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Makaru

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That is a good call (would love to see more mask with visors) but the Phantoka Lewa wasn't my favorite in my opinion, I mainly didn't like any of the Toa of that year plus Lewa arms was one of the many arms that broke on me.

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The 2008 toa were unappealing to me because they just looked very foreign. They weren't the worst, but I would've liked them much more if I could actually recognize them as the hero's I love. Departure is great, but a balance is very important in order to ensure you even have the same characters. Aanchir and Wally said it well.

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I didn't really like the Toa of 2008 because of the colour schemes being predominately gray or silver and the designs being extremely standard-fare (we had two backwards Piraka builds, two Inika builds and two slight variations on it). Not too exciting, especially since they were supposed to be the good ol' Nuva. 

-NotS

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I will say the 2008 toa (especially the mistika) were very lacking, I mean the weapons weren't that interesting and the masks were very bland. 

Bland

Have we ever gotten a Toa of Water with wing extensions to her mask other than 2008? Have we ever gotten a Toa of Fire that had a mask modeled after ninjas other than 2008? The new mask designs were AMAZING.

This is just an opinion I hold, but I think that the 2008 Toa masks look much better than the 2001 and 2002 ones. Those were plain and boring, these were detailed and exciting. 

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bZpOwEr

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I will say the 2008 toa (especially the mistika) were very lacking, I mean the weapons weren't that interesting and the masks were very bland. 

Bland

Have we ever gotten a Toa of Water with wing extensions to her mask other than 2008? Have we ever gotten a Toa of Fire that had a mask modeled after ninjas other than 2008? The new mask designs were AMAZING.

This is just an opinion I hold, but I think that the 2008 Toa masks look much better than the 2001 and 2002 ones. Those were plain and boring, these were detailed and exciting. 

 

Yeah but they didn't really have defined mouths for one thing, not to mention they really weren't that unique from each other, I liked the older masks because they looked more humanoid and were very unique from one another, and I'm glad they're bringing this back with the new wave, but as you said just an opinion. 

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It's time to move on.

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The difference between mata and nuva were minimal. New armor and different masks don't make a toa be completely different. Besides, at least the Hau Nuva looks like a normal Great Hau, but made of molten lava and thus, flowing downward. I always thought of it as a blob of magma on tahu's head. And the other masks at least still make you get the idea of their purpose and powers. On the other hand, the mistika Hau does not look like a mask of shielding, nor does the kaukau look like a mask of water breathing, nor does any of the others look anything like it should. Only possibly the Akaku looks like a mask of X-ray vision.

 

Besides, it is supposed they were given new adaptative armor before going to karda nui, not thet they took away their brains and stuffed them into new bodies. One would think they simply put on some equipment.

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Yes, but that is what they managed to achieve.

If you showed someone who didn't know any better both the Toa Nuva and the Toa Phantoka/Mistika, how easily do you think they would be able to say they're the same characters? Would it be an automatic click? Or would you need to tell them? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, which means no, they did not achieve it.

But would it be an automatic click between the Mata and the Nuva? Just because they have the same colour schemes and builds doesn't make them instantly recognizable as them; look at Jaller Mahri and Jaller Inika. Same build, near-same colour scheme, nearly unrecognisable.

 

Besides, at least the Hau Nuva looks like a normal Great Hau, but made of molten lava and thus, flowing downward. 

Exactly how does a Hau Nuva look like a Hau? 

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About Bionicle.com- The header image of Tahu, Kopaka, Lewa and LOSS is appearing stretched for me. Is anyone else experiencing this, and should it be reported to BZP news?

Whaaaaaaaa? That is WEIRD! 

Seems to be another technical error (Onya). I guess you could report it, but I'm not exactly sure if it's news worthy or not. But it does mean that they're updating the website somehow since somebody went in there to change it. 

bZpOwEr

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Yes, but that is what they managed to achieve.

If you showed someone who didn't know any better both the Toa Nuva and the Toa Phantoka/Mistika, how easily do you think they would be able to say they're the same characters? Would it be an automatic click? Or would you need to tell them? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, which means no, they did not achieve it.

 

But would it be an automatic click between the Mata and the Nuva? Just because they have the same colour schemes and builds doesn't make them instantly recognizable as them; look at Jaller Mahri and Jaller Inika. Same build, near-same colour scheme, nearly unrecognisable.

