Official Rare & Promotional Collectibles Topic

[Roger C-T]

On 8/7/2024 at 6:37 PM, TERIDAX941 said:

Hey y'all I need some help.

I'm looking to purchase these two masks off of a guy and I want to make sure they're legit.

I've gone ahead and asked him for a photo of them together with today's date to confirm he indeed has them, and I requested a better photo of the inside so I can try and spot the official lego etching on the inside. Is there any other way to confirm these aren't just replicas?

Thanks!

There's a guy on Maskposting who's ripped off a bunch of people and I feel like these pictures are familiar. I'm currently in a Paypal claim with him. Matthew Fitzsimmons.

[TERIDAX941]

4 minutes ago, Roger C-T said:

There's a guy on Maskposting who's ripped off a bunch of people and I feel like these pictures are familiar. I'm currently in a Paypal claim with him. Matthew Fitzsimmons.

Yep that's his name. I'm so glad I didn't follow my first impulse and buy them, he's trying to sell them for really cheap (relatively speaking) and he's has a whole "need money fast so I'm okay with haggling as long as you pay quickly". He hasn't responded to my request for proof he has the masks or if they're legit.

Thank you!

[Turaga onewa]

I have seen that red rau last year on Facebook.

[Toa Matia]

On 2/2/2024 at 8:54 PM, Turaga onewa said:

https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/79777167-lego-bionicle-exclusive-gali-mask-2015-lego-inside-tour-bionicle-event

looks like a Exclusive Gali mask

well i’m gonna cry, i’ve been trying to get one of these!!i i gotta ask, anyone here have one for sale??

[MjolnirThunder]

Posting for the sake of posterity/record-keeping/bragging/etc;

The brown Komau recently sold on Bricklink went to me.

 

Compared to some other brown masks:

 

Compared to another Komau (front):

 

Rear comparison:

[Turaga onewa]

From Bionicle world?

[Turaga of Force]

OP post mentions trans blue Ruru as prototypes. Is this a typo, since trans blue Ruru are included in Nui-Rama, or is it referring to the prototype Ruru mold (code outside) existing in trans blue?

 

A few things to add:

It is widely believed that the copper Huna's continent of origin can be determined by whether it is opaque or translucent, but this is likely false, and no one talks about the opaque or translucent Komau variants. I am 100% sure that the Komau also exists in both opaque and translucent copper, as someone who owns both versions of the copper Komau showed me a side by side picture. Since the Komau was only available in Europe and came in both types of copper, it is reasonable to assume that the Huna also came in both opaque and translucent in Europe, but that is just an assumption. I will see if I can find and post the Komau pic.

OP also mentions a yellow Ruru with inside code surfacing recently, as if it is newly discovered. This is nothing new, it has been known for probably around 20 years that the yellow Ruru comes in both the code outside and code inside versions. If I recall correctly - and I may be mistaken here - one version was from prototype Sand Tarakava and other was supposedly from prototype Manas, to the best of my memory. I believe that back in the day there were three yellow Ruru known to exist, I don't remember if it was two code inside and one code outside or the other way around, but I assume it was 2 of the Manas version and 1 of the Sand Tarakava version. Also, recently (last year I believe) Christian Faber posted a video showing a bunch of prototypes from ~2000 on his Youtube. This video included a Tohunga with a yellow Ruru. At this point it seems that there were probably a lot more yellow Ruru in existence than the originally known 3, with the one recently shown by Christian and the one recently posted by Owl.

Legoland brick built Hau: I recently saw a mention somewhere (maybe this thread?) wondering about these. I believe the poster was wondering if they indeed exist in the three colors. I have seen a picture of all three colors (green, red, blue) in sealed bags so they definitely do exist, I'll see if I can find and post the pic at some point.

Tanoka in OP post says it was given out at Legoland. Not sure if that is true or not but what I do know is that a friend of mine got Tanoka in pick a brick at Legoland Billund. I assume the 'given out' is mistaken info and they were only in pick a brick but that is just a guess.

