OFFICIAL Bionicle 2015 Topic

[NickonAquaMagna]

 

I hope that doesn't mean that we'll be getting the same characters for a few more years...cough Hero Factory cough

Frankly, if it's a choice between seeing the same Toa over and over or having the main characters step out of the spotlight every couple years to make way for a new set of main characters, I'd greatly prefer seeing the same Toa over and over.

 

So am I the only one who's extremely disappointed with the Summer sets? They look like an absolute mess. They're gappy and hobbled together with just hideous colors and looks so weird and underdeveloped. I feel like everyone is so distracted by the gorgeous new gold/trans masks and the admittedly impressive Ekimu/Grinder set that they don't realize everything else just looks... really bad ._. I would be embarrassed to buy those or display them on my shelf.

Personally, I like most of them. That doesn't mean they're flawless. I'm not really a fan of Skull Warrior, and while Skull Scorpio has a creative function it's also a little awkward. I'm also of two minds about some of the new molds. But Skull Slicer, Basher, and Grinder all look really awesome to me and really pull off the undead look quite nicely.

 

 

 

Skull Slicer has grown on me a little bit. Yeah, the design of the limbs is pretty lazy, but at least he's the only one built like that. He literally looks like a cyborg skeleton, like a Toa with all of their flesh rotted away and most of their armor fallen off, the bones and clockwork parts being all that remain. Pretty darn creepy, I must say.

 

But... I really wish his right set of arms could move with the gears. For some reason, not taking advantage of a crazy gimmick like that makes me wonder what the major draw of this guy is supposed to be? I'll probably get him, yeah, and get some extra gears off bricklink, to see how four-arm action would work out, but I'd hardly call him a must buy.

 

And I must say, the one trans orange shell is a HUGE eyesore. I can tell you with that one part switched with something more muted, he would look much, much less ugly overall, but that one piece just makes what little of a color scheme there is fall apart completely.

 

 

I hope that doesn't mean that we'll be getting the same characters for a few more years...cough Hero Factory cough

Frankly, if it's a choice between seeing the same Toa over and over or having the main characters step out of the spotlight every couple years to make way for a new set of main characters, I'd greatly prefer seeing the same Toa over and over.

 

Really? I personally disagree. But, thinking in the long term, wouldn't it be refreshing to have new characters to come in every few years, or at least have the cast alternate between two teams? You can change the way the toa look as much as you like and put them in as many different situations as you want, but eventually people tend to want to take a break and see how someone else is doing. It would supply more cast variety. Sure, keeping one cast would give them more time for even more character development but when you look at character like the Inika, they got a lot more development as individuals in 2007 than the Nuva got in a while. Bringing in new characters allows them to be explored differently, and though themes like Ninjago show benefits of having a single cast, it's visible that even that cast had to be altered, introducing new characters like Lloyd, Garmadon and Skylor.

 

 

Assuming Tahu and the others do get new forms next year.... I just hope they aren't a downgrade from their current forms, though that seems kind of inevitable. They look so great right now, not just as sets, but in terms of CHARACTER design. Lego really brought their A-game when designing these guys, and I have to wonder how they could possibly top that. Already, the Skull legion or whatever we should call them feel like something of a step down from that. I can't help worrying that next year's Toa simply won't be as cool as this year's sets.

 

Hopefully, next year, we'll get some crazy new pieces that make them feel fresh, kinda like the current texture pieces, but taken further. I feel like in order to set next year's winter wave apart from this one, that's what it would take.

[Aanchir]

How come Bionicle is so small in quantity compared to other Lego themes? Like Chima had dozens of sets of all sizes in its first year, and Bionicle sets are all rather small in size and price comparitively. And the only "big" set they've shown is just two normal figures together. Back in the day, Bionicle had big sets all over.

I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about in terms of quantity. Themes like Ninjago and Legends of Chima are not normal LEGO themes by any stretch of the imagination. They are extraordinarily high-profile. If you compare BIONICLE to a theme like The LEGO Movie that doesn't have a bunch of spin-off lines like constraction or Speedorz sets, it's a much fairer comparison. The LEGO Movie had 17 sets its first year, not counting blind-packaged minifigures or polybag or promotional sets. Going back a bit farther, the first year of Atlantis sets had only 14 non-polybag sets, and the first year of Power Miners had just twelve non-polybag sets. And those were the "big bang" themes of their day! Compared to any of those themes, it's pretty impressive that BIONICLE is getting 18 non-polybag sets in its first year.

 

In terms of set size, though, a lot of BIONICLE's appeal has always come from its main sets being relatively inexpensive. If you need proof of that, just look at how many complaints there have been about the price of the new sets. How many LEGO themes do you know where more than 75% of the sets are $15 or less, and the average price of a set is just around $15? Besides constraction themes, the only examples I can think of are themes that are invariably "impulse-priced" like Minifigures and Mixels. And yet even that $15 price tag is more than many BIONICLE fans are used to — they yearn for the days when medium-sized sets like Toa cost $10 or less!

