Truly the best LEGO theme ever. I wish they would revisit it, I feel like it would do really well, but at the same time they set the bar too high in 2009
@@CheeseyStudios some more rock monster colours with the original moulds would be nice... trans bright green, trans yellow, trans light blue, trans purple...
Great video! I only bought the mech back in the day, to get a rock monster (an adorable little figure with fun proportions) and the new diamond element. It's so funny to me to see Power Miners as nostalgic theme that people fondly remember now, because I always remember that parts of the AFOL community HATED it when it came out. It was not well received and was the butt of jokes for a while. It makes me wonder if newer themes that were somewhat lukewarm during their run, like Nexo Knights, will get similar nostalgia 10+ years from now.
Interesting! I was honestly totally unaware of any AFOL hate it might have received because I can promise you that all the kids at school thought these things were the bomb. Are all the kids who "grew up with" Vidiyo gonna be the ones having nostalgic retrospectives in the future? 😂
@@CheeseyStudios oh absolutely. Side note: I really love what you've done with your minecraft sets, and it's inspired me to do some of my own digitally using a few of your methods. :)
Man I want this theme to return. Improvements to the Rock monsters is molded in so we don't get chip paint and more colors like purple. Also we get more Dark Green Rock Monster in more sets.
God, this used to be my favorite lego theme. Maybe tied with Space Police, but that's still high praise. I guess I never really stopped liking either, I'm just not as much into lego anymore with no space to store any.
I honestly feel like in a way Lego has really gone down in quality in certain ways, for example: back then you could get a decent sized set with two great figures, an exclusive recolour and a great play feature for 10$. Nowadays, 10$ gets you a mediocre set with one simple minifig and stud shooters. I miss the good old days...
Small sets were so much better back in the day, and more plentiful! Harry Potter this year was an awful example of how things have changed, with price points at $20, $50, $50, $80, $90, $100, and $120. Compare that to Power Miners' $6, $8, $10, $20, $27, $30, and $70. Yikes
I love these theme retrospective videos and can’t wait to see more episodes! Also I am shocked how cheap most of these sets are, LEGO has become so much more expensive over the years.
Indeed. I brought this up in another reply but compare this wave of sets to the 2022 Harry Potter lineup which has sets at $20, $50, $50, $80, $90, $100, and $120. Power Miners wave 1 was $6, $8, $10, $20, $27, $30, and $70. One of these themes is much more accessible than the other, even with inflation adjusted prices.
You just gave me a reminder: There was actually a Lego Atlantis theme and it wasnt that bad! Although it obviously hadnt anything to do with the movie.
I can’t look at a power miners set (specifically the mine mech) without being reminded of clutch powers. I didn’t get into Lego until a few years after this theme unfortunately ended, so my introduction to it was through the into sequence of that movie. The whole point of that movie was to show off all the original themes that were available at the time of the movie’s release. I only watched clutch powers well after power miners ended so I had no idea that those sets even existed. Now because of finding out about these themes and your series revisiting them, I am able to feel nostalgia for sets that I never even had. I’m very excited to see more themes showcased and seeing the rest of the power miners waves, as always your videos are a delight to watch.
Thank you for making this video! Power Miners was well inside my Lego “dark age”, but since I create Rock Raiders videos on my channel, I always get questions about this theme. Now I can just send people to your video if they are interested in it! 😊
One of my favorite 2000s lego themes. I miss getting sets that weren’t a license, or trying to be a huge blockbuster theme like bionicle, just simple themes to last 3 waves. Never got any of these sets sadly but a great theme and a great video about it.
Dude I’ve been watching you for ages now and I love being able to see your boost in confidence it’s really noticeable and AWESOME I feel in the last 8-9 videos you have been your most entertaining you have been so fun to watch when you are just having fun and jokeing like wait “I have a bunch of crystals” Seriously ammmmazing job so glad you recently got the recognition you deserved in the recent likes and subs boost :D Keep GOINNNG!!!
