The summer days are flying by at too quick a pace to even realize what's going on around me. In a few weeks, I'll be in my apartment preparing to graduate from college. I'll be on the job hunt, and quite possibly moving to some new state. But through all the changes that have come in my life...there has remained one constant.

BZP has marched on.

2001 seems so very long ago, but I remember the first day I joined a little community out in the middle of no-web. It was Bionicle Zone at the time, and only had 20 or 30 members tops. I remember following a chain of links...starting at what was a downed Xitan's, to a rival site which shall remain nameless. I followed a random link, and found myself here.

I was 16 at the time, and had never been a member of an online community before. But something about BZ felt right. It was just getting started, had a small group, and everybody seemed nice. Heck, it was linked off of a site called RedDimension...and the topic of the day was a slide puzzle of the creator and his daughter (I really hope I remembered that correctly).

There were a few threads on custom designs people had built. Proudly I started a thread displaying Whiringa Toa, my first MOC. Being the newbie I was, I tried to link the pictures from my home computer. Thankfully the one and only Staffer at the time helped me out, and in time I was posting pictures of all my creations. And though I've matured over the years...my MOC skills seem to have stuck at the point I was all those years ago.

Thankfully though, I can credit BZP with helping me develope my netiquette. There are a few other forums I visit. BZP is without a doubt the largest, but out of all of them it's also the friendliest. Though one would expect a forum based on a toy would have such a community...I could easily show you examples where that isn't the case. And all of that can be attributed to the staff members that have come, gone, or stayed throughout BZP's history.

I remember when I was offered a posistion on the staff as moderator of General Discussion. I remember being put on the staff in charge of the growing Completely Off Topic (which at one point was home to "Bionicle After Hours"...BZP's once and former Nightclub). Ah yes, Rahi Master. One of my best buddies on this forum. The two of us cause quite a it of havoc in our day....quite possibly being part of the reason that CoT no longer counts towards post counts. Anybody who was around in those days can tell you about "Word Association" in all it's glory.

Rahi Master and I were also behind the Follower Fiasco. What started as a joke between a handful of users expanded into one of BZP's first big fads. Soon the Staff made special accomidations and rules to allow for people to be Leaders and Followers. Then just as quickly as it had taken off, it was ended...and we were shown what should've been viewed as a warning of things to come.

I was on the Staff assigned to the Clubs Forum, too. Anybody remember that? I don't remember how long it lasted...but similar to Leaders and Followers...the Clubs only seemed to seperate and isolate members from one another more and more. I don't recall the details, but I remember the headache. And soon, Clubs went the way of Followers.

There was the DTotA (Dark Toa of the Apocalypse), one of BZ's first group projects. In it's early days, the members of the time combined their writing, building, and creative processes to name, design, and assign powers to a team of Toa based on the Four Horsemen. It was honored during BBC's 7th Contest

From it's early days on BZ...to BZC...and then BZP, this forum has evolved into the cornerstone of the Bionicle universe. It was the fans of this forum that got the Vahi back into the story. We've even witnessed as our fellow members have gone on to become staff on the actual Bionicle team.

The names and faces may change throughout the years, but the constants will always be there. The sets, the story, and the overall creative spark that the toyline and this forum have seemed to bring about are noticeable. Compare MOCs today to those in BZ's early days. It's almost impossible to think that something like this could've happened.

When I first learned of Bionicle, I expected it to eventually wind up like the Throwbots and the Roboriders. But something went differently with LEGO's third try. And I'd like to think that we here at BZP were part of that something.

So to all the members, young and old, Staff or otherwise, veteran or newbie....congratulations all. It's been five great years. And with the Inika trickling into stores...and teases of what lay ahead, it looks as though LEGO and Bionicle are giving us enough to keep on trucking for years to come.

On a more personal note: to LtJ, melvin, Matoro, and RM. The Alliance may have long since faded from the forum...and who knows how many of you I'll hear from again. But I want you to know that I'll never forget the fun times we had.

And because I'm old enough now, here's a toast to the good ol' days. Along with it, a moment of silence for BAH.

....

Somewhere out there, there are pixie sticks being eaten...and the DJ is playing on.