Atlantis

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Atlantis is a theme released in January of 2010.Official world-wide release date. Some sets could be found at Toys-R-Us stores in the US beginning in December 2009, and by late December 2009 the sets could be found in the United Kingdom. The plot revolves around a team of underwater explorers searching for the city of Atlantis, which was sunk in the ocean. Its sets include models of futuristic submarines, giant sea monsters and ancient underwater sites. The sets include many new minifigure head moulds as well as a new breathing apparatus for the human characters, exclusive keys available in six collectable variations - Crab, Squid, Shark, Manta Ray, and Turtle, with the sixth key from 7985 City of Atlantis featuring a geometric design - and other new elements. There is a movie that accompanies the Atlantis theme that was played on Nickelodeon, on LEGO.com with the completion of that site's Atlantis games, and at LEGOLAND California Carlsbad, at the end of the Sea World exhibit.
In mid-November 2009, a teaser website for the Atlantis theme was put up on LEGO.com. The full site was released on January 5 2010 (US, UK, western Europe), January 7 (Central and Northern Europe), January 18 (Southern and Eastern Europe), and April 1 in Japan.Dates according to the teaser websites for the respective countries. The teaser website had very little - the main feature was a downloadable program known as the "Map to Atlantis." It had a daily fact about sea life, a map of the route to Atlantis with "speculation" on the different areas, as well as a link to LEGO.com and a few other features.
On January 15th, Cartoon Network released LEGO Atlantis: The Movie (which featured actual voices, unlike the previous mini-movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick) which included all of the sets from January (except the limited-edition 8079). It is a huge LEGO theme
Most of the sets include stickers that feature that set's product identification number.
The colour scheme for the divers was changed in the 2011 sets, with the elements that would previously have been green now coloured yellow. The story was also changed; insted of searching for keys, the Atlantis crew searches for the golden armor of the king of Atlantis in order to reunite the ancient city.
== Description ==
Atlantis features a group of explorers that are searching the sea floor for the eponymous lost city of Atlantis from ancient myths. They are equipped with a wide array of red futuristic underwater vehicles with light green viewports and weaponry. During their quest, they encounter giant guardians, as well as the warriors of Atlantis, which include Sharks, Squids, and Manta Rays in humanoid forms. The sets of this theme include either the vehicles of the explorers, ruin sites or single guardians (or a combination of these).
The theme reprises several elements from earlier underwater LEGO themes, but combines them with a new distinctive look and an unprecedented setting. The concept of underwater treasure hunters came from Aquazone (1995-1998), Divers (1997), and Aqua Raiders (2007), with the latter two being of a more modern design, and the former being of a more futuristic design. Atlantis introduced more futuristic vehicles, as did the earlier Aquazone theme, but the new designs in Atlantis bear little similarity to those of previous LEGO submarines, a look which is reinforced by the red and light green color scheme, which was never seen before in an underwater theme. The new theme also has a more elaborate back story than its predecessors, showcased on a dedicated website. In addition to this, all included minifigures (from the hero faction) portray individual, named characters, a concept that was also put to use in the Power Miners line from 2009. The villains in Atlantis are underwater creatures that have regular Minifigure bodies coupled with monstrous heads. Previous underwater themes featured antagonists that were other groups of humans, while some did not feature any villains at all, or rather pitted the main characters against giant sea creatures.
=== Story ===
Long before the actual setting of the theme, the aliens from the Alien Conquest theme had captured the The Golden King and gave him to the Atlantis Creatures, rendering the city of Atlantis unprotected and allowed the Dark Guardians to overtake it, as well as steal the five Keys to Atlantis, in exchange for weaponry for their army. According to The Secret Journal of Dr. Artimus Rhodes, a 1919 scientist named Dr. Artimus Rhodes found a lost pyramid-map to the city of Atlantis on the shores of Mexico, and eventually embarked on the quest to find the city, only to fail and be knocked unconscious, losing his memory of his journey in the process. After being rescued by his beautiful lab assistant, Ms. Morris, he asked for her hand in marriage, to which she accepted, and gave birth to an unnamed son. Later, in the last pages of the book, Ms. Morris writes to Samantha Rhodes, who is revealed to be the granddaughter of Artimus Rhodes. Now a young adult, Sam finds the map and the book and learns of her grandfather's quest, and tricks the Deep Sea Salvage Crew into helping her look for the lost city and find the magical keys that will unlock the Portal to Atlantis. After completing their quest and making their way into the city, as well as recruiting Dr. Brains into the salvage crew, they discover the city has been trapped in eternal darkness by the Dark Guardians, who have kept the Golden King prisoner since his capture by the aliens. After finding all of the Golden Treasures of the city, the crew is captured by the guardians and taken the king's palace, who is a prisoner of his own dungeon. In an attempt to escape the palace and defeat the guardians, Samantha hatches a plan to send a remote-control submarine to the surface world and attaches her grandfather's journal to explain the situation. After receiving an unknown source of help, the five crew members defeated the guardians and helped rescue the city from darkness, and returned the Golden King to his rightful place as ruler of Atlantis. However, in a master plot to enslave mankind, the Alien Commander abducted the king and used his magical trident, along with Amset-Ra's magical treasures, in an attempt to overthrow the Earth and rule the world, however, the plan failed, but a new plan was hatched to travel back in time and unleash an army of dinosaurs on the city, which resulted in the Dino theme.
