Danska: Shadow Master

You know, I have absolutely no idea why I joined. I think it might have been so I could enter a giveaway or something? It was a long time ago. In fact, I've suddenly realised I've been on BZPower half my life. That's a bit scary...

Probably the Miru. Simple, elegant and with a massive grin to boot! What's not to like?

What's inspiring you for your projects guys?

Years back, there were a couple of other kits that did the same thing mine do (let you build your own characters and such). I used these quite a lot to create various things including characters for stories etc. Unfortunately, neither kit was going to tackle the 2005 sets, so I decided to take the job on myself. Before I knew it, I was starting all over again from 2001 and making everything from scratch! I kept this up until Bionicle stopped in 2010.

 

I came back to this recently because the new sets are really great, and I like CCBS as a system. I want it to be possible to build and create characters who it isn't possible to make with existing pieces. I want to be able to see characters using CCBS with parts and elements in various colours that don't exist. So I guess my reasons are much the same as they were when I started - I make the kits because I want them to exist, and no one else is making them.

Glad you like them! I hope your presentation goes well!

 

The Toa Edition is, I hope, now updated to the new colour palette. I'm not 100% sure there aren't any errors, but it's at least mostly fine.

I'm still working on the old kits (I've been doing this for 10 years now. What am I doing with my life?). Currently trying to add a couple more limb pieces for the 2015 sets. My eventual goal is to get as much of CCBS done so people can really go nuts and make anything the like! But alas, being a working irresponsible adult has its pitfalls.

 

Still, feel free to visit a decade's worth of work (man I feel old now) in my sig! And good luck on all your projects!

 

 

Please Help! How do you use these? I really want to make one!

What would you like to know? What you will do first is download the image with the desired parts you want. Then open a blank image file then copy and paste the desired parts into that blank file and place them together. It is a trial and error process until you find a design you like. Make sure to only copy the desired parts. If you cut them from their original file then accidently save it the part will be lost and you'll have to re download the original file once more.

 

I hope this helps you some...

 

What program do I use?

 

I've made some instructions that I hope people will find helpful (I've also put them in the first post).

 

The Colour Palette

Preparation 1

Preparation 2

Steps 1-2

Step 3

Steps 4-5

Step 6

Step 7

Tips

 

Let me know if anyone needs any more help, or if the instructions are completely terrible!

The Instructions are perfect and useful! Could you make instructions for GIMP?

 

P.S: I made my character thanks to your instructions!

 

I tried getting GIMP to work the other day. After spending ages staring at it while it was 'Querying new Plug-ins", I gave up. The process for using the kit should be basically the same, you just need to work out which tools do the same jobs. You'll need to be able to use

Select

Paste (transparent)

Colour picker

Colour replacer

Rotate

 

So I've almost finished converting all the kits to the new colour palette. Unfortunately, while working on the Toa Edition and all the Titan kits, one of the tools was set wrong and ended up messing up the colour schemes quite hideously. This has been fixed on all but the Toa Edition, which is a rather hefty job that I'm putting off for the moment. Still, should be done soon! Then I can get back to making new angles for the limbs, to stop the Protectors looking so silly.

 

One thing: I'm not a huge fan of my XPlode helmet any more. I really don't think it deserves a spot among your fantastic sprites, so if you want to remove it, please do.

Now that I'm back with an actual computer, I've taken the helmet down. I'm not certain what the original looks like, but I'll trust your judgement on it.

 

 

Could I use some sort of program beside MS Paint? Like GIMP?

You should be able to, yes. In fact, I'd strongly recommend finding something other than Paint. I find it incredibly frustrating. I have heard good things about GIMP, so that might be worth a try. I'm considering giving it a go myself.

Well, I was gonna wait until I'd updated the limbs a bit (given them all the option of the angle used by the Protector of Water), and then until I'd finished changing the colour palette of all the old kits, but you know what? Since you asked, I'll drop what I have onto the interwebs.

 

2015 v0.9

I've made some instructions that I hope people will find helpful (I've also put them in the first post).

 

The Colour Palette

Preparation 1

Preparation 2

Steps 1-2

Step 3

Steps 4-5

Step 6

Step 7

Tips

 

Let me know if anyone needs any more help, or if the instructions are completely terrible!

