Lego Monster Fighters was a

Lego theme A Lego theme is a product line of Lego construction toys produced by The Lego Group based on a central concept. Before 1978, Lego produced several construction sets with common themes, but they were not necessarily branded as part of a single se ...

based on Universal Studios Monsters from the

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian ...

genre. The Monster Fighters fight against the Lord Vampyre's monsters while collecting the moonstones. The story takes place in the Monster Realm and it's similar to ''

The Monster Squad ''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American black comedy horror film directed by Fred Dekker, and written by Dekker and Shane Black, who met as classmates at UCLA. Peter Hyams and Rob Cohen served as executive producers. It was released by TriSt ...

'' film. The theme was first introduced in May 2012. It was eventually discontinued by the end of December 2014. The theme also produced a range of associated media, including theme park attractions, several shorts, video game, app and publications.

Overview

The product line focuses on the Dr. Rodney Rathbone finds out that Lord Vampyre, the ruler of the Monster Realm, wants to turn day into night forever and unleash his army of monsters into the world of mortal minifigures. To accomplish his plan, Lord Vampyre must gather six magic moonstones and use them in a machine of his own creation, which can direct the magic of the gems and begin an eternal eclipse of the Sun. He and his team of Monster Fighters embark on a mission to prevent the monsters from completing their evil plot. In October 2012,

The Lego Group Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aroun ...

build a 10-foot model of Lord Vampyre near Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Development

In 2017, The Lego Group Vice President of Design Matthew Ashton discussed the concept of the Lego Monster Fighters theme and explained, “Younger kids look up to older kids and want to be part of what they are engaging in,” and continued, “We have dabbled with a few monster-based products in the past, but we really wanted to dedicate a whole line to this theme so kids could play out multiple adventures with a deeper story.” The Lego Group found that Lego Monster Fighters and its characters were quite similar to the instantly recognizable Universal Studios Monsters from classic cinematic horrors, which appealed to both kids and adults alike.

Characters

Monster Fighters

* Dr. Rodney Rathbone: The leader of the Monster Fighters, an aristocrat from London, explorer and the great-great-great-grandfig of the first minifigure to ever walk into the Monster Realm. Has a

prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

leg. * Major Quinton Steele: An old-fashioned hunter for exotic prey, who uses valuable rare weapons such as a

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a firearm with a short, large caliber barrel which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity or caliber. The blunderbuss is commonly consid ...

. He was born in Safaraway,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. First met Dr. Rodney Rathbone when he was searching for a new hunting challenge. Has a prosthetic telescopic eye. * Frank Rock (Franklin Rhodes): A motorcyclist rebel, who wanted to find his missing dog, believed to be abducted by swamp ghouls. He wears a mirror sunglasses. * Jack McHammer: A burly

lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

from Scotland or Canada, he never leaves home without his hammer. He has a prosthetic arm, because his own one was cut off by the Crazy Scientist who needed parts for creating a monster. * Ann Lee: A brave pilot, proficient in the art of broomstickajitzu and archery, who uses ammo as accessories and household items as weapons. She has a scar from the Witch Nail on the left side of her face.

Monsters

* Lord Vampyre: A

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

who is the ruler of the Monster Realm. He planned to present the precious moonstone to his wife, but discovered its magical powers and decided to keep the gem for himself. He built a machine, which can create an eclipse using the power of six of the moonstones and turn day into night forever, so monsters could roam freely. Like regular vampires, he sleeps during the day in a coffin or upside down, can transform into a bat, and fears sunlight and garlic. He likes to play the

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

for his wife. His red moonstone gives power to control minions. He made a cameo in '' The Lego Batman Movie'' film. On the preliminary box art, his name was Dracula, as he is

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

. * Vampyre's bride: A master of hexes and poisons. She wanted to get a gem from her husband, but after Lord Vampyre acquired it, he became more inattentive to her remorse. * The Swamp Creature: A fig-fish with gills, scales, fins and hypnotic gaze who is a strong swimmer. He inhabits swamp marshes of the Monster Realm. His yellowy-green moonstone gives power to control water. * The

Mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

: An ancient mummy who roams desert roads of the Monster Realm at night on his chariot with fire-eyed skeleton horse. He searches for anyone to take revenge on. Possesses super strength and ancient magic. The Mummy's purple moonstone gives power to magnify the curses. * The

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

: A hairy camper and fan of the Grateful Undead band by day and a werewolf from Drachwald Forest by night. He likes outdoor concerts and playing fetch or frisbee. His orange moonstone gives superhuman strength and speed. * The Crazy Scientist: A

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly am ...

who cut off Jack McHammer's arm and used it in making the Monster in his underground laboratory. He is in possession of the green moonstone, which gives him power to create life through the lightning and enormous strength to his Monster. * The Crazy Scientist's Monster: The creation of the Crazy Scientist, made from the bricks of minifigures and high-voltage electricity. Though he possesses super-human strength, he's not too smart and is easily puzzled or distracted. He is a parody of

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compar ...

. * The

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

s: Three ghosts who inhabit the Moor of Woe and Wailing and the Haunted House. They like shopping at Boobash and Beyond store. They do not like bright light. Their blue moonstone gives power to pass through solid objects. It is kept in the Ghost Train. * The

Zombies A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

: Different zombies living in the Monster Realm. The Zombies' pink moonstone gives power to re-create life. Among them are: ** The Zombie Driver: The Zombie Driver works as a

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...

for Lord Vampyre, he is loyal and hard-working servant who is known to do as his master wishes, putting himself in the most perilous of situations, doing the most horrible jobs, and protecting the Vampyre family. ** The Zombie Groom and Bride: The Zombie Groom and the Zombie Bride are always together. They live in the Monster Realm graveyard where they were brought back to life by the Voodoo Doctor. ** The Zombie

Chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a ki ...

: The Zombie Chef is a chef that works in Lord Vampyre's haunted house. ** The Zombie

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

: The Zombie Butler is a Frankenstein's monster-like creature that works as Lord Vampyre's butler. He is a parody of Lurch. * Manbats: The two man-sized humanoid

vampire bat Vampire bats, species of the subfamily Desmodontinae, are leaf-nosed bats found in Central and South America. Their food source is blood of other animals, a dietary trait called hematophagy. Three extant bat species feed solely on blood: the ...

humans who protect the castle of Lord Vampyre where he built his

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three c ...

machine.

Construction sets

According to

Bricklink Lego A/S ( trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aro ...

, The Lego Group released 13 playsets with some promotional polybags as part of the ''Lego Monster Fighters'' theme. The product line was eventually discontinued by the end of December 2014. In 2012,

announced that the seven sets was released on 22 May 2012. The seven sets were The Swamp Creature (set number: 9461), The Mummy (set number: 9462), The Werewolf (set number: 9463), The Vampyre Hearse (set number: 9464), The Crazy Scientist & His Monster (set number: 9466), The Ghost Train (set number: 9467) and Vampyre Castle (set number: 9468). Later, The Zombies (set number: 9465) was released on 23 July 2012. Another set, namely Haunted House (set number: 10228) was released on 4 September 2012. In addition, four polybag sets were released as promotions, which were Zombie Chauffeur Coffin Car (set number: 30200), Ghost (set number: 30201), Zombie Car (set number: 40076) and Monster Fighter promotional pack (set number: 5000644). These included three key chains with a key chain attached to the minifigures of Lord Vampyre, Ghost and The Monster. The two giant minifigure Lego Alarm Clocks of Zombie and Lord Vampyre was released October 2012. The sets were designed primarily for children aged 7–14.

The Swamp Creature

The Swamp Creature (set number: 9461) was released on 22 May 2012. The set consists of 70 pieces with 2 minifigures. The set included

Lego minifigure A Lego minifigure, commonly referred to as a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine produced by Danish toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced worldwide ...

s of Frank Rock and Swamp Creature with green moonstone. It also included small speed boat for Frank Rock with some guns and missiles, as well as a small seaweed area in the swamp for the yellowy-green Moonstone.