 

It's true that this year, there aren't a lot of larger BIONICLE sets like we were used to in years like 2001–2002 or 2008–2009. But pick any year between 2003 and 2005, and the price range for BIONICLE 2015 doesn't look so low at all. None of those years had more than three $20 sets or more than one $30 set. All of those years had exactly one set priced HIGHER than $30, which was invariably just a $50 set made from combining two or three smaller sets.

 

Assuming Tahu and the others do get new forms next year.... I just hope they aren't a downgrade from their current forms, though that seems kind of inevitable. They look so great right now, not just as sets, but in terms of CHARACTER design. Lego really brought their A-game when designing these guys, and I have to wonder how they could possibly top that. Already, the Skull legion or whatever we should call them feel like something of a step down from that. I can't help worrying that next year's Toa simply won't be as cool as this year's sets.

 

Hopefully, next year, we'll get some crazy new pieces that make them feel fresh, kinda like the current texture pieces, but taken further. I feel like in order to set next year's winter wave apart from this one, that's what it would take.

I was a bit worried about that possibility at first myself, but the 2014 versions of CHI Cragger and CHI Laval from LEGO Legends of Chima give me hope that LEGO designers can take an already cool character design and visibly upgrade it without driving up its price. Neither set was considerably more complex than the previous year's CHI Cragger or CHI Laval. The 2013 CHI Laval was already boasting many features like gold and transparent weapons and armor that you'd think would be hard to upgrade upon. And CHI Cragger's body, weapon, and tail got shorter as part of his upgrade. But nevertheless, look at those sets side by side and there's no mistaking which one is the "basic" version and which is the "upgraded" version. And those two sets only had three new molds between the two of them— a new torso shell, new shoulder armor, and a new weapon piece, all of which they shared. I suppose, arguably, there's also the large beast feet which CHI Laval used, which weren't available when the 2013 versions of those characters came out.

 

I'm not sure what the LEGO Group could do specifically to upgrade the Toa for next year. Masks with a transparent blend were something I had considered, although now that the summer sets include those that might rule that out for the 2016 sets. More printed parts are another possibility. But even the old BIONICLE usually kept the same main characters for at least a two or three year stretch, so it would surprise me if the designers for the new BIONICLE weren't prepared in some way to do the same.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Aanchir

[bioniclepluslotr]

How come Bionicle is so small in quantity compared to other Lego themes? Like Chima had dozens of sets of all sizes in its first year, and Bionicle sets are all rather small in size and price comparitively. And the only "big" set they've shown is just two normal figures together. Back in the day, Bionicle had big sets all over.

 

Lego kind of overdid it with Chima. They basically wanted this to be the next Bionicle, the next big thing... it didn't quite pan out.

 

Not to mention, proportionately few of those were constraction figures.

 

But now they have Bionicle and it doesn't even have it's own spots on shelves .-. I remember seeing massive Chima cardboard things all over TRU before the sets were even released.

[Lyichir]

 

 

How come Bionicle is so small in quantity compared to other Lego themes? Like Chima had dozens of sets of all sizes in its first year, and Bionicle sets are all rather small in size and price comparitively. And the only "big" set they've shown is just two normal figures together. Back in the day, Bionicle had big sets all over.

 

Lego kind of overdid it with Chima. They basically wanted this to be the next Bionicle, the next big thing... it didn't quite pan out.

 

Not to mention, proportionately few of those were constraction figures.

 

But now they have Bionicle and it doesn't even have it's own spots on shelves .-. I remember seeing massive Chima cardboard things all over TRU before the sets were even released.

 

Constraction is generally more niche than traditional Lego, no matter which way you slice it. The original Bionicle had a higher profile but a good deal of that can be chalked up to the comparably lower profile of other Lego themes during Lego's recovery from the brink of bankruptcy. Now that Lego has blockbuster hits like Ninjago, Chima, and The Lego Movie, themes like Bionicle that don't even use traditional bricks make up a much smaller piece of the pie.

 

Mind you, I seriously doubt Bionicle's going to stay low-profile, at least not in all stores. Don't forget that the initial leak that kickstarted the hype train for Bionicle's return was sourced from a manufacturer of cardboard store displays. So I think we can safely assume that we'll see similar displays in stores before long.

[Bfahome]

Massive cardboard things you say.

[Banana Gunz]

 

 

I hope that doesn't mean that we'll be getting the same characters for a few more years...cough Hero Factory cough

Frankly, if it's a choice between seeing the same Toa over and over or having the main characters step out of the spotlight every couple years to make way for a new set of main characters, I'd greatly prefer seeing the same Toa over and over.

