Pohaturon

Official statements still beat wild fan theories. Honestly, I really don't want G2 to be a continuation of G1, and currently there is absolutely no evidence that it will be. Calling the G2 MoT the Vahi, and making it so that the G1 Vahi fits the lower half is merely and allusion - more than an easter egg, but definitely not a sign of the two tales being linked. Personally, I see this as a great way to expand on the G2 lore, giving it a chance to grow and develop. This MoT reveal simply shows Lego is setting up something big. If anything, this doesn't mean that G1 and G2 are linked - all it means is that G2 won't end in 2017! And I ask again (I've brought this up before) - were you actually around in 2001 and 2002? Calling G2 simple compared to G1 is so fundamentally flawed that it's both hilarious and painful. G1 only really got "complex" and "deep" in 2003 when the additional story material was released. 2015/16 isn't even marginally more simplified than the first two years of G1. And I say this as someone who followed G1 from '01 to '10 in real time, loved every second to it and continue to absolutely adore it. Even so, the baseless arguments of the anti G2 crowd keep popping up. I mean, you're more than welcome to have your opinion. You can prefer G1 - I prefer G1. However outright falsehoods ain't okay.

And how exactly was the story in 2001 any different? Before you ask, yes, I've read all the books, comics and played MNOG. The only difference is that they gave things non-English names in G1. Aside from a few name differences, 2001 and 2015 is nearly identical in terms of story. Plus, if you were around back then, you'll know that the lore of 01-03 was only really fleshed out in 03. The fact that we already had books and comics in the first year of G2, and JtO in the second means at this point we have more and deeper story material in G2 than what G1 had on its own timeline. I love how the anti-G2 crowd basically can't come up with anything other than "G2 has no/shallow story" when they're comparing it to ALL of G1. Comparing 2 years of story to 10 is more than a little flawed. Comparing the first two years of G1 to G2 is more realistic, and it proves that G2 has the story bit more than figured out. Go read the books and the comics. Or don't.

Well, there was the golden mask of skull spiders last year along with the mask of creation. This year it's mask of control and corrupted mask of control, so that counts as 2 I guess. Next year we might get the mask of time in the winter and the mask of ultimate power in the summer.

Without naming any exact example, since none come to mind at the moment that fit it right, I'd score Bionicle entirely with melodic epic power metal, with the Turaga providing the vocals constantly narrating the action with elaborate descriptions. And lo, our great heroes have drudged through yet another mile of open desert. Pohatu displays immense endurance as the added weight of puny livestock stick to his magnetized body

This must be a massive blow to the ego of that guy who practically went to war over the forums about how the G2 mask of time looked identical to the G1 Vahi because of the obvious placeholder in the previous graphic novel... I love how the shape fits together with the Vahi, if you imagine it there as the lower half. Also, all this talk of it originating in "ancient times" and giving users the ability to witness world beyond their imagination? INB4 G1 connection. Until now I was among those who thought it was just wishful thinking and will never happen, but this is a close to a confirmation as you can get without it being a literal confirmation. EDIT: I'd like to clarify the above statement. I in no way support the idea that G2 is in some way a continuation of the G1 story. However, having the top half of the G2 MoT look like the G1 Vahi fits can be considered as a connection with more significance than an easter egg. As far as I'm concerned, it's still a full reboot, and they're separate universes. Alternate dimensions maybe? Point is, the story of G1 and G2 will never be connected or linked together. However this is an interesting tidbit and I'm curious to see where it goes.

