Lately I've been thinking a lot about the Hero Factory building system and its commonly-perceived flaws. Chief among these is the allegation that the builds are too repetitive. It's kind of funny to read this because frankly this was a major criticism of BIONICLE builds for many years as well, and it was far from rare even when people weren't complaining about it. Remember Inika builds? They were the default build from 2006-2009, and many people really and truly hated the repetition. But rep
Why is it that people who like one fantasy series tend to dismiss another as terrible?
I first saw this with Eragon. People dismissed it as a ripoff of various series, including The Lord of the Rings and The Dragon Riders of Pern. I haven't read the latter, but I've read the whole Inheritance Cycle so far, and it has a fairly unique plot with a heavy dose of fantasy-world politics.
Next came Twilight. People dismiss it as a bunch of teenage, hormonally-influenced emotions packaged up in a
UPDATE: I'm probably not going to make Shine. I want to give Tufi as much space in the entry pic as possible, and doing Shine would require that I edit in a demonstration of the transformation.
For the first time in a long time, I am entering an official contest. For BBC45, I have nearly finished an MOC of Tufi. It has a twist that I hope will help me to win this contest, but you'll have to wait until I post it to find out. The remainder of the parts I need will likely come in today or tomorr
I'm going to Comic Con. And since Eurobricks is graciously providing two passes (one for me and one for a companion of my choosing) I'm bringing my brother Lyichir along. I'm honestly somewhat grateful that it's only going to be for one day, because this is going to be a VERY new experience for me and I'm sure having to plan for three or four days on such short notice would be incredibly overwhelming. I also realize that I haven't blogged about BIONICLE's return since the initial leaks back in
The files on the WoS disk aren't compatible with Windows Movie Maker. Any advice?
Sorry for troubling you. If anyone else has answers, feel free to post them here. That's why I made this a blog entry and not a PM. All I need is the video footage.
With all due respect,
Aanchir: Rachira of Time
This past week has been a real adventure for me! I have already talked about a lot of what happened but I wanted to put all my thoughts in one place for future reference. On Wednesday my twin brother and I took the train to New York City for New York Comic Con. I stayed with my mom's camp friend Carson, whom I had previously stayed with back in 2012 when I attended New York International Toy Fair. Once again, she was an extremely hospitable host. The reason for going to New York this time, of
Again, a pictureless review. But hopefully there won't be enough to say about it that it needs pics. I've seen a couple decent reviews of this, but I will try to surpass them in adequately explaining this enigmatic set.
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
For those familiar with Brickmaster magazine, you probably know that the set arrives in a corrugated cardboard box. However, recently (I forget h
This Shakespearean sonnet is another excerpt from my commonplace book:
The V.F.D., we are a noble group
Concerned with many villainous affairs.
The misery, it threw us for a loop;
We mostly volunteer because we're scared.
Our mission is as righteous as the day---
To rid the world of destructive fire.
If arsonists and villains get their way,
Then chances are we never will retire.
Of secrets we would like to keep a few;
Much agonizing truth we must restrain,
And many we shall even
S&T #3 voting has begun, and this time Aanchir's in the running! You know what that means!
Vote Entry 2 in Preliminary Poll B!
(A link to the entry itself is in the first post)
With all due respect,
Aanchir: Rachira of Time
Here
Takes a long time to download, but totally worth it. Watch for the scene near the very end: "This team won't let you down!"
Perfect example of storyboard artists having too much fun (and yes, this is a mock-up of what would become the official Exo-Force animations).
...is actually awesome somehow.
I just built an recolored one (I don't have Fero and Skirmix), and it works splendidly as a camel-like creature I imagine it would be even better with correctly-colored pieces. No gaping holes in its construction, and a surprisingly unified look.
