Latrodectus

The 10174 AT-ST is massive for its price and fun to pose around. 

Galidor is incredibly weird. Lego had pursued other action figure designs before with Bionicle and Slizers, but that was the first time a Lego "action figure" was designed with such specialized parts (Lego Dinosaurs kinda got into that territory, but they were more just giant minifigures). Bionicle still had a lot of pieces you could use in interesting ways; Galidor was just mixing limbs in a way that looked unnatural. Add the live action TV series and you've got one of the strangest themes ever.

I'm very glad if they actually have reproduction and generations. The agelessness of Gen 1 Bionicle felt really odd; everyone was living for countless years yet somehow many characters still acted like inexperienced children. Adding family ties also creates some new story opportunities, since you can have things like father-son connections that weren't possible in Gen 1. 

Ignoring the ones already mentioned, the Kakama Nuva is pretty absurd. Not only does it grant ridiculous speed faster than the eye can see to even the slowest Toa, Gali used it to phase through a wall in Tales of the Masks. 

The Komau also deserves mention because it's mind control. There are so many instances where it's a story-breaking power. 

Lewa- The Axes mixed with the jungle motif point towards the war hatchets of the Native American Indians. The power of flight comes into play as flight is usually a symbol for freedom, which was the nature of Native Americans' nomadic lifestyle. His mask also reflects the expression of a Native American to me for some reason. Was it intended?

Many Native American peoples were and are not nomadic. The Alonquin Indians who invented the tomahawk lived a variety of lifestyles depending on their geography. The different climates and food sources where people lived affected their habits. Those who lived in warmer areas could farm and create more permanent settlements, while those up in the cold North of Canada had to live off the land and move according to seasonal food sources like spawning fish.

Also, Lewa's tropical jungle home doesn't jive with the more temperate areas the tomahawk was used in.

It's obviously the version of the mask that shows up on the pedestal when Tahu replays the level after collecting the gold mask. It's powerless, but collecting it counts as a stage clear just like it did the first time.

You made me realize that this is such an absurdly common trope in games.

They all share the same mask, for starters, all have the same basic body, just with some different parts tacked on, and they have no personalities or even individual names.

There's quite a bit of variety, far more so than most Bionicle waves. 

And they presumably do have personalities and names, those will just be revealed as we learn more about the story. You could even give them your own names like I've seen some people do. 

Not quite music, but one thing I miss from the early years (Both the 2D animations and the CGI shorts) was the whirring mechanical sounds to accentuate movement. They added a sense of mass and life to the characters. Later years tended to have them eerily quiet.

 

I was just thinking about how, rather than just a solid mask pack, i'd love to see skull spider supply packs. because currently you have to buy duplicates of sets just to get more spiders, and that's no way to live. :0

Considering each and every set comes with a Skull Spider, I can't imagine why anyone would need to buy more individually. Buying all the Toa gets you six, the Protectors get you an additional six, and for all we know the summer sets might come with spiders as well. And unlike Rhotuka, Zamors, or other ammunition-like collectibles, the Skull Spiders aren't that easy to lose, so there's less need for replacements.

 

It's fun to have a swarm of Skull Spiders to pit against your heroes, and since each set only comes with one, a way to cheaply amass more would be nice. Unlike other collectibles, more Skull Spiders are never redundant. 

A lot of Lego system fans were never too fond of Bionicle, and I doubt the relaunch will change their minds. 

I'm guessing kids will love Bionicle G2 though; the sets are very well designed to play with when you consider their features and accessories, and they have enough variety that people won't mind buying more than one. I personally think this is the huge breath of fresh air and creativity that 2009 should have been. 

I wish there was a way to get a bunch of Skull Spiders cheaply. They look so good as a swarm. 

http://vitiel.tumblr.com/post/106564524059/got-all-the-new-bonkles

Acquired every set from this wave!!

Sweet. It's amazing seeing them all lined up together.

The Bohrok krana launcher easily wins for me. It's a weapon completely integrated into the set's other function (the neck snap). I didn't even realize it was an actual feature until over a decade later when I saw someone point it out. It works well enough and doesn't take away from the aesthetic of the sets. I think the Bohrok are the most ingeniously-designed canister sets of all time, and the ability to launch Krana without obtrusive pieces is just one aspect of that genius. 

After that... Probably the Shadow Leech bombs. Wonderful idea  that was well-incorporated into the sets and gave us cool-looking pieces to MOC with. And it actually demonstrates that the sets are supposed to be flying. 

The squid shooter shouldn't be considered a launcher since it can't actually launch things.

 

Besides that, I don't get the hate for Krekka or Krika. Krekka's body does not seem gap-y, especially when compared to his wave mates Nivawk and Nidhiki. Plus his lever system was pretty great.

Krekka has a completely pointless gear function, tiny arms ending in random silver tools, and an absurdly small stature for a titan. I like the way his launcher swings down and his sweet mono-eye, but he feels like some bizarre unfinished fan MOC made of whatever was lying around rather than a real set. Good ideas, but without the necessary pieces. 

At least he's fine once you give him some actual arms.

Man, this game is glitchy. I twice experienced a game-breaking bug where Hahli didn't appear on screen and I was stuck in that area.

I'm surprised Tahu Stars got any votes. 