Gold Kaukau comes in regular opaque gold and translucent gold, both were found in 2002 Krana packs. I dont think this is mentioned in the OP post. Presumably Lego changed their mind part way through production. Neither version is too rare but opaque is more common than translucent. Guessing translucent is 15-30 dollars value. Not sure if this applies to silver too or just gold but another user did post a slightly translucent silver Kaukau in this thread. Could just be an off batch, or an intentional change as was made with the gold Kaukau. If anyone happens to have a translucent silver Kaukau they would be willing to part with  please PM me.

I have a gallery of prototypes on my BrickShelf. None of the pics are mine and I cannot guarantee any are genuine but they do show that the code-inside yellow Ruru was known in 2006 (date I put pic up), yellow Huna was also known back then even though many people think it first surfaced recently. Also are blue Rau, orange Hau, red Huna but the pics are low quality, especially the blue Rau, so they could be painted masks or even computer edits, but I am mentioning them just in case they are real. https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=200404&n=0

Given how long ago this was, I do not remember where I found most of the pics. Again, none of the pics in that folder are mine. Maybe it wasn't ideal of me to upload other people's pics without credit or permission but I was a kid at the time and thought nothing of it, and now I think the gallery is far too valuable to the community to take it down.

I also have a little info on misprints and Kaukau variants here, but I think the Kaukau bubble cheeks info is wrong (that it came in more than just trans light blue): https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=582553

As for the "are they really misprints" discussion that has taken place: My assumption and understanding is there was miscommunication between the story or design team and the production team, leading the production team to believe the Ruru and Matatu were to be produced in Toa colors rather than Turaga colors, as evidenced by the old BZP article (screenshot in my BrickShelf misprints folder). Kaukau was probably a separate reason - change of mind on Kopaka and Pohatu colors but that is just a guess, unlike the Ruru/Matatu theory that is backed up by a Lego source (as per the BZP article).

Edit: Upon looking at my gallery again and seeing that the blue Rau, orange Hau, and red Huna are low res .gifs, I assume they are computer edits/fakes, so I would be inclined to assume those masks do not exist. Again, I don't remember where I found the pics, but at the time I uploaded them, it was with the (likely naive) understanding that they were or may be real.

Edit again: Those 3 pictures (red Huna, orange Hau, blue Rau) are all on BrickLink. Doesn't necessarily mean they are real. Who knows.

Edited September 13, 2024 by Turaga of Force

[Turaga onewa]

That yellow huna is real. It was from one of the people who purchased it from bricklink. You are right about the yellow rurus, they have existed for some time and many people do not do their research and find out about these things a lot later. Examples include turaga whenua's drill staff in brown, the turaga sets originally having blue and teal jaw pieces and there are many more that I am sure to have missed, but  they are hidden in the Lego site. The red huna does exist, a serious collector bought it with the blue matatu, they exist from the binkmeister bag. I believe that the blue rau and the orange hau are pictures taken with low resolution and blurred their real colors.

[Turaga of Force]

40 minutes ago, Turaga onewa said:

That yellow huna is real. It was from one of the people who purchased it from bricklink. You are right about the yellow rurus, they have existed for some time and many people do not do their research and find out about these things a lot later. Examples include turaga whenua's drill staff in brown, the turaga sets originally having blue and teal jaw pieces and there are many more that I am sure to have missed, but  they are hidden in the Lego site. The red huna does exist, a serious collector bought it with the blue matatu, they exist from the binkmeister bag. I believe that the blue rau and the orange hau are pictures taken with low resolution and blurred their real colors.

The red Huna you refer to is dark red, and yes that one exists. The one I am unsure of is regular red Huna.

