OFFICIAL Bionicle 2015 Topic

[admiraltyphoon]

They tried making skull warrior and Kulta's face look different but they ended up making him look like Zurg from Buzz Lightyear.

 

You can't deny that his mouth/front grill (?) looks a bit like Darth Vader.

 

Ekimu, I am your father!

[Xan]

It would be interesting to see minifig scale sets that use some CCBS pieces on the buildings, like in the animations. Perhaps some more tan shells.

[Tarvaxx]

It would be interesting to see minifig scale sets that use some CCBS pieces on the buildings, like in the animations. Perhaps some more tan shells.

Psshhh, why have minifig scale when you could have constraction figure scaled?

Sure it would leave you without food for several months but... that arena is totally worth it.

[Aanchir]

 

Yeah, I noticed that. I'm wondering if maybe Kulta and crew aren't actually related to Makuta at all, and they just end up accidentally waking him in their quest for the masks. You know, sort of a "lesser baddie ends up waking the Ultimate Villain" deal.

 

Either that or he's just working for Makuta this whole time and he intentionally wakes him, but idk. I kind of like the idea of main Bionicle antagonists that aren't controlled by Makuta for a change.

Or how about "Makuta created Kulta to revive him, but Kulta isn't aware that his own motivations were engineered to achieve that"? That could maybe be an interesting plot.

 

 

Sort of like how G1 Makuta planted the location of the Mask of Life in the minds of the Piraka? I suppose that could be kind of cool.

 

The fact that he's been identified as "the mask hoarder" and the Skull Spiders and Skull Villains are stealing masks does suggest that there's some connection there. But I actually really like that it's being kept mysterious for right now.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

 

They tried making skull warrior and Kulta's face look different but they ended up making him look like Zurg from Buzz Lightyear.

 

You can't deny that his mouth/front grill (?) looks a bit like Darth Vader.

 

Ekimu, I am your father!

 

You know, Kuita being Ekimu's father would be an interesting twist in the story. It almost makes me want to see it in canon.

[Xan]

 

 

They tried making skull warrior and Kulta's face look different but they ended up making him look like Zurg from Buzz Lightyear.

 

You can't deny that his mouth/front grill (?) looks a bit like Darth Vader.

 

Ekimu, I am your father!

 

You know, Kuita being Ekimu's father would be an interesting twist in the story. It almost makes me want to see it in canon.

 

[Spiffy247]

Ekimu: "Daddy, lets go to the park!"

Kulta: "Not right now, Ekky. I am raising an army of skeletons to take over the world"

[fishers64]

 

Yeah, I noticed that. I'm wondering if maybe Kulta and crew aren't actually related to Makuta at all, and they just end up accidentally waking him in their quest for the masks. You know, sort of a "lesser baddie ends up waking the Ultimate Villain" deal.

 

Either that or he's just working for Makuta this whole time and he intentionally wakes him, but idk. I kind of like the idea of main Bionicle antagonists that aren't controlled by Makuta for a change.

Or how about "Makuta created Kulta to revive him, but Kulta isn't aware that his own motivations were engineered to achieve that"? That could maybe be an interesting plot.

 

Welcome to 2008. 

[Tarvaxx]

 

 

Yeah, I noticed that. I'm wondering if maybe Kulta and crew aren't actually related to Makuta at all, and they just end up accidentally waking him in their quest for the masks. You know, sort of a "lesser baddie ends up waking the Ultimate Villain" deal.

 

Either that or he's just working for Makuta this whole time and he intentionally wakes him, but idk. I kind of like the idea of main Bionicle antagonists that aren't controlled by Makuta for a change.

 

Or how about "Makuta created Kulta to revive him, but Kulta isn't aware that his own motivations were engineered to achieve that"? That could maybe be an interesting plot.

Welcome to 2008.

Giant Makuta robot underneath Okoto confirmed. Ekimu plans to take over his body. Skull Spiders made to "clean" Okoto.

[masterchirox580]

Actually it would be a pretty cool plot twist if Kulta was somehow related to Ekimu, it would also make sense of Kulta's intentions. 

[evil_jaga_genius]

Has anyone noticed that there are four skull villains to the six heroes?  And that Pohatu, Lewa, Kopaka and Onua get recolored (infected?) masks but Gali and Tahu don't?

 

Make of that what you will... I think that there might be a few more skeletons that we haven't seen yet.

[Aanchir]

Has anyone noticed that there are four skull villains to the six heroes?  And that Pohatu, Lewa, Kopaka and Onua get recolored (infected?) masks but Gali and Tahu don't?

