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Will the old building system ever come back?


Waaja

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yea i also miss the old building system but for what i see lego loves the new hf building system they heaved used it for lego legends of chima twice dc superheroes and marvel superheroes and the old system has been used in throwbots roboriders bionicle ben 10 and 1 time with hero factory 

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The ben ten sets were just weird man, Too simplistic and easy to build. I guess you could say they were a prototype for the ultrabuilds considering they use some ben 10 parts I think.

They definitely paved the way for Hero Factory's new building system in some respects. They started to use a smoother aesthetic like the Hero Factory shells eventually would, began using holes for 3.2mm shafts more extensively than holes for pins and axles, and even introduced a sturdier ball cup. It's kind of strange that the hero arm pieces from 2010 didn't use the same style of ball cup as the Ben 10 sets, actually, since it was sturdier than the style they used, and some Ben 10 parts ended up in Hero Factory sets that very same year anyway.

 

With that said, the Ben 10 parts were still a LOT more rudimentary than most CCBS parts. Single-piece upper and lower limb beams were the order of the day, whereas sets built with the CCBS generally use a combination of a beam and a shell (and maybe even a detail piece for extra bulk) unless a character was meant to look particularly thin or bony. The torso shells of the Ben 10 sets were still very limited in use, like the 1.0 hero torso shells — instead of a versatile ball snap, they connected via a single axle. Most hand and foot pieces basically just had a single connection point.

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I see why the HF system is so effective, but like I said before, in the sets it ends up feeling like you're just layering armor onto a skeleton. The old Bionicle sets were cool because the whole thing was built together. I can now see that the HF system can be used more complexly, but the majority of examples of this are either titans, or Invasion from below, and these two are different because the majority of sets are usually average sized humanoids.

 

I guess in the end, the HF system isn't as bad as everyone talks, I'm just weary with it being used in Bionicle again... but it just feels too basic in terms of regular structure. I guess this stage in evolution for constraction sets was inevitable anyway. 
One can see the resemblance in simplicity from the 2006 on wards. So, the newer build system isn't bad, I'd just like it to use technic more often and have it be implemented better.

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I see why the HF system is so effective, but like I said before, in the sets it ends up feeling like you're just layering armor onto a skeleton. The old Bionicle sets were cool because the whole thing was built together. I can now see that the HF system can be used more complexly, but the majority of examples of this are either titans, or Invasion from below, and these two are different because the majority of sets are usually average sized humanoids.

This is a common refrain among criticisms of the CCBS and I don't entirely understand it. On one hand, yes, layering armor onto a skeleton is often exactly what you're doing with the CCBS, by design. But on the other hand, I actually feel like this makes the CCBS more complex than BIONICLE. Think about it. On a Toa Mata or Toa Nuva, you'd use two pieces (a leg beam and a Y-joint) for what would take four pieces in the CCBS (two beams and two shells). On a Toa Metru or Toa Inika, there's more of a balance, but I still prefer the way Hero Factory uses a beam and a shell for each joint (except on particularly lean or bony characters, which often omit the shell) over the way Toa Metru and Toa Inika lower legs would be just one chunky, single-piece beam.

 

And it's hardly just titans or Invasion from Below sets that used the CCBS in complex and innovative ways. Some of my favorite sets remain the small ($9) villain sets from the Breakout series. Toxic Reapa had creative custom torso armor and a delightful top-heavy design. Thornraxx had an entirely non-humanoid build that somewhat echoes the design of the Nui-Rama, albeit with no gear function and far greater articulation. Jawblade was not armored as creatively as those two, but still boasted a unique non-humanoid design with an articulated jaw and tail. XT4 was perhaps the simplest of the four in terms of construction, but his asymmetrical weapons, tiny body, four arms, and long digitigrade legs gave him a lot of unique charm. All of these sets are on par with the Toa Mata and Toa Nuva in terms of both piece count and price (after adjusting for inflation, of course).

 

Even before those sets, Raw-Jaw and Fangz had very creative designs. And they hardly qualify as "titan sets" — they are priced at $13, the same as all 2008 and 2009 canister sets, and with comparable piece counts.

