Announcing BZPower's Battle for the Gold Mask Winners

[Hapori Tohu]

BZPower had 864 entries to the Battle for the Gold Mask contest, which is really impressive considering across the six sites there were only 1864 entries total. With all those creations, it was difficult to narrow down the competition, but we with a lot of consideration the list was whittled down to ten and from there the panel of LEGO judges picked their top three. Today the team is ready to announce most of the winners (we're still waiting to hear back from some of them, but didn't want to keep you waiting). To see who made the cut on BZPower and the other participating sites, read on!

 

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[Gatanui]

We originally planned on participating but we did not have much time this semester (especially my brother) so we realized that since there are at least six other golden masks we'd wait for another opportunity.

 

When I look at the finalists (especially Roa's of course) I realize I wouldn't have had much of a chance. That's really impressive. Congratulations! Best of luck in the semifinals. VampireBohrok's, while not impressive in size, still strikes me with a unique and truly creepy design. Great job!

Edited December 19, 2014 by Gatanui

[xccj]

Some impressive final models... but wow that's a lot of entries!! I wonder how many will stick around on BZP for future BBC Contests?

 

[Zippo]

Now those are some pretty dang sick MOCs. Congrats to the winners!

[Jayk]

A well-deserved selection!  Simply stunning creation by Roa, and Helsephyr is delightfully creepy, as Gatanui said.  Congratulations are in order all around!

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

ah yeah man, these things really deserved the winning spots, smooth and dark and very imposing.

 

was a bit surprised by the winner because i hadn't heard of that person since the old forums. o:

[Haotaus]

Congrats to the winners, and to those who entered.  I hope LEGO notices our dedication to Bionicle and knows that there still are fans in this theme.

[Torran]

As soon as I saw Roa's I thought, "Well it was nice imagining I might win..."
 

Congratulations you two (three soon), and all the best in the finals!

[Zeb]

I thought I had a chance until I saw Akutahn.  And Helsephyr is very unique and creepy-looking. Both deserve winning. I can't wait to see what the third one is!  Congratulations to all who won, and good luck on all your future MOCing projects!

[Nescent]

Congratulations everyone, what an amazing lineup. I really hope there are more contests for the remaining gold masks!

[Reya]

Roa will win. That MOC is just amazing.

Congrats guys!

[Chro]

Congratulations.

[Roa McToa]

Wowee i am still having a hard time realizing i made it into the finals! There were some really awesome entries and i looove Helsephyr! So evil and awesome! Holycrow imma gonne be crossing my fingers for sure.congrats to all the winners and cant wait to see who came in third!

[renaldohoek]

 

Congradjumalations to Roa and VB. The time, thought, and dedication put into these really shows. You guys deserve it.

 

Any word on who placed third? I'm rooting for the golden scorpion thing.

[Cambion]

congratulations to Roa and VB! nice to see both of them back in action and better than ever. looking forward to seeing who our third place was (and also seeing Roa win the contest).

[Lyichir]

The two finalists so far are good, although I do hope that not ALL the winning entries are so titanic. It's entirely possible to make a creative and distinctive figure at a more manageable scale, but I often feel that smaller models get overlooked in favor of the "wow" factor of colossal builds.

[Xan]

I didn't expect to win, but well done to everybody that entered.

[Rooster Nui]

Congratulations to the lucky winners, especially Roa. I'm glad I entered for the sake of participation, but I stood no chance.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

Congrats to all the winners! Those are some really impressive MOCs! 

[IcarusBen]

I like Roa's, though I remember seeing a smaller MOC that I feel should've won instead. It looked amazing, very menacing, and overall pretty neat. Some sort of guardian thing with twin swords... IDK.

 

Still, good luck to Roa, she put a lot of work into this and here's hoping it pays off.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

Wow! Roa McToa's model is just... Holy moly, that is a lot of detail!

 

The second place winner looks fantastic as well. These are amazing Mocs, and the amount submitted for the contest is just a crazy big number. Can't wait to see what the other sites come up with.

 

-NotS

[Nescent]

Wow! Roa McToa's model is just... Holy moly, that is a lot of detail!

 

The second place winner looks fantastic as well. These are amazing Mocs, and the amount submitted for the contest is just a crazy big number. Can't wait to see what the other sites come up with.

 

-NotS

When Roa submitted her MoC I was like "Okay. Yeah. There it is, I knew someone would enter some collosal demon at the last second that triumphs everything."

 

It was a little inconspicuous in the article, but all eighteen of the winners were announced on Rebrick, so you don't have to wait to see the other sites' winners: http://rebrick.lego.com/en-US/BottomMenu/Blog/12192014-bionicle-semi-finalists.aspx

[Kyori]

Wow!!! Those MOCs are amazing!!!!

 

Congrazzles to Roa McToa! Akutahn is very stunning and looks like he just walked out of Bionicle universe. Those have got to be the best wings I've ever seen on any set, MOC or otherwise. And not just that either; I love the amount of detail on his armor and especially his mask. I can definitely see this guy ominously flying overhead. Best of luck to you in the final round! I'm sure you'll do great!

