blogs_blog_1482

Glad your experience has been good! Personally, I kind of like the reuse of parts. It's nice that the parts don't start to feel obsolete or out-of-place after a few years the way, say, parts from the Toa Mata would seem obsolete and out-of-place among parts from the Toa Metru. Even if they were ostensibly still compatible, the style of the parts had changed so much in four years that the older parts didn't entirely feel like they belonged. The old BIONICLE got a bit better about this as the years went on, of course — sets between 2007 and 2009 continued to use a lot of older parts.

 

I do think we're likely to see more new parts as the BIONICLE theme continues, just as we saw several new pieces in this year's Legends of Chima constraction sets. Certainly there will be more of a budget for it if the 2016 BIONICLE sets continue to use things like the head and gearbox introduced in 2015. And by reusing the current masks for the Toa (perhaps freshening them up with a two-color blend), they could free up even more money for new building elements like shells, armor plates, etc.

Need more shells in more colors. Forget about the silvers and blacks, want more bright colors!

 

Also, when did everybody start using CCBS?

 

Need more shells in more colors. Forget about the silvers and blacks, want more bright colors!

Next year's BIONICLE sets are definitely giving us some nice shells in bright colors. I could list them here but it's easier to link to my recent post on The New Elementary. Bright Green, Flame Yellowish Orange, and Medium Lilac are all colors that have been used rarely in CCBS, while Dark Orange and Dark Azur are both brand new to the system. Granted, I still really love the neutral colors because they go with pretty much anything. Many of my MOCs start out in neutral colors and then I test out different color schemes for them — something that professional LEGO designers also sometimes do.

 

Also, when did everybody start using CCBS?

You mean the term itself? I forget when it really started to catch on, probably sometime this year or last. For a while in 2011 and 2012, people were still calling it the Hero Factory building system, but there are a couple problems with that. For starters, the first wave of Hero Factory sets didn't use it at all, and besides that, it's now been used for every constraction theme since 2011, not just Hero Factory.

I do think we're likely to see more new parts as the BIONICLE theme continues, just as we saw several new pieces in this year's Legends of Chima constraction sets. Certainly there will be more of a budget for it if the 2016 BIONICLE sets continue to use things like the head and gearbox introduced in 2015. And by reusing the current masks for the Toa (perhaps freshening them up with a two-color blend), they could free up even more money for new building elements like shells, armor plates, etc.

 

That's a great point; I'd forgotten how many new parts got put into the Chima sets.  BIONICLE should certainly have the budget, going forth, to support new parts. I really like the idea of recolored masks. Since we're starting from scratch (at least in terms of connection points) it would be wonderful to once again have color options for the masks; and with the Mask of Fire already beaing molded in Red, Gold, Trans. Clear, and Trans. Orange, I would hope that recolors are on the designers' minds.

Also, when did everybody start using CCBS?

 

I learned that it was the Character and Creature Building System from Aanchir. I acronymed it, and apparently it caught on. ?

 

That would be aboout two years ago when I started throwing it around, but it only seemed to catch on when this Bionicle return stuff started, it seems. 

I, personally, thought that the style was called CCBS by Lego.

 

I could have sworn I heard it around when it first came out butttt

 

that is probably not the case.

I, personally, thought that the style was called CCBS by Lego.

 

I could have sworn I heard it around when it first came out butttt

 

that is probably not the case.

CCBS IS the official Lego term for the system. But official Lego terms don't always catch on, and indeed I'm pretty sure it was only recently that the term became widely understood and used. Until then people seemed content with "Hero Factory system", but as Aanchir pointed out, that became more and more of a misnomer as more and more themes started to use the system (plus, CCBS is a heck of a lot more succinct so long as everyone understands what it means).

I belive everyone calls it CCBS because LEGO officially calls it that in this picture which explains it.

I belive everyone calls it CCBS because LEGO officially calls it that in this picture which explains it.

Technically, we had known that the official term was CCBS around the time it was first introduced, courtesy of a Lego part designer on Eurobricks. That's why it's sort of interesting that it's only recently caught on as the generally accepted term recently. I've been using CCBS as the primary term for the system since I learned it, but now I'm starting to see others use the term as well.

 

I belive everyone calls it CCBS because LEGO officially calls it that in this picture which explains it.

Technically, we had known that the official term was CCBS around the time it was first introduced, courtesy of a Lego part designer on Eurobricks. That's why it's sort of interesting that it's only recently caught on as the generally accepted term recently. I've been using CCBS as the primary term for the system since I learned it, but now I'm starting to see others use the term as well.

 

Besides that, the original video series on the Hero Factory website after it was introduced was titled "Explaining the Character and Creature Building System". So the name's been around, it just took people a little while to realize that it WAS a proper name. Or to NEED a proper name, because back in 2011 you could just call it "the new system" or "the Hero Factory system" and most people would know what you were talking about. As time went on, and it became both less new and less specific to Hero Factory, its proper name became more useful for discussions.

 

It's not like it's the first time an official term has taken time to gain ground. I remember a few years back when people first started seeing widespread use and understanding of the term "constraction", even though the term was coined way back in 2004!