Unpopular Opinions?

[Wrinkledlion X]

On the subject of Greg's writing abilities...I would say that he's a very uneven writer, but not a bad one. When he's writing in an elevated style, he's fantastic. The main problem with Greg is that he can be self-limiting; he'll write in jokes and one-liners where they don't belong, and it comes across as lacking in confidence. (Think the embarrassing Wizard of Oz references in "Brothers in Arms.".) When he treats the story with appropriate dignity and really gives it room to breathe, however, he can produce some great stuff.His 2001-2003 comics kept a straight face, and allowed you to take them seriously. Same thing with the first half of the 2006 novels, before they degenerated into monotonous action sequences; those Karzhani and Voya Nui scenes were wonderful, and contributed to some of the best worldbuilding since 2001. Parts of the 2008 books were very good as well—Krika had some great character moments, and I was a big fan of the ending. Makuta's appearance in the stars was as dramatic a moment as anything from 2001, and in a sense it re-deified him. He was suddenly Nothing and Everything—a god of destruction not seen since the MNOLG.Greg's biggest problem is that he'd always let too many mundanities seep into the story. The worst example I can think of is the way he handled the big reveal of Mata Nui's true form. Watching Mata Nui awaken in that CGI animation was awe-inspiring: what WE saw was a towering god, his head reaching into the clouds, rising from an endless sea. His body contains the entire universe that we've explored for years. All-encompassing.But what did Greg call him? A giant robot.Well, jeez, I guess. Technically speaking, yeah, sure he's a giant robot. But isn't he a bit more than that? I mean, he's alive, he's full of living things—is he really any more of a robot than, say, Tahu? What a shockingly boring way to talk about something so grand! Now, for contrast, let's look at a quote from Makuta's Guide to the Universe. Narrated by Makuta himself, Greg adopts an elevated style:

The heroic Toa returned to Metru Nui, even as the Great Spirit Mata Nui began to rise. Of course, no one but I truly knew what that meant. I had been to places no one else had ever seen. I have learned the ultimate truth - that Mata Nui did not rule the universe of the Matoran - he was the universe. The Great Spirit was a vast being of metal, a thing of armored power, within whom dwelled the Toa, Matoran, Makuta, Vortixx, Skakdi, Zyglak, and every other species. The land masses we dwelled upon were but parts of Mata Nui's substance, existing to keep him functioning. We had looked to the heavens for our Great Spirit, when he was truly all around us.

That's what I'm talking about! Grand, eloquent, mythological... Effective! Why did Greg have to refer to him as a "Giant Robot" every other time when he's clearly capable of writing stuff that captures the grandeur of BIONICLE? Why did he have to hold back and give us mundane one-liners and comic book action when he could write so much more? I think it's a shame, because he really can be a great writer when he pushes himself. Even his simpler stuff can be great when he handled it without a sense of irony; look at

Journey of Takanuva. It's a wonderful little book that quickly establishes a vivid world and mysterious tone, and it works as well as anything from 2001. And to boot, it's a story about parallel dimensions, which I've always hated in BIONICLE... But it makes it work.

Anyway, I think it's unfair to say that Greg is a bad writer. He's produced so much that I sincerely love, and beyond that he's also a great, hardworking guy. His main flaw is that he often chickens out and fails to live up to his potential.

[The Great Spirit DM]

Anyway, I think it's unfair to say that Greg is a bad writer. He's produced so much that I sincerely love, and beyond that he's also a great, hardworking guy. His main flaw is that he often chickens out and fails to live up to his potential.

Yes, he must find the golden weapons of Spingitzu and unlock his true potential.On the topic of... well... this topic. We have no way that I know of to judge what opinions are popular and which are not. Aside from polling, but not everyone is going to enter a poll. You can, however, say that some are more vocal than others and that can indeed be tested.

[Kopekemaster]

Well, I thought the continual loop of Mata Nui dying (or did he? ) and coming back to life got kinda tiresome.

