I’ve always had a soft spot for the Lego Adventurers series, they always had sets that were fun to build, came with great accessories and a great story for kids to follow. The series began phasing out around 2000 but got a swift kick in the pants with the Orient Expedition series made its way on to the market. While it doesn’t have the different levels of the Adventurers [Amazon, Egypt, Dino Island etc] it does introduce a lot of new elements for Lego lovers to drool over. The Johnny Thunder set makes for a great addition to any of the Adventurers series and the accessories can be crossed over for use with any standard Lego figure. There aren’t any real instructions with this set but you do get a small sheet that shows up how the figure is assembled and various things that you can do with the provided accessories. Be sure to look for the small inserts in the box that cover other sets from the series and how they can be combined to make a larger scene.

Johnny Thunder

Clad in his brown adventurers uniform, Johnny is off on a quest for hidden treasure, baby dinosaurs and anything else he can get his hands on. Unlike some Lego figures, Johnny has a lot of stenciled detail and actually has an expression on his face. A nice change from the usual ‘two dots and a smile’ you usually find on mini-figs. His brown hat suits him perfectly and compliments his overall look but it’s the backpack that makes it complete. It slips on over his torso but under his head so you need to attach this while assembling the figure. The backpack is pretty small but it does have a small flap that lifts up. There is a side snap that you can use to have Johnny carry the shovel or one of the weapons but unless you have him snapped on to a baseplate, most accessories will have him tip over.

Accessories

The brown crate is always a great item to have on hand. It can be attached to vehicles, loaded up with treasure or used to tote around baby dinosaurs. In some of the smaller sets like Johnny Thunder & Baby Dino, that’s exactly what it was used for. There isn’t a lid for it but it will hold a lot of tools, gold coins or weapons. This can be used with almost ever other Lego set and you can never have enough of them! The small magnifying glass is probably one of the coolest Lego elements in the series. It doesn’t work very well but it does come with a small plastic disc in the middle so it looks just like the real thing. The dynamite tile is another essential of the series and even though you only get one with this set, it is a great pieces that shows off some of the great design work that the Lego people put into some of the pieces.

As far as critters go, you’ll get only one – the black scorpion. He can be attached to other elements or left to be a stand alone piece. He’s got a lot of accent to him and just like the snakes that were featured in other sets, has a textured body. The two weapons that are provided are rather useless since Johnny Thunder doesn’t seem to have any enemies in this set. The rifle and pistol are both gray with a fair amount of detail to them and can be tossed in the brown crate, used by Johnny or attached to his backpack. You also get a shovel that looks a lot better than it works – but I guess if you were the size of a Lego figure - it would be a great thing to have when adventuring in the desert. Overall the accessories that come with the set are what make it a “must have” for Lego fanatics and with any luck the Lego designers will listen to what customers are saying and re-release this set.

Things To Know

This set was available in three forms; set # 1094 that came boxed, set # 5900 that was a Lego World Shop special set and an unnumbered set that came packaged as a promotional item with co-packs. The unnumbered set was in a plastic bag and came shrink wrapped to the outer package. All three variations of the set contained the same pieces, instructions and accessories but were packaged in different formats. Trying to find any of these sets might be a tough call since they were released in 1999 and 2000 but eBay and brick brokers are the best place to start looking. I picked up a bunch of these in “good” condition from a seller at eBay and got them for $1.00 a piece since I agreed to purchase all of them. I felt a little guilty when I made the purchase knowing that they were worth more but when I received them and say the conditions of the boxes [opened, missing a few pieces etc] – any remorse I felt went right out the window.

The Bottom Line

This is a “must have” set for fans of the Adventurers series or anyone looking to build up their stock of accessories. The suggested retail price was $2.99 when it was released but it can be found for less if you aren’t particular about the condition of the box. Overall the accessories are what make this set but getting a Johnny Thunder figure is always a park. The scale of the accessories matches up to all other standard Lego pieces and they can easily be added to other sets and scenes. I consider myself pretty lucky to have come across these sets, I only wish I could have gotten a few more and some of them would have been in better condition. If you haven’t checked out the new Orient Expedition yet, visit the official page at www.lego.com/eng/orient or the Adventurers page at www.lego.com/eng/adventurers.


The Stats

Set Name: Johnny Thunder
Family Set: Adventurers / Egypt
Lego Set: 1094
Number of Pieces: 12
Age Recommendation: 6 - 12
Ease Of Assembly: Easy
Time Of Assembly: 2 minutes
Cost: $ 2.99 retail / $1.00


As always … thanks for the visit!

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2003 Freak369


Other Lego Adventurers sets …

River Raft

Johnny Thunder & Baby Dino

Jungle Surprise

Sinister Sam

Research Glider

Island Racer





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $1.00
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family