NickonAquaMagna

Anyone remember that fan-made torso piece reminiscent of the Toa Mata body?

As many G2 haters will tell you, the old one was smooth. That's bad, apparently.

Yeah. I can sorta see Onua using Terak's paws as a second pair of arms to grapple an enemy and hold them close while he does some real damage, but all Melum can do is smack Kopaka on the sides of his head. ...which is pretty funny to imagine, I have to admit.

Boy, this is surreal. I guess I've been dealing with so many CCBS haters outside of BZP who constantly whine that these sets "NEED MORE DETAIL!!!" that hearing people INSIDE the BZP community say these sets have TOO much detail, too many pistons an' whatnot, using phrasing like "hyper detailed" really throws me for a loop. Like, "Whoa, where am I?"

I think it's a bit unfair to say the Protectors had barely any changes from each other. The only two Protectors that I'd say had barely any changes were the Protector of Jungle and Protector of Stone, and even then, they had very different weapons (which were a big part of those sets). The Protectors of Fire, Ice, Earth, and Water all felt pretty different to me. And in general, different people like different things. I'm sure there are a lot of people who really like Technic-based building, but that doesn't mean they're guaranteed to like all Technic-based sets. Just look at how much hate there's been for Lord of Skull Spiders and Skull Scorpio, some of last year's villain sets that used the most Technic. In Logan McOwen's case, he apparently believes Akida's build could've been more streamlined and lifelike if it had used a more CCBS-based build, and that the Technic components of the set could have been put to use for a more interesting function rather than just being structural. Which is probably true, although I'm not as bothered by that as he is. I wasn't talking about how different they are as individuals, though. What I'm asking is "Would people rather have a second wave of what are essentially more protector figures?" You know, like getting a subsequent wave of Matoran. Not that I wouldn't like that anyway, but hey, the variety of these is still appreciated in my book. I find Akida's construction kinda funny, honestly. The core of the construction is one super long CCBS bone, and everything is built around that. But hey, it's a fish. The range of motion in the neck and tail will be enough to give it all the "swoosh," it could need, I feel. Because it's very ugly. If I wanted Technic sets, I would buy Technic sets. I like CCBS sets because they offer something different. I find Technic builds boring and repetitive, and I don't enjoy them. Not that this is necessarily your fault, but all this Technic-versus-CCBS talk that never, ever stops sometimes makes me feel like one of the only people who likes BOTH. Hey, me too. Part of why I admire the 2015 wave of Toa is because Lego managed to FUSE technic engineering WITH CCBS to create something that only the most jaded individuals could call "Just Hero Factory figures with the Bionicle name" with a straight face. But yeah, you need at least a LITTLE of that for it to really work the way it does. I would still like the figures if they were pure CCBS, but the fact that they demonstrate how CCBS + Technic can work makes me LOVE them. As for Akida, I think she looks great. The color scheme is exotic and eye-catching, and aside from the turrets themselves that, for one reason or another, Lego basically NEEDED to include, she's pretty streamlined. Indeed, and I like that these toys keep giving us glimpses of those older themes, with what bits of technic they have.

What I'm trying to figure out is why it's disappointing. Would they really rather have another set of Protectors, with barely any changes from the last set? I thought people would LIKE the increased focus on classic technic greeble an' whatnot, but it seems to be turning them off. Very strange.

Holy... people are being REEEEEEALLY harsh towards these creature sets.

For some, the simple fact that it's not humanoid IS the main draw of the set.

This is one of my favorite creature sets.

They also do a really good job of echoing the overall shape of the shoulder pads from this year's sets, which pulls a lot of weight in terms of keeping the character's design continuous even though his proportions have changed so dramatically. Yeah. He just has a more elemental (and streamlined) feel, now.

I think it's intended to look like jagged crystals growing over his shoulders. Isn't it kind of obvious?

(reads other posts) Geez, guys. I like symmetry too, but... I don't NEED it. Anyway, things I like about this set. Well, I like his shape. I know, I know, it's not the same as last year's set, but I think it feels like a substantial upgrade. Look at our technology, look at all the smartphones and tvs an' whatnot we've made. They all started out kind of big and bulky, but they SHRINK over time and less and less room is needed to accomplish the same power or they can squeeze even more in there. That's the feel this Onua gives me. We have no reason to think this version of Onua isn't AT LEAST as strong as he was last year, but now he doesn't have to be as huge to accomplish that, and his streamlined new look probably frees him up to be a lot faster and more agile, too. Overall, I think he makes the new torso build work the best out of any of this years sets, some of the others looking just a little too short-limbed for it. He's big, but not "just big." I think he looks much more well-rounded now. As much as I love his previous look, I find this one acceptable, too. A few, in the past, have questioned the huge emphasis on transparent pieces in these sets. Personally, I think this Onua pulls it off better than most Toa. In his case, it looks like crystals, especially in more jagged areas like the shoulders, as if entire chunks of his body are comprised of some purple, crystaline form of Protodermis. I LOVE THAT. The trans purple adds so much life and a more elemental feel to this set. I just wish the shin armor add-on had more of the color. As for the grey upper arm... I just took that as him wearing a sleeve over his arm and under his armor plating, like last year's Pohatu. I know people think it's silly, but I don't mind if when looking at it that way. Anyway, I think this is a GREAT set overall and it really feels like an upgrade from the old set. Upgrades don't always mean bigger, heavier, more cumbersome, they're the opposite. I'll probably revamp him slightly, but I think he's pretty darn good as is.