 

So am I the only one who's extremely disappointed with the Summer sets? They look like an absolute mess. They're gappy and hobbled together with just hideous colors and looks so weird and underdeveloped. I feel like everyone is so distracted by the gorgeous new gold/trans masks and the admittedly impressive Ekimu/Grinder set that they don't realize everything else just looks... really bad ._. I would be embarrassed to buy those or display them on my shelf.

Personally, I like most of them. That doesn't mean they're flawless. I'm not really a fan of Skull Warrior, and while Skull Scorpio has a creative function it's also a little awkward. I'm also of two minds about some of the new molds. But Skull Slicer, Basher, and Grinder all look really awesome to me and really pull off the undead look quite nicely.

 

 

 

Skull Slicer has grown on me a little bit. Yeah, the design of the limbs is pretty lazy, but at least he's the only one built like that. He literally looks like a cyborg skeleton, like a Toa with all of their flesh rotted away and most of their armor fallen off, the bones and clockwork parts being all that remain. Pretty darn creepy, I must say.

 

But... I really wish his right set of arms could move with the gears. For some reason, not taking advantage of a crazy gimmick like that makes me wonder what the major draw of this guy is supposed to be? I'll probably get him, yeah, and get some extra gears off bricklink, to see how four-arm action would work out, but I'd hardly call him a must buy.

 

And I must say, the one trans orange shell is a HUGE eyesore. I can tell you with that one part switched with something more muted, he would look much, much less ugly overall, but that one piece just makes what little of a color scheme there is fall apart completely.

 

 

I hope that doesn't mean that we'll be getting the same characters for a few more years...cough Hero Factory cough

Frankly, if it's a choice between seeing the same Toa over and over or having the main characters step out of the spotlight every couple years to make way for a new set of main characters, I'd greatly prefer seeing the same Toa over and over.

 

Really? I personally disagree. But, thinking in the long term, wouldn't it be refreshing to have new characters to come in every few years, or at least have the cast alternate between two teams? You can change the way the toa look as much as you like and put them in as many different situations as you want, but eventually people tend to want to take a break and see how someone else is doing. It would supply more cast variety. Sure, keeping one cast would give them more time for even more character development but when you look at character like the Inika, they got a lot more development as individuals in 2007 than the Nuva got in a while. Bringing in new characters allows them to be explored differently, and though themes like Ninjago show benefits of having a single cast, it's visible that even that cast had to be altered, introducing new characters like Lloyd, Garmadon and Skylor.

 

 

Assuming Tahu and the others do get new forms next year.... I just hope they aren't a downgrade from their current forms, though that seems kind of inevitable. They look so great right now, not just as sets, but in terms of CHARACTER design. Lego really brought their A-game when designing these guys, and I have to wonder how they could possibly top that. Already, the Skull legion or whatever we should call them feel like something of a step down from that. I can't help worrying that next year's Toa simply won't be as cool as this year's sets.

 

Hopefully, next year, we'll get some crazy new pieces that make them feel fresh, kinda like the current texture pieces, but taken further. I feel like in order to set next year's winter wave apart from this one, that's what it would take.

 

 

Well, I would imagine that the toa wouldn't necessarily be "upgraded". I'm thinking it's gonna pull a Hero Factory where something changes and the toa are facing some different enemy or are in a new environment and their armor needs to be adjusted to suit it. Kinda like how the Inika gained tubes and swim gear when they needed to go underwater, or the Nuva gained jet packs and wings when they had to go flying. Simply upgrading them would be difficult considering how beastly and awesome these guys. The only reason an upgrade worked for the mata was because they were already pretty bare as sets and could have a lot added to them to make them seem more powerful.

 

And I am a bit scared too that Lego put so much attention and effort into the winter wave this year, that the rest of Bionicle might end up paling a bit. That's part of why I support changing up teams every bunch of years because you can only put a spin on the same character so many times before it just feels over done (HF is a good example of this). These summer sets really just look... bone-y, and not in a good or purposeful way. Just empty and incomplete. Sure there are some positives, but generally these sets don't live up in my eyes.

 

Plus, on the subject of changing toa teams, one thing I did not like about Hero Factory was how the sets were always just rehashes of the same characters over and over again. Having someone different and unique allows for better playability and interaction where you don't have fifty Furno's hanging around. Different characters allow for better diversity, where you're not working with the same thing over and over.

 

That also relates (set, not story wise) to why the Invasion from Below sets were so great in my eyes- they weren't just the same characters we've seen before, but rather something new and fresh that didn't focus solely on the characters, but far more on the vehicles. I believe a similar concept could be applied to characters, supporting the idea of switching casts every so often.

[believe victims]

The problem with switching casts is it's hard to tell a continuous story like that; Bionicle G1 struggled a lot with characters going out of the limelight for so long, much of the target audience had no idea who they were.

[Katanga]

The problem with switching casts is it's hard to tell a continuous story like that; Bionicle G1 struggled a lot with characters going out of the limelight for so long, much of the target audience had no idea who they were.

