OFFICIAL Bionicle 2015 Topic

[Toa Imrukii]

Oh my gosh, Eurico Silva is driving me CRAZY. I've spent the last hour and a half just replying to his obnoxious comments on youtube, and now I have a headache. Anyone else being badgered by this creep?

 

yup. I was at least.

 

 

 

ANYHOW, Not sure if this would go here or not but BZPower has reported on a New Lego Magazine cover/page for 2016.... And it has BIONICLE on it.... 2016 BIONICLE.....

 

 

 

 

EDIT Never mind, someone already reported on it.

 

 

-Windrider-, as it turns out, that image is not a leak - it's from the new LEGO magazine scans on LEGO.com.

 

Here it is, again:

 

 

Edited October 29, 2015 by Toa Imrukii

[Pohatu: Uniter of Stone]

People say there has been very little story, but I disagree. Everything helps contribute the story and mood of Bionicle. The first part of 2015 really put out that "New world, new heroes" feel. They've got their shiny armor, their cool color schemes and a bit of elemental energy showing in their trans parts. The Skull Spiders are a small nuisance that foreshadows us to a looming greater threat. The protectors are small, but well equipped, and the Lord of Skull Spiders is a good intro villain. We see an island that was once full of life, now overrun with pests. The main city is dead, and inhabited by the dead. We see these new heroes go on a quest to save an island slowly being taken by the ages. Next year, the same heroes have become more united with their element, and are practically bursting with it. They're no longer the noobs with shiny armor, now they've got their element under control and are ready to get the next mask from a villain that wishes to enslave the elements to his will. 

 

And I got all that from the sets.

[doodleloot]

He's... insufferable. He just won't stop until I accept his "reality" that it is NOT OKAY to like anything about G2. And yeah, it'd be easy to just call him a troll, but... no. He really does believe in every thing he says to a fanatic degree. It's crazy. Like... he's completely flooded my video reviews of the new sets and killed any discussion that could still potentially be had. His cat's face is everywhere, now.

 

 

Oh man, I remember that guy. He kept commenting on my videos back when I still had my channel, telling me I couldn't be a Bionicle fan and like Hero Factory at the same time. Your best option is probably just blocking him, he's not going to shut up, I can assure you that.

 

 

As for the 2016 catalog image:

Tahu and Ikir's "combiner" looks so cool, really love the way it looks. I can see why people are bothered by the amount of gold though, a bit more red would've probably looked better on him. Umarak on the other hand... I'm not a big fan of him. I honestly liked him more in the preliminary pictures (if I'm allowed to say that ) 

I'm not sure why they gave him a silver mask, I think a black or even a dark reddish brown one, would've worked a lot better. 

Looking forward to seeing finalized pictures of the other sets, shouldn't we be getting those soon?

Edited October 29, 2015 by doodleloot

[GSR]

Whole bunch of concept art and prototypes of the Skull Gang (among others) over on the BZP Instagram!

 

Man, I hope they release an artbook of this someday.  And it's cool to see how many other Skull concepts they came up with.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

Whole bunch of concept art and prototypes of the Skull Gang (among others) over on the BZP Instagram!

 

Man, I hope they release an artbook of this someday.  And it's cool to see how many other Skull concepts they came up with.

I've never had a legitimate reason to get an Instagram account before. Now I'm really considering it.

 

Anyways, This is some really cool artwork. The Skull Villains look great here. It makes me wish that their set forms looked more like them. 

 

I second that notion for an art book. I would buy it in a heartbeat if one was ever made.

[Infamousevil]

 

He's... insufferable. He just won't stop until I accept his "reality" that it is NOT OKAY to like anything about G2. And yeah, it'd be easy to just call him a troll, but... no. He really does believe in every thing he says to a fanatic degree. It's crazy. Like... he's completely flooded my video reviews of the new sets and killed any discussion that could still potentially be had. His cat's face is everywhere, now.

 

 

Oh man, I remember that guy. He kept commenting on my videos back when I still had my channel, telling me I couldn't be a Bionicle fan and like Hero Factory at the same time. Your best option is probably just blocking him, he's not going to shut up, I can assure you that.