It wasn't "dumbed down", it got a smaller budget. Big difference. Since we *are* talking about a toy line here, most of that went into the (absolutely fantastic) sets. Bionicle in 2001 got so much attention because Lego needed it to be a saviour... but then this has been discussed far too many times. I'll admit, I loved G1 from 01' all the way to the end, and maybe still prefer it to G2, but G2 is still more than a worthy comeback, and so far G2 is definitely more "Bionicle" than the waning years of G1 were. Plus, I keep seeing a grave misunderstanding of concepts among the anti-G2 crowd. The first few years of G1 didn't have a complex or fleshed out story. It had a complex and fleshed out backstory. There was a boatload of lore and history and names and all that, but the story itself was just "get-masks-kill-baddie" over and over. Sure, characterization was deeper, but about 90% of that came from MNOG. Even the books didn't start coming out until years in, and those weren't any more detailed than G2 books. Personally, I adore G2 set design, and after I got over the whole "that's not what the island is called, Lewa should be air ,etc etc" phase I began to come to like Okoto and its customs. The protectors are without a doubt the best villagers Bionicle ever had, but someone already said that. The creatures are among my favorite Bionicle sets. Ever. G1 included (seriously, whoever made those things should get a Nobel prize or something). The Masters and Uniters are both great Toa waves and logical upgrades of one another. The Skull villains - while making me roll eyes at the theme at first - are actually pretty interesting and varied, as opposed to the clone set tendency of G1 Umarak is baller. Looking forward, the Beasts are deviant and risky enough to make me love their ugly designs for what they are. I mean, if keeping G2 Bionicle on the lower tiers of the brand echelons allows Lego to go with such risky and experimental builds, I'm all for it (plus Storm Beast genuinely looks good). Journey To One was great as far as I am concerned. I'm genuinely interested in where to the story will expand after 17', and am looking forward to this arc being completed. As an unabashed lover of G1, I can with a clear conscience say that G2 is awesome and a worthy continuation.

Many people say Pohatu is the worst among this year's Toa - many are wrong. His color scheme is a bit of an oops, but his design is spot on and the flail weapon works perfectly with the hip-swivel. You should definitely add him to your collection!

The lack of a Mass Effect reference despite the name is disappointing... Joking aside, that is a solid build!

So I got Pohatu Uniter of Stone for my namesday (something we celebrate here in Hungary) from my darling wife. All the yass.

I finally got Pohatu in the flesh (plastic?), and my continued fandom of him is still on-going. I loved his design from the moment those Lego.com cashed images were posted, but holding the set? Even better. Good thing I don't need to change my sig for another year!

Where is this Takanuva idea coming from? I'm guessing taller Ekimu sort of already fits that bill. But think about it. So far, pretty much the only thing going for Ekimu's talk of Makuta being evil is literally just his word. The current generation of protectors and villagers weren't around back when all that happened, so technically only Ekimu and Makuta know what actually transpired (except for Umarak, on account of him being ancient) So what if there was no sacred law forbidding the combining of elements, Ekimu was just not creative enough to come up with it? Two brothers start a business together. One of them is more successful than the other. The less successful brother discovers a new revolutionary method which in turn makes his product superior. Formerly-more-successful brother gets angry and jealous, so he bashes newly-more-successful brother's face off with a hammer, and the resulting magical explosion and puts them both into a coma. The original six protectors were corrupt business partners of Ekimu, so they made up the prophecy to hand down from generation to generation to make it seem as if Ekimu was the good guy all along. Six Toa arrive with no clue what's up, they wake up who's all like "I need my mask of creation." and "go find the mask of control and ultimate power and bring them back to me in my forge so I can... destroy them. Yes, that's what I wanted to say" Because, you know, reasons. So what if the Toa succeed and give Ekimu the MoC and MoUP, which he then combines with the MoCr using Makuta's element combining technique and goes all evil. I know this veered away from set speculation, but what if the final final villain is a true titan evil Ekimu which incorporates the colors of all the elements and has a mask that is a mix between the three legendary masks of G2? If this happens in winter 2017, that would set up summer 2017 as a hunt for the mask of time's second half to use the complete mask to time to turn the whole mess back to the beginning of 2015, except the Toa know that Ekimu is lying and never awaken him. We could even get six villains in Winter 2017 who combine to form über-evil-Ekimu as a combiner set. As for serious speculation, solid color shells will be done away with entirely. We'll only get trans shells with solid-color and blended armor.