The Mummy

The Mummy (set number: 9462) was released on 22 May 2012. The set consists of 90 pieces with 2 minifigures. The set included Lego minifigures of Ann Lee and Mummy with purple moonstone. It had a small helicopter for Ann Lee, and also, the Mummy's

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&n ...

with a glow in the Dark Skeleton Ghost Horse.

The Werewolf

The Werewolf (set number: 9463) was released on 22 May 2012. The set consists of 243 pieces with 2 minifigures. The set included Lego minifigures of Major Quinton Steele and Werewolf with orange moonstone. It also included a small vehicle for Quinton and a large tree, which could launch the werewolf as a play feature.

The Vampyre Hearse

The Vampyre Hearse (set number: 9464) was released on 22 May 2012. The set consists of 314 pieces with 3 minifigures. The set included Lego minifigures of Dr. Rodney Rathbone, Vampyre with red moonstone and the Zombie Driver. The hearse could lift the coffin as a play feature.

The Zombies

The Zombies (set number: 9465) was released on 23 July 2012. The set consists of 447 pieces with 4 minifigures. The set included Lego minifigures of Jack McHammer, Zombie Bride, Zombie Driver and Zombie Groom. Jack's large truck could smash the zombies with heavy hammers, and shoot missiles. The mausoleum could rotate the pink zombie moonstone to awaken the zombies and shoot a boiling bowl of bones.

The Crazy Scientist & His Monster

The Crazy Scientist & His Monster (set number: 9466) was released on 22 May 2012. The set consists of 422 pieces with 4 minifigures. The set included Lego minifigures of Rodney Rathbone, Quinton Steele, the Crazy Scientist with green moonstone and Monster. It included the lab of the scientist with jail cell, monster spot with moonstone play feature, and glow in the dark parts.

The Ghost Train

The Ghost Train (set number: 9467) was released on 22 May 2012. The set consists of 740 pieces with 5 minifigures. The set included Lego minifigures of Frank Rock, Ann Lee and 3 ghosts with blue moonstone. It included a plane with missiles and a massive ghost train with jail, machine, small cars, and tons of glow in the dark parts.

Vampyre Castle

Vampyre Castle (set number: 9468) was released on 22 May 2012. The (second) biggest set consists of 949 pieces with 7 minifigures. It included Lego minifigures of Lord Vampyre, Vampyre's Bride, 2 Manbats, Dr. Rodney Rathbone, Jack McHammer and a

Skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

. The set also had all the moonstones except for the Zombie one. It has the second most parts, but it's bigger than the

Haunted House A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

(and most Modular Buildings). The set includes a car with a net launcher and a massive castle which measures over 18" (45cm) high, 11" (28cm) wide and 10" (26cm) deep. The castle included a gate with spikes, shooting spider, glow in the dark parts, jail cell, skeleton, trap door, shooting rock and exit for the jail, stairs, map, living quarters, spots for the man-bats, moonstone device,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, treasure, wall that turns into spinning stairs, coffin, spike pit, bowl with elements and very large walls with 4 towers. 3 small decoration towers also exist above the gate and next to the tallest of them all. The castle also features curtains and a room for the coffin of Lord Vampyre. It also has many play features like spikes in the gate, shooting glow in the dark spider, shooting rock in the jail cell and a pit with spikes and a trap door in the right tower, as traps. Other play features include a wall that turns into a staircase (as mentioned above), the Moonstone device in the tallest tower and torturing the dead skeleton in the jail cell. Haunted House and Vampyre Castle