[Aanchir]

Well, I thought the continual loop of Mata Nui dying (or did he? ) and coming back to life got kinda tiresome.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. He died once, in 2007, and came back to life once, also in 2007. As for him actually waking up from the sleep he'd been in since before the 2001 story, that wasn't until 2008.On a similar note, I do have to say that in the early years of BIONICLE, I got really tired by Makuta's constant reappearance in the story. Even in 2003 it bugged me, since I had been pretty sure he had already been defeated, and having seen the Bahrag (who felt like a much scarier threat, with their many powers and their long, secret history), it was annoying to learn he had been behind their release as well.It wasn't until Time Trap that I truly got a grasp of how he could be so easy for the Toa to keep defeating and yet still be a meaningful threat. Time Trap was not my favorite book like it was for many people, but it sure helped a lot, and after that I began to take Makuta's thorough involvement in the story as a much more natural thing. I guess that could be called an "unpopular opinion" I got over after 2005, then. It did sort of resurface when we learned that Makuta had in fact been subdued by Takanuva's mind when merged into Takutanuva, so even in 2006 he was still evil and still a threat. But Time Trap again helped me to get over this a lot more quickly than I would have otherwise.

[VeoiTheRascal]

This opinion could possibly be unpopular:I disliked that the Bionicle story line moved on to a completely different world and set of characters. Granted, I understand that Bionicle was becoming exceedingly complex for newbies of the target audience to make sense of and needed to have a 'beginning' for new audiences to sink their teeth into. That being said, when I saw the Mata-Nui robot rising from the ocean and realizing who was actually in control of that body I was pumped. I was thinking, OHHhhhh... what are the Toa going. to. DO? Or anyone in the Matoran Universe for that matter! I was so excited for the story potential for the characters WITHIN the Mata-nui robot that I was completely thrown and not a little disappointed when the story vered off to an entirely different WORLD. There was the online serials to give you some story from the MU but just wasn't enough for me. (T^T) --VeOi ThE rAsCaL

[Dralcax]

This opinion could possibly be unpopular:I disliked that the Bionicle story line moved on to a completely different world and set of characters. Granted, I understand that Bionicle was becoming exceedingly complex for newbies of the target audience to make sense of and needed to have a 'beginning' for new audiences to sink their teeth into. That being said, when I saw the Mata-Nui robot rising from the ocean and realizing who was actually in control of that body I was pumped. I was thinking, OHHhhhh... what are the Toa going. to. DO? Or anyone in the Matoran Universe for that matter! I was so excited for the story potential for the characters WITHIN the Mata-nui robot that I was completely thrown and not a little disappointed when the story vered off to an entirely different WORLD. There was the online serials to give you some story from the MU but just wasn't enough for me. (T^T)--VeOi ThE rAsCaL

I know. At first I thought Glatorian were forced gladiator battles in the MU under Teridax's martial law, judging from the early promo with the huge dark grey Vahki leg part.. Then the story failed epicly.

[Vandenreich]

--VeOi ThE rAsCaL

I know. At first I thought Glatorian were forced gladiator battles in the MU under Teridax's martial law, judging from the early promo with the huge dark grey Vahki leg part.. Then the story failed epicly.

That would have been extremly awesome.But I thought that the World Switching Hating was a popular opinion ?

[VeoiTheRascal]

This opinion could possibly be unpopular:I disliked that the Bionicle story line moved on to a completely different world and set of characters. Granted, I understand that Bionicle was becoming exceedingly complex for newbies of the target audience to make sense of and needed to have a 'beginning' for new audiences to sink their teeth into. That being said, when I saw the Mata-Nui robot rising from the ocean and realizing who was actually in control of that body I was pumped. I was thinking, OHHhhhh... what are the Toa going. to. DO? Or anyone in the Matoran Universe for that matter! I was so excited for the story potential for the characters WITHIN the Mata-nui robot that I was completely thrown and not a little disappointed when the story vered off to an entirely different WORLD. There was the online serials to give you some story from the MU but just wasn't enough for me. (T^T)--VeOi ThE rAsCaL

I know. At first I thought Glatorian were forced gladiator battles in the MU under Teridax's martial law, judging from the early promo with the huge dark grey Vahki leg part.. Then the story failed epicly.

It's not that it failed, just didn't have the spark of the previous world. And the sets put me off as well.Deltus: could be! I was just racking my brain to put a opinion of mine that I hadn't seen being agreed to in a while. It probably doesn't help that I'm not the most active member on this site. [~_~;] Edited March 30, 2012 by VeoiTheRascal

[Collector1]

I realy do miss Mata Nui and the 2003 Matoran.

[BenLuke]

^ How is that unpopular? Saying you didn't like 2001-2003 that much would be an unpopular opinion.

[T3CHn0-LAz0oRZ]

i actually want the whole team of hordika.