As for yellow Huna, the one in my BrickShelf was uploaded in 2006 or 2007, whereas the guy with 11 turned up within the last few years  so it is highly unlikely to be one of those 11 but I am curious if it is the prototype mold like the 11 or if it is the final mold.

 

What do you mean by "blue and teal jaw pieces"?

Edited September 13, 2024 by Turaga of Force

[Turaga onewa]

The person who owned that yellow huna took more pictures than that, one showing the backside. The red huna is probably just an orange huna with bad lighting and as for those jaw pieces, I made a mistake, they are from a prototype of 8549, but they do not show up on the website.

[Turaga onewa]

https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=207307

This is the full view of that mask.

[Toa Matia]

I’m inclined to believe the Mata red Huna and the orange Hau are legit, or at least are the colors they appear to be, since I think the lighting would have to be significantly abnormal and/or photoshopped for orange to look so drastically different that it almost perfectly matches the known color of Mata red and vice versa. 

Also I’m pretty sure there was an orange Hau in Christian Faber’s video laying in the background of the early Toa prototypes

 

(plus I just want to believe cuz I want it to be real haha)

Edited September 13, 2024 by Toa Matia

[Turaga onewa]

https://www.toysperiod.com/img/cache/71/800x600/d4e4o5g414p4n5x5m444x2u2a4y2q2w214i4w5d41433v234t20314x2.jpghttps://www.toysperiod.com/img/cache/71/800x600/d4e4o5g414p4n5x5m444x2u2a4y2q2w214i4w5d41433v234t20314x2.jpg

prototype 8549.

[Toa Matia]

man I’ve really needed one of these resin casters to make those Onua claws in red and yellow for the Nui-Rama protos, now I’m adding teal to the wishlist lol

[Turaga onewa]

Yeah, but what about grey?

[Toa Matia]

for the sand tarakava you mean? eh i built one and i kinda prefer the white since it blends in with the official two better imo

[Toa Matia]

also, idk if this is a hot take or not, but I had a yellow Ruru made for my sand Tarakava and I think I might actually prefer the orange Ruru since it matches the side “arm” panels

[Turaga onewa]

I wish someone would create the lewa axes in red  like in Faber's video.

[Toa Matia]

mmhmm that too

[Letagi]

Trans-blue Ruru: refers to a codes-outside variant.

Copper Huna: That's true, the translucency is not totally determinative of place of origin. But I think it is accurate to say that opaque is more common in Europe and translucent is more common in the US.

Copper Komau: I've heard speculation that there might be two variants but have never seen proof, so if you have a picture I'd be interested in seeing it!

Legoland brick-built Hau: Yes, these came in red, blue and green. One of each sold on BrickLink a few years ago for a couple hundred euros apiece. I'll add them to the post when I do my next batch of edits (which is overdue).

Gold Kaukau: There is a fair bit of normal variability in the gold 2001 Kanohi, so I'm not totally convinced that the translucent gold Kaukau was intentional. I will still add it since there is some interest in that piece.

Yellow Huna: one was owned by fifi2004 since at least 2006, and 11 more were found a few years ago. All 12 are the prototype version.

Red Huna: not sure about this one; I'm pretty sure there were none in the Binkmeister bag. The dark red Huna has been known since the mid-2000s, but there were none of those in the Binkmeister bag either - just a handful of the dark blue Matatu, which was originally discovered alongside the dark red Huna.

Euro misprints: thanks for the screenshot of Rich's post, I've never seen that before. I'll add the info to the first post.

[Turaga of Force]

4 hours ago, Turaga onewa said:

https://www.toysperiod.com/img/cache/71/800x600/d4e4o5g414p4n5x5m444x2u2a4y2q2w214i4w5d41433v234t20314x2.jpghttps://www.toysperiod.com/img/cache/71/800x600/d4e4o5g414p4n5x5m444x2u2a4y2q2w214i4w5d41433v234t20314x2.jpg

prototype 8549.

