Volitak_Boxor

I doubt that the disks are solid gold; aside from the older sources mentioning plating, the values don't line up. The Gold Kanoka had a stated value of $50. In 2004, the price of one troy ounce of gold (31.1035 grams) was roughly $400. Then, it follows that $50 of gold would weigh approximately 3.9 ounces, far lighter than the measured 14-gram specimen. Would it be possible that a silver base disk (~10.3 grams) was then plated with ~3-4 grams of gold? I'm not sure how noticeably such an operation would increase the disk's thickness, but that would make sense both price-wise and weight-wise (pending further, more accurate measurements). The price of the silver shouldn't have much of an impact; it looks like ~14 grams of silver would only cost around $3.50 in 2004. As a note, these value estimates are based only on the worth of the raw precious metals, and it is possible that Lego developed their $50 estimate under the assumption that forming the raw metals into a collectible disk would increase the value somewhat. Also, not to derail this Gold Kanoka discussion, but now that there are a few more eyes on this topic, I'm still curious if anyone knows how people initially got their hands on the blank glow-in-the-dark Kanoka. Where did they come from before they entered the secondhand market? (It's really too bad that the old forum archives disappeared, I'm sure there was an answer there.)

Bricklink has two different listings for the mass of a disk; a Throwbots disk or McToran disk has a listed weight of 1.42 grams, but a Kanoka from 2004 has a listed weight of 2.01 grams. I'm not sure whether this difference is a clerical mistake on Bricklink, or if Lego made the Kanoka a bit thicker than the older disks (the part number changed from 32171 to 32533 between 2001 and 2004), or if the glow-in-the-dark plastic used for the Kanoka is a different material that's a bit denser. According to Google, ABS plastic has a mean density of 1.05 g/cm^3 (if anyone has a more accurate number for Lego's particular strain of ABS, that'd help). Mild steel has a density of around 7.85 g/cm^3, and silver has a density of 10.5 g/cm^3. If we assume that an ABS Kanoka has a mass of 1.42 g and a density of 1.07 g/cm^3, we get the following results (neglecting the extra mass of the thin gold layer): Disk Volume: 1.33 cm^3 Mass of Steel Disk: 10.42 g Mass of Silver Disk: 13.93 g If we assume that an ABS Kanoka has a mass of 2.01 g and a density of 1.07 g/cm^3, we get the following results (neglecting the extra mass of the thin gold layer): Disk Volume: 1.88 cm^3 Mass of Steel Disk: 14.75 g Mass of Silver Disk: 19.72 g With a measured mass of 14 grams, the first set of assumptions would imply that the Gold Kanoka has a silver core, and the second set of assumptions would imply that the Gold Kanoka has a steel core. It may be necessary to more definitively determine the volume of a Kanoka disk to reach a solid conclusion. I have a McToran disk and a Kanoka on hand; I'll check to see if I notice any differences in weight or in the mold, but I don't have easy access to any more accurate measurement tools.

Hey all, I'm working on a Collectibles page on BS01, and I had a couple quick questions about the Kanoka. First, does anyone know of any definitive/citeable source for what's inside the golden Kanoka? Everything I could find from official sources just called it a gold disk or gold-plated. One BZPower topic says that the inside is metal (correcting a previous user who thought the core was plastic), and a Eurobricks topic has a user claim the inside is sterling silver. If anyone can verify that claim, that would be helpful. I doubt anyone has ever intentionally stripped the gold plating off to check the inside, so I'm not certain on what basis people know what the middle is made from. Weights? Hearsay? Statements from Lego that I can't find? It's not really a big deal, but I'm curious. Also, does anyone recall where the blank glow-in-the-dark Kanoka came from? Reading this topic, it looks like they were fairly common, but it doesn't really say where they originated (contrast the blank tan and black Kanoka, distributed in Legoland Billund in 2005). Thanks!

Thanks, Pereki. I wish I knew a bit more about how these two polybags were actually distributed. All the discussion I've seen on the English-speaking forums has mostly mentioned purchasing these from resellers overseas, but I have no idea how those European BrickLink vendors were able to originally obtain these.

I know that this might be a bit of a dated topic, but I was wondering if anyone on this board might be able to provide some insights. I've been thinking about the origins of the names of the two polybags released in late 2015, the Villain Pack and the Accessory Pack. The Hero Pack was clearly labeled as such on the LEGO Shop website, but these two polybags were never listed for sale online, as far as I know, and their packaging does not provide any name. Do these names come from any official LEGO source, or are they just generally-accepted fan names? I've been doing some research, and it seems like the Villain Pack was first reported on as a new polybag, with no specific name attached, on August 2, 2015 (see news report video and associated source links here). The first photos originated from Rusbionicle and Russian social media, it looks like, but I didn't find any mention of a name. That same day, a Eurobricks user posts a review of the polybag, calling it the Villain Pack, but it is unclear whether the reviewer learned took that name from another source or came up with the "Villain Pack" name himself, as an obvious contrast to the previous Hero Pack. As for the Accessory Pack, the first record of its existence that I can find is a BZPower report from December 2015 stating that a listing for the polybag appeared on Brickset. I am unsure how the Brickset contributor learned of this polybag's existence. In a broader sense, are there any methods or norms typically used for the documentation of polybags? I am less familiar with System polybags, but it seems like many of them are not marked with an obvious name on their packaging. Despite this, reference sites like Brickset always have a name associated with each polybag. I haven't had any luck entering the polybag numbers into Lego's customer service site; is there some other source used to determine official names, or do the database keepers simply use their best judgement and come up with a reasonable name themselves? Thank you for any insights you can offer; I'm thinking about improving BS01's records about G2 polybags and collectibles, and I want to make sure that I understand the whole picture.