== Crossover ==
In 2011, when the salvage crew searched the ruins of Atlantis, the diver Bobby Buoy was dropped from the theme and replaced by the Power Miners character Brains and renamed "Dr. Brains". The theme crossover was officially announced in Lego.com's description of the set Dr. Brains is featured in, 7984 Deep Sea Raider, that he was recruited after completing his mission underground. Another crossover was featured in a comic in the Nov/Dec edition of LEGO Club Magazine where it was revealed the Aliens from Alien Conquest delivered the technology of the Treasure Keys and the Portal to Atlantis to the Atlantis Warriors. Later the Alien Commander used his UFO to kidnap The Golden King and use his power along with Amset-Ra and the 6 Golden Treasures to try and conquer the world. However it was an ultimate failure and caused the aliens to be forced to retreat.
== History ==
In the September issue of the LEGO Club Magazine, a pull-out poster was released, showing a radar screen with a red dot that marks the position of Atlantis. Also, the date 1/1/2010 is mentioned, suggesting a release or further announcements at the beginning of the next year. Below is an English translation of the promo poster.
Not long after this poster was found, several sets were on display at a Russian Toy Event along with select other 2010 LEGO sets.
In mid-November, several lucky individuals managed to find the sets 8056, 8058, and 8060 in their local Toys-R-Us stores and, subsequently, several of the parts and sets have been appearing on Bricklink.
In the meantime, a teaser site for Atlantis was included on LEGO.com. It did not contain a great deal of detailed information, but featured a minigame in which users can "navigate" the bottom of the ocean and find some of the hidden secrets. There was also the secret journal as mentioned above, as well as a downloadable desktop icon which provides free, high quality desktop images available for download, as well as information concerning some of the theme's key locations.
As of December 1st, all Atlantis sets, including the two impulse sets, were released for the Christmas holidays in the US. These are 8072 Sea Jet and 8073 Manta Warrior.
In the UK January 2010 edition of the LEGO Shop@Home Catalog, a new piece of information on the Atlantis theme was included. The information is written below:
"The Deep Sea Salvage Crew were a team of hard-working divers and explorers who searched the ocean depths for shipwrecks and sunken treasure. Then they found their first clue to the location of the long-lost city of Atlantis, a civilisation that disappeared beneath the sea thousands of years ago. Now they have a name and a new mission, as the ATLANTIS Deep Sea Salvage Crew combs the deepest and most dangerous parts of the ocean for the ancient treasure keys that hold the secret to finding Atlantis and unlocking its mysteries!"
== Characters ==
=== 2010 ===
* The Guardian of the Deep diver is Bobby Buoy.
* The Sea Jet diver is Bobby Buoy.
* The Keychain diver is Captain Ace Speedman.
* The Monster Crab Clash diver is Axel Storm.
* The Wreck Raider diver is Captain Ace Speedman.
* The Seabed Scavenger diver is Lance Spears.
* The Typhoon Turbo Sub diver is Axel Storm.
* The Shadow Snapper diver is Lance Spears.
* The Gateway of the Squid divers are Lance Spears and the female one is Professor Sam Rhodes. Sam is short for 'Samantha', which was the granddaughters name mentioned in The Secret Journal of Dr. Artimus Rhodes.
* The Neptune Carrier Divers are: Dr. Jeff Fisher, Captain Ace Speedman and Axel Storm.
* The Deep Sea Striker diver is Lance Spears.
* The Undersea Explorer diver is Bobby Buoy.
* The Atlantis Exploration HQ divers are Captain Ace Speedman and Dr. Jeff Fisher.
* The Portal of Atlantis divers are Captain Ace Speedman (with a new diving suit propeller attatchment), Professor Sam Rhodes, and Axel Storm (with head torches similar to those he wears in Neptune Carrier).
=== 2011 ===
* The Angler Attack diver is Dr. Jeff Fisher.
* The Ocean Speeder diver is Lance Spears.
* The Seabed Strider diver is Axel Storm.
* The Deep Sea Raider diver is Dr. Brains.
* The City of Atlantis divers are Professor Sam Rhodes and Captain Ace Speedman (with new head torch and propeller diving suit attachment).
* The magnet diver is Captain Ace Speedman.
== Minifigures ==
* All of the Divers feature grey diving suits with lime-green and silver features. In 2011, the lime-green elements were changed to a bright yellow. The minifigures have front and back printing on their torsos and legs. All of them feature a new breathing apparatus mould complete with air tanks and a full visor in trans-neon green. There is an image of a Trident on the divers' left leg.