[WORT WORT WORT]

WE NEEED A LIFE SIZED SPIRIT ROBOT!!!!!!that's an unpopular opinion unless yur on the lego message boards lol.

[Lyichir]

WE NEEED A LIFE SIZED SPIRIT ROBOT!!!!!!that's an unpopular opinion unless yur on the lego message boards lol.

Wait, what? By life-sized, do you mean to scale with the Toa sets or to scale with humans? If the former, it'd be at least as big as a small town; if the latter it'd be country-sized. I can understand why such an unrealistic idea would be unpopular. I can't think of anyone who would or could buy that much LEGO, save for perhaps the Merlin entertainment group which purchased the Legoland Parks.

[fishers64]

2001-03 story was lame and boring. 2004-05 was so much better.

WE NEEED A LIFE SIZED SPIRIT ROBOT!!!!!!that's an unpopular opinion unless yur on the lego message boards lol.

Wait, what? By life-sized, do you mean to scale with the Toa sets or to scale with humans? If the former, it'd be at least as big as a small town; if the latter it'd be country-sized. I can understand why such an unrealistic idea would be unpopular. I can't think of anyone who would or could buy that much LEGO, save for perhaps the Merlin entertainment group which purchased the Legoland Parks.

Why would anybody what that? There is no point, unless you can get money by selling tours of it, and anybody with enough money to build such a thing probably has the sense to spend their venture capital elsewhere. Unless you want to be completely crazy...*grabs bullhorn* Tonight we are having a meeting of the Bring Back Bionicle club. Meet us in the Coliseum at 6 to join our two hour march to Billund (giant robot transportation provided free of charge).

[bonesiii]

WE NEEED A LIFE SIZED SPIRIT ROBOT!!!!!!that's an unpopular opinion unless yur on the lego message boards lol.

Wait, what? By life-sized, do you mean to scale with the Toa sets or to scale with humans? If the former, it'd be at least as big as a small town; if the latter it'd be country-sized. I can understand why such an unrealistic idea would be unpopular. I can't think of anyone who would or could buy that much LEGO, save for perhaps the Merlin entertainment group which purchased the Legoland Parks.

Preeetty sure he was joking.

[D-D-D-Ddude]

I liked that gigantic, limited-edition Toa Mata Nui set.Excuse me while I grab an umbrella to shield myself from all the hatred which will soon rain upon me.

[shadow pridak money gang]

There was only 1 think i didnt like about bionicle at all. For the the entire run of bionicle, start to end, I still couldnt grasp my head around the point of having Stone and Earth as seperate elements. Now I understand it from a village point of view, 1 lives in the desert, the other in a cave. But they are esentially the same thing.Everything else was awesome, even the ones that noone else liked

Oh, my God, THIS. It always annoyed me.-Teezy

[The Swimming Beard]

I actually love the inika build, even as overused as it was. I also think action features are kind of bad, as they inhibit posing.

[Toatapio Nuva]

I don't understand why many BZPers complain about the movies (other than TLR). I think the first three movies were astounding (although MOL had too many "false" deaths).Also, I dislike the violence of the Inika/Mahri, while most think it's AWESOME!

[fishers64]

Well, the only movie that didn't really impress me was WoS, but the was because it was dark and grim and so not the way the novel told the story.I liked TLR. *gets run over*

[Vandenreich]

I liked Kiina in TLR *Is killed by raging mob*

[Scanty Demon]

I liked Kiina in TLR *Is killed by raging mob*

I agree, she was nice contrast from previous female major Toa characters (yes Helyrx was a good contrast but she was more of a minor major character). As I said in another topic she wasn't the motherly type she the town crazy and wanted to find something in life.

[Vandenreich]

I liked Kiina in TLR *Is killed by raging mob*

I agree, she was nice contrast from previous female major Toa characters (yes Helyrx was a good contrast but she was more of a minor major character). As I said in another topic she wasn't the motherly type she the town crazy and wanted to find something in life.

Yeah I liked the Motherly wisdom in Gali but when it leeked into Nokama and tons of other female characters I got pretty bored of it.

