Master Inika

I'm not familiar with the source material, but it's an excellent model. I like the lizardlike proportions and how cybernetic it looks. G1 was really good for that.

The lightsaber eyes took me off guard, and I love it, too. This is a great model, and I especially like how it balances old and new parts. It takes advantage of all the progress made since then, but it still looks like the character. I can't decide whether or not I miss the original model's awkwardly-shaped torso with the weird tail/leg, though. Seeing him look more humanoid is definitely commendable, but does it fall into the uncanny valley for anyone else? Maybe because his head still looks so dinosaur-like. The extra G2 piece on the staff if another little detail I appreciate. It's new, but it doesn't feel like it interrupts the original pieces.

Lego is punishing us. And we deserve it.

I can't be the only one who thought Bara Magna was the Death Star for a second. But seriously, this is wicked cool. I love it when people look at Bionicle from a realistic lens, and especially as far as natural sciences go, I know Bionicle's track record isn't perfect. But this is cool, even if I have no idea what it means.

Thanks, now you've conjured in me mental images of Lehvak-Kal playing sudoku in space, the Shadowed One balancing his checkbook, and Kalmah and Vican playing checkers.

How would you have preferred the story to be resolved?

I forgot this was All Insane Kids' new name until I clicked on the topic. Glad to see they're still kicking.

Well said. As easy as it is to look at Lego in an antagonistic light for doing this, the fact is that Greg's main contributions to Lego are centered around types of media that were more popular and profitable when we were kids than now. Looking at what Lego is doing now vs. the kind of things that activate the nostalgia response in me, and I really can't say they're the same company. I don't mean it in a bad way, it's just growth and development. 20+ years with a company is still pretty cool and something to be proud of. I'm sad of course, but at the same time I'm happy that we were able to build so many cool memories. I remember one of the first OGD questions I read, someone asked if an Order of Mata Nui member's anti-telepathy shielding would protect against Hakann's mental blasts. I don't even remember the answer, I just remember my astonishment and thinking about how cool and deep the Bionicle universe was, and how awesome it was that we could just as Greg these things.

It being my primary online handle for 15 years, I have absolutely no idea. I remember literally nothing about why I picked such a non-sequitur of a name. Is "Inika" my proper name and "Master" the title? Do I mean to imply that I am a seventh "master" among the Toa Inika? Was it supposed to be Mr. Inika? I have no recollection, and it's possible I never knew to begin with.

My original comment was (mostly) a joke. I'm sure dealing with us was a toll on him, but I am thankful for his investment. Even though it's not good news, Greg does have a life outside of Lego. I am eager to check out more of that non-Bionicle story.

My theory is that Greg got sick of the bizarre parasocial relationship we fans have with him and begged Lego to let him go.

Thanks, @Hau1. Pottermore is exactly what's happening here, and it's not good. Seriously, it's like the Bionicle fandom has never heard the phrase death of the author* and it shows. The most fun Bionicle contests were the Rahi and Dark Hunter contests, and I'm sure most everyone will agree. What made them so great was how non-comprehensive they were--I loved the idea as a kid that Rahi Beasts was sort of an introductory work, and somewhere in the Archives or Order of Mata Nui library was a "full" version with thousands of entries. Even when they couldn't squeeze in multiple winners--like the Krakua contest--is was still so cool seeing what a Toa was like somewhere else in time, what was the same and what was different. I don't want to rain on anyone's fun, either. If you enjoy these contests, enjoy them. But for me, contests as a part of official Bionicle require an active Bionicle to be effective. *referencing the idea that the only integral part of a work of art is what is contained directly in the art itself and not necessarily including any external interpretation, not even that of its creator.

