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Did any set waves blow your mind when they came out?


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Basically what the title says. I remember when my then best friend got Matoro Inika and saved opening it until I came over later that day. We opened it up and were just completely blown away by everything in the container. The light up sword, the massive chest pieces, the rubber mask and green head, all of the limbs that were almost twice as long as anything that had come on the previous toa AND were trans-blue - none of it was like anything we had ever seen before! We just kept repeating that this was a completely new Bionicle, a new generation. Our world was shaken. We revered Matoro as the most powerful being in our universe for all the rest of that weekend. 

I'm curious if anyone else had this sort of experience with a particular set or wave of sets. There were others that I had similar experiences with, but this was the most prominent in my memory.

Edited by kanohi of jello
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move along.

nothing to see here.

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Pretty much all my early sets blew my young mind in some way. Lewa was my first buildable action figure ever, Pohatu had an upside down torso, Onua had a different head connection, Tahu was pretty standard but! I got to make Akamai with him, Gali had a transparent mask, and Kopaka had a cool system shield and the only asymmetric mask. Doesn't sound like much when I type it out but as my first introduction to the Technic building system I loved all the little differences and quirks the Toa had.

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The Barraki annihilated by brain as a kid. Even the Inika kept the series in domain of terrestrial robots but the Barraki came and were all sea-dwelling and looking fairly organic with their teeth and tentacles. They were notably scarier than anything before. Sure, the Piraka were a bit menacing of Pridak's bloody-looking maw was a new level.

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Jaller Inika looks like C-3PO and I hate it.

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None so much as the original Mata, I think.

While I'd had a couple of the Slizers at the time, the Toa were in a whole other league to them, as far as I was concerned: they were almost twice as tall, and had so many new and fascinating pieces to them that I couldn't even figure out how they were built from the original pictures, which made every moment of building my first one, Onua, a moment of discovery in and of itself. The detail on the limbs; the unique weapons; the translucent eye/brain pieces that seemed to shine up when the light caught them... and those masks that were so unlike any Lego piece I'd ever encountered! The mystery and personality they conveyed! And, like Shadow Imperator up there says, too, all the little differences between each Toa's design, the small things that made them stand out from one another despite their similarities.

I'm pretty sure nothing else that Bionicle turned out came anywhere near close to blowing my mind the way those original ones did.

 

Though I want to say that the mid-2003 wave - the Matoran and the titans - gets an honourable mention for me.

I think, granted, that had more to do with the thrill of discovery blowing my mind, rather than the sets themselves; but at the time, I hadn't known about the existence of the McDonald's Matoran promo at all, I only knew Hafu and Nuparu existed as sets. So coming on to Bionicle.com that day? The Wall of History entry just LEAPT out at me, showing me that these MNOG guys had got new designs (and names, in some cases); while a spin through the character bios and shop pages showed me they now existed as sets! And that was just! The coolest of the cool to eleven-year-old me. That we got representations of these characters, who were so special to me at the time; and none blew my mind so much as Takua and Jala. Just the fact that they were real, alone! Not to even mention, that seventh Toa; I didn't know at the time who the HECK he was, but NEW TOA! GOLD ARMOUR! EPIC MASK! He was magical to me, I can remember how much I was wowed by him xD

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"New legends awake, but old lessons must be remembered.
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2001 wave. I can't think of a wave that got me more incredibly invested in the story, the lore, the characters, and the product. The merchandising campaign was perfect, especially for a kid without internet access desperately calling friends to watch them play MNOG on their dial up connection. I loved the sets, I loved the color balancing and the way each canister told a story. They did a really good job. I also loved the mysticism.

 

Although, I did crawl through a friend's neighbor's dog door when they were out of town to borrow their copy of Mask of Light for the afternoon... So...

Edited by Unreliable Narrator
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Happy chat.

 

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Nothing blew my mind as much as my very first sets in the 2003 wave. Tahnok-Kal and first, and he was unlike any toy I've ever gotten. It's like, even as a child, with nothing to go off of but the toy itself, the canister, and the instructions, I could just tell he existed in a universe all his own the way the rest of my toys didn't.

After 2003-2005 set the pace for what I expected from BIONICLE, the Piraka were the biggest direction shift. In some ways, I thought their faces looked kind of cartoony, and I found all of them having green Zamor spheres distracting (the new colors with the Inika were a pleasant surprise). Also, the Zamor-launching arm was a joke. But at the same time, there was something undeniably predatory about them. Until this point, the canister-level antagonists had been horde enemies. Either robots just doing their job, or animals controlled by evil people. The Piraka really were the first canister-sized criminals in BIONICLE, and the sets conveyed it. You can't imagine a group of Thoks the same way you can a swarm of Lehvak, because he just has such personality. On the good elements of the sets, the dual-function tools and legs were awesome.

