I may have gotten carried away this time. There’s a contest going on called the Throwbot Throwback Building Challenge, hosted by Morgan Ryan. Basically, build a Slizer/Throwbot and give some character info. While I can only enter one, which will be Biplane, it gave my brain the excuse it needed to build some Throwbot ideas that I haven’t gotten around to building. Which has resulted in the largest batch I’ve built and photographed at one time so far, so enjoy.
Oh, and for some of them I decided to do the Slizer/Throwbots naming thing where some of them are different. First one is the Slizer name, second is Throwbots. Seen a couple others do this and thought it was a fun idea. Let me know which names you prefer or if you can think of better ones.
#throwbotthrowback
Slizer Natives
Throwbots that are natural/native to their world. While some of them are larger than the normal size for the canister sets, it’s a general approximation to that style.
Sky/Biplane:
Flying high above the mountainous desert, Biplane circles around to find his next meal. He likes taking out weak targets with his disks and allowing the scorching sun to cook his next dinner. Has made several attempts to take the Dome from Jet, but none have been successful.
With legs folded in:
Icy Winds/Gyro:
The sky high flyer of the ice region, Gryo uses his unique maneuverability to navigate the mountain tops and deep ravines. Collects ice crystals for sustenance and sends avalanches on foes too difficult to fight.
Prunner/Trimmer:
City protector, Trimmer uses his various saws to keep the invading plant monsters at bay. Any plants allowed in the city he keeps trimmed to their proper height and eats the excess materials.
Saws in action:
Designer’s Notes: If you’ve never seen a pruning machine before, they are pretty cool and strange looking. That was my basis for Trimmer here, combined with some sort of moose or deer.
Grasshopper/Locus:
Considered a plague in the jungle, Locus is constantly leaping around in search of his next meal. Looking to collect that precious special sap before Amazon or one of the others can take it. Though not much of a fighter, Locus will flee upon taking any damage.
Spider/Widower:
Though native to the jungle region, Widower can often be found in city laying intricate web traps for the energy insects. Seeking to collect as many electro-flies as one can to absorb their power and deliver shocking venom bites.
Turtle/Shelled:
Shelled lazily floats atop the ocean, swimming around for a good time. Should any attack him, his nigh-invulnerable shell will protect him from most damage. Whenever hungry, he goes searching for special kelp deep below.
Squid/Kraken:
Kraken is a vicious hunter and wishes to rule the oceans as king. He often searches for special sand that will allow him to control the mutant goblers, putting him at odds with Scuba and other Throwbots.
Fish/Chomp:
Chomp seeks to restore the ocean to a prior state, before the mutations ruined most of natural life. As such, he is a rival to Scuba in savaging the special pearls, for which he uses to keep the mutant gobler population down.
With fins folded in:
Drone/Torpedo:
An old treasure seeker, Torpedo treads near the ocean floor in search of mythical doubloons. If the legends are true, there is a golden disk that produces endless wealth when thrown and it was lost somewhere in the ocean ages ago. And if anyone is going to find it, Torpedo will.
Powerboat/Hydrojet:
Traveling at sonic speeds, Hydrojet skirts across the water to be a general nuisance. He says he’s here just to have fun, but his sense of fun is making a lot of confusing noise and dunking others under massive waves. Kraken has tried many times to sink Hydrojet but has been unable to catch him.
Meteor Mutants!
When the meteor struck and destroyed half the planet, new beings rose. More powerful and dangerous than ever before, these mutants seek to claim what pieces of the world remains from the survivors.
Doubletake:
A two-headed freak with too many limbs, Doubletake is a vicious combatant looking to plunder far more than he needs. With four throwing arms, a chainsaw arm, fast skittering legs, and a double-spear launcher, he is a dangerous foe indeed. If each head has a mind of their own, they’re both too focused on pillaging to argue about the spoils.
Prototype/XPR-1MT:
With the cataclysmic quakes, containment finally failed and XPR-1MT was free to roam the streets. Half-tracked, half-hovering, this bizarre machine-creature can fire unusual wheels to hack the nearby buildings and mutant vehicles. Though like Turbo, he also seeks radioactive fuel to keep himself strong.
Scavenger:
Coming from the destroyed desert region, Scavenger hunts for whatever disks he can find. Storing them in his body, a hatch in his back opens up whenever he needs to grab and throw one. Wears a mutant creature’s skull to ward off would-be attackers.
Demonstration of backpack opening:
Designer’s Notes: Originally this was designed as a backpack, but that ended up being too heavy. So it got built into the creature’s body instead.
Singe:
Caught on the edge of the meteor’s wrath, this fire region mutant does what he can to survive his new form. Searching for rare diamonds and other minerals that absorbed the meteor’s mutating radiation and produce even greater flames. Even create a fire that harms other fire.
