Mahria, I just saw a group named Mahria,

And suddenly my sight,

Will never be the same again!

 

 

Anyway, I agree with you on a lot of these points. They are very hideous in some ways, like how Hewkii's color scheme is messed up with the red, the silver, and the greenish color on the mask. The Mahri should have been a lot better, but I guess we won't get what we wanted in this group. However, I do disagree with you on the masks, but we're all entitled to our own opinion.

 

Speaking of opinions, it seems for every opinion on these guys, there's an extreme opposite. Very interesting. They're turning out to be quite controversial.

Hahli has fins, not wings. Gosh, why is it so hard to understand that (Yes, I'm being serious)? Everyone keeps sayin' things like "Why does a Toa of Water have wings? They're under water, too, what use wiill they have?" It's annoying. They're fins. And you're just the unlucky one who I decided to finally say it to, ToM.

 

 

I have to disagree with what you said about Hewkii (save the red parts...). He's the only one the Cordak Blaster looks good on. That's due to how it was actually integrated into his build, though. As for the humanoid stature comment... Well, aren't all Toa like that? They aren't humans, after all. The ammo on his right arm is also the only case where its actually built into the set and doesn't look bad (Such as Kongu). The left arm ruins, it though. And I don't see what's wrong with the yellow-black distribution...

 

Red pieces aside, the only thing I do not like about Hewkii is how his torso is just a flipped Piraka torso. The least they could do was add armor.

 

 

The rest of the Mahri... Eh. I agree. I'm also one of the people tired of super-fanboys (My post is after Smeag's, in case ya hadn't seen it ). The Mahri won't change much from these; The ToyFair models are very similar to the final. This is what they are, stop bein' sayin' stuff like they'll get better.

 

 

(Yes, if I had my own blog, I'd make an entry 'bout this. But, again, unfortunate one, ToM. )

Now, let's get you into this focus group of LEGO's. Perhaps you could reverse things in the future!

Wind, I'm sure we'd all love to do that... If we knew how and could. But from my understanding, the focus group is made up of the 8-10 year old super fanboys that I mentioned before. They grew up in the first-person shooter game genre... They like big weapons. That's my reasoning for their "encouraging" of things like the Cordak Blaster. The set designers are just foolish and listen, making things worse. As the people who would still remember Kanohi as collectables aren't in the age range (It may even be a bit broader than I said - Younger, though), these new super fanboys (As most young kids are. I was of Tformers for a while, though...) don't know what's good.

Hahli has fins, not wings. Gosh, why is it so hard to understand that (Yes, I'm being serious)? Everyone keeps sayin' things like "Why does a Toa of Water have wings? They're under water, too, what use wiill they have?" It's annoying. They're fins. And you're just the unlucky one who I decided to finally say it to, ToM.

Of course they're fins by logic, but on the set, they bear every appearance of wings. They have "feathers" as Bionicle pieces go, and are attached about to Hahli's shoulder blades, thus making them angelic wings. It's only the knowledge that she's underwater that turns them into fins.

 

I have to disagree with what you said about Hewkii (save the red parts...). He's the only one the Cordak Blaster looks good on. That's due to how it was actually integrated into his build, though. As for the humanoid stature comment... Well, aren't all Toa like that? They aren't humans, after all. The ammo on his right arm is also the only case where its actually built into the set and doesn't look bad (Such as Kongu). The left arm ruins, it though. And I don't see what's wrong with the yellow-black distribution...

He does have the best attachment for the gun-thing, but at the sacrifice of his hand, I'll give you that. The thing is, though, about the ammunition: Hewkii indeed has the best attachment for it in terms of structure (it's just sticking straight out of all the others). But it's not aesthetic. It's a patch of red stuck on his arm, mixed with two light grey circles and a small black piece. It clashes with his colors, drawing attention to the fact that his arms are stick-thin otherwise.

 

As for color distribution, he has black shins and feet, then silver thigh armor, then black hips. Then he has no other black but his mask and left forearm – he has small black pieces, but they don't balance out what was established as his main armor color by his legs. Dekar is an example of a good yellow-orange/black color scheme: one is always in balance with the other, which isn't the case on Hewkii.

 

The Mahri won't change much from these; The ToyFair models are very similar to the final. This is what they are, stop bein' sayin' stuff like they'll get better.

Everyone READ THIS STATEMENT. This is exactly why I have no expectations for the Mahri to change – the Inika didn't last year except in type of plastic; why would the Mahri this year? I'm hoping desperately that they will, but... Well, I expect them to change as in polite wording of "this will happen or there will be consequences," ( ) but not as in thinking it likely to happen.

 

(Yes, if I had my own blog, I'd make an entry 'bout this. But, again, unfortunate one, ToM. )

(I really don't mind. It's a conversation piece. )

 

Advocate – Indeed! It's amazing, really, how partisan the subject has become... I think it's because ranting has more to base things on than raving. If you rant, you generally list every point you don't like, but raving is usually a general statement of approval. For instance, one can say "I agree" and leave it tat that, and no more needs to be said. But if one says "I disagree," then one goes into detail about those points one disagrees on, which is a lot longer than the simple two words required for agreement...

 

And also there has been a lot of anticipation for the Toa Mahri – Greg's been building them up to be great characters, so people are disappointed and angry when they see sets that don't live up to those expectations...

~ ToM

I agree almost completely with you, except on the subject of the "positives" you mentioned--I personally can see none in these sorry apparitions of Bionicle sets. Hahli may have lime green, and that's great for piece color enthusiasts, but its very presence sacrifices whatever remaining visual appeal the set has.

