Latrodectus

Not 100% accurate to the MNOG version of Makuta, but who cares, it looks awesome! It's like the tentacles are bursting from his body, or perhaps creeping up like some sinister shadow behind his seemingly harmless form. And you attached the pieces to the tentacles in just the right way where they're noticeable but don't look awkward hanging off. 

I love Basher; the unique function is going to mean a unique build.

Not a fan of the lack of new masks. 

You really nailed the face, keeping the beady eyes and weird greebly mouth of the original while giving it more menace. 

Is Skull Slicer wearing a Skull Spider mask? If so, that's kinda lame.

But still, really happy to see them!

These episodes were a massive improvement over the previous ones just because of the Toa meeting up and interacting. You get a lot of characterization in those few minutes, and the team have distinct personalities. The action was also nice.

I get the feeling we'll see Tahu become a better leader over time, with Onua being de-facto leader for now because he's the most reasonable of the bunch. 

Surprised Gadunkadunkadunka hasn't shown up more often.

 

It was an interesting idea, but in practice the thing just looks so awkward. He's way too wide, insanely hard to pose in any way other than the standard facing forward pose (even then he falls over half the time), and looks incredibly out-of-place next to any other BIONICLE sets.

 

Lewa0111 Nuva

I completely disagree. Gadunka is well-articulated and has surprisingly good stability. It's fun to have it carrying things in its mouth or fingers, and it can stand on one foot without issue. It looks very unique too, which makes it stand out among the crowd. Its main issue is gappiness, but I think the pros overcome that.

 

Very strong no.

 

They're much better fitted to the later years of G1. I feel that they really wouldn't fit the theme of G2 so far. I'd say we'd need something 'lighter', something less serious. Obviously not so lacking in seriousness that we get a joke of a song or something. I'd prefer we get a song of something like the MNOG chanting. That really was a BIONICLE sound, IMO. Not to mention that a lot of the music in MNOG realy helped define it. We need something like the MNOG music to define Okoto.

So...you're saying symphonic/alternative rock is too dark, but sacrificial chanting isn't? 

 

what

How on Earth is MNOG's chanting "sacrificial"? 

There are a few dark intense tracks in MNOG, like the music during the Makuta battle, but they are reserved for the darker and more intense moments. 

2005 would have been better if the Hordika actually looked like monstrous animalistic Toa and not... Slightly ugly dudes with gappy legs. 

Imagine if they had been as varied as the Barraki and had more obvious animal elements, like claws or tails or wings or teeth. They could even be based on the types of Rahi each Rahaga hunted. 

I feel like 2005 had a lot of interesting ideas that were horrendously mishandled. A toa betraying his team and then redeeming himself could make for a great story, but Vakama was almost the worst choice for such a Toa and the betrayal was incredibly forced.

I know... how about pong or Packman? lol.

Pong could actually be fun with a functioning playset. It'd have to be on its side so gravity doesn't mess up the ball, but I could see it working. 

2003 would be better if the Bohrok Kal didn't exist.

2004 and 2005 would be better if the Visorak and Vahki had more variety.

2008 would be better with actual colors. 

Nah, that was a little over the line on the 'too edgy' meter for me. Kind of like the soundtrack for Sonic Adventure 2. 

Are you not a fan of the masterpiece A Ghost Pumpkin's Soup? 

I actually really loved the bright colors. Huge improvement after the bley and silver of 2008. And I love Skopio. Skopio's awesome.

Unfortunately, that's basically all that was attractive. Too many Inika builds, too many horrible Av-Matoran builds, not enough new. It wasn't as awful as 2008, but it certainly didn't make me excited in Bionicle again. 

The story was also very unappealing. It's good on paper, the problem is that it was not executed very well because of the necessity of tying it to the previously set-up Bionicle story.

Got to be the Nuva for me. They were the ones I first knew and engaged with and honestly, I just like them more. Each one has a strong, distinct personality which represents the element they wield. They also had bright, vibrant colour schemes which again, represented their element very well. Something that bugs me about most Toa post-2003 is that, rather than looking at them and going "that looks like a Toa of fire!" you'd know they were a Toa of fire because they were mostly red, and that would be the only indicator. So in short, I like the Mata/Nuva because they truly felt like representitives of their element, rather than beings who happened to be able to use a particular elemental power.

I disagree. While 2008 obviously had a terrible color scheme for Tahu, every other year did pretty well at demonstrating what element the Toa of Fire represented; Vakama had a flame-designed disc launcher as a Metru and translucent flame weapons as a Hordika, Jaller had trans-orange pieces with a fire-designed sword as an Inika and an awesome orange and dark red color scheme as a Mahri.

I like the idea of Pokemon creator sets for certain types. Perhaps with a gym leader minifig for each specific type (For example, Blaine or Flannery would be the minifig for the Fire pack).

Dark Souls 2 is rated T.

Forgot about that. Still probably out of age range, but I'd love the Iron Keep or the Grave of Saints.