There's half a Thornax Launcher sticking out of its mouth, and I can't figure out what it's supposed to be. A lolling or flicking tongue, perhaps? A bit like that which would be attached to a bridle? An oddly-posit
Yesterday afternoon I found out from a friend that the 5th Artemis Fowl book was out. On Mom's way home, Lyichir called her to ask if she could pick up a copy at Borders. She couldn't find it, but she did find another book off our wish list: The Beatrice Letters.
The book is arranged like a two pocket portfolio, one pocket for "Letters" and another for "Letters". In the "Letters" pocket is the book itself, whereas the "Letters" pocket contains a folder that may be indispensible, a word which
I was just reflecting on which BIONICLE books I liked most and least, and I got to thinking about something. While the serials are often heavily criticized for being bloated, aimless, and an obstacle to new BIONICLE fans, I'm starting to get a sense of why they were introduced in the first place (other than as a free online method of story dispersal). The books in the year 2006 were among my least favorite. At many points felt like the characters were rushing from one battle or crisis to anoth
Last week the internet speed at my college got ramped up considerably. Naturally, I had to do something to take advantage of this newfound power at my fingertips. So as of Saturday, I have watched every MLP episode released so far. And naturally, I love it. So much that I went through the trouble of reading this topic from the beginning, which is no small task in itself. Part of me wants to say Fluttershy is best pony, but another part of me clings to the belief that fat pony is best pony. M
Let's begin with a quote:
"What happened next was a sight no one present would ever forget. From the depths of the ice rose a creature unlike any they had seen before. His armor looked as though it had been forged from the sun, and his very presence radiated power."
--BIONICLE Adventures #9: Web of Shadows
2009 is not the first year in which that shade of yellow-orange which MOCists and other BIONICLE fans tend to call Keetorange was used to depict what might have been imagined in gold. T
I created this topic for people's convenience, so it's easier to keep track of who's who at which events. If you're planning to cosplay as a character at one of this year's LEGO events, go reply there to have your name, character, and event plans added to the list!
Well, I wrote this review rebuttal shortly after the Zesk Review Rebuttal revealed that this was now a possibility on BZPower. I find it's a wonderful medium in which to express one's opinions of sets. Sadly, although I e-mailed it to news@bzpower.com a few days after writing it, it was not published prior to the one-month cutoff date. Therefore, I have opted to post it here instead. I hope people of all opinions find they learn more about the set's flaws and surprises here.
This rebuttal is
The first of two articles I wrote for New Elementary previewing the new BIONICLE parts has been posted! Check it out here! The second post, still to come, will be focusing on the new mask and weapon pieces. And after that, expect some actual set reviews! I've already mostly finished writing the first, and I've recently gotten word that another shipment of sets is headed my way for review. I'm hoping for one of the Protector sets — I could probably spend at least half a post talking about their
It is apalling that the 2008 sets topic has been closed. This is a blow from which I am not apt to recover anytime soon, given that my schedule rarely allows the casual browsing of forums.
The 2008 sets topic was amazingly useful because it was all-inclusive. Thus, it was a very active topic, receiving many relevant posts in a day even if spam posts proved common as well. I could go there and I would immediately have access to all the in-progress debates concerning this year's sets. Thereby I
"Caught in the vortex of a reality storm, wayfarers from throughout time, myth, and the imagination converge on a mysterious inn at WORLDS' END. In the tradition of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, as the travelers all wait out the tempest that rages around them, they share stories of the places they've been, the things they've seen... and those that they've dreamed."
OH WAIT.
Nah, if only BIONICLE could get away with that sort of stuff. But the fanbase, the genre, and other things conspire
Two of my BIONICLE 2015 set reviews for The New Elementary have now been posted, with a third still forthcoming. I received six BIONICLE sets from the LEGO Group to review for that site: three Toa and three Protectors. Check out my review of 70788 Kopaka - Master of Ice right here! Check out my review of 70784 Lewa - Master of Jungle and 70786 Gali - Master of Water here! And finally, because I was lucky enough to receive these three particular Toa, you can see my attempt at building a 201