Thank you Jacob! I really have been having so much funny lately with these. Warming up to the camera takes some time, but I'm definitely getting in more of a routine and it feels great! And it's just hard not to be excited about Power Miners! 😂
I recently rebuilt my Thunder Driller! I’m unfortunately missing a few major pieces somehow. It was the only set I got from the theme but it certainly cemented it as one of my favorites themes.
I'm a few days away from also getting the full first wave of these sets, I was always a Bionicle kid but this theme resonated with me so much, it deserved so much better
When I was shopping for lego peices, I saw one of these rock monsters. I loved their design and decide to buy as many different ones as I could, but I recently lost a lot of them. For some reason I never tried to find out what theme they came from, these sets are really cool! (I thought that the large lava monster was an offbrand, but it was still cool so I kept it)
actually as a guy who works in construction, you would not believe how many people share the same name here (currently we have three people with the same name, among a few others who share the same name) so my headcanon is that it's not a 'one true Duke' thing, and it's actually that all three share the same first name and everyone just calls them Duke
The sudden and widespread love and appreciation being shown for power miners over the past year or two is really nice to see. For the longest time people didn’t even seem to know what I was talking about when I’d bring up the theme but now so many people are talking about it so frequently and I love that. I genuinely hope that this theme reaches a point where it becomes a classic space of our generation, the prospect of them potentially revisiting it one day would give me so much to look forward to
Even my wife, a rather casual fan of LEGO when she was younger, started getting quite excited when I brought out the rock monsters to shoot this video. She recalled having a few sets and how awesome they were. It definitely made an enormous impression on our generation, and I sure love it too!
@@CheeseyStudios the rock monsters are such a highlight to any lego collection really, they’re just so simple and perfect haha! I’d be curious to ask, did you ever have a “dream color” rock monster you were hoping to see in a future wave? I always wanted a purple one when I was younger haha. I’d love to see them get the classic space men treatment and be rereleased in different colors some day
Dude. This theme was THE theme. Collected the first 5 vehicles back in the day and got the Crystal Sweeper later on, but man, this was too good. The colours, play features (which I must say have been downgraded or even sidelined in modern themes), rock monster design that is a theme exclusive, introducing the drill and wheel pieces, dynamite... I wish I could go back into the store just once and look at the packed shelf filled with these. The era of Power Miners, Pharaoh's Quest, Mars Mission, Indiana Jones, Space Police 3, Pirates, Castle, Atlantis, Bionicle and Star Wars were IMO Lego's golden days. So many new colours and bricks, cool set write-ups, and hard copy magazines that were, for most kids, the only way to see what was new. I instantly think of this theme when I see orange and lime, it's far too nostalgic. Good times.
@@CheeseyStudios There's actually a fanmade reboot of the game, made with HD graphics and able to run on any system of today. Its called Manic Miners and runs VERY smooth! Looks amazing too
@@CheeseyStudios Rock Raiders was awesome. I bought a massive digger just to get a rock monster, he was cute. I really appreciated that the team included a woman. Lego has historically not included enough female figs.
Love the creativity of these Lego original themes! I really hope Lego begins to do more of them and branches out from the few they have had recently. Also wouldn’t mind the return of a few such as Monster Hunters or Hidden Side
@@CheeseyStudios I don't remember that one all that much since I never got it, but the vampire castle I loved and remember building. Lots of Minifigures in there
Please also do the other two waves of Power Miners! This is such a lovely nostalgia trip! :) My favourite will always be the King of the Rock Monsters, I was so happy with I got it and even played with it so much that it was the only time a Lego part broke for me haha. I would love to hear what you have to say about the other sets
I wish I had more wave two stuff! I'm missing three large sets sadly. But I will be showcasing all the sets from the last wave! Crystal King is soooo good.
@@CheeseyStudios Ah yeah thats reasonable, wave two truly had a lot more larger sets... only just realised two of them were limited etitions too, generally these probably are a lot harder to come by... I only own two of them too. But awesome! Looking forward to the 3rd wave then, only just realised it only consisted of 4 sets? What the hell Lego. How amazing it would be if they brought this theme back... there is so much potential... other cave types and monsters... flooded... frozen... but im just rambling here haha.
