Alpha Team

Alpha Team is a theme released in 2001. It centers around a team of secret agents known as the "Alpha Team", and their efforts to stop the nefarious villain known as Ogel from taking over the world. The theme's first main run was from 2001-2002, when its first two subthemes, the first an unnamed subtheme set in an urban environment and the second called Mission Deep Sea, were released. The theme was put in a brief hiatus in 2003, but then, returned in 2004 with the advent of its third and final subtheme, Mission Deep Freeze. The theme was discontinued in 2005.
== Description ==
=== The First Subtheme (Unnamed) ===
The very first Alpha Team consisted of seven members: Dash Justice (the team leader), Cam Attaway, Flex, Radia, Charge, Crunch, and Tee Vee (a robot resembling a television set with legs). The first wave also consisted of three antagonist minifigures: Ogel, the primary antagonist, and two Skeleton Drone minions. Each Alpha Team member, as well as Ogel, had a distinct colour theme to them, such as red for Cam and grey for Dash.
The first wave consisted of six sets, all consisting of vehicles, though the largest set 6776 Ogel Control Center also had a base for Ogel. Ogel's base and vehicles featured a colour scheme of black, red, and transparent red, while the Alpha Team's vehicles had a black, yellow, and transparent yellow colour scheme with transparent-blue windscreens.
* 6771 Ogel Command Striker and 6772 Alpha Team Cruiser were small water vehicles.
* 6773 Alpha Team Helicopter was Dash's vehicle, and was used to spy on Ogel's base.
* 6774 Alpha Team ATV had a smaller vehicle group than the bomb squad, but one that was nonetheless formidable. The ATV (all-terrain vehicle) traverses and terrain in encounters, towing a mini-sub. Flex drove the ATV while Cam piloted the sub.
* 6775 Alpha Team Bomb Squad featured three vehicles. Charge drove the main 4x4, while Crunch manned the missile truck. Tee Vee controlled a smaller craft with a claw that could deactivate Mind control Orbs, which were then put into a crate onto a device with a target for Charge to shoot. Hitting the target would spring the Orb into the air, putting it out of commission.
* 6776 Ogel Control Center's main feature was Ogel's base, which was built upon a grey baseplate, part of which was printed with a blue stream collecting outside the control center. The base had a large skull-shaped insignia taking up most of its front facade, while a launching pad for Ogel's rocket could be found in front of the base. One of the base's platforms also held a mini helicopter for Ogel.
=== Mission Deep Sea ===
Mission Deep Sea was released the following year and took the characters into the depths of the ocean. The colour scheme for the characters' vehicles remained mostly the same. A transparent neon yellow was added to Ogel's vehicles while the Alpha Team had shades of grey added to their vehicles.
There were three mutant animals controlled by Ogel:
* 4788 Ogel Mutant Ray had two skeleton drones, a black octopus, and a mutated black manta ray. The manta ray's mutant appearance consisted of two swords poking out from its face.
* 4796 Ogel Mutant Squid was a machine built by the villains, designed to resemble a squid. Ogel used this to escape at the end of the Mission Deep Sea story. When it reached the surface, the cockpit jettisoned with Ogel inside.
* 4797 Ogel Mutant Killer Whale was a large, black, mutated whale controlled by a skeleton drone. The whale was given large propellers, hands with claws, and a missile-launcher situated on its head.
Alpha Team, meanwhile, maintained a fleet of underwater vehicles:
* 4789 Alpha Team Aquatic Mech is a large undersea robot operated by Dash. The mech included an opening cockpit, rotating transparent saws in place of a left hand, and a claw for the right hand. A black swordfish and a Tee-Vee ROV were also included.
* 4790 Alpha Team Robot Diver was a small mech that features Charge. The mech suit consisted of a mechanical left arm and a flamethrower for the right hand.
* 4791 Alpha Team Sub-Surface Scooter is a small and nimble craft piloted by Flex. His character's expertise in roping is evidenced by the spool of cable on the rear of the craft.
* 4792 Alpha Team Navigator and ROV is a moderate-sized patrol craft with two robot arms. It is manned by Cam, and is similar in shape to the Command Patrol Sub, except for the omission of the main deck. Tee Vee appears in his redesigned form, a ROV format.
* 4794 Alpha Team Command Sub is Alpha Team's largest undersea vehicle. It had various propellers throughout. There was a small transparent black cockpit at the front and two large ones at the back. It had the ability to fire off two Robot Divers. As an additional feature, the rear end of the sub could split from the middle and combine to form a smaller sub.