 

At a slightly higher price point ($15), both versions of CHI Cragger used the CCBS creatively for the neck design, as does CHI Panthar. Captain America had a creative shoulder armor design based on the CCBS (I am not super fond of it, but DeeVee apparently loves it and he is a man of discerning tastes), and The Joker used it creatively for his collar and coat-tails. Now, at this point we might be getting into sets you'd consider titan-sized. However, when you factor for inflation, $15 in 2012, 2013, or 2014 dollars is less than the price of any BIONICLE Rahi, titan, or vehicle set (except maybe if you were to count the Nui-Rama individually rather than in pairs — they cost $15 for a pair back in 2001, so the price for a single Nui-Rama was technically only slightly higher than the price of a Toa Mata).

 

It's true that at least half of all small and medium Hero Factory sets (specifically, the heroes) have been humanoids each year, but this was pretty much always the case with BIONICLE canister sets anyway. Very few Toa were ever non-humanoid in design, and Pohatu is pretty much the only Toa who ever broke from humanoid proportions and was not heavily criticized for it. There was only one year that didn't have a series of mostly-humanoid canister sets: 2003, when instead we got the incredibly repetitive Bohrok-Kal and the slightly less repetitive Rahkshi.

 

Besides that, there is still plenty of creativity among humanoid set designs — Voltix, Splitface, Core Hunter, Evo, and Bulk from the Breakout series all have designs I'd consider anything but generic, even though all four have fairly basic humanoid skeletons with near-identical torso armor. The designs for the Brain Attack heroes were a bit more formulaic but they still boasted several very creative Technic-based weapon and equipment designs. Among the Brain Attack villains, Frost Beast, Bruizer, and Scarox all demonstrated unique torso skeletons, even if all three were bipedal humanoids with torsos ultimately based on standard Hero Factory torso beams.

 

The single respect in which small and medium BIONICLE designs were considerably more complex in construction than comparable CCBS designs is gear functions. Gear functions were an inherent part of BIONICLE canister set designs for the theme's first four and a half years, whereas no small or medium Hero Factory sets have used gear functions in the four and a half years the Hero Factory theme has been around. Personally, though, I do not miss gear functions. Don't get me wrong; I would love to see gear functions in smaller sets if they could be executed effectively without a need for specialized, chunky gearboxes with extremely limited usefulness. Unfortunately, I have never really seen this done effectively at the scale of a small or medium-sized set — not even in MOCs. When's the last time you saw a Toa-sized MOC with a unique gear function? When's the last time you've seen a series of six Toa-sized MOCs with unique gear functions? I don't know that I've seen a lot of examples, if I've seen any at all!

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The problem is, because of the way the system is set up, building humanoids becomes repetitive; I could probably build a pre-IFB set below $20 with my eyes shut, save for a few exceptions. If you took off the shells, which end up being the only distinguishing feature, it would become hard to tell over half of them apart.

 

I'm not saying that repetitiveness wasn't a problem with the old system, just that it's something they're still having trouble ironing out. And the fact that torsos are still one solid, difficult-to-use block doesn't help.

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The problem is, because of the way the system is set up, building humanoids becomes repetitive; I could probably build a pre-IFB set below $20 with my eyes shut, save for a few exceptions. If you took off the shells, which end up being the only distinguishing feature, it would become hard to tell over half of them apart.

 

I'm not saying that repetitiveness wasn't a problem with the old system, just that it's something they're still having trouble ironing out. And the fact that torsos are still one solid, difficult-to-use block doesn't help.

I don't personally consider this a problem. What reason would there be for having a radically different skeleton for characters with the exact same proportions? Unless you're trying to work in some kind of action feature, there really isn't any. It'd be like building a custom car chassis the exact same size and shape as this one when that piece is still available. It's a slap in the face of efficiency and design economy.

 

Complaints about the Toa Inika torso bothered me for the same reason, and it frustrated me how much people wanted something else for variety's sake without any clear sense of what was wrong or needed to be improved with the existing design. Replacing something not because you have a problem with it or have a sense of how to improve it, but rather just because you're bored with it, is simply wasteful.

