Distorted

Congrats to the winners! Boba Fett and Count Dooku were easily the most interesting creations in the contest. Roll on 75!

Everyone's favourite Octoling girl!

BZPower helped me through some uncomfortable teenage years, and I have a lot of great memories from my time interacting with the community here: One of the first MOCs I posted here was a giant recreation of a Keelerak head. In retrospect it looked awful, but I remember a MOCer I respected a lot - I think it was Makaru - posted a positive review of it. Obviously it felt good to get kudos from one of my idols, but it also made BZP feel like a welcoming place even for complete noobs such as myself.Lewa11's legendary Quest of the Toa animation project was fascinating, and it's a darn shame it never came to fruition. I also remember how Roa (aka Archinto) started on BZP with her stop-motion animations before becoming known as a MOCer.BBC contests were always exciting, both to enter and to observe. It was always great seeing what my favourite MOCers would come up with. Shannara's Hau statue for BBC 40 and ToM's Skelerahk for BBC 31 spring to mind. I still miss having a new BBC contest to tackle every month or two. (Of course, getting second place with my Dentist's Chair in BBC 71, and then finally winning a contest with my Manas revamp in BBC 73 was pretty sweet too.)I remember briefly getting hooked on SPIRIT's Bionicle film parodies in the Comedies forum - he was (and probably still is) a very entertaining writer.Keeping a blog ('The Surgery') and reading other blogs in the community was fun. I ran a few MOCing contests back in the day - one of which simply asked entrants to post any MOC they'd built before. It got a lot of entries, and Makaru's Fanglyfuss was a worthy winner.I'm glad BZP tried to prevent set leaks, but the whispers of prototype pictures were inevitable, and it was fascinating seeing new sets early (and then comparing them to the finished sets and seeing all the little changes). Avak and Brutaka's prototypes really stick in my head for some reason.I didn't really interact with GregF and the S&T folks much, and in the end the merits of getting the fan community so involved in shaping the canon of Bionicle is debatable, but I can't deny it was fantastic having a member of the story team as an active contributor to the forums. We were a lucky bunch to have him.In general, it was great checking in every day with BZP's community and feeling part of a 'club'. Kopakalaka, Seranikai, Primus, Arpy, -SZ-, Zip, Bundalings, BCii, Shine and CzaR spring to mind as some of my favourite fellow members, and I honestly still miss the ones that have left the site (and Bionicle in general) behind. (Arpy, if you're reading this, reupload all your old MOCs please. We all miss them.)Thanks for the good times BZPower! You're an cool dude!

I want to preface this by saying I very much appreciate all the work that goes into running BZP's contests. But this is the third Star Wars contest we've had in recent times (after BBCC 72 and the Build With The Force contest, which had a far more open theme than this contest and still only managed to garner five entries). Could we maybe avoid SW themes for future BZP contests? Pretty please?

Just wanted to point out that the results in the art and story polls (but not here in the building poll) are visible again. EDIT: Scratch that, they're now visible here too.

Further to Bfa's post, if you put "site:bzpower.com" into Google's search box along with your search terms, Google will only return results for pages on BZPower.

The poll is at the top of each topic.I'd just like to add, the poll options don't appear to show up on the mobile view of the site, only the full desktop view. EDIT: It appears the poll options show on mobile for some polls but not others.

Thanks everyone for the kind reviews! I didn't use the original Rahkshi head as I didn't think it would fit with the G2 style or the scale of the MOC (plus I don't own the head piece in green). Sadly the eye holes of the mask are a little distracting - I tried filling them with horns, but they're too small for anything to it in them. Ultimately I decided to stick with the mask anyway because I liked the 'fangs' of the mask's chin. Could I get a link to that model? I'm curious to see what it looks like! I chose the Guurahk staffs specifically as they appeared in some G2 sets and thought they'd be a better fit for the creation. I might try the original staffs and see how they look, though!