[Makaru]

I see no discernible difference between HF and Bionicle.Storyline and sets.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Makaru

[Aanchir]

Sort of related to the above comment, I really felt that some of the "unwritten rules" about character types in BIONICLE were boring and made the characters feel repetitive, so I was happy when both the sets and the story started to break away from them.I loved that Toa Mahri Kongu had hunched proportions, demonstrating that not all Le-Matoran are tall and elflike and that not all characters with hunched posture were Onu-Matoran or Matoran of Stone. The same applied for Matoro. Needless to say I found the whining about all these characters' depictions more than a little obnoxious, given the inherent assumption that Toa of Air and Ice, especially important ones, were expected to be tall, handsome heroes with no major physical variance.Really the Toa Mahri broke down a number of the assumptions established about Toa in previous waves, and I liked that. Hahli was very bold, making decisions for herself rather than simply trying to make peace within her team, which was consistent with her previous depictions but very different from previous Toa of Water. Kongu being another cocky jokester like previous Toa of Air felt cliche and out-of-character compared to his 2001-2003 depiction, so I was overjoyed when BIONICLE Legends #8 actually explained this shift in characterization rather than just ignoring it. In the same book, I loved that Toa Jaller, rather than being a confident leader like Tahu, was plagued with uncertainty about whether he was meeting the expectations set by previous Toa of Fire as team leaders, which was expressed brilliantly in that same scene when he contemplates how Kongu would have been just as qualified to lead as he was.This isn't to say I didn't like there being any patterns at all among the personalities of the Matoran in each tribe. But it bothered me how they were sometimes assumed to be identical in both form and personality except by circumstance. The Glatorian broke away from personality patterns entirely, but it was the Mahri who really dismantled the repetitiveness of Toa in both story and sets.

[Athmos]

The best part of Bionicle was it's ending. Just kidding. Although, I did like the entire "Moon Head Smash Kill Makuta" thing.

[Dralcax]

I don't like poniesI don't like any humanoid Bionicle sets without Kanohi.

[Onewa7]

I liked 2005. ALL of it.The Visorak were amazing.

Same. It's always annoying for me to see how many people seem to dislike 2005. Okay, the sets were all clones, but other than that, it's a normal year like any other.

[Control_Vee]

Oh sheesh, where to begin.Story-wise, anything after Metru-Nui just... didn't fit for me. The parts were cool, yes, but things just seemed to go absolutely crazy for me. Toa, fighting for their lives and the fate of the universe - oh no wait let's mess around with piraka beasts, squid monsters, and gladiators! (The parts were decent, but that's all i'm giving them. I don't really like the new head style though.)...Gah. I just don't think they should have gone past Voya Nui. Mahri was cool, yes, but things just got a bit strange there. I mean, it was cool how there was suddenly six enemies, one for each toa, in Voya Nui (Kal and Vahki don't count since there were more than just one of each, at least according to the Bionicle Game) but... I think they were starting to go a bit far with trying to get 'launcher' parts. Do people really want kids flicking around little projectiles? And you know that almost every kid disregards that little thing on the back that says 'do not launch at people'. I'm not trying to get all 'mreh mreh kid safety', but i nearly accidentally smacked my sister in the eye with a Zamor sphere back in the day. Plus those launchers were just so fiddly, and i actually literally built a custom little thing at the top of my zamor sphere case (that thing that holds four zamor on top of the launcher) just so they wouldn't pop out whenever i tried to fire. And, both the squid launcher and that whatever-it's-called gatling gun, er, gun, well, they were both really fiddly, the squid launcher i could launch but it just got stuck more of the time. The Cordak Launcher ( At least, that's what i think it's called) could fire, but it just didn't seem right when it did, and it left something to be desired. Plus, the little bullet things got stuck in their slots too often and i could never get them out. (Which is wierd, since i found one or two of my cordak launchers nowadays and i can't find the boolets anywhere.) Aside from the launchers, i honestly loved Voya Nui. The VNOG was fun, the little freetheband games were fun, Bionicle Heroes was fun, all the parts were amazing......Mahri nui just seemed really over-hyped. The games were really bad, and either click-and-point target practice or really weird platformers (I'm talking about you, Matoro. Many times have i somehow gotten stuck in a boulder i'm supposed to push.) The sets were okay, but some things just seemed left to be desired. They looked a bit too much like soldiers or something for my liking. Hahli was probably the only one i liked at this point. (I somehow ended up with two Hahli Mahri sets, actually - hooray, i have two claw pieces.) The main thing that i even liked about this was the videos. They were dynamic and had neat effects, but other than that it seemed really strange....Don't get me started on Glatorians.Are you sure? Here goes...Whoaaa! Now there's gladiators! Now there's a little game you play!But there isn't!Now there is!What's going on?You always miscount that silly little life counter on the back!Thornax always seemed to slip out of their launchers for me...The story was okay for each village, but the whole giant-robots mata-nui himself getting there was really strange to me. Aside from explaining the origins of each village, the rest of the story pretty much confused me. I did, however, absolutely hate the new head pieces. I still do. No backwards compatible helmets! Nope. Nah-ah. No way. Just helmets. For one line of sets....Ugh. At least you can backwards compatible the metru head masks onto the Mata heads to an extent, and vice-versa to an extent.And with the whole robot-fighting story... How is a moon supposed to kill a giant robot that literally CREATED the moons and is supposed to be bigger than anything?And then there's Phantoka/Mistika...I never really understood it.Jetpacks!Vehicles!Pump blasters!Silver ball launchers that are OBVIOUSLY not zamor ripoffs!It was extremely hard to follow the story, and the minigames were just horrible to me.Plus... Hero Factory? To me? Rescue heroes, but you build them.Hero factory.Rescue Heroes.See the likeness, anyone?/end rant

