Revisiting Power Miners: The Third Wave 

I've gotten a lot of comments about why I have not covered the second wave of Power Miners sets. Unfortunately, I do not own about half of the sets from wave two, and they are costly to obtain. I'd love to do a video on them one day, but for now that video does not exist.

Power Miners was such a special Lego theme. I’d love to see Lego do a remake or even bring the entire theme back!

The cool drinks mashine is one of the best playfeatures in Legos history

I love how absolutely giddy you are over the play feature on the Claw Catcher. I totally get it. Power Miners was the theme that got me into LEGO, my first set was Thunder Driller. Play features like the one on the Claw Catcher, the Crystal Sweeper, and the Rock Wrecker always intrigued me, even though the only one of the three I ever had was the Rock Wrecker.

I really loved how they gave their suits and helmets that shiny look like those proximity suits that the airport firefighters and volcano scientists use

Dude, these videos are some of the best set reviews on RU-vid. Reviewing every kit in a theme’s wave is such an engaging twist on the standard single set reviews. I hope you do one of these videos for every wave lego has ever made, your presentation is just top notch!

I remember having "set theory" talks with my best friend, one set idea I always wanted to see was a boat that sailed on lava lakes, with enemies being lava sharks naturally. I believe I thought they would be based on the large model of Lego shark lol. I have so many great memories of Power Miners and the sets should still be buried in my collection somewhere waiting to be unbagged and rebuilt. Do you see yourself going over the middle wave of Power Miners? I would adore seeing you roll the Cave Crusher around, might be my favorite vehicle of the line but that's hard to pick lol. Thank you for these retrospectives! They're absolutely amazing and a fantastic trip down memory lane!

Fun to see these from a Rock Raiders perspective. I wish that it got a second wave, we know now that one was planned but ultimately canceled. We now know there were prototype ice and lava monsters, plus a giant slimy slug for that canceled second wave! So painful to learn 😭

Long Live Power Miners! My all time favorite original LEGO theme. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

The water aspect felt weird. I get what they were going for, but the 'water' theming felt like an afterthought. It lost focus on it being about 'mining' and became Power... Washers? Going the magma route was super smart though. I wish they had really gone into lava-style vehicles like Lego city volcanic explorers subtheme, where they just needed further heavy duty equipment for mining magma crystals, maybe a magma diver or transport, an attack on magma base. They could have used a lot of transparent red bricks and maybe transport the 'lava' via tipper buckets of giant scoops/containers to contain the lava monsters in. It would have been epic to see the lava monster erupt from a mini volcano, maybe followed by a cascade of transparent red blocks.

I can totally see why you love that vending machine. Something incredibly great about that vending machine is that it actually was remade in one if the Monkie Kid sets. They remade it to look slightly better and to fit much more flavors, such as spider and egg yolk. 😂 this was a great theme!

I would have loved to see a crystal beasts wave. It would have revolved around different crystalized monsters/creatures and the power miners would have to stop them from reaching the surface. Great video btw

The sheer joy on your face as you chucked the rock monster into the back of the truck was strangely heartwarming. Great video!

"Just use your imagination. You'll get over it" This part had me dying on the floor laughing 🤣

I've always been one of those people who instinctively hates everything new or different until it's at least a few years old, so as a kid I thought this wave was stupid and paid no attention to it. Looking back now, there were some really cool ideas in here, and I'm a bit sad I missed out on it growing up. Definitely gonna pick these up to finish my Power Miners collection! Great video =D

That looks like a great theme. Those are also some very unique figures, I ve never seen anything quite like that style. Great review!

I recently got the Claw Catcher for the first time and I’ve been obsessed with the play feature too! I don’t even know why, it’s just so satisfying. I will say, it was clever of them to use the hinged lid as a backboard for the lava monster, cause when I put it all the way back and then tried to catch him, he just went flying lol

Truly an amazing overview, its straight to the point but not rushed, it has personality but it doesn't go off the rails, its super informative and relaxed. Thank you for making such great content! :)

Last year, when I got back into Lego, I saw a lot of people complain that Eruptorr was a letdown in comparison to the previous waves' crystal king, but I definitely agree with you and think that this (big-) fig (?) is glorious

I hope in a few more years we get another Rock Raiders spiritual successor, it's such a fun theme :)

heyy awesome! And by the way I just found an almost complete aero tube hanger on a local online marketplace for 35€ :) Your original video on Life on Mars really caught my attention. Gonna mess around with all those weird parts trying to find cool MOC uses

10:07 this is just the joy of a happy man, and it's amazing. I can feel the happiness of a working feature for a toy it's just beautiful

This is crazy. I remember all the power miners wave one sets very vividly, but I barely even recognize these sets.

