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I totally didn't even plan that pun 4 years ago. So. 27/03/2014. Heh. Never really thought I'd make it this far without dying by train, being sent to a loony bin or wasting away on alcohol. And while those things have all been pretty close to happening, here I still am. The Austrexican Lives. The Pants Enforcers reigns supreme. 4 years ago, I found a little email in my old High School email account. Supposedly, I had seen RRU at some stage, and signed up for a newsletter...without registering. The logic is mind-bending. Regardless, a much younger, and grammatically-incorrect, smilie-hating me made some kind of odd judgement call. I want to join this website. Maybe it was the tools. Maybe it was the chance for a community. Maybe I was bored and drinking lots of coke. We'll never really know. What we do know is that stupid me posted all my personal information and a link to a broken free forum for a mod project that was never feasible in the first place, and yet probably is the reason I'm in Game Design right now. Talk about lunacy. I'm not exactly sure why I decided to stay for longer than it took to write the introduction. Most of the time, I join a website to download the cool stuff I need, and then run like a panicked maniac. Yet, somehow, the illustrious charm of RRU shined through. The awesome members, the active modding community (in the Renaissance period of LegoRR modding), the chance to get one of the useless things I say quoted...I didn't know Heaven could be coded in HTML. I don't think I have enough time, coke or words to describe the vast history that's happened, or the magnitude of the effects RRU has had on me. Frankly, the way I see it, if I hadn't of click that link in 2010, life would be a right PoS. I'm not exactly sure what to do to say thank you. If I'm honestly, I've been pretty lazy about preparing for this entire thing. Lazy being one of my main attributes, as I'm sure every member who ever heard of 7EPS knows about. I guess I might as well do two things. The first is "The Package". It's kind of a nice collection of RRU tributes. All the images I've collected from our Skype chats, alongside all of the RRU-related audio, and some other stuff I located. It's not really the super amazing present I'm sure some of you would be interested in, but hey, at least it's not a screenshot of a poorly constructed LDD model... I've also dumped in a few images from my travels in Australia. Again, nothing fantastic, but hopefully you'll get a bit of a chuckle from something. DOWNLOAD Secondly...I guess a few kind words are in order for some of the older members. No disrespect intended to the newer members (even those who I regularly have a go at), but it's hard for me to say much when our entire conversations were "DO NOT BUMP THIS 50 YEAR OLD THREAD HOW COULD YOU THREAD BUMPING KILLS KITTENS DO YOU LOVE KITTENS YOU ARE A KITTEN MURDERER HOW COULD YOU?!?!?!?!?!1111?" Without further ado, and in the order of greatest hair; Sideburnsy. Let's get the record straight. If your glorious chops were any larger, I could probably climb them like Jack and the Beanstalk. Seriously though, I don't know if any other single member has really inspired me as much as you have. You're like Einstein without the accent. Whether or not Time Raiders will ever reach the door is irrelevant. You're an incredible dude, so keep at it. Thanks for not sending this account to the deepest pits of hell! Addict. I don't know if you're reading this, but with the insane programming quirks you've developed, I'm pretty sure you've built some kind of surveillance system capable of detecting terribly constructed praise. I don't doubt for a second you've got a legendary status ahead of you. You have a dream, a passion, skills with programming languages I can't even imagine in dreams of having, and the rampant insanity to knock the other freeloaders in line. Whatever happens with your projects, I look forward to seeing what you create. It's going to be crazy. Antilles. If anybody can put up with me delaying watching their favourite show for a good long while, that deserves a badge of honour. More importantly, somebody who can bring a smile to a really pissed of Australian probably deserves a cold, frosty beer on the house. I swear, if you keep up the logical and sound reasoning you always have, I'm probably going to start imagining you as my conscious. Then again, considering you are the smart one, that's probably not a bad thing. As with the above two, you've got a huge amount of talent. You know what to do. Finish the fight. McStudz. Where would I be without the Can-I-be-LZ-adian warrior? That said, I think we all know you're the one who's doing his best to try and get the News Team to be doing their job...reporting