Alpha Team was one of the current themes when I emerged from my dark ages, and it taught me about a lot of funky new-to-me parts and whatnot that had emerged since I entered my dark ages in my teens in the ‘80s.

I got this set and quite a few others from the theme and very much enjoyed them. If I’d had sets like this as a kid, I’d have played with the built builds incessantly. I should dig them all out sometime and rebuild them all.

alpha team was okay

Miss with that one spear you can shoot? Just eject the whole front of the squid at them and scoot off in your little escape pod!

I got inspired by 8061 and I managed to pick this one up last month for a few bucks. I was always intrigued by its shapes and with some (mostly color) adjustments, it would fit in nicely with the (in)famous Stingrays theme, too. Simple but effective shaping, great colors, and substantial size for the piece count.

This was such a great theme. The parts were very specialized, and expensive, but they added new dimensions to our building capabilities. On this set I remember enjoying the tentacle parts as much as the new upper and lower red canopy pieces.

Shouldn't that be CYBERNETIC Squid? I mean, yes Ogel (still love that, ahem; word-play:D) would have mutated it (which I'm sure violates several International Laws and ordinances); but...come on, it's got motors sticking outta it...he put a CONTROL MODULE in ITS HEAD...replace its ink-jet with...what is that: a laser-spear...suddenly "Sharks with lasers on their heads" doesn't seem so dumb.:D

The ultimate mashup:
Teenage Mutant Ogel Ninja Squid Games

There's gotta be a turtle in there somewhere too...

I always wondered the direction of this mutant craft, are the tentacles for attack or propulsion, now realized both depending on situation.

It has extra propellers, but where is the "lazer"?

Is set is a banger!!!

@ambr said:
"I always wondered the direction of this mutant craft, are the tentacles for attack or propulsion, now realized both depending on situation."

I had always assumed the tentacles were propulsion and the big trans-red bubble was the front and it was just depicted here as swimming away from the viewer. It's only from this comment section right here that I've realised that I was interpreting it incorrectly - that the Onua claws are a mouth, rather than just random decoration, and therefore that's the front / face.

I... guess the direction the bubbles are coming from the propellers should have clued me in to that; but as a kid I didn't study this set closely (I already had an Ogel minifigure from 6771 and so was far more interested in the sets containing characters who I didn't have) and as such I just assumed they were part of the background art and had no specific relevance.

Don't mind me, just completely re-evaluate my understanding of this set now xD

The eyes became propulsion. Ogel, you are a cruel, cruel villain.

We need a new super spy theme.

I always thought these underwater Ogel were cool but never got any until a few years ago when I got 4797 off of eBay. Someone selling their grandkids Lego and I got it pretty cheap (helping the grandkid sell?). Wish I had picked up some of the other sets on auction.

@ambr said:
"I always wondered the direction of this mutant craft, are the tentacles for attack or propulsion, now realized both depending on situation."

I recently rewatched the episode of 'Blue Planet' where David Attenborough describes the beautiful ballet between male and female squid, but then he starts talking about handing over certain packets with the tentacles and - look, let's just hope these tentacles are ONLY used for attack and/or propulsion.

@ThatBionicleGuy:
I mean, you just described real squids and octopods. The mouth is located in the middle of the tentacles, so they proceed tentacles-first when exploring or feeding. If they’re scared, they will jet off head-first, since that’s their more streamlined orientation. For cruising, I would expect them to go head-first, if only because it would require less effort with the tentacles trailing in a cluster behind them.

I really liked Mission Deep Sea, as it had some serious Aquazone vibes to it.

I'm still not sure what the actual intent with this set was though - it's counterpart Ogel's Mutant Killer Whale is clearly meant to be an altered sea creature (it even was somewhat depicted in the in-set comic). This looks more like a sub designed to look like a squid.

A nice set though, with some cool transparent parts. I somehow would have prefered for it to include a drone instead of Ogel, as it would have made him a bit more special, but at least this makes trans-red hook hands far more easy to get (and replace)^^

@MeisterDad said:
"The eyes became propulsion. Ogel, you are a cruel, cruel villain."

The "eyes" are, in fact, the trans-neon green jewel pieces. This is consistent with how Ogel's other creatures (ray, killer whale, octopus) are depicted in other sets.

Oh, Mission Deep Sea! Of all LEGO themes, you are the most 2002!

I didn't hate it at the time, but it was definitely a step down from Alpha Team's first year. With yellow and trans-smoke for the good guys, the colour scheme was perilously close to Jack Stone, it was almost the first System-scale theme to experiment with incorporating Bionicle parts, and... it sat on the shelves for ages.

Seriously, when I think of LEGO's financial trouble and near collapse, I always contextualise it by thinking of Mission Deep Sea. I bought a couple sets the year it came out (4790 and 4793), then got a few more in 2003 (including a DEEPLY discounted 4795--the rest, I think, were Christmas presents). Then came 2004 and Christmas and my fourth and final Ogel and my final Mission Deep Sea set: 4796.

It's not surprisingly good, like a couple of them, and it's not a great army-builder, because unlike its near-kin, 4797, it comes with Ogel instead of a drone. Instead, it entered my collection too late to make any impression other than "wow, this theme really isn't selling" at just the same time I was starting to be an online fan and hearing all the doom and gloom--2004 was the year of Bley, after all.

In hindsight, it's not really that objectionable, but if I were to draft all my Alpha Team sets, yeah, this might get picked last.