 

 

As for the 2016 catalog image:

Tahu and Ikir's "combiner" looks so cool, really love the way it looks. I can see why people are bothered by the amount of gold though, a bit more red would've probably looked better on him. Umarak on the other hand... I'm not a big fan of him. I honestly liked him more in the preliminary pictures (if I'm allowed to say that ) 

I'm not sure why they gave him a silver mask, I think a black or even a dark reddish brown one, would've worked a lot better. 

Looking forward to seeing finalized pictures of the other sets, shouldn't we be getting those soon?

 

Yeah the dude is unpleasent, but his cat is cute. I like cats. Also Pit-Bulls, because my uncle's Pit-Bull Rosie is a giant sweet baby.

[emily]

Auuugh that concept art is messing me up. Especially the first Skull Army pic. Voodoo Brothers? Giant guy with a freaking literal Voodoo head as his giant hammer's head? These are, like, the greatest things I could have hoped to ask for from BIONICLE. I get that there are reasons and I'm okay with that, but I'm still legit so sad that they couldn't survive development. It's nice to know that I was spot on in picking up VooDoo Heads influence in the summer wave designs, though.

 

His name is Skultakal. Come on

 

EDIT: Oh, no, it's actually Kulta Kal. Less of a wonderfully dumb combination of "skull" and "critical" but possibly even more interesting.

Edited October 31, 2015 by Pereki

[Votuko]

A question about the Quest for the Masks Activity Book: Does anyone know its actual release date?

 

Because on Amazon UK, it is listed twice, one listing showing the cover art with a release date of the 25th of November and the other without cover art giving a release date of the 5th. And although the listing with cover art seems like the more up-to-date one, both listings recently became available to preorder.

[Daler99]

Doesn't that say Skulta Kal?  I love the names, but I am still perfectly happy with our Summer Wave.  Did they mention it anywhere that these were 2015 concepts?  What if they're 2016 or 2017 concepts.

[Lenny7092]

Whole bunch of concept art and prototypes of the Skull Gang (among others) over on the BZP Instagram!

 

Man, I hope they release an artbook of this someday. And it's cool to see how many other Skull concepts they came up with.

I agree with you all the way. These new images of concept art for the Skull Villain on the BZP are awesome! I also love the idea of having them combined into one bug guy! I wish these would have been applied to the sets, but it's too bad they were never used for some reason.

Anyway, they look like a mix of the Skull Villains and some villains from Hero Factory.

[Aanchir]

Doesn't that say Skulta Kal? I love the names, but I am still perfectly happy with our Summer Wave. Did they mention it anywhere that these were 2015 concepts? What if they're 2016 or 2017 concepts.

They're 2015 concepts. It was made quite clear in the presentation. We weren't permitted to take pictures of anything pertaining to the future.

 

That's not to say LEGO can't revisit some of these unused concepts at a later date if they fit a future year better than they did this year, though. But chances are the final product would end up looking much different anyway.

 

Of the unused concepts, the "Battle Bat" is the one that I most regret not making it into a finished product, just because the one flying team member the Toa had gave them a decisive advantage over several of the enemies they faced. A flying enemy would have helped even the odds.

 

The "Voodoo Bros" would have been an interesting and unique enemy too, but probably not fearsome enough to measure up to the enemies we actually ended up getting.

 

It's a shame Skull Scorpio couldn't have been bumped up to the $20 price point, seeing that the sketch model had snapping claws as well as a snapping tail! But it's also worth noting that the tail didn't change much from the sketch model, so I guess people's disappointment with it wasn't a consequence of price reductions. As far as play is concerned, it probably makes more sense to have just one battle function anyway. Otherwise you'd have to operate the claws with one hand and the tail with another.

 

TBH I actually prefer the final versions of Skull Basher and Skull Grinder to the prototypes. The giant claws seem a bit overwrought to me, and I like Basher's axes a lot better both in terms of visuals and play value.