 

I would argue that most of the Nuva masks have more in common with their Mata variants than the Phantoka/Mistika variants have with either. It would definitely click far more easily.

 

Good point bringing up the Mahri and Inika. Both of those also threw character recognizability out the window, because late Bionicle despised the idea of a character having any sort of consistent look.

 

 

This is just an opinion I hold, but I think that the 2008 Toa masks look much better than the 2001 and 2002 ones. Those were plain and boring, these were detailed and exciting. 

 

 

The details are one of the things I despise about them. The 2001 masks have a simple elegance to them that made them iconic and easily recognizable. The 2008 masks have textures and unnecessary details crammed into every inch in an attempt to make them visually interesting.

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Yes, but that is what they managed to achieve.

If you showed someone who didn't know any better both the Toa Nuva and the Toa Phantoka/Mistika, how easily do you think they would be able to say they're the same characters? Would it be an automatic click? Or would you need to tell them? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, which means no, they did not achieve it.

But would it be an automatic click between the Mata and the Nuva? Just because they have the same colour schemes and builds doesn't make them instantly recognizable as them; look at Jaller Mahri and Jaller Inika. Same build, near-same colour scheme, nearly unrecognisable.

 

Besides, at least the Hau Nuva looks like a normal Great Hau, but made of molten lava and thus, flowing downward. 

Exactly how does a Hau Nuva look like a Hau? 

 

it looks like a half molten Hau.

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Yes, but that is what they managed to achieve.

If you showed someone who didn't know any better both the Toa Nuva and the Toa Phantoka/Mistika, how easily do you think they would be able to say they're the same characters? Would it be an automatic click? Or would you need to tell them? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, which means no, they did not achieve it.

 

But would it be an automatic click between the Mata and the Nuva? Just because they have the same colour schemes and builds doesn't make them instantly recognizable as them; look at Jaller Mahri and Jaller Inika. Same build, near-same colour scheme, nearly unrecognisable.

 

I would argue that most of the Nuva masks have more in common with their Mata variants than the Phantoka/Mistika variants have with either. It would definitely click far more easily.

And how is that a bad thing, exactly? 

Lego makes sets, not stories. The 2008 Toa were not designed to look like the old ones because Lego is a company, and companies need to make money. They were trying to appeal to what they believes kids would like at that time of release. Who knows how badly they would have sold if they made them clones of the Nuva?

Yah know, people who complain about all of the 'rehashing' that Lego did in later years really fascinate me. They say that and then most of them turn around and complain about how different the Phantoka/Mistika looked from their original models. 

 

it looks like a half molten Hau.

kind of see your point, but it's a really big stretch, especially considering the fact that the big oval in the middle of the mask is probably the only similarity.  

bZpOwEr

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I will say the 2008 toa (especially the mistika) were very lacking, I mean the weapons weren't that interesting and the masks were very bland. 

Bland

Have we ever gotten a Toa of Water with wing extensions to her mask other than 2008? Have we ever gotten a Toa of Fire that had a mask modeled after ninjas other than 2008? The new mask designs were AMAZING.

This is just an opinion I hold, but I think that the 2008 Toa masks look much better than the 2001 and 2002 ones. Those were plain and boring, these were detailed and exciting. 

 

Yeah but they didn't really have defined mouths for one thing, not to mention they really weren't that unique from each other, I liked the older masks because they looked more humanoid and were very unique from one another, and I'm glad they're bringing this back with the new wave, but as you said just an opinion. 

 

 

While I do like the 2001 masks a lot, but seriously, did you just call those "humanoid"?

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And how is that a bad thing, exactly? 

Lego makes sets, not stories. The 2008 Toa were not designed to look like the old ones because Lego is a company, and companies need to make money. They were trying to appeal to what they believes kids would like at that time of release. Who knows how badly they would have sold if they made them clones of the Nuva?

Yah know, people who complain about all of the 'rehashing' that Lego did in later years really fascinate me. They say that and then most of them turn around and complain about how different the Phantoka/Mistika looked from their original models. 

 

You seem to believe there is a fierce dichotomy between cloning a set piece-for-piece and making something that bears no resemblance whatsoever to a precious incarnation. Please let me be the first to tell you there is a large, open area in between.