First off, I love the idea - not only were Rahi weirdly absent from G2, but CCBS would lend itself perfectly to a new Master Builder set. All the different Rahi are great, and they're faithful to their G1 counterparts while also retaining their own character. They're perhaps lacking in a little polish compared to most MOCs, but that only helps to make them feel more like real set designs. I especially like the Fikou and Kuna. Nice work!

Ah, I see! The implication is that maybe the Protectors made up the story about the Toa's fates to appease the people, which in turn implies Makuta may still be out there and the city is still in danger. Looking back over the story, I think I could have done a better job of explaining it.

Hey, thanks. I had actually forgotten that was a thing back in the early days of G1, but perhaps it was a subconcious influence! Can I ask what you mean by Ekimu's return? As far as I was aware, no canon material actually shows Ekimu coming back to the city after the Toa's victory, which is why in this story he's missing along with the Toa.

Our heroes live amongst the stars now. That’s what the Protectors told us. The Toa made the ultimate sacrifice to protect us from evil and bring peace to Okoto. And now they watch over us from the heavens, ready and waiting to return when we need them most. Just like a fairytale. For what it’s worth, the last time I saw the Toa alive was when they left the city in search of the Mask of Control. Some of the other Okotans claim they saw them back in the city on the day the Shadow Horde attacked. They apparently engaged the monsters for a while, then all of a sudden they were gone again - along with Ekimu himself, who was clad in glowing blue armour as opposed to his usual gold. (Perhaps that explains why none of us saw the great mask maker after that day, either.) There were so many conflicting rumours amongst the chaos that day, but there was no time to ponder the truth; we were all too busy defending our city from ruin. We fought off wave after wave of hideous, ferocious creatures, each one determined to lay waste to our new home. But as the last few beasts crumbled to dust, and the dark stain of purple stormclouds cleared out from the skies, we dared to believe that we were triumphant. Our city was safe, once and for all. We began preparing for a grand festival to celebrate. The city was adorned with banners and carvings, and masks in all colours of the rainbow. I forget who suggested it, but it was agreed we would wait until Ekimu and the Toa returned to begin the festivities - after all, they had played such a huge part in bringing peace to Okoto. So we waited. And waited. We all took turns keeping lookout at the city gates, certain our heroes would be spotted on the horizon any minute. Days passed. New rumours were born. Some said that the Toa had abandoned us - or worse, they had been killed by Makuta’s dark might. A ban on leaving the city perimeter - supposedly in anticipation of another shadow horde attack - only fanned the flames of conjecture. Suspicion turned to despondency, then to frustration. We all begged the Protectors for answers, certain that as the elders of the city, they must have known more than they were giving away. But they wouldn’t tell us. After over a week and still no sign of our heroes, the situation in the city came to a head. A group of Okoton children got lost in the mountains after sneaking out of the city in search of the Toa. Thankfully they were found safe and well, but the parents were livid. They stormed into Protector Izotor’s chambers and demanded than an official search party be sent out for the missing heroes. Later that day, the Protectors called a city-wide meeting. With every citizen gathered at the city arena, they announced that they brought us great news - the Toa had defeated Ekimu’s evil brother, and it was their intervention on the day of the horde invasion that had brought everlasting peace to Okoto. That night, the festival went ahead as planned. But while the people danced and sang long into the evening darkness, I was still picking apart the Protectors’ story in my mind. It was just so full of holes. It didn’t explain the sudden disappearance of Ekimu - or the sudden reappearance of the elemental creatures. Moreover, it felt like a slap in the face to those of us who had fought off the monster attack all by ourselves. If the Toa had truly defeated Makuta, why weren’t they here celebrating with us? Why was it necessary for them to return to the stars in order to defeat evil? Would they really leave without saying goodbye? Why didn’t the Protectors tell us sooner of the Toa’s fates? Izotor claims they wanted to be sure Makuta was gone for good before they made any announcements. “The Okotans have been through so much,” they said. “What good would it do to have their hopes for peace dashed again?” The Protectors never revealed how they learned of the Toa’s victory, either. We’ve questioned them many times, but just as before, they refuse to answer. I fear they’ll probably stay silent til the new generation of Protectors take over, too. I don’t know what happened to our heroes, and our great mask maker. And I probably never will. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that Makuta really is gone, and Okoto really is safe, and the Toa really do watch over us from the night sky. Our heroes live amongst the stars now. That’s what the Protectors told us. - Thanks for reading! G2's 'and then they all went back to heaven' ending felt like a cop-out to me, but at least we knew the IRL context - Bionicle was getting cancelled and the story team had to wrap up the plot in a rush. But imagine being an Okotan in the story, and hearing the story of the Toa through the Protectors rather than seeing it first-hand - wouldn't it feel just as much of a cop-out? Wouldn't it make you question what the Protectors were telling you? I think this is the first time I've ever written a short story here. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome!