Edited April 26, 2012 by Leraku

[Lyichir]

Plus... Hero Factory? To me? Rescue heroes, but you build them.Hero factory.Rescue Heroes.See the likeness, anyone?/end rant

Your post was so massive and rambling that I couldn't reply to all of it. But let me just point out a significant difference between HF and Rescue Heroes.Hero Factory has villains.This may not seem like a big thing, but back in the day when my little brother was into Rescue Heroes, that was one of the most frustrating aspects of that toyline. There were no villains, and no civilians. The firefighter and coast guard characters had no one to save but each other, and the police officers were out-and-out useless (unless you wanted to create a story where one of the heroes went rogue, which is much less child friendly than if some of the toys had robbers or something).Hero Factory still has a lack of civilians, but this is not such an issue since Hero Factory is largely a police force, focused on taking down villains. And what villains it has! While they typically lack complex motivations, the villain characters are one of my favorite parts of the Hero Factory theme. They're quirky, colorful, and usually slightly mad. They're not just hoodlums and vagabonds, but more like Batman's Rogues Gallery: mostly insane, all dangerous. With the most recent TV episode seeming to set up a "Villain Factory" in the future, I think we're going to see more in depth villains who explore the differences between villains and heroes, like BIONICLE did when it introduced the lawless-yet-well-characterized Piraka as foils for the Toa.

[ALVIS]

And with the whole robot-fighting story... How is a moon supposed to kill a giant robot that literally CREATED the moons and is supposed to be bigger than anything?

You seem to have missed some rather crucial facets of the story -- namely, that a universe exists outside of the Matoran Universe robot. Mata Nui did not create everything, and especially not the worlds outside of his body; no creator is credited for Spherus Magna and the other celestial bodies, because that would get into the realm of religion. And we don't want that.

[bonesiii]

I loved that Toa Mahri Kongu had hunched proportions, demonstrating that not all Le-Matoran are tall and elflike and that not all characters with hunched posture were Onu-Matoran or Matoran of Stone.

All the 2001 Matoran were hunchbacks.

almost every kid disregards that little thing on the back that says 'do not launch at people'... i nearly accidentally smacked my sister in the eye with a Zamor... i actually literally built a custom little thing at the top of my zamor [holder] just so they wouldn't pop out whenever i tried to fire. And, both the squid launcher and... gatling... were... fiddly, the squid launcher i could launch but it just got stuck more of the time. The Cordak Launcher... could fire, but it just didn't seem right when it did, and it left something to be desired...

It sounds like you actually liked launchers, since you tried them all out and found success with most of them, even the infamous squidder, and even customized one to improve it! Also, I've never heard anyone else say they had problems with the Cordak, but I didn't get one so I dunno. And how do you know almost every kid fires at people? Even if they did, that warning is just legal mumbo-jumbo they have to say; the chances of any of the projectiles actually hurting anyone are incredibly slim. Especially the squids.And let's not forget that launchers were around from the start, despite your implication that it started on Voya Nui -- there were throwing disks in the 2001 Mctoran, 2002 and 03 Krana tossing brainpans, Kanoka disks in 2004, plus Rhotuka in 2005. Just different mechanical principles used with each new generation (although Mctoran disks and Kanoka were the same design; different launcher system).They were't "starting to get a bit far with trying to get" launchers; it was a place they were at in the beginning and kept up consistently throughout Bionicle.I agree with you about the Mahri games. Voya Nui had the last really great game IMO; that one where you play as Piraka and try to survive waves of Voyatoran clones. Questionable moral application and can't fit canon but it was at least fun, heh.

