Dino Racers and Hero Knights

From left to right, some of the vehicles that were proposed for Hero Knights were each based of an octopus, a Phoenix, a dragon, and a scorpion.

## Product Information

### Year(s)

1998

Believe it or not, there was a time in the 1990's when LEGO wanted to push away from the three original themes they were best known for: Space, Town, and Castle. Wanting to crank out a new IP that would appeal to demographics of that time, LEGO pitched two separate themes that would each focus on giant mechs and vehicles.

## **Summary**

The first theme they produced was Dino Racers, whose premise was essentially about giant high-tech vehicles modelled after prehistoric dinosaurs and while its exact story is unknown, they would've presumably been driven by pilots that would use them for a certain task; whether it would've been for competitive racing, exploration missions, or saving the world from evil is unknown. The second theme, known as Hero Knights, had a similar premise with high-tech vehicles that, this time, were shaped after mythological beasts. Its possible that Hero Knights was pitched as an attempt to spice up their Castle line like the Knight's Kingdom line did in 2005.

To get each of their projects off the ground, LEGO brought on board Mike Colonesse, an artist who's worked on several video games (*Bastion*, *Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II*, *Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3*, *Medal of Honor: European Assault*), to brainstorm some concept art. For Dino Riders, he drew the red Tyrannosaurus-X, which has a jet turbine and third wheel feature with its maximum ability being power; the blue F-1 Parasaur, which had a hubless wheel and scram jet with agility being its primary strength; and the green Turbo Triceratops, which had a twin turbo exhaust and front stabilizer which excelled in power, yet lacked in speed. For Hero Knights, the vehicles he drew had much more specific information beyond statistics and came with information about their pilots, their power, and where they came from. The Dragon, specialty Space Guardian, originated from China with its superpower being lightning and is piloted by Ming Na. It has jet intake over its shoulders, energy collectors in the wings, and a power sphere in the chest. The Scorpion, specialty Jungle Guardian, originated from Brazil with its superpower being Earth and is piloted by Jenna. It runs on two tank treads with the weapons "sand shovel" and "venom stinger," each in the respective shape of its claws and the tail barb. The Octopus, specialty Ocean Guardian, originated from Sweden with its superpower being water and is ploted by Erik. Its power sphere is located above its bulbous head, along with a periscope; jet intakes are installed on the side, drill weapons are attached to the front tentacles, and ink dischargers are located on the back. And finally, the Phoenix, specialty Air, originates from the USA with its superpower being fire and is piloted by Jason. It has turbine propellers on the wings, a flamethrower in the head, and a special ability known as "Stealth Skin."

## **Final Verdict**

While Colonesse made some truly amazing artwork for both Dino Riders and Hero Knights, it seems that his designs were too ambitious to properly translate into a full-fledged playset and with another toyline named Slizer that was in development, LEGO chose to go with that theme to capture the hearts of older kids and would eventually evolve into BIONICLE; which some people are still fascinated with today.  The artworks that Colonesse did for both Dino Riders and Hero Knights are still available on his portfolio, though one thing to point out about the latter is that each vehicle has a number badge on the upper left corner that go from 2 to 5, yet there isn't a vehicle with the #1 designation. Whether there was another mythical creature and/or pilot that was made is unknown as Mike did not include it with his post. Nevertheless, both themes never made it past the concept art stage and will remain: **LOST**.

## **Gallery**

The Tyrannosaurus-XThe F-1 ParasaurThe Turbo Triceratops

## **Source**

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Xaok7AeBM