The Archivist

Bionicle is an incredible exercise in how to completely drop the ball on collectibles. It's like they were staring at the Kanohi Mata going "wow, six shapes in six colors. What a neat collection to display. How can we capitalize on this?" "We can make a crapton of color blends that are incoherent and difficult to collect" perfect, send it "What if the number of each color of collectible didn't match? So there's like, 8 of some and 9 of others" amazing, you're promoted "What if we abandoned all color/shape schemes and just made, like, 23 of them?" can I massage your feet oh exalted one "Zamor spheres" please raise my son

Ooo, excellent. I'd never heard of the original game but after some Googling I'll have to check it out.

I was the TOK buyer you're thinking about btw, and I paid.

I am not. I go by the much dorkier name of "Sam from that racist Twitter account"

That makes sense, I appreciate the explanation.

Mismold masks were not released in a retail set

Just wanted to report this. Previously, they only sold for $150-200. A bunch of people listed them on BL for $600, but I considered that wishful thinking. EDIT: nvm im dumb

Why? I'm against the recent price bubble (won't last, keep scalping, nerds!), and would agree with this logic regarding non-Kanohi. However Bionicle is far from LEGO's first collectible item. The idea of "it shouldn't be that high" has been disproven repeatedly in other non-technic lines, why not bionicle? I work at an engineering firm and, while nobody collects Kanohi, they are all incredibly interested Bionicle prices and the fact that I collect "that toy from their childhood". In cases of MTG, minifigures, Marvel, and other collectibles, the general population's nostalgia and "holy ****** its $800? I used to own one of those when I was a kid!" factor is quite powerful in driving a price upward intangibly.

Doesn't matter, everyone's gunna call it a European misprint anyway Also, where'd you/they get it? Feels like the story of how it became knowingly attached to being on an endorsed LEGO display might be the biggest clue to its credibility.

I'm starting to strongly suspect that they're literally just in the packs at a lower rate. I've opened a dozen canisters and found none, though the opposite colors (light-gray-to-sand-blue) are just as common as any other color. Admittedly 12 is not a definitive sample size. I've also looked at several lots like the ones below, and found a similar pattern. I know pre-opened canisters aren't really evidence, since the owner would just swap out any cyclone boys if they had common sense. However, none of the sellers below seem like they'd know to look out for the cyclone ones. This answer makes more sense than secondary market attrition. The question I'm now trying to answer is "why?"

Do you know where I can get a copy of that file? Can't find it on twitter and it would be fascinating.

Thats great advice, didn't think of that. However, keep in mind that it's against Ebay's terms of service, and they'll make it hard to do through their chat feature. If you ask "whats your paypal?" or "bioniclebuyer@gmail.com" it will block the message and send you a threatening warning about potentially getting a fine on your Ebay account. Idk if they actually enforce this. I recommend switching off-site as quick as possible, or communicating in pictures with scribbled text so their censors don't catch it. EDIT to add more info: If you use Paypal G&S, it charges you a fee - i think 6%. If you use friends and family, there's no fee, but also no buyer protection. EDIT EDIT When I bid the TOK up, it was an open auction with no buy-it-now. Not sure the ethics (or even if Ebay will let you) of PMing the guy "hey take the auction down I'll pay you 1k" or whatever. Since, if 1k was an instant-sell, why couldn't I just bid it? But yes I appreciate your point and won't make it harder for ppl to get masks in the future.

I am the guy who, last year, bid the TOK up to over 1k after it had previously never sold for anywhere near that price. Afterwards everyone started listing theirs for ~1k. I know it's far from proof, but I'll state for the record that I am overpaid and impatient instead of manipulative. Hadn't seen a single one sold since I started collecting and was worried they'd disappeared forever. I'm two cyclone Kraata from the full set and, full warning, I will likely behave equally irresponsibly if someone lists stages 2 & 5.

Hello everyone! Relatively new collector here and I have a few questions. Mainly, why don't people make fake prototypes? How do we know people don't do this? To be clear, I'm not suspecting people of selling fake masks. Clearly I'm the noob here, not them. Socketball (among others) have perfected resin printing masks. I believe that actual masks are injection molded, and would thus show evidence of this process. And yet, when new prototypes/color variants are discovered with no ownership history, no authentication is required. They just get added to the rares thread and people throw thousands at them. Is it possible to "fake" injection molding sites? Would making an injection mold of a mask be too tedious/expensive? I assume this would take a massive piece of machinery. But, still, not beyond the pale, right? Here's the thread that made me start to wonder. This guy shows up with a prototype Hau. It's a color no masks have been printed in, and a texture no masks have been printed in. He also claims it's a different material than other masks. And yet, according to him, it sold almost instantly. https://www.bzpower.com/topic/35330-kanohi-and-krana-for-sale/ Here's another example. Five new prototypes show up, no chain of custody (IE nobody is like "Yeah mask collector got them from Binkmeister in 2009" or whatever) but they're all taken at face value. Someone told me (well, implied) that LEGO uses their own material. Is that true? Can it not be replicated due to a "secret recipe"? Anyway just searching for answers. TL;DR if Socketball made a fake prototype, how would we know?

You made a thread saying "message me for prices" and then I did and you didn't reply, then you said they were sold, then you list them on Ebay for a high price.

Edit: nvm, didn't realize you were the guy from the Kraata thread.

This just came across my Youtube Shorts. What are the odds.

I really want to throw cash at the Hau but I'm a bit skeptical. You'll have to forgive me. So it's matte, a texture I've never seen on a prototype, and gun metal.... black? Which is a color I've never seen. I am a noob at this so I'm probably wrong but I gotta know. Can you provide more info on how you obtained it? What I'm trying to ask without sounding insulting is "how do we know some guy didn't pour acetone on a black Hau and scam OP?"

I started in late Quarantine, after having played with Bionicles as a kid. I love the technical aspects of collecting. Anyway, it's financially ruined me. At least I got a few slick prototypes.

Thought I'd let you know that preorders are open today for purple hau/miru https://socketballcc.bigcartel.com/ EDIT: Sold out two hours after I posted. Just check every day.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185805628178 Cyclone Kraata! Outside my price range. Can't see the faces but there are six of each type of Kraata so I'd say they're all there.

This is a good question, the mask is worthless as well as all of the parts. Yet it's expensive.

This is an amazing collection and I appreciate the pictures/info for my archives. Basically zero info on these online.

I can't find any information on why these are so hard to find. They seem to have been distributed in the Wild Kraata packs with no special rarity. So why are they the holy grail of a collection? EDIT: While my below replies show a large number of sealed cans purchased looking for cyclone boys, you can shine a bright flashlight through the cans and see the color and even the level. So, none of this matters and there's no good data. I still don't know why cyclones are rare.