If the video-story-things (I have yet to view any, so I don't know what they're like.) are kept throughout the line the original cast could be treated as reoccurring characters so they don't stay completely out of the picture. Heck, a 'Previously on BIONICLE' introduction could work if it kept things short and simple.

 

On a side note; am I the only one thinking that these new villains are going to make for some wicked (official or not) combi-models with the Toa? I'm definitely going to try for a zombie-esque Pohatu with Skull Scorpio's new chest plating and the bony limb pieces.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Katanga

[Banana Gunz]

The problem with switching casts is it's hard to tell a continuous story like that; Bionicle G1 struggled a lot with characters going out of the limelight for so long, much of the target audience had no idea who they were.

 

That's very true. The best solution to this would be to make sure that each cast gets its time and their own part of the story. Overall, each cast will make an effect on the later story but they won't necessarily have to be known by newer fans to see and understand the larger overarching story that they are a part of.

 

It's best to play out a set of characters so that they get the attention and development they need to be memorable and love-able; so that they are meaningful and layered as individual characters and as teams. But as every story has a beginning, it must have an end too. They eventually have to be put out of play as larger, powered beings to keep form convoluting or interfering with other casts, so there is a constant focus on a single set of characters at a time. Whatever means this may be, whether transformation, death, or anything else.

[believe victims]

 Heck, a 'Previously on BIONICLE' introduction could work if it kept things short and simple.

 

 

In 1.5 minute animations? That'd have to be too short and simple to keep from adding to the already-dreadful pacing issues.

 

 

 

The problem with switching casts is it's hard to tell a continuous story like that; Bionicle G1 struggled a lot with characters going out of the limelight for so long, much of the target audience had no idea who they were.

 

That's very true. The best solution to this would be to make sure that each cast gets its time and their own part of the story. Overall, each cast will make an effect on the later story but they won't necessarily have to be known by newer fans to see and understand the larger overarching story that they are a part of.

 

It's best to play out a set of characters so that they get the attention and development they need to be memorable and love-able; so that they are meaningful and layered as individual characters and as teams. But as every story has a beginning, it must have an end too. They eventually have to be put out of play as larger, powered beings to keep form convoluting or interfering with other casts, so there is a constant focus on a single set of characters at a time. Whatever means this may be, whether transformation, death, or anything else.

 

 

The thing is, I don't get this idea that you can't tell a story with only one main cast of characters when that's what other stories do literally all the time. I just don't see the need to replace the current Toa team just because people think having a main set of characters is boring. Getting rid of the "Toa Okoto" would feel pointless.

[Jobber]

I wouldn't mind if we saw the same Toa for the next couple of years, but from a collectors standpoint, having basically the same characters over and over and over again takes up shelve space for some unique figures. 

With that said, I hope the team gets some unique upgrades on-par if not better than the ones that we have now, to merit duplication. 

Edited January 31, 2015 by Chasm

[Pohatu: Uniter of Stone]

Skull Scorpio looks like someone took a crab and stapled a giant metal claw onto its rear end. I'll have to photoshop that...

Edited January 31, 2015 by Pohatu: Master of Stone

[believe victims]

I wouldn't mind if we saw the same Toa for the next couple of years, but from a collectors standpoint, having basically the same characters over and over and over again takes up shelve space for some unique figures. 

 

Optimus Prime has seen release and re-release in pretty much every wave of Transformers toys. Character repetition is hardly anything new to the world of collectible action figures.

 

I'm only really proposing the Toa repeat, seeing as they're the core cast of characters that will tie the narrative together; literally every other set can be new characters.

[Jobber]

 

I wouldn't mind if we saw the same Toa for the next couple of years, but from a collectors standpoint, having basically the same characters over and over and over again takes up shelve space for some unique figures. 

 

Optimus Prime has seen release and re-release in pretty much every wave of Transformers toys. Character repetition is hardly anything new to the world of collectible action figures.

 

 

Each to their own, I guess when it comes to collecting things.

[Banana Gunz]

 

 Heck, a 'Previously on BIONICLE' introduction could work if it kept things short and simple.

 

 

In 1.5 minute animations? That'd have to be too short and simple to keep from adding to the already-dreadful pacing issues.

 

 

 

The problem with switching casts is it's hard to tell a continuous story like that; Bionicle G1 struggled a lot with characters going out of the limelight for so long, much of the target audience had no idea who they were.

 

That's very true. The best solution to this would be to make sure that each cast gets its time and their own part of the story. Overall, each cast will make an effect on the later story but they won't necessarily have to be known by newer fans to see and understand the larger overarching story that they are a part of.

 

It's best to play out a set of characters so that they get the attention and development they need to be memorable and love-able; so that they are meaningful and layered as individual characters and as teams. But as every story has a beginning, it must have an end too. They eventually have to be put out of play as larger, powered beings to keep form convoluting or interfering with other casts, so there is a constant focus on a single set of characters at a time. Whatever means this may be, whether transformation, death, or anything else.