I've seen a few price variations around (UK). Argos had Protector of Stone, LoSS and Tahu a bit cheaper for a while, and might still, I haven't checked. John Lewis (great place to search for LEGO because no one thinks of it, so they'll be well stocked) had a few of the sets for cheaper, too. I figure it's to do with which ones are selling best/worst. Onua seems a popular target for price reductions.

Small sets - I'd have to go with the Rahaga. I had a surprising amount of fun with them, and really enjoyed firing their Rhotuka off into the distance (never to be seen again).

 

Heroes - Toa Metru. They were so exciting when they first came out! Toa with poseable limbs, new colours, a whole ton of new molds and a really cool, consistent techy look. The fact that nearly every part was new and designed for them gave them an appearance where, unlike most later sets, none of the styles of the parts clashed with each other. They were also sturdy, well built and quite fun to build.

 

Villains - Bohrok. No question. Krana flinging, shooty heads AND you could roll them up into a ball and store them in their canisters! Plus they looked awesome and had a slightly complex, but really fun, build. The amount of playability they packed into these sets was impressive, to say the least.

Definitely some interesting designs, however I dislike the use of the chest pieces. Most of the builds are going for a more unarmoured, skeletal look, then the chest is this one, big, bulky piece that completely throws off the illusion (at least for me). Something a bit less solid would have worked better, I feel.

My favourite's definitely LoMN. As others have said, it feels incredibly solid and well put together. There's something about it which feels really special which none of the other films capture for me.It's superbly voice acted, the music may well be even better than MoL and the visuals are stunning! Metru Nui really comes alive and looks incredibly unique.

 

WoS comes second. While it does lack the magical touch of LoMN, and definitely has its share of plot problems, I found it enjoyable. Like its predecessor, I thought it did atmosphere very well. So much of the film feels creepy, foreboding, dangerous  - in fact, there's precious little that doesn't. Plus, it has the (unfortunately brief) awesome physical fight scene between Vakama and Matau!

 

Eeeeehh...I don't know which order to put the other two in. I haven't seen MoL for many years, though I did watch TLR again and found it lacking. It certainly had some great moments, but it felt so much more childish than previous films, the action scenes were poor (so many looked like they were ripped from an turn-based RPG game), the plot was appalling in places and the Skrall/Bone Hunters never felt like a threat. Whenever we saw them on screen, they were always disposed of quite cheaply and easily by the heroes, then at the end, are beaten en masse by like, three people? Including a rookie?

 

MoL mostly dissapointed me because of how much I expected. All the advertising made it look like some epic, legendary quest with excitement and adventure and a fairly serious tone. What we got was a couple of goofy idiots trotting around the island for little to no reason, getting occasionally involved with the Toa who spent most of their time bickering amongst themselves rather than acting like the team of heroes they were supposed to be by that point, all culminating in...a kohlii match? And the voices! All of the Toa sounded ridiculous, and Takua and Jaller sounded like squabbling, immature kids! Captain of the guard? Really? I wouldn't trust him to guard a sand pit.

In my TRU, the sets are just thrown there, strewn around the store. Pohatu in the baby isle, Kopaka in the Doctor Who isle, Protector of Water in the board games, they had every set in a different part of the store. Here it is:

 

Tahu: Thrown in with Lego Movie sets and movie DVD

Onua: Actually in the right place 

Kopaka: Doctor Who

Gali: Art isle

Pohatu: Baby isle

Lewa: Girl isle

PoJ: Megabloks ugh

PoS: Clearance bin

PoW: Board games

PoI: Books

PoE: Random Actions Figures

PoF: DVD's

LoSS: Skylanders

 

Seriously, was this on purpose?!?!?

It's not nearly that bad in my local TRU, since they are with all the rest of the LEGO. However, they've been stuck right at the back (facing the back of the store), which is the easiest spot to miss. Perhaps the people in charge of TRU don't have much confidence in the line?

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.

Aaah, nostalgia is a wonderful thing. I wonder if the new site will ever manage to evoke the same, or indeed any, sense of mystery?

 

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE UK FANS!

 

I have sighted all of the sets in both my local Toys R Us and The Entertainer stores! We are a fair way through January now, so widespread availability is to be expected. Now go buy them all! Go buy them, while I wait for Tahu - the one set The Entertainer did not have - to eventually arrive via their Click + Collect service. If I'd just known TRU had him before I ordered it...*grumbles off into a corner*

I ordered mine from Lego.com on January the 1st. They came in like 4 days.