Power Miners and Alien Conquest were my all time favorite themes as a kid, I absolutely loved them and still do to this day. Cheesy Studios, thank you so much for making this video!
I think it would have been cool to see a galaxy squad approach where there was a consistent lime color but depending on the specialization of a team, there would be different secondary colors. Maybe each team also had a different design style, such as one being more industrial and conventional, another more mech-focused and experimental, etc. Power Miners was a fun theme, and it's a shame it only had like, what, 3 waves? It and Atlantis really feel like victims of Lego at the time, where these themes would have two strong waves and and a lackluster third wave that changed up things. Mars mission was also similar. I miss original Lego themes. So much of the company's portfolio are licensed or evergreen stuff now.
Yeah, the "rebrand" attempt to revitalize themes like this always made it so the theme ended at an awkward and incomplete point. Glad we got the Temple of Atlantis at least though!
Truly an incredible theme, kinda sad it got shut down. I own all sets, and got 5 sets twice, so I could build some combination sets and mocs. Rock and Stone!
@@CheeseyStudios same for me, all I'm missing is the Stationary Base a 2nd Time for a Moc that was once in a lego magazine, 2 more sets for the 3rd and biggest combination set and the titanium drill rig for a moc that was in a german magazine once. Apart from that I own all official sets.
Loved this theme so much! It's such a charming theme, fun play functions, great aesthetics, the rock monsters have a ton of character, especially compared to stuff like the Mars Mission aliens. Would love to see a reboot/rebranding of this one.
@@CheeseyStudios same here. Even that City mining subtheme from a few years ago had some pretty creative builds. A Rock Raiders II or Power Miners II or even some other Space spinoff would be very welcomed.
There is nothing saying that rock monsters are not real but I don’t think they are. Also, for like a special episode, you should make a woodlen mansion for the Minecraft Chunks.
All those sets have such amazing features. I always wanted the big crystal collector, so far I've only replicated it with my own pieces. And the blue minimonster is just 👌
Great Video but i prevere monkie kid. These sets are just great. Sets like the legendary flower frut mountain, the Team van ,the City of lanterns and so many more. At least for me its the best lego theme.
This is the set that got me back into Lego. My sister got me the two smallest sets for my birthday while visiting her. Instantly fell in love with the rock monsters and the unique power miner characters. I've done individual reviews of all the sets on my channel. Don't forget to mention the combo builds! I've recently started getting duplicate sets so that I can build and review all the combo builds. Gonna need a second and third of the Underground Mining Station. It has 2 alt builds. Lots of spare parts in the end for mocs though, right? Edit: The 3d dynamite was first used in these sets, as well as quite a few other elements.
I had these as a kid and I agree this is the best Lego theme, the color scheme is beautiful and the somewhat sci-fi but sleek industrial equipment is such a unique idea
Like most great lego themes, I think it was a combination of great models and a great media campaign that really solidified it. You've had the fantastic TV shorts that had both suspense and gonzo action, the designer videos with Mark Stafford and Tim.. Something :P And the Monster See, Monster Do vids that almost gave a sense of ARG to the theme. A very 2000s mtv/nickelodeon vibe, which funnily enough was kinda reflected in the sets' colour scheme. Fantastic stuff. "It's a rock - it's alive! And it's eating the crystals!"
My brother and I were obsessed with all the videos they put out for this theme, checking every day to see if there was a new one uploaded on the LEGO website xD
I loved it because it was a very industrial theme. And lets face it, Lego excels when it comes to sets that are heavy machinery because it usually means more cool play features (a rotating drill, a large bucket, big wheels, missiles, mechs, etc.) If there are any themes I'd love to come back, it would be Power Miners, Castle (Fantasy), Space Police, Pirates, Agents (original) and Mars Mission (this last one I never got to get any sets of, although I wanted them badly). I also never noticed how well they nailed the distinct "factions" (for lack of better term) of these themes until now Edit: I also just remembered that me and my brother LOVED Power Miners so much that when we were little, we asked our grandma if she could make us Power Miner costumes for Halloween (mine was the red Rock Monster, my brother was a Power Miner).