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The problem is, because of the way the system is set up, building humanoids becomes repetitive; I could probably build a pre-IFB set below $20 with my eyes shut, save for a few exceptions. If you took off the shells, which end up being the only distinguishing feature, it would become hard to tell over half of them apart.

 

I'm not saying that repetitiveness wasn't a problem with the old system, just that it's something they're still having trouble ironing out. And the fact that torsos are still one solid, difficult-to-use block doesn't help.

I don't personally consider this a problem. What reason would there be for having a radically different skeleton for characters with the exact same proportions? Unless you're trying to work in some kind of action feature, there really isn't any. It'd be like building a custom car chassis the exact same size and shape as this one when that piece is still available. It's a slap in the face of efficiency and design economy.

 

Complaints about the Toa Inika torso bothered me for the same reason, and it frustrated me how much people wanted something else for variety's sake without any clear sense of what was wrong or needed to be improved with the existing design. Replacing something not because you have a problem with it or have a sense of how to improve it, but rather just because you're bored with it, is simply wasteful.

 

 

But why do all the characters have the exact same proportions, the exact same build? I hope you're not seriously suggesting every LEGO car looks exactly the same once you remove the decorations. LEGO is about creativity and varied designs, and having three big blocky torso pieces with no other practical use is what seems wasteful to me.

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The problem is, because of the way the system is set up, building humanoids becomes repetitive; I could probably build a pre-IFB set below $20 with my eyes shut, save for a few exceptions. If you took off the shells, which end up being the only distinguishing feature, it would become hard to tell over half of them apart.

 

I'm not saying that repetitiveness wasn't a problem with the old system, just that it's something they're still having trouble ironing out. And the fact that torsos are still one solid, difficult-to-use block doesn't help.

I don't personally consider this a problem. What reason would there be for having a radically different skeleton for characters with the exact same proportions? Unless you're trying to work in some kind of action feature, there really isn't any. It'd be like building a custom car chassis the exact same size and shape as this one when that piece is still available. It's a slap in the face of efficiency and design economy.

 

Complaints about the Toa Inika torso bothered me for the same reason, and it frustrated me how much people wanted something else for variety's sake without any clear sense of what was wrong or needed to be improved with the existing design. Replacing something not because you have a problem with it or have a sense of how to improve it, but rather just because you're bored with it, is simply wasteful.

 

 

But why do all the characters have the exact same proportions, the exact same build? I hope you're not seriously suggesting every LEGO car looks exactly the same once you remove the decorations. LEGO is about creativity and varied designs, and having three big blocky torso pieces with no other practical use is what seems wasteful to me.

 

But the characters don't have to have the same proportions or build. On top of the range of sizes of torso beams and many ways of armoring them, there are plenty of ways to alter the proportions of the torso itself, as sets like Frost Beast, Bruizer, Chi Gorzan, Furno Jet Machine, and Chi Mungus have demonstrated. If Bionicle fails to capitalize on that potential it's not due to a failure of the building system.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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The problem is, because of the way the system is set up, building humanoids becomes repetitive; I could probably build a pre-IFB set below $20 with my eyes shut, save for a few exceptions. If you took off the shells, which end up being the only distinguishing feature, it would become hard to tell over half of them apart.

 

I'm not saying that repetitiveness wasn't a problem with the old system, just that it's something they're still having trouble ironing out. And the fact that torsos are still one solid, difficult-to-use block doesn't help.

I don't personally consider this a problem. What reason would there be for having a radically different skeleton for characters with the exact same proportions? Unless you're trying to work in some kind of action feature, there really isn't any. It'd be like building a custom car chassis the exact same size and shape as this one when that piece is still available. It's a slap in the face of efficiency and design economy.

 

Complaints about the Toa Inika torso bothered me for the same reason, and it frustrated me how much people wanted something else for variety's sake without any clear sense of what was wrong or needed to be improved with the existing design. Replacing something not because you have a problem with it or have a sense of how to improve it, but rather just because you're bored with it, is simply wasteful.