And with the whole robot-fighting story... How is a moon supposed to kill a giant robot that literally CREATED the moons and is supposed to be bigger than anything?

Like Lord Ghirahim said, I have no idea how you could think that the giant robot created the moons or is supposed to be bigger than them. The Shattering caused the moons, and that was due to the draining of EP from the core. The robot was meant to reverse that, certainly not to cause it. And you make it sound like he materialized the moons or something.Actually, the fragment that canonically killed him was smaller than him! And why should that be a problem -- bullets kill people.Really, just think about it. By analogy, this would be like a rock about the size of your fist hitting the back of your head at cannon speeds (if we scale everything down roughly to your size, and strength of head material). Why would it be confusing how that would kill?But even if a projectile would have to be bigger than him, isn't it obvious that there are things larger than him? Such as the planet he's standing on, or a star, etc. That's kinda like saying because an elephant is really big, whales are impossible lol. Edited April 26, 2012 by bonesiii

[Lyichir]

And you know that almost every kid disregards that little thing on the back that says 'do not launch at people'.

Back to tackle another part of your massive rant! None of the launchers actually ever said not to launch at people. The little logo with the guy being shot in the face specifically means just that: do not aim at eyes or face. In any case, whether or not kids heed the warning is irrelevant, as, having given the warning, LEGO has absolved itself of any injury claims resulting from misuse.As for why kids like launchers, kids like anything that DOES something. When the gear functions of earlier sets were abandoned due to being overly complex, launchers took their place. I appreciate a good launcher, personally, as you can stick it on a set without compromising its form or poseability (unlike with the gear functions of old). The last of these launchers, the Thornax Launcher, persists in sets to this day, in no small part due to it being simple, discreet, and effective compared to some of the more creative, but larger, more complex, and less functional projectile weapons like the Squid Lancher.

[Vandenreich]

And you know that almost every kid disregards that little thing on the back that says 'do not launch at people'.

Back to tackle another part of your massive rant! None of the launchers actually ever said not to launch at people. The little logo with the guy being shot in the face specifically means just that: do not aim at eyes or face. In any case, whether or not kids heed the warning is irrelevant, as, having given the warning, LEGO has absolved itself of any injury claims resulting from misuse.As for why kids like launchers, kids like anything that DOES something. When the gear functions of earlier sets were abandoned due to being overly complex, launchers took their place. I appreciate a good launcher, personally, as you can stick it on a set without compromising its form or poseability (unlike with the gear functions of old). The last of these launchers, the Thornax Launcher, persists in sets to this day, in no small part due to it being simple, discreet, and effective compared to some of the more creative, but larger, more complex, and less functional projectile weapons like the Squid Lancher.

Im real happy for you Thornax Launcher Guy and imma letchu finish but the Squid Launcher was one of the best Launchers of all time, of all time.Heh theirs an unpopular opinion.

[The Swimming Beard]

And you know that almost every kid disregards that little thing on the back that says 'do not launch at people'.

Back to tackle another part of your massive rant! None of the launchers actually ever said not to launch at people. The little logo with the guy being shot in the face specifically means just that: do not aim at eyes or face. In any case, whether or not kids heed the warning is irrelevant, as, having given the warning, LEGO has absolved itself of any injury claims resulting from misuse.As for why kids like launchers, kids like anything that DOES something. When the gear functions of earlier sets were abandoned due to being overly complex, launchers took their place. I appreciate a good launcher, personally, as you can stick it on a set without compromising its form or poseability (unlike with the gear functions of old). The last of these launchers, the Thornax Launcher, persists in sets to this day, in no small part due to it being simple, discreet, and effective compared to some of the more creative, but larger, more complex, and less functional projectile weapons like the Squid Lancher.

Im real happy for you Thornax Launcher Guy and imma letchu finish but the Squid Launcher was one of the best Launchers of all time, of all time.Heh theirs an unpopular opinion.

I agree with you about the squid launcher. I don't see why so many people dislike it.

[Toa Zaz]

Maybe because it doesn't work.

[bonesiii]

The Squidders did work, though. You just had to follow the included instructions, which really wasn't that hard.

[Lyichir]

And you know that almost every kid disregards that little thing on the back that says 'do not launch at people'.

