Jump to content

Bionicle 2015 Summer Wave Review/Final thoughts on 2015


Recommended Posts

This took a looooooooot of work to make... though mostly near the end, where I ran into some issues rendering it. Anyway, I know I'm late to the party with these guys, but here goes.

 

 

So, whatcha' guys think? Is this a serviceable one-stop review for the summer wave that covers all the desired bases and more? It's going to be the last review I post until 2016, so... yeah, may as well get your own general thoughts on how this year has been out there now, especially with the next and possibly final online animation going up, tomorrow.

 

Enjoy. Feedback is appreciated.

  • Upvote 4

the_toa_sig_by_nickinamerica-dbn0wau.png

The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Can you blame Lego for making gibberish names? They don't want to repeat the 2002 Maori lawsuits, but I do agree with you, I wish there was at least one language used as influence on the names rather than making silly words. 

I'm not sure what's up with Skull Slicer's backstory either, I remember reading that he was an arena champion before dying and having his hands fused to the blades, but how come in the animations, he gets disarmed? On a sidenote, I find it weird how we don't learn anything about Skull Basher. (I personally think he's a member of a minotaur-like species.)

I don't get why Skull Slicer is wearing a skull spider with no legs. What happened to the spider, how did it lose its legs? Would it be too expensive for the set designers to give the spider appendages?

A personal nitpick of mine is the size of Skull Basher's horns, they're just comically big. 

Skull Scorpio's legs suck, but I like the tail feature. I do wish it maintained a consistent curve the same way real scorpions do. 

I find the third gear on Ekimu's armpit unnecessary, so I just removed it and placed it on Kulta. Also, I thought copper was retired by lego, what's with the printing? 

If you like Pingu & want to support a good project, click here. Also, I've rejoined the BZPRPG & I have a new profile for a new game. Click here to see it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As always, gotta love your reviews, Nick. Really does put a nice spin on the sets that I barely scratch the surface of. I have to agree with you on Kulta. While he's not taller than the Toa, as you expect him to be, he towers over his subordinates and just his general look says "you've got no chance."

 

While listening to you go on about the undead aesthetic of these guys, I realized the Halloween costume opportunities these guys give us. :P Just take a Skeleton costume, take some marker to the ribcage printing, add some big painted cardboard armor pieces, and you're good to go. (I don't care if I'm 22, I'm still dressing up as Slicer. :P )

 

 

  • Can you blame Lego for making gibberish names? They don't want to repeat the 2002 Maori lawsuits, but I do agree with you, I wish there was at least one language used as influence on the names rather than making silly words. 

Actually, I believe it was the author of the books that gave them names. he wanted to characterize them more, so he proposed some names, and LEGO just had to give him the "OK." LEGO as a company didn't do that.

 

 
 
  • I don't get why Skull Slicer is wearing a skull spider with no legs. What happened to the spider, how did it lose its legs? Would it be too expensive for the set designers to give the spider appendages?

 

 

Of course the spider has appendages. Look at Slicer himself. :P He's not just wearing a spider, he IS a spider. (Joking, of course, but he has that aesthetic to him--many long, spindly appendages, for example)

 

 

 

  • I find the third gear on Ekimu's armpit unnecessary, so I just removed it and placed it on Kulta. Also, I thought copper was retired by lego, what's with the printing?

 

 

That's what I'm gonna do when I buy the set. As for copper, it was discontinued as a plastic color, but not necessarily as a printing color. (The parts are gunmetal with little bits of copper printing, rather than being made of a copper-colored plastic)

~Your friendly, neighborhood Shadow

 

sotpbanner.png

~Credit for Avatar and Banner goes to

NickonAquaMagna~

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As always, gotta love your reviews, Nick. Really does put a nice spin on the sets that I barely scratch the surface of. I have to agree with you on Kulta. While he's not taller than the Toa, as you expect him to be, he towers over his subordinates and just his general look says "you've got no chance."

 

While listening to you go on about the undead aesthetic of these guys, I realized the Halloween costume opportunities these guys give us. :P Just take a Skeleton costume, take some marker to the ribcage printing, add some big painted cardboard armor pieces, and you're good to go. (I don't care if I'm 22, I'm still dressing up as Slicer. :P )

You gotta figure out a way to get the extra arms. 