 

 

But why do all the characters have the exact same proportions, the exact same build? I hope you're not seriously suggesting every LEGO car looks exactly the same once you remove the decorations. LEGO is about creativity and varied designs, and having three big blocky torso pieces with no other practical use is what seems wasteful to me.

 

But the characters don't have to have the same proportions or build. On top of the range of sizes of torso beams and many ways of armoring them, there are plenty of ways to alter the proportions of the torso itself, as sets like Frost Beast, Bruizer, Chi Gorzan, Furno Jet Machine, and Chi Mungus have demonstrated. If Bionicle fails to capitalize on that potential it's not due to a failure of the building system.

 

 

There aren't actually that many ways to armor them fully; anything without one of the strict torso plate pieces risks letting the bony torso poke through.

 

All of those sets are forced to build off one of the big, blocky torso pieces, and sometimes it shows badly. A much better effect could probably be attained with less-specialized pieces working together as opposed to using a piece that, outside of a humanoid torso, is near useless, as even in non-humanoids its specific nature can bite it in the rear; Dragon Bolt ended up with wider shoulders than hips, unusual proportions for a reptile.

 

I'm not denying that it can be worked around, just saying I don't think it's a necessary evil to have to work with. I don't understand how wanting pieces usable in a wider variety of situations over a big block with a narrower range is a bad idea.

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The problem is, because of the way the system is set up, building humanoids becomes repetitive; I could probably build a pre-IFB set below $20 with my eyes shut, save for a few exceptions. If you took off the shells, which end up being the only distinguishing feature, it would become hard to tell over half of them apart.

 

I'm not saying that repetitiveness wasn't a problem with the old system, just that it's something they're still having trouble ironing out. And the fact that torsos are still one solid, difficult-to-use block doesn't help.

I don't personally consider this a problem. What reason would there be for having a radically different skeleton for characters with the exact same proportions? Unless you're trying to work in some kind of action feature, there really isn't any. It'd be like building a custom car chassis the exact same size and shape as this one when that piece is still available. It's a slap in the face of efficiency and design economy.

 

Complaints about the Toa Inika torso bothered me for the same reason, and it frustrated me how much people wanted something else for variety's sake without any clear sense of what was wrong or needed to be improved with the existing design. Replacing something not because you have a problem with it or have a sense of how to improve it, but rather just because you're bored with it, is simply wasteful.

 

 

But why do all the characters have the exact same proportions, the exact same build? I hope you're not seriously suggesting every LEGO car looks exactly the same once you remove the decorations. LEGO is about creativity and varied designs, and having three big blocky torso pieces with no other practical use is what seems wasteful to me.

 

But the characters don't have to have the same proportions or build. On top of the range of sizes of torso beams and many ways of armoring them, there are plenty of ways to alter the proportions of the torso itself, as sets like Frost Beast, Bruizer, Chi Gorzan, Furno Jet Machine, and Chi Mungus have demonstrated. If Bionicle fails to capitalize on that potential it's not due to a failure of the building system.

 

 

There aren't actually that many ways to armor them fully; anything without one of the strict torso plate pieces risks letting the bony torso poke through.

 

All of those sets are forced to build off one of the big, blocky torso pieces, and sometimes it shows badly. A much better effect could probably be attained with less-specialized pieces working together as opposed to using a piece that, outside of a humanoid torso, is near useless, as even in non-humanoids its specific nature can bite it in the rear; Dragon Bolt ended up with wider shoulders than hips, unusual proportions for a reptile.

 

I'm not denying that it can be worked around, just saying I don't think it's a necessary evil to have to work with. I don't understand how wanting pieces usable in a wider variety of situations over a big block with a narrower range is a bad idea.

 

Don't get me wrong, I would love for multi-piece torso constructions to be introduced where they're needed (possibly even something that at some point allows for waist articulation). But for basic humanoids the torso construction we've been given is typically adequate, and offers enough room for expansion while at the same time being usable in simple builds for less skilled builders. And until we get a full wave of non-humanoid sets (which, in Bionicle, we might be more likely to see than in Hero Factory), I can understand why it would be more efficient to stick to established parts wherever possible.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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I want technic and throwbot pieces back!

