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Mysterious Bionicle.com section


Namata

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Back when I was a kid and frequented the 2002-2003 version of Bionicle.com, I would sometimes end up on a (presumably) Flash-based, interactive page that showcased the Exo-Toa. It was taken down in the website overhaul in 2004, and unlike a lot of old content, was never uploaded again to my knowledge. Nor have I been able to find it on any fansites.

 

On the page were images and animations of the Exo-Toa in sort of a blueprint style, accompanied by techno beats. You could click on different sections of the model and get a closer look at the corresponding action features. There were also links to a similar game for the Bohrok and to that ungodly creepy Mata Nui explorer game. Does this ring a bell for anyone, or did I dream it up?

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Having trouble digging up any sources for reference, but I believe these three things (the bohrok thing, the exo toa thing, and the Mata Nui explorer) were accessible through the use of the codes printed on the three mini-comics in the Bohrok Awake trading card packs from McDonald's. Maybe later on they opened them up to make them accessible to anyone visiting the Bionicle site. I never saw any of the three myself back in the day, but the broken games download on BMP has non-functional versions of the two missing ones. Better than nothing I guess.

Edited by Peri
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believe victims. its actually not that hard, and youd look kind of bad if you were to, say, side with an abuser because theyre your friend

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I think the Exo-Toa page still exists on web.archive.org somewhere. You can find it if you dig hard enough. As Peri suggested, I believe it was part of the McDonald's promotion in 2002, so it was part of the McDonald's website, not bionicle.com.

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Ah, here's the minisite! I don't know what the standard point of access was supposed to be, but I got to it from a random link in the middle of the Exo-Toa bio, lol. I haven't been able to find a working version of Exo or Bohrok but I haven't looked exhaustively.

Edited by Peri
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believe victims. its actually not that hard, and youd look kind of bad if you were to, say, side with an abuser because theyre your friend

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This sort of old Bionicle.com stuff has fascinated me for ages. I have few memories of the 2001-2003 era of the site. I don't want to hijack the thread but since Peri seemingly found what you're looking for, something that has bugged me for a while is this throwaway memory of the site transition between 2005 and 2006. I recall that the 2005 website near the end of the year had on the bottom left corner a count-down with the Voya Nui logo above it. When it hit zero the 2006 website with the Piraka related content went live with a primarily white/light grey colour scheme, but then soon after switched to the black/dark grey colour scheme that it had for the majority of 2006. The wayback machine doesn't seem to corroborate this and only shows the dark colour scheme. Did my mind make up this false memory or what?

 

:kakama: 

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:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

:smilepohatunu: :smilehuki:

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This sort of old Bionicle.com stuff has fascinated me for ages. I have few memories of the 2001-2003 era of the site. I don't want to hijack the thread but since Peri seemingly found what you're looking for, something that has bugged me for a while is this throwaway memory of the site transition between 2005 and 2006. I recall that the 2005 website near the end of the year had on the bottom left corner a count-down with the Voya Nui logo above it. When it hit zero the 2006 website with the Piraka related content went live with a primarily white/light grey colour scheme, but then soon after switched to the black/dark grey colour scheme that it had for the majority of 2006. The wayback machine doesn't seem to corroborate this and only shows the dark colour scheme. Did my mind make up this false memory or what?

 

:kakama:

I remember a countdown, yes. I think it may have been advertised in the comics or maybe Club Magazine.

 

It may have been Flash-based, which would probably explain its Wayback absence.

Edited by Cheesy Mac n Cheese
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My friend went to Po-Wahi and all I got was this lousy rock.

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Blue sea...a Ruki leaps...the sound of water

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This sort of old Bionicle.com stuff has fascinated me for ages. I have few memories of the 2001-2003 era of the site. I don't want to hijack the thread but since Peri seemingly found what you're looking for, something that has bugged me for a while is this throwaway memory of the site transition between 2005 and 2006. I recall that the 2005 website near the end of the year had on the bottom left corner a count-down with the Voya Nui logo above it. When it hit zero the 2006 website with the Piraka related content went live with a primarily white/light grey colour scheme, but then soon after switched to the black/dark grey colour scheme that it had for the majority of 2006. The wayback machine doesn't seem to corroborate this and only shows the dark colour scheme. Did my mind make up this false memory or what?