Link doesnt work for me

Edit: Fixed link https://www.toysperiod.com/img/cache/71/800x600/d4e4o5g414p4n5x5m444x2u2a4y2q2w214i4w5d41433v234t20314x2.jpg

3 hours ago, Letagi said:

Trans-blue Ruru: refers to a codes-outside variant.

Copper Huna: That's true, the translucency is not totally determinative of place of origin. But I think it is accurate to say that opaque is more common in Europe and translucent is more common in the US.

Copper Komau: I've heard speculation that there might be two variants but have never seen proof, so if you have a picture I'd be interested in seeing it!

Legoland brick-built Hau: Yes, these came in red, blue and green. One of each sold on BrickLink a few years ago for a couple hundred euros apiece. I'll add them to the post when I do my next batch of edits (which is overdue).

Gold Kaukau: There is a fair bit of normal variability in the gold 2001 Kanohi, so I'm not totally convinced that the translucent gold Kaukau was intentional. I will still add it since there is some interest in that piece.

Yellow Huna: one was owned by fifi2004 since at least 2006, and 11 more were found a few years ago. All 12 are the prototype version.

Red Huna: not sure about this one; I'm pretty sure there were none in the Binkmeister bag. The dark red Huna has been known since the mid-2000s, but there were none of those in the Binkmeister bag either - just a handful of the dark blue Matatu, which was originally discovered alongside the dark red Huna.

Euro misprints: thanks for the screenshot of Rich's post, I've never seen that before. I'll add the info to the first post.

 

I was able to find the thumbnails of the copper Komau comparison pics in an internet archive:

https://archived.moe/files/toy/thumb/1597/41/1597412835838s.jpg

https://archived.moe/files/toy/thumb/1597/41/1597413346347s.jpg

Only the thumbnails are saved in that archive, but I am pretty sure I have the full resolutions of these pics saved somewhere offline, I will post them when I find them. They are not my pics, not my masks.

As for the gold Kaukau, there are definitely two very distinct versions. I saw a picture of maybe 30 or so gold Kaukau together (I think it was Mask Collector's pic maybe? don't remember for sure) and it is very clearcut whether a given Kaukau was the opaque or translucent version. And considering it was only the Kaukau (which so happens to be the one that actually makes sense to be translucent), it would be a pretty weird coincidence if the Kaukau specifically was just sometimes more translucent due to unintentional batch variations. So I am pretty confident that the Kaukau was intentionally made in a more translucent version.

Yellow Huna: Are you sure fifi had one? I know he had a yellow Ruru and white Huna but this is the first I have heard of him having a yellow Huna. I thought the yellow Huna was just the one from many years ago (name was KayTee or something like that? it wasn't fifi. Turaga Onewa linked gallery above and I believe gallery is also linked in OP) and then that bunch of 10 or 11 that showed up a few years ago. (the number 11 is getting thrown around and I previously said 11 but I think it was actually just 10, and the number 11 comes from that 10 + the one from long ago)

As long as we're discussing all this: Does anyone know any more about white Huna origins? I am well aware of the variety pack that included white Huna and brown Komau, but has there been any other known source of the white Huna? (besides bulk lots of unknown origin)

 

Edit: More definitive info on yellow Ruru https://web.archive.org/web/20031207103845/http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3158595926 

Edited September 13, 2024 by Turaga of Force

[Turaga onewa]

White huna prototype form or non prototype form

[David Skyroller]

4 hours ago, Turaga of Force said:

Edit: More definitive info on yellow Ruru https://web.archive.org/web/20031207103845/http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3158595926 

So this is actually really interesting. He mentions the mold number 01, so that verifies it was made from one of the production molds, not a prototype mold. Mold 01 had 4x cavities, not 2x, so there were at least 4x yellow Rurus made without codes on the front. If someone finds a fifth yellow ruru (or two of them with matching cavity numbers), that would imply that there were at least 8x of them made.

[Turaga onewa]

How'd you find that link?

