Anapouri

Mine is based on one of my BIONICLE OC's. 

Oh I love these. I've always loved the Rahi sets, and I hope they release them in the future (not just alternative models). The BIONICLE wildlife always interested me. I love how cute some of these are too. The Ussal inspired me a bit and I think I know what my next BIONICLE project is going to be now.

I personally think they should be named after the Turaga in some way, or given some relation to them because they seem to be taking the place of the role of the Turaga as guides for the Toa. I know the Turaga were village elders in their original concept, but that doesn't mean these guys could be "elders" who can fend for themselves while they guide the Toa on their journey of self discovery. They did play a major role in laying Ekimu to "rest" and summoning the Toa.

And with that, that just means they need to release some non-protector villagers to go with them, haha.

Worst:

I think the skull scorpio is the worst. I don't mind it not having articulated legs, but the design of it just seems really lacking compared to the other sets. I think they could have gotten way more elaborate with a scorpion-like character like this, especially one based on a skeleton. also the weapon/stinger is just sort of...I dunno. It looks choppy.

Best:

Obviously the Ekimu vs. Skull Grinder set. Not only does it have two very elaborate looking characters added to it, but the functionality is a bonus as well as the assortment of elements you are getting. It's also really cool to see that they incorporated gear function into a Protector sized character. Not to mention, I like the idea of Ekimu being this sort of heroic figure able to stand up for himself alongside the Toa. 

I think I remember seeing that exact Makuta build on Brickshelf one time, not too long ago....

So the Witch Doctor is good for parts? I was interested in how many black, red, and white parts he had. I just purchased on off of Ebay for a good price, along with the red Furno mech from the last line of the HERO FACTORY theme that I hope to use both for spare parts to make BIONICLE MOCs with. He looks good for building frames and limbs with.

I haven't even seen that far yet because they aren't in English it seems. I found the other languages though.

I wouldn't say the shows you've mentioned have mature themes outside of their original targeted demographic. I know the MLP started off more geared towards young children but Lauren Faust took advantage of it once she saw older audiences becoming obsessed with the cute little pony characters and their personalities. That's when things started to really take off with MLP. Also, most material in the MLP fanbase is, well, fanfiction and stuff. As for Transformers Prime, I can't really say much about it because I didn't really pay much attention to it.

But you have to remember, those are shows that were more geared towards being written stories than just toys. I know that MLP started out as a toy first back in the day, but the new one rebooted as a television show and was released alongside toys, so it had more of a simultaneous responsibility on itself to present a storyline kids (and soon after older audiences) could attach themselves to. 

LEGO and their products tend to come across as "play first, story later". In fact, the G1 BIONICLE story was pretty much the only fleshed out storyline that came out of a LEGO product because LEGO wasn't really focused on banking on a well written piece of literature promoted through media as much as they were selling building blocks and parts for people to express their own imaginations of. But BIONICLE just happened to appeal to a lot of people, both critical thinkers and those just wanting something to put together and play with. So it ended up having an expanded market in the end and took off like wildfire until they ended up closing it down, now leading us to G2 in the year 2015 with the reboot of the theme.

You're also expecting something that is, literally, brand new to pump out fantastically written story rivaling something that had been around for many many many years and had time to build on itself. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, you know? G1 started out pretty slow too, with little to go on aside from a few mysterious media outlets. This time, we just ended up with a narrator and some cool flash animations of the Toa doing stuff and letting us know the legend behind "Okoto" and what's going on.

Give it time. Let it grow.

I'd like to point out on the upcoming Wave 2, it seems the golden masks are being stolen from the Toa, so....while they've just gotten their masks of power, it seems like there's definately some building, story wise, going on.

Yeah to me it looks like the golden masks of power are being stolen from the Toa. Like they've been beaten and the Skull army has taken their prize.

One of the things that stands out to me is that the new wave doesn't seem as fleshed out as the first wave. I feel they really went all out on the Toa and Protects as compared to these various Skull characters. But at the same time, I'm interested in the story behind them as well as just owning them. 

I had just mentioned in another thread;

I wish they had made some Skull Spider infected rahi or something to go along with the whole Toa trying to get their golden masks in the new sets, to kind of reflect what they did back in the day with the original infected mask rahi. I think it would have fleshed out the Skull Spider idea a bit more, especially because then they could have made the Lord of Skull Spiders a really big, burly "boss" like figure instead of a smaller set like it is. 

 

One of the things I like to think about is that it's not really rushed, but it's more of them trying to get something back onto the market with a lot of material and very limited time. At least that's how I view it. And they're trying to put a lot of material out there at once to try to hook people back into it. It may be a bit rushed, and I agree because you know...oh hey, they're here. Suddenly going to get these masks. They seem to have no confrontation aside from the skull spiders on getting the golden masks, then bam, Lord of Skull Spiders, then bam cue upcoming Second Wave in the summer, but that might be because they're trying to play in on the idea of making your own adventures with the sets instead of trying to rely entirely on a prewritten, precognitive story they define for you. You know, you have the set. What does YOUR Toa have to go through to get that golden mask? Perhaps Tahu runs into some sort of fire beast you build while having to protect the Protector and fend off the skull spiders at the same time? Who knows. There's a lot that goes into marketing and such.

I do think that I'd be more fufilled with it if they had released some beasts like they did with the infected Rahi back in Gen 1. They needed some Skull Spider manipulated rahi that were protecting the golden masks or something that the Toa had to fight off to get to their goal. I also think the Lord of Skull Spiders could have been a bit more elaborate, but that's just me.

Either way, I think the story will be fine. I'm sure they'll start fleshing it out more because it seems like that's what they really want to do. 