For me, it was a tough choice between Maxilos and Spinax and the Exo-Toa. Maxilos has really awesome articulation in his neck and shoulders that gives more personality than other titans and looks cool with his pistons. Spinax is also a wonderful "extra". I eventually went with the Exo-Toa because it's a more unique build and its play function is something never replicated in a later set. There is nothing like it in Bionicle, and I love it because of that aspect. 

I still don't think there's anything particularily redeeming about the 2001 Toa other than they're the first. They have simple builds and lack articulation compared to many of the new sets.

They have excellent color schemes and look aesthetically nice in general. Plus, gear functions (And more fun ones than the Toa Metru). 

Gadunka was weird, head was too big and what was with those teeth and skinny limbs. But it's fun saying Gadunka (Gadunka).

 

Umbra had a horrific "colour scheme". There was something off about Icarax's proportions... and that's pretty much it. I think most of the other sets were pretty good, no glaring flaws like these ones.

Gadunka's one of my favorite titans. Creative build, intimidating design, and a really durable and posable set that's loads of fun to play with. Only problem is that it's very, very gappy.

For Hahli Mahri, replacing the lime green pieces with transparent blue from Matoro Inika. Not only does it look beautiful and match the color of the visor, but it also gets rid of the whole fragile lime green plastic issue. 

Wow, that... That really is gorgeous.

At first I was a bit put off by how indistinguishable all the detail appears on the big dark-colored MOC, but the closer pictures made me eat my words. Some amazing stuff, especially on the face, and some very creative use of pieces.

The size helps; seeing the big bad titan next to a toa-sized figure made me realize just how intimidating it looked. 

Hope this wins the whole contest. I like how all the finalists are distinct; they're each cool in their own little way: Hysleria is a sleek steel knight, Antukha is a hulking monster, Terror Bite is a cartoony freak of nature, Nakken is an elegant shadow, Dark Fang Warlord is a decked-out weapons-master, and Diatan is a regal tyrant.

Gali. Got it from my dad after a trip to Denmark and it got me into the toy line.

Depends. I love, love, love the Bohrok. They're ingeniously designed with their distinctive profile, ability to transform, striking gimmick, and opening heads. Their storyline role gives a purpose to their uniformity and they have the feel of an army. And despite their clonishness, they all have completely different color schemes and their various shields have unique shapes that fit their elements. The water one has fins, the fire one has flamethrowers, etc.

The Vahki is what happens when you mess up the Bohrok concept. They have overly similar color schemes with dark colors and grey. Their tools are all random silver technological tools. The Vahki body shape is a boring hunched humanoid, while the transformation looks like something you'd jokingly do with any other set. 

So I guess a clone set works when you have a really neat design and the sets have distinctive colors and weapons (where people's eyes are drawn). It doesn't work when you have an uninteresting build and the sets have similar colors and weapons.

2010 is the obvious one, for reasons everyone knows. Behind it, I'd say 2005 and 2008.

2005 had too many clone sets, and these clone sets lacked the ingenious design of the Bohrok or the wicked character of the Piraka. The Hordika were supposed to be mutated and strange yet all shared the same build; they really would have benefited from being unique builds like the Barraki. They were ugly, but not monstrous, just awkward. The Visorak were absurdly similar-looking because their pincers and carapaces were barely differentiated, and their floppy shells felt odd. Then there were some plain inexplicable choices, like giving Sidorak a loose arm or forgetting Keetongu's left hand. I feel like the set design was rushed, because there are some original ideas that are just executed very poorly. 

2008 is just... Eugh. Just a bunch of bland ideas thrown randomly. There are tons of Inika builds, so the sets aren't exciting to construct. Everything is black or grey or silver, so they're bland at best and eyesores at worst. You've got three different launchers with the Midak Skyblaster (a Zamor knockoff which probably broke some poor kids' bones), the Nynrah Ghost Blaster (aka the ugliest launcher in bionicle history), and the Shadow Leech bombs (The one good design that was sadly underutilized). The toa tools are hilariously lame like Gali's scope, Onua's arm-guard, and Pohatu's floppy propellers. And then there are the laughable Av-Matoran, foreshadowing for the awful Bionicle Stars. The vehicles were the one good thing about the year, which was otherwise just a boring grey and silver mess. 

Metroid Prime is my favorite game, and you managed to perfectly capture Flaahgra's bizarre and complex head. Some really creative and economic building there to get all the parts together. For the Jelzap, I was always a fan of those guys, and I'm glad to see you are too! Can't wait to see your other Metroid creations in the future. 

Samus may be basic, but as a minifigure in scale with Flaahgra she works great. I do think you could have used another color for the arm cannon... Maybe orange instead of green if possible, since the Power Beam (the only beam she'd have available when fighting Flaahgra) is orange/yellow. On the other hand, I guess that wouldn't be as visible. 

BE WATER MY FRIEND

WATER IS FOR WIMPS

Heh, clever. Going with Gali as my wallpaper because I really love how you incorporated the three virtues symbol. Would love to see all six together.

As someone who really enjoyed the early canisters for their storing gimmicks (Especially the awesome Bohrok canister that let you hang the Bohrok from the top), I much prefer being environmentally friendly with bags or boxes. This planet is already falling into ruin, the least we can do it not speed up that process. 

Water. I love the little turbines; they remind me of the Throwbot Scuba.