* The Shark Warriors feature a new head mould moulded like a shark. It is similar in appearance to 2005 Viktor Krum's shark head from the Harry Potter set 4762. They usually wield a Trident.
* The Manta Ray Warriors also feature a new, rubber head mould and carry a Trident.
* The Squid Warriors feature a new headmould of shaped like a squid and instead of a standard LEGO minifigure legs, they have a set of moulded tentacles the same height as normal legs. They also wield a Trident.
== 2011 ==
TLC's internal magazine "The Brick" revealed that the theme will be continuing with new sets and a new storyline in 2011. The new storyline starting in January 2011 will be called the Quest For the Golden King. A preview for the plot appears when you finish chapter 5 of The Atlantis Adventure.
:"Congratulations! You have discovered the Long Lost City Of Atlantis, but our journey is far from over. Inside this majestic temple, a new adventure awaits Captain Ace Speedman and the rest of the Atlantis crew. beware that dark gaurdians lurk inside. These villans stand between you and finding the ultimate treasure- THE GOLDEN KING!
:Stay tuned for the continuation of the Atlantis Adventure. THE QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN KING. Coming January 2011."
An image of the Golden King is featured on the Atlantis homepage.
== Minifigures ==
== Creatures ==
* Angler Fish
* Guardian of the Deep
* Giant Squid
* Monster Crab
* Shadow Snapper
* Mouse Snake
* Giant Scorpion
* Sting Ray Guardian
== Sets ==
* 20013 Neptune Mini Sub
* 30040 Octopus
* 30041 Piranha
* 30042 Mini Sub
* 66365 Atlantis Superpack
* 7976 Ocean Speeder
* 7977 Seabed Strider
* 7978 Angler Attack
* 7984 Deep Sea Raider
* 7985 City of Atlantis
* 8056 Monster Crab Clash
* 8057 Wreck Raider
* 8058 Guardian of the Deep
* 8059 Seabed Scavenger
* 8060 Typhoon Turbo Sub
* 8061 Gateway of the Squid
* 8072 Sea Jet
* 8073 Manta Warrior
* 8075 Neptune Carrier
* 8076 Deep Sea Striker
* 8077 Atlantis Exploration HQ
* 8078 Portal of Atlantis
* 8079 Shadow Snapper
* 8080 Undersea Explorer
* 852906 Atlantis 3D Goggles
* Brickmaster Atlantis
* The Menace From the Deep
* The Quest for the Lost City
== Other products ==
* 30040 Octopus
* 30041 Piranha
* 30042 Mini Sub
* 20013 Neptune Mini Sub
* 66365 Atlantis Superpack
* 852774 Shark Warrior Key Chain
* 852775 Manta Warrior Key Chain
* 852776 Diver Key Chain
* 852777 Magnet Set
* 852778 Water Gun
* 852779 Harpoon Blaster
* 852780 Sword
* 852781 Shield
* 852782 Trident
* 852906 Atlantis 3D Goggles
* 9002038 LEGO Atlantis Watch
== Other Products ==
* 853084 Diver Key Chain
* 853085 Hammer Head Key Chain
* 853086 Barracuda Guardian Key Chain
* 852777 Magnet Set Barracuda Guardian, Hammer Head Guardian and Diver
=== Books ===
* The Menace From the Deep
* The Quest for the Lost City
* Brickmaster Atlantis
== Notes ==
* All of the 2010 sets except 8073 Manta Warrior and 8072 Sea Jet include the treasure keys.
* A half-hour movie was shown on Cartoon Network on January 15, 2010. (see here)
* Atlantis was featured in LDD for a while (before being replaced by Hero Factory) and there was an LDD Atlantis building challenge.
* LEGO hosted an Atlantis Fantasy Camp in 2010.
* Axle Storm's head was used in the Kingdoms theme in the set 7188 King's Carriage Ambush.
* Lance Spears' head was used in the Bricks and More theme in the set 5929 Knight and Castle Building Set.
== Gallery ==
3930176694_5bc88ca0d4.jpg|The complete 2010 collection.
Atlantis_page4.jpg|Theme images.
Atlantis_page3.jpg|More theme images.
Atlantis_page1.jpg|Promotional images.
Atlantis_page2.jpg|More promotional images.
AtlantisPrototype1.png|An Atlantis prototype.
AtlantisPrototype2.png|An Atlantis prototype.
AtlantisPrototype3.png|An Atlantis prototype.
AtlantisPrototype4.png|An Atlantis prototype.
AtlantisPrototype5.png|An Atlantis prototype.
AtlantisPrototypeGraphics.png|Prototype Atlantis graphic designs and stickers.
Jeff Fisher Yellow Version 7978.png|The 2011 minifigure.
== Sources ==
4. Brickjournal Issue 10 (Pictures of Prototypes)
== References ==
== External links ==
* LEGO.com Atlantis Home
* Discussion thread at Eurobricks.com
* Discussion thread at Brickhorizon.com
 
Category:Themes
Category:Underwater themes
Category:Themes introduced in 2010
Category:Discontinued Themes