 

 

The thing is, I don't get this idea that you can't tell a story with only one main cast of characters when that's what other stories do literally all the time. I just don't see the need to replace the current Toa team just because people think having a main set of characters is boring. Getting rid of the "Toa Okoto" would feel pointless.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say it's impossible to tell a good story using one set/cast of characters. What I mean is that I feel the main characters should be replaced after a certain amount of time, if the story is going to be going running long term.

 

As it is, I believe it was said that the story has three years of story planned out. If that's all we're getting, then sticking with the Tokoto (Banana Gunz tried to put a twist on words... but he failed!) is a great idea, but I just personally feel that if the theme keeps on going for more time after that, bringing in new characters to explore would be appropriate.

 

I dunno, that's just how I see it. I could be wrong, but I grew up with the Inika/Mahri and I always loved the amount of different toa teams there were to love. It was one of the things that made Bionicle for me and though having so many at once cluttered up the story and led to a lot of other problems, I always enjoyed at least the memory of them, and so I feel that giving each set of main characters good and honest time to develop, grow and change and become meaningful, then bringing in other new people to refresh the story and renew the excitement of exploring other different and unfamiliar characters as the heroes before it dies out, is the best way to keep Bionicle interesting for the long term. I mean, if we had solely kept the Nuva for the expanse of all ten years of Bionicle, wouldn't things have gotten a little stale to you too?

Edited January 31, 2015 by Banana Gunz

[believe victims]

Eh... I dunno. Later years of Bionicle felt like they were stretched too thin to me anyway, honestly. I don't think whether or not they used new Toa was a dealbreaker.

[Banana Gunz]

I can see why you would see it that way. It was handled the greatest, that's definitely true, in fact those serials were partly a result of that because there were so many powered characters running around that there had to stories made to keep them out of the bigger picture. But I always loved looking at Bionicle and seeing a variety of characters. The Mata, Metru, and Inika all had cool stuff about them, and I always enjoyed being able to look to whichever one I wanted to to feel inspired.

 

I imagine I'm partly biased, because though the first toa I was exposed to were the Mata, I only really got into Bionicle with the Inika, so my interest was divided between them and I learned to like all the different sets of toa in different ways for different reasons. I can see how others who probably grew up liking one toa team, especially the first and original, may feel differently about having multiple toa teams across the story.

 

BTW, congrats on 3,000 posts!

 

Also, this pomegranate tastes weird... like gingerbread. If I die, I need someone to sue Ripeway for me and pay for my thirteen coffins.

[dotcom]

I do think the Toa will stick around for a couple of years, and on a conceptual level I'm fully in support of that.

 

I do worry, though. Because I agree that the designs for the Toa this year were extremely top-notch. They really are some of the best Toa designs we've gotten, and they all have fairly iconic looks. Great, distinct profiles, unique proportions...they feel whole. And they have really pretty much defined (at least for me) what their character should look like in the reboot.

 

So I worry, because what exactly are we going to see if they get rereleased? In the original Bionicle and in HF, when characters were rereleased they rarely cared to keep looks too consistent between iterations. I don't mean just the masks/helmets (obviously HF tackled the helmets pretty well) but as far as their builds go. The Mahri and 2008 Nuva are pretty clear examples, and HF had characters change sizes and builds all the time. The differences between Stormer in his 1.0/2.0/3.0/Breakout/Brain Attack forms are pretty drastic. This was more justified for HF, because they were just robots who could be rebuilt at any time, but I worry that they will do the same with Bionicle. It's not just about the characters feeling upgraded, but more in getting new designs that still feel like themselves.

 

I don't think the Chima ultrabuilds are great examples of this, because I really don't think I necessarily want to see upgrades where the Toa are by large just dipped in gold paint. It's going to be tough to hit that sweet spot between "different enough to feel new" and "familiar enough to be recognizable" without really having to use as simple a method as a color change.

[Aanchir]

I don't think the Chima ultrabuilds are great examples of this, because I really don't think I necessarily want to see upgrades where the Toa are by large just dipped in gold paint. It's going to be tough to hit that sweet spot between "different enough to feel new" and "familiar enough to be recognizable" without really having to use as simple a method as a color change.

The changes in those sets are not remotely just "dipping them in gold paint". The 2014 CHI Laval used barely any more gold pieces than the previous version, and the 2014 CHI Cragger had much more drastic changes (slightly smaller body and tail, but considerably more armor on the arms, legs, and shoulders).

[dotcom]

 

I don't think the Chima ultrabuilds are great examples of this, because I really don't think I necessarily want to see upgrades where the Toa are by large just dipped in gold paint. It's going to be tough to hit that sweet spot between "different enough to feel new" and "familiar enough to be recognizable" without really having to use as simple a method as a color change.

The changes in those sets are not remotely just "dipping them in gold paint". The 2014 CHI Laval used barely any more gold pieces than the previous version, and the 2014 CHI Cragger had much more drastic changes (slightly smaller body and tail, but considerably more armor on the arms, legs, and shoulders).