I'm just trying to keep people informed on different, and perhaps more convenient, means of getting the sets. Not everyone wants, or has the means to, buy them online (particularly younger fans) or wants to buy them all at once to get over the £50 free shipping threshold. Same as all the US fans updating this when the sets appear in their local Target/Walmart/TRU.

 

Quick note on The Entertainer. I can't be certain, but I think each store may only stock one set out of Kopaka and Tahu (they also seem to be selling out in some shops/sites, so I guess they're popular). I'd be interested to know if anyone sees both of them.

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE UK FANS!

 

I have sighted all of the sets in both my local Toys R Us and The Entertainer stores! We are a fair way through January now, so widespread availability is to be expected. Now go buy them all! Go buy them, while I wait for Tahu - the one set The Entertainer did not have - to eventually arrive via their Click + Collect service. If I'd just known TRU had him before I ordered it...*grumbles off into a corner*

MNOG for me. Have so many good memories of that! Getting stuck in Ga Koro, reaching Le Wahi for the first time, the flying, Lewa vs Onua, the infected Kohlii balls, the epic battle between the Toa, Manas and Makuta...SO GOOD!

 

I didn't get on with MNOG ii at all. So much collecting random resources, I never even left Ga Koro. Got so bored.

 

I really enjoyed VNOG. All the collecting power ups, actually playing as the Toa, running round fighting stuff, it was good! But no MNOG.

It's odd I should stumble across this topic, because I was contemplating a different (but related) theory today which is that the silver parts on all the sets, especially those with silver hands/feet, are there to more clearly show their mechanical nature. I'd also cite Pohatu for this, since he seems to have been designed to be smaller and less armoured than the others, and he is mostly silver. I figured that they're largely silver or translucent underneath the coloured and non-silver metallic armour.

 

Still could be skin, I suppose? But the fact that every single set has silver (except the LoSS, who might be more organic with natural armour segments rather than artificual ones), and that it's most frequently on the hands/feet, I took to be a pointer towards their mechanical nature, rather than wholly (or even largely) organic.

UK UPDATE

 

All sets are now on the TRU and Tesco websites, and all the Protectors (except stone) are available in Argos stores. Don't know if anything's in stores for TRU or Tesco yet, but I intend to find out!

 

Edit: you can also order them from Tesco Direct, and have them delivered (for free) to a local Tesco store the next day!

I hope it continues. While the Skull Spiders are a bit too teeny to provide much in the way of conflict, their addition is still very cool and I like them a lot.

Large: Kopaka. I really don't like the gold, and his lower legs look incredibly silly. I also dislike him being white/blue rather than white/grey, like all previous appearances, but that's a personal gripe with the character's portrayal rather than a problem with the set. The white/blue combo looks fantastic!

 

Medium: Probably Lord of Skull Spiders? Though I feel that's a bit of a cheat answer. I like what they attempted with the set, but I don't feel they really succeeded. Not as playable as it could be, posing is hard due to the nature of multi-legged sets and it looks kinda off from some angles. It's size also makes it seem a bit wimpy for any kind of big, or even medium, bad, given that its only backup so far is a bunch of tiny non-threatening looking spider creatures. If I had to pick a least favourite medium Toa though, I'd say Gali. I dislike sets that try to mix multiple metallic colours and feel they should have committed to either gunmetal or silver for all the pieces.

 

Small: Protector of Earth? Maybe? I don't have many strong opinions about the Protectors, really, but I find the concept of his entire torso being a gun really quite wierd...

Large: Tahu. The only one for whom gold does not ruin the colour scheme, he looks powerful, fiery and awesome. I've always liked the more noble and heroic looking sets, so Onua doesn't really do it for me. As for Kopaka, the colour scheme is atrocious and what is up with his lower legs? Also, stickers. No thanks.

 

Medium: Pohatu. I have Lewa, who I love, but the lack of head movement is frustrating. I like the simplicity of Pohatu. He looks sleek and entirety functional. And Gali? Good set, I guess, though again I wish they'd chosen just one metallic colour and stuck to it.

 

Small: Protector of Jungle. Knees, elbows, huge bow...I'm sold!

UK FANS!

 

If you want to buy the sets and avoid the LEGO shop's shipping fees, all the sets are now in stock on Amazon.co.uk! I'd link to them, but that is proving problematic on my phone. They're easy to find though, available now and free delivery over £10 (so any sets save the protectors)