[McNugget]

#BionicleMaskMaker contest is finished! 

 

Also, I got Skull Scorpio yesterday and built it before heading to Brickfair.

All the Exposed Technic, Really isn't all that bad in person. So if any of you are still hesitating on Scorpio because of how he looks in Pictures, He looks a lot Better(and a bit bigger) In Person.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Dark_Samus

[Nescent]

Now that the #BionicleMaskMaker is over, I'm going to re-assemble all my 2015 sets. But before I do, enjoy this picture of all the beautiful 2015 parts in heaps.

 

Fingers crossed I didn't lose any parts...

[NickonAquaMagna]

Now that the #BionicleMaskMaker is over, I'm going to re-assemble all my 2015 sets. But before I do, enjoy this picture of all the beautiful 2015 parts in heaps.

 

Fingers crossed I didn't lose any parts...

 

There's always one...

[McNugget]

Now that the #BionicleMaskMaker is over, I'm going to re-assemble all my 2015 sets. But before I do, enjoy this picture of all the beautiful 2015 parts in heaps.

 

Fingers crossed I didn't lose any parts...

Hey, just be glad they came with all their parts in the first place. My Pohatu was missing one of the small gears.

[Nescent]

Now that the #BionicleMaskMaker is over, I'm going to re-assemble all my 2015 sets. But before I do, enjoy this picture of all the beautiful 2015 parts in heaps.

 

Fingers crossed I didn't lose any parts...

There's always one...

Right you are - the Protector of Fire is missing a Y-joint. That brings my total 2015 missing pieces count up to 3...At least they are all from the PoF.  

[Daler99]

 

Now that the #BionicleMaskMaker is over, I'm going to re-assemble all my 2015 sets. But before I do, enjoy this picture of all the beautiful 2015 parts in heaps.

 

Fingers crossed I didn't lose any parts...

There's always one...

Right you are - the Protector of Fire is missing a Y-joint. That brings my total 2015 missing pieces count up to 3...At least they are all from the PoF.

 

Looking at that awesome picture of yours, I just realized how many masks we got this year.  8 Protector Masks, 19 Toa Masks, 15 Skull Spider Masks, 3 Bull Skull Masks, 3 Skull Masks, and 1 Mask of Creation.  That's a total of 49 MASKS.

 

If I miscalculated (I'm using promos like Hero Pack, Villain Pack, Exclusive Tahu Mask. Exclusive Gali Mask, Exclusive Skull Scorpio Mask, and Activity Book), please correct me.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Daler99

[Nescent]

Looking at that awesome picture of yours, I just realized how many masks we got this year.  8 Protector Masks, 19 Toa Masks, 15 Skull Spider Masks, 3 Bull Skull Masks, 3 Skull Masks, and 1 Mask of Creation.  That's a total of 49 MASKS.

 

If I miscalculated (I'm using promos like Hero Pack, Villain Pack, Exclusive Tahu Mask. Exclusive Gali Mask, Exclusive Skull Scorpio Mask, and Activity Book), please correct me.

 

That sounds about right. The Skull Spiders add a lot to that number, but even if you exclude all the duplicates, 31 different molds/colors is still a decent lot of masks.

[Aanchir]

 

 

Now that the #BionicleMaskMaker is over, I'm going to re-assemble all my 2015 sets. But before I do, enjoy this picture of all the beautiful 2015 parts in heaps.

 

Fingers crossed I didn't lose any parts...

There's always one...

Right you are - the Protector of Fire is missing a Y-joint. That brings my total 2015 missing pieces count up to 3...At least they are all from the PoF.

 

Looking at that awesome picture of yours, I just realized how many masks we got this year.  8 Protector Masks, 19 Toa Masks, 15 Skull Spider Masks, 3 Bull Skull Masks, 3 Skull Masks, and 1 Mask of Creation.  That's a total of 49 MASKS.

 

If I miscalculated (I'm using promos like Hero Pack, Villain Pack, Exclusive Tahu Mask. Exclusive Gali Mask, Exclusive Skull Scorpio Mask, and Activity Book), please correct me.