 

Ok, fair. That was an oversimplification from my part, but the basic idea behind the fire versions is that they are the same figures, only in full body gold armor. I'm not saying this was a bad thing, or that it didn't work with the Chima characters. But I don't think the same kind of stuff could work that well for Bionicle, if the extent of the upgrade is limited to things like color change and new armor. The Toa are already bulked up quite a bit, after all. Changing the shells a bit and getting some new cladding piece could work to make something new,  I suppose, but as upgrades to already fantastic figures...I dunno. The idea just feels a bit lacking. I guess I'll see in time, though.

 

But something along the same lines...

 

Would you guys want to see the Toa keep getting released as a set in one wave, or would you rather see them begin to be split up in HF fashion, to make more space for full sized villain figures? There are pros and cons to doing both, but I'm not sure what I'd prefer. And if they were released as a set, should they be released in the winter or the summer? Would it be best to get more mileage out of the designs we already have, or upgrade at the end of this year? So very many possibilities. That for some reason I've started thinking about in January of 2015.

 

This is a silly train of thought.

[Ford]

Would you guys want to see the Toa keep getting released as a set in one wave, or would you rather see them begin to be split up in HF fashion, to make more space for full sized villain figures? There are pros and cons to doing both, but I'm not sure what I'd prefer. And if they were released as a set, should they be released in the winter or the summer? Would it be best to get more mileage out of the designs we already have, or upgrade at the end of this year? So very many possibilities. That for some reason I've started thinking about in January of 2015.

They already did that in 2008. Not much happened with design choices that year, but it made sense for the story, which at that point was bringing the line down (or at least some think of it that way).

[dotcom]

 

Would you guys want to see the Toa keep getting released as a set in one wave, or would you rather see them begin to be split up in HF fashion, to make more space for full sized villain figures? There are pros and cons to doing both, but I'm not sure what I'd prefer. And if they were released as a set, should they be released in the winter or the summer? Would it be best to get more mileage out of the designs we already have, or upgrade at the end of this year? So very many possibilities. That for some reason I've started thinking about in January of 2015.

They already did that in 2008. Not much happened with design choices that year, but it made sense for the story, which at that point was bringing the line down (or at least some think of it that way).

 

Well, yeah, I know that. But 2008 was a pretty unique year as far as that goes for Bionicle. It had far less unified designs for the Toa than HF did for its Heroes when HF did it. No matter if they were in summer or winter, for instance, all BA and Breakout Heroes fit with each other, which is why I brought up HF instead of 2008...

[Aanchir]

But something along the same lines...

 

Would you guys want to see the Toa keep getting released as a set in one wave, or would you rather see them begin to be split up in HF fashion, to make more space for full sized villain figures? There are pros and cons to doing both, but I'm not sure what I'd prefer. And if they were released as a set, should they be released in the winter or the summer? Would it be best to get more mileage out of the designs we already have, or upgrade at the end of this year? So very many possibilities. That for some reason I've started thinking about in January of 2015.

Personally, I'd say "whatever sells best". It doesn't make a huge difference to me whether the Toa are released all as one wave or as separate waves. It's not as though the Breakout and Brain Attack heroes being released in separate waves had a huge impact on their designs or how they were presented in the storyline (unlike the Phantoka/Mistika, whose division into two waves DID result in each wave's story focusing on just the current sets).

 

What I wouldn't like is for characters to completely skip an iteration, like in the 2011 Hero Factory sets (which had no 2.0 version for Bulk or Stringer and no 3.0 version for Surge, Breez, or Evo). But the fact that the LEGO Group avoided that kind of split in future Hero Factory story years leads me to think they learned their lesson.

[Zeb]

Massive cardboard things you say.

High-five, Tahu!

[Blueblur21]

I FINALLY HAVE THE ENTIRE WINTER WAVE!

 

I love everything about it! Just one problem: I'm building Onya and his instructions say to use two black bars for his hammer. I only have two left and the one I have left doesn't bring the top half of the hammer down to his fist. I am left with a small grey back and a black peg and a little blackball.

 

Any ideas where I can find that third bar? Did I do something wrong? He looks fine to me. It's just his weapon. 

[Nescent]

I FINALLY HAVE THE ENTIRE WINTER WAVE!

 

I love everything about it! Just one problem: I'm building Onya and his instructions say to use two black bars for his hammer. I only have two left and the one I have left doesn't bring the top half of the hammer down to his fist. I am left with a small grey back and a black peg and a little blackball.

 

Any ideas where I can find that third bar? Did I do something wrong? He looks fine to me. It's just his weapon. 

 

You mean the axle? The axle that connects his fist to the top of the hammer is supposed to be a size 3 grey axle. The size 4 black axle hangs from the bottom of his fist.

