Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Bionicle'.
-
-
It isn't dead. Really, it isn't. I haven't done anything on the Nuva-tweaking side, since that requires a lot of editing colors that I'm not really confident I can do, but! I've decided to add a new side to Project Nuva. One that takes the basic adaptive armor designs of the 2008 Nuva and makes them look so much more like the Nuva. Unfortunately, I can't do this one via photos. Maybe Onua, if the ideas I have for him are compatible with his 2008 form, but none of the others, because they require pieces that simply don't exist. (And, so, technically, does Onua, but I can get away with using the original Nuva armor on him.) So the rest will be drawn and colored, since I can't build them. But I can at least illustrate some other ideas, so today I give you Lewa and Kopaka Phantoka's wings. (Illustrated by Kongu Inika in Defilak's Kualsi...) :: Kopaka Phantoka :: :: This is, of course, just a rough approximation. Chirox's blades aren't a bad substitute (when widened and doubled), but the design I have in mind would be more like a Vahki staff in attachment. At any rate, it works; you have wings that can fold and have "feathers" of a sort but are still far more mechanical than organic in appearance... Because I still don't like Kopaka's airplane wings. Attached via Vahki hip so Solek still has a point to connect to... :: Lewa Phantoka :: :: :: :: As I noted in the picture, the katana would be bigger so they actually work as wings... Though nowhere near as huge and spiky as Lewa Phantoka's sword, because that would be terribly unaerodynamic. Anyway, I do like the look of Matoro's blades over his shoulder, so that's still there, and attaching them via Hordika necks gives him the ability to position his wings. Haven't worked out exactly how Tanma would attach yet, though. So, there you go, designs for means of flight for Lewa and Kopaka. I'd keep Pohatu's propeller-claws, of course, since they're quite innovative... What do you think? ~ ToM
-
Coming soon..... LEGO related presents:
-
Which Phantoka should I get. I already have Pohatu, and I don't particularly want any of the other "Toa". Or should I get another Tohunga?
-
Wal-mart=win
-
As this blog's here, I thought I may as well use it to review Antroz, who I bought only an hour or so ago. I'm going to skip the packaging. It's interesting, the front detaches and the canister lid is small, almost invisible and pops off. Anything else you can learn at face-value through the numerous images available online. Yeah, no images either. Well, no images intended at the time of writing this sentance. Who knows what might happen? Images there be! So, the parts! They're...dark. Very dark. What you'd expect from a mixture of black and dark red, really. Plenty familiar here, although the new pieces really dominate the scene. The wings are very nice creations; huge, batlike and spiked and really defining the set well. The torso is much larger than I thought. Love the design, too. Very nice indeed. I can see a lot of MOCing potential there - something you've no doubt heard numerous times from numerous sources. So what? It's true! Well, apparently generally accepted opinion actually, but that's besides the point. The weapons are unusual, curving to a very sharp and deadly looking point. I imagine them being unwieldy, but that's probably just me. A very solid design without many gaps or spaces, but fairly detailed. Not my favourite tools, but I do like them. New parts The Matoran connector piece looks astoundingly useful and is simplistic in its design. Was that last part even necessary? Who knows? Anyway, moving on. The Mask. Wickedly fearsome with spikes protruding from numerous locations. Its wider base reminds me strongly of the Olmak. I can imagine Brutaka's Olmak looking something like that after its mutation. It's a very large mask too, and like all the evil guys in this half of the year (except for Icarax, who just had to be different) is two-toned, combining Antroz's red and black colour scheme to good effect. It's a nice touch and the colours work well together, but I imagine it reduces MOCing potential slightly. Nevetheless, I love the mask - although in reality it's more of a face. I mean, who's gonna manage to bite someone with a mask? Tricky, at the very least. Finally, the Tridax pod and launcher. The chestpiece is made of a softer plastic than other parts, which I didn't expect at all. it's obviously designed to fit snugly onto the main torso, and so it does, following the shape perfectly. The design is spiked, like so much of this set, and really befits the set well. It has an extra connection point at the back too, so I can imagine some creative uses for it being found. The pod itself is highly reminiscant of the old Rock Raiders rocks and other similar pieces, and even comes with axle connection points on the top and bottom! Unlike the rocks each