I would've loved more terrain sets. The whole thing takes place underground and, even though some of the builds include some rocks, there are some City sets that do the whole "Mining" thing better by incorporating the environment and play features. It would've helped with the immersion to place the terrain set(s) with the vehicles to sell the whole "underground" thing for sure.

If you ever track down all the wave 2 sets, I think everyone would appreciate another one of these vids on it!

18:38 I know its not intentional, but that punch really sold the rock monster "breaking out"

I'll be honest i feel like power miners was a extreme missed opportunity for lego considering how loved it was and it was personally one of my favorite lego themes and miss it to this day

power miners was a rite of passage. the day you got a power miners set was the day you turned from a boy to a man.

great nostalgic breakdown. I was always a Rockraiders fan more but these are still cool

A Crystal King-sized Lava King would've been awesome, especially with the redesign of the eyes they did for this last wave (that a prefer to the rock monsters). But all the green and orange vehicles were genuinely great and this last wave was kind of weak so i guess it's good that they stopped before it get worse. The grabbing Claw Catcher was the best thing to come out of this last wave for me. Also still mad we never got a trans-yellow crystal in this small set...

It is so nice to see people who share the passion of Lego being so happy while playing with them, even when they are far older than the intended age range. Awesome video.

I remember being a kid when the first promo images for the second wave appeared. I remember wishing for a "Lava Queen" to go with the Crystal King.

That claw grabby thingy made my childhood, wish I'd gotten more into power miners at the time tho.

Man I love the Claw Catcher, for one it has those exclusive Bionicle pieces, for two the function succeeds!! So many sets fail because their functions don’t work properly, but that one is awesome just awesome!!!

As for the name for a final boss lava monster version of Crystal King, I’d think either Lava Lord or Molten Monarch could work. It’s gotta be alliterative at the end of the day. Magma Master? Core King (avatar of the Earth’s core)? I don’t know.

Power Miners was one of my favorite themes. Would have loved to have seen a more organic, brick-built underground mine with lots of rock creatures and maybe another big fig or two. The in-house themes are some of my favorites, and this one was excellent!

I imagine the magma mech is so easy to get now because it probably sold relatively well back in the day. I mean come on, who could resist something that cool looking?

Are you going to review the 8964, Titanium Command Rig aswell in the near future?

Let’sgoooooo more power miners!!!

Honestly what makes me sad is its a pain to army build the rock monsters because everybody has 1. It's like I'm trying to get like 40 of them and I have 40 different carts.

I only really know power miners because of the Clutch Powers Movie. Also is it just me or does Combistix look like a lemon drop?

I was too dumb as a young child to pick up any of these... I really hope I can get them sometime soon!

I loved the claw catcher when i was a kid, it was so much fun

What I would have loved to seen from it next is to explore more of the lava lions and then in the final set you can have this like big Cliffside with a bunch of sets and everything that you can place on and have the lava king with two eruptors with

my wallet hates you, each time i just bought some lego, then you make a video, and i want to buy more sets again.

I would have traded my childhood for that beautiful claw catcher, I love the new magma and water gimmick, so sad to see it go

My favorite theme ever! Remember watching Monster see Monster do on the website as a kid

Exo-Force ! Yes ! I am trying to get hands on the whole thing for a reasonable price myself, some sets are very easy to get and some are so hard, but I hope to have it one day (might just give up and pay a lot of money for it one day). But seeing them all on your table would be awesome.

it would be a great idea if the last set could recieve an overkill / highest end possible remake? 👀👀👀looks like a prime opportunity for a fun reinterpretation of everything going on at once

imagine if there was a LEGO power miners videogame

Cool sets!

