RichardT1977

It looks like 2016 is taking inspiration from some of the canonized MOCs from the old line (in this case, I see elements reminiscent of the proto drake, or maybe the lohrak).

Yars' Revenge!

Isn't this the first time in the entire franchise we've ever been given a clear, sustained image of a character unmasked?

(compared to Ekimu in the earlier animation, which was about half a second)

Hope Mills, NC:

Walmart has Basher, Scorpio, and the 2-pack.

Am I the only one who looks at Skull Basher and thinks this?

Fayetteville, NC:

Toys R Us has all the summer wave; Target has Skull Slicer.

The Mask of Creation actually has a similar shape to Sauron's helmet in the Lord of the Rings movies, so perhaps Kulta's single-swing smackdown was intended to evoke that?

 

Korgot's gattling chest is definitely waifu material.

Brings a new meaning to "bazookas".

 

Good thing for Lego that they didn't give that toy TWO blasters, then, huh? That would have been a "yikes" moment for their PR department...

Back in 2011, When Power Rangers came back from winding down and Power Rangers: Samurai came out, one of the local Walmarts temporarily had some products on clearance, possibly due to space limitations while the store remodeled. In any case, the line did not crash and burn.

My point is that exploiting the price reductions is a smart move financially, but there is no reason to panic. Heck, my local Toys R Us has Lego on their seasonal front display, and Bionicle has a full display sign over their section of it.

Well, assuming they actually have personalities to go along with them, I think we'll have to wait and see. The Masters seem very akin to the Mata in terms of design and personality, but the Protectors look unlike anything we've seen before. If they are pretty much the equivalent of the Turaga or Matoran, then I wouldn't mind them having the same names.

 

-NotS

I dunno, Lewa sounds like a cross between classic Lewa and Matau (with the recklessness), classic Tahu didn't have an issue with forgetfulness, classic Kopaka wasn't a klutz, we couldn't tell whether or not classic Gali could tell a joke because she didn't seem given to humor... there have been changes. I would expect variances in the Protectors even if they did have the Turaga names.

Alternate idea: give the current generation of Protectors the Ignika/Mahri names, and have the Turaga names be the names of the current Protectors' parents.

I look forward to watching this when it's released some time next month.   

Amazon got a restock so they're at MSRP there again (as opposed to third-party Amazon sellers with their markups)! Just ordered Gali, Lewa, and Pohatu with Amazon gift card credit!

And now we are so happy, we do the Dance of Joy!

Am I the only one who thinks that mask in the teaser photo looks like Kongu's Inika mask?

Ooh! Behind the scenes stuff!

 

I just read the descriptions for the gold masks. The first three were basically "Tahu is really powerful...can you imagine how much more powerful he'll be with his gold mask??" but the gold mask descriptions for Onua, Lewa, and Kopaka are interesting. They seem to suggest that without the gold masks, the Toa cannot use their elemental powers, only their weapons. Once they acquire the gold mask, they are able to channel their power. See the gold Mask of Jungle description:

He can already turn his X-Glider into duel battle axes, but with the golden Mask he can channel the regenerating resilience of the forest!

If that's the case, then I wonder if their regular masks do anything at all.

More on-topic, I read the function of the Golden Masks as refining and increasing the powers of the Toa. They can use their 'signature moves' whenever, but the Golden Masks allow them complete control over the lement and some additional power. For example, Golden Mask of the Jungle allows Lewa to 'channel the resilience of the forest'. I read that as giving him quick(er) healing abilities, over time, Lewa could recover from any hit or poison, if he's wearing the Gold Mask. Kopaka's Golden Mask would not only allow him to reshape his shield into skis, but give him complete control over all ice.

 

If you watch their animation, you'll notice that all of their primary weapons are in "mobility" form (surfboard, skis, etc.) until they get their golden masks, at which point they convert those items to their "weapon" forms.

Target in Fayetteville, NC has Tahu, Kopaka, and the Protectors of Fire, Water, Ice, and Earth.

Tahu, Kopaka, and one space of Protectors are on an about mid-level shelf opposite the Chima products. The bulk of the Protectors are on a top shelf to the left of the Chima pegs.

Are the DCPI codes store specific? 

What are the DCPI codes for the Bionicle sets?

I found the Protectors of  Water & Earth at Target today!!  There were 2 of each and I bought 1 of  each.  They were between some boxes of Star Wars and Chima.  I've never seen an early released set before  the DC Braniac Attack a couple minutes before I saw the Bionicle sets.  I checked in Wal-Mart but its toy supply was as bad as ever.  I was suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper excited when I spotted them!!!  I was with my dad and I looked for him for a minute o show him the Braniac set, but I couldn't find him.  He went to the LEGO aisle a few seconds after I saw them and he thought it was funny how excited I was.  I wasn't a fan during Generation 1, but I still felt "Hau" great it was to see new Bionicle sets on the shelves after all this time.  I guess seeing the new sets in stores isn't too common as of now so this feels pretty special.  I definitely did not expect to see these, so I was planning on ordering Tahu,Gali, Pohatu, and maybe some of their Protectors.  I'll still order some on 1-1-15, but it felt amazing to buy and build some on 12-22-14!    EDIT: apparently the minor (to me) C-word is censored here, so I replaced the 6 number signs with "bad" when describing Wal-Mart

What location?

Pohatus not pohatu without his feet additions! I'm going to MOC him some.

That's what I was saying; if you look at his character video and comic, the way he's wearing his stormarangs (like snowshoes) looks like they're intended to serve the same function.

I'm not the only one who's realized after looking at the animations that Pohatu's stormarangs probably serve as his "super-kickers" when attached to his feet, right?

Why not adult non-Protector villagers, made slightly less complex than the Protectors and with only one simple tool/weapon apiece?

Doubt we'll see the Protectors get names. They'll probably remain anonymous for simplicity's sake. But we can all pretend that they're the G1 Turaga, since that's essentially what they are...just more awesome because they actually fight and whatnot.

In my mind their names are Vakama, Onewa, Whenua, Matau, Nuju, and Nokama until Lego specifically says those aren't their names.

The LOSS and Onua were dilivered to my house! YASSSSSS! Pictures later

This may be the only time I can ever say this honestly, let alone get away with saying it, but...

I am very happy for your LoSS 

For some reason I imagine the Protectors, as they're getting ready to summon the Toa, telling a green-shirted elflike kid, "For the last time, DO NOT PULL OUT THE SWORD!" 

For some reason, I got the audio for Tahu's video, but the only visual was the photo of his box art.