300 replies to this topic

[Lyichir]

Too many colours can be a bad thing, not just with pins and axles, but in general, especially when you know the character isn't really meant to look that way. For instance, Makuta in the movies is shown as almost completely burnt metal, yet the 2003 set features colours from solid black all the way to bright red.

It's very silly to suggest Makuta was "meant to look" how he appeared in the movies, when the movies' purpose was to sell sets...

The movie characters and sets have to resemble each other or otherwise how would the former promote the latter?

What I'm saying is that it seems strange that Makuta's set is such a jumble of colours when his media portrayal is nothing like that.

It's a little thing called "artistic license". Makuta in the movies seems to have taken some inspiration from his original, infected appearance, in addition to the then-new set of him. Rest assured, though, that the Makuta in the movies is based on the set and not vice-versa.

Almost all sets back then were a jumble of colors, and frankly the variety of color on the Makuta set may have been the best way to simulate the "infected" color variation he had become known for.

And in terms of my argument re: colored pins and axles, my point was that from the start Bionicle had a technological/industrial aesthetic, carried over from Throwbots/Slizers. Lots of pistons, gears, etc. Some of the closest things we have in real life with that sort of aesthetic are vehicles and industrial robots, which generally favor function over form. They may feature decorative elements (like the Kanohi), but in most cases they won't bother painting all the nuts, bolts, and other functional parts or parts that may need to be replaced in the future. Similarly, I think that Bionicle sets need not have monochromatic connector elements, especially when those elements are so insignificant in the model's overall color scheme. And if the connectors are overly prominent, then the problem is with the set's design and not with the colors of the elements themselves.

As for MOCs, I understand that they may often want to use certain colors of pins for aesthetic purposes, seeing as they have no reason to adhere to Bionicle's own design principles. But older pins and axles are plentiful when you know where to look, so if the colors of those elements are that essential to the MOC you're working on, there are avenues for obtaining the ones you want.

[th!nk]

I've not been in the community that much, so perhaps some of these won't be as unpopular as I expect, but this is based on what I have gleaned so far:

I enjoyed building all six of the Bohrok sets I got as a kid, and rebuilding them multiple times, even recently. Repetitive or not, they're fun to build and I absolutely adore the design, I loved each of the six similar weapons (though a reversed one for the other hand would've been nice!) I'm annoyed I never got more than one bohrok kal - and that one years later in a sale bin!

I like the inika torso's, while they may feel a little "cheat-y" for smaller builds are a gift for MOCing - they offer so many attachment points and despite initially having somewhat of an awkward shape (the piraka torso has similar, albeit somewhat harder to work around due to the lack of chestpieces) they combine very nicely with other torso parts/other parts in general for larger MOC's, and that perhaps small risk of lower detail or workmanship can be compensated for elsewhere (though the parts versatility often means you sacrifice no detail or anything).

I love silver (and dislike gold). Admittedly, I do get annoyed by the "fraying" of the edges that occurs with mine (as a result of sitting in a giant tub rather than being divided up, and/or heavy use), but I still love the color - especially as I generally like blacks, whites and greys on larger MOC's, and silver suits them really nicely.

Oh, and the toa hordika are my absolute favourite set of Toas parts and look wise, and the sets from that season were pretty neat part wise - admittedly I'd have liked an axle at the back of the visorak pincers but eh, it's not hard to work with them.


... I think that's everything.

EDIT: Oh, and I liked Teridax's name and that he had one.

Edited by th!nk, Nov 17 2012 - 07:32 PM.

[The Iron Toa]

I didn't mind the revelation that the original Makuta was named Teridax and that Makuta was actually his title and species. I also liked his death -- what could be lame about the brother and ruler he betrayed pushing him into the path of a celestial body? And the Golden Armor was a marketing gimmick, but at least it let Tahu, who could also be considered a main character, play a major role in taking Teridax down. 2010 did unfortunately seem rather rushed to me, but I think we got a satisfying ending to the main story.

On another note, I think the 2005 sets were good, and while Vakama's betrayal could have been done better, the story that year was decent. The story got darker that year, too, what with stories of Visorak conquering other lands and mutating the inhabitants, and Sidorak's death. Also we started to learn about the Brotherhood of Makuta and more about the Dark Hunters that year. This information and the revelation of the Visorak horde fleshed out the unseen Matoran Universe somewhat, even if skipping that story arc would have had little impact on the story of the Matoran of Mata Nui/Metru Nui.

