Random set of the day: The Hover Scout
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4910 The Hover Scout, released during 1999. It's one of 13 Rock Raiders sets produced that year. It contains 40 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$3.
It's owned by 3,106 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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45 comments on this article
I've got nothing to complain about or make fun of, this one's a solid little set.
Rock Raiders!
oh my god, I just got a memory of going over to my grandmother's, and her giving me this set, telling me she found it in her attic, and then me building on her bed. Good memories
Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that chasis used for the feet of the AT-TE?
They don’t make em like they used to...
I didn't tune in yesterday and I missed a Bonk. Every time I skip a day that's what happens. Curse you Stardew Valley!
Well for anyone still interested, Ahkmou is best summed up in one word... wait... can't say that on Brickset. He was a dude that betrayed everyone on multiple occasions. Let's go with that.
As for this set, love the tool rack! Way cooler than their usual fair.
Great way to recycle an at-at foot!
@Quinnly said:
"Great way to recycle an at-at foot!"
This came first.
I adore this set, but imagining it as a real vehicle would be a nightmare. You'd have to stand on this thing as it rushes at ridiculous speeds through massive tunnels, subjecting yourself to getting thrown from it with a bad turn at any point. If it's anything like the speeds in the Rock Raiders PC game (not the PS1 game, for sanity's sake), you're gonna lose plenty of scouts.
Heaven help you if you happen to have a chainsaw as you fly.
The world’s most dangerous lawnmower!
i remember using like all of these pieces anytime i built after getting this set. there were quite a few cool ones
Rock Raiders had some great sets and accessories, but I really loved that people pack that had all the main characters.
Suprised it's called "THE Hover Scout" as opposed to just "Hover Scout." I assumed maybe there was a preexisting space set or something named "Hover Scout" but there isn't.
Rock Raiders was, and is, fantastic! I love this theme so much - it’s the only theme I have laid out that isn’t related to a modern city. Always a treat to see one of these sets <3
@Norikins said:
"Suprised it's called "THE Hover Scout" as opposed to just "Hover Scout." I assumed maybe there was a preexisting space set or something named "Hover Scout" but there isn't."
It's because the other scout was the donkey scout, and it didn't like being underground very much.
[Rock Raiders music intensifies]
This isn’t just any hover scout. It’s THE hover scout.
@Norikins said:
"Suprised it's called "THE Hover Scout" as opposed to just "Hover Scout." I assumed maybe there was a preexisting space set or something named "Hover Scout" but there isn't."
@HandPositions said:
"This isn’t just any hover scout. It’s THE hover scout."
None of the Rock Raiders sets had "The" in their US names. This is one of the few cases where Brickset uses the UK names instead.
@Norikins:
After building the first one, they came to their senses and burned the schematics.
Copying my comment on R.R. Slugger's video:
"I skipped the Hover Scout because I didn't see the appeal in such a small vehicle, and I didn't like that there was an Energy Crystal without an accompanying boulder. I didn't appreciate it in the PC game as much as I do now. I guess it should be fairly easy to BrickLink. (I did in fact BrickLink 2 of the light grey headlamp piece as replacements for those I lost. The seller sent me LBG ones by mistake... and sent me the correct ones afterward and I got to keep the LBG ones.)"
Scouts and cleans the cave at the same time (finger, ear)...what...oh, that's a Hoovercraft; my bad:)
Is that teal there? I didn't know this theme included the color!
System logo, printed pieces, simple yet unique builds, late 90s minifig style. That was the peak of Lego for me.
As a kid I used to wonder why all the Lego people had big buzz saws.
You got to wonder, did Jet here enjoy the swooshability Hover Scout or the power of the Tunnel Transport more? You wouldn’t think a pilot would have that many options underground!
My brother I never got any Rock Raider sets, but we loved playing the game on our Playstation. I still play it sometimes.
@LuvsLEGO_Cool_J said:
"Is that teal there? I didn't know this theme included the color!"
How did you not know? This theme was *defined* by this color. It was introduced in Technic just one year before Rock Raiders, but most people who aren't completely new to LEGO, when they think of teal, think of Rock Raiders.
@Brickalili said:
"You got to wonder, did Jet here enjoy the swooshability Hover Scout or the power of the Tunnel Transport more? You wouldn’t think a pilot would have that many options underground!"
Here's one of Jet's quotes from the PC game, from whenever she's flying about on her Hover Scout:
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
You never hear this when she's flying the Tunnel Transport, so clearly the Hover Scout is the winner.
Perfection
I never got any Rock Raider sets as a kid, still kinda wish I had.
@LegoSonicBoy said:
" @Brickalili said:
"You got to wonder, did Jet here enjoy the swooshability Hover Scout or the power of the Tunnel Transport more? You wouldn’t think a pilot would have that many options underground!"
Here's one of Jet's quotes from the PC game, from whenever she's flying about on her Hover Scout:
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
You never hear this when she's flying the Tunnel Transport, so clearly the Hover Scout is the winner."
Sound logic, can’t argue with that!
The control panel part 2342 is quite unusual, and looks like the scary mini-fig is doing a dance with a robot or alien, while some crazy chainsaw robot creeps slowly forward.
@GBP_Chris: I never played either game, so I always imagined it as a slower type of vehicle, something like a Segway speed-wise.
Great minifig face print on this character.
