01e16_darwin_feature_and_transcript.pdf"

Whoa!

There's always more to find out... Thanks for sharing!
Really impressive for it's time."

There's so much stuff out there that pretty much nobody knows about. I've probably only discovered about 0.01% of the cool yet forgotten stuff Lego has to offer.
Most of this stuff I found on the Bits n' Bricks Podcast which is SOOOO interesting. Listen to the episode about *coughGALIDORcough*
https://open.spotify.com/show/40EbVoUMdbKCkdaHKBt9UO

@PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"How can you run a river?"

*coughCANALScough."

*CoughCANALSARENOTRIVERScough*"

*coughCANALSAREARTIFICIALRIVERScough*

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-differences-between-a-river-and-a-canal.html"

*coughCANALSAREMANMADESOTHEREFORETHEYCANBECONTROLLEDcough*"

Ah, so at last we agree that canals are a type of river that can be controlled."

*coughTHERIVERINTHISSETISNOTACANALSOTHEREFOREITCANNOTBECONTRLLEDcough*

@Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"How can you run a river?"

*coughCANALScough."

*CoughCANALSARENOTRIVERScough*"

*coughCANALSAREARTIFICIALRIVERScough*

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-differences-between-a-river-and-a-canal.html"

*coughCANALSAREMANMADESOTHEREFORETHEYCANBECONTROLLEDcough*"

Ah, so at last we agree that canals are a type of river that can be controlled."

*coughTHERIVERINTHISSETISNOTACANALSOTHEREFOREITCANNOTBECONTRLLEDcough*"

Well, the US Army Corps of Engineers might like to argue that point, if they weren’t so busy running 609 dams, 257 navigation locks, and all the dredging equipment they use to control 12,000 miles of mostly natural waterways of the US, including rivers, lakes, and those inland seas we like to refer to as the Great Lakes. It’s hard work doing the clearly-impossible!

@PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"How can you run a river?"

*coughCANALScough."

*CoughCANALSARENOTRIVERScough*"

*coughCANALSAREARTIFICIALRIVERScough*

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-differences-between-a-river-and-a-canal.html"

*coughCANALSAREMANMADESOTHEREFORETHEYCANBECONTROLLEDcough*"

Ah, so at last we agree that canals are a type of river that can be controlled."

*coughTHERIVERINTHISSETISNOTACANALSOTHEREFOREITCANNOTBECONTRLLEDcough*"

Well, the US Army Corps of Engineers might like to argue that point, if they weren’t so busy running 609 dams, 257 navigation locks, and all the dredging equipment they use to control 12,000 miles of mostly natural waterways of the US, including rivers, lakes, and those inland seas we like to refer to as the Great Lakes. It’s hard work doing the clearly-impossible!"

Does this river look controlled?

No? That's what I thought.

@Maxbricks14:
No, of course it doesn’t. There are two major problems with that look. The first is that, when seeking out places to enjoy recreational watersports, the “corrugated sea wall” aesthetic is pretty low on the list (even Hermes Conrad couldn’t limbo under that). And the second pertains to one of my dad’s favorite sayings, which is that, “Water wins.” Given enough time, water will reduce Mt. Everest to an inconsequential speed bump.

There really is an entire field of science called “hydrological engineering”. One of the applications that’s most familiar to me (having grown up in a resort town built where a river empties into Lake Michigan) is erosion control. Another is dredging. And the two work at cross purposes to each other. The more you dredge for navigability, the faster erosion happens. The faster erosion happens, the more you have to dredge. Sea walls were an attempted solution, but I think it was around the time I was growing that they finally woke up to the fact that sea walls can accelerate erosion. I did a tour day at Lawrence Tech, and one of the things I remember from that day is that you can shape the rivers in such a way as to use natural-looking topography to do all the heavy lifting in erosion control, as well as maintaining navigable waterways that don’t require constant dredging. And done right, you shouldn’t be able to tell that anything was done at all.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 :
No, of course it doesn’t. There are two major problems with that look. The first is that, when seeking out places to enjoy recreational watersports, the “corrugated sea wall” aesthetic is pretty low on the list (even Hermes Conrad couldn’t limbo under that). And the second pertains to one of my dad’s favorite sayings, which is that, “Water wins.” Given enough time, water will reduce Mt. Everest to an inconsequential speed bump.

There really is an entire field of science called “hydrological engineering”. One of the applications that’s most familiar to me (having grown up in a resort town built where a river empties into Lake Michigan) is erosion control. Another is dredging. And the two work at cross purposes to each other. The more you dredge for navigability, the faster erosion happens. The faster erosion happens, the more you have to dredge. Sea walls were an attempted solution, but I think it was around the time I was growing that they finally woke up to the fact that sea walls can accelerate erosion. I did a tour day at Lawrence Tech, and one of the things I remember from that day is that you can shape the rivers in such a way as to use natural-looking topography to do all the heavy lifting in erosion control, as well as maintaining navigable waterways that don’t require constant dredging. And done right, you shouldn’t be able to tell that anything was done at all."

Bro is just saying unconnected stuff because he's lost the argument lol

@Maxbricks14:
Well, now you’re just embarrassing yourself. I gave you canals and hydrological engineering. That’s not even getting into financial control (tolls and fees), legal control (government) or military control (um, military, obviously). The US Army Corps of Engineers controls natural waterways consisting of well more than ten times the combined land and water owned by New Zealand, and has a budget equal to about 3% of New Zealand’s GDP.

You said you can’t control a river, but I’ve given you more than enough examples of ways in which they are controlled on a daily basis.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14:
Well, now you’re just embarrassing yourself. I gave you canals and hydrological engineering. That’s not even getting into financial control (tolls and fees), legal control (government) or military control (um, military, obviously). The US Army Corps of Engineers controls natural waterways consisting of well more than ten times the combined land and water owned by New Zealand, and has a budget equal to about 3% of New Zealand’s GDP.

You said you can’t control a river, but I’ve given you more than enough examples of ways in which they are controlled on a daily basis."

I meant control as in if it rains and the river swells, humans can't just get it to go back down unless they have a dam, not an army occupying a country that has rivers.

@Maxbricks14:
Well, you should have said that right off the bat, so I could have told you several hours ago that some of the hydrological engineering that USACE does is flood control. The Mississippi River basin in particular is notorious for flooding, but they’ve done a lot to prevent widespread catastrophic damage from happening on an annual basis.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 :
Well, you should have said that right off the bat, so I could have told you several hours ago that some of the hydrological engineering that USACE does is flood control. The Mississippi River basin in particular is notorious for flooding, but they’ve done a lot to prevent widespread catastrophic damage from happening on an annual basis."

Still though, you can't control nature. End of discussion.

@Maxbricks14 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 :
Well, you should have said that right off the bat, so I could have told you several hours ago that some of the hydrological engineering that USACE does is flood control. The Mississippi River basin in particular is notorious for flooding, but they’ve done a lot to prevent widespread catastrophic damage from happening on an annual basis."

Still though, you can't control nature. End of discussion."

You ever hear about how they can seed a rainstorm?

Cool set, but how come it's got an outboard motor if they are using paddles?

I thought river rafting was usually just with a paddle. Unless there's a requirement to have a motor for an emergency if they get into difficulties?