 

I already said I didn't want them to rehash the build. The fact that they don't have the Mata/Nuva build is not the issue here (The fact that the Inika build was terrible is a separate issue from the character recognizability issue). The issue is that they don't look like the character. And, as I said before, character recognizability is important. Optimus Prime, another character in a toy-driven toyline made to sell toys, always maintains clear, recognizable traits that allow someone who has seen one rendition of him to recognize him in another, because that's actually good for business. Having clear, consistent characters visually makes it easier for kids who enjoy a toy of a character one year to instantly recognize them the next.

 

But hey, don't take my word for it. Just look at the 2015 Toa sets, all six of which clearly evoke the 2001 incarnations so anyone familiar with the line can instantly recognize the iconic characters. If they make a set appearance in 2016 (which I'm pretty sure they will) they will definitely have similar visual cues to their current incarnations. Because, you know, it's good for business.

Edited by Wally
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You seem to believe there is a fierce dichotomy between cloning a set piece-for-piece and making something that bears no resemblance whatsoever to a precious incarnation. Please let me be the first to tell you there is a large, open area in between.

 

I already said I didn't want them to rehash the build. The fact that they don't have the Mata/Nuva build is not the issue here (The fact that the Inika build was terrible is a separate issue from the character recognizability issue). The issue is that they don't look like the character. And, as I said before, character recognizability is important. Optimus Prime, another character in a toy-driven toyline made to sell toys, always maintains clear, recognizable traits that allow someone who has seen one rendition of him to recognize him in another, because that's actually good for business. Having clear, consistent characters visually makes it easier for kids who enjoy a toy of a character one year to instantly recognize them the next.

 

But hey, don't take my word for it. Just look at the 2015 Toa sets, all six of which clearly evoke the 2001 incarnations so anyone familiar with the line can instantly recognize the iconic characters. If they make a set appearance next year (which I'm pretty sure they will) they will definitely have similar visual cues to their current incarnations. Because, you know, it's good for business.

 

The sets are created before the story team writes them. They couldn't have made them look like the Nuva, even if they wanted to.

bZpOwEr

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You seem to believe there is a fierce dichotomy between cloning a set piece-for-piece and making something that bears no resemblance whatsoever to a precious incarnation. Please let me be the first to tell you there is a large, open area in between.

 

I already said I didn't want them to rehash the build. The fact that they don't have the Mata/Nuva build is not the issue here (The fact that the Inika build was terrible is a separate issue from the character recognizability issue). The issue is that they don't look like the character. And, as I said before, character recognizability is important. Optimus Prime, another character in a toy-driven toyline made to sell toys, always maintains clear, recognizable traits that allow someone who has seen one rendition of him to recognize him in another, because that's actually good for business. Having clear, consistent characters visually makes it easier for kids who enjoy a toy of a character one year to instantly recognize them the next.

 

But hey, don't take my word for it. Just look at the 2015 Toa sets, all six of which clearly evoke the 2001 incarnations so anyone familiar with the line can instantly recognize the iconic characters. If they make a set appearance next year (which I'm pretty sure they will) they will definitely have similar visual cues to their current incarnations. Because, you know, it's good for business.

 

The sets are created before the story team writes them. They couldn't have made them look like the Nuva, even if they wanted to.

 

Actually, as I mentioned before, it seems the set designers had the Nuva in mind since the beginning because the original prototypes much more closely resembled the Nuva (and even the Mata), but focus group tests responded negatively and they were changed until they responded positively to the final (or at least near final) product.

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You seem to believe there is a fierce dichotomy between cloning a set piece-for-piece and making something that bears no resemblance whatsoever to a precious incarnation. Please let me be the first to tell you there is a large, open area in between.

 

I already said I didn't want them to rehash the build. The fact that they don't have the Mata/Nuva build is not the issue here (The fact that the Inika build was terrible is a separate issue from the character recognizability issue). The issue is that they don't look like the character. And, as I said before, character recognizability is important. Optimus Prime, another character in a toy-driven toyline made to sell toys, always maintains clear, recognizable traits that allow someone who has seen one rendition of him to recognize him in another, because that's actually good for business. Having clear, consistent characters visually makes it easier for kids who enjoy a toy of a character one year to instantly recognize them the next.