[Dual Matrix]

I didn't mind the revelation that the original Makuta was named Teridax and that Makuta was actually his title and species. I also liked his death -- what could be lame about the brother and ruler he betrayed pushing him into the path of a celestial body? And the Golden Armor was a marketing gimmick, but at least it let Tahu, who could also be considered a main character, play a major role in taking Teridax down. 2010 did unfortunately seem rather rushed to me, but I think we got a satisfying ending to the main story.

On another note, I think the 2005 sets were good, and while Vakama's betrayal could have been done better, the story that year was decent. The story got darker that year, too, what with stories of Visorak conquering other lands and mutating the inhabitants, and Sidorak's death. Also we started to learn about the Brotherhood of Makuta and more about the Dark Hunters that year. This information and the revelation of the Visorak horde fleshed out the unseen Matoran Universe somewhat, even if skipping that story arc would have had little impact on the story of the Matoran of Mata Nui/Metru Nui.

Totaly agree

What's a better dead: Get your head slammed against a whole planet, or just getting crushed by a door as in 2003

[fishers64]

I didn't mind the revelation that the original Makuta was named Teridax and that Makuta was actually his title and species. I also liked his death -- what could be lame about the brother and ruler he betrayed pushing him into the path of a celestial body? And the Golden Armor was a marketing gimmick, but at least it let Tahu, who could also be considered a main character, play a major role in taking Teridax down. 2010 did unfortunately seem rather rushed to me, but I think we got a satisfying ending to the main story.

On another note, I think the 2005 sets were good, and while Vakama's betrayal could have been done better, the story that year was decent. The story got darker that year, too, what with stories of Visorak conquering other lands and mutating the inhabitants, and Sidorak's death. Also we started to learn about the Brotherhood of Makuta and more about the Dark Hunters that year. This information and the revelation of the Visorak horde fleshed out the unseen Matoran Universe somewhat, even if skipping that story arc would have had little impact on the story of the Matoran of Mata Nui/Metru Nui.

Totaly agree

What's a better dead: Get your head slammed against a whole planet, or just getting crushed by a door as in 2003

Well, either way, Makuta is still dead.

But still, really cool way to look at it. Planet smash does beat giant door.

[The Iron Toa]

Well, I think Teridax would have only died at the end of the Mask of Light story if the series had been cancelled early, anyway.

[Grantaire]

Onua, Pohatu, and Kopaka are the only Nuva I can stand.

I also don't really have a problem with Kiina as portrayed in TLR.

[Mylo Xyloto]

I hate the colour teal and don't know why people like it so much

[Phovos the Raptor]

I can't stand any other Toa apart from Pohatu. Lewa and Kopaka are pushing it.

And I bloody love the Bohrok-Kal. Silver + colour looks great.

I hated the 2008-2010 stuff. It became all Tahu Taka Ignika and nothing else.

[You just lost the game]

I loved the Inika heads!

I also do not mind the re-use of the Inika torsos.

[aaninja64]

Let the rant begin...
Hahli was a terrible character. She was stuck in the story to add another main character, and it wasn't handled well. She just sort of went from assistant flax maker to Chronicler. Kotu should have been Nokama's right hand, and Macku should have been her left. It makes sense, because Kotu seemed like the more responsible one, and Macku spent half of her time over in Po-Koro. Tamaru was awesome, but I can't see how he became second-in-command of an entire village. Seriously. That's some bad judgement on Matau's part. Kopeke was infinately cooler with a Komau, and the Matatu just made him a clone of Kantai. Nuparu & perhaps Hahli shouldn't have been Inika, Onepu & Kotu would have worked better. Onepu got a terrible deal, storyline-wise. He was so important, and he made a great hero, but he just kind of disappeared and didn't really feature in the story at all.

[GBV]

I like silver. Not in excess, but I like it.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

Let the rant begin...
Hahli was a terrible character. She was stuck in the story to add another main character, and it wasn't handled well. She just sort of went from assistant flax maker to Chronicler. Kotu should have been Nokama's right hand, and Macku should have been her left. It makes sense, because Kotu seemed like the more responsible one, and Macku spent half of her time over in Po-Koro. Tamaru was awesome, but I can't see how he became second-in-command of an entire village. Seriously. That's some bad judgement on Matau's part. Kopeke was infinately cooler with a Komau, and the Matatu just made him a clone of Kantai. Nuparu & perhaps Hahli shouldn't have been Inika, Onepu & Kotu would have worked better. Onepu got a terrible deal, storyline-wise. He was so important, and he made a great hero, but he just kind of disappeared and didn't really feature in the story at all.

