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Roa McToa

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Blog Entries posted by Roa McToa

  1. Roa McToa
    Ok guys and gals! I promised it to you, now its time to run it!
     
    The Reikia are pretty much finished, but the Le, Ko, and Ga Reikia are WIP, and going to eventually get the same head treatments as the others. Its all a matter of getting the right Knights Kingdom armor. Heres how the contest will work.
     
    You can choose to name all 6 reikia, or just choose names for whichever ones you want to name. You may enter once, but you can edit your entry if you are not satisfied. The contest will run from today, April 3rd, until midnight May 31. That gives everyone plenty of time to think of names for these vicious creatures of darkness.
     
    The entry format for the contest goes like this:
     
    Ta= XXXX
    Ga= XXXX
    Le= XXXX
    Po= XXXX
    Onu= XXXX
    Ko= XXXX
     
     
    The X's indicate where you type the name. BE SURE TO WRITE THE TA GA LE PO ONU OR KO, OR I WON'T KNOW WHAT REIKIA YOU ARE NAMING! Please only enter once, as you are allowed to edit the names in your post. I will choose on June 1st from the names that I like best from everyones entries. If I see double entries, your newest entry will be deleted, and you will be sent a pm to edit your post. I like names that dont look impossible to pronounce, and I generally like 3 syllables or less, although I am open to all names!
     
    The rewward you will get if you win, will be recognition for winning, and also a special peice of Trials of Terror art that you can either accept as an online image, or have mailed to you. Your Choice!
     
    Here are links to pictures of the Reikia for reference. Just a reminder that the Ga Le and Ko Reikia WILL be changing as far as their heads, and I will improve on their body details. They were kind of "rushed together" right before my trip. Enjoy the contest, and good luck to all!
     
    Ta-Reikia
     
    Ga-Reikia
     
    Le-Reikia
     
    Po-Reikia
     
    Onu-Reikia
     
    Ko-Reikia
  2. Roa McToa
    I got 4 of the 6 new neo shifters! Yeah yeah yeah, they are mega blocks, who cares. I like em for their action figure quality, as I was an action figure collector long before being a lego builder.
     
    These are by far the coolest looking Neo Shifters. While the Paladins feature the older parts design, their new wings, masks and weapons are totally awesome! And the Templars!!!! The Templars are So AWESOME! Please see pics...... And please click the pics to see bigger pics!
     
    Here we have the Paladins.
     

     
    And their eyes light up all cool like. Their eye patterns will project onto a wall if they are close enough.
     


     
    The masks are a lot more detailed now than they were before, and the figures joints are really tight, unlike the last batch of shifters. The Neo's that come with these guys are the new Uuber poseable type as well, having jointed knees and waist, and the arms still move like the old ones, and the head is a better design that doesn't break like the old Neos.
     

     
    Like previous sets, the Neos fit snugly into the chests of their shifter counterparts.
     

     
    Here we have the Templars. Note the awesomeness of translucent rubbery parts.... They also have a new style of hand and foot.
     

     
    The Templars eyes light up with the sickly green color of corrupted hydrax fiends...
     


     
    The Templars masks are made of rubber, while the Paladins masks are the traditional plastic type. They are very secure, and the rubber makes for a cool organic factor. The angle on the wings is cool too, as they flip out all wicked like when you release them when its in ball mode. This pic shows the angle that they sit at...

     
    And of course, both types rolled up into their ball form....

     
    The remaining Paladin and Templar are arriving in the mail sometime this week, as well as the web shifters. I have been waiting for the web shifters to come out for months! I can't wait to see how they are!
     

     
    Stay tuned for a blog entry as soon as I get em in!
  3. Roa McToa
    I Hereby announce the winners of the Name the Reikia Contest!
     
    They are all still WIP, as the final models will be even better as newer peices come out.....
     
    Each winner shall receive a custom shrinky dink keychain of the reikia that they successfully named!
     
