Tag Archives: Aquasharks

Raising up a classic from the depths of 1996

It was a different time in 1996. Prince Charles and Lady Di call it quits just as Mad Cow Disease hits the UK. Coincidence? Nearly everything topping the music charts was vapid tunes we’d much rather forget but LEGO was doing some fun things. Among them was the 6190 Shark’s Crystal Cave from the Aquazone theme and famed builder Bob DeQuarte gives it a modern makeover.

#6190 Shark's Crystal Cave

I particularly like the plate-stacked ocean floor in dazzling colors and the crystal cave and aquatic plant life are not without their charms. But the real star of the show is most certainly that shark submarine staying true to its original color scheme and play features with the added inclusion of dark blue, which didn’t exist back then. There’s been a resurgence of awesome Aquazone and Rock Raiders set redos from 1996 and 1999 lately which, in my opinion, is far better than revisiting “The Macarena” or Cher’s “Believe”, respectively.

Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo

For sure, the most epic LEGO battles of the late 90-s took place in deep oceans, where heroic Aquanaut miners fought against the villainous Aquasharks. Many years have passed, but the heroes (and antiheroes) are not forgotten — although, some of them have evolved a lot since then. LEGO designers Chris Perron and Markus Rollbühler team up and dive deep to find out that the waters are still as dangerous as 20 years ago. Now, the battlefield teems with giant sharks like this Mega Shark Scout. Designed for espionage attacks, the shark looks absolutely terrifying; aggressive design and the striking contrast of black, blue, and transparent orange picture an enemy you better avoid at all costs. But can you name all the pieces used for the design of the circle section right behind the shark’s head?

SHARKtember: Mega Shark Scout

Harvesting the ocean’s riches

In the year 2018, Aquasharks is not a word that would turn many heads apart from the occasional hardcore adult LEGO fan. For the younger crowd, Aquasharks is an underwater LEGO theme from the 90’s that had some imaginative set designs and play features like magnets (which, admittedly, were everywhere back then). As opposed to some other themes from the same years, this particular one doesn’t seem to get much love from the online LEGO community, but luckily Jonas Obermaier is here to give it five minutes of glory… perhaps this time we won’t forget about it again?

Aquasharks Deep Sea Juggernaut

The build is technically a hardsuit, but the heavy use of minifig parts (the core of the top half is based on the Aquasharks SCUBA gear) blurs the line between a heavily modified minifig and a compact mecha. With the builder’s skills in minifig design, this is hardly surprising. All sorts of small colourful parts capture the motif of the Aquasharks prints, and with enough imagination, the dark blue minifig hand in the center of the torso could look like a shark symbol!