 

Are you talking about the number of UNIQUE masks? Because in that case, there are only two bull skull masks (Skull Scorpio and Skull Basher use the exact same color), 7 Protector masks, and 4 Skull Spider masks. That makes 19 Toa masks, and thus 36 masks total. Which is still pretty impressive!

 

If you include identical masks from different sets, you'd have 18 masks from the Toa sets, 12 from the Protector sets, 12 from the villain sets, 3 as event exclusives, 3 from polybags, and 1 from the activity book. So your total of 49 would be correct. Arguably you could bump it up to 50 since there were two separate releases for the transparent Tahu mask (one for regular NYCC guests and one for the special VIP event).

 

And if you just count unique molds, there are 11 total, so one fewer than the number of masks back in 2001 when Bionicle first launched (two fewer if you count the Vahi, which was made for a 2001 release but not actually released until 2002).

Edited November 4, 2015 by Aanchir

[Daler99]

 

Looking at that awesome picture of yours, I just realized how many masks we got this year.  8 Protector Masks, 19 Toa Masks, 15 Skull Spider Masks, 3 Bull Skull Masks, 3 Skull Masks, and 1 Mask of Creation.  That's a total of 49 MASKS.

 

If I miscalculated (I'm using promos like Hero Pack, Villain Pack, Exclusive Tahu Mask. Exclusive Gali Mask, Exclusive Skull Scorpio Mask, and Activity Book), please correct me.

 

That sounds about right. The Skull Spiders add a lot to that number, but even if you exclude all the duplicates, 31 different molds/colors is still a decent lot of masks.

 

Yeah, the Skull Spiders do at a LOT.

 

 

 

 

 

Now that the #BionicleMaskMaker is over, I'm going to re-assemble all my 2015 sets. But before I do, enjoy this picture of all the beautiful 2015 parts in heaps.

 

Fingers crossed I didn't lose any parts...

There's always one...

Right you are - the Protector of Fire is missing a Y-joint. That brings my total 2015 missing pieces count up to 3...At least they are all from the PoF.

 

Looking at that awesome picture of yours, I just realized how many masks we got this year.  8 Protector Masks, 19 Toa Masks, 15 Skull Spider Masks, 3 Bull Skull Masks, 3 Skull Masks, and 1 Mask of Creation.  That's a total of 49 MASKS.

 

If I miscalculated (I'm using promos like Hero Pack, Villain Pack, Exclusive Tahu Mask. Exclusive Gali Mask, Exclusive Skull Scorpio Mask, and Activity Book), please correct me.

 

Are you talking about the number of UNIQUE masks? Because in that case, there are only two bull skull masks (Skull Scorpio and Skull Basher use the exact same color), 7 Protector masks, and 4 Skull Spider masks. That makes 19 Toa masks, and thus 36 masks total. Which is still pretty impressive!

 

If you include identical masks from different sets, you'd have 18 masks from the Toa sets, 12 from the Protector sets, 12 from the villain sets, 3 as event exclusives, 3 from polybags, and 1 from the activity book. So your total of 49 would be correct. Arguably you could bump it up to 50 since there were two separate releases for the transparent Tahu mask (one for regular NYCC guests and one for the special VIP event).

 

And if you just count unique molds, there are 11 total, so one fewer than the number of masks back in 2001 when Bionicle first launched (two fewer if you count the Vahi, which was made for a 2001 release but not actually released until 2002).

 

I'm talking about masks total, not unique masks.  For example, I'm counting both Ekimu's Golden Mask from MMvSG and the same mask from the Activity Book.  I forgot about the two transparent Masks of Fire thing.

[emily]

Kopaka gets owned

[Toa Smoke Monster]

Kopaka gets owned

I never thought I'd see Kopaka get outdone by a pickup truck.   

 

Well, at least he didn't slip.  