There will almost certainly be Technic pieces in the new Bionicle, although they'll all be ones that are still in production (and I don't expect a huge amount of Technic bricks like early Bionicle featured). Throwbot parts are definitely not coming back—most parts introduced in that theme have been out of production for some time and I can't imagine any reason they'd bring them back rather than introduce a new element that is more versatile and well-suited to whatever application it's intended for.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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Like a lot of people, i highly doubt those pieces will return to Bionicle sets as well as Lego sets in general. Most have been out of production for quite some time and with the looks of the Hero Factory building system taking over everything Constraction set related, i don't see Lego needing to bring those pieces back.

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Unless the kids stop eating the axels and pegs, I don't think the old beloved building system would come back for bionicle. Which is a shame, because it's difficult to build very custom-like unless you're building a Titian.

 

It disappoints me in a way where I see the same hero factory skeletal design from people's MOCs.

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Unless the kids stop eating the axels and pegs, I don't think the old beloved building system would come back for bionicle. Which is a shame, because it's difficult to build very custom-like unless you're building a Titian.

 

It disappoints me in a way where I see the same hero factory skeletal design from people's MOCs.

Kids eating the axles and pegs was never an issue (and besides, CCBS sets still use plenty of axles and pegs, they just don't rely on them to the same extent that BIONICLE sets often did).

 

And it's totally possible to build custom designs at a smaller scale. Some of the most creative Hero Factory sets have been among the smallest — Thornraxx, Toxic Reapa, Jawblade, and Tunneler Beast are all good examples. I've also built a number of smaller Hero Factory MOCs myself, including the Geiger Tiger, a hawk, a monkey, a dog, Bogwaddle, Poison Dart, and Unikitty's Chicken Walker.

 

And have you considered that some people's MOCs use a similar style to Hero Factory sets because they like that style? Custom for custom's sake is not something every MOCist strives for. Even with many of my BIONICLE and System MOCs, I have often striven to make them as set-like as possible. There's no sense using an elaborate custom solution for a design problem when a simpler and more efficient solution exists. So even if I make a custom torso design like I did for Poison Dart and the Geiger Tiger up above, I don't necessarily feel pressured to come up with elaborate custom arms and legs.

 

If you DO want to build something totally custom, there's nothing stopping you from doing that. After all, basic parts like the Y-joint, ball joint, and all sorts of Technic pins and connectors still exist in Hero Factory sets, as do lots of amazing new parts like this. And a lot of Hero Factory parts actually have more connection points than BIONICLE parts of similar size anyway.

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I'd like it if they remade some of the older pieces with the new and improved joints (none of the HF pieces I own look like they're going to break anytime soon). I prefer the more durable joints, but I dislike the simplicity of the armour plating. The original Bionicle building system had a lot more variety in what kind of joints could be attached, whereas HF really only has a handful of different interchangeable plates. I think that's part of the reason HF's gone down in popularity, because they're reusing too many pieces without creating or changing anything. 

I agree with you about remolding older Bionicle pieces to be as durable as Hero Factory pieces

i want the disk collection thing back please lego

I want mask packs back

 

Unless the kids stop eating the axels and pegs, I don't think the old beloved building system would come back for bionicle. Which is a shame, because it's difficult to build very custom-like unless you're building a Titian.

 

It disappoints me in a way where I see the same hero factory skeletal design from people's MOCs.

Kids eating the axles and pegs was never an issue (and besides, CCBS sets still use plenty of axles and pegs, they just don't rely on them to the same extent that BIONICLE sets often did).

 

And it's totally possible to build custom designs at a smaller scale. Some of the most creative Hero Factory sets have been among the smallest — Thornraxx, Toxic Reapa, Jawblade, and Tunneler Beast are all good examples. I've also built a number of smaller Hero Factory MOCs myself, including the Geiger Tiger, a hawk, a monkey, a dog, Bogwaddle, Poison Dart, and Unikitty's Chicken Walker.

