Tag Archives: Johnny Thunder

Cut through the swamp, they said. What could go wrong, they said.

This scary LEGO swamp scene is brought to you by Caleb Schilling. It’s his first entry into the new Iron Builder competition so that means job security for us and scores of entertainment for you. Speaking from experience, Iron Builder is difficult so, like our adventurer, Caleb is probably feeling like he’s waist-deep in peril right about now. The seed part this time around is the Minecraft Trident. It’s been used to excellent effect several times in this swampy scene. Among the spooky creatures lurking in the background is a shadowy Woody. Unsettling stuff, indeed!

Into the Unknown

Johnny Thunder and the jungle shrine

On the heels of some sweet Indiana Jones news earlier this week, it’s a good time to pop in on the ongoing escapades of LEGO’s other, less cross-promotional adventurer: Mr. Johnny Thunder. And no one captures that better than builder Ids de Jong! Here he and his team explore a beautiful jungle pagoda while braving the hazards of a rickety rope bridge. The minifig posing here is spectacular, with one teammate about to take the plunge thanks to a snapped plank. The temple stands in brilliant contrast to the surrounding vegetation, a white monolith among so many earth tones. But the flora itself is the true standout here, utilizing parts both new and old to create a lush landscape atop these cliffs.

Jungle Pagoda

Revamping mummies

LEGO Adventurers was my absolute favourite theme as a kid. Especially the desert theme. Seeing the Jungle Explorer Collectable Minifigure got my hopes up for the theme to be renewed. This might also explain my soft spot for LEGO Adventurer fan creations. This build by Kevin Wanner really hits the soft spot. We get very well put together fleshy minifigure renditions of all the familiar faces. Two very well designed vehicles. However the absolute highlight of this creation has to be the beautiful palm trees. There are dark tan eggshells used to create the trunk of the palm tree. The crown of the tree uses dark tan, green and bright green plant leaves to indicate the lifespan of a palm tree leaf. It looks stunning!

Desert Expedition REVAMP

Revisiting the Oasis Ambush

I am such a fan of all the tributes coming out right now to LEGO sets of the past! And this remake of 5938: Oasis Ambush by norlego takes me right back to 1998. I love the detailed sculpting of the creature atop the sarcophagus. The Anubis head is expertly utilized, and the sculpting along its back and paws is genius! But my favorite part has to be the inclusion of an actual oasis in the background, trimmed with some beautiful dark green tile and two modern-style palm trees. Some printed pieces from the original set make their triumphant return, like the hieroglyphics on the sides of the tomb and the map held by an updated Lord Sam Sinister. Hopefully, this new Johnny Thunder can wrest the treasure from his evil clutches!

Set 5938 Oasis Ambush – Adventurers redux

Man, all this nostalgia makes me want to build my own revamped LEGO set for the upcoming MOCing Memories BrickCon collab sponsored by The Brothers Brick.

The brick is mightier than the sword

Everyone knows LEGO’s late-90s Adventurers theme was based loosely on Indiana Jones, and this fantastic diorama by norlego drives home the point by doing some character swapping, putting Johnny Thunder and Baron von Baron into the iconic tank scene from The Last Crusade. The build is magnificent, with the massive Hatay Heavy Tank looking straight out of the movie (which, as norlego points out, was a custom design for the film, not a real-world tank). Let’s hope Johnny doesn’t get raked over the treads!

A Sinister Tank Chase

norlego has been revisiting the Adventurers theme and giving it some much-needed love, starting with the splendid Adventurers Camp we featured last year. Check out more of norlego’s builds in TBB’s archives.

Carry on adventuring, Johnny Thunder!

There’s a great love across the LEGO community of the old Adventurers theme, and Jellyeater‘s latest build shows there’ll be no sign of that stopping. In this build, Johnny Thunder finds himself exploring caverns that were once home to the lost Toltec Empire. As he traverses down through the foliage above, his faithful companions Dr. Charles Lightning and Pippin Reed are already busy, documenting the site — from creepy crawlies to signs of past tomb raiders.

At the centre of the build, the underside of roller skate pieces is used to great effect adding detail to the altar. Towering over this, are giant statues that look suitably imposing with individual detail and all with different Hockey masks, sourced from an old Sports range suggestive of the long forgotten gods.

Johnny Thunder and the Toltecs Cavern

I’m excited to see where Jellyeater takes the Adventurers next!