And besides, the Hahli set is not Hahli Mahri at all: it's simply Hahli Inika with a paint job and some wings/fins tacked onto the back--almost no differing features exist in the structure. There was no ingenuity or thought put into any of these sets, the designs of most are so utterly simple that they very nearly insult my intelligence.

 

On further thought, I may be able to live with some of the masks (discluding Hewkii's axe-blade headdress and lolipop), the blue visor insert is something new after all, and the attachments for hoses are interesting to say the least. But beyond that, my optimism vanishes...

 

JRRT

Mahria, I just saw a group named Mahria,

And suddenly my sight,

Will never be the same again!

 

 

Anyway, I agree with you on a lot of these points. They are very hideous in some ways, like how Hewkii's color scheme is messed up with the red, the silver, and the greenish color on the mask. The Mahri should have been a lot better, but I guess we won't get what we wanted in this group. However, I do disagree with you on the masks, but we're all entitled to our own opinion.

 

Speaking of opinions, it seems for every opinion on these guys, there's an extreme opposite. Very interesting. They're turning out to be quite controversial.

That's perfectly normal, Advocate. Happens every year with every set. It's because it's not really "opinion" but "taste" and "preferance." Different people have different preferences. So where someone sees Hewkii's mask as ugly, someone like me sees it as rad cool, lol.

 

Personally, overall I am really excited about them, since there's a lot of "cool" in them. I'm not very happy with the launcher though, and I agree about the color scheme problem that causes. But that's still a matter of taste, and that doesn't necessarily amount to an actual problem.

I remember when people were saying the exact same thing about the Inika and Piraka. In '08 I bet people will feel the same about those sets too and begging to go back to these designs.

I remember when people were saying the exact same thing about the Inika and Piraka. In '08 I bet people will feel the same about those sets too and begging to go back to these designs.

I never heard anything really horrible about the Piraka. Some people thought the teeth were weird, but no one was negative. The only negatives of the Inika were masks, but they were changed.

 

The only one this logic can apply to is Umbra -- but I, personally, did like the first image we saw. Like I said in the topic, I usually look for all the positives, but there are far too few in these Mahri.

I do hope that they will change(yes,I read all statements,including that on I had to read,ToM)

But let's hope it's as with the 2005 prototypes,did you see the protoypes for keetongu,visorak and kikanalo?You'de be shocked.Sure,that giant mask thingie from that playset would be awesome to use,but at the costs of those ugly canons.This just isn't lego anymore,megablocks look nicer then that(they do look nice,the dragon ones).Their practicaly ruining everything but the matoran.(barraki are nice but thos earen't a returning character with a solid shape,like the toa,turaga,matoran.)Soon they'l give them 3 legs and 1,5 arms. It allent good until 2006.the piraka aren't bad,but those weapons.And all the same functions,light-up eyes ,glowing teeth,zamorshooter,...

One day we'l only but sets for parts and not even bother putting together even once.

I remember when people were saying the exact same thing about the Inika and Piraka. In '08 I bet people will feel the same about those sets too and begging to go back to these designs.

I never heard anything really horrible about the Piraka. Some people thought the teeth were weird, but no one was negative. The only negatives of the Inika were masks, but they were changed.

 

The only one this logic can apply to is Umbra -- but I, personally, did like the first image we saw. Like I said in the topic, I usually look for all the positives, but there are far too few in these Mahri.

Oh, no, it was definately true of the Piraka and Inika too. And the Visorak, Hordika, Toa Metru. It's been this way for several years, because LEGO's been moving away from the tastes that you often see here and more towards the core fanbase. Of course, from what I've seen, BZP reaction the Barraki has been mostly positive, interestingly, kinda like it was with the Rahkshi.

While I am rather disappointed and I have at least one gripe with each of them (not counting those annoying chainguns), I'm still rather anticipating their release... The simple fact that we'll be getting so many new (normal) Kanohi excites me, not to mention the other things I'm looking forward to.

 

I have to say, pretty much every time a major set release is made a lot of people get upset about them... I remember hearing quite a few complaints about the Inika when their Toyfair pics were shown. However, with the Inika, IMO the positives outweighed the negatives. However, it seems to be the reverse with the Mahri. I've heard a lot more complaints about the Mahri, and a lot less positive reactions.

 

I must agree, however, that Hahli really is a gem among the Mahri. She has a great structure that fits her well, the awesome fin-wings, the mask (which I just looooove ), and the nice color scheme... Though it doesn't fit her, and it really should have been light blue instead of lime. I'm not particularly fond of her claw thing, though...

 

But for the most part, their structures really don't fit their elemental alignment or their individual personalities at all. I really think Lego should have put more thought into linking individual personality, element, and physical appearance together. Many of the Mahri don't appear to fit their storyline role and/or personality.

 

Another point I'd like to make is that I think Lego should have stuck to the simpler feel of an armored warrior with just one or two sleek weapons, rather than going with these hulking, brutish, heavy-looking humanoids loaded with large and unwieldy weapons. This is me speaking out of a love for Bionicle's roots, rather than a knowledge of what will and what won't fly among Bionicle's current target audience... but I really think it worked better. Traditional guns just don't work, IMO.

 

Dang, that was a whole sub-rant in itself. Oops. It's easy to get carried away when talking about the Mahri. As it was with the Inika last year... Perhaps learning their storyline roles in more clarity will make them more attractive to me. It worked with the Inika...

 

I really should be doing this own my own blog.

 

Interestingly enough, I was rather wary of both the Piraka and Barraki when I first saw them, but the character bios thawed my opinion thoroughly. With the Toa Mahri, I'm afraid that there's not much to be done. They're simply too outlandish, lacking both a themed build and decent colour combinations.

 

I'm already looking forward to your Mahri mods, ToM! You always make such gorgeous Toa MoCs.

 

/Tuan