Back to tackle another part of your massive rant! None of the launchers actually ever said not to launch at people. The little logo with the guy being shot in the face specifically means just that: do not aim at eyes or face. In any case, whether or not kids heed the warning is irrelevant, as, having given the warning, LEGO has absolved itself of any injury claims resulting from misuse.As for why kids like launchers, kids like anything that DOES something. When the gear functions of earlier sets were abandoned due to being overly complex, launchers took their place. I appreciate a good launcher, personally, as you can stick it on a set without compromising its form or poseability (unlike with the gear functions of old). The last of these launchers, the Thornax Launcher, persists in sets to this day, in no small part due to it being simple, discreet, and effective compared to some of the more creative, but larger, more complex, and less functional projectile weapons like the Squid Lancher.

Im real happy for you Thornax Launcher Guy and imma letchu finish but the Squid Launcher was one of the best Launchers of all time, of all time.Heh theirs an unpopular opinion.

What I meant was that the Squid Launcher was significantly harder to use than other launchers. Yes, if you had some skill with it it was an awesome launcher. But compared to the other launchers, which were practically foolproof, the squid launcher was hard to use without heeding the instructions exactly, and in fact you could break the ammo if you misused it. Not to mention the other point I made about it: it was less versatile than other weapons, and harder to integrate into models. It's telling that the squid launchers were used for the Barraki and then never used again, while both the Zamor Sphere launcher and Thornax launcher were used for several years after their respective introductions. Edited May 11, 2012 by Lyichir

[Master Inika]

And you know that almost every kid disregards that little thing on the back that says 'do not launch at people'.

Back to tackle another part of your massive rant! None of the launchers actually ever said not to launch at people. The little logo with the guy being shot in the face specifically means just that: do not aim at eyes or face. In any case, whether or not kids heed the warning is irrelevant, as, having given the warning, LEGO has absolved itself of any injury claims resulting from misuse.As for why kids like launchers, kids like anything that DOES something. When the gear functions of earlier sets were abandoned due to being overly complex, launchers took their place. I appreciate a good launcher, personally, as you can stick it on a set without compromising its form or poseability (unlike with the gear functions of old). The last of these launchers, the Thornax Launcher, persists in sets to this day, in no small part due to it being simple, discreet, and effective compared to some of the more creative, but larger, more complex, and less functional projectile weapons like the Squid Lancher.

Im real happy for you Thornax Launcher Guy and imma letchu finish but the Squid Launcher was one of the best Launchers of all time, of all time.Heh theirs an unpopular opinion.

What I meant was that the Squid Launcher was significantly easier to use than other launchers. Yes, if you had some skill with it it was an awesome launcher. But compared to the other launchers, which were practically foolproof, the squid launcher was hard to use without heeding the instructions exactly, and in fact you could break the ammo if you misused it. Not to mention the other point I made about it: it was less versatile than other weapons, and harder to integrate into models. It's telling that the squid launchers were used for the Barraki and then never used again, while both the Zamor Sphere launcher and Thornax launcher were used for several years after their respective introductions.

For me, Squid Launchers work about one-half of the time. They should have made the launcher out of hard plastic.I also don't like the storylike aspect of the launchers. Life-sucking squids are cool, but firing them from weapons just seems kind of obscure.

[Control_Vee]

Wow... i'm going to be honest, i have no idea what i was talking about before.My rant was pretty stupid now that i think about it - I'll admit it was a mistake, and i won't try to make excuses.For now...?Let's see, on a less serious note.I didn't really like the Nuva masks too much, although Onua Nuva was my first set. Seemed kinda mushy - when the Mata masks were really cool looking to me. Heck, a lot of the later masks seemed kinda squished, but, oh well. Some of them were pretty cool - For instance, my pretty much favorite mask at the moment is probably the Faxon, though it seems like a lot of people dislike it. The launchers over the ages - well, they're all neat, but, some of them were tricky like i mentioned before. I followed the instructions, and the squidders just kept getting stuck. Similar as mentioned with the few Cordak launchers i got, but it's possible that i just got some bad ones.Also...Does anyone else dislike Hewkii Inika's mask? He's probably one of my favorite Inika, but his mask just messed it up for me.On a final note, about Hero Factory - It's not that bad, though i sitll prefer Bionicle, and i believe the reason why i went all crazy comparing it to rescue heroes before was because my family had been unburying loads of clutter in our storage room, and i found a lot of the Rescue Heroes toys i played with almost daily when i was little. Guess the nostalgia carried through to here somehow.