stories about Twitch Plays Pokemon. But, who am I kidding? A cheery attitude, a positive thinker, apparently a very talented musician and a good friend. These forums wouldn't be the same without our resident Maple Syrup Aficionado. I can't really say just how big you're going to be, mainly since I haven't seen your dongle. But, seriously, you've got a f****ing future ahead of you. Just be ready for whatever comes your way. Now, let's just promise not to slice each others necks next time a forum war lashes out, right? Alcom the Acorn Baker. I'm not sure what's more hilarious, your constant deadpan snarkiness or the image of your pants-on-head-wearing-Minifigure roasting over a chestnut fire. Of course, I'm kidding. You remind me of one of the Master Builders. I can't say which one, since you seem to be better than all of them combined. Normally I get jealous of skilled LEGO builders easy, but with you I think I might just be a fan. You've got an incredible talent, and I know you're also trying your damned hardest to be an awesome Game Designer/Programmer/someone in computers in case my memory is mistaking you for another LEGO nut. I can tell you, you're going to achieve everything you want to achieve. Just don't ever let go of that snark; it's sometimes the only thing that cheers me up on a s***ty day. Drill Master. I'm not really sure one can master drilling, but you've proven you can master just about everything else. So long as that doesn't include driving, choosing between lyrics and not lyrics, and figuring out if I know what a pound key is. If I were a Forerunner, I'd sure as hell be praising you right now. I know things might not be looking so grand, but with a little bit of optimism, you'll reach far. Just remember to keep creating. It doesn't matter what, just so long as it's awesome, which I know you can do. And please, if you get the Forward Until Dawn set, don't brag about it. I will actually hunt you down and kill you. Maybe. (Cell) Shading. Once upon a time far, far ago, two mortal enemies duked it out constantly in the Shoutbox. Who could ever imagine them becoming good friends? I surely can't, WHO THE f**** SAYS HALO IS SH...I mean, coming all the way from my first RRU enemy to my trusted sauce of what's good or not in Sony/gaming in general, I don't think I could be happier with the result. You got an amazing charm, and we share pretty similar opinions about the leagues of stupidity on the Internet...aka, Tumblr. Don't ever let the assholes get to you. You're a damn inspiration, and I have many thanks to give you for the f****ing incredible 4 years. Let's go raid Micro$hit sometime. Pascal. I think we both know exactly what's up. Loud beats, enough weed to cover a forest floor and a bunch of girls who need a right slapping. There's really not much I can say to you without coming off as a kind of insane, obsessed lunatic. I'll spare you the details and keep it short and sweet; you've got the passion and the talent to make crazy and awesome games. I'm pretty sure you've also been hiding from me some DJ talent. Don't ever give up. You're going to run The Pascalands soon enough. Tauka. I still remember the early days, and you decided to charge head-first into the fray. So long ago. We've spoken so little since, which is a real shame, since you're a f****ing nice guy. I'm pretty sure you've done some awesome drawing work, so keep it up. You've got a great talent. Kir(k)by. If I knew programmers could come with the fantastic British wit and accent that you do, I probably would have signed up ages ago. I'm not really sure why we got lucky enough to draw you into this muddled mess of insanity and sloppy hardcode, but frankly, I'm pretty glad you're in with the rest of us. You're an awesome, level headed coded with industry experience and somebody who I respect far more than the things they work on. You've got a crazy awesome future ahead of you, so long as you don't get nailed by Nintendo QA first. I'm excited to see where you're going to go from here. Xiron, Le717, Fush, pranciblad, jimbob, prototyke, gryhpon. Unfortunately, I can't really say we've had enough interacts for me to give you a personalised message that makes no sense, and I know a fair few of us have had..."creative" differences in the past, but needless to say, you've all grown on me in some way. And thankfully, I don't mean like genital warts. You're all pillars of the community, as far as I'm concerned. Don't ever stop being as awesome as you have, especially in the face of assholes like me. You keep this community together. And insult the living s*** out of Tumblr, which I like. Doc. Hi. Joe. If you're reading this, GET BACK TO WORK. WE HAVE AN ISLAND TO CONQUER. There's people I've probably missed, and members who will likely never return again, so to anyone