On the original models, it might be a bit of a long shot to get in contact with a couple of these folks; I'm not sure about a few of the identies of the folks who created certain Dark Hunters, despite having sent out PMs to several of them. Insofar as it's possible that they'll respond, I feel like it's worth the time spent. Munty should be a different story, as I think he's around pretty consistently. Any chance you've heard back from him yet? I sent Munty a PM a few months ago and never received any reply; haven't really attempted to follow up beyond that yet. It could potentially be worthwhile to try to contact one of the purchasers of the Sand Tarakava replicas, but I'm not sure that it would be right to distribute scans of those instructions without any response from Munty.

Yeah, he did, and I think he said he planned to publish them via PDF after he sold his ten replicas. I don't know if he ever got around to it, though. I sent him a PM a couple days ago, but I haven't heard anything back yet.

Actually, I think the torso was significantly different; it didn't use the gearbox. Let me see if I can find the topic I'm thinking of; can't remember if it was at TTV, Eurobricks, or here. Edit: Found it: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/23460-triple-m-instructions/ No step-by-step instructions yet, but I think there's enough info there to get the model built. If anyone has the parts, I don't think it's be too hard to put some instructions together. Any proud owners of 41 purple studs present?

Note that a second video was released as an addendum: Also, from the TTV topic, the imgur links at the top were broken, but these ones in the middle seem to be working. Credit to Kylesterz, who made these. Links to Instruction Albums (on Imgur) Torso: http://imgur.com/a/y9WrT Staff: http://imgur.com/a/4SGCk Arms: http://imgur.com/a/dJWe1 Legs: http://imgur.com/a/YP3TZ Putting them together: http://imgur.com/a/8rPRp It looks like these instructions don't use the same method to build the Ikir-head section as the addendum video; there may be other differences.

I was deciding between 3 and 5, and ultimately chose 3. I liked the artstyle and imagined form of a G3 Wairuha. The setlike aesthetic appeals to me, but the mix of blue, green and silver markings on the armor brings an added flair not available in CCBS. Also, I'm a fan of the piece's subject (see avatar), so I admit to a bit of bias. 5 was very well done, though, as a personal runner-up. Honorable mention to 8; I appreciated finding a number of subtle details (e.g. Makuta's staff and swirly-circular chest armor from his set appearance) that weren't immediately apparent on first glance.

I had similar thoughts to Peabody Sam's. The Skull Army looks like it would fit in well with the existing 2015 skull villains' aesthetic, and I'm impressed by the faithful and effective realization of the Kulta Kal concept art. For the Master Builder set, I'd like to highlight the Fikou and snake as personal standouts, but I'm not sure that all the rest of the creature builds reached that same high standard. A few other thoughts... 3 looks well built, and I think it did a good job at what its builder was aiming for, but it's kind of in an uncanny valley for me. Ekimu looks a bit too humanoid for my tastes (and also reminds me of Doctor Strange, incidentally). But that's just personal preference; props to a solid build. I also wanted to shout-out 5; I liked the bulk, menace, and mask-hoarding aesthetic of its take on Makuta.

A lot of solid entries in this group. I really like the way that 6 brought the Kulta-Kal concept art to life (both titan and component sets), and it earned my vote. I like the shaping on 3, especially the head, but I personally think it looks like there's a bit too much silver and not enough solid green. I appreciate 1's homage to the G1 Master Builder set, and I think the Fikou and snake are particularly well done; this was probably my runner up. I thought 5 was also a good development of the Uxar concept art, and 2 reminds me of a Throwbot or other pre-Bionicle Technic set (a neat twist). Good builds all around.

Great coverage! I find it a bit funny that there's an image of the combiner on the side of the box, while most photos of these boxes online show just the front and back. That's probably part of the reason why this model was forgotten. It's also nice to finally see a good scan of that model's instructions. Do you mind if I use some of your photos and scans for the set database on BS01? Thanks for taking the time to document this piece of Bionicle memorabilia.

I believe one of the 2 axles is red, and you're right about the wheels as well. The ball joints are specifically the voodoo ball piece. As for the studs, that is why I pointed it out at the top of the thread. If you own every single set ever released, you have 18 of them. Give or take. Other than that, it looks good. By voodoo ball, do you mean the old-style ball joints used 2001-2005, where the axle hole doesn't go all the way through? And I wasn't sure of the color of the axle holding the eyes in the head; thanks for the clarification.

Oh, okay. That makes sense. I thought that the size 5 shell would extend farther up than a size 4 shell, but after taking another look, the size 5 shell is just longer on the bottom. I think I understand entirely how the model is built now. I tried to put together a part inventory, in case that could be helpful to anyone. I'm not sure that it's 100% accurate, since I haven't physically built the set, but I think it's pretty close. It looks like the black elbow piece hasn't actually been released in any Bionicle sets, and the black wheels would have to come from Pewku or another Technic set, but I think the rest of the parts can be found in at least one of the Gen 2 Bionicle sets. It would take a lot of Onuas to get 41 trans-purple studs, though. Display Here