I remember being really disappointed with this 3rd wave when I was a kid, but this video made me realize a lot of these sets were actually pretty cool! Honestly, I think the only thing really holding them back is the change in color scheme. The neon green and orange had this really nice contrast that made the original sets immediately iconic, and the blue just doesn't look as nice. I'm super curious what these sets would look like if you just swapped out all the blue for orange!

You really should give a look at the ExoForce sets. I remember having 2 of them, but it's just as flashes that came and went into my head when I got it, I barely remember the box! The figs are still on my collection, but not as treasured as I wanted to, unfortunately. Because damn, it had unique ideas, sick designs for the mechs even at the time, this anime style being remembered to this day, at least with some pieces; I'm sure it could be great having a modern series of it.

Came up for a theory about where's the vehicle numbered thirteen It burned. But what about 12? Why is that prepared for the hotter parts? The miners simply forgot to build a number 12 so they used that one to test the new design and it worked! So thats why we got 14 etc in that style

I already know all the Lego sets I tried to watch other people reveal them but even knowing I know what's coming up next I'm still so excited for you you make it so entertaining I'm glad you're back

What a lovely video ! Will you make a similar video for Atlantis, I mean is THE underwater theme and nostalgia hits hard with power miners and Atlantis

A volcano base for the lava monsters would've been cool

Watching this video, I noted that your figures had prints on the chest plates, like the little logos on their backs in the first wave. I had Lavatraz as a kid and didn't remember my figures having symbols on the chest. I had to dig up one of the torsos I had painted the arms on when I was a kid and no symbol on the chest. anyone else notice this?

I hope you can do the Exoforce sets some time in the future.

I remember getting the Magma Mech as a kid, I enjoyed it so much. I remember it having so many more pieces though! I guess that just goes to show how big pieces were used a lot more back then. Nowadays, a mech of this size would probably have at least 400 pieces (and it will have longer arms, probably)

You had like 8k at the start of the summer good job

POV: you go to the Lego store, but a mob of Cheesey Studios fans chanting “BRING BACK POWER MINERS”

king of the lava monsters is lava lord

oh boy who would have thought years later that those blue bionicle armor pieces would be so sought after a decade later.

Can you do Lego aquaraiders next?

Honestly, I really dig the visors & armor the minifigs have the most

Wait you were in Lego masters right?

Great pieces and colors, maybe one day that theme will come back..

Lava King… seriously? How about Lava Lord. Good video as usual, but ima go torture my wallet a bit more now…

Loving this Channel and the effort put into the videos! Maybe a video on the Atlantis theme too? Not sure how easy the sets are to find

I think I figured out how Power Miners (and other short-lived contemporaries with decent potential) could have survived: use Bionicle’s model for releases. Part one of the first wave (Spring - Early Summer) is your “first contact”. You have your medium ($20 - $50) sets be primarily the Power Miners, and run smaller ($5 - $15) sets for the Rock Monsters as first discovered by the miners. Maybe a $60 exclusive set in there. Part two of the first wave (Late Summer - Autumn) is your rising stakes. The medium sets are now the Rock Monsters, and your big ticket holiday items ($60+) are things like a Miner fortification and/or a Monster hive. Holiday Season for the first wave involves nice bundle deals and maybe one or two more last minute exclusives just to squeeze that extra cash. Wave Two Part One, you go back to medium and small sets, but split each size in half between the factions, so you have this feeling of the ongoing conflict. Maybe the Miners are becoming more militant and the Monsters are summoning more varied brothers in retaliation. Wave Two Part Two, climax of the first arc. Your medium sets are more of the same (maybe updates to older designs), and your big box sets are the ultimate weapon of the Miners versus the ultimate Rock Monster. Sprinkle in some creative Polys and combo/alt build instructions on the website, and booooooy, you got yourself a recipe for money.

Imagine power miners being in Minecraft. Would be crazy.

I used to own the claw catcher as a kid and that was one of the first lego sets that got me into Lego 🥰

What if there was a power miner reboot?

What i'd like to see would have been something in tbe shape of an oil rig. The center of the earth is encompassed by a mantle of molten lava irl so having something to hover over it would have been pretty neat.

If Power Miners continued I'd say an underground crystal cave or the home of the crystal monsters would have been great. From the monsters' side they could introduce purple monsters, or crystal homes. From the miners' side obsidian/diamond tools maybe lime green-black vehicles. But oh well it was a fun tour to the past. Thanks for the video series! :)

I just want to say your videos always put a huge smile on my face whenever I see them, so thank you for that!