who is missing a message, just imagine a generic thank you being shouted by an army of killer robots shooting fireworks. That'll be exciting enough. Now, there's two members I did miss. Not to pick out favourites or go insane fanboy or anything, but for whatever reason, my brain's decided these guys deserve a few more crappy jokes than the rest. Jamesster. Jimmy Jams. Customer Sir Mounted. I'm not sure if you're actually a LEGO manager who happens to be so disillusioned by the new LEGO games but can't get access to the old products and their code, and so goes undercover as just a regularly-incredible fan in some kind of weird bid to try and save LEGO Media from itself. If someone were to tell me years ago I'd be even able to talk to the Lord of LEGO Fans, I would have punched them in the face to make them sure they're probably dreaming. I still remember seeing your obsession with everything LEGO start to spread through the forums, and going, "I'll never get respect from that guy. How the hell is he even on RRU? We're just some pokey old game website..." I'm pretty sure you're probably waiting for the day you can finish me off, steal my game design books and run into GDC screaming "I am now the Confucius of Game Design! Fear me and my bricky ways!" Nonetheless, you've been one of the most interesting people to talk to, and to watch you develop your game ideas has been nothing short of inspiring. I don't want to start any wars or say anybody is better than anybody else, but as far as you are concerned, I can already see this brilliant designer with the awesome ideas right in front of him. Just keep calm, get the spicy pizzaz, and do what you were born to do. Make me look like one of those LU fangame kiddes. Cyrem. Lord Mercy. Darth Vader. Every name under the sun. Being a part of this...*vibrant* community probably wouldn't have been possible if I didn't have another fellow Australian to share some sweet tunes with. I don't even know what words can describe what you've done for me. It's not just music, it's not just member ranks, and it's not just the things we've discussed. This whole experience has been more-or-less your doing. In a way, you're like a crazy being in the sky. You've created this little world inside the middle of world's greatest battlefield, and even with all the nukes we've dropped on ourselves, you managed to keep this ship (or building) running as long as possible. There's no denying Cirevam's incredible ability to be an awesome admin, and you've moved on to some FANTASTIC things which I look forward to seeing more of in the future, but nonetheless. I think legend would be quite insulting to you. You're way above that. Thank you for everything, sir. I remember sometime ago being called a "Kangaroo-loving Douche-bag". Well, I can tell you that now I'm a kangaroo-loving douche-bag...with purple hair. Keep up the awesome times, RRU. Let's hope for another awesome 5 years.

Not enough to warrant its own topic here, but still an interesting subject that I feel should be discussed. Especially in the most boring blog on Rock Raiders United. First off, let us start by acknowledging that, outside of heavily story-oriented themes such as BIONICLE, LEGO has a very loose grip of canon that frequently contradicts itself and encourages each person to come up with his or her own personal interpretation, sometimes called MOCanon. With a canon as unreliable as LEGO's, one may ask, what's the point of analyzing it? To which Cave Johnson would reply, "Why not?" So, let's begin this journey into LEGO's confusing canon with everybody's favorite fedora-wearing adventurer himself, Johnny Thunder! Arguably one of LEGO's most popular and memorable original characters, having transcended years of absence from toy store shelves combined with a license for Indiana Jones by keeping his memory alive through the likes of Laser Raiders, LEGO Universe, and most recently The LEGO Movie. Everyone who was a fan of LEGO in the late 1990s and early 2000s remembers him fondly, and thanks to The LEGO Movie, a whole new generation will be introduced to his legacy. But did you know that Johnny Thunder has the largest genealogy of any original LEGO character? Let's begin with his dear comrade, Dr. Charles Kilroy (also known as Charlies Lightning, Articus, and Titus, among other names). This brilliant yet absent-minded professor has been by Johnny Thunder's side since his first adventures in Egypt and now goes hunting for the famed Jeweled Triceratops on My LEGO Network. He is not only one of Johnny Thunder's closest friends, but he is in fact Johnny Thunder's uncle according to the January/February 1998 issue of LEGO Mania magazine. Now, let us take a step back for a moment and consider this. Johnny Thunder is LEGO's answer to Indiana Jones, another famous