Time Cruisers is LEGO's one and only time travel theme. It has two factions: The Time Cruisers and the Time Twisters. The plot revolves around a professor named Dr. Cyber's travels through time.
Description
The following is a description of Time Cruisers from a period LEGO catalog page:
 This is a description taken from LEGO.com. Please do not modify it.
|
|
Time Cruisers |
The Time Cruisers power their time machines with special hats. While the plot specified by LEGO involves activities taking place in the past, the set of hats offered in the Hypno Cruiser includes an alien helmet, indicating that travel to the future is possible. The Time Twisters use a clear cylinder filled with artifacts from the different eras power their time travel.
Factions
Time Cruisers has two different factions. The Time Cruisers and the Time Twisters.
Time Cruisers
The Time Cruisers are the protagonists of the theme and were introduced with its' initial release in 1996. Dr. Cyber and his assistant Tim are the main characters in this faction, and they visit other ages to gather knowledge and the repair damage wrought by the Time Twisters (which appeared the following year). They also have two other members, a robot named Cranky, and a monkey named Ingo. Their primary objective is to remain undercover and meddle as little as possible with history.
Time Twisters
The antagonists of this theme are called the Time Twisters. The Time Twisters are the twins Tony Twister, and Professor Millennium, who are accompanied by a ghost named Goldie and a wizard skeleton named Boney. Their vehicles are powered by cylinders filled with valuable articles from the past. They travel through time to steal objects of value to add to their cylinders, and interfere with the past.
Sets
Sixteen Time Cruisers sets were released over the course of two years.
| Image | # | Set | Number of pieces | Minifigures | Price | Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1853 | Hypno Cruiser | 152 | Tim, Dr. Cyber, Ingo | 1996 | |
 | 5520134 | Testflug TC13 | 1996 | |||
 | 5520144 | Unternehmen Cybercom | 1 | 1996 | ||
 | 6491 | Rocket Racer | 58 | 1 | $4.50 | 1996 |
 | 6492 | Hypno Cruiser | 152 | Tim, Dr. Cyber, Ingo | $22.00 | 1996 |
 | 6493 | Flying Time Vessel | 237 | Dr. Cyber, Tim, Ingo | $44.00 | 1996 |
 | 6494 | Mystic Mountain Time Lab | 523 | Dr. Cyber, Tim, Ingo, Cranky, Bonehead | $64.00 | 1996 |
 | 6495 | Time Tunnelator | 81 | Tony Twister | $10.00 | 1997 |
 | 6496 | Whirling Time Warper | 143 | Professor Millennium, Goldie | $22.00 | 1997 |
 | 6497 | Twisted Time Train | 296 | Boney, Professor Millennium, Tony Twister, Goldie | $38.50 | 1997 |
 | 6499 | Time Tunnelator | 81 | Tony Twister | 1997 | |
 | GA04 | Time Cruisers Board Game | 5 | 1997 |
Comics 1994-1996 & 1997-2001
Time Cruisers started when a LEGO fan built a model of a time-traveling car. People working on LEGO Magazines for Europe liked the concept, came up with some characters, and in 1994 (two years before the theme), launched a magazine comic starring Dr. Cyber and Max Time Cruiser/Timebuster.
By 1996, the comic had been successfully running for two years, and LEGO launched sets based on the concept. Max was renamed to Tim, and the character's were redesigned. Though the physical minifigures still didn't completely resemble their depictions in the comics. The magazines were also expanded into new countries. The comic was rebooted in the Fall of 1997. The time machine was now the Flying Time Vessel and a small "micro-zapper" (A Standard 1X1 grey brick with a Red Stud), rather than the original car Creation that started everything. [1]
Minifigures
Time Cruisers
Time Twisters
Gallery
Sources
- BZPower Forums
- Peeron Catalog Page
- German audio tape website
- A collection of the original comic
- Another collection of the original comic
- The rebooted comic
- A Rock Raiders United Forums thread about finding and translating the comics
- A Eurobricks thread explaining the history of the comic
| This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors). However, please help to make this a unique article to Brickipedia in any way you can. |
