~Takumo~

Hau on the plow may be my favorite meme for a while. EDIT: I said the wrong name. I've become so old...

Back in my day, Rayg was the greatest kit around. Good to see another style so similar. I can't comment on the color palette choice, as I haven't seen 2.5 in over 8 years (I think 8 years, but it's been a while), so I've nothing to compare it to. And as it's 1 Am at my time of writing this, I am far too tired to google search the 2.5 kit.

Gear function always bothered me. I didn't see the fun in that small gimmick. I'd rather have my Toa have full control over their arms, rather than have to bend their one arm backward in order to raise their weapon/tool above them. The motion made sense for Onua, as the Toa of Earth dug, and that was a similar animation to the gear movement.

Ahead of what? Well, I can't quite include the slizer/throwbots in my argument. Totally different universe. But I see your point.

2006. The song Move Along was blasting on the radio and all I could think about were the Ignika sets. I was so excited to leave the old areas of Mata-Nui and Metru-Nui and go somewhere new, with enemies who were more ambiguous than the usual easily-identifiable bad guy. But man, those matoran designs were weird. And the tiniest bit lazy. Re-using old masks never sat well with me.

Oh, I remember these. Man, that nostalgia hit slow but forcefully. I loved the design of them when I was younger. I remember trying to draw the masks with pen and paper, using the cards as a guide. Nuva kanohi were never easy to draw.

Honestly, I wanted to see another Kanohi scavenger hunt. That was my favorite part of Gen 1 Year 1. I like the idea of collectibles, and that probably translated into the Fallout series (bobbleheads) and then back out again when Bionicle Gen 2 was released.

Kopaka was ahead of his time, utilizing a piece that would eventually become the hand for all Toa until 2008. I was always bugged that Pohatu's hands weren't brown. I swear, sometimes I felt like the Toa of Stone was just some weird experiment at Lego. 2001-2003, Pohatu had that awkward upside-down body (and the Nuva version just looked silly). 2006-2008, we decided grey and orange was the new color of stone (though Hewkii remains my favorite set to this day). Thankfully, Gen 2 Pohatu looks great, with this 2016 model looking pretty spectacular with his new weapon (though I'll miss the boomerangs).

The Kal were quite alive in comparison to their swarm brethren. but they were still just janitors in the end. That whole twist made for a very intricate and almost confusing storyline when I was a kid. It was great to see the puppetmaster finally revealed in late 2003. I remember being super excited about the new Kanohi worn by Terridax (as well as Takanuva's beautiful Avohkii). However, Doublebee makes a great point. The ambiguity of the bohrok's mission is one of the best plots in Bionicle Gen 1. And it took a while to be revealed in full, as the Toa eventually allowed the swarms to do their work as they depart for Metru-Nui (way after 2003). All in all, for a children's toy line, Farshtey and Co. did a pretty swell job telling a story.

I remember as a kid being very confused with the whole "tool" explanation. To me, running a man through with a fire-shaped greatsword seems a lot less painful than shooting fireballs at him until he burns to a crisp. Apologies if that's a little too graphic. I am exaggerating a bit. I am very glad you began by mentioning the tools conundrum, Toatapio Nuva. It was the first thing that came to my mind the moment I read the topic title.

I'd love to see a tie-in with the G1 storyline. It's entirely possible, as we saw Takanuva shuffle through many other dimensions in ine of his journeys. The absense of the Chronicler Takua makes this new generation a bit off-putting to me.

This is why I need to brush up on my G2 knowledge. I am so thoroughly befuddled by this.

I really wanted to see a return to the mask hunt that took place in G1. I loved collecting different masks, as it reminded me of collecting cards (though I never was any good at Pokemon). I do wish the Kanohi of old would make a return. With their elemental powers being tied to their masks, it's all become a little...fragile, I suppose? It's like having a kill switch that is your face. Not that not being hit in the face wouldn't already be damaging to a person. But I digress.

One of my favorite villains in the storyline. His overall set design combined with his backstory and personality made me want so much more out of the comics and books. I've always wanted to read some more about him, but I've barely even touched the subject of Bionicle in years. Well done on this work. I do like how the Ignika has been kept in its original state prior to the Toa Mahri storyline (I do believe it didn't have a definitve design until 2009, but then I can't quite recall). It adds a bit of mystery to it, as it was never fully in focus whenever on the page of a comic.