Ektris

Aye, the list has been updated with the hero pack. Put it on its own row, though; easier for all to update once the summer sets get added that way.

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Ya had to mention Nocturn in the news post, eh? Was one of my first thoughts.

This is a pretty interesting theme. And I'm mighty tempted to try my hand at it, for sure.

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Now to digest the rest...

Wall-E: Fantastic. I only hope that the final model is as accurate as the proposed one.
 

Assault on Wayne Manor: Probably just didn't align with or conflicted with current plans for DC sets.

Invisible Hand: Probably way, way too ambitious. Not surprised.

X-Mansion: See Wayn Manor, but swap DC for Marvel.

Lightsabers: These... Nothing exciting or interesting about these models. Wouldn't have made great sets anyways IMO.

UCS AT-AT: See Invisible Hand above. Although this one probably was more likely just because of the already extant UCS line, the size just doesn't line up with what we've seen from Ideas, so I'm still not surprised.

Ghostbusters Headquarters: This would have been a cool addition to the Ecto-1. Tis a shame.

Hubble: But here's my biggest disappointment... Cuusoo, and by extension Ideas, started out with a strong science presence. I've loved that from the beginning. Hubble would have been a tremendous addition and it's pretty disappointing to see that it didn't go through.

As for the next review... Well, we know one of those at least isn't going to pass for sure lol.

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Yes!! Doctor Who made it!

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Now that there's crazy talk!

You'd think it's a toyline we're talking about, where that is a completely common occurrence and is perplexingly not at all an issue to anyone when a new, unrelated storyline starts up.

But that would be silly. This is serious business here.

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Oh, cool!

It's totally going to mess with the list because the 5 summer sets made it perfect and now there'll be just one thing on its own row lol. But yeah, once we get a better image the packaging, I'll totally add it.

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Just like I don't think they should be given the names of past characters...

Completely random fan names are an even worse idea. There will never be a consensus, most don't make sense, and it's just generally going to be more confusing than anything else.

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All the links don't work.

Edit: There, switched around what are the mirrors and what are the primary images.

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RIP my wallet...

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Skull Warrior and Skull BAsher look the coolest to me aside from Grinder. Also, I hate that Ekimu has the same Protector mask. Why couldn't they give him his own special mask?

You mean like the Mask of Creation? Yeah, too bad they didn't include that in the set.

 

It makes sense that he would be wearing the Protector mask he was buried in, since that was how he was when last seen. Canonically, it's the most common mask shape on the island, so if the Protectors were looking for a ceremonial mask to put on his face, it would probably be the shape of pretty much every other mask on the island.

 

That said, he would probably look far more distinctive wearing his signature mask, and I can't wait to see some pictures of it on him.

 

I like how you assume I missed the fact that it was already in the set on purpose. I KNOW it's in the set. I wanted him to have his OWN mask. 

 

You want sarcasm milk with your cookie?

 

The Mask of Creation literally is his mask, so I'm not sure what the issue is...?

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Because electric things are the bomb. Thus was my name derived:

Electricity.

Electricity.

Elektrisity.

Elektrisity.

Ektris.

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Ekimu is top. He is just awesome, and I love that they even still gave him a gear function. So the animation was right all along. Of course people are all hung up on having green eyes over blue (which is pretty much the only negative), but... eh, with the trans-blue mask I get why they changed it. Also his shield is awesome.

On all the skull guys: I love that the CCBS skeleton is in a color other than black. That's awesome. As for the bones... They do their job of being literally a bone perfectly. Stupendously. But it is definitely a little disappointing to see that they really will be useless for pretty much any other purpose. I also really, really don't understand the transparent orange plastered all over them. Why was it needed?

Skull Grinder does fit the bill of the skeletal warrior he's supposed to be, which is good. I really like the printing on his chest. He probably has the "old decayed warrior but still clad in armor he fell in" look down the best. So he doesn't look bad, but still not wowed by him. Those shoulders look especially awkward and out of place.

Skull Warrior: Well... if they're going to just reuse the same mask a lot, at least his is a different color. I like the idea of character with a longbow and really think it was pulled off well. But that is kind of the only thing really drawing me too him.

Skull Slicer I'm really disappointed is wearing a Skull Spider mask. Really disappointed. I also wish he had more variety in his weapons instead of three swords - would make him a little more interesting. He suffers the most from the bones, though, and really wish there was some more armor at least on his thighs or shins. I'm really interested in seeing how the gear function works for his four arms.

Basher is my favorite of the bunch. I love that he is a minotaur. However, his horns do look too awkwardly big because of how they are attached. Besides that, I like everything about the guy who's clearly the muscle of this group.

Lastly we have Skull Scorpio and... Ugh. Uuuuugh I don't like him. Where to start? The unarticulated legs or that... thing attached to his behind? That contraption just looks ridiculous and not in any sort of good way.

I also love those new versions of the Toa's masks. I would have absolutely preferred fully transparent ones (especially to complement the ones Tahu has), but what we're getting still look cool.

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Those microfigures are genius and I love them.

The Helicarrier is amazing alone, though just far outside anything I'll be looking to purchase.

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Watched the last two Digimon movies I'd not seen before: Island of Lost Digimon and ... whatever the Savers one.

