Crystal

The 1x1 Crystal with 5 points has been a cornerstone of many LEGO sets since 1995. While some more recent sets use the piece as a generic valuable rock, when it was first introduced it was often used as a source of power.

The Crystal first appeared in Aquazone subtheme Aquanauts sets as a chrome colored piece. Today the crystal is available in thirteen colors, the most common being chrome, trans-neon green, and gold (both pearl and metallic).

The Aquanauts mined and collected the crystals for survival. They used submarines and other vehicles to collect the crystals (and fight off opposing Aquasharks) and bring them back to their base, the Neptune Discovery Lab.

It is unclear if the crystals were used to power their vehicles, or if they were used for trade. Later  Aquazone subthemes like the Hydronauts and Stingrays has similar motives. Later themes, like Rock Raiders, have much more detailed mythology and background story that give us further insight regarding the purpose of the crystals.

For the Rock Raiders, based on the video game and promotional materials, the crystals represented the only source of power for the stranded crew. The crew crash landed on the mysterious planet, and they had to collect crystals to power and repair their vehicles to eventually make their escape.

The Rock Raiders, and later the Power Miners, battled native rock monsters to obtain the necessary crystals. According to Power Miners mythos they were sent down to investigate the source of recent earthquakes. They discovered that the rock monsters were creating the earthquakes, and that the rock monsters consumed the power crystals as a source of energy. The obvious solution was to take away their source of food, causing the rock monsters to starve and die off.

In more recent Town, Lone Ranger, and Superheroes sets the pearl gold and silver crystal appears as a source of valuable wealth, basically gold.

The recent announcement of a new Arctic theme provided us with a few images of the new sets, which include crystals in the blocks of ice. At this point it is unknown if the crystals have value, are a source of power, or are merely ice.

4950: The Loader-Dozer

Moria.  You fear to go into those mines.  The Dwarves dug too greedily and too deep.  You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum...shadow and flame.

The Rock Raiders theme, released in 1999, contains a series of sets wherein members of the LMS Explorer dig for energy crystals.  According to Rock Raider mythos, the LMS Explorer was on its way home when it ran into an asteroid field and was badly damaged.  After being flung towards the Planet U, members of the ship dropped down to the planet to extract ore and Energy Crystals.  The series has the same goal of many themes, collecting crystals.  Rock Raiders, however, has a much greater backstory, with comic books and a game that explain why they need the resources.

Of course the Rock Raider crew also ran into their own troubles, namely the Rock Monsters.  They feast on crystals, just as the Rock Raiders need the crystals to power their ships, and are only aggressive when their crystals are in jeopardy.  While the Rock Monsters are seen as brutish enemies, they are really only protecting what is rightfully theirs.  However, the crew of the LMS Explorer is not merely mining crystals for profit, exploiting the Planet U, but rather need to in order to successfully escape and return home.

So, unlike many crystal-collecting themes, the Rock Raiders may be disturbing the natural habitat but are only doing so in order to survive.  A stark contrast to the Aquanauts and Aquasharks who are disturbing the natural ocean environment for their own gain.

Regardless, the vehicle here is clearly used as a bulldozer of sorts for moving around ore.  The crew member appears to not be deliberately attempting to hurt the Rock Monster, but rather is attempting to escape and leave the monster alone.  While he could easily use the dynamite on top of the vehicle to destroy the Rock Monster, he decides instead to merely flee the otherwise peaceful creature.

The rich mythos of the Rock Raiders gives us more to work with and allows us to see them not as capitalistic exploiters of the resources of a distant planet, but as shipwrecked explorers.

6155 - Deep Sea Predator

What is a deep sea predator? When I think of the phrase, an anglerfish or giant squid comes to mind, not a shark. Regardless, this Aquashark set premiered in 1995 under the Aquazone theme, the first of several underwater Lego themes. It made use of magnets, like many Aquazone sets, along with moveable joints (the two arms) that weren't used in many other sets. Since then the Lego Group has introduced several other methods of creating moveable joints and arms, usually with more success.

Look at the shark that it comes with. Does it believe this submarine is also a shark, perhaps a godshark? Were the Aquasharks able to train sharks to do their bidding, to domesticate them?

Why were the Aquasharks and Aquanauts eternally fighting for the chrome crystals. Were they a power source? Crystals according to both Rock Raider and Power Miner (two similar themes from different generations) mythos were a source of power. The Mars Mission theme also featured the 7645-1 Crystal Reaper, again collecting (really exploiting and colonizing the Mars natives, but that's for another entry entirely) crystals to fuel their machinery. Therefore, it can only be assumed that these crystals, and the battle for them, were yet another in a long series of Lego themes centered around collecting crystals for energy. Aquazone premiered before elaborate backstories were established for themes (only a few years after), so this is primarily conjecture.

It's interesting that the crystal becomes such a valued Lego piece. They are chrome, which is one of the least produced Lego brick colors, and of course traditional crystals are rare and valued as well. On bricklink they average around 20 cents a piece. They really serve little purpose in building, other than being a crystal, or adding detail to something, because they can only be attached to a stud.

Back to the set however, the large glass screen would make it nearly impossible for this submarine to really be a 'deep sea predator' because the immense pressure would instantly crush the glass. The design itself is much like a shark, with a large fin on top and small fins on each side. Compared to other Aquashark sets, it's a medium sized submarine, being piloted by only one Aquashark, and seems to be built primarily for battle, but also able to collect crystals.

In closing, I believe the topic of collecting crystals will be key to many Lego themes and will be discussed in the future. Although the Aquasharks are the 'bad guys' in this theme, their connection to sharks and the sea itself makes it possible that they could be defending their world against the Aquanauts.