[Daler99]

Kopaka gets owned

When Kopaka says "I need to get one of those," it could be a hint of the custom Technic torsos in 2016! (Or it could mean that Kopaka gets one of those trucks and drives it around in 2016. )

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

 

Kopaka gets owned

When Kopaka says "I need to get one of those," it could be a hint of the custom Technic torsos in 2016! (Or it could mean that Kopaka gets one of those trucks and drives it around in 2016. )

 

 

"If you had gotten real horsepower like these, this would have taken no time!"

[Blastcage]

But is it an 8-cylinder engine?

Edited November 5, 2015 by Mr. America

[Crunchyn]

Not sure if these have been seen before, but I know that DUM!DUM! was the studio that did the animation for the 2015 animations. However, came across this while browsing Artstation, I guess Artwoork Studios was the visual development studio that did the style/backgrounds for the shorts. The link shows a bunch of the environments without the characters as well as some awesome color scripts.

 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/q0P6a

[Toa Smoke Monster]

Not sure if these have been seen before, but I know that DUM!DUM! was the studio that did the animation for the 2015 animations. However, came across this while browsing Artstation, I guess Artwoork Studios was the visual development studio that did the style/backgrounds for the shorts. The link shows a bunch of the environments without the characters as well as some awesome color scripts.

 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/q0P6a

That is a lot of cool artwork. I don't think I've seen the Kopaka one at the beginning before, or the artwork of Ekimu and Makuta at the bottom of the page. 

 

These are a really great find!

[Aanchir]

Not sure if these have been seen before, but I know that DUM!DUM! was the studio that did the animation for the 2015 animations. However, came across this while browsing Artstation, I guess Artwoork Studios was the visual development studio that did the style/backgrounds for the shorts. The link shows a bunch of the environments without the characters as well as some awesome color scripts.

 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/q0P6a

Reported to the front page! Amazing find! I love these backdrops, and this is our first time seeing many of them without any Toa, villagers, or Skull Spiders obstructing the view. They truly do a lot to make Okoto feel like a diverse and mysterious world. I hope some of this design language makes it into the Netflix series next year. The teaser image we've gotten would seem to indicate that it does.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Aanchir

[McNugget]

Month of Earth!

[Toa Smoke Monster]

Month of Earth!

I like the pose that Onua has here. It makes him look really cool, especially with his purple and black color scheme.

[Shadow Destroyer]

 

Month of Earth!

I like the pose that Onua has here. It makes him look really cool, especially with his purple and black color scheme.

 

Yeah, this has to be my favorite artwork so far. Onua looks downright epic.

[Lenny7092]

 

 

 

 

Month of Earth!

I like the pose that Onua has here. It makes him look really cool, especially with his purple and black color scheme.

Yeah, this has to be my favorite artwork so far. Onua looks downright epic.

I agree all the way, dudes! These are epic pictures! I love the background, and Onua's pose and purple energy flowing through him. He looks amazing! It's great to see more of the Region of Earth because of its vastness.

 

All we have left is Kopaka (probably December) and Gali (if that could happen).

[Shadow Destroyer]

 

 

 

Month of Earth!

I like the pose that Onua has here. It makes him look really cool, especially with his purple and black color scheme.

Yeah, this has to be my favorite artwork so far. Onua looks downright epic.

I agree all the way, dudes! These are epic pictures! I love the background, and Onua's pose and purple energy flowing through him. He looks amazing! It's great to see more of the Region of Earth because of its vastness.

 

All we have left is Kopaka (probably December) and Gali (if that could happen).

 

Yeah, maybe Gali as January? Then the new sets from that point forward?

[Lenny7092]

 

 

 

 

 

Month of Earth!

I like the pose that Onua has here. It makes him look really cool, especially with his purple and black color scheme.

Yeah, this has to be my favorite artwork so far. Onua looks downright epic.

I agree all the way, dudes! These are epic pictures! I love the background, and Onua's pose and purple energy flowing through him. He looks amazing! It's great to see more of the Region of Earth because of its vastness.

 

All we have left is Kopaka (probably December) and Gali (if that could happen).

Yeah, maybe Gali as January? Then the new sets from that point forward?

Well, a year has 12 months, so that could be possible. I am not sure, really. Hmm...