For as much as I really, really, really dislike Frontier, Island of Lost Digimon/Revival of the Ancient Digimon was actually pretty decent. It was probably my low expectations, but it was probably my favorite I watched during that marathon.

The Savers movie was just bad. I loved Savers, I wanted to see those characters again, but they were hardly there and the plot just nonsense.

My biggest takeaway is questioning how these things can be called movies when they're so short. Especially Savers, not even being the full run of an episode. It's a shame, really, because it resulted in a lot of rushing and missing explanations.

Also decided to watch a One Piece movie - Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island. Wow. That was much darker than typical One Piece and not what I expected. But it was a good cap to my anime movie binge, because it was still good despite that.

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Ekimu actually does still have a gear function too. That's cool.

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So, people elsewhere are reporting that this is indeed happening in the US. Through some sort of URL manipulation they found a page that only half-loads as proof I believe. Or at least it was that way for me.

The lack of a news update here made me a little curious about how genuine it is... or maybe nobody reported it yet haha. But anywho, anyone know if it's really happening - and at the same time, because some are saying March instead of February - before wasting a trip to the LEGO Store this weekend?

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Since we have a picture, I think Skull Warrior/Skull Grinder's mask can be added now. 

I'm pretty sure the gunmetal one belongs to Warrior.

It is undeniably too early.

I noticed, on the Kanohi list. I couldn't see the White Huna, or the Brown Komau? I also couldn't see the Metru Red Huna or the Metru Blue Matatu. Unless I just missed them somewhere? Is there any particular reason why the White Huna or Brown Komau aren't on the list? I can kinda understand the other two, but the White Huna and Brown Komau are both very iconic super rare Kanohi. I just don't see why they wouldn't be included on the list, especially when most people I know count them.

As was discussed extensively earlier in the topic... They were ruled prototypes and I made the decision to discount them. The only misprints still extant on the list were those officially recognized by LEGO as misprints via their own checklist from the 2001 BIONICLE site.

Anyone can count them as they see fit. Go ahead. But there's also a model I tried to follow when originally crafting these. I was inspired by the checklists done for many Japanese import figures (notably S.H. Figuarts and Figma), which only list things officially released. There are dozens and dozens of prototypes for those (albeit unlike LEGO those things don't leak out to the general public), but they don't count for a complete collection. Because they're just prototypes. They are not official products. Yes, there are super rare items still included like the gold masks. Those exist in any line of collecting. Yet they are still official products.

I know that you will disagree. Sorry. But that's the stance I'm sticking to.

Should we count the new polybag as a set? It does have an enemy figure in it.

I was wondering about that. I'm really curious if there's a set ID number for it and how it's packaged... Might legitimize it more as a proper release and not just the handing out of a fancy mask. I lean strongly towards yes at the moment, but will probably wait until somebody gets one to add it.

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Ha, I knew them being up was a mistake.

Still, we now have our look into the future and if these were all that were supposed to last until May... It's incredibly disappointing.

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They are releasing them!?

 

Kind of makes owning one less special, aw maaan.

 

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I mean, a few months early is nice, right?

 

I, for one, am super glad this piece will see a somewhat wide release. It's an amazing part and it will be nice for everyone to have!

 

The piece seriously is awesome - I like it a whole lot more than the transparent clear NYCC one. More people getting them is definitely a good thing.

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So in light of recent news, I'll be updating the mask checklist tonight to add the transparent orange Mask of Fire.

I'll also upload the Kraata update I've been sitting on that adds much-needed labels.

To the Flickr mirrors. Because Majhost is still down. Maybe I should do a complete flip around of which are the mirrors while I'm at it...

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Looks like the transparent orange Mask of Fire is about to become a lot less special. Lame.

And lol I'm surprised you guys of all people didn't know of the "bley" Rhotuka. I remember being incredibly bummed by my Bomonga not having one back in '05.

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They are releasing them!?

Kind of makes owning one less special, aw maaan.

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An Optimus Prime-voiced Peter Cullen-voiced Tahu would be pretty cool...

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Finished up Star Wars: Survivor's Quest the other night. T'was one of the EU novels I've been really meaning to get to because the premise was interesting and I've loved all of Zahn's work. But... it's probably my least favorite. Half of it just seemed to be retroactive setup for tidbits of the NJO series and the rest didn't feel like it got truly resolved.

Last night I started A Song of Ice and Fire: A Clash of Kings. I imagine I'll be reading this for quite a while heh.

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Nnnnope. I have never held any sort of strong connection between the band and the brand. I understand that some do, somehow, but it genuinely perplexes me. They simply weren't around for that long at all to make that much of a lasting impression or deserve being the definitive musical voice of BIONICLE that they appear to be regarded as.

 

Plus I never cared for their music, so... Definitely some bias there.

 

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They've been around since 2007. I'd say that's long enough. Their music is deep and catchy and can be played at parties and social gatherings without any problems. I'd say Cryoshell more than deserves to be the 'definitive musical voice' of Bionicle.

 

But nobody's about to change my mind. It's musical taste and that's an entirely subjective matter. Debating it's pointless. I simply never personally think of them, ever, when thinking of BIONICLE like others and that's not something that can be changed either.

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