[MjolnirThunder]

On 9/3/2024 at 8:05 PM, Turaga onewa said:

From Bionicle world?

VP-BNCL-Shop. Dunno if they're the same person you're referring to.

[Turaga onewa]

No different. I guess  they both sold brown komaus and other rares at a similar interval.

[NateMakesMOCs]

9 hours ago, Turaga of Force said:

Yellow Huna: Are you sure fifi had one? I know he had a yellow Ruru and white Huna but this is the first I have heard of him having a yellow Huna. I thought the yellow Huna was just the one from many years ago (name was KayTee or something like that? it wasn't fifi. Turaga Onewa linked gallery above and I believe gallery is also linked in OP) and then that bunch of 10 or 11 that showed up a few years ago. (the number 11 is getting thrown around and I previously said 11 but I think it was actually just 10, and the number 11 comes from that 10 + the one from long ago)

I believe it was the user KayTee that had it, so you are correct. I can speak from a first hand account (having gotten one myself from the seller) that there were 10 for sale from the Bricklink store run by BGP, who happened to also post on BZPower asking about the Yellow Hunas they had acquired before listing them. You can see the 10 listed in the images BGP took of them along with other items they acquired from that lot in/near Denmark, including known Galidor prototypes they had for sale in their store, and known 2001 Matoran prototype heads, arms, and feet. The 10 listed by BGP are the prototype style mold, as noted by ShadowOnua when they compared one against a prototype Orange Huna that they owned (see the brickshelf gallery shared in their post) and a regular Orange Huna. So yeah, you are correct about there only being 11 out there, 10 from BGP and the one KayTee acquired.

On 9/12/2024 at 7:26 PM, Turaga of Force said:

Tanoka in OP post says it was given out at Legoland. Not sure if that is true or not but what I do know is that a friend of mine got Tanoka in pick a brick at Legoland Billund. I assume the 'given out' is mistaken info and they were only in pick a brick but that is just a guess.

I was not aware that the main post of this said otherwise, but I've heard the Pick a Brick story from others too (don't have any links to corroborate this, sorry). Seems the Tanoka and Black Kanoka both were Pick a Brick items in Billund for a time.

On 9/12/2024 at 7:26 PM, Turaga of Force said:

I also have a little info on misprints and Kaukau variants here, but I think the Kaukau bubble cheeks info is wrong (that it came in more than just trans light blue): https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=582553

Yeah I think this is just over site due to more recent developments. Letagi is one person who has a life, they can't be chained to a desk updating this topic every time some new weird fact about odd collectibles comes up. I have a two Translucent Dark Blue Kaukau that both came from a lot of sealed European Mask Packs, the ones that could have misprints. Considering the lot of those that I bought also included some packs with European Misprints, I think it's safe to assume that they were probably using the old mold at one point when filling the earlier mask packs. The bubble cheek style is also seen on the Prototype Kaukau show as an example in this topic, and mentioned by Flintsmith in this topic. Another user was asking about them fairly recently, but there is limited information about them in general. From my understanding, the Light Blue, Yellow, Green, Red, and Dark Blue Kaukau can all have the Bubble Cheek variant per The Archivist's findings in their guide topic (they had found evidence of the first 4, I provided links to some previously linked topics with the Dark Blue variant).

On 9/12/2024 at 7:26 PM, Turaga of Force said:

Gold Kaukau comes in regular opaque gold and translucent gold, both were found in 2002 Krana packs. I dont think this is mentioned in the OP post. Presumably Lego changed their mind part way through production. Neither version is too rare but opaque is more common than translucent. Guessing translucent is 15-30 dollars value. Not sure if this applies to silver too or just gold but another user did post a slightly translucent silver Kaukau in this thread. Could just be an off batch, or an intentional change as was made with the gold Kaukau. If anyone happens to have a translucent silver Kaukau they would be willing to part with  please PM me.