While it's not a particularly popular series, the Metroid series is chock full of great locations to make into Lego sets, especially Retro Studios' Metroid Prime games. Architecture like Skytown, Sanctuary Fortress, Tourian, and Artifact Temple could translate into interesting playsets that don't require new parts, while natural environments like Tallon Overworld, Brinstar, and Phendrana Drifts could add some variety. Then there's Samus' wonderful gunship. 

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls obviously have no chance as M-rated games, but they have tons of wonderful castle and ruin locations to make into sets. Sen's Fortress particularly would be a great set with all its traps like rolling boulders and swinging axes, and Anor Londo would be beautiful. Of course, you could probably build those with existing Lego parts (Though Anor Londo would require a lot of gold or yellow). There are also some really good armor sets that could make great addition to the existing collection of castle-themed minifigures. 

 

LOOK! OFFICIAL STOP-MOTION BIONICLE SHORTS FROM LEGO!!!

 

Stone Guys

 

Jungle Guys

 

Ice Guys

 

Earth Guys

 

Water Girls

 

Fire Guys

 

These are great! The ads nail the sort of slapstick that Lego can provide. None of the videos feel repetitive despite following a similar format; each one has a different method of the Protector giving the Toa its armor. 

I felt the Mata just had more diversity of personalities. I can tell you each Toa's distinct personality without a problem. None of them felt redundant. You had great dynamics like Pohatu and Kopaka that had characters bounce off each other. There were some problems like the over-emphasis on conflict, but at least each one was memorable. 

The Inika had distinct personalities as Matoran and I loved them as Matoran, but I almost feel like they melded together too much after becoming Toa. I can tell you their personalities as Matoran, but I have trouble telling you about them as Toa without referencing the stuff they did as Matoran. There's Matoro's great self-doubt and arc... And that's about it. Hahli particularly felt like a missed opportunity considering she was the main character of the second Mata Nui Online game and Metru Nui's chronicler. There has to be something interesting you can glean from that, but instead she's just generic McHero. 

It wouldn't have been good. But what if Slizers had gone on?

 

I personally think that the Slizers line would have continued to be pretty popular as it was in it's first and only year, but it undoubtedly wouldn't have been as good as Bionicle. Especially when you consider how much they have aged. The 2001 Bionicle sets? Timeless. The 1999 Slizers sets? Really dated. 

One interesting thing is that Slizers had very different stories in North America and Europe. North America changed the name to Throwbots, changed the plot from one planet with different regions to many planets, and gave the characters new names. I could see Lego bringing the plots together for later waves if the line had continued; though the European plot was the original, the North American names (Granite, Scuba, Torch, Ski, Amazon...) are much more memorable than the European ones (Rock, Sub, Fire, Ice...).

I love the names for the sets! The ones with "Skull" sounds menacing. I can see that they don't have any real names, which these names are great. I hope that the "Mask Maker" must mean Ekimu while "Skull Grinder" must mean Makuta, and hopefully they have the Masks of Creation, Control, and Ultimate Power because I am looking forward to see these things and the Mask Makers. It sounds like that the Makers are hanging a crude with each other, so that's makes me think of that, and hopefully, when they are revealed, they must be themselves. Anyway, I am looking forward to these sets.

I'm getting the feeling Skull Grinder isn't Makuta. Lego already has a several year plan for the line, and since the Mask Maker is most likely Ekimu, Makuta is probably one of the things they're holding back for year 2. Skull Grinder in that case would be an original character.

I'm definitely excited for these sets! I'm not really bothered by the names at all. I like descriptive names. And it's a little surprising how resistant so many people are to these kinds of names given how popular The Shadowed One seemed to be as a character.

To be fair, "The Shadowed One" is a pretty silly title. 

Out comes Kirby giving a vocal performance of Green Greens.

Into Kirby goes a pool of energized protodermis.

At this point I'm fairly certain they're going somewhere with the Vahi. Including it as an easter egg in so many videos just makes no sense otherwise; if it were just a fun reference, there would be easter eggs referencing other classic things in Bionicle G1.

Now, do I think this means Bionicle G1 is connected to G2? No. I think they're going to just have the mask of time appear in G2 some time in the future. These easter eggs are foreshadowing, somewhat like the Bohrok foreshadowing in 2001.

Man, I love the way the shoulder pad works as a cyclopian head, with the blue pin as an eye. 

I think Ekimu is good; he knocked the Mask of Ultimate Power off Makuta when he saw the island breaking. At the very least he saved the villagers of Okoto.

Ugh.  I was entertaining a dream of purchasing two Keelerak along with Ehlek, to use as spare parts as was suggested... but the 2x5 connector piece Ehlek uses doesn't exist in that color in any other sets, which means there is no way to find a reliable replacement.  RIP dream.

Best I can suggest is hope to god it doesn't break and just buy replacements until you get a pair that don't. Like said before, the pieces usually break when putting them on and pulling them off, so if you manage to get them on without breaking them, they'll probably stay whole if you leave them that way.

No, sorry, I knew the problem was 2007.  I meant, which pieces?  Is it just the "hand" pieces, or does it extend to arms, the Technic non-joint lime green piece that is used as the set's backbone, etc?

Mainly the socket joints. Arms and hands and legs. Anything you stick a ball into is likely to break if you remove the ball or move it around too much.

The technic beam will probably not break.