Kotu was Nokama's right hand. I agree she kind of got the shaft in later story years, but at the same time Mata Nui Online Game 2 would have been a far weaker game if you had started off playing as a character who already had a strong reputation. Instead, the point of Hahli starting as an assistant flax maker was that she had to earn greatness. Hahli's narrative in 2002-2003 is more or less a coming-of-age story, beginning with the Bohrok animation in which she gives a flower to Jaller, her first instance of stepping outside her modest comfort zone, and continuing until she wins the Kolhii Great Tournament and becomes the Chronicler.

As for why Tamaru became Matau's left-hand Matoran, perhaps it's because Matau has a sense of humor, or because Matau saw something in him that he didn't see in the other Matoran of Le-Koro. It shouldn't be ignored that his fear of heights means that he would always be available to Matau even when the Gukko Force was on a mission.

I don't remember Onepu ever being presented as a great hero. Certainly, he was presented as a veteran of many battles and such, but he was also shown to be kind of a meanie, what with how he foisted his own work digging the Le-Koro Highway on poor, gullible Taipu. Meanwhile, I think the Toa Inika would have been a bit boring if they had all been the Turaga's right-hand Matoran and half of them had been great military leaders. On a side note, it would have been just plain out-of-character for Jaller to choose Kotu instead of Hahli for his team, seeing as Hahli is basically his girlfriend (or as close to one as a character can get in the Matoran Universe's culture of purely platonic relationships). By leaving for Voya Nui, he was more or less betraying the Turaga, and as such he didn't need Matoran with experience, he needed Matoran he could trust, and Hahli would have probably been one of the first on that list.

So yeah, it's kind of sad how a couple of the 2001 Matoran disappeared from the story in later years, but the deciding factor was probably just that TLG could only keep a certain number of characters in the spotlight each year, and so they chose the characters whose narratives fans would probably have the strongest emotional connections to. So Nuparu, who played an integral role in the story rather than a bit part like Onepu, and who had been featured more recently in sets, became a Toa Inika. So did Hahli, who fans had seen mature from a meek flaxmaker's assistant to a confident and outgoing Kolhii champion, versus Kotu, who had never played a central role in the storyline despite her status as Nokama's right-hand Matoran.

EDIT: Seems like the "J word" (it's almost laughable to call it that; it's not a swear by any stretch of the imagination) is still filtered...

Edited by Aanchir: Rachira of Time, Dec 31 2012 - 01:27 PM.

[T.B.O.C]

I liked 2005, basically all of it.

2007 wasn't horrible.

The BIONICLE books were great, and I still like to re-read some when I'm bored.

The Legend Reborn had some great voice acting (Mata Nui, Ackar)

I like Berix.

I'm not a huge fan of Hero Factory.

[Wrinkledlion X]

On that subject, I think it would have been great to see the Chronicler's Company as Toa instead of Jala & Friends.

 

I don't know how Greg would have re-introduced them after so long, but they'd have made for a Toa team like we'd never seen before. Instead of another quiet-but-smart Toa of Earth, we'd get dumb-but-lovable Taipu. Kapura probably wouldn't work as leader, so we'd have to put somebody other than a Fire Toa in charge—perhaps even our first leaderless Toa team, because everyone in the Chronicler's Company is such a misfit. Even with everyone getting along great, we'd have gotten a lot more characterization than we ever did from the Inika/Mahri.

 

Plus, Kapura would get to meet Velika!

[CeeCee]

On that subject, I think it would have been great to see the Chronicler's Company as Toa instead of Jala & Friends.

 

I don't know how Greg would have re-introduced them after so long, but they'd have made for a Toa team like we'd never seen before. Instead of another quiet-but-smart Toa of Earth, we'd get dumb-but-lovable Taipu. Kapura probably wouldn't work as leader, so we'd have to put somebody other than a Fire Toa in charge—perhaps even our first leaderless Toa team, because everyone in the Chronicler's Company is such a misfit. Even with everyone getting along great, we'd have gotten a lot more characterization than we ever did from the Inika/Mahri.

 

Plus, Kapura would get to meet Velika!

 

I actually like this idea, although I still think the Inika work best as Toa

[Master Inika]

On that subject, I think it would have been great to see the Chronicler's Company as Toa instead of Jala & Friends.

 

I don't know how Greg would have re-introduced them after so long, but they'd have made for a Toa team like we'd never seen before. Instead of another quiet-but-smart Toa of Earth, we'd get dumb-but-lovable Taipu. Kapura probably wouldn't work as leader, so we'd have to put somebody other than a Fire Toa in charge—perhaps even our first leaderless Toa team, because everyone in the Chronicler's Company is such a misfit. Even with everyone getting along great, we'd have gotten a lot more characterization than we ever did from the Inika/Mahri.

 

Plus, Kapura would get to meet Velika!