 

And have you considered that some people's MOCs use a similar style to Hero Factory sets because they like that style? Custom for custom's sake is not something every MOCist strives for. Even with many of my BIONICLE and System MOCs, I have often striven to make them as set-like as possible. There's no sense using an elaborate custom solution for a design problem when a simpler and more efficient solution exists. So even if I make a custom torso design like I did for Poison Dart and the Geiger Tiger up above, I don't necessarily feel pressured to come up with elaborate custom arms and legs.

 

If you DO want to build something totally custom, there's nothing stopping you from doing that. After all, basic parts like the Y-joint, ball joint, and all sorts of Technic pins and connectors still exist in Hero Factory sets, as do lots of amazing new parts like this. And a lot of Hero Factory parts actually have more connection points than BIONICLE parts of similar size anyway.What about

What about smaller scale sized Toa?

I want technic and throwbot pieces back!

I doubt that

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Although I believe ball and socket constraction is here to stay, I would personally prefer if they'd mix the old system and the new system. That said, as long as the sets maintain the design quality of the Chima ultrabuilds like Sir Fangar, I'll be happy.

 

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What about smaller scale sized Toa?

It could totally be done! Toxic Reapa, who I linked to above, cost $9 in 2012. This is about the same as what the Toa Mata cost, adjusting for eleven years of inflation. But Toxic Reapa had more pieces and greater articulation than an average Toa Mata (36 pieces) or Toa Nuva (40 pieces). You could easily use a similar build for a Toa with a hunched posture like Onua. For a smaller Toa with a more typical upright posture, you wouldn't necessarily need a custom torso design like that (after all, Surge and Stringer have roughly the same proportions and piece count as a Toa Mata or Toa Nuva), but the option would definitely still be available.

 

Although I believe ball and socket constraction is here to stay, I would personally prefer if they'd mix the old system and the new system. That said, as long as the sets maintain the design quality of the Chima ultrabuilds like Sir Fangar, I'll be happy.

 

- Heir

Kind of funny that you use CHI Sir Fangar as an example. I'm not too fond of that set, to be honest. He's a bit bony for a $20 set, even though I know some of that is by design to give him a zombie-like look. Generally, I think CHI Laval and Surge are better examples of the level of complexity I'd hope for in a Toa-like set. And maybe more like Furno XL in the case of a $20 humanoid set.

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Here's a rather interesting picture which tries to incorporate the old building system with the new:

 

CgIRuEF.png?1

source: http://www.reddit.com/r/bioniclelego/comments/2abn9a/bionicle_2015_building_system/

 

What do you think? Personally, I was thinking along the same lines XD Here's my conundrum though: would the center ball socket prevent pieces such as the inika thigh amour and the Toa Metru armour from fitting onto the piece?

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Here's a rather interesting picture which tries to incorporate the old building system with the new:

 

CgIRuEF.png?1

source: http://www.reddit.com/r/bioniclelego/comments/2abn9a/bionicle_2015_building_system/

 

What do you think? Personally, I was thinking along the same lines XD Here's my conundrum though: would the center ball socket prevent pieces such as the inika thigh amour and the Toa Metru armour from fitting onto the piece?

I don't think those two molds would fit together but if lego made new ones to fit for that it would be a cool idea.

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Reusing weapons is a good thing, not a bad thing. Do you want to know what the opposite of reusing things is? Wasting them. Releasing a new weapon that you will only ever use once (like Toa Lhikan's Lava Greatswords, Toa Mahri Hahli's giant ugly claw, Toa Mata Lewa's axe, or various Piraka weapons) is purely wasteful and is something BIONICLE should have stopped doing early on.

Excuse me, but I think Toa Lhikan's swords were slick (and actually were based on Tahu's), Lewa's axe made sense, and I loved Toa Mahri Hahli's claw. Seriously, that's a lovely piece of work - and girls should get big claws that could slash through Makuta armor (yeah!!!). Plus it matched her wings.

 

And that's because there's more to this than utilitarianism. The way you suggest, we would have six identical characters with six weapons of the same rearranged parts every year. I can literally just buy one or two HF sets and build all the weapons since 2012. They're not unique or cool anymore. That doesn't mean I don't buy HF sets, but that the weapons don't have as of much of an appeal as the building system itself. Reusing weapons is boring, and it removes the incentive to buy more sets. 

