J46 Nui

'07 was a terrible year for Lego Plastic. I think about half of the sets I own from that year had pieces break, not just the lime green ones. If you do pick him up, try picking up an '08 Lewa too for his green joints. His joints don't have a perfect track record for non-breakage either, but it is still way better than an '07 version of the same piece.

I think that Makuta may not be the villain for different reasons.

First, I do not believe anyone else besides Ekimu and Makuta were around during their confrontation. Otherwise, how would a villager survive a blast that knocked the significantly more powerful Mask Makers into comas?

I think that the Protectors found the bodies of the Mask-Makers, who are both mask-less at this point, and made their own assumptions at this point. Since they obviously liked Ekimu's work better, they cast him as the good guy and Makuta as the bad guy. So I think there is a chance that Ekimu made the Mask of Ultimate Power (he was the more skilled mask maker after all), and the Protectors just assume that Makuta did it. And since everyone's masks had been knocked off, it would be hard to prove who was using what mask.

And it is totally possible that Lego would use an unreliable narrator. Bionicle G1 did it, and more importantly, Ninjago just did it last year with the legends of the Serpentine being completely evil were proved false.

Oh man, we're already starting proper canister-sized villains-- Classic Bionicle didn't get those until the Rahkshi in 2003, and even then they were all clones. I'm very excited, they sound really quite menacing and terrifying. I'm excited for the dark colors and sparse but varied splashes of the main colors, and what sounds like a titan/bundle set? I dunno what to make of the torn cloth description, but it sounds really neat. Dying to find out what they look like!

 

Is this the whole second wave lineup, or can we expect new small sets or proper titan sets on the horizon?

Any reason why you are not including the Bohrok?    I know in the end they weren't really villains, but they certainly counted back then.

...Only 5 sets for summer ? 

I think that is because the Lord of Skull Spiders was released early. In all, we have 6 villain sets. I'm even willing to bet that these sets will be the other Bionicle primary colors besides black because of LoSS. Plus, now that some of the main characters are Titan sized, it doesn't seem like they would add extra Titan characters.

The thing that I am a bit sad about is that Makuta will probably not be released this year. I'm taking this guess because we know that Ekimu's mask exists in a physical form through the Gold mask competition, so the Mask Maker will probably be him.

On the other hand, the fact that Ekimu is waking up before the main villain has some very exciting story possibilities.

I was not collecting Ninjago when the spinners were out, so I am excited for the new ones. Plus, they sound like they are similar to Rhotuka spinners, which were among my favorite launchers.

So, Chima is on the way out. I didn't hate the theme, but I won't really miss it.

Bionicle will have 6 Toa, 6 villagers, and 6 bad guys this year, which seems right to me. The only thing that I am sort of sad about is that we are only getting one of the Mask Makers, and since we know the mold for the Mask of Creation exists, we are not getting Makuta.

I would love to some MOCs or fan art of this. I'll be spending my free time trying to stand my sets on each other's shoulders.

I'd have the greater evil(s?) that was controlling other villains in the books, Breakout, and Brain Attack actually have some sort of pay off. Maybe the confrontation of that evil would be the conclusion to the HF story. I sort of wanted an actual conclusion to the story, even if I was not that into it.

The big thing I like from this episode is that it is said that it took weeks for the Toa to travel to their destinations. This implies that Okoto is HUGE. In fact it would be way bigger than Mata Nui (the island of course).

I hope the Toa meet up soon, or at least some of the focus shifts away from just Tahu.

For how much dialog and focus the Protectors get, I hope that they get their own names soon.

I'd love to see some Discworld sets, though I hope to see more done with the theme than a model of the world.

I'd think that Pohatu would want to add extra armor to his weakest points, because they are his weakest points.

I am assuming that Pohatu can throw with both arms, because he arms both of his hands. But him only having a gear function on one side is interesting, and does imply he has a dominant, or much stronger right arm. So here are two theories: Maybe his silver left arm is encased in some sort of robotic brace that allows him to use his boomerangs in that hand just as easily and powerfully as he does with his right hand. Or maybe after losing his original left arm, he did not get it replaced for a while and he had to increase the use of his right arm, making it stronger and bulking it up. Maybe he was originally left-handed and had to teach himself to be ambidextrous because of this incident.

I always thought that the Bahrag were more related to the Krana than the Bohrok, so I don't really think that they are connected in that way.