4795 Ogel Underwater Base and AT Sub was the first set to have both heroes and villains (Dash and Ogel respectively). The sub was a small vehicle with a large cockpit. Ogel's base was curved and black, with blue windows and red highlights. It had propellers on the roof and several grey cones holding the vehicle above the ocean floor. The vehicle had a large skull-shaped head at the bottom. The interior had a trident and a few mind control orbs.
Four polybags representing small aquatic vehicles were also released; 1425 Jet Sub, 1426 Alpha Team Wing Diver, 1427 Ogel Underwater Slizer and 4799 Ogel Drone Octopus
In 2003, only two Alpha Team sets were released. The sets were a polybag, 3391 Dash, and a clock, 4193351 Alpha Team Mission Deep Sea Clock.
=== Mission Deep Freeze ===
In 2004, Alpha Team was massively revised. The theme's logo was changed, many of the characters had different appearances than in previous years, and Cam and Crunch were omitted in lieu of Agents Arrow and Diamond Tooth respectively. Other changes included Tee Vee becoming a humanoid robot, and Ogel's hook colour changing from red to blue. Alpha Team vehicles were given a new feature, known as Alpha Mode, which allowed them to be transformed into another vehicle without disassembling them. The Alpha Team vehicles' colour scheme was also completely redone, featuring black, greys, white, and sand blue, as well as various transparent colours for smaller details. Ogel's vehicles were similar to the previous subtheme in colour, but the transparent yellow is replaced by transparent blue.
* 4742 Chill Speeder was a small, swift speeder for Alpha Team's recon missions. When Alpha Mode is activated, the speeder transforms into a light all-terrain walker called the X-1 Snowbot Defender. It is equipped with twin solar lasers and is used by Agent Flex.
* 4743 Ice Blade was a swift and narrow snowmobile on skates. It had propellers at the back and missiles at the front. In Alpha Mode, it transformed into the stealthy IC-2 Helicopter. It was equipped with twin solar lasers and piloted by Charge.
* 4744 Tundra Tracker was a bulky snowmobile that contained large wheels, twin solar lasers, and a drill. It transformed into the Magma Drill when in Alpha Mode. The vehicle is used for a variety of drilling missions, but in the set its purpose was to melt a small glacial prison, because it held Radia. In a LEGO Magazine, it was said that an agent called Gearbox built and designed the vehicle. Agent Diamond Tooth pilots this vehicle.
* 4745 Blue Eagle vs. Snow Crawler had Dash's fast, highly maneuverable dark blue jet with dual wing tipped claws. There were propellers at the back and a feature to knock down the cockpit. In Alpha Mode, it became the Ice Glider. A large robotic spider controlled by a Skeleton Drone opposed the vehicle in combat. It had six legs, a mechanical claw for a head and sonar equipment coming out of its neck.
* 4746 Mobile Command Center was the most heavily armed vehicle of the Alpha Team. The four Agents on board were Tee Vee, Charge, Arrow, and Radia. The Mobile Command Center contained two solar lasers, tools, a control panel and a missile launcher. It also has an Ice Orb Claw used to deactivate Ice Orbs.When it is in Alpha Mode, it turns into a heavily armed command center. Two small Snow Scooters accompany the vehicle. A skeleton drone standing by a glacial prison also made an appearance. The vehicle was used to locate Ogel's bases, spy and/or give information.
* 4748 Ogel's Mountain Fortress contained Ogel's largest base. It was built upon a large white baseplate, with glacial prisons on each side. The base itself was built like a giant grey skull. It had black flames in the entrance, a rocket launcher through the nose and windows for eyes. A large crane to handle the ice orbs was also included. This is where ice orbs were created and where Ogel hatched the plan to freeze the world. The Alpha Team had a small, fast, wheeled vehicle, which was used exclusively to infiltrate Ogel's Mountain Fortress. In Alpha Mode, it revealed a missile launcher. It was driven by Dash.
2005 saw the end of the theme and the release of two sets. The theme's story concluded with the main vehicles of the sets facing off, and left the outcome of the fight to the imagination.
* 4770 Blizzard Blaster was a large mech equipped with two solar lasers, dual energy lasers, an ice missile launcher, and a heat energy beam. Zed, a special agent of Alpha Team, used the machine to battle Ogel's Scorpion Orb Launcher and the Super Ice Drone. The Blizzard Blaster transformed into the Ice Shark when in Alpha Mode. Ogel's minion had a small mechanical red beetle to oppose the Blizzard Blaster with.