Haunted House

Haunted House (set number: 10228) was released on 4 September 2012. This set (the largest in the series) consists of 2064 pieces with 6 minifigures. The set included Lego minifigures of 2 ghosts,Lord Vampyre, Vampyre's Bride, Zombie chef and Zombie butler. Although more parts, not as big as the Vampyre Castle in dimensions. It's also probably the Phantom Manor. It has a gate, and the big mansion which measures 15.4" (39cm) high, 9.4" (24cm) wide and 7.5" (19cm) deep. The first and second floor are the kitchen, an empty living room (possibly previous furniture was removed due to hauntings), writing area, and a bedroom with paintings, lamps and a skull of a deer on the walls, a human heart and a closet. The

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running wate ...

had ovens, stoves, and a very large table with bottles, jars and a large bowl cooking a snake. Also had a large grey old spider web, maybe there was a refrigerator where the spider web is. The third floor was the

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

, which included many details like knight's helmet, gun, chest with top hat, music player, CDs, newspapers and more bottles and jars. Also included a crate for the cds and newspapers and a staircase leading from the second floor to the attic. The set also included a small gate as a sub-build. Also even though it's a little bit smaller than Vampyre Castle, it's box is larger because of the higher piece count.

Web shorts

The product line was accompanied by a series of animated short films that was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Video game and app

''Lego Monster Fighters Race''

An app titled ''Lego Monster Fighters Race'' was developed by The Lego Group for

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, ...

, iPhone and

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a musi ...

and released on 30 September 2012. It includes the Monster Fighters and Lord Vampyre's monsters as playable characters.

''Lego Worlds''

The crossover

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocki ...

-themed

sandbox game A sandbox game is a video game with a gameplay element that provides players a great degree of creativity to interact with, usually without any predetermined goal, or alternatively with a goal that the players set for themselves. Such games may ...

''Lego Worlds'' developed by

Traveller's Tales Traveller's Tales is a British video game developer and a subsidiary of TT Games. Traveller's Tales was founded in 1989 by Jon Burton and Andy Ingram. Initially a small company focused on its own content, it grew in profile through developi ...

and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. ''Lego Worlds'' was released on 7 March 2017 for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 i ...

and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

. A version for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

was released on 5 September 2017 in North America and 8 September 2017 in Europe. It includes the Monster Fighters and Lord Vampyre's monsters as playable characters.

Theme park attractions

In 2014, ''Ghost - The Haunted House'' was introduced to Legoland Billund. The attraction was located in the area between the Heartlake Express railway track and the footpath from the Coastguard HQ to Atlantis - Submarine Voyage. In 2019, ''Haunted House Monster Party'' was launched at

Legoland Windsor Resort Legoland Windsor Resort (), styled and also known as Legoland Windsor, is a theme park and resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego brand. The park opened on 17 March 1996 and is currently operated by Merlin Entertainmen ...

on 13 April 2019. The attraction was located in Adventure Land along the path between Lego City and Atlantis Submarine Voyage. In addition, a huge haunted building based on Haunted House (set number: 10228) included oversized recreations of spider webs, wooden tiles, balloons and more adorning the outside. All around the exterior, fantastically frightful large scale brick built animals and monsters including a giant gargoyle and spider add to the supernatural setting.

Publications

In August 2012, two books based on the Lego Monster Fighters theme were released. ''Lego Monster Fighters: Watch Out, Monsters About!'' and ''Lego Monster Fighters: Meet the Monsters'' were released on 20 August 2012 by DK.

Reception

In July 2012, The Ghost Train (set number: 9467) was listed as one of the Top Ten Toys for Christmas 2012 by the Argos. In September 2012, Lego Monster Fighters theme was listed as one of the Top 10 toys list by John Lewis. In November 2012, Vampyre Castle (set number: 9468) was listed as one of the Top 20 Toys for Christmas by Play.com.

Awards and nominations

In 2012, The Ghost Train (set number: 9467) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Construction category by the

Toy Retailers Association The Toy Retailers Association (formerly British Association of Toy Retailers) is a trade association that represents its members in the UK & Ireland. It promotes the role of the toy retailer and the value of toys to the consumer. It represents a ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Lego Lego themes Products introduced in 2012 Products and services discontinued in 2012 Universal Classic Monsters