 

But hey, don't take my word for it. Just look at the 2015 Toa sets, all six of which clearly evoke the 2001 incarnations so anyone familiar with the line can instantly recognize the iconic characters. If they make a set appearance next year (which I'm pretty sure they will) they will definitely have similar visual cues to their current incarnations. Because, you know, it's good for business.

The sets are created before the story team writes them. They couldn't have made them look like the Nuva, even if they wanted to.

 

That's often not true at all. Just because the story team bases their stories on the sets doesn't mean the set designers invariably go into a project with no clue what characters they're trying to design. In fact, there are plenty of sets where the opposite is true. The 2012 and 2013 Hero Factory hero sets are a great example. For that matter, so are most of the Super Heroes and Legends of Chima constraction sets. And the new Toa sets. And the BIONICLE Stars All of these sets were designed to resemble particular pre-existing sets or series of sets, and it shows.

 

Obviously, there might still be SOME discrepancies between these sets and the previous versions of the characters in question (for example, the way the CHI Razar set has two regular hands instead of a hook like the minifigure version of the character), but that doesn't mean the designers were not given any briefing on what sort of characters they were supposed to be creating. Usually, it just means the designers chose to exercise some creative liberties in order to either improve the set in some way or meet a particular price point.

 

I think 2012 could be considered a turning point in this regard. With the 2011 (2.0 and 3.0) Hero Factory sets, you could be forgiven for thinking that the set designs were created without particular characters in mind and then assigned names and corresponding color schemes according to focus group testing. For all I know, they might have been.

 

However, starting with the 2012 Hero Factory sets, the fact that the sets were based on earlier versions of the characters in question became nigh-unmistakeable. Even if you ignore the helmets, printed torso patterns, and color schemes, it was still readily apparent that Stringer was designed to be a musician, Nex a communications/tech expert, and Evo a weapons expert, in accordance with their established story roles. Throw in the helmets (all except Rocka clearly either using the character's original helmet or a new one inspired by it), primary colors, and torso patterns, and it became extremely easy to pick out just who each Hero was supposed to be. The two subsequent series of Hero Factory heroes continued in this tradition, with new helmets that were designed to clearly evoke the design of the originals.

 

With any luck, the LEGO Group will continue to demonstrate this kind of unmistakeably deliberate set design in future waves of the new BIONICLE.

Edited by Aanchir
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Yeah, I've seen a lot of people say that the story is made after the sets, and that never made much sense to me. The designers and story-writers should always work together and cooperate. If everyone's just doing their own thing, then stuff just becomes a mess.

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As far as the Nuva masks go, I think the Akaku Nuva looks more like a Hau than it does an Akaku.  It also has more resemblance to the Hau than the Hau Nuva does.

 

Regarding the 2015 masks, I don't have any issue with the fact that they're different from their 2001 counterparts.  The influence is obviously there, like how Gali's mask takes the diving-mask look and uses it differently.  But I also see bits of the Noble Rau design in it too, from the way the cheeks "swoop" to the whistling mouth.  It's also why I'm okay with the way Lewa's mask looks, because its "technological" look reminds me of the detailing on the Noble Mahiki.  There are also other similarities, such as the top of Tahu's mask, which looks similar to the Great Arthron, that make me see them as masks that are based on the original 2001 Kanohi but which take cues from all of BIONICLE's history.  They're like a tribute to the entire original run.

OpAXNpl.jpg

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I will say the 2008 toa (especially the mistika) were very lacking, I mean the weapons weren't that interesting and the masks were very bland. 

Bland

Have we ever gotten a Toa of Water with wing extensions to her mask other than 2008? Have we ever gotten a Toa of Fire that had a mask modeled after ninjas other than 2008? The new mask designs were AMAZING.

This is just an opinion I hold, but I think that the 2008 Toa masks look much better than the 2001 and 2002 ones. Those were plain and boring, these were detailed and exciting. 

 

Yeah but they didn't really have defined mouths for one thing, not to mention they really weren't that unique from each other, I liked the older masks because they looked more humanoid and were very unique from one another, and I'm glad they're bringing this back with the new wave, but as you said just an opinion. 

 

 

While I do like the 2001 masks a lot, but seriously, did you just call those "humanoid"?

 

Well more so then the 2008 toa, in the sense of they had such features as a mouth and looked less robotic and more biomechanical. 

It's time to move on.