Although, the reason the Toa Inika existed was that Jaller took it upon himself to betray the Turaga, and that, in turn, was because Nokama told him about Voya Nui. I don't think Nokama would have trusted any other Matoran to carry the information (from the other Turaga's POV, even Jaller couldn't be trusted).

[GBV]

I kind of liked the inika torsos.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Although, the reason the Toa Inika existed was that Jaller took it upon himself to betray the Turaga, and that, in turn, was because Nokama told him about Voya Nui. I don't think Nokama would have trusted any other Matoran to carry the information (from the other Turaga's POV, even Jaller couldn't be trusted).
 

I actually really did like the betrayal aspect of the story—it was a fun bit of intrigue. (2006 had a really strong start, even though the middle was uneven.) That said, I think it would have been a worthy sacrifice in exchange for a stronger cast of characters over the next two years.

Edited by Wrinkledlion X, Jan 01 2013 - 11:19 PM.

[bioniclefan1233]

i kinda hated 2010 and a little 2009 i own all the agori stars skrall gresh both mata nuis (who i lost the masks to) stronius and strakk

[Lord Nektann]

I liked the 2008 Toa Nuva, and I think for the most part they did a good job representing the Mata characters better than the 2002 sets did. There, I said it.

[Sir Kohran]

I liked the 2008 Toa Nuva, and I think for the most part they did a good job representing the Mata characters better than the 2002 sets did. There, I said it.

 

Are you really saying you think the Phantoka/Mistika are closer to the Toa Mata than the Nuva?

[Neelh]

I loved Web of Shadows.

 

Especially the line, "'Cause that's what friends do."

[helryx280]

I've not been in the community that much, so perhaps some of these won't be as unpopular as I expect, but this is based on what I have gleaned so far:

I enjoyed building all six of the Bohrok sets I got as a kid, and rebuilding them multiple times, even recently. Repetitive or not, they're fun to build and I absolutely adore the design, I loved each of the six similar weapons (though a reversed one for the other hand would've been nice!) I'm annoyed I never got more than one bohrok kal - and that one years later in a sale bin!

I like the inika torso's, while they may feel a little "cheat-y" for smaller builds are a gift for MOCing - they offer so many attachment points and despite initially having somewhat of an awkward shape (the piraka torso has similar, albeit somewhat harder to work around due to the lack of chestpieces) they combine very nicely with other torso parts/other parts in general for larger MOC's, and that perhaps small risk of lower detail or workmanship can be compensated for elsewhere (though the parts versatility often means you sacrifice no detail or anything).

I love silver (and dislike gold). Admittedly, I do get annoyed by the "fraying" of the edges that occurs with mine (as a result of sitting in a giant tub rather than being divided up, and/or heavy use), but I still love the color - especially as I generally like blacks, whites and greys on larger MOC's, and silver suits them really nicely.

Oh, and the toa hordika are my absolute favourite set of Toas parts and look wise, and the sets from that season were pretty neat part wise - admittedly I'd have liked an axle at the back of the visorak pincers but eh, it's not hard to work with them.


... I think that's everything.

EDIT: Oh, and I liked Teridax's name and that he had one.

What was his name? I liked it too.

 

Oh and Hero Factory is awesome.

[CeeCee]

I liked the 2008 Toa Nuva, and I think for the most part they did a good job representing the Mata characters better than the 2002 sets did. There, I said it.

 

Are you really saying you think the Phantoka/Mistika are closer to the Toa Mata than the Nuva?

If so I couldnt disagree with you more. I think the Toa Nuva from 2002 WERE the Toa Mata, they just looked older and more matured, but the faces still seemed to shine the same character. While the Phantoka were done nicely, the mistika couldnt be further away from the characters they were trying to portray, 

[AdaptingChaos]

I really liked the Mistika sets! I thought not many people got them, so I decided to buy them 3 years after they were released, and now I love them along with the Phantoka!

[Zeene]

Personally, I thought the majority of sets (excluding some of the really big, expensive ones) were overly simplistic, if not plain boring.

Every set I bought, I bought for the parts, and not for the set as a whole: once I got home, I'd assemble them once, and I don't think one has ever lasted longer in it's "official" state that the 20-minute mark.

(After that, of course, the MOCing began)

 

*covers from all the soon-to-be incoming rage and hate*

Edited by Zeene, Feb 21 2013 - 06:58 PM.

[Lieutenant Obvious]

Personally, I thought the majority of sets (excluding some of the really big, expensive ones) were overly simplistic, if not plain boring.

Every set I bought, I bought for the parts, and not for the set as a whole: once I got home, I'd assemble them once, and I don't think one has ever lasted longer in it's "official" state that the 20-minute mark.