[Nescent]

If they make a new painting for Gali then great, but otherwise I'd rather see 2016 content on Facebook in January. Maybe we will get months for the villains in the second half of the year! I would have loved some Skull Villain paintings.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

So I build Skull Scorpio tonight. Which is sad because I got the set a couple months ago, and only decided now to finally build it. 

 

As for the set itself, I really like the build and function of its tail. I didn't think that a 2015 Bionicle set would have a better function than the Lord of Skull Spider's leg function, but I think that Skull Scorpio's function is actually cooler. Plus its has some cool claws too, which makes me like the set even more.

 

I do think it has couple flaws though. While the build of its body is good, it is a shame that its legs don't move. Plus, I do think it could've used a couple more lime green pieces on its tail. But still I like the set and don't regret getting it.

 

Now I just need to build my Skull Warrior set.

[Aanchir]

So I build Skull Scorpio tonight. Which is sad because I got the set a couple months ago, and only decided now to finally build it. 

 

As for the set itself, I really like the build and function of its tail. I didn't think that a 2015 Bionicle set would have a better function than the Lord of Skull Spider's leg function, but I think that Skull Scorpio's function is actually cooler. Plus its has some cool claws too, which makes me like the set even more.

 

I do think it has couple flaws though. While the build of its body is good, it is a shame that its legs don't move. Plus, I do think it could've used a couple more lime green pieces on its tail. But still I like the set and don't regret getting it.

 

Now I just need to build my Skull Warrior set.

Fun fact — an earlier sketch model of Skull Scorpio had a snapping function for the claws on its arms as well as the claw on its tail. Posable legs, too. But it had to be reduced in size a lot to meet the $15 price point. Kind of makes me wish that it could have been a $20 set.

 

But of course, there are other reasons besides price point why having a single function might be better from a play perspective (unless you can manage to link the functions to a single trigger point). And while articulated legs would have been good, though I think one point of articulation per leg (like the Nui-Jaga) would have been sufficient. Much more than that on a six-legged creature and it can become something of a chore to pose.

[Wazdakka]

 

Whole bunch of concept art and prototypes of the Skull Gang (among others) over on the BZP Instagram!

 

Man, I hope they release an artbook of this someday.  And it's cool to see how many other Skull concepts they came up with.

I've never had a legitimate reason to get an Instagram account before. Now I'm really considering it.

 

Anyways, This is some really cool artwork. The Skull Villains look great here. It makes me wish that their set forms looked more like them. 

 

I second that notion for an art book. I would buy it in a heartbeat if one was ever made.

 

 

I don't remember any toylines ever getting artbooks...

 

Maybe Transformers?

 

I see it as exceedingly unlikely. 

[Aanchir]

 

 

Whole bunch of concept art and prototypes of the Skull Gang (among others) over on the BZP Instagram!

 

Man, I hope they release an artbook of this someday.  And it's cool to see how many other Skull concepts they came up with.

I've never had a legitimate reason to get an Instagram account before. Now I'm really considering it.

 

Anyways, This is some really cool artwork. The Skull Villains look great here. It makes me wish that their set forms looked more like them. 

 

I second that notion for an art book. I would buy it in a heartbeat if one was ever made.

 

 

I don't remember any toylines ever getting artbooks...

 

Maybe Transformers?

 

I see it as exceedingly unlikely. 

 

 

Transformers has apparently had several art books: one of the toy packaging, one of the video game Fall of Cybertron, one of the TV series Transformers Prime, etc. This year My Little Pony got an art book of the generation four series and characters, and next month it's getting one of the generation four comic book series. There's also been an art book for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, so it's not just a Hasbro thing.

 

Most of these art books are media-focused (besides the toy packaging one I mentioned at the beginning), but of course, these are media-driven franchises we're talking about, and the same goes for Bionicle. I think Bionicle is a prime candidate for an art book if the LEGO Group ever wanted to get into that sort of thing.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Aanchir

[Wazdakka]

Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming up, are there any good deals on Bionicles?