Small Critters!
Native wildlife to the planet that aren’t quite small enough to be polybags but not sentient enough like the others above.
Toss Penguin:
Toss Penguins are flightless birds living the ice region. Over the decades, they have adapted the ways of Ski and other Throwbots and started tossing disks to help ward off monsters. Since this change, the penguins pick mates by those who can find the prettiest rock and chuck it the farthest.
With wings wrapped around sides:
Manta Ray:
Usually peaceful, in recent years these ocean dwellers have had their tails altered by Kraken. Now armed with a disk-throwing tail, they can attack prey and predators from further distances and serve as marksmen in Kraken’s army.
Designer’s Notes: Originally, this was being designed as part of the polybag group. I was going for a bat, but couldn’t find a combination of parts to make satisfying wings. I much prefer the manta ray outcome, but probably too big to work for a polybag.
Polybags!
Throwbots never had polybags, promotional sets, or small enough sets to basically be polybags like in Roboriders. So what if they did? While I didn’t keep them perfectly accurate, that was the general goal while making these.
Gecko:
Found throughout the world are small, disk-throwing geckos. They come in various colors, but the red-headed geckos are the most common. Tend to prey on smaller insects and use their disks for defense against larger predators.
Designer’s Note: This was the first one I made. Going more in the vane of later Bionicle polybags (2006 onwards), I figured a “weapon test” sort of design would be the main goal. So it needed a throwing arm, the socket to hold it in place, and at least the Throwbot head. The main reason why I could see this not passing Lego’s approval as a polybag or tiny set for that line would be due to its length. Can’t fit in the canisters without removing pieces, it’s too long.
Training Test:
Dummy machines for testing one’s skills or new disks. They can throw disks and serve as decent targets.
Designer’s Notes: Now this I find to be the most realistic if Lego did a polybag. A small and simple stand that kids can easily hold down and use to throw disks. And doubles as a target for their other sets to aim at. Not the most appealing, but neither are most of the Bionicle function sets.
Scorpion:
Little scorpions primarily found in the desert region. They have given up their stingers and claws for disk throwing to take out birds. After the meteor, they are considered an endangered species.
Designer’s Notes: I did try to give him some claws, but none of them looked good while trying to keep him this small. This was the last one I included with the throwing arm as there are other options with polybags. Plus, the Roborider ones didn’t have the wheel launching function (not that it would work), so for the next couple I took after a certain bike.
RC Car:
Small mutant toys, these RC Cars roam around the city looking for batteries and trouble to cause. Some smart mutants have realized that they can control these cars with the right frequency. If they’re attacking with greater strategy than normal, there’s a mastermind behind it.
RC Truck:
The bigger and tougher versions of the RC Cars. Some report they have the ability to jump, but this has yet to be verified.
Designer’s Notes: Originally, this was going to be a skateboard for a larger figure to ride. Didn’t work out for that, but this is better.
Gear Rack Critters!
I always thought it was strange that Lego created this specialized piece for one of the Throwbot gearboxes, put an axel connection point in it, and then never used it. Why bother adding that connection point if you aren’t going to do anything with it? Was there something more planned with this piece, like chainsaw arms, and then it got dropped? Or just something for fans to figure out and have fun with?
Whatever is the case, I decided to experiment and see what I could do. Some of these could belong in polybag or small critter section, but these were specific to the piece.
Dragonfly:
Little insects that live in the thunderstorms of the energy region. They are often prey to the many larger species.
Energy Rabbit:
Small creatures found in the energy region, they make extensive burrows to survive the storms. They seem to never tire and run extremely fast; usually bolting to the nearest hole when they hear thunder.
Prod Fish:
Small bottom dwelling fish, they poke around with their snouts to find food and items. As of late, they’ve been taught by Kraken to search for, collect, and fire disks.
Skimmer:
An insectoid fish that tends to live on the ocean’s surface. They can fly for short bursts, but usually stick to skimming on the water. Often prey to fish and birds.
Designer’s Notes: One of my sisters thinks it looks better with the antenna piece as the front. Says it looks like some sort of hummingbird that way. Which direction do you prefer?
Sand Ray:
A bottom dwelling fish, it buries itself in sand and waits for smaller prey to come by to eat them. Considered gross and usually not eaten by other predators.
…And that’s it! While I was photographing these, my sister reorganized them into a tier list of her favorites. So I’ve gone ahead and recreated her tier list, and mine, for which you can see the results below. And if you would like, here is the link for you to create your own tier list!
https://tiermaker.com/create/tlrs-■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■-15456893
Tier List
Sister’s:
Mine:
