BIzzy

Hey all,

My newest update for the project on Lego Ideas has gone up! It includes several additions, as well as refinements. Take a look, and of course let me know what you think!

Thanks, I hope you'll continue to join me in spreading the word and rallying support!

B1z

Hey everyone, thanks again for the encouragement. My first update is up now - let me know what you think! 

Check it out!

BIzzy

Many thanks to BZP for the feature!! One delighted bonkleman here  

On 9/1/2020 at 1:36 PM, TheZOMBIEJ said:

wow! this one looks promising! the Toa Kaita look interesting in brick form! the Makuta shadow vortex looks terrifyingly awesome! and i love the addition ov the little Takua figure; he just looks so kawaii (Japanese term for "cute") cuz' he's so small! it's amazing what you can accomplish with existing pieces in many colors!  

let's pray this one will go through! 

also, have you figured out how much the set might cost judging by the current piece-count? i'm thinking it would be the price would be unholy (for lack ov a number, lol)! considering the amount ov re-colors that'll need to be made... you know what, i'll let you figure that out!  

Thanks for your enthusiasm and kind words!

Anticipating if this project gets through the process close to its current form, it will definitely be among the more pricey Ideas sets - hopefully its value will justify that though!

1 hour ago, Lenny7092 said:

I am extremely impressed with this project of yours! You even included the Toa Kaita, and man, they look authentic in brick form! Let’s hope that this will get 10,000 supporters in Lego Ideas.

Thank you - I'm glad you're looking forward to what the future (hopefully) holds!

On 8/31/2020 at 7:04 AM, Iron_Man5 said:

Wow, very well done! I never knew I needed to see Akamai and Wairuha in brickbuilt form, but it would seem I didn't know what I was missing, you did them both justice! The shadow form of Makuta is terrifying to say the least and the whole scene captures the essence of MNOG very well! You have my support! 

Haha thanks so much, glad you found it compelling! I really appreciate it and thanks for your support! Let's keep it going   

Hi all! Please check out and support my BIONICLE project on LEGO Ideas! BIONICLE Legacy aims to please longtime fans as well as potentially attract new ones. I wanted to remain faithful to original story motifs while also leaving an element of open-endedness so as to encourage a wider appeal.

BIONICLE Legacy: Storytelling with the LEGO Brick

My questions for you all are as follows:

#1. In a future update, I feel like I need to further justify why Takua is included as a figure. I think adding another play feature for Takua would be beneficial. But the total piece count for BIONICLE Legacy is already at ~2850, so I’m trying to think of something that could be economical parts-wise, but also add play value to the set. Any thoughts?

#2. Do you have any advice about other fan groups you may be aware of that may be interested in supporting this idea? Where else can this idea be promoted?

I hope you can help this project get on shelves as an official set! Thank you! 

These "chronicles" have been a treasure to discover and an absolute blast to read though - looking forward to the next update 

In the entry about Kaita, you had mentioned that the Tohunga Nui was the least enjoyable part to address, due to an apparently unresolved plot hole that it caused in the 2001 lore. However,  I just want to point something out...

The last line spoken by Maku ("Now we have a tale to tell the Toa!") always stood out to me for some reason even when I first poured over the comic in 2001. It was amusing to think of the little Tohunga bragging to the Toa one day afterward about their collective accomplishment, and how they mimicked the Toa's heroics in their own way.

Along that line of thought, after reading your update here, it got me thinking: the Tohunga would be eager to share their tale, right? And the Tohunga culture we were given at the time largely revolved around legends, right? So maybe one way to view this apparent plot hole of a miraculous Tohunga Nui showing up is just that: a legend made up by the villagers? What if the comic (aside from advertising) could represent a partly fictitious story in the 2001 story?  I can imagine the villagers "embellishing" their experience shown in the comic with extra heroic feats (ie the Tohunga Nui) when they spun the yarn to the Toa! Just my line of thought. Amusing either way 

  So it's been a while since I posted here,  but felt that this is an especially relevant and interesting topic to weigh in on.  

On 12/18/2019 at 11:04 AM, Darth Jaller said:

I kinds feel that... and also kinda don't, at the same time? I dunno.

I do very much get what you mean about parts of it sometimes feeling empty, devoid of anything but that pervasive sense of nostalgia - especially some of the novels and early sets, since I no longer feel interested in 'playing' with them. But at other times, much of it (the 01-03 comics, the MNOG, even parts of the movies for me) still feel to me like there's something... something intangible to them still, just waiting to be unlocked.

...

The nostalgia's a big part too, of course... but I feel like if it was just nostalgia, no matter how powerful, it wouldn't be something that kept me around. The interest in channelling that nostalgia is the biggest thing, for me.

I agree with a lot of what you said DJ, as well as another post here.  To me, the novels (which only came later on as a primary story medium) do not stand the test of time. But the movies and even more so the early sets continue to have much more value beyond nostalgia - particularly aesthetic value. Even though I don't agree with others' disillusionment, I can see what's being said about feeling a disconnect with the sets/nostalgia... They are what you make of it I guess 

So...Bionicle 2001 was foundational in concept, premise, lore, characters, world, tone of story, and more. There is (rightfully so) golden memories  - or "nostalgia" - surrounding that time for many fans who experienced it back then. This nostalgia, from my perspective, is not blind or without good reason. While many fans (myself included) who followed Bionicle's original run have come to appreciate the story as LEGO ended up telling it up to the end, nostalgia for the first year *or two or three* seems to fundamentally communicate a stronger connection/identification/resonance with Bionicle as it was first presented during that era. (Whoa that was a sentence!)