    Morkron, Reikia of Fire
    Named by V.K. Seeker of Legends
     
    Gakagu, Reikia of Water
    Named by Broken R
     
    Arakho, Reikia of Air
    Named by Bundalings the Bunny
     
    Kalvok, Reikia of Stone
    Named by Makaru
     
    Ocodu, Reikia of Earth
    Named by Letagi
     
    Izidak, Reikia of Ice
    Named by Bio-logi-Kal
     
    Congratulations to all the winners! Thanks to everyone for submitting such great names! It was a really tough choice on many of these!
  4. Roa McToa

    I Want You....

    By Roa McToa,

    To mail in mocs for Brickfest! It is only a lil' more than a month away, and mocs need to be mailed in, and arrive in Portland by the 24th of March at the very latest.
     
    Please read this NEWS STORY for more information.
     
    I will be making trophies for four different categories, Large, Medium, Small and Micro mocs. I exclude myself from these awards simply cause I amthe one giving them out, and because I am the theme coordinator for Bionicle. So don't miss a chance to win a cool trophy, I might even toss in some extra parts for the winners.
     
    So whatcha waiting for? Get Building!
     
    I bumped this because it needed it! Please send in mocs for Brick fest! A new repot will be posted on the front page soon!
  6. Roa McToa
    Ah yes, I have been drooling at the lego shelves every time I go to look for bionicle sales and new merchandise. In my honest opinion, these two sets are some of the best sets available! I want to get striking venom as well, but I don't want to pay $50+ for it.
     
    I present the Golden Guardian

     
    This set is VERY WELL worth the retail price of about $25. The set has wonderful durability, and it has a very nice appeal to how it looks. The huge mechapants are 100% win, and overall it looks very "anime". If you are going to buy one of this years sets, I highly recommend this one. I just can't get enough of it!
     
    Another great set is the Mobile Defense Tank

     
    I got this set for $23 on sale. I wouldn't pay the full $35 price tag for this one, but at $23 I couldn't pass it up. I really like the disk shooter, except for when you fire the first disks, the extra ammo usually flies out of the top of the ammo holster. The tracks dont roll as easily as I would like, but the set lends itself to looking totally awesome!
     
    I hope to attain Striking Venom next, as that set is just the BOMB!
     
    Those who have these sets, please comment on what you like/dislike about them!
  7. Roa McToa

    A Near Death Experience

    By Roa McToa,

    I went on a wood gathering mission with one of my friends yesterday. All was going well enough when I got there, other than the first dead tree that was cut did not come down, so there was a danger looming from above the whole time. We got a shorter stump cut up into rounds, and split for hauling off. Then, My friend spotted another tree that he could cut down to make the tree that was hung up fall, but due to an improper cut, this tree fell opposite the way it was supposed to, in consequence coming straight for me.
     
    I ran back as fast as I could, but tripped on a stump, hitting square on my shoulder, and knocking my head hard enough to see stars. I had curled instinctively into a fetal position just as the leviathan came crashing down not two feet from where I was laying. If my legs had been straight instead of curled, they would have been crushed underneath the weight of the tree, and I probably would have either been seriously maimed or killed.
     
    Either way, I feel like I have gotten a mild concussion from the fall, and am feeling rather sore and headachy. If I continue to feel this badly, I may have to go and see Abhud this week for some therapy.
     
    All in all, the effort was not fruitless, and we both got a full haul of wood, but almost at a very dear cost.
     
    I am lucky to not have gotten seriously hurt. It is a lesson I will never forget.
  8. Roa McToa
    Brickfest was the biggest, most AWESOMEST thing EVER! Click Here to See My Pictures!
     
    My display was a HUGE hit, not only to the public, but tio all the Adult Lego fans that were attending the convention as well! They had all taken the time to approach me and tell me how awesome my bionicle display was, and that my creations had a very organic feel to them. Something they say they have never seen in a "Pure Bionicle" creation. They were suprised at the complexity of mocs on my table, and were dually impressed by the techniques that I used to build my giant rahi. I even got many comments on color coordination. They said that the colors were very pleasing to the eye.
     