part curves, so there's only one (two if you're pedantic) way(s) to put it together. I must see how well Pohatu (old version) can kick this thing. Now, the shadow leeches! Aaaaahh, wonderful things! They feel great to hold - so squishy and spikey! The combination is truly divine. Then there's those wonderful faces - they do make me laugh. I also love how they can connect to sets! A couple of them have currently become confused and tried taking the place of a Matoran on Antroz's back. Not sure he's too happy about this. Get. Off. Now. Okey-dokey! Now, the set itself! Quite fun to build, if very simple. Didn't bother with the instructions - then, I don't think a canister set has been invented yet that I've genuinely needed them for. The torso adds the only real element of interest, as everything else snaps together like all the other sets over the past two years. Very generic arms and legs with, of course, the obligatory Metru head. Really getting tired of that piece. I thought it looked quite frankenstein-esque when I first saw it, and my opinion hasn't changed. As I mentioned, the arms and legs are very simple. So simple in fact, there's no variation in them at all and you can do the same thing four times. Arms are the same as legs...right? Having the set built, I'm not quite as impressed as I was when I saw pictures of him [late edit] actually, I've changed my mind since I wrote that. I am[/late edit]. The feet are a bit odd, as the sudden inclusion of gunmetal grey looks out of place. Most of the set is also black rather than red, which is supposed to be its primary colour. Kinda dissapointing there. The Tridax launcher also slips nicely back into the body, hardly standing out at all which makes the set appear quite flat. Some new limb pieces would have been nice too. As a last negative comment, the tools are really quite strange. If you face them forward they stick out awkwardly, but if you face them sideways it can look less natural. What to do, what to do? I don't know yet. On a final final note here, the torso looks a bit empty. The upper torso is nice, having the tridax launcher, but the lower torso (particularly where the two pieces join) looks very thin and empty, being only one hole wide at a certain point. A smidgen or two of red wouldn't go amiss there either. I...AM...COMPLETE! Ok! That will do for negativeness, I think. What's good about this set? Any fans of poseability will, naturally, be overjoyed. All the standard points of articulation (why does that word apply to points of movement and methods of speech?) plus those for the wings, which add a new dimension to the set. I really do thing the wings make the set, adding a bit more bulk and giving it that fearsome bat-like appearance. It wouldn't be the same without them at all. It's also possible to push the head all the way back so it faces up; ideal for flying. This guy definitely looks best soaring through the sky, although he'll have to settle for ground-level work most of the time. I think my arm would get tired otherwise. Obligatory nonchalant front pose It's a bit irksome that every movement of the arms causes the wings to move, but it's not that big a deal. I think they provide enough extra playability (or poseability. Or both) to more than make up for that. He's a very menacing figure, and poor Lewa's looking quite scared. Or, he would, except his mask only shows one expression, so he's not looking very scared at all really. A pity he doesn't have his old Nuva mask anymore. They could have compared fangs! Now then, what haven't I talked about? What playability feature have I neglected to mention? The Tridax launcher of course! I've only tried this out a couple of times, and it's pretty fun. Not really designed to be a launcher, more a scatter bomb to be dropped on unsuspecting foes from above. Is that a bad thing? Not really, no. He's designed to be played with as a flying set, and it's very satisfying to see a glowing orange orb smack a Toa clean on the head before scattering leeches all over it. Poor Lewa. He's not having a good day. Don't expect to be setting any distance records at all. Infact, perhaps it's better to cut out the last three words of the previous sentance. As I said, definitely not intended as a projectile. Be warned! Leeches are tricky creatures to control, and despite Greg's assurances that they move like snakes, it is my opinion that they get around by hopping, jumping and bouncing. They're unfriendly critters too, making every possible attempt to escape into those hard-to-reach places, and seem to have a natural affinity for dark spots below large piles of sets, books or whatever that you simply don't know are there. I guess as creatures of darkness, that's only natural. Another fantastic feature is the ability for this year's canister sets to pair up with their smaller counterparts. Sadly I don't own Radiak (one of the two Matoran I have yet to find), but I've played about with Tanma and Lewa a bit and the feature is pretty cool. The Makuta do it slightly differently, with their Matoran sitting at a 90-degree angle. I guess they're supposed to appear upright when the Makuta are flying. A pretty nifty idea, and finally brings back the notion of playing with sets together rather than as individual models. I still miss the days when all the sets could interact with each other by knocking off each other's masks. So, what do I think of the set overall? I like it. Actually, it's grown on me over the course of this review. The head-wobbling is a bit annoying, but I might see a way to fix it already. See? I'm such a genius! Alright alright. You don't have to disagree so loudly. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, final thoughts! It's a very nice looking set. Could do with some more red, but all the sets this year seem to be suffering from a colour deficiency. If I was going to make a canister Makuta, this is the way to go. Tall, menacing with a powerful appearance, not to mention the whole bat thing...yeah. Very nice! It's got plenty of poseability plus a function that is NOT a cheap tag-on launcher that's huge, cumbersome and terrible looking on half the sets equipped with it, which is a major plus in my book (wait, I have a book now?). The weapons are quite cool looking, but look odd when held and aren't my favourite, given my lack of preference for that kind of weapon (swords ftw!). Just a personal thing, though. I've been waiting for new limb pieces for quite some time. Still waiting, sadly. Still, the Piraka limbs look good on this set, and its nice to see a relaxation of the constant Metru and Vahki legs. They have quite a distinct style which doesn't really flow with this year's sets. So yeah. Overall I'm very impressed by this guy. I'd give it 8/10 and would definitely recommend it to anyone who's been sitting on the fence about buying it for a while. I only bought it because my local store had run out of Kopaka sets (and was only going to buy him because they'd run out of all sets except him and Antroz), but I've yet to regret it! If anything I'd say it was a better purchase. I might decide to review Lewa sometime. That's if he's in a fit state to be reviewed, anyway. Being a Toa, he attempted to sabotage the review by killing off Antroz. A bit rude, really. I mean, What's Antroz ever done to hurt anyone? Fortunately, he didn't do too well and I managed to capture the highlights of the confrontation! "You think your pathetic weapon can harm a Makuta, Toa?" "A Makuta...who can teleport!?" "You won't be needing that anymore." "Such a valiant attempt. But now..." "You will join us!" Villains really like the sound of their own voice, don't they? Well, that wraps it up for this review! Don't expect many more - I only did this one on a whim. Who knows what I might decide to do next?
-
Yes! I have found the perfect body design for Nocturn! Early self B-day present... *Coughs* .... *Feb 8th* ... *Coughs Now I must find a perfect color scheme... So, which would be better for Nocturn revamp: A: Lime+GITDB+Black+Silver+Metru Blue= New Colors B: Lime+GITDB+Black+Silver= Standard colors C: Lime+GITDB+Black+Silver+Light Blue= New Colors Something that has been bothering me for while... Any ideas?
-
Oh yeah, it's time. Tahu Nuva is here! The pic links to the topic. Wow! Argetlam awarded me with this for it! -K-
-
I have Lewa Newva! Not entirely sure what inspired me to get him, but have him I do and I'm actually glad! I don't really think of him as Lewa. I may make up an alternate personality/identity for him at some point and fit him into something somewhere, but what matters is the set. From my perspective, having bought very very few sets in the last two years, he has plenty of new pieces! The new-style joints, the feet, the blade, the mask, the blue visor, the eyes, the Matoran connection piece...awesomeness! Oh yeah, not forgetting the jets. But best of all, the Midak Skyblaster! It is fantastic! I've only tried it once, but...WOW! The za...sorry, Midaks are extremely satisfying to put in, clicking nicely into place. I wasn't expecting it at first, and daren't put too much pressure on lest I break it. Lol! Foolishness indeed! Out of all the launchers I've encountered, it's the easiest and most satisfying of them all to fire. The pressure required to launch them really makes it fun, and they fire equivilantly fast and far to reward the effort. I was quite shocked when it bounced noisily off my study door. Really was not expecting it to reach that! I'm soooooo tempted to replace some of Lewa's grey with dark green. A pity I don't have enough dark green pieces. Anyway, that's all I have to say today! Nothing but general praising of the midak skyblasters. A far cry (still need to play that game) away from my normal, painfully long entry type. I'm sure I'll manage to ressurect it by my next entry, so don't worry.
-
First, you should know that my cat is obsessed with Rhotuka. She can tell the pitch difference between a loaded launcher spinning and the spinning of an unloaded launcher. She'll even come running at Pohatu's blades, which made me loose a lot of my respect (not quite right word, but I don't know what is) for her previously mentioned talent. Next, you must understand that because of our babysitting of two year-olds (notice lack of hyphen between "two" and "year", meaning two babies), we cannot have the cat in the house. She gets let in from the entryway quite a lot by both my sister and I, accidentally of course. She also homes in on the Rhotuka in my room, which for some reason is sometimes open. Yesterday she happened to have one in the kitchen. I tried tempting her outside with just the spinner, but eventually I had to get my Rahi-catchin' cowboy. I prefer to grab a quick Rahaga to Hordika, so I got Kualus. I can't quite recall storywise which Rahaga catches Muaka, but it isn't Kualus. Still funny that he played his role in the story pretty closely.
-
Okay, I'm afraid you can only get the Prize if you live in Australia unless people not in Australia are willing to pay postage (Prize is down the bottom). You have to make a Titan MOC that has 1 mask on it's face and 3 other masks elsewhere on the MOC's body. And they all have to suit the colour scheme. You must post your entries in the Bionicle-Based Creations forum and then post a link to the topic by commenting. Prizes: 1st Prize: An Olmak that is one of these following Colours: Lime Green, Light blue, Silver, Orange, Purple or Black. 2nd prize: A Black Power Sword (Jaller Mahri's sword. There can only be 2 prizes. (Sorry) Good Luck. x-L-x
-
I'm thinking about making more system MOC's like the greats DV and Ca'gerrin who use it the heaviest... I took a look at my old MOC, and I saw a sudden flow of potential in it.... Now I must figure out how to get the colors to flow right! Also, I can't figure out what weapon to give Draxon... Any ideas?
-
Just when I was starting to get really irritated by the storyline, and by extension, Greg, I saw this: Win. If executed well. ~D
-
Just went to Zellers, got Pohatu and Photok. Orange FTW! But Photok had Gavla's instructions. Didn't matter, I built him in like, 30 seconds. I built both sets on the way home, in the dark. As soon as I got home I ripped them apart. I had to look away the moment I got inside. Their forms still burn my eyes. Lego, what the Muaka did you do to Pohatu? How much time did you spend, torturing him on the rack? Midak is win, both masks are win. Expect a ToT Nuva sometime soon. And revamps. ~D
-
What if Lego hired the animators who worked on Transformers to make a Bionicle movie? How much more awesome would it be than the last three? MoL was the best, but only if you just watch the first minute or two. ~D
-
Ah, yes, but he did the same for Karzahni. I do hope that there's a Makuta set this year. It would be rather lame to not have any Makuta show up at the final battle. ~D
-
I put in two new shelves above my bed today. Besides my bed being full of sawdust, it's nice. The old shelves were so small. With the year's canisters sets sharing one cube (14"x14"x14"), standing them all up was a pain. Whenever I needed a set, it would be the one in the back. So usually they stayed all in a pile. With these 100"x15"x14" shelves, I can fit all of 2006-2008 sets in there, with lots of room to spare. I've put 2007-8 on one shelf, just because that shelf is closer to the floor and they far outrank the 2006 sets. I've put the 2007 towards the left, with the Barraki being farthest from the head of the bed. Next to them, the Mahri, Dekar and Lesovikk form the good guy army. When they are rebuilt, Hyrdaxon and Maxilos will go between them. The Phantoka and Ignika, on the right, are all together right now. Vamprah is hanging from the bottom of the shelf by the Gali hooks, in an awesome flying pose! Pohatu and Ignika fall behind Chirox, with the skyboard nearby. Also, a new MOC. Ugly head, great arms, interesting body. Check it out please!