(After that, of course, the MOCing began)

 

*covers from all the soon-to-be incoming rage and hate*

 

---

Believe it or not, I agree with you. The longest a recent set has lasted in my ownership, was five days before gruesome dismemberment.

 

My contribution to this library of unpopular opinions:

 

2010 offered some good parts.

[The Great Being Velika]

I really liked the Kanohi Nuva, and apparently Treespeak is somehow unpopular? I really enjoyed it, it added a bit more culture to the Le-Matoran rather than them being just the "little green guys"

[Sir Kohran]

I really liked the Kanohi Nuva, and apparently Treespeak is somehow unpopular? I really enjoyed it, it added a bit more culture to the Le-Matoran rather than them being just the "little green guys"

 

I don't think it's unpopular when it comes from the Le-Matoran, but it is with Lewa, especially when he wasn't introduced with it.

[CeeCee]

I liked both the voices for Vakama Metru and also Jaller.

[TechnicRage]

The Barraki were the 'bomb-diggity' as with everything 2008.

[Tanu Toa of Earth]

Not sure if this is really unpopular or not (and not sure if I haven't already said this!) but in my opinion, since around 2006 BIONICLE's coolness went down like the Ignika, and at about the same rate. Voya Nui was great, Mahri Nui was okay, the Phantoka and Mistika just seemed a bit silly to me, and everything past that really was just decent, besides the story serials which remained awesome until they got needlessly overcomplicated.

[Strack]

Kiina had the best voice actor EVER.

 

*pulls up hate shield™*

[AdaptingChaos]

Kiina had the best voice actor EVER.

 

*pulls up hate shield™*

lol  

I did like her voice actor as well, I thought it gave Kiina more excitement! 

[Hahli Husky]

This may not be super unpopular but I know a lot of people don't feel the same way.  I really enjoyed Greg's writing in the early comics, in the 4th Bionicle Chronicles book, and the entire Adventures series, but I couldn't stand anything after that.  I tried to read the first book about the Piraka 4 or 5 times but couldn't make it past the first few chapters.  The comics that came out after about 2003 really got on my nerves, as well.  I don't know if this was just a change in me or a change in the way the story was being executed, but I do still love reading the old books and comics even now.  2006 is when I put down the storyline altogether.  The wise-cracks and characterization seemed excellent before then, but after that the wise-cracks felt like cheap snark and the characters were all blurred in my mind, not to mention I wasn't a big fan of everything being explained in huge sweeps.  Other people really seemed to like it, though, so I'm glad there was still an audience for the new flavor of Bionicle.

[Sir Kohran]

This may not be super unpopular but I know a lot of people don't feel the same way.  I really enjoyed Greg's writing in the early comics, in the 4th Bionicle Chronicles book, and the entire Adventures series, but I couldn't stand anything after that.  I tried to read the first book about the Piraka 4 or 5 times but couldn't make it past the first few chapters.  The comics that came out after about 2003 really got on my nerves, as well.  I don't know if this was just a change in me or a change in the way the story was being executed, but I do still love reading the old books and comics even now.  2006 is when I put down the storyline altogether.  The wise-cracks and characterization seemed excellent before then, but after that the wise-cracks felt like cheap snark and the characters were all blurred in my mind, not to mention I wasn't a big fan of everything being explained in huge sweeps.  Other people really seemed to like it, though, so I'm glad there was still an audience for the new flavor of Bionicle.

 

I propose that this relates to what I said last year about Farshtey focusing entirely on action and intesity. That was fine in the early years, when there was other stuff like the MNOLG to provide the enriching worldbuilding and atmosphere that he didn't. You pinpoint 2006 as the decline, the time at which he - through the books - began telling the story single-handedly. I think putting the entire story in the hands of a writer with limited stylistic scope robbed Bionicle of a lot of its appeal. The weight of the story's spiralling complexity around this time didn't help either.

[Hahli Husky]

----

 

I propose that this relates to what I said last year about Farshtey focusing entirely on action and intesity. That was fine in the early years, when there was other stuff like the MNOLG to provide the enriching worldbuilding and atmosphere that he didn't. You pinpoint 2006 as the decline, the time at which he - through the books - began telling the story single-handedly. I think putting the entire story in the hands of a writer with limited stylistic scope robbed Bionicle of a lot of its appeal. The weight of the story's spiralling complexity around this time didn't help either.

I definitely agree; your input is very well-said, thanks!

[CeeCee]

I genuinely found MNOG II to be the better game in the series. If any one can counter my argument as to why MNOG was better with nostalgia goggles ON/[OFF] I would like to see it.