 

Furthermore, a lot of BIONICLE weapons did get reused frequently over the years. Just look at Toa Mata Gali's hooks, Lewa Nuva's air katana, or Takanuva's staff blade. Do you know what it means when a weapon does not get reused? It means it was not designed well enough to have lasting usefulness in the first place. A lot of today's Hero Factory and Legends of Chima weapons are designed for versatility. The same pieces are used to make CHI Laval's sword, CHI Fluminox's bow, CHI Cragger's axe, and whatever you call that weapon CHI Panthar has. That automatically makes them more useful than Lewa's classic axe, which was such a specialized design it could barely be used for anything besides an axe.

Thanks. I'll remember that if I pick up CHI Laval from last wave, I can build Fluminox's bow out of it. :)

 

As a bonus, designing weapon pieces for versatility means a lot more Hero Factory and Legends of Chima weapons are actually built, not just specialized one-piece weapons that aren't designed to do anything besides bash enemies and look pretty.

What is the point of a weapon it can't bash enemies and look pretty?

 

I'll grant you that Stringer's "weapon" was a very good use of existing parts, but I think there's room for cool weapons too. It breaks up the monotony.

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Reusing weapons is a good thing, not a bad thing. Do you want to know what the opposite of reusing things is? Wasting them. Releasing a new weapon that you will only ever use once (like Toa Lhikan's Lava Greatswords, Toa Mahri Hahli's giant ugly claw, Toa Mata Lewa's axe, or various Piraka weapons) is purely wasteful and is something BIONICLE should have stopped doing early on.

Excuse me, but I think Toa Lhikan's swords were slick (and actually were based on Tahu's), Lewa's axe made sense, and I loved Toa Mahri Hahli's claw. Seriously, that's a lovely piece of work - and girls should get big claws that could slash through Makuta armor (yeah!!!). Plus it matched her wings.

 

And that's because there's more to this than utilitarianism. The way you suggest, we would have six identical characters with six weapons of the same rearranged parts every year. I can literally just buy one or two HF sets and build all the weapons since 2012. They're not unique or cool anymore. That doesn't mean I don't buy HF sets, but that the weapons don't have as of much of an appeal as the building system itself. Reusing weapons is boring, and it removes the incentive to buy more sets. 

 

 

Which is why I seldom buy HF sets any more XD

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Two other big problems with the HF system I feel is the armor pieces, and the gaps on models.

 

The same old armor piece that has appeared since the new system started being used has been in almost every set to my knowledge. It's a lovely piece, I admit, but it is absolutely horrifically redundant. Sure, it looks better when you add other shells on top, but it doesn't work if you want your figure not to be thick in the areas you cover them. Making just 2 alternatives to use (which would work the same way as the current, only with different designs) would greatly increase the variety on models and make them more unique. HF has made a new torso armor piece several times, and people have options for which one they want to use when building a basic HF model. As for leg and arm armor, you're forced to use the same thing every time.

 

Plus, the skeletal system used in HF leaves a lot of open places (depending on the complexity of the set), especially on the back. Sometimes it's covered up with some groovy wings or something, but the central beam for the torso skeleton is just way too thin. One could argue this allows for more options when building and it's more versatile, but it still looks bad.

 

Also, most sets are just skeletons with armor. They're not actual figures. This is not a big problem usually and allows for a lot of customization but without armor, the sets would have no impressive form. The armor layered on top essentially becomes the figure.

 

My biggest hope for HF is more part design. If they produce pieces that give more variety, the sets for the most part would be fine, and MOCing would be even better. People often mix HF armor parts and the more technical looking parts of Bionicle in MOCs. So mix things up a bit and the HF system is that much better. I don't have that much beef with it as I did before, but every time I look at another set with that armor piece I feel like I wanna throw up!

 

And more regular (without claws and such) feet designs! All we've gotten for heroes are the annoying clown shoes...

Edited by Banana Gunz
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