 

And congrazzles too to VampireBohrok! Helsephyr is just beautifully creepy. And that photography is just perfect! The lighting and the setting really bring out the spooky little details and add just the right amount of emphasis on his features to give off that shadowy, dangerous atmosphere. I'm not kidding when I say that I almost thought the photo was a 3D rendering at first glance; it was so nicely done and set so beautifully built. I swear, it looks like he just emerged from a shadowy portal from the Bionicle world to ours. o.0

[V-N]

Congratulations to all the winners, especially Roa. Hopefully she goes all the way, but boy does she magnificently represent BZPower, and do the site proud.

[Toa Borox]

Congrats on the winners! Those are some pretty epic MOCs! Though, I/some people were right that the most complex models would be picked.
[not at all bitter ] Hopefully the next contests involve creative writing, instead of building ahaha. 

[Pomegranate]

These really are worthy of being big, epic villains for Okoto. I remember how creeped out I was seeing the second place entry for the first time! Congrats to all three winners

[Brappy Hour]

Oh well, maybe next time.

 

Congrats to all the finalists. Fantastic work.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

It was a little inconspicuous in the article, but all eighteen of the winners were announced on Rebrick, so you don't have to wait to see the other sites' winners: http://rebrick.lego.com/en-US/BottomMenu/Blog/12192014-bionicle-semi-finalists.aspx

Oh man, I totally missed that. All the finalists have amazing mocs. Really great showing! Good luck to all!

 

-NotS

[Bedrock1]

Beating out 865 other entries, Roa McToa proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that girls can build Bionicle too.

Uhh... Who said they couldn't? Seriously? I find it a bit strange that you're commenting on the gender of the winner as if it's a weird thing.

Oh, wow, a girl won! That's amazing! I guess that shows how amazing women are!

I must comment on this competition's similarity to the build-a-makuta 2008 one. The winner was not the best constructed, most imaginative or most aestheticly pleasing, it was the biggest. The only things the judges could comment on was how big it was, the "combination of shapes" and the wings. The WINGS. Those wings are just cookie cutter. They use those technic joints and the standard tattered cape piece.  Anyone could make those wings, they just decided not to because it's unimaginative, and creative use of parts was a category being judged. That's why I made my entry small, so I could do stuff like using CCBS shell pieces as the framework for the limbs. The elbows are paper-thin, the torso is too long compared to the legs, the feet are too small, the colours are very badly spread out, those hips are incredulously horrible and that head is just plain ugly. I also see many parts which are unavailable to the public as of now, and I don't like this. The moc as it stands would be impossible to be made by anyone without those pieces, which they flat out cannot get. This means it's not so much about a builder's raw skill, but simply whether or not lego loves them enough to give them an unfair advantage.Yeah... No.

I think the winner was chosen not because of, well, anything they SAID they would be choosing the winner on, but simply because of it's size and the fact that it was built by a female ex-member of staff.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think I should have won, or anything, but you don't have to be a good chef to tell if your meal is bad. Helsephyr is WAY better in my opinion, but even it suffers from legs being far too short and ugly hands. Note how I didn't check the builder's personal information there and let that influence my decision?

We still have to see who came third, but I think the top two choices were very poor.

 

Edit: I'm NOW after checking VB's info, and he's a Premier Member.

Methinks this competition not judged 100% fairly.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Bedrock1

[IcarusBen]

While I don't like Akutahn as a MOC, the rules stated you could use and Lego pieces in your collection, even the rare ones or the 2015 ones. It may be unfair, but it's Lego's rules. 

 

Actually, Helsephyr reminds of an old MOC design I had that relied entirely on the color black, a sort of walking shadow. He looks good. The legs might need to be a little longer (possibly using a leg beam with an extra O) but it looks really neat, and the hands look very sinister to me.

 

Of course, this is a very subjective opinion, so... yeah. 

[Nescent]

 

Oh, wow, a girl won! That's amazing! I guess that shows how amazing women are!

 

Who are you quoting exactly? I think you are paraphrasing in an attempt to change the meaning of the line. Gender didn't affect the judgement of any of the entries.

 

Edit: I'm NOW after checking VB's info, and he's a Premier Member.

Methinks this competition not judged 100% fairly.

Are you kidding me? Should they have banned premier members from entering the contest? At this point you are just looking for excuses to make the judging look unfair. It was made very clear that the only thing being judged is the entries themselves, and not the people submitting them.

 

Edit: I apologize if that sounded flamey, I don't mean to sound aggressive. I just think your post made a lot of unnecessarily negative (and extremely speculative) observations.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Dark Blue

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

~clipped for length~

 

Someone seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the [bionicle analogy for bed] this morning.

 

Is the winner big? sure, did that sway the judges? idk, maybe?

 

but the piece use is creative, it's pretty darn hard to make something big out of bionicle pieces and not have it be boxy, gappy, messily colored, or all three.