So you know how the new Pohatu's arms are not symmetrical? His right arm is brown and more heavily armored while his left is completely silver and lacks the transparent bone pieces of his other arm? I have a theory why his arms are not symmetrical.

Pohatu's left arm is completely robotic. Back in Gen 1, Lariska also had a completely silver limb that was a robotic replacement for one that she had lost. This theory also explains why his left arm is not as heavily armored; it does not need to be since it does not have any organic parts to protect.

I personally think my theory is pretty silly and probably not the case, but I did want to share it. What do you think?

I put my order in. But be warned, the protectors are now on back order in America.

I have a complete Gen 1 collection and the only set I seriously dislike is Bitil. It is a canister set that uses the Agori body piece, the blaster and his wings do not connect with the body in a satisfying manner, he has a double socket piece for his neck, which is just ugly, and his limbs are super spindly.

Besides that, I don't get the hate for Krekka or Krika. Krekka's body does not seem gap-y, especially when compared to his wave mates Nivawk and Nidhiki. Plus his lever system was pretty great. Krika has spindly limbs, sure, but he has a spindly head and body to match, which makes his design consistant and looks great.

That lightsaber seems to have a crossguard, since the only way you'd get an effective crossguard against a lightsaber is by having the crossguard itself made of the same stuff (energy), but at the same time it really looks like there's a risk of cutting your hand.

Yeah, that is what I guessed it is. It still looks a bit silly, but it is practical.

Other than that, I love the redesigned stormtroopers. As much as I love the Legacy comics, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't really evolve the stormtrooper armor as much as they did everything else.

The text for the protectors seem to imply that they are all male (or at least the main ones are). I was kinda hoping that they would mix it up a bit.

Besides that, this was a pretty cool update with a lot of new information. I can't wait until the story actually starts.

This style looks great. It sort of reminds me of the sketchy illustrations from the Metal Gear series. I'm glad that this made the front page. It definitely deserves it. I can't wait to see more.

The mask would have looked a lot more like the Miru if they had removed the mouth circle. That would have given the mask more of a grin, which is to me the most defining feature of the Miru. Other than that, I am looking forward to this set as much as any of the others.

The new heads are easily put on the old sets, with maybe a swapping of an additional piece, and there are old-mask compatible heads that can attach to the new sets' bodies, so I don't really have any problem with these. Plus, having an actual face under the mask is really great and makes up for it.

I kinda wish that they added back armor to his legs like they did with Kopaka, but beyond that, I am excited for this set.

 

Also, everyone gets amnesia all the time in the MU. Some people may have to relearn things.

I fail to understand how two instances of amnesia (the Time Slip and Makuta's takeover respectively) qualify as "everyone gets amnesia all the time."

 

I was being a bit hyperbolic, but not that much. You also forgot the slightly lesser forms of amnesia that the Matoran of Voya Nui and Karda Nui got during the Cataclysm. The Matoran of Mahri Nui also got hit with a second dose when they sank (I forgot which ones, but some of the Legends books discussed this).

Matoran seem to tend to deal with really traumatic events by forgetting some of the time. And I would consider events like a civil war and a Dark Hunter invasion to be pretty traumatic. So I think that some of the Matoran might lose their memory some of the time.

Something that every one has failed to mention is that even though Matoran can live for very long times, they were all not created at the same time. In fact, I believe it is mentioned in Bionicle World that new Matoran started to be created again once everyone moved back to Metru Nui. So yes, there are younger generations of Matoran that would need to be taught the history that they did not live.

Also, everyone gets amnesia all the time in the MU. Some people may have to relearn things.

That friction fix for the gear function is ingenious. I am still a bit disappointed that there are stickers in these sets, but beyond that I am really looking forward to them.

This is pretty great. I am slightly disappointed that there are stickers in this set (I just don't think Lego and stickers mix well). The set looks fairly big, which is good for a $20 set, and most importantly it actually looks like Kopaka.

Though if there is a thing I would want added to the review, it would be comparison pics between this set and some of the G1 Kopaka figures. If there is anyway to dig up those sets and post those pics, I would be pretty thankful.

I was kinda expecting HF-style bags and not boxes, but these do look pretty nice.

Granted, but now the casing is made of steel and it is too heavy to carry around anywhere.

I wish that my Halloween costume of Benny from the Lego Movie turned out better.