    I got proppz from all kinds of folks, from train and town, to technic and mindstorms, and even the lego higher ups, a legoland CA master builder, and the head man on the MMO lego game. In all sense, they want to see more! Pakuudo brought a lot of love to the table, and constant demonstrations of how Kukorahk worked Wowed the audience. They love his functionality.
     
    I also got to experience the MOST INTENSE lego purchasing session ever too! There was a great sale on bashed up scratched up lego and bionicle sets at the local lego outlet store, and it was like a massive free for all. I was able to get Axonn Brutaka and Vezon and Ferakk all for half price, including the Race for the Mask of Life playset!. KIE bought a pridak for half price for me too, how nice of him to help me out, not to mention that it was he who grabbed the race playset for me off the mound of damaged boxes. Thanks KIE, I owe you a big one Buddy!!!! The store was crammed shoulder to shoulder with lego fanatics trying for the best deals on pick a brick, and the scratch and dent pile. It was a blast indeed!
     
    I got to meet many bzp members, and was very happy to answer their questions about my creations. It is my goal to inspire kids and adults alike to be better builders. I am happy to share building techniques with others, and expand their minds.
     
    The fact that these are all animation models also captured the attention of the AFOL's, and the public alike. News of my movie started to spread like wildfire around the convention, and I soon had people coming up to me, asking about the story, and also with general questions about the movie. I revealed some new information, and will update the movie thread shortly with new story information!
     
    Another rather extremely exciting bit of news I recieved, is that I have been invited to attend Northwest BrickCon, held in Seattle in October. I am to represent Bionicle there, giving a couple big speeches on Bionicle, and what I like about it, as well as the building techniques that I have learned in my time as a builder. I am getting the attention of the higher ups in the lego community, and may be inadvertently stepping into a whole new world of "lego abassadordom". The possibilities are endless, and I truly hope that Bionicle takes me somewhere in the future! Cheers for Bionicle, and the amazing building system that it is!
     
    I am going to make some new giant rahi animations soon, so stay tuned on the movie thread!
     
    The name the Reikia contest is coming up soon too, so keep your eyes open on my blog!
     
    As for now, Roa McToa out...... because I am totally beat after 4 days on nonstop LEGO!!! WAHOOOOOO
  9. Roa McToa

    Brickcon!

    By Roa McToa,

    Day one (early setup) of Brickcon has passed, and I have already gotten to see some amazing creations! My favorite in particular is my table neighbors 3.5 foot taall mecha godzilla with drilling hands, light up eyes, and an opening mouth. It is so awesome, that there aren't enough words to explain it. I will post pics later. The moonbase setup is going to be really awesome, as the Eiffel moontower showed up, and Wayne brought a ship factory built in modular style. Again, pure awesome. The totem pole has made its grand return, awesome as ever.
     
    The Bionicle table is looking awesome! Thanks to the members who mailed in their mocs for display, for without you guys, the display just wouldn't be complete. I'm eager to see if anyone added anything more to the bionicle table!
     
    And I would like to thank Imatron personally for sending in the rare masks I needed for the trophies. Thanks man!
     
    I will post pictures of the con each day with an entry for all to see.
     
    I'll also make an awesome NWBC news report for Shilo to post on the main page after the con is over.
     
    And to all you BZP members who are going, I am easy to find.
     
    Onward to the Official day one of the convention! Woot!
  10. Roa McToa
    Letagi's archer has made her way into my Legorium after being left behind after Brickcon with her little green buddy. She was the first to emerge from the rahi canisters, and set off on an adventure. Her first experience was the Jack Stone Clone army. She surfed the mosh pit onto the next area of the Legorium......
     
    Oh what awaits her next?
     

  11. Roa McToa
    Hey everyone!
     
    I know that many of you have been wondering why I haven't been online much over the past many months. Circumstances made it impossible for me to be online regularly in the past because I didn't have internet in my home. I had to travel to anchorage (130 miles away) to do any real work on BZP. I became rather disheartened, and had to make hiatus from this grand site. Well, the tides have shifted, and are flowing in my favor now.
     
