doodleloot

I haven't yet, but I think eventually I want to get some. The quality of a lot of the recasts being sold has gotten so good that they look pretty much like the real deal, it's honestly really cool. And there's just something kind of magical about seeing the old maks in colors that were never produced but featured in MNOG or other media. And I don't think the legality is much of an issue, the quantities being sold are comparatively small and it's not like Lego is selling these masks themselves anymore.

You're right about that, I mentioned your last point as a possibility in my post as well (doesn't explain the Tridax Pod though, since that's completely different from the production part). But then again, the original poster themselves weren't even trying to sell these off as protoypes. So it's just really weird situation overall. I've sometimes seen people dismiss genuine (that we know to be legit) prototypes as "fake" because of them featuring printed parts and some people immediately take that as an indication of them being fan made or fraudulent. But you're right, these look like they could also be from Shapeways and admittedly, the print lines on these look less noticeable than for example the Lewa Axalara prototype parts from Toy Fair. Comparing the print from the images with the shadow leech mesh from Stud.io though (at least the one I have installed, from the Biopack/Stud.io pack), I'm not sure it's the same model, and I'm a little inclined to say that it is not. The Stud.io mesh is really lowpoly (it just looks smooth in stud.io because it's smooth shaded, which makes no difference to the actual geometry of the mesh when you print it), especially in the back, and even though the print is small, the back hull is still super round in the print and you don't see any of the faceting that is present in the Stud.io model. I'm pretty sure at least some of that jaggedness would show through. There's also a few other details that don't seem to match up exactly, like the fins having rounded off edges in the print, but being sharp on the stud.io model. I know Shapeways offers a polished SLS method where the print gets some of the surface finish removed, so that might explain the edges being more rounded, but from my experience printing with them, I doubt it would be able to clean the lowpoly jaggedness up to this extent. But who knows, it could also just be a custom or modified version of the model. That being said, the Tridax pod is still really weird as it seems to be a completely unique mesh, and doesn't match up with the Stud.io one at all. Both the outside decoration as well as the inside structure are completely different (plus the same issue with lowpoly geometry as the stud.io shadow leech). The pod is honestly the most notable part about this whole thing to me that makes me think there could be something to this. I also wasn't able to find a Tridax pod model that looks like this online anywhere 🤷‍♂️ But hey, I could also be completely wrong, it's just some things that stood out to me. Still think it would be interesting to get more images from the new owner if they're willing to share some and be able to take a better look.

Idk, personally I find the thought of someone going out of their way to produce fake prototypes for... shadow leeches, of all pieces, a fair bit weirder than the possibility of them actually popping up from somebody who had ties to Lego in some official capacity. What's even weirder to me is the Tridax pod, it's not just a print of the file you can get from Stud.io or whatever, it's an actual different design with a different pattern. This sort of stuff lines up with how Lego develops their parts and prototypes them. I feel like if someone went out of their way to do that modeling work and make some money off tricking people into thinking these were prototypes, they would try a lot harder in their wording to convince people. My point being, the way these were apparently produced lines up with how Lego develops and prototypes new parts (including the sloppy paint jobs, lol) and this would be far from the first time that stuff like this somehow made it into collectors hands. But you're right of course in that there isn't really a way to verify the legitimacy of these just going off these images. If these are fake, maybe that person went for shadow leeches because they thought those would be less scrutinized for their authenticity than something like a prototype Kanohi? Who knows, I just think it'd be really weird if someone went out of their way to model a (seemingly pretty nicely modeled) Tridax pod variant that isn't based on any known concept art or protoype, badly paint it blue, for some reason? and then try to pass it off as real.

You described them as feeling like being made of sand, which fits the properties of a part made using an SLS printer, which is exactly the type of printer Lego would have used to make prototypes at the time and not a type of printer available for home use (even today). Considering where you got it from, it's likely that it is a legitimate prototype. As for the blue pod half, do you know when they acquired that part? It was released in a black/blue marbled pattern with a Hero Factory set in 2010, which it looks like it might be in the image. If it's pure blue and they got it before the HF set release though, that could be a mold test, possibly acquired alongside the proto leech?

Hey, the item has since been sold, sorry!

The powder part was referring to the printing process, they were still likely spray painted after being printed in the usual white Nylon material Do they have any images of the blue SLS leeches? Honestly doesn't sound like that unlikely of a story on its own, but some more evidence would be nice. We've heard of prototype masks that were given to individuals at Toy Fairs before afaik.

Keep in mind though that those parts are SLS printed (fusing Nylon powder with a laser), not FDM prints like tourmalinex mentioned. Not that Lego may have never used FDM for prototyping, but the parts we saw used for Toy Fair prototypes around that time were spray painted SLS prints usually. Maybe there is some more context that could shine light on these? Were these (allegedly) given out to trade show visitors?

Is there any info on pricing for the Inside Tour exclusive transparent blue Mask of Water from 2015? I don't see any sold items on Bricklink and don't think there is a consensus on what would be considered a fair price for one, since I'm guessing it sells fairly rarely. I know that Duckbricks spent around 2.5k on his, but I don't know if that's representative of what the mask is actually worth.

lol all good just found it amusing

ok dude

Hi there! I'm looking to sell this Toa Mata Nui set I have, it is missing a few pieces (not the Mask though!) and still has the original box (european version) along with the instruction booklets. The mask unfortunately has a dent mark on one side, but otherwise is in an alright condition. Please take a look at the images linked further down to get an idea of what it looks like. The box shows its age in some spots, but is generally intact. More images here As for the missing parts, from what I could tell it's the keetorange shoulder blades and the Thornax projectile, seems to be pretty complete to me apart from that, but please look at the images for more details. If you are interested simply post here or shoot me a message with an offer and we can discuss details! Shipping from Germany btw, but I should be able to send outside of Europe as well.

I got an orange Kaukau from a new pack I bought last year. Didn't have the plastic wrapping around it anymore, but considering the contents were in perfect condition, I doubt that someone switched out the masks inside.

There are some images in this imgur gallery.

Hey, I have a spare protodermic Akaku Nuva. I'm personally still looking for a bunch of Kanohi Nuva, including the protodermic Kaukau and Pakari, but also a whole bunch of standard colored ones.

Stuff like this is super interesting to see, you should definitely post the other stuff you got ahold of! Did that recent image of a green prototype Kraahkan also happen to come from the collection you acquired?