 

Make of that what you will... I think that there might be a few more skeletons that we haven't seen yet.

 

Bear in mind that story-wise, there is not just one Skull Warrior, but a whole army of them. And set-wise, at this point in the year it's highly unlikely that there are any regular retail sets for the year that we don't know about. A big D2C set, perhaps, but I've never known a theme to get a big D2C set in the same year it is launched. Consider that LEGO Friends has never had a big D2C set, and LEGO Ninjago is just now getting its first, four years after its record-breaking launch.

 

If we get the other two corrupted masks at any point this year, we will probably get them more or less individually (for instance, as a polybag set like the Hero Pack), not as part of two previously unknown, full size building sets.

[masterchirox580]

 

Has anyone noticed that there are four skull villains to the six heroes?  And that Pohatu, Lewa, Kopaka and Onua get recolored (infected?) masks but Gali and Tahu don't?

 

Make of that what you will... I think that there might be a few more skeletons that we haven't seen yet.

 

Bear in mind that story-wise, there is not just one Skull Warrior, but a whole army of them. And set-wise, at this point in the year it's highly unlikely that there are any regular retail sets for the year that we don't know about. A big D2C set, perhaps, but I've never known a theme to get a big D2C set in the same year it is launched. Consider that LEGO Friends has never had a big D2C set, and LEGO Ninjago is just now getting its first, four years after its record-breaking launch.

 

If we get the other two corrupted masks at any point this year, we will probably get them more or less individually (for instance, as a polybag set like the Hero Pack), not as part of two previously unknown, full size building sets.

 

I highly doubt we're going to see them, none of the books seem to have anything of the sort with them, I think lego probably just made those masks so the skull villains could have some kind of special mask with them (I would have preferred gold versions of their own masks), maybe they'll be released as some sort of promotional thing in a year or so but even that seems doubtful. 

[Jobber]

Wouldn't an additional two sets drain the 2015 budget even further, thus giving us even poorer Skull Villians?

[Tarvaxx]

There are hypothetically six skull villain sets. LoSS, Kulta, Warrior and his duplicates, Slicer the amnesiac, Kulta's Monster Sorpio, and minotaur guy Basher.

[admiraltyphoon]

 

Has anyone noticed that there are four skull villains to the six heroes?  And that Pohatu, Lewa, Kopaka and Onua get recolored (infected?) masks but Gali and Tahu don't?

 

Make of that what you will... I think that there might be a few more skeletons that we haven't seen yet.

 

 but I've never known a theme to get a big D2C set in the same year it is launched. 

 

The Haunted house from Monster Fighters?

[Aanchir]

Wouldn't an additional two sets drain the 2015 budget even further, thus giving us even poorer Skull Villians?

 

Set design doesn't quite work that way. New elements (like new molds, recolored elements, new prints, etc) definitely do cut into a theme's budget. But how many sets there are has less to do with how much the LEGO Group can afford to produce and more to do with how much they think the market can bear. This is why themes that sell really well tend to get a larger number of sets the following year, and themes that don't sell so well tend to get fewer or none at all. The more sets sell, the more room there is for growth.

 

You're right though that the more sets you have, the lower you want the buy-in price to be. For instance, Mixels gets 27 sets a year, but these are all impulse-priced $5 sets. Pirates, on the other hand, has just five regular retail sets, but they range from $13 to $100 and add up to $183. This year, the Bionicle theme has 18 regular retail sets (six Protector sets, six Toa sets, six villain sets). They range from $10 to $30 and add up to a total value of $270. This is a step up from last year's Hero Factory range (15 sets ranging from $10 to $35, $250 total), so it's already clear that the LEGO Group believes there's a bigger market for this year's Bionicle sets than there was for last year's "Invasion from Below" sets.

 

If the theme sells well, we might see the number of sets increase next year. But it's not like the LEGO Group can't afford to add more sets without cutting down their size. They're just exercising caution to ensure that they don't end up leaving retailers with a bunch of unsold sets that make them doubt the theme's potential. Better to release fewer sets and sell more of each than release more sets and sell less of each.

 

EDIT: Good point about the Haunted House. Hadn't thought about that one. Though of course, that was basically planned as a one-wave theme, so it made sense to tie it in with the theme's only wave. Fortunately the plans for Bionicle involve it lasting longer than just this year!

Edited July 15, 2015 by Aanchir

[General Scales]

Wait, isn't Skull Slicer's blades supposed to be fused into his hands? Why are the blades missing in the video?