[hiddenderek]

Just got lewa, my fifth 2015 Toa. I didn't like him from the photos but he's pretty cool in person. I like the green/yellow/silver color scheme. Much better than many of the toa who use a four color- color scheme which just makes them noisy. (Best answer being onua with his silver/gold/purple/black color scheme.) Getting used to his mask, not my favorite as its the least similar to the originals but its pretty good for what it is. Definitley much better than the Nuva version. I really like his 'back pack' look he has, of course it sacrifices neck movement but that isnt a huge deal to me. 

[J46 Nui]

My Protectors have not arrived from Lego after about 3 weeks. I'm going to contact customer support.

 

Anyway, I got the rest of the winter wave on time. I think these are by far the best toys of these characters. They look great, and they all look very similar to their Mata forms, or at least close enough. The only exception is Onua, who is a bit too broad and has arms that are a bit too short (They barely hang lower than his waist, and they are to short to touch one another or even the middle of his chest). Gali is surprisingly my favorite, considering I did not think she looked that good from pictures. There is just something about having a Toa sized set wielding an Axonn sized axe that looks really good.

 

On the story side of things, I wish that it would pick up some steam. I may be jumping the gun a bit, it is only the end of January after all, but after Lego leaked the first half of the animations this year, I am a bit disappointed that there was so little of them. Hopefully there will be some news soon about the books that Lego was thinking of making. Hopefully Papercutz will be producing some comics for this line in addition to those.

[Blueblur21]

i found the problem and gave Nuju his arm back. Thanks, guys.

[Kalopsia]

On the story side of things, I wish that it would pick up some steam. I may be jumping the gun a bit, it is only the end of January after all, but after Lego leaked the first half of the animations this year, I am a bit disappointed that there was so little of them. Hopefully there will be some news soon about the books that Lego was thinking of making. Hopefully Papercutz will be producing some comics for this line in addition to those.

 

It's easy to forget how story-light Bionicle was in 2001. I'm willing to give Lego the benefit of the doubt with the story since they're starting from scratch. Hopefully the lore will trickle down eventually.

[bioniclepluslotr]

Massive cardboard things you say.

What city/state/country is that? My Walmarts don't even have the sets yet.

[Bfahome]

It's at a Target in Maine.

[Hewkii8730]

I'm in Australia and the sets are finally out I will have all the toa and the protectors well .......will see

[fishers64]

So am I the only one who's extremely disappointed with the Summer sets? They look like an absolute mess. They're gappy and hobbled together with just hideous colors and looks so weird and underdeveloped. I feel like everyone is so distracted by the gorgeous new gold/trans masks and the admittedly impressive Ekimu/Grinder set that they don't realize everything else just looks... really bad ._. I would be embarrassed to buy those or display them on my shelf.

I'll just say that so far I'm inclined to agree. The new bone pieces intrigue me though(I may have a use for those - but I always think that about every new piece) and one of them - Skull Basher, I think - looks like he's wearing a necklace and has purple lol. (I want to buy him so I can put him on my desk and have him glare at passer-bys. )

 

Still, ugliness is the finer point of villainy, eh?

 

As for Pohatu, what I mean by blandness is that, after building four different Toa who each brought something new to the table, Pohatu didn't. Building him was boring. I feel like they could have done something to make him stand out without detracting from his less-armored look, but as he is now, I just find him incredibly boring.

 

(plus no tan? boooooooo)

Pohatu brings brown back. Also, he is the only guy whose arms I can pose without snapping his shoulder off of the gearbox. He is gold.  

 

Anyway, to me the set just has more character. I could totally imagine a kid flying Pohatu around a "attack enemies" with the spear - Lewa requires a transform between "fly" mode and "attack" mode, and the choice between the two is kinda blurry. Lewa looks kinda cold and impersonal, whereas Pohatu is a warm and friendly little guy. But maybe that's my overactive imagination talking.

 

I would love to have a constraction set that comes with an actual awesome bow

Protector of Jungle bow not up to standard?

 

But I think I know - a real bow. Yes, I would support such a movement. 

 

Lego kind of overdid it with Chima. They basically wanted this to be the next Bionicle, the next big thing... it didn't quite pan out.

 

Not to mention, proportionately few of those were constraction figures.

Chima sets were incredible. Beautiful colors, sweet winged figs. The problem was, there were so many of them, and they were so expensive. (Case in point: the huge Mammoth set. Beautiful thing, with lovely trans-blue and that shade of brown. But pricey.)

 

The few exceptions to that rule I actually bought.  

 

Constraction is generally more niche than traditional Lego, no matter which way you slice it. The original Bionicle had a higher profile but a good deal of that can be chalked up to the comparably lower profile of other Lego themes during Lego's recovery from the brink of bankruptcy. Now that Lego has blockbuster hits like Ninjago, Chima, and The Lego Movie, themes like Bionicle that don't even use traditional bricks make up a much smaller piece of the pie.