The idea of this piece coming out as some kind of "appeasement" seems sort of far-fetched. The designers would've already been working on these 2016 sets before the 2015 sets even came out, so there wouldn't have been that much time for them to listen and respond to criticisms, certainly not on such an integral piece. It seems more likely to me that its difference from CCBS is partially practical in nature. It needs to use Technic connections to function as it does, since it needs to be able to connect the creatures to the Toa, and has to be more securely attached to the set it belongs to than to its counterpart on the other set. Can you imagine pulling the creature off the Toa and their chest plate stays attached to the Toa's back? As for its aesthetics, again, that seems to be partly a practical consideration. It's hard to mold a perfectly smooth and clean piece when you have to mold connection points into it on multiple sides, because then between the inner and outer surface you could end up with solid chunks of plastic that wouldn't cool properly. So it needs cavities molded into it to keep the walls from being too thick while still bracing the sides (same as with this Technic piece, which is structurally very similar). And on top of that, the piece might as well have some decoration, since unlike the Protectors, the creatures won't have a separate add-on on top of them. Right, I keep forgetting how far ahead of time they have to plan this stuff. As well-designed as the piece is for use, though, I won't completely rule out that Lego may have ANTICIPATED that they'd get some backlash for using "Hero Factory parts" (ugh, I hate it when people call them that in earnest) in the new line, and it's just that they're only able to release so many "oldschool" pieces at a time. Last yeah, it was the weapons and the texture add-on for the armor. These year, it's the "unity" piece and the torso armor that, unless I'm off, has TWENTY-ONE PISTONS MOLDED INTO IT. Like... dang. They must've known that people would want more pistons an' whatnot, and we're just seeing a sllllloooww transition from the new to the old with these lines. I know some people don't like the new, more greebily pieces, such as the torso armor, but try to understand why they look the way they do.

Well, of course that piece doesn't fit CCBS' aesthetic. It wasn't designed to. It was made to look like that to appease the people who've spent all year complaining that CCBS isn't piston-y enough and pestering Lego to "bring back the REAL Bionicle" or whatever.

No. Sorry. I did estimate the release of the Return of the Toa Miro early last year... but it ended up coming much later, so my word on the new story really wouldn't matter much.

Hmmm... that difference in function kinda goes back to what I was saying. They live in different environments, so they've evolved to move (and possibly hunt) in different ways, sorta like the way some dogs' legs "snap" together when they're running to speed up.

Terak and Melum look like they were the same species at one point, but evolved to live in different climates.

The new pieces are over-detailed to because people kept whining about the "lack of pistons for a year, because pistons defined everything about Bionicle, dontcha' know? Lego's trying to make it up to these people, and... they might be overcompensating. Personally, I like the piston style pieces and am glad they are bringing them back in force. I mean, yeah, this year's Toa were great and altering them to look more like the original style would mess things up. But the torso piece's piston overload, for example, doesn't bother me at all. The fact that it's overly decaled and has almost no visible connection points, however, bugs me considerably. As a whole, however, I like the new greebled parts. Still.... I can understand the use of most of the pistons back in the day, but twenty-one pistons on a single piece? What are they even for? Surely, they don't actually help the Toa move (storywise, I mean).

Lewa's arms are the same length as most of the other Toa's arms, aren't they? The only Toa who actually has longer arms than any of the others is Kopaka. Arguably Lewa's should be a bit longer than Tahu's or Onua's since his shoulders appear to be raised higher, but the same goes for Pohatu and Gali. Really, I'd say the bigger problem is that the Toa's torsos are too long, which on some of them throws off the proportions of both the arms and the legs. Previously the Toa's torsos were nine modules long, now they're eleven modules long. Yet the Toa's arms have mostly stayed the same length as this year's, and Lewa's legs and arms have actually gotten shorter Like his shins, Lewa's shoulders have a very... unorthodox construction that places them SO HIGH that his arms, despite their pretty standard length, don't reach very far down. And yeah.. their torsos are kinda long. On the larger figures (Tahu, Onua, Kopaka) it works very well. In fact, Onua is probably the best-built somewhat beefy Toa I've ever seen. Shorter members, like Gali and Pohatu, despite being sllllightly off, still look okay. Lewa, though... hoooh boy. The new pieces are over-detailed because people kept whining about the "lack of pistons for a year, because pistons defined everything about Bionicle, dontcha' know? Lego's trying to make it up to these people, and... they might be overcompensating.

Lewa's arms are comically short. Aside from that, he and the rest are good.

Naaaaaaah

Judging from their construction, it looks like Kopaka's beast and Onua's beast are members of the same species, just adapted to live in different environments.

Makuta will probably show up in 2017, as the final boss of a trilogy.

I'm just gonna leave this here.

...That's really funny. I'll be sure to show that happening when I review these figures.