    I have internet, and its FAST.
     
    I am hereby announcing my full time return to BZPower, and my presence in the forums will be known again. I am pleased to be back, and am able to help whenever I am needed!
     
    My topics are going to get upgraded, a new chibi topic will be created, and a new trials of terror movie topic will be created as well! Stay tuned for awesome happenings, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions about building, or about BZPower.
     
    Cheers to all, and its great to be back!
  13. Roa McToa
    I am soooo busy getting my display ready for Brickfair. I have until sunday night to get everything done and packed up. I will have to get my entry done, as I will have minimal pieces in anchorage to use. All my mocs need teeny tweaks before I pack them up, and I am going to cram as many mocs as I can into these tubs. All the big ones for sure.... Some assembly required.......
     
    I'm going to work in the violin shop for a week before the fest, so I will have some time to relax beforehand.
     
    It'll be cool.... I am flying into Chicago on the 26th, and am meeting up with my friends who are housing me for the fest. Were going to start driving to Brickfair from the airport. I've never seen that side of the country, so it should be pretty cool! I'm really looking forward to it.
     
    Maybe I can get my family to drive up from Allentown to attend the public expo!
     
    Either way, I must get back to bustin it!
     
     
  15. Roa McToa

    Oregon

    By Roa McToa,

    Ahhh, what a wonderful trip I am having! Getting to spend time with the family is SO AWESOME! My nephew is getting so big! He calls me Aunt Breann now, which is SO FREAKIN BOOYAH! I am stoked! Dad is doing well, as is the rest of the family. Its really fun here, and I need to make an effort to get down here more often to visit family. I really do miss them all.
     
    Things are going well with Dean too! We talk everyday, and become ever so much closer. While I am having a great time here, and with BrickFest just around the corner, I can't wait to get back home. Something about home is just wonderful, especially now that Dean is in my life. I cherish him ever so much!
     
    Heres to life, love and fun!
     
    Oh, and I am going to get me a honda S90..... SO COOL! I got to ride a motorcycle for the first time evah and LOVED IT!
  16. Roa McToa
    This is an engine part from my Oldsmobile. If you can guess correctly what its function is, you get a special banner that denotes your mechanical genius! Have a go at it!
     
    << Clicky for big pic!
     
    Here is a video of how it works when its in the engine, operated with my hands......
     
    Click for Google Video
     
    A hint, Your engine may stop running if this part is broken. This one has rough edges and doesn't run smooth enough anymore to function perfectly. Hence, the reason for its replacement
     
    Omi Guessed it! Its an Oil Pump!
     
    He gets this fun banner!
  17. Roa McToa
    It's official! I have a place for mocs to be mailed! Get your creative talents going and build up a really special moc for Northwest Brick Con! All sizes of mocs are welcome, and we would like to get as many mocs as possible to display, so that Bionicle makes a real presence at the convention! Adult Fans of Lego will be impressed by the sheer number of people who love bionicle as much as they love Lego Bricks. Lets show everyone our talents at building! Gather your parts and get busy!
     
    When you have a moc that is ready to mail, please PM me, and I will send you the necessary information for mailing it!
  18. Roa McToa

    Phantom Neo Shifters

    By Roa McToa,

    Here they are, the long awaited final run of Neo Shifters sets. These are hard to find, and if you can't find them locally, check out Amazon.com. I got lucky and found the whole set for retail price with free shipping. DO NOT OVERPAY! These sets are 11.99
     
    Featured in this blog, are the four primary shifters. I will address Duplicon and the small sets in another entry. After that, I will do an entry about the whole line as well as the custom sets I have assembled.
     
    I have noticed that the plastic quality is slightly more brittle on these sets. Even though they have tight fitting parts, if you assemble them at any other angle than perfectly sraight, there is a chance that the connection points will crack. I'll be contacting Mega Blocks soon for replacement parts on two of these guys. At least they send you the parts, no questions asked!
     