 

but that thing's got pretty clean color composition, and smooth edges to boot. so *shrugs* i don't see how it's bad that particular entry won? :0

[Ziontyro Metalhead]

Congradulations to all the winners. Well, I did my best and there was no harm in entering.

[Bedrock1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, wow, a girl won! That's amazing! I guess that shows how amazing women are!

Who are you quoting exactly?I think you are paraphrasing in an attempt to change the meaning of the line. Gender didn't affect the judgement of any of the entries.

Edit: I'm NOW after checking VB's info, and he's a Premier Member.

Methinks this competition not judged 100% fairly.

Are you kidding me? Should they have banned premier members from entering the contest? At this point you are just looking for excuses to make the judging look unfair. It was made very clear that the only thing being judged is the entries themselves, and not the people submitting them.

Edit: I apologize if that sounded flamey, I don't mean to sound aggressive. I just think your post made a lot of unnecessarily negative (and extremely speculative) observations.

 

 

I was exaggerating B6's post for comedic effect and to emphasise the message I felt he was sending. And, uh, how do you know gender didn't effect it? Are you B6? Because what he said sounded like blatant pandering to women to me. And no, I'm not saying premiers should be banned. But I found it a bit coincidental that first place is ex staff and second place is literally paying the site. And it's okay. I'm a very observant and negative person.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~clipped for length~

 

 

Someone seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the [bionicle analogy for bed] this morning.

 

Is the winner big? sure, did that sway the judges? idk, maybe?

 

but the piece use is creative, it's pretty darn hard to make something big out of bionicle pieces and not have it be boxy, gappy, messily colored, or all three.

 

but that thing's got pretty clean color composition, and smooth edges to boot. so *shrugs* i don't see how it's bad that particular entry won? :0

I wake up in the middle of the bed :/

It's pretty evident the size swayed the judges, seeing as this isn't the first time it's happened. Like I said, the colours themselves are okay but they're distributed poorly, the limb thickness is uneven and it's horribly proportioned. A potato has clean colour composition and is smooth. Even a really big one. But is a potato imaginative, interesting, and does a potato look good?

[dviddy]

Eh. I like VB's MOC, but I think there were a dozen smaller MOCs that looked better that should have been there instead (not referring to mine, I entered just because I felt like I should, not because I thought it deserved to win, and I don't think it did). I feel this way about most of the sites' winners over the six sites, honestly. I think, looking at the entire list of winners from all the sites, it seems "bigger equals better" won out in a lot of places, and I think that's disappointing. There are some cool details in the winning MOC, but I find it underwhelming overall, it feels like size for size's sake (which was a good strategy, apparently!)

 

Congratulations anyway, of course! It'll be interesting to see who wins the mask! I have no favourite in the mix at all, so it'll be fun to see!

[Meiko]

Congratulations to all the winners! I couldn't follow all of the entries because there were so many; it must have been even harder to narrow it down to just 3.

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

 Like I said, the colours themselves are okay but they're distributed poorly, the limb thickness is uneven and it's horribly proportioned. A potato has clean colour composition and is smooth. Even a really big one. But is a potato imaginative, interesting, and does a potato look good?

 

I think you'll find you're making that analogy at the wrong person. :u

 

(also not too sure what your idea of "well proportioned" would be if this thing's got bad proportions?)

Edited December 20, 2014 by Rahkshi Lalonde

[Toa Borox]

lol, this if getting good.

Tbh, who didn't expect people to be upset about the judge's decisions? A 24k GOLD mask was one a the line. And ya'll know what gold does to people. 

[believe victims]

I don't think the judges have a "bigger = better" bias so much as we as humans have a tendency to view larger things as more imposing. I mean, sure, you can be scared of a spider, but what about a bigger spider? Big things intimidate us, so in a contest to build an intimidating entry, big is a safe bet. Not to say that small entries were bad, or inferior in any way; I would also have loved to see some smaller builds featured. I'm just saying what I think is probably part of what influenced that aspect of the judging.

 

That said, I'm appalled at the suggestion that the judges picked an entry just because it was big, and I in fact think it's incredibly rude and insulting towards Roa to suggest it's the only reason she won.

[dviddy]

That said, I'm appalled at the suggestion that the judges picked an entry just because it was big, and I in fact think it's incredibly rude and insulting towards Roa to suggest it's the only reason she won.

I just don't see much else worthwhile in the design. I'm the first to admit the style she utilizes is far from my favourite, and it has some cool techniques, but the overall MOC just doesn't feel worthy of the placing to me. I'm not a judge, so my words carry no weight, of course. But since you're implying an insult where I mean none... The engineering to build something solid, articulated, well-balanced, and at that scale is always something she does more impressively than anyone else, and something far beyond my abilities to do so. Her talents are obvious and numerous.

 

I still don't like the MOC and feel like it's size overshadows better MOCs that were in the competition and deserved the spot instead.

Edited December 20, 2014 by DeeVee