If you like Pingu & want to support a good project, click here. Also, I've rejoined the BZPRPG & I have a new profile for a new game. Click here to see it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

As always, gotta love your reviews, Nick. Really does put a nice spin on the sets that I barely scratch the surface of. I have to agree with you on Kulta. While he's not taller than the Toa, as you expect him to be, he towers over his subordinates and just his general look says "you've got no chance."

 

While listening to you go on about the undead aesthetic of these guys, I realized the Halloween costume opportunities these guys give us. :P Just take a Skeleton costume, take some marker to the ribcage printing, add some big painted cardboard armor pieces, and you're good to go. (I don't care if I'm 22, I'm still dressing up as Slicer. :P )

You gotta figure out a way to get the extra arms. 

 

That's easy. You can either design some fake ones and attach them to your other arms with fishing line or something. Or, you can just make some non-moving ones that attach to the top of your shoulders and just sort of sit there.

~Your friendly, neighborhood Shadow

 

sotpbanner.png

~Credit for Avatar and Banner goes to

NickonAquaMagna~

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

  • Can you blame Lego for making gibberish names? They don't want to repeat the 2002 Maori lawsuits, but I do agree with you, I wish there was at least one language used as influence on the names rather than making silly words. 
  • A personal nitpick of mine is the size of Skull Basher's horns, they're just comically big. 

 

 

I guess not.

 

And yeah, the way the horns are framed in some of these shots made me laugh. They're just absurd, like a caricature out of a comic book.

 

 

As always, gotta love your reviews, Nick. Really does put a nice spin on the sets that I barely scratch the surface of. I have to agree with you on Kulta. While he's not taller than the Toa, as you expect him to be, he towers over his subordinates and just his general look says "you've got no chance."

 

While listening to you go on about the undead aesthetic of these guys, I realized the Halloween costume opportunities these guys give us. :P Just take a Skeleton costume, take some marker to the ribcage printing, add some big painted cardboard armor pieces, and you're good to go. (I don't care if I'm 22, I'm still dressing up as Slicer. :P )

You gotta figure out a way to get the extra arms. 

 

That's easy. You can either design some fake ones and attach them to your other arms with fishing line or something. Or, you can just make some non-moving ones that attach to the top of your shoulders and just sort of sit there.

 

 

People have done it before.

the_toa_sig_by_nickinamerica-dbn0wau.png

The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The people who don't like the new sets are simply way too influenced by nostalgia. I remember hearing the NC talk about this on gaming wildlife and I agree with what he said. These people just want to feel the rush of something so new and exciting like it was when they were children and think something that doesn't give them that feeling is bad. When I got these sets in January I noticed my feelings weren't as happy as they were back in the early to mid 2000nds. Obviously this is because I've grown older since then and I'm more used to the concept. Don't feel too angry about the ultra nostalgic fans. If anything I feel kinda sorry for them as they're so attached to those childhood feelings of something being so new that they can never feel again. 

  • Upvote 1

It's time to move on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The people who don't like the new sets are simply way too influenced by nostalgia. I remember hearing the NC talk about this on gaming wildlife and I agree with what he said. These people just want to feel the rush of something so new and exciting like it was when they were children and think something that doesn't give them that feeling is bad. When I got these sets in January I noticed my feelings weren't as happy as they were back in the early to mid 2000nds. Obviously this is because I've grown older since then and I'm more used to the concept. Don't feel too angry about the ultra nostalgic fans. If anything I feel kinda sorry for them as they're so attached to those childhood feelings of something being so new that they can never feel again. 

 

Weirdly, these same people, in a classic case of projection, try to foist that on us by saying WE'RE so nostalgic that's we're blind to how "objectively bad" the new sets are. That if only we could be more "objective," we'd see the way and agree with them that these are copies, clones, Hero Factory in disguise, what have you.

 

As for me, I dunno if I'll ever feel that rush again, but building Tahu after asking someone at Target to fetch him from the back of the store for me and rushing home that night, well, it came pretty close to giving me that feeling.

  • Upvote 1

the_toa_sig_by_nickinamerica-dbn0wau.png

The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The people who don't like the new sets are simply way too influenced by nostalgia. I remember hearing the NC talk about this on gaming wildlife and I agree with what he said. These people just want to feel the rush of something so new and exciting like it was when they were children and think something that doesn't give them that feeling is bad. When I got these sets in January I noticed my feelings weren't as happy as they were back in the early to mid 2000nds. Obviously this is because I've grown older since then and I'm more used to the concept. Don't feel too angry about the ultra nostalgic fans. If anything I feel kinda sorry for them as they're so attached to those childhood feelings of something being so new that they can never feel again. 