    One big bummer is that there are no more light up eyes. These sets, Duplicon, and the web battlers all have a solid molded face. (will take pics in final review)
     
    Onto the action! Click on the pictures to see a larger version.
     
    The four shifters

     
    All rolled up. Technically, the weapons are mounted to the sides of the ball so that it will roll, but I like to set them up like this.

     
    and their Neos. The Neos a; have really cool melee weapons that can be stuck behind the shifters mask or in their weapon. They look really cool mounted into the masks, cause it gives them either horns or tendrils on their heads. (will show this in final review)

     
    Romaar::Xor click the thumbnails to see full size photos.
     

     
    Warzon<>Bau (my favorite by far)
     

     
    Randius<>Ka
     

     
    Guardax::Nor
     

  20. Roa McToa

    Mystery Date

    By Roa McToa,

    I may have finally found what I am looking for....
     
    I recently met a local man named Dean. he is 33, and has a 6 yr old daughter (so awesome!). We met over the weekend on an online dating site (this was the first time I ever really signed up on one of those)
     
    So he saw my profile and emailed me. Turns out, we have met in person before. He had come into the tool rental to rent the Golden Egg from us (its a giant beefy drain auger for sewer pipes) After looking at his pics, I recognized him immediately. We really didn't get much of an opportunity to talk at the time.
     
    Well, now that we have been talking for the last few days, we are a tad smitten with eachother. Right now, he is in Mexico at his Cabana in Puerto Vallarta with his daughter visiting family during his 2 week off cycle from work on the slope. He works on an oil rig, and does a lot of mechanical work, and general maintenance. Must be nice to work a 2week on 2 week off schedule and make 100K a year...
     
    He is coming back to Seward tuesday night, and is going to come into the shop on wednesday. If I am fortunate, Rolf will let me go and spend some time with him on a long lunch, or leave early from work. Dean is only in town a few days before he has to return to the slope for another two weeks, so we will try and make the best of our first few days.
     
    I am really crossing my fingers on this one. He could be the real deal! Destiny has thrown us at eachother for a reason, I think its time to find out why! :3
     
    Wish me luck!
     
     
  22. Roa McToa

    Greetings From Alaska!

    By Roa McToa,

    Hey everyone.
     
    I would like to apologize for my recent absence from BZPower. I have had a lot of things going on in my life that have caused undue stress upon me, and have made me unable to do my duty to BZPower recently. I was dealing with having a heater down in my house, so it has been really cold, and somewhat miserable in my home. $820 later, I got it fixed...... The woes of living expenses... Oi!
     
    No worries, I have not left this wonderful forum. I have been thinking about BZPower a lot lately, and am dying to get an internet connection in Seward so I can get back online. Not having my own internet access makes getting to BZP somewhat difficult. I have to drive to the library to use the internet, and I am not able to do any uploading of pictures to update my topics, not to mention the time limit they give you to use the computer.
     
    I have been building a lot of creations, both Bionicle and Lego, and have been expanding my horizons. I'm going to build a minifig scale tool rental shop like the one I work at, and it will be loaded with tools, heavy equipment, and of course, the very people that run the place (theres only 4 of us...)
     
    My giant rahi are going to get some improvements so they are more sturdy for animation. I've also built a new style matoran for my main characters for T.o.T. Apaka now has totally awesome human articulation, with fingers! I'll rebuild all my matoran to this new style, and build some more that are the scale between them, and the protector style matoran. Apaka is as tall as a Toa Mata, but still fairly short compared tot his Toa Kaiva self.
     
    I'll be back when I can folks. Times are Uuber stressful and tight right now, so I'll come in when I can!
     
     
     
    On another note...... I may be going to Brickworld.................Sponsored........
     
    -Roa McToa-
  23. Roa McToa

    Carving Skills

    By Roa McToa,

    Hey everyone, I thought I would share a small tidbit of my work with y'all. After posting that silly looking Nokama, I felt I had to post something really awesome.
     