Flickr gallery - I've been building stuff for a long time, but this is the first time I've ever finished a CCBS creation!

Just thought I'd check - can the entry pic contain a montage of different shots/angles, as long as it's submitted as a single picture file? EDIT: Ignore this, I've decided to stick to one shot after all.

Flickr link - I haven't posted art here in years! This was a lot of fun to make, even if it did take quite a while to finish. It's intended to be a G2 Tahnok in the Bohrok nests, drawn in the style of the 2015 animations. Let me know if I got the look right!

Am I right to assume digital art is allowed?

Great contest - I'm excited to see what people come up with! Are we allowed to enter all three 'divisions' of the contest, or can we only pick one?

Thanks everyone for the kind words! The first post has now been updated with a new, upgraded version of THUMPER and a new video - be sure to check it out! No one can stand up to Carbide. (maybe sewer snake idk) I'd love to say the colour was intentional! The disc was built first and was always meant to be red and orange, but when it came to building the armour I had pretty much no Technic panels to work with and had to resort to silver Bionicle tool pieces. I think it worked out really well, though!

So I know you were kidding but ermagerd that's an amazing concept for makooti

I know nothing about animating 3D models and I certainly couldn't do any better than you have here, so feel free to disregard my comments completely. However, if I could give you some constructive criticism, I would say the movement could be a bit more natural. Notice their heads bob up and down a lot, particularly the Toa Ignika and Takanuva cycles - our heads move around a lot less when we walk. Great job on modeling Gali's mask, though!

When will we see your glorious return to MOCing?

I'm guessing this means you haven't seen robot combat before? It's basically a 'sport'/hobby where people build and fight remote control battling robots armed with weapons. It was made famous in the late 90s/early 00s by TV shows such as Robot Wars in the UK and Battlebots in the US - both shows have also recently been brought back. Here's a great example of a Battlebots fight: https://youtu.be/GkbAcwYix7I

EDIT: THUMPER has had a few upgrades - say hello to version 2.0! - Built this remote control combat robot with Power Functions elements for a competition. Thanks to some fancy gearing, the spinning disc weapon spins at approximately 1500 RPM. There's also some rubber band suspension which keeps the front wings flat to the ground. And there's a (slightly rushed) video for you to enjoy:

Thanks for the kind comments, folks. Thanks - I'm not certain as I don't currently have any gunmetal parts to compare, but I think the darker launchers are actually flat silver. The symmetry came about as I didn't have enough pearl silver launchers for the whole circle, but I'm glad you think it looks good! I'm also pleased people are picking up on the reference. I only noticed the resemblance to the ELO saucer logo after I'd finished it! Thanks. You're correct, this is the only picture I've posted, and unfortunately it's already been taken apart. The build is pretty simple though - it's just two motorcycle wheel hubs stacked, with the bottom one attached to two Toa Mata 'necks' at either end of the ring (you can see one of them at the front). Hope this helps - if you have any other questions about the build, feel free to ask!

Does the usual BBCC rule on past creations still apply, or can we enter stuff we've built and posted before the start of the contest? If it's the latter, Pate-Keetongu already has it in the bag.