Edited July 15, 2015 by General Scales

[Naota Takizawa]

Wait, isn't Skull Slicer's blades supposed to be fused into his hands? Why are the blades missing in the video?

Maybe Kulta hasn't added the blades to him yet.

[emily]

 

Wait, isn't Skull Slicer's blades supposed to be fused into his hands? Why are the blades missing in the video?

Maybe Kulta hasn't added the blades to him yet.

 

They are all on his back in the trailer, actually. Turns out they weren't fused to his hands after all. If they were, he probably put on Lewa's mask to hide his tears of pain (because they sure aren't fused to his hands now).

Edited July 16, 2015 by Pereki

[T.B.O.C]

Any US sightings yet? I know the sets were available at SDCC, and I've finally seen a set or two on eBay for them. I would assume people might start finding them around the next week or so, as TRU is prone to stocking shelves early. My knowledge of that is lacking, though, I don't think I've waited for summer releases since the Glatorian Legends were released.

 

It makes me wish that TRU had a similar inventory system to Target, then it'd be easier to check around if we had codes.

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I remember getting the Glatorian Legends (though only the canister sets) as early as May 2009, but such an early release hasn't been duplicated for me so far leading me to believe that either my memory is faulty (though I very vividly remember seeing Mata Nui on a shelf during a weekend in late May and freaking out) or that shipment arrived freakishly early. At any rate, no Skull villains to speak of anywhere near me yet.

[Jobber]

It's becoming more and more evident that the Retailers have learned their lesson from the last wave.

 

No hope for accidental online releases.

[Nescent]

Just checked a bunch of online stores. There were like ten ads for Minions, but no summer Bionicle yet.

 

I haven't even seen any photos with US packaging, so I don't think there have been any sightings here. Hopefully within a week.

[General Scales]

It would be great if they came out in a weeks time, since my birthday is in a week, so one of those sets would be a pretty cool gift for myself.

[Jobber]

Just got my SDCC mask in the mail.

 

I'm marveling in the its green glory.

 

EDIT: Since I can't double-comment, the Protectors have names:

 

PoS: Nilkuu
PoJ: Vizuna
PoW: Kivodav (also a Dude)
PoI: Izotor
PoE: Korgot
PoF:Narmoto

 

Proof.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Minty Green

[NickonAquaMagna]

Wait, WHAT?!!!!

[Tristan Teridax]

Im confused, are those names fake or real?

[Jobber]

Sorry, forgot to link the proof.

[Tristan Teridax]

Idk if it's my phone but it's not linking me to anything.

[Jobber]

Idk if it's my phone but it's not linking me to anything.

Here's the hard-link: http://www.amazon.com/Island-Lost-Masks-LEGO-Bionicle/dp/0545873258/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1437078685&sr=1-6&keywords=lego&refinements=p_76%3A1250218011%2Cp_n_availability%3A2245265011%2Cp_lbr_books_series_browse-bin%3ABionicle

[Ektris]

This pleases me greatly.

 

(Although they're a little awkward, yeah..)

 

~|ET|~

Edited July 16, 2015 by Ektris

[Makaru]

Those definitely are names

[SailorQuaoar]

Please tell me the protectors aren't all male.

[believe victims]

Hoo boy, those names are going to take some getting used to.

 

Also a little disappointed they're all dudes, but, well, it was to be expected.

[General Scales]

Awesome! Nice to know that the PoE I have on my shelf is called Narmoto. lol

 

Edit: I meant Corgot.

Edited July 16, 2015 by General Scales

[Makaru]

They are very odd choices considering how much distance Lego wanted to put between the new line and the cluster that was end of the last line.

[emily]

In case it wasn't clear, these names are from a preview of the first few pages you can now read on Amazon.

 

I'm not terribly impressed, Bingzak (LOL) being all "my entire village was wiped out. I've been surviving in the jungle ever since" is already getting WAY too close to grimdark for me.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Pereki

[Lyichir]

Sigh... People clamored for names, and we end up with this.

I hope everyone's satisfied. I think I'll just continue to consider their titles as superceding their old names, because I don't think I'll ever get used to these.

[General Scales]

In case it wasn't clear, these names are from a preview of the first few pages you can now read on Amazon.

 

I'm not terribly impressed, Bingzak (LOL) being all "my entire village was wiped out. I've been surviving in the jungle ever since" is already getting WAY to close to grimdark for me.

We're already in the dark zone? Greg isn't even writing this story!

 

Well, a story line with spiders that take over your mind and zombies coming out of the ground would make it pretty dark, in my opinion.