    Click on the thumbnails to see better pictures.
     
    These are pictures of a violin that I have already finished. These pics were taken during the building process when I glued the top on.
     
    A picture of the Violins body being glued and clamped

     
    Detail of the F-Hole wing. I fluted them, and thats kinda hard to do....

     
    The back of the violin

     
    The dragon scroll I carved

     
    Here is the finished Violin.

     
    Here is a link to my Maj Gallery if you want to see more pictures
  24. Roa McToa

    It's Official!

    By Roa McToa,

    I am officially a violinmaker as of today! I sold my violin that I posted in this blog for $4,000! I am so stoked, as it is my first ever sale of one of my own instruments! I can now pay off my bills! HOORAH!!! This, on top of meeting a interesting guy back at home, things just seem to be turning my way lately!
     
    Click Here for the blog entry about the violin
  25. Roa McToa

    My Dean

    By Roa McToa,

    It's meant to be
     
    Never have I been so sure in my life when it comes to knowing a man. He is honorable, loving, caring and treats me with utmost respect. Never EVER have I had a man like him in my life. We are like two peas from the same pod that got separated at the pea factory, and then put back into the same bag together. We think alike, and truly love each other from the bottoms of our hearts.
     
    We spent two romatic days together, cherishing every moment we could spend together, not sharing a kiss until the end of the first day.
    I went to work as usual, and naturally, the anticipation was killing me. He showed up around 11:30, jumpoing out of his truck, and rushing inside as fast as he could. My boss, Rolf, was absolutely tickled pink when he saw that Dean was my "mystery date". He's known dean since he was a little boy, and speaks very highly of him. So, the bossman let me go for the day so i could spend it with my date.
     
    We walked hand in hand on two different beaches, enjoying the beautiful sun that came out just for us. We picked up shells and enjoyed the fresh sea breeze. We then took a romantic stroll through the harbor down the docks, hand in hand, looking at the boats, and enjoying eachothers company. We even got to watch a sea otter munching happily on mussels not 4 feet away. It was a joy to watch it roll around in the water and chow down on the small shellfish *munchmunch*
     
    We enjoyed a fulfilling lunch a the Smoke Shack, a breakfast/lunch restaraunt that's in an old alaska railroad train car. Very good food! Nummy nummy! he gave be a lovely malachite bracelet that he got while he was in Mexico. I wear it every day, it matches my eyes so well.
     
    We then drove around town for a while, and it was like he was showing me off to the town. lol It was cool. He is very well respected here in Seward, and I know a lot of people were probably talking about us. Rumors spread quickly in a small town like this.
     
    We then went over to my house, and I showed him my Bionicle and Lego stuff, which he was like BOOYAH! when he saw it. He is totally into what I build, and he used to build avidly as a child. He wants to start building again, and come to conventions with me! I cannot wait to bring him out of the dark ages! I know that his 6 yr old daughter Calysta would absolutely love to come over and play! I can't wait to meet her!
     
    We played Nintendo a bit, and busted it out on the old school games for a while, and finished up the leftovers from lunch. We then went out for a coffee at one of the local art/coffee houses, and enjoyed each others company some more.
     
    After that, we stopped and picked up some dinner at the store, and drove out to his house....
     
    Where we played Metroid Prime 3 Corruption on the Wii for HOURS into the night.
     
    Needless to say, we were totally smitten with each other even more by the end of the day.
     
    The second day, we hung out after work, and had a grand time! I helped him get his tools back home, and we hung out and played more games, and just enjoyed our time.
     
    He's really special, and Deep Down I know he is the one.
     
    I love him so much!
     
    Here he is all suited up for work up north on the slope. He works on an offshore oil rig as a Roughneck Pusher, or Lead Roughneck. In other words, hes got minions to do his dirty work! The drilling equipment needs to be run and well maintained, and he is the GoTo guy!

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