-
*listens to MNOG1 soundtrack* ~D
-
Okay so it's late and I had other blog entries planned and I am out of time for this week but I'm trying to keep this a weekly blog. So this will have to do. The Bones Blog brings you today a set-related proposal that just might be plausible. No, I haven't mutated into some monster beyond all recognition, if you've read the title and come in here thinking I was the guy that hates gears. I do hate gears. Personally. That's just my own personal preference. They are mildly interesting gimmicks, but the cons outweigh the pros -- that is, ruining poseability in most sets, stealing joints that otherwise could use the near-perfect balljoints that I love, being awkwardly placed in most sets, and for a lot of target-audience fans other than myself, a tedious extra construction step that slows down what to them should be a quick and easy build. I do like love to use gears as styling pieces in System Fusion MOCs, and I have just so happened to have already used up my supply and wish I had more. But none of that is related to this blog entry. This is an idea that I and another BZPer whose name frustratingly escapes me at this exact moment had come up with a while ago. I've never actually put it forward in any way other than comments in random posts. But Heir of the Chronicler's interesting Sets topic got me thinking about it again. Heir made it clear in his post that he was not advocating a return of gears. But my idea is this. Why not bring back gears in one or two canister sets each year, or even just every other year? Now that we are rid of clones, there's no reason a whole team has to have gears. Bold for easy reference, not emphasis. Here's some reasoning. Variety is good, and there are a lot of people out there that do love the gears. It's probably the most-repeated topic in the Sets forum or GD, or just something mentioned in a generalized complaint topic. If it's focused on just one or two in a team, maybe there will be enough gear fans to make up for the lost sales from the majority fans, or mostly to do so. And we've had gears in canister sets before that have obviously survived the market process. Now, maybe putting them in the heroes is a bad idea -- but there are also villains, and they've had a little more complex of builds in more recent years. Also, which color to put it in might be an issue -- for example, would it be safer to put it in red, which is probably going to sell well anyways, or a slightly poorer seller like white or black and risk those selling even more poorly -- or just the moderately well-selling colors like blue or green? But whatever the set chosen, the basic concept seems to me to be possible. I know it could be a risk -- and maybe it would be better left to titans (as I've heard claims would be done this year -- anybody know if that is true?). It's just worth thinking over, no? Any comments?
-
So I've been completing a few of my MOCs on the "To do List", with Lewa being both a suprise to me, and a big sucess. It still urks me that I have yet to come up with a proper waist or foot design that is satisfying to people. Not to metion that I need a few new shoulder designs.... I'm getting better on the legs though. I've also been thinking on posting my Spinax and Maxilos revamp, but I think I'll keep them a secret till later in the year.... On the point of long term projects, I need to finish up Draxon by next week, so I can get ER finished too for their rewards. Ballom is going to be quite the difficult piece or work, because he insists that his armor be speckled gold from the KK set. Not only that, but I have to finish my BOM Challenge entry before March. I plan on saving the bohrak for late Spring... I want it to be perfect..... As for the Bahrag, taking it down for pieces = bad idea! I've also been slowly working on the Kanohi Dragon.... don't expect him any time soon though.... February's contest should be Win from what Tuffy has been saying.... I can't wait to see what the theme is! It's also the month when I turn 15! P.S. for some reason ToM has gotten me interested in Latin!
-
Okay, so Lego's recent sets fail. This is truthiness, and for many reasons. I will attempt to list some of them here. Proportions on any set 06 onward are so hideous that I don't keep them built for more than a minute, if I even build them at all. Limb lengths are utterly off, shoulders are much wider than they should be, torso is paper-thin. Same torso parts are reused to the point where every torso is a clone of the previous one. And I thought Lego decided not to clone sets. These sets look look to me as if a 4-year-old decided to draw people. Lego, I'm sure your designers are older than that? On the subject of the Newva, why would making them similar to their 03 forms make them sell worse? Optimus Prime gets re-issued every few months, looking almost exactly the same each time, and still, he sells. Bionicle's target age range probably doesn't remember the 03 Nuva, so that shouldn't affect sales. And the older Bionicle fans, who remember them, would, I think, be more likely to buy the sets if they resembled their 03 forms more closely. And, if selling sets that resemble sets sold in 03 would make them sell worse, how much worse do you think they'd sell if they resembled the sets from just the last year? +++++++++++++ Yes, this is similar to a few of my previous entries. But I tested the rant out IRL, and it seems to work much better this way. ~D
-
When, in your opinion, did the storyline start to go downhill? ~D
-
I have a confession to make. I.. like the the Bohrok. Even though they were clones. ~D
-
Draxon, you know what it is . It uses a heavily modified version of this torso design. -K-
-
So, my Mom takes me Grocery shopping and she saysthat Winners is close to TRU, and offers to go there. I just got my allowance and I haven't thought about it, so I went there. The Bionicle aisle is practicly full, and I manage to get to the Phantoka. All the Phantoka are there, but only two Matoran. Solek and Photok. I went with buying Kopaka and Chirox, so I'm going back later for more Matoran and Vamprah. And they're pretty darn cool.