Less of proper speculation and more of a far-fetched idea, but what if Lego throws us a curveball, kills off all the toa in the Summer 2016 storyline forcing 2015's protectors to take on the role of new main heroes, and get an upgrade to toa-size via the mask of creation/Ekimu? Or it turns out that Ekimu twisted the tale of him and Makuta, and Makuta is actually the good guy. Or some kind of other pointlessly convoluted twist. Anything to make the story more interesting.

1. Ketar (surprise?) because, well, Ketar 2. Akida because that build 3. Uxar because... well, he's just better than the rest, I guess 4. Terak because, while there is nothing wrong with him, the previous three are still better 5. Ikir because he looks a tad thin and under-fed, not particularly interesting 6. Melum because he looks half-finished Looking at this thread I really should be adding poor Ketar to my sig...

I liked G1 primarily for the story. G1 Pohatu was my favorite character due to his personality. I also like Journey To One, have no problem with the new characterizations, and respect the show for achieving what it set out to do and is trying to be. Sue me, I guess?

Say what you will about the gameplay of Mask of Control (I personally really like it), but ###### that music is great. Like, all 30 seconds of it... Seriously, G1 was baller in terms of soundtracks, and so far it looks like G2/Journey to One will live up.

I've heard that it's only been distributed in Russia and Eastern Europe I'll be keeping an eye out for it, then!

I hoped Umarak would be more Megatron and less Starscream in terms of voice. Or, you know, Harbinger ("Assuming Direct Control" = Mask of Control?)

I followed G1 really closely between 2001 and 2008 (didn't really care about the Bara Magna story, something that has recently changed), but I never did read the serials until now. I've read through most of it, finishing off the Spherus Magna ones now, and I actually really like them. I guess I'm a sucker for alternate dimensions, and since I raided BS01 beforehand and know most plot points, it's interesting to see how everything comes together. Personally, I find the needlessly over-complicated aspect of it to be charming. Honestly, I just wish there was a lot more of these things, especially ones set within the Matoran Universe during time periods not explored by written content yet. Too bad that won't happen anymore.

Wife got me Ketar as a surprise present yesterday. I knew she's the one!

Not to be a pain, but since it's a reboot, it has nothing to do with the G1 timeline, technically. But to humor you, now, I don't think they ruined it. I never really understood it when old fans (for the record, I've been a fan of Bionicle since 2001) of anything claim that a reboot which they don't like ruined the original. It's a reboot. It didn't touch the original. The previous media/story/lore didn't cease to exist. If you preferred G1, it's not like it has been wiped from the space time continuum. I'll be open here and say outright that I prefer G1, however it's not like there's a whole lot of G2 yet. That does not mean I dislike G2 at all - in fact, quite the opposite.

I think the doomsaying is a tad premature. Sales may be down in the US, but it's not like America is the world. Since the 2016 sets appeared in Hungary, they've been selling pretty well as far as I can see, and the 2015 sets have been sold out and restocked several times, and the few stragglers still around have kept their launch price, something rather rare in these parts. We've seen some LEGO products not making their way to North America while being popular elsewhere.

I'll let you guess as to my votes... 2016's mask of stone isn't as cool as the 2015, but still the best of the lineup.

I actually really like the summer Bionicle lineup. I disliked the skull villains, with only Scorpio appealing (he's real cool though). I'm only getting a single set from this roster, and it's a toss up between Lava Beast and Storm Beast, though Stormy is winning so far. Will wait for more info. Am I seeing it right that Lava Beast gets half a shadow trap, Storm Beast gets half a shadow trap, but Quake Beast gets both halves? If this is so, I'll be a tad ruffled... EDIT: I now see that Storm Beast does in fact have both halves of a shadow trap, so consider me un-ruffled. Based on this I'll assume Lava Beast has a full shadow trap too. What's up with Storm Beast's left shoulder though? Is that some sort of function connected to the tail?

What's this? My home country in news on BZP? All of this is good and well, but still no 2016 Bionicle sets in stores here...