I think it has grown more niche with time, actually. I may be suffering from comparisonitis, but in previous times, we had System, Technic, and Bionicle. Now these days we have so many names under the System label, whereas constraction only has a theme and maybe an offshoot of another System theme over here...it really seems a function of Lego's investment in the theme, versus System.

 

Also, I question whether Chima was really a blockbuster hit. That theme seems to be ending, and I don't see anyone trying to make a movie out of it.  

 

fifty Furno's hanging around.

Rocka's worst nightmare, coming through.

[Blueblur21]

I'm thinking of selling my Rokoh T3 set. How much should I sell it for?

[Katanga]

I'm thinking of selling my Rokoh T3 set. How much should I sell it for?

That's the one with Pohatu, right? Amazon has one listed new at 86 USD, give or take some change.

 

If yours is opened, but still in good condition and has all its pieces... I'd say you could maybe sell for ~65-ish? Though don't take my word for this, you might find a buyer willing to pay more.

[Zeb]

It's at a Target in Maine.

It's at Targets near me as well.

 

Constraction is generally more niche than traditional Lego, no matter which way you slice it. The original Bionicle had a higher profile but a good deal of that can be chalked up to the comparably lower profile of other Lego themes during Lego's recovery from the brink of bankruptcy. Now that Lego has blockbuster hits like Ninjago, Chima, and The Lego Movie, themes like Bionicle that don't even use traditional bricks make up a much smaller piece of the pie.

I think it has grown more niche with time, actually. I may be suffering from comparisonitis, but in previous times, we had System, Technic, and Bionicle. Now these days we have so many names under the System label, whereas constraction only has a theme and maybe an offshoot of another System theme over here...it really seems a function of Lego's investment in the theme, versus System.

 

Also, I question whether Chima was really a blockbuster hit. That theme seems to be ending, and I don't see anyone trying to make a movie out of it.  

 

Chima ended because it was supposed to end in 2015. Juts like how Ninjago was supposed to end in 2013, but it was so successful that Lego extended it, and after The Lego Movie, it was even announced to be getting its own movie. So Ninjago exceeded expectations and became the Bionicle of System sets.

 

Chima was pushed to become a big hit like Ninjago, but right now its like Ninjago during 2013. The theme feels like its ending. Back in 2013 on the Lego Message Boards, there was this big announcement telling everyone that Ninjago would continue into 2014, and there was this neat poster of Zane's face as he appears in the Ninjacopter set. I haven't seen any announcements for Chima staying, but technically Chima isn't over just yet. Chima is actually getting just 3 more sets this summer, which is supposed to be the final wave. Ninjago never got a Summer wave in 2013 because either Lego wasn't expecting Ninjago's success, or they were trying to make way for Chima. Likewise, I doubt Chima will get a Winter 2015/16 wave. However, there is a chance that Chima will get a Summer 2016 wave... if it was successful enough to be extended beyond its original 3-year plan. Interestingly enough, Bionicle is sort of in the same position as Ninjago & Chima have been. It's at the start of its 3-year run, and it has 3 years to prove itself worthy of being extended.

 

EDIT:

 

Attention all European buyers! Here's how you can get mutiple Hero Packs, or just get one if you don't intend on buying anything except it!

http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Hero-Pack-5002941

 

Also, check out that prototype Mask of Creation on the packaging. I guess the Mask of Creation design change must have been fairly late, because they'd already finished designing the package art for the promotional set.  That, or that prototype was just a placeholder until they finished designing the actual thing.

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/wghost/heropack/2015-01-31_22.22.53.jpg

Edited February 1, 2015 by SuperGeniusCreator

[Rider Of Spiders]

Am I alone on this:

 

When I heard Bionicle was coming back, I was delighted and would eagerly read everything I could find and watch TTV etc.

 

After the Toa had released, I started buying them like pretty much everyone else. However, now that we're talking about new villains and possibly redesigns, I don't think I'm gonna get any of them.(save for MM&SG)

 

I don't feel like buying many of them after the Toa, Ekimu and possibly(note: possibly) Makuta and Takanuva. I just feel, well, some sort of fatigue.

 

I feel I'm gonna get just the important characters and just follow the story after that, and I don't know whether that's what I like or not. The books sound cool, the animations are decent and I should get the GWP with the maps, bios ad stuff.

 

TL;DR

I think I'm gonna stop buying sets nearly completely and just follow the storyline: not sure if want.

[PokamuTheChexGuy]

I'm honestly in the same club, the new set designs just aren't doing it for me. I was already pretty "ehhhh" towards the Hordika and everything afterwards.

 

But if I'm following the story, I'll need comics! Are the monthly LEGO Mag comics going to see a return? I cancelled my sub ages ago, I'd like a reason to sign up again.

[Tea-rex]

Uh... the hero pack is 1 pence.

Is it supposed to be one pence? There's also no picture for it, but you can still zoom in. Everything else seems normal.

Picture.