* 4774 Scorpion Orb Launcher was a mechanical red and black scorpion used by a Skeleton Drone. It had a large cockpit, claws, and a stinger. In Alpha mode, it stood on its hind legs. Flex escaped the clutches of the robot by using his orange and dark blue hang glider.
=== Video Game ===
(Main article:LEGO Alpha Team)
A video game was released in 2001, in which Agent Dash was tasked with rescuing the other Alpha Team members from Ogel and stopping production of the mind control orbs. As he rescued each Agent, these Agents could be used in certain later levels. The last level, "Mission Control", involved stopping Ogel's Boggle Rocket from takeoff in order to deny Ogel world domination. The original Alpha Team video game was developed for LEGO Media by the award-winning special effects company Digital Domain. When the original video game was in development, its working title was "LEGO Logic," and the team was called "TILT (Trans-International LEGO Team)".
=== Online Games ===
There were several online games centered around the events of this theme, made using Macromedia Flash.
* The first, Evil Music, centred around Dash and Cam thwarting Ogel's plan to control the world's weather with an evil organ. The player used a special organ to send out good weather signals to thwart the evil weather signals that Ogel was sending out. Link: 1.
* The second starred Dash, Cam, Radia, Tee Vee and the Mission Deep Sea game. This game has included sound (the characters spoke instead of using dialogue bubbles).
* The next was a three-part game centering around the 2004/2005 Deep Freeze storyline. The three missions were named The First Encounter, Drones' Menace, and Ogel's Fortress, respectively. Unlike the other two games, which centered around Agents solving various puzzles, this game concentrated more on vehicular activity, although Agents could disembark at special pads to infiltrate Ogel's bases. From there, you could play as the characters. The biggest feature of this game was Alpha Mode, which allowed vehicles to transform to gain a different set of skills. However Tee Vee and Special Agent Zed were not included in this game. ( The end of Ogel's Fortress involved all alpha team vehicles in a boss battle against Ogel in his scorpion orb launcher and ice drones)
* Other small activities and features were also available in 2004.
== History ==
Alpha Team began as a video game developed by Digital Domain (which found success after creating Barbie Fashion Designer for Mattel), with the working title "LEGO Logic". Digital Domain pitched five different concepts to LEGO Media; LEGO racers, a virtual LEGO set, LEGO robot builders, a LEGO adventure, and a LEGO contraption builder. LEGO already had a number of the other ideas in development, so they chose the contraption-builder. Digital Domain began producing a game that mixed and matched various themes. The team of protagonists was named the Trans-International LEGO Team, and consisted of a chef, a gymnast (named Flip), a magician, a mad scientist (Dr. Pogo), and a marching band musician (Major Minor). The chef had the ability to flip things in his frying pan, Flip would provide spinning motion, the magician could teleport, Dr. Pogo bounced around (he was going to be a rubber minifigure instead of plastic because of this), and Major Minor would provide forward motion. The game had many characters at one point in development, such as a cowboy sitting at his campfire. If something lit his fire, he’d start cranking his spit (functioning as a fire-activated motor). The locations were based off household items such as refrigerators, dog bowls, and toasters. The names for the locations were: Aromazona (took place in a flower pot); Mt. Fridgy (took place in a fridge with the contents as platforms, and was the home of Neanderthaws, unfrozen cavemen-type creatures, with a boss battle against "Ol' Blue Ice"); Roller Toaster (had roller coaster cars which looked like bread and get dipped in lava, and a boss named King Crusty); and Poodle Dreamland (which took place in a dog pool, with a poodle named Flea-Flea as the boss).LEGO Alpha Team Developer Interview
The LEGO group was not impressed with the pitch, as they didn't think the "mix and match" aspect fit their marketing scheme. With only six months of development time remaining, LEGO asked for the game to be turned into a spy-related game for boys. TeeVee and Ogel were the only characters from the original game to stay. Then the game was released in 2000, a year before sets were released. The plot and characters were all created by Digital Domain for use in the game. LEGO then turned what Digital Domain produced into real sets.
== Background ==
In this first year, as in all others, the Alpha Team attempts to thwart the plots of an evil criminal mastermind named Ogel. In his first bid for world domination, Ogel utilized an invention known as "Mind Control Orbs". These orbs turned people into mindless Skeleton Drones that Ogel could command. According to one online game "Evil Music", Ogel could also control weather and create storms using a special organ. Ogel was eventually defeated, and the orbs were destroyed, reverting all of Ogel's victims back to their original state.
