I built a thing. This is not a specifically unknown concept. Each year, I build an original model for Brickvention, Australia’s AFOL Networking Event, which was held last weekend. I presented a MOC (my own creation) paying homage to the LEGO Adventurers theme from 1998. The amount of Lore that found its way into the MOC possibly warrants a post in its own right. Here it is.
Let me tell you a tale…
It’s 1998, 9 years since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade hit the cinemas, and a year before the LEGO Group released their first major licensed theme: Winnie the Pooh Duplo. This was followed a couple of months later by a little thing called LEGO Star Wars.
And so, with Indiana Jones merchandise virtually non-existent in the shops , the LEGO Group felt the time could be right to release a character seeking out a life of adventure, while hunting down historical artefacts. Give him a supporting cast, and a couple of opponents, and he’d be set.
The Cast
Depending on the market (England, Germany or USA), the entire cast of the Adventurers travel under a variety of names.
Meet Johnny Thunder. He’s Australian. We know this because, in various comics, he uses words such as “Crikey,” “G’day,” and “Mate.” In 1998, the world was enamored with the ‘Crocodile Hunter,’ Steve Irwin. If nothing else, having an adventurous Australian in the theme made sense. In the second half of 2024, Johnny reappeared after a long absence as part of the CITY Jungle Explorers team. For reasons I don’t understand, he was originally called Sam Grant in UK and Australia, and merely listed as ‘a former army officer’
Johnny was aiding his uncle, Dr Charles Lightning, also known as Articus Kilroy (and brother of Time Cruiser’s Dr Cyber – Germany) or more simply, The Professor in some markets.[Does this make Johnny the second cousin of Timmy in Time Cruisers?] Dr Lightning/Kilroy knows all about ancient civilizations and is seeking the temple of Anubis, in part to find the legendary ReBou Ruby, which is said to open up a portal to another dimension. Will they be successful in their quest. In 2023, he moved on on to become curator of the 10326 Natural History Museum.
To get to their isolated locations, Dr Lightning and Johnny are aided by Harry Cane. There is nothing he cannot fly. On this occasion, we have refashioned a ‘Friends’ hot air balloon to soar over the desert, and search for the Tomb.
Plucky Journalist Pippin Reid (also known as Gail Storm – US, or Miss Lovely – Germany) has joined the team to report on the quest. In quieter times, she can be found traveling from Paris to Constantinople (or Istanbul) on board the 21344 Orient Express.
The team come up against opposition from Baron von Barron (USA). He will stop at nothing to gain access to the legendary ruby, and the riches it might bring. The Baron’s family home formed the basis for the 10273 Haunted House Drop tower ride in the amusement park collection. The English also knew him as Evil Eye, while he was named Mr Hates in Europe.
The Baron is joined by his henchman, the retired Prizefighter Slyboots (Germany). Little does the Baron know, Slyboots is really Lord Sam Sinister in disguise. He was also known as Lizard Boots in the UK. Go Figure.
The Pahroah Hotep is the main mummy in the original Adventurers Theme, but I chose to use the Mummy Queen from series 19 Collectible Minifigures in this Story… we linked her turquoise headress into the decoration around the tomb.
Searching for the Valley.
The Desert in Eqypt is big. Really big. And our Heroes, to say nothing of the villains, use their own vehicles to locate the Temple of Anubis:
Dr Lightning and Harry Cane are searching for traces of the temple from the air, travelling in a hot air balloon.
Johhn Thunder and Pippin Reed approach in a riverboat, the Egyptian Queen. Johnny was lucky not to get eaten by a crocodile in the river. From here, they followed their corner of the map to find the Temple.
Meanwhile, I gave Baron von Barron and Slyboots a half track vehicle, because I thought the standard luxury saloon or covered truck might struggle to get through the desert. I might do some further work here to tidy it up.
Someone’s found something
After sighting the fallen statue of Anubis from the air, Dr Lightning took a closer look, before joining Johnnie and Gail near the obelisks by the temple’s entrance.
Little did he know that the hieroglyphics on the obelisk contained an extract from the Necronomicon, and the mere act of reading them would result in raising armies of the dead.
Unaware of the horror unleashed upon the world, the team enter the temple.
And Meanwhile…
Into the temple
Johnny, Pippin and Dr Lightning enter the temple, crossing over the snakepit – but its not just snakes. We also see the decaying bones of a previous adventurer wearing a hat and carrying a whip.
As Dr Lightning starts to look at the temple walls, Baron von Barron bursts in and makes a bee-line to the statues of Anubis and Horus and the glowing ruby. Slyboots bursts into the temple, flaming torch in one hand, stick of dynamite in the other: he is determined to see Johnny Thunder and and his friends meet their doom.
Meanwhile, the temple panels shift to reveal a crowd of mummies lurching towards our heroes, and Johnny turns to see the mummified remains of the Priestess rise from her sarcophagus. As the dead rise, the statues around the temple collapse.
Will our heroes escape the temple? Will Slyboots destroy them all? Or will the ruby open a portal, allowing everyone to escape before the temple’s roof crashes down?
This MOC came together between July 2024 and January 2025 and was presented at Brickvention 2025. This was the 16th Brickvention where I brought something along (back in 2021, the event was online only, and I prerecorded an interview for the occasion). It measures 128 studs wide by 48 studs deep. The model is based, somewhat loosely, on the first year of LEGO Adventurers, where the team visit Egypt. I might have omitted the sphinx,and a few crypts and vehicles, but I enjoyed upgrading the balloon to the modern parts palette. I was surprised at how many snakes, mummies and skeletons I had accrued over the years. To be fair, I may have made virtually no changes to the black statues in the temple, which were essentially lifted directly from 77013 Escape from the Lost Tomb, although the toppling mechanism is new. Thanks to Rohan Beckett for helping me to understand some of the principles of making the movement possible and to the knoller-in-chief for tolerating more parts than strictly necessary on the dining room table.
There were a great number of inspirational models on display at Brickvention 2025, and ultimately, I failed to photograph most of them. Be sure to check out the summary on Jay’s Brick Blog in the next few days.
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Until Next Time,
Play Well!