Time Cruisers is LEGO's only time travel theme, based upon the magazine comic of the same name. It has two factions: The Time Cruisers and the Time Twisters.
Description[]
The plot revolves around a professor named Dr. Cyber's travels through time. 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.
The Time Cruisers are the protagonists of the theme and were introduced with its' initial release in 1996. Dr. Cyber and his assistant Tim Timebuster 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.
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.
Comics[]
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 Professor Nockelberg and Max 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, although 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]
Sets[]
Sixteen Time Cruisers sets were released over the course of two years.
1996 (Time Cruisers)[]
| Image | # | Set | Number of pieces | Minifigures | Price | Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1853 | Hypno Cruiser | 152 | Tim Timebuster, Dr. Cyber, Ingo | 1996 | |
 | 5520134 | Testflug TC13 | 1996 | |||
 | 5520144 | Unternehmen Cybercom | 1 | 1996 | ||
 | 6491 | Rocket Racer | 58 | Tim Timebuster | $4.50 | 1996 |
 | 6492 | Hypno Cruiser | 152 | Tim Timebuster, Dr. Cyber, Ingo | $22.00 | 1996 |
 | 6493 | Flying Time Vessel | 237 | Dr. Cyber, Tim Timebuster, Ingo | $44.00 | 1996 |
 | 6494 | Mystic Mountain Time Lab | 523 | Dr. Cyber, Tim Timebuster, Ingo, Cranky, Bonehead | $64.00 | 1996 |
1997 (Time Twisters)[]
| Image | # | Set | Number of pieces | Minifigures | Price | Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 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 |
LEGO Description[]
 This is a description taken from the 1996 UK catalog. Please do not modify it.
|
|
The LEGO TIME CRUISER sets will give you the chance to travel through time...anytime! Imagine navigating your vehicle through the depths of time, visiting other places past and present to complete top secret missions! Careful though, as you never know who or what you'll meet! Most importantly, remember to get back home, or you could be trapped in time for ever!!! |
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. |