The greatest part about this theme is that you can get one of each of the rock monsters with the first 5 sets. As a kid, I only ever got those five because Boulder Blaster wasn't as easy to get, and my parents didn't want to pay for a set as expensive as Crystal Sweeper. However, that's totally fine because that meant that I had exactly one of each of the rock monsters. These sets really are amazing. Personally, I'd argue that the original nine and a half year run of Bionicle was the best LEGO IP, but Power Miners was definitely a close second. I literally just randomly stumbled across this video today. Thank you so much for reminding me of some awesome sets from childhood that I loved. Power miners was one of the first LEGO IPs that I actually owned sets from as most of my early LEGO collection was LEGO Star Wars sets. My only complaint with the video is that you only briefly glossed over the fact that you can stick the dynamite in the rock monsters' mouths, and never even mentioned that you can do also do it with the crystals as seen in the marketing animation.
Dude, I don’t know what it is but your videos stick out to me in terms of quality. I literally found you no less than 2 days ago and you have a new subscriber. Would absolutely LOVE to see more retrospectives of classic lego themes! This era of Lego was my childhood Also just at the start so if you mentioned this my bad, but the thing that stuck out to me the most with Power Miners was the durability. Most of those sets are *rock* solid and the Claw Digger and Thunder Driller in particular could quite literally be dropped down the stairs and be ok
So glad you found the channel! These are my favorite type of video to do, and I definitely have plans for more. I do think I neglected to talk about the stability, but you're totally right - these things were bulletproof! Even compared to Mars Mission just a few years earlier there's so much improvement
Just picked up the Thunder Driller, And Claw Digger for less than retail and Crystal Sweeper for 65 because of this video and my nostalgia. Also picked up the rock wrecker so I could own every type of rock monster. All the sets with instructions and boxes too. Cant wait for the wave 2 video
I would love to see your sig-fig! Have you made one? Personally, I would use the face from Harry Potter, hair from umbridge in reddish brown, torso from gonzo, and the jeans from CMF Harry Potter.
I'll have to put those together and see how it looks! I actually had a friend from college draw up a sigfig for me for my channel merch (I'm not trying to sell this to you I promise lololol just showing) spreadshop-admin.spreadshirt.com/cheesey-studios/caleb+sigfig-A62cde2c07c02955c88fda597?productType=1459&sellable=Dpa1qV1aazUYYnbAnL1Y-1459-215&appearance=842&size=167
Amazing Collection, do you have Rock Raiders line? If you have them, could You make a comparisson on both lines? Thanks for this awesome video, I look forward for the lava monsters sets video 🤩
I still think I like Rock Raiders better. But that might be because I grew up with them and when Power Miners came out i was more into star wars sets and mars mission. What i like better about Rock Raiders was each member of the crew looks very different. From far away you know who each one is, while here they all have the same jumpsuits. I also like the Rock Raiders color theme better. Turquoise, yellow and transneon green! That said, i have to give it to Power Miners, they definitely have superior vehicles! Especially the sweeper, i always wanted that one! I used to make these mega bases that i used the green Rock Raider crystals to power the base shields. My friends always were trying to decide ways to break through my base's shields. One of my friends got Power Miners and I traded him for all of the different crystals to make my base even more powerful (bad deal for him lol). Side note, there was a Rock Raiders video game that was fun and someone made a faithful remake of it! It looks pretty good. You should give it a play!
Power Miners is my favorite PROPER theme for sure. I still have the #4 vehicle in once piece despite all these years. One of my favorite Lego vehicles with the massive industrial tires. Buuuuuuut my favorite theme overall will always be the Heroica subtheme from the Lego Games theme. Do you plan on talking about that strange little series anytime soon?