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Seeing Lego directly acknowledge previous sets in the 2010 Stars line was pretty surreal. I was 9-10 at the time so I had a Goldfish's attention span, and a year felt like a REALLY long time. So even in 2010, the Piraka felt ancient... the Takanuva set Kanohi even used the original 2003 mould I think. 2015 was mind-blowing for a similar reason, seeing Lego pay homage to MNOG, the original Toa, and bringing back functions in what I hold to this day to be the perfect marriage of the old system and the new was amazing.

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As a kid I got amazed of every new set wave ever since I got into Bionicle back in 2005, and 2006 was the year that really got me hooked. I have fond memories of getting: two of the the toa hordika, my first Visorak, the Voya Nui Matorans, some of the Piraka, the Inika etc. I even got my hands on older sets from older kids. It was always special to get a new set, and it felt really abrupt when Bionicle ended in 2010.  Nicely enough i got around 5 years with G1 and at least got almost 2 more years with G2.
 

Edited by Toa Iceox
Spelled Visorak wrong.
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2008's Phantoka line had me completely starstruck. I loved the theme of flight and the "battle in the skies," with the Toa's jetpacks and the Makuta's wings. I especially liked the cruel, bat-like features of the Makuta, which seemed suitably menacing for beings made of shadow. And I was fascinated by the mysterious setting of Karda Nui, with its Matoran villages atop the stalactites and it being the "World That Feeds the World." 

In retrospect, it was a great move by LEGO to split the heroes and villains up and release three of each with each set wave. Releasing a mix of Toa and Makuta together made the conflict instantly recognizable and playable, and I think that's partly why it was my favourite wave right off the bat.

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Two waves still come to mind all these years later, both launch waves; 2001 and 2015's first waves! 2001 for being with an air of mystery as to not knowing what Bionicle even was, and the journey of discovery in learning about this new world. 2015 in the shear shock at seeing Bionicle back, and how it had improved in the 14 years since it had been first introduced. 

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All aboard the hype train!

 

 

 

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Well, anything from Bionicle blows my mind, but 2001 and 2015 come to mind. I mean, when Bionicle began, it looks so awesome because there are six colorful heroes who are like the Avengers from Marvel, but with unique elemental powers. I love the gear function because it does the action swinging thing with the Toa’s limbs. They also have their fancy masks and weapons. 
 

I pick 2015 because the Toa look very cool with the CCBS. It’s modernization. 
 

Of course, there’s the Piraka and Barraki because they look so different from Toa. It’s because they are independent villains rather than minions, and they have faces that are different from Toa, along with some funky weapons, both natural and unnatural. 

 

There’s also 2009 because the Glatorian’s and Agori’s faces look like Iron Man from Marvel and they have fingered hands. Plus, Mata Nui looks like a Glatorian rather than a Toa, and the Mask of Life can be placed on top of his face, like a Glatorian, rather than his mouth. 
 

Plus, 2008 showed Matoran of Karda Nui being able to combine with Toa and Makuta, as in they do piggy back rides. Same with 2016 with the Elemental Creatures.

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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I kind of missed out on Bionicle, I was a bit too young to comprehend the story and stuff. I do remember seeing the Phantoka and because I like aeroplanes I thought they were pretty neat. But what did blow my mind was when CCBS came out, I had enjoyed the first wave of hero factory and had brought one set and understood the story but to see these totally different, bigger hero’s with moving elbows and knees was amazing!

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Set waves, hm.

  • Guardian Toa. Spear & shield made them feel mythic.
  • Bohrok. I tried for [what felt like] months to figure out that picture on the back of comic #3. Everything about those sets was so carefully crafted (one of the best canisters, etc.).
  • Honorable mention for the Toa Metru. Had some buddies who were very excited about how posable the new frame was.
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2015 Sets: 18/18 + 3 • Polybags: 1/2 • SDCC x2, NYCC Clear MoF, Trans-MoF
2016 Sets: 17/17 + 6

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Inika were absolutely wild for me as a kid.  No gears, no functions, just fantastic armor and articulation.

G2 also repeatedly impressed me with how consistently good its first three waves were.  (The last was something of a letdown...)

It is not for us to decide the fate of angels.

Dominus Temporis, if you're out there, hit me up through one of my contacts.  I've been hoping to get back in touch for a long time now.  (Don't worry, I'm not gonna beg you to bring back MLWTB or something.  :P )

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  • 2 weeks later...

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