I’ve got all of these except Lavatraz on display. Love em so much. Got Eruptorr tho, got him from a neighborhood kid as compensation for him stealing my smaller lava monsters. I think that was a net positive in the end considering his price these days!

I would love to see Atlantis next

How the 🤬 is it possible for a theme this amazing to go wrong?! I would've bought these the moment I had the chance! 😭

We need our new monsters of lego power miners. The super lego Logan adventures, We're going to the making of uploaded video of jrpg games. Enemies and Bosses.

Power Miners could have done a new wave with some "rock like" pieces, like a few pebbles that you get in big quantity with sets. Something to dig, store, move arround, put on conveyor, ... It really could have created a full line of all the classic construction machines toys but in Lego.

I think I would have liked to seen something like a crystal king set, think the fire elemental from the Spider-Man series of sets only with out the street signs and thing hanging off of it, or replace them with things that look like they got ripped off power miner equipment, you could call it Metlar. Oh but wait there is more, the power miners need away to fight this beast and I was thinking pulling inspiration from another theme, the transforming vehicle from Atlantis series that turns into a mech, It would be a classic battle in a box set you could call the final battle. However the Power miner vehicle would have more of the silver/metal tone pieces then normal but then again you are fighting against the king of the lava monsters.

So disappointed that the power miners theme was right in the middle of my dark ages. I fell off the Lego wagon around 2008 and didn’t get back really (besides a small set for the holidays here or there) until 2017. Missed out on a lot of great stuff.

If you want to keep the alliteration I guess you could call the king of the lava monsters Lava Lord or something like that.

The reason why there is no 13 is that it was a scrapped mech design that could transform into a truck. It was later used for an atlantis set designed by Mark Stafford.

I’m so late lol! Sorry I was attempting to run a full marathon. Power miners is by far one of the best mid 2000s themes!! So sad it’s gone

the vending machine in this set was one of my favourites, i remember whenever i made a base i would include that vending machine.

They also like the song "dig" by incubus.

Power Miners were fantastic. Those Sets still look great and the play value is still exeptional. Loved the part 1 video, love this one. However we are missing the middle, including the two big sets. I sincerly hope a part 3 video is coming. The Titanium Command Rig was an absolute win. With it's 100 usd price tag it is already commanding in driving mode but in drill mode it towers over the whole range. Terrific play value. Very sturdy set too. The 80 usd set was the Underground Mining Station. That was big aswell but ours fell apart often from heavy playing and the play features are plenty but slighty on the useless side. Still great set. And the two remaining vehicles, the Cave Crusher and Rock Wrecker were fantastic too. I only wished they varied the bigfigs more. In four sets you get Geolix twice and Tremorox twice. Also you clearly have the Crystal King, so that needs to be properly featured aswell. Also in those five sets you get a total of only one rock monster! That is just mean.

I have one question, what about the set #13? It does exists? 😂

Eruptorr in Trans Purple.... * Amnethyrst * Taaffeite * Purplord * Magentex * Periwinkle * Violeopard What name would you dream up?

Really loved those sets, I remembered searching online for alternate builds and mocs from others to expand the theme for myself. Sadly its a bit hard to come by in Hong Kong while I tried to get some of the sets I didn't own when I was a kid.

what set is the castle boat on the right self? it looks really cool and i want it

Dude I unlocked a whole bunch of core memories watching this, Power Miners were my favorite lego sets as a kid, so much so I had a birthday party that was Power Miner themed🤣

Always love your reviews. Like you been getting some of the earlier sets through bulk buys.

Will you do the second wave sets?

Its funny, i absolutely loved power miners as a child and got a lot of the sets. Even got a bunch of the rock monsters and crystals from the secondary market. Still have one of them on my keychain to this day. ( all the grey printing on his torso is Gone and the arms are very loose) But the lava stuff i never got any of those sets. They just felt too different from the rest. The coloursceme but also the figures. Only recently got a couple of the lava monsters at pure chance at some garage sale.

Yay cheesy studios

Man I need to get my hands on some of these power miners sets, they look awesome😆