I'm really into the new reboot of BIONICLE. 

I was really skeptical at first (sorry if I'm just sort of jumping in here, I'm kind of new, but I did read the thread and I'm just putting my own opinion out there) because the new sets seems a little too, I dunno. Clunky. Or something. I also wasn't a fan of Hero Factory at all, so the introduction of the Hero Factory elements bothered me at first. But I spent time looking into the new sets and I got really excited because they were incorporating both Technic elements (such as gears and whatever) with the new elements introduced through the Hero Factory theme. Also, seeing them release all of the animated clips and the story really got me excited. 

Sure it's not the same BIONICLE I knew back when I was a little girl, but I think that this reboot will be just fine. It's interesting, and it still has that sense of mystery and adventure the original BIONICLE had while allowing itself to be an entirely new story. 

I went out the other day and purchases ALL of the sets they have out right now and I'm pretty glad I did. They're so sturdy and they aren't as clunky as i thought. The builds actually fit the characters pretty well IMO. The only thing that I wish they did was make Gali a bit more feminine looking (I know she's a bio-mechanical entity but I always saw her as this really graceful female character and I kind of want her design to match that). The other thing I don't like are the graphics on the Toa's bodies. I think those are kind of overkill (on the chests and Kopaka's legs). Also, I love the Protectors.....they're so cute! 

One thing I hope they do is introduce a wide variety of kanohi again. I do like the new masks but I want more. I do enjoy that they've included golden masks with all of the major sets such as the Toa. But I'd like to see mask packs surface again. I also feel they could have been a bit more adventurous with the Toa's weapons. I like them, but a lot of them use the same elements and it makes their weapons pretty repetitive design wise.

Overall, I'm really looking forward to throwing my money at LEGO again for BIONICLE sets. I'm also trying to rush out and buy the remaining stock of Hero Factory so I have more elements to work with in my bin of parts.

Oh I love this. It's actually really cute, hah~ I kind of want to hug it.

I love how it sticks to a very vivid color scheme. I think it pops more than the original set. Also, it looks very sturdy.

Oh yeeees. I loved this set. I really like how you've fleshed it out more. The original always felt really EMPTY. You filled out all of the empty spots and made a really solid build. I also love his claws.

Oh wow this is great. The original version of this set was probably one of my favorite BIONICLE sets, and you really did well pulling off the look with the new elements. It's so menacing and cryptic looking.

Note taken! It was really hard working with a feminine looking female body type. I had never built that sort of frame before so it was a definite challenge for me. She's actually a lot less "blocky" in person, though, and I think that's because photographs tend to flatten out an image more so you don't really get the depth you would from viewing objects in person. 

I put together a self MOC back in 2012 using scavenged pieces from my original BIONICLE collection. 

~~~~~

This is Anapouri (her name taken from the Maori dictionary using the words meaning "Her" and "Sorrow"). She is the Huntress of the Mist. In her early life she was part of an experiment to combine both Rahi and Toa elements, and it was pretty successful despite her rebellious nature. Before her land fell to events that caused it to become broken, she worked as a bounty hunter. Now she roams the land, working with what is left to thrive. She is both cunning and steathly, but underneath her metal exterior is a warm, caring heart.

~~~~~

I even have a small blurb story about her to introduce her as a character.

~~~~~

You walk through the desolate land, continuing on towards the tower. A metal jungle of wrotworks and twisted metal stretches out before you, creating a haunting image of the land itself grasping at you, trying to drag you into its despair. Deep inside, groans and growls of dangerous rahi break the silence of the mist that wraps around the landscape. Before you take your first step in, a rush of sound distracts you. 

Looking around, you spot a feminine silhouette break through the mists, stepping forward as her sleek metal frame cuts curves through the darkened environment. Her voice breaks the silence, both seductive and mysterious. 

"So...you're wanting to go through that, huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't really advise it, unless you want to be torn to shreds. But I can see you have the guts."

"Maybe I'll stick around and see what trouble you can get into."






~~~~~

Unfortunately her articulation is a bit limited, especially in the legs. Also the regular LEGO elements can be knocked off easily, but they usually stay in place. Otherwise, she's generally easy to pose. I plan on doing either a rebuild or an entirely new representation of her using newer elements possibly combined with old ones. I just need to get my hands on some HERO FACTORY and the more of the new BIONICLE elements.

Any critiques/feedback/compliments are welcome. ^^

This is really cool. I love how it plays into the new theme but also keeps itself as a homage to the original set. The Nui-Jaga was one of my first BIONICLE sets and I really think this rendition of it refreshes the original concept. It looks really powerful.

Hello there. I'm new here!

I've been a long time fan of the LEGO BIONICLE theme. I used to buy and build with them all the time when I was a kid. I was extremely disappointed with HERO FACTORY, but I respected the elements they introduced with that theme and I wish I had invested more into purchasing those sets. But now that BIONICLE has been reintroduced with the new 2015 story and sets, I'm very excited to be a part of that theme again and I hope to be able to get involved in how much I used to love BIONICLE all over again. I currently own all of the new 2015 sets! I hope to pick up a few extras so I can start building MOCs again. I have a huge bin full of older BIONICLE parts and accessories however, so I might be combining the two once I get enough of the newer elements!

I am a graphic design student on the last year of my college career. My hobbies include gaming, movies, costuming, and a bunch of other geeky stuff. Star Wars is my favorite thing, but now that BIONICLE has recaptured my nostalgia and childhood again, I'll probably be getting back into that more too.

It's nice to meet you all. I'm more of a lurker though, so I might not hop into too many conversations. I hope to get some inspiration for new ideas in your other boards.