The following year, Alpha Team had to battle Ogel and a new army of Skeleton Drones underwater. Also, Tee Vee became a mini sub. This time, Ogel created a new type of Mind Control Orb, which mutated sea creatures to do his bidding, and used these on many creatures, such as octopi and killer whales. To combat Ogel, Alpha Team went after him underwater, armed with a plethora of new vehicles. Ogel was finally defeated when Dash reversed the controls of Ogel's orb-manufacturing plant, causing all of the mutant creatures to revert back to normal.
Alpha Team did not advance in story in 2003, but in 2004, it continued. Ogel had a completely different plan, in which he was using his new Ice Orbs to freeze the world. The new Alpha Team tracked him to Antarctica, where he succeeded in freezing Alpha Team, the rest of the world, and even time itself. The Team were saved by Zed, an Alpha Team special agent, who was protected from the time freeze by his vehicle, which was equipped for such an event. He defrosted the Alpha Team agents, and then battled Ogel's Scorpion Orb Launcher. The LEGO Magazine invited members to send in submissions of what they thought would happen in the battle, although they were ultimately not published in the magazine, and members did not see the end of the battle. It is generally assumed that Zed defeated Ogel.
=== Characters ===
==== Alpha Team ====
* Dash Justice: Motion Expert and Team Leader, Dash is very brave, but quite cocky. He loves the seaside. The colour of his uniform is Black in the 2001 and 2002 missions, and Blue in 2004.
* Crunch: Explosives Expert; replaced by Diamond Tooth in 2004. His uniform colour is Green in the 2001 and 2002 missions, and was appropriated by Diamond Tooth in 2004.
* Radia: Alpha Team's Lasers Expert, Radia is extremely beautiful. Her uniform colour is Purple. She has also appeared as a networker in My LEGO Network.
* Charge: Charge is the team's Electricity Expert. His gloves apparently allow him jet-assisted flight, as shown on the cover of the Alpha Team Video Game. His uniform colour is Blue in the 2001 and 2002 missions, and Red in 2004.
* Cam Attaway: Cam is the Team's Motors Expert and mechanic. She was replaced by Arrow in 2004. Her uniform colour is Red in the 2001 and 2002 missions.
* Flex: Flex is the Team's flamboyant Ropes Expert. His uniform colour is Orange.
* Tee Vee: Tee Vee is Alpha Team's communications robot. He has been seen in three different variations. In his first version, he was essentially a television set with legs. In 2002, he was upgraded to a miniature submarine. Finally, in 2004, his appearance was updated to that of a humanoid android.
* Arrow: Arrow is Alpha Team's Motors Expert and mechanic in 2004. His uniform colour is Yellow.
* Diamond Tooth: Diamond Tooth is Alpha Team's Mining Expert in 2004. His uniform colour is in Green.
* Gearbox: All that is known about this agent is that he built the Tundra Tracker.
* Zed: Alpha Team special agent, and the pilot of the Blizzard Blaster.
==== Ogel ====
* Ogel: The ruthless villain of the series. He was the main villain in each year of its run, constantly coming up with schemes to defeat Alpha Team.
* Skeleton Drones: Ogel's minions, who are people who have been affected by Mind Control Orbs. Their appearance changes numerous times during the series.
* Super Ice Drone: A Skeleton Drone with a black head that pilots the Scorpion Orb Laucher. Possibly a robot.
== Notes ==
* LEGO never revealed whether Ogel or Zed won the final battle of the 2004 theme, although it is widely accepted that Zed was victorious, and the world was saved.
* The Alpha Team agents have a variation of the Classic Space logo on their jackets.
* The plot of the Hero Factory storyline revolves around a team known as the Alpha 1 Team, a potential nod to the Alpha Team theme.
* In Mission Deep Freeze, Charge and Flex seemed to switch faces, with Flex getting shades and a serious expression and Charge getting a grin.
== List of sets ==
== Gallery ==
_Alpha_Team_GBC_ScreenShot1.jpglego.gif|The Alpha Team logo.
Alphalogo.gif|The Alpha Team logo as of "Mission Deep Freeze".
Alpha-team-logo.jpg|The original Alpha Team logo.
Alpha Team poster.jpg|A "Mision Deep Freeze" logo
IceDrone2.png|Ogel and the Drones
== References ==
== External links ==
* Official Website
Category:Discontinued Themes