 

Weirdly, these same people, in a classic case of projection, try to foist that on us by saying WE'RE so nostalgic that's we're blind to how "objectively bad" the new sets are. That if only we could be more "objective," we'd see the way and agree with them that these are copies, clones, Hero Factory in disguise, what have you.

 

As for me, I dunno if I'll ever feel that rush again, but building Tahu after asking someone at Target to fetch him from the back of the store for me and rushing home that night, well, it came pretty close to giving me that feeling.

 

It's a funny and extremely odd thing that I can look at Narmoto(PoF) and feel a ton of nostalgia...  and that's a set totally unrelated to my memories of HOW and WHEN I got my first Tohunga/Matoran. I think the one thing that I always looked forward to more than anything in a BIONICLE set were new builds, and new pieces. Seeing the set pictures and wondering how parts of the sets were built was always a big amaze-factor for me as a kid, and I've honestly had that a few times with the new sets, especially with the awesome custom-built weapons the protectors get. Man are the protectors excellent small sets. BIONICLE has never gotten such awesome and dynamic villager figures before! You could literally pass up the Toa and still feel like you're holding the best set of the wave if you were on a budget. Can't say the same for any of the Matoran/Turaga/Rahaga back in G1. 

Edited by Tarvaxx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thoroughly enjoy your reviews, especially the one on Bionicle video games. I liked your little speech about what Bionicle meant to you, because I relate to it so much, G1 basically defined my childhood, but G2 so far in amazing. While I feel like the pieces are less specialized, I think that's kind of a good thing considering these are Lego toys. It feels like there's less emphasis on the pieces themselves and more on the process of putting a bunch of seemingly normal parts into an impressive looking figure. I think that fits more with the overall style Lego should have and I welcome it. Just because the new sets don't have a bunch of quirks like pistons (which were honestly purely aesthetic and served no purpose other than showing where a character would bend their knee if the figure had bendable knees) doesn't make them bad. In some ways the new sets are more complex than G1, at least if you're comparing the Toa/villager sets of G1 to G2. I still wish we had gotten a proper titan this year, some of the Star Wars sets show CCBS is more than capable of larger complex figures, but this year shows Bionicle has a very bright future indeed. I'll admit the winter wave was a lot better than the summer wave, but the skull villains are still great figures and I'm looking forward to what 2016 has to offer.   

-BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great video. I very much appreciate the fact that you definitely thought this out before hitting the record button.

 

Personally, I disagree when it comes to the protectors names and skull Scorpio. I think the names, as weird as they are, do go together quite well, and actually reflect the respective chapters element. As far as skull Scorpio, I really like everything about him, except for maybe the fixed legs.

 

That all being said, I liked your video a lot and your speech at the end darn near brought a tear to my eye. Great job!

:y::m_o::l::m_o:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, I disagree when it comes to the protectors names and skull Scorpio. I think the names, as weird as they are, do go together quite well, and actually reflect the respective chapters element.

 

Well, one thing I've recently come to realize that makes the Protectors' names interesting to me is that, while they don't feel like parts of one unified language to me the way most of the Toa's names do, they DO compliment their respective Toa's names quite nicely. Some of them, anyway.

 

Tahu and Narmoto sound like they're part of the same language, like if the fire villagers had their own tongue. Very forward and strong-sounding, like they're really trying to make an impression on you.

 

Lewa and Vizuna sound almost lyrical, and very emotional. Very fitting for jungle/forest people who jump around in the trees, singing songs an' whatnot.

 

Gali and Kivoda sound spiritual and somewhat otherwordly.

 

Onua and Korgot sound rock solid and indomitable.

 

The only ones that still sound odd to me are Nilkuu, which to me sounds more like a Ta-Matoran or Ko-Matoran name, and Izotor, which sounds like a Vo-Matoran name to me. Aside from those, however, I think the Protectors compliment their respective Toa nicely.

the_toa_sig_by_nickinamerica-dbn0wau.png

The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice review!

 

I really can't think of much else to say; you pretty much nailed it in comparison to your review of the Toa a few months back. I pretty much share opinions with most people in saying that while the Skull guys aren't as amazing as the sets from the winter wave, they are still amazing sets. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...