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Just curious, does anyone have an inkling of just when these sets might be released? I know it's January but are there hints of it being a soft release? Could they pop up in some stores earlier than others? Could they be released in some states weeks before others?

 

I'm only asking 'cause, well, this is what all of my Christmas money is going to be used for, and... yeah. Unfortunately, my state, Maine, tends to get these things a little later than others, it seems, and I can only hope I don't have to wait, 'til, like, 3 weeks after Christmas to finally have these.

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The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

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Just curious, does anyone have an inkling of just when these sets might be released? I know it's January but are there hints of it being a soft release? Could they pop up in some stores earlier than others? Could they be released in some states weeks before others?

 

I'm only asking 'cause, well, this is what all of my Christmas money is going to be used for, and... yeah. Unfortunately, my state, Maine, tends to get these things a little later than others, it seems, and I can only hope I don't have to wait, 'til, like, 3 weeks after Christmas to finally have these.

I have no clue, though I am thinking lego might release them on December 31st to pay homage to the original release.

It's time to move on.

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Oh it's glorious...

 

Except they misspelled "fire" in "fir tribe villages. Lol!

 

EDIT: Whoa, you can even zoom in/out of the Okoto island map!

 

EDIT2: The protectors apparently pass their masks/job down to their sons. Interesting! LOVE CONFIRMED HEWKII X MACKU CONFIRMED !##%@%^@!$^&U

 

EDIT3: After looking through the whole site it appears it's still being worked on. There are a bunch of mistakes, missing information and such. But still a real nice update!

Edited by Banana Gunz
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Also, the Protector of Water is male. Finally done away with Water=Female, it seems.

 

It never says that.

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On 9/29/2014, Greg Farshtey said:

 

"Just wanted to say a quick something --

 

A lot of you guys are BIONICLE fans, many from way back. It's no secret that you are some of the smartest, most loyal, and most dedicated fans out there. You, and you alone, have carried the torch for the line over the last four years. Hopefully, you will feel rewarded for your efforts by 2015 BIONICLE.

 

Regardless, I wanted to take this opportunity to say that I am really proud to be associated with you, and you should be really proud of yourselves"

 

Ordinarily, I don't do quotes, but this is special.

Fire Ice Water Stone Earth Air... I mean Jungle.
 
Bionicle: The Legacy Hero An attempt to put some magic back into Bionicle.

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The new update has some interesting info on the Skull Spiders. The Lord of Skull Spiders can control the others with a telepathic link and has a death-lock attack. I believe this shows that the LOSS is a single character, not one of multiple like the Visorak, Rahi, or Bohrok from Gen 1. Though the small Skull Spiders in the other sets are one of multiples in the story. (Though I think that was a given. :P)

 

Speaking of them, the green Skull Spiders have developed X-ray vision. (Which creeps Lewa out, apparently. :P) If the green ones have this power, I wonder what powers the other colored one have? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Edited by Toa Smoke Monster
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Everyone is one choice away from being the bad guy in another person's story.


 


pc0lX6T.png

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Aside from that one clearly stock phrase copy-pasted into every bio, every mention of the protectors seems very purposefully vague about the gender of any of the Protectors. Especially the products bio.

 

I think that's very interesting.

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20383310448_7d514f8ffa.jpg

 

Spoiler Alert

 

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It says that on every Protector page though.

 

Summary of errors:
Lewa's name instead of his mask.
Half the protectors have their names, the other half have masks on the images.
Fir region villages.
Random close parentheses on Onya's page.
Fire region description has Protector Description.

 

Ice region page shows the water sets.

Edited by Willess12

On 9/29/2014, Greg Farshtey said:

 

"Just wanted to say a quick something --

 

A lot of you guys are BIONICLE fans, many from way back. It's no secret that you are some of the smartest, most loyal, and most dedicated fans out there. You, and you alone, have carried the torch for the line over the last four years. Hopefully, you will feel rewarded for your efforts by 2015 BIONICLE.

 

Regardless, I wanted to take this opportunity to say that I am really proud to be associated with you, and you should be really proud of yourselves"

 

Ordinarily, I don't do quotes, but this is special.

Fire Ice Water Stone Earth Air... I mean Jungle.
 
Bionicle: The Legacy Hero An attempt to put some magic back into Bionicle.

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