fedora-wearing adventurer. In the third Indiana Jones film The Last Crusade, Indy is joined by his father Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. It is clear that Dr. Kilroy is LEGO's answer to Dr. Jones, and Kilroy being a close relative to Johnny supports this notion. Makes sense, right? Hold onto your hats, because here's where things start taking a turn for the strange and unusual. Johnny Thunder and the Adventurers were not the only products of the late 1990s. Enter the Time Cruisers in 1996, two years before the Adventurers hit store shelves. These sets follow the whimsy and wacky adventures of Dr. Cyber and his assistant Tim as they travel through time and meet the characters of other LEGO themes sharing the LEGO catalogue at the time. On the United States' side of the Atlantic, the Time Cruisers were a thing of the past by the time the Adventurers arrived... but not on the other side of the Atlantic. The German LEGO magazine World Club Magazine published a series of comics following the adventures of Tim and his faithful monkey Ali (also known as Ingo in other sources such as LEGO Mania). While LEGO Mania left the Time Cruisers back in 1996, World Club Magazine continued to follow their adventures through to the end of the year 2000, after which World Club Magazine was revamped to closely resemble its western counterpart. Until that time, the Time Cruisers kept cruising through time... and as 1998 rolled around, take a few guesses which new LEGO theme was featured in the comics. Extreme Team, of course! As the story progresses, it is revealed that Extreme Team was sent by Dr. Cyber to find Tim in the Wild West because Dr. Cyber's brother was in need of help. Oh, wow, Dr. Cyber has a brother? What's his name? Professor Articus. Hey, wait, haven't we heard that name before? You can either scroll up to check a few paragraphs above, or you can look at the comic's next page and see for yourself. Dr. Cyber is Dr. Kilroy's brother. And by extension, that makes him related to Johnny Thunder. But wait, that's not all! While it's not explicitly stated in the comics themselves or in any other LEGO media (as far as I know), one of the creators behind the comic series, Kim Hagen, did a write-up of the comic's concept which confirmed that Tim is, in fact, Dr. Cyber's nephew. So, thanks to the World Club Magazine, Johnny Thunder is related to Dr. Cyber and Tim from Time Cruisers. But we're not finished with Tim yet. Throughout the comic (and as mentioned in the write-up above), he is given the surname Timebuster. That name might not mean anything to you until you recall that there's a minifigure from the Town theme named Max Timebuster, featured prominently in commercials such as this one and this one, with his full name confirmed with this LEGO catalogue. "Timebuster" certainly cannot be a common last name, therefore it stands to reason that Max and Tim are thereby related... which would indicate that Max Timebuster is yet another one of Johnny Thunder's family members! Okay, now we're finished with Time Cruisers. Let's move on to another theme... Dino. When images of Dino's minifigures first arrived, I took a long look at this minifigure and noticed there was something familiar about him. He wore a loose khaki shirt with a belt strapped across his torso (starting at his left shoulder and extending down to his right hip) and a scarf around his neck. Although shaved, this minifigure has stubble resembling sideburns and a mustache, and his cocky expression with one raised eyebrow was unmistakeable. While his hatless head, shaved facial hair, and white shirt led me to doubt it was the Thunder himself, I could not help but wonder... was this minifigure another relative of Johnny Thunder? Weeks later, the LEGO Dino website goes live and reveals that his name is, in fact, Josh Thunder. Later, the 2012 edition of The LEGO Book briefly mentions the Dino theme and confirms that he is a descendant of Johnny Thunder. How many generations separate Johnny and Josh? It is not confirmed. Depending on your personal MOCanon (does the Adventurers theme take place in the 1930s or the 1990s?), Josh could be Johnny's son or grandson. But now it confirms that Johnny Thunder did have a son, whether that son is Josh himself or Josh's father. Before we get into any further speculation, here's a quick recap of Johnny Thunder's family tree so far. Charles Kilroy: uncle Dr. Cyber: uncle's brother Tim Timebuster: uncle's brother's nephew Max Timebuster: unknown relation to uncle's brother's nephew Josh Thunder: descendant Just to give you a heads-up, what follows is entirely based on future LEGO products that are subject to change, so there will be some speculation involved that stretches a little further than "Max is related to Tim". First, let us begin with