For me, it's not that I discard the rest of Bionicle after 2004 as "not truly Bionicle", but over time since G1's retirement, I've noticed that I've increasingly realized: it's not so much the linear, singular story with a rigid timeline to follow that makes Bionicle what it is for me today. Rather the entire concept and underlying proposition - the MYTHOLOGY - is what sticks with me as Bionicle. The original 2001 run and it's basis - the old story bible (the work of the likes of Swinnerton, Faber, Thompson) exemplifies this.  If we fans could continue to articulate what it was that was so special about the early Bionicle, it could benefit the community and maybe even reach LEGO.  If only LEGO could somehow see this and take into consideration how the Bionicle fan community has endured and developed.

Bionicle is a toy line for youth, but it is valuable to note that that fact does not cheapen the rich product, premise, and potential that we were given in this case.

Quote

It's that potential, and the possibilities inherent in it, that keep me attached to Bionicle just as much as the nostalgia, I think; a desire to not only take the story as we were given it, but to work it from its base components into something that unlocks more depth, more of what could have been.

Hey exactly. That's what LEGO is all about, and this has always been LEGO BIONICLE after all! 

Plus, the recent uncovering of more of the line's prehistory and alternate/unused concepts has given even more credibility to fans who had previously been unable to articulate what it was about early Bionicle that was lightning in a bottle.

Overtrusting overlord jock

Bahrag

THIS. This is magic.

Let me try to briefly explain:

I haven’t experienced this phenomenon since Bionicle was ongoing. I’m feeling a joy and excitement like I did when something new was revealed in Bionicle’s golden run…

Think: the Bahrag queens nearing the end of the Bohrok saga…  or the search for the 7^th Toa…  or “My island home, re-found…”  or Mata Nui rising...  Fans who experienced the original theme unfolding will undoubtedly know what I’m talking about.

I’ve read some posts where it’s lamented that “this or that” concept wasn’t fully incorporated into the Bionicle that we remember… as if these plans/concepts/knowledge is something separate.  I may be odd this way, but personally I view those concepts as really key and even integral to the mainstream lore of the theme, NOW THAT IT’S *finally* AVAILABLE.  I don't view it as "other" "outside" or "extraneous", but rather as an enhancement to an already rich LEGO theme. In fact, if I were to introduce someone to the Bionicle line, I would without question point toward the concept plans!

The recent revelations and unearthing of so much early Bionicle history has been truly awesome for us and has *literally* only ADDED to the legend.

This work is so deserving of ongoing recognition. 

As others have already said, this is awesome news both for Bionicle fans and BZPower community. BioMedia has become quite the resource! So much mystery and memory is wound up in this game.

Needless to say, it hardly need be said what I'll be delving into this summer...

Oh this should be fun! I actually haven't looked much at this updated version.

I wouldn't say this isn't an impressive MOC. This is really great in its simplicity, and the colors are well placed!

I'm curious if you can link to the contest? Just curious to see what that was all about.

If you can't get the whole set, there's always a certain other Brick marketplace you could turn to.  No selling required!

 

That sticker of Mata Nui is almost tempting enough to purchase the whole set, for me at least.

(sells kidney to buy set)

 

I assume that in order to verify if a Lego sale is going on in a particular store, it's necessary to go into the store rather than checking their online store? 

That sticker of Mata Nui is almost tempting enough to purchase the whole set, for me at least. 

Same. Pretty clever selling point, I must say! And interesting how they're catering to different types of Lego fans with these easter eggs in Ninjago sets.

In a recently discovered picture of the Ninjago City Docks set, there is a MAP OF MATA NUI!!!!!

 

That is an awesome find and an awesome inclusion in this set for sure. 

Summer can't come soon enough. I really like the arctic sets. For some reason, these remind me of the series from around 2000 more so than the more recent incarnation of the arctic theme.

I haven't been that into the Minecraft Legos... until this set! Wow. It looks like a blast to play with, and with a heap of interactivity and little nooks and crannies.

I agree. But then again, it is the start of the new year.  I really like that mini express..and it would be so easy to get multiple for other purposes.

This is wild looking. It's not very reminiscent of Pohatu, but the tubes and springs really add a very mechanical, engineered look, which is awesome and unique in my opinion. The actual functionality of the feet reinforce that effect even more. Nice building.

This is not a long read - it was fun, very informative and interesting. Interested in industrial design myself, many of the points he made are very memorable to me. It is cool that another Lego person opened up about their experiences there!

This is a little scene I built during the summer after I looked at some of the Lego Ideas Book. I couldn't resist expanding on one of the concepts shown - a shipwreck of an old galleon! 

Gallery (when public)

If pirates tickle your fancy, be sure to check out the gallery for more pirate tomfoolery!

Very fun (even retro-style) commercial! Lego should do more animations like this - personally I think it works.

Ambient music? Check. Memorable action with Kanohi powers? Check. Plausible dialogue? Check.

This is truly awesome and well done. It felt like I was watching an unreleased part of the old MNOLG animations!

My only real criticism is that the music style - while it does fit the original style - it does stick out a bit at times. Gali's character was a little off-kilter, and I can be pretty picky with how humorous dialogue is handled in Bionicle scenarios, but the mannerisms of the characters here are overall well-done. Classic Tahu’s temper tantrums are just right - and Kapura was a great match with how he appeared in MNOLG. Jala talking to Tahu, as if they were on the same level... was interesting. I always saw the villagers as being too reverential to boldly backtalk the Toa!

I don’t know how I missed this feature! You know it’s a good animation when the 17 whole minutes goes by in the snap of a finger.  

Congratulations on being featured on the front page! A creation well made. Even the photos are fun to look through. Keep at it!