Rock Raiders will always be my favourite theme; it may have lasted only half a year, but it was THE defining theme of my childhood Lego interest. Seeing so much love for it in these comments warms my heart :D
I actually bricklinked most of the parts to build the hover scout itself (though not the rest of the set) recently. When I got my semi-complete 7317 Aero Tube Hangar for my birthday last year, the lot also included a bunch of spare pieces as well. Not enough to make any other complete sets; but I found the hover scout base piece was one of the included parts - although admittedly in this case the piece probably had originated from 7314, as the lot also included a unique part from that set. Still, being a massive Rock Raiders fan, I immediately associated that part with this theme; and knowing that the craft itself wouldn't take many more pieces to make - and already having Jet, the pilot, from 4930, one of my defining childhood sets - I decided to bricklink the remaining few parts; so now she has her little hover scout to zip around on, which is very satisfying!
@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that chasis used for the feet of the AT-TE?
"
Yep, all AT-TEs except the new one coming this year, the AT-OT, the first AT-ST, and several walkers and mechs from Life on Mars.
That little raised console piece may be my single most missed element from back in the day. Very aesthetically pleasing on its own, but still has open studs for customization!
My parents once told me that it was difficult for them to find Legos set in caves after 9/11, because it was thought Bin Laden was hiding in caves. I had always assumed that they were referring to the rock raiders sets, but I see now they would have been already available for a few years. So maybe they were just hard to find because the stock was exhausted.
@LegoSonicBoy:
Clearly, she’s screaming in paralyzed terror.
@TheOtherMike:
When Hasbro revived the SW action figure line, they made up a few small vehicles (smaller than a speederbike). One was a flat wedge shape that Luke would stand on, with a control yoke at roughly bellybutton level. The packaging claimed it could fly over 300mph. The only thing holding him on besides his grip on the controls was the small spikes driven up into his heels.
@sir_vasco:
If you attach a 1x2 plate with the “gun” bars on the ends to the stud on top of that console, they are perfectly positioned for a minifig to use as a control yoke. I don’t recall if this was ever done in a set, but I can’t imagine it was a coincidence.
@Rob42 said:
" @RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that chasis used for the feet of the AT-TE?
"
Yep, all AT-TEs except the new one coming this year, the AT-OT, the first AT-ST, and several walkers and mechs from Life on Mars."
Not quite. 75157 Captain Rex's AT-TE does not use that piece.
Yay Rock Raiders!
This was my second set of the line, I think I even got it at a small Lego show back then (alongside a Keychain version of Jet).
The small box was actualy pretty cramped up with the somewhat large plates, the folded up instructions, the catalogue-poster and the comic book! No wasted space here xD
I really loved that teal space console thingy, especially since it was the second one I ever got! It was interesting how Jet reused the Exploriens helmet part. This is also one of only 2 Rock Raiders main line sets to not come with a 'Lego Ore' boulder.
The Hover Scout was a buildable vehicle in Lego Rock Raiders, but it was kinda useless unfortunately... It probably was meant to be a flying vehicle like the slightly larger Tunnel Scout, but somehow it isn't (requires a 'driver' rather than a 'pilot' oddly). You could upgrade it with scanners though (which was displayed as binoculars added to the vehicle) but there were easier ways to get scanner units.
It was also featured as centerpiece for the games box art, although with Chief as the pilot/driver.
The crystal scanner station was not in the game at all, so does not have an official description as far as I am aware of.
Rock Raiders was such a great theme.
I agree with most everyone here: Rock Raiders ROCK! The whole line was solid and this little set is no exception. Figure's name is Jet I believe
@PurpleDave said:
" @Norikins:
After building the first one, they came to their senses and burned the schematics."
I'm genuinely surprised that anyone disliked Rock Raiders, especially given all the love for it shown here... but to each their own, I guess. Kudos for being the singular voice of dissent?
@Joefish said:
"Great minifig face print on this character."
Yeah, Jet, Pippin Reed/Linda Lovely/Gail Storm, Gypsy Moth and the Ninja Princess were probably the first minifigs where Lego got a female face right. The Pirates/Castle Face (Anne/Bessie, Forest Woman, Islanders Woman/Amaritza) always looked very awkward to me. The Ice Planet Woman's Face ('Major Urusa'/'Doctor Kelvin') reused a lot of these assets so wasn't much better. Paradisa tried a new way, but overdid it in a different direction with too exaggerated features (it got a better version in 1994 though).
I really liked that adventurous confident look on both Jet and Gypsy Moth. I used Jet's head on some custom Starcraft minifigs, I'm sure there's plenty more use for that face. Weird, that she's the only one of the Rock Raiders not to be reused:
Sparks: Goalee (Football 2000), Stuntman (Studios 2001), Team Maverick Pilot (Drome Racers 2002) and even some more
Docs: Cameraman (Studios 2001)
Bandit: Mini Car Driver for Team Maverick (Drome Racers 2002)
Axle: Actor/Stuntman (Studios Mini-Series 2001)
It's a shame Lego doesn't do minifig heads with hair anymore, since they began throwing out so many hair moulds, it gives you much more options for helmet wearers.
@Balthazar_Brannigan:
I mean, it wasn’t my favorite theme, but I didn’t hate it. It’s just that, like other people whose comments you ignored in your response, I think this particular set looks like an explosive decapitation waiting to happen. But you know, go ahead and jump to conclusions if that’s your cup of tea.