 

:kakama:

 

I can confirm that. Not sure why they walked back on the white color scheme, it was pretty cool. 

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This sort of old Bionicle.com stuff has fascinated me for ages. I have few memories of the 2001-2003 era of the site. I don't want to hijack the thread but since Peri seemingly found what you're looking for, something that has bugged me for a while is this throwaway memory of the site transition between 2005 and 2006. I recall that the 2005 website near the end of the year had on the bottom left corner a count-down with the Voya Nui logo above it. When it hit zero the 2006 website with the Piraka related content went live with a primarily white/light grey colour scheme, but then soon after switched to the black/dark grey colour scheme that it had for the majority of 2006. The wayback machine doesn't seem to corroborate this and only shows the dark colour scheme. Did my mind make up this false memory or what?

 

:kakama:

 

I can confirm that. Not sure why they walked back on the white color scheme, it was pretty cool. 

 

Yeah, I remember loving the initial design right after the website launched, it looked better than the dark one imo. 

 

:kakama:

  • Upvote 1

:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

:smilepohatunu: :smilehuki:

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First of all, thank you Peri and Planetperson for your help! This is indeed the thing I was searching for, and I'm glad it still exists in some capacity.

 

This sort of old Bionicle.com stuff has fascinated me for ages. I have few memories of the 2001-2003 era of the site. I don't want to hijack the thread but since Peri seemingly found what you're looking for, something that has bugged me for a while is this throwaway memory of the site transition between 2005 and 2006. I recall that the 2005 website near the end of the year had on the bottom left corner a count-down with the Voya Nui logo above it. When it hit zero the 2006 website with the Piraka related content went live with a primarily white/light grey colour scheme, but then soon after switched to the black/dark grey colour scheme that it had for the majority of 2006. The wayback machine doesn't seem to corroborate this and only shows the dark colour scheme. Did my mind make up this false memory or what?

 

:kakama:

 

I don't remember a proper countdown, but I do remember the Voya Nui logo. As forthe white skin, I remember it too and I believe it was introduced gradually throughout the winter of 2005. Every week or so it looked as if a new dash of white paint had been thrown at the site. It was actually a pretty excellent way of teasing 06, along with the buckling garage door that everyone knew had the Piraka standing behind it. As you and Wrinkledlion X said, it's a shame they abandoned the white skin almost immediately, because it looked great.

 

I just remember how fun the bionicle site used to be in the old days, before about 2007 or so. 2008 maybe? Somehow it changed and became another generic product site.

 

This. There were some designs I liked in the later years, like the Mistika and Glatorian skins, but man did the website get a downgrade in 07. It used to be a hub for a plethora of old and new story content, truly cementing the lore as the main appeal of Bionicle. Then with the Barraki, all that was discarded in favor of a lackluster "Story" section that only covered the current year, like any other Lego subsite at the time (we had access to some old stuff through the Kanoka club, but that was hardly the same). We got Bioniclestory.com some time later, though, and you could argue that the idea of having one site that detailed the overarching story and one that promoted the current wave was not a bad one.

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The white skin is preserved on Wayback!

 

And here are the leadup paintover skins:

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

 

I hadn't remembered any of this, but the 'something new is on the loose' countdown is definitely ringing bells for me!

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believe victims. its actually not that hard, and youd look kind of bad if you were to, say, side with an abuser because theyre your friend

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The white skin is preserved on Wayback!

 

And here are the leadup paintover skins:

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

 

I hadn't remembered any of this, but the 'something new is on the loose' countdown is definitely ringing bells for me!

This is amazing, finally some closure! This brings back so many memories. Thanks for linking that!

 

:kakama: 

  • Upvote 1

:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

:smilepohatunu: :smilehuki:

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