Random set of the day: Alpha Team Sub-Surface Scooter
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4791 Alpha Team Sub-Surface Scooter, released during 2002. It's one of 17 Alpha Team sets produced that year. It contains 42 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$7/£4.99.
It's owned by 1,733 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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17 comments on this article
Only got two of the Deep Sea sets. I really liked the yellow and black color scheme, and maybe that's why Aqua Raiders rocked my world in 2007 a few years later.
Weird Flex but OK.
Another one I had to check to see if I had it. I liked the Mission: Deep Sea line, even if some of the builds were juniorized.
@MCLegoboy said: "Only got two of the Deep Sea sets. I really liked the yellow and black color scheme, and maybe that's why Aqua Raiders rocked my world in 2007 a few years later."
I'm normally a sucker for underwater themes, but the Alpha Team Deep Sea subs were designed so poorly (they looked more like terrestrial flying craft, with the gigantic holes in the sides of the vehicles) that I passed on most of them. This little set was probably the best (because it's more of a scooter than a submarine), but I didn't buy this one, either.
OTOH, Ogel's giant mutant sea creatures were epic, and I bought most of those. Loved the squid. The killer whale was lovely and evil too.
Mission Deep Sea sticks out in my memory as the first subtheme/theme that I thought looked pretty bad in real time. I was just old enough to start having some dislike of what LEGO was doing rather than just taking it as it was given to me (unlike, say, Town Jr., which I look back on as quite bad).
But I got a LOT of Mission Deep Sea, because it was so discounted, and it really is the Alpha Team subtheme I actually played with the most. I think of skeleton drones as the underwater version and I think of Ogel as having a red hook.
And this set, which I have, is the reason I think of this as THE Flex minifig. He's just a tiny bit more serious (and able to be taken seriously) than the 2001 version... and lets not get into his Mission Deep Freeze version!
Other than Flex himself, this set made almost no impact on my memory in its built-up form, but looking at it here, I do remember being excited at the time that they'd used the R2-body for a non-astromech here. I think this might be its first unprinted use; certainly, it was the first one I owned.
I was sick with the flu pretty bad once as a kid, and naturally spread it to all my siblings. My grandmother came down for a few days to help my mom out with all of us so sick, and she brought me this set as a gift. I remember building it with a crazy high fever while on the couch watching cartoon network
Alpha Team was one of the prominent themes on shelves as I was emerging from my dark ages, and hence became one of the first I got a lot of, though I didn’t get anywhere close to all of it. This is one of the sets I have, though it’s been disassembled for most of the two decades or so since I got it and I haven’t done anything with Alpha Team in years.
I always thought Flex’s specialisation was a bit odd; amongst experts in sensory equipment, demolitions, robotics etc his thing is he does ropes. He’s basically the dude who dies first in Suicide Squad. And take him underwater he can’t even launch himself off a cool catapult like he did in his previous set!
@Brickalili said:
"I always thought Flex’s specialisation was a bit odd; amongst experts in sensory equipment, demolitions, robotics etc his thing is he does ropes. He’s basically the dude who dies first in Suicide Squad. And take him underwater he can’t even launch himself off a cool catapult like he did in his previous set! "
"So, you've put the team back together. No matter! True, you've opened my plunger doors, my double-plunger doors, the laser doors, gotten past all of my guards and sentries, opened the electric doors and the motorized doors, and rescued the entire Alpha Team, BUT… you'll never get past my Rope Locks!"
- Ogel, in the Alpha Team videogame
I'm not the biggest fan of the Mission Deep Sea subtheme for the abovementioned reasons, but it had plenty of small sets to help army build! I have the Ogel Shark sub and it's great for giving you two skeleton drones + a commander! The 2001 and 2004 drones only come in the largest sets of those subthemes unfortunately.
The AT Aquatic Mech is also a great mech for the time. It even comes with a black sawtooth shark!
I'm pretty sure I got this following a visit to an aquarium gift shop, which seems appropriate.
@Formendacil said:
"Mission Deep Sea sticks out in my memory as the first subtheme/theme that I thought looked pretty bad in real time. I was just old enough to start having some dislike of what LEGO was doing rather than just taking it as it was given to me (unlike, say, Town Jr., which I look back on as quite bad).
But I got a LOT of Mission Deep Sea, because it was so discounted, and it really is the Alpha Team subtheme I actually played with the most. I think of skeleton drones as the underwater version and I think of Ogel as having a red hook.
And this set, which I have, is the reason I think of this as THE Flex minifig. He's just a tiny bit more serious (and able to be taken seriously) than the 2001 version... and lets not get into his Mission Deep Freeze version!
Other than Flex himself, this set made almost no impact on my memory in its built-up form, but looking at it here, I do remember being excited at the time that they'd used the R2-body for a non-astromech here. I think this might be its first unprinted use; certainly, it was the first one I owned."
Almost; the original UCS X-Wing 7191 used them in 2000 (technically a different variant, without the axle-holder in the bottom stud that this variant has).
I had this set as child and was enchanted by it, both the build and splitting the components apart and making other things from my imagination or the comic in the instructions
This minifig (FLEX) was my sigfig for over 8 years! Gosh I had 12 years when this series came up, and I still use same pieces in one of my Mocs.
It was a really solid small set!
Club-hauling while hanging on to an underwater scooter with one hand is a most impressive trick. Think he’ll manage it without losing his grip?
@Formendacil:
There are three versions of the R2 body, with no axle connector in the tube, with an “x” axle connector, and with a “+” axle connector. 7191 and 3450 used the first version of the R2 body, while this set was the first of three sets to use an unprinted version of the second style.
@Binnekamp:
The solution to a Gordian Knot is to cut it. Rope locks aren’t very difficult if you don’t care about their condition after “unlocking” them.
"Scooter"?!?!?!...that 'thing' is bigger than a Smart car; possibly even a Mini Cooper, or Fiat 500...
I got this set, as a kid, purely for Flex, who was one of my favourite Alpha Team members at the time - since it was a much cheaper and more convenient way to get him than 6774 was... and I don't think I ever saw 6774 in stores anywhere, in any case, while this one turned up not long into 2002. Never really the biggest fan of the vehicle though; I found it too awkward that Flex was just hanging off the back rather than actually riding it in any way.
Still, didn't regret the purchase when I was a kid ^^
My first Set to finally get light grey minifig hands.
I was actually quite the Fan of Mission Deep Sea, during the brief pause of Bionicle Sets back in early 2002. Though to be honest, this Set was in the weaker Side of the theme.
It was funny how they shipped that Hook assembly pre-assembled of like parts plus the attached String and everything than secured by 2 Rubber bands^^