a potential LEGO product that hasn't even been confirmed as a future LEGO product as of this writing: The Adventures of Steamrod, a CUUSOO project currently at 1,865 votes. By the way, you should all definitely go support that project because it's awesome, but enough about shameless plugs. What matters here is that this CUUSOO project is obviously one big homage to the Adventurers theme reimagined in a Steampunk setting. Who is the main heroic character? Sir Jonathan Bolt. And despite the striking family resemblance, he is merely a distant relative of Johnny Thunder. Why does this matter? Should the Adventures of Steamrod project receive another 8,135 votes, it could potentially see the light of day as a LEGO product if it passes review. And, depending on how much of the original concept is maintained in the final product, Sir Jonathan Bolt could very possibly become an official LEGO character, adding another member to Johnny Thunder's already surprisingly-extensive family tree. But there is another reason why I bring up Sir Jonathan Bolt. Like Timebuster, I cannot imagine that Bolt is a particularly common surname. And there will be a character in the upcoming LEGO Ultra Agents theme who shares that surname: Curtis Bolt. According to various sources, the minifigure currently identified as Curtis Bolt does not bear much of a resemblance to Johnny Thunder. However, I believe that this is based on incorrect preliminary information that is subject to change (remember when Brick Daddy was called the Brickfather in early material?), and I've got strong evidence to support my hypothesis. For you see, there is another minifigure currently identified as Solomon Blaze according to that same preliminary information. But wait a second, Solomon Blaze is a character from last year's Galaxy Squad theme. It wouldn't be the first time in recent LEGO history that a minifigure from one theme shows up in another later theme (most notably, Brains from Power Miners later showed up in the Atlantis theme), so it's very possible that Solomon Blaze will return this year as a member of the Ultra Agents... but this guy looks nothing like him! Instead, he looks like... like... hold on. Crooked mustache. Cocky expression. Raised eyebrow. He looks like Johnny Thunder! Just like Josh Thunder, "Solomon Blaze" looks like a relative of Johnny Thunder. In comparison, "Curtis Bolt" looks more like last year's Solomon Blaze; while their facial expressions aren't exactly the same, they're both young, clean-shaven, and have some sort of high-tech gadget over one eye. Thus, leads me to my hypothesis that the preliminary information identifying the two minifigures mixed them up: "Curtis Bolt" is actually Solomon Blaze and "Solomon Blaze" is actually Curtis Bolt. After all, wouldn't it make more sense that the character named Bolt bears a striking resemblance to Thunder? Now, I know what you're thinking. Even if I'm right about the name mix-up, Curtis Bolt is a futuristic secret agent. Josh Thunder, at least, is a character in a spiritual successor to Johnny Thunder's Dino Island adventure, so that connection makes sense. What sort of connection would there be between Johnny Thunder and some secret agent? Two words: James Bond. ... What does that have to do with anything? Johnny Thunder is based on Indiana Jones. According to several sources, Indiana Jones is in fact based on James Bond. This is why Spielberg and Lucas cast Sean Connery in the role of Dr. Henry Jones, Sr., because that would mean that James Bond is literally Indiana Jones's father. Back in 1998, LEGO created Dr. Kilroy as an answer to Henry Jones, Sr. If my hypothesis is correct, "Solomon Blaze" is not only actually named Curtis Bolt but also strongly implied to be another reference to Henry Jones, Sr. And if Sir Jonathan Bolt is canonized by CUUSOO, then the relationship between Johnny Thunder and Curtis Bolt would only be further supported. So now, let's do another quick recap including these speculative members of Johnny Thunder's family: Charles Kilroy: uncle Dr. Cyber: uncle's brother Tim Timebuster: uncle's brother's nephew Max Timebuster: unknown relation to uncle's brother's nephew Josh Thunder: descendant Jonathan Bolt: distant relative Curtis Bolt: unknown relation to distant relative Johnny Thunder's family tree would include seven other members. Considering typical LEGO families, that's a surprisingly extensive list spanning five LEGO themes and one CUUSOO set. That's all that we have for today. By now, I imagine you're quite bored with all this talk about genealogy and family trees and confusing ties between LEGO themes. In that case, this blog has served its purpose well. But now, at least you can walk away with more useless trivia about plastic Danish figures that will never help you in real life!