Not a bad thought, that definitely can happen, but I would dispute that it necessarily does, especially with how they are being handled now. Admittedly, I never really thought about it until your post made me, so this is just me rambling off the top of my head: Contests inspire creativity when they strike while the protosteel is hot, so to speak. The Certavus contest was a perfect one, IMO, because Certacus was a new character. It didn't feel so much like we were even competing as it was that we were collectively deciding how we imagined him. The Surel and Iron Wolf art contests fit this, too. Contests for new characters or characters with active storylines are better, because they encourage engagement with the story in a mutually positive way. To a lesser degree, you could argue the same principle applies to fanfiction contests: the Toa Varian contest intrigued me because it was right as the Matoran Universe exodus was taking place, and I know I and a lot of other longtime fans wondered what would happen to the obscure characters like TSO's Toa in stasis, so having a chance to imagine what her life was like was a nice way to stimulate the fandom. Even if I didn't win or enter all these contests, having the chance to made them feel real and organic, and even for the ones that happened before I was part of the community (like the original Thousand Years Untold contest), I could still recognize and appreciate how well-integrated into the existing lore they were. These contests are taking place years after these characters' storylines are relevant. I've had personal impressions in my head of what some of these characters would look like for over a decade. Frankly, even if I tried to respect the legitimacy of these contests, they're not going to change what I imagine when I imagine Toa Kualus. The contests aren't expanding the universe anymore, they're limiting it. The early contests were good because no one had any time for their personal impressions to harden in their minds before the contest was over, so there was a fun malleability to it all. Now, it's just like going back and rewriting characters who really felt like not having official depictions was sort of part of who they were now. I'll use Toa Nidhiki for my example: not knowing what he looked like is part of his charm. He's green and Lhikan-sized, that's all we really need to know. If they do a Toa Nidhiki contest, that might just kill my enthusiasm for official contests entirely. [As a side-note, I am aware Toa Iruini was originally supposed to be Toa Nidhiki. That would have been awesome, because it was the same year we learned Nidhiki was a Toa, so it would have felt like part of that revelation instead of an addition onto it.]

But they don't sound less powerful, either, at least not to me. Admittedly, we never actually see the Force blasters in action. (That's one annoying thing about the Spherus Magna culture, we never really got a feel for exactly how advanced it was, so it's hard to compare them to others.)

Good catch. Y'all know what I meant.

This is 100% the kind of thing LEGO would never get involved in. The absolute closest they get is that weird business with Jaller's mask and revival in MoL.

I think the implication is that he panicked when he put on the wet mask and smashed his head into a boulder, probably shouting "Get it off!"

I really don't care what anyone else decides, to me, Lariska looks like the terrible MOC I made of her in 2009: And I've got to agree with Cap Marvelous, even if these contests weren't a cancer on the fandom, we're not entitled to them.

Best: The one in my signature. It really captures the whimsy and fun of early Bionicle and how it invited you into it. Worst: There weren't really any awful ones. Generally, Bionicle has awesome dialogue. There's no Bionicle equivalent of "I don't like sand."

Force blasters are functionally the same thing as guns. I'm also thinking of Core War-era elementally-charged weapons.

I get that, but I think they're beetlelike in the sense of having armor. Which, I know all bugs kind of do, but ants and bees are slightly but still visibly more human-looking. Whenever there are humanized animals, beetles are always "bruiser"-types more than other bugs.

It might be fair to think of it this way, ordering various species from weakest to strongest: Real human: Just as a reference point, we're really weak. Glatorian: Humans with metallic bones and who also have the benefit of longer lifespans, allowing them to become better fighters than we ever could. Plus, they're probably as tall as Toa (seven feet) and have access to more dangerous technology. (Of course, considering humans on an individual basis vs. governments is difficult.) MU resident: I'm going to rank Toa/Skakdi/other canister-sized guys in here. All the strengths of Glatorian, plus elemental and mask powers. Not impossible, it'd still be an engaging fight, but it's definitely skewed in the Toa's favor. Remember when Takanuva (almost) fought Gresh in the comics--should Greg really be able survive a blast of Takanuva's light? Probably not, but this is one part where the elemental powers aren't treated as real elements. Takanuva would just be firing energy at him, not literal solar rays. Even though he should be. Makuta: Probably the most OP characters in all of Bionicle. There's a reason Greg had to blind or mutate them all to make 2008 a vaguely fair fight.

Looking at a picture like that really puts it into perspective. It's still pretty big, just not as gargantuanly huge as it seems to a child. I always liked to think as a kid that the Dragon was a robot being piloted by a Nuhvok Va, and the eyes and Nuhvok shield are its real head sticking out of the false head.

I feel bad for missing Iruini, because I saw him, I just didn't list him for whatever reason. I totally missed Click, though.