One really underrated aspect of your channel is how articulate you are; a lot of toy reviewers/collectors/enthusiasts/whatever you want to call the profession, have no idea how to speak legibly and it makes it really difficult to watch when you're listening to them for a whole video. Very limited vocabulary and a grammatical error in every sentence. You actually know the names of pieces and objects instead of just saying "a wheel thingy"
Glad to know that's appreciated! Perhaps it's just because I'm quite the LEGO nerd, but I do enjoy doing the research ahead of time. I want these to be the definitive videos on the themes, and hey, I'm happy it appears I know what I'm talking about!
I love your MOCs but these complete wave reviews fill the TrikBrix shaped hole in my heart. My one problem with this wave is that there’s nothing for the power miners to mine. The crystals are always just sitting there so they really don’t need any of this equipment which always broke the immersion for me, although I’m sure most kids didn’t notice. I wish they would’ve at least included some of the standard boulder piece to house the crystals in.
I hadn't thought about that actually - a few small terrain builds could have gone a long way. I know my brother and I took these out in our sandbox and would bury the crystals in sand to be dug up which is how I imagine quite a few kids would have worked around that! And man, do I miss TrikBrix too...
I had two small Power Miner sets with me but, I broke them to finish something else (it was like an building or something idk) but, after a long time I realized that these Power Miner sets where very expensive (in Russia at least) now I just find some old parts of the Power Miner lying around in my bin. I wish I didn't break them.
well you see the orange and lime is for high visibility. they’re not operating in a mine where every area was planned out, so being able to clearly see your equipment in low-light conditions is an important safety concern.
Vid popped up in recommendation, thoroughly enjoyed what you had to share. But the idea of depriving these rock monsters of their food source really bugged me D: so not the star trek way lol
I LOVED power miners as a kid! I always felt like this was a lesser known LEGO theme so I'm very happy to see it get some recognition! (Although my heart will always truly belong to Mars Mission and Bionicles)
Absolutely love this series but kinda disappointed the crystal sweeper (my true white whale set) doesn’t work as well as I hoped. If I ever get it I’m gonna mod it to hell to make it work.
Cheesy, that crocodile shirt? I NEED IT. I was 4 when Rock Raiders came out and always lamented just barely missing it, and by the time Power Miners came out I was just starting to get out of buying Lego sets, so despite not getting any of the sets I just thought they were their designs were some of Lego’s best
The croc shirt is definitely one of my all time favs lol I totally get what you mean as I had that experience with some other themes. I got so lucky with Power Miners that it landed in my "golden years" of childhood LEGO
14:30 i always tought "the true duke" to be the leader, and doc to be his second in comand, don't know why tho. Probably for his manliness or something, he always stood out
The jackhammer piece in orange that is excluisive to the Granite grinder set is a Bionicle Rahkshi staff piece from Lerahk but in that set it pearl light grey
My brother actually owns some of these. They’re all broken down though. The blue monster and granite grinder, as well as a orange and yellow one however those had spiky heads. Also a big green one I think.
Yeah, I never got a power miners set(I'm a kid, you expect me to be able to buy one on a wim?), but I have seen them, and they are VERY cool. One of the best themes that died too soon.
13:30 a little trivia on this one. In lego batman 2, they recoloured it to look alike a drill vehicle that bane used with some altered pieces like treads and 8 exhausts on the side instead of 4.
Oh yes one of the best lego themes ever, the Amount of detail you get in these sets just Amazes me still to this day! I wish lego would bring make themes like this. And you did a good job on the video.
Excited to see this theme getting the love it deserves. We had about 10 years in between Rock Raiders and Power Miners, it should be about time for the third run of the crystal mining theme. I can only hope LEGO is seeing the respect fans are giving this theme in the last few years and bring it back for a revival. I recently completed my power miners collection earlier this year with the Underground Mining Station. Can't wait to see the wave 2+3 videos!
I have so much love for this theme. I absolutely adore just about everything about it. i love the color, the minifigs, the functions, and the builds are just so cool. I remember obsessively watching the videos where the designers showed off the functions and builds. good stuff
Great video, I also love the Power Miners, although I missed them when they came out. I only found them due to their equipment appearing in the Clutch Powers movie 👍😎