Indiana Thunder, uhm I mean Johnny Jones

To me, the Adventurers theme has always been LEGO’s answer to Indiana Jones before licensed sets were a thing. It is nice to stumble across like-minded people. Jesse van den Oetelaar did a mix between the Adventurers theme and Indiana Jones and the end result is amazing. The build looks gigantic. It is about 20 bricks high.Roller skates , binoculars and flowers plates are used as architectural details. There are foldable chairs and even an old school camera. The camera intrigues me as I can not break it down in my mind completely. I do know that Jesse cleverly used a brown flower stem as camera tripod. There also is an old school backpack used for the body of the camera. For the rest of the construction, I am completely clueless and would love a breakdown at some point.

Adventures

Johnny Thunder takes on the highest peak

I’m a 90’s kid. Early 2000s LEGO shaped my childhood, with Bionicle, Racers, Harry Potter, and Star Wars. However, one theme was grounded enough to offer a haven from all the crazy. Orient Expedition was the short-lived sequel/reboot to the popular Adventurers theme from the late 1990s. The theme follows Johnny Thunder and his team of explorers in seeking the lost treasure of Marco Polo. Similarly, Lord Sam Sinister also sought the treasure, but chose to try and steal it instead finding it on his own. GunnBuilding reimagines the 7417 Temple of Mount Everest playset, where the heroes and villains have a showdown on top of the world’s tallest peak.

7417: Temple of Mount Everest

Click to see more of this homage to Orient Expedition

Johnny Thunder gets colorized

Norlego takes us on an LEGO Adventure with everyone’s favorite non-licensed LEGO adventurer Johnny Thunder! In some creations, the minifigures are the last things that get added to bring the scene to life. My guess is that in this creation, the minifigures were created first and inspired the rest of the build. All the usual suspects are there. We have Johnny, Pippin Reed, Dr. Kilroy, and wherever Johnny goes his nemesis Sam Sinister follows. Also, there are Slyboots, Mike and Harry Cane. This time they are portrayed in a more realistic skin tone rather than yellow.

Adventurers - Oasis campsite

Norlego built an irregularly shaped base with lots of angles and exposed studs, perfectly mimicking the desert lands of Egypt. What would an oasis be without some lush palm trees? These are made beautifully. The use of the prickly bush for the dead leaves at the base of the palm tree is a really nice touch. The colour of the swordleaf indicates whether a leaf is dead, doing fine or a baby leaf. Or maybe I am just looking into it too much? Last but not least I think the table deserves some love. It is made out of triangle road signs. The seams between the road signs make the table look fold-able which would really be handy when going on an adventure.

Want see more Johnny Thunder creations? Check out these articles.

Sphinx Secret Surprise in micro scale

GunnBuilding made a creation inspired by one of the sets I regret not getting as a kid. It’s the 5978: Sphinx Secret Surprise and it is done in micro scale. The set is instantly recognizable. With the grey Sphinx statute, the black tent, an Anubis statue and the classic desert car. There are obelisks, a fire place, a palm tree and this micro model even comes with a raised base plate, just like the original set. The Sphinx supports a classic minifig smile which seems more than fitting since the statue in the set supported quite a simple face too.

5978: Sphinx Secret Surprise (microscale)

The Secret of the Sphinx

Johnny Thunder is a theme that always had my interest. He was LEGO’s Indiana Jones before they started producing licensed sets. Johnny has seen it all. From Egypt to the jungle straight to Dino Island. He even went on an Orient Expedition. Ruben Ras shows us an update for LEGO set Sphinx Secret Surprise. Ruben’s rendition of this set is instantly recognizable. Everything is there! The Sphinx, the tent, the desert car, and the obelisk covered in brick-built (!) hieroglyphs. As if that were not enough he even swapped the raised base plate for a brick-built base. Of course, this ‘set’ comes with all the main characters: Baron von Barron, Dr. Charles Lightning, Johnny Thunder, Lord Sam Sinister, Miss Gail Storm, Pharaoh Hotep, and a skeleton mummy. Every single character got an update. The best thing about this has to be that not a single sticker was used.

The Secret of the Sphinx

Johnny Thunder is always a good way to go!

Having a Johnny Thunder figure in your creation always is a big plus! Valerius Maximus however made a lovely LEGO temple to go along with his Johnny Thunder and Pippin Reed figures. There are also two chameleons hiding in the creation, as well as a few odd parts using camouflage to blend in with the surrounding. Can you spot the army helmet? Valerius Maximus also used not just the flower stem with 3 leaves but also the sprue part, which I always greatly appreciate.

Finding the Jungle Shrine