My stance on these is with some of the others who have already said something in this topic; this is just due to the nature of dye in the molding process, and as you speculated could be intentional or not. Maybe the Lego group decided they didn't need as much dye as they thought when printing these and adjusted accordingly, or maybe the opposite. Maybe the two different dye amounts are due to differences in machine calibration at different factories that were making the product. We'll probably never know, but I don't think there's really anything to be said about it all. The silver ones I believe due have some variance from what I've seen in my own collection, but due to the darker dye color it can be a lot more subtle and I have yet to find a Silver Kaukau that mimics the translucent effect of a low dye Gold Kaukau. I have seen dye variability with all the Gold Kanohi by the way, so I don't think it was intentional to make the Kaukau more translucent, but I don't think we have enough evidence to reallyt prop up either take on the whole affair.

Great points and discussion from everyone, it's wonderful to see this thread filled with replies right now!

 

Edited September 14, 2024 by NateMakesMOCs

[Turaga onewa]

I agree, this thread was not active for a long time and it is nice to see some liveliness.

[Turaga of Force]

7 hours ago, Turaga onewa said:

White huna prototype form or non prototype form

I am curious to know more about it in general. Was it produced in both prototype and non prototype?

6 hours ago, David Skyroller said:

So this is actually really interesting. He mentions the mold number 01, so that verifies it was made from one of the production molds, not a prototype mold. Mold 01 had 4x cavities, not 2x, so there were at least 4x yellow Rurus made without codes on the front. If someone finds a fifth yellow ruru (or two of them with matching cavity numbers), that would imply that there were at least 8x of them made.

Out of curiosity, how do you know this?

5 hours ago, Turaga onewa said:

How'd you find that link?

The ebay link? Someone (Emily if I recall correct) posted it in another thread.

2 hours ago, NateMakesMOCs said:

I believe it was the user KayTee that had it, so you are correct. I can speak from a first hand account (having gotten one myself from the seller) that there were 10 for sale from the Bricklink store run by BGP, who happened to also post on BZPower asking about the Yellow Hunas they had acquired before listing them. You can see the 10 listed in the images BGP took of them along with other items they acquired from that lot in/near Denmark, including known Galidor prototypes they had for sale in their store, and known 2001 Matoran prototype heads, arms, and feet. The 10 listed by BGP are the prototype style mold, as noted by ShadowOnua when they compared one against a prototype Orange Huna that they owned (see the brickshelf gallery shared in their post) and a regular Orange Huna. So yeah, you are correct about there only being 11 out there, 10 from BGP and the one KayTee acquired.

I was not aware that the main post of this said otherwise, but I've heard the Pick a Brick story from others too (don't have any links to corroborate this, sorry). Seems the Tanoka and Black Kanoka both were Pick a Brick items in Billund for a time.

Yeah I think this is just over site due to more recent developments. Letagi is one person who has a life, they can't be chained to a desk updating this topic every time some new weird fact about odd collectibles comes up. I have a two Translucent Dark Blue Kaukau that both came from a lot of sealed European Mask Packs, the ones that could have misprints. Considering the lot of those that I bought also included some packs with European Misprints, I think it's safe to assume that they were probably using the old mold at one point when filling the earlier mask packs. The bubble cheek style is also seen on the Prototype Kaukau show as an example in this topic, and mentioned by Flintsmith in this topic. Another user was asking about them fairly recently, but there is limited information about them in general. From my understanding, the Light Blue, Yellow, Green, Red, and Dark Blue Kaukau can all have the Bubble Cheek variant per The Archivist's findings in their guide topic (they had found evidence of the first 4, I provided links to some previously linked topics with the Dark Blue variant).

My stance on these is with some of the others who have already said something in this topic; this is just due to the nature of dye in the molding process, and as you speculated could be intentional or not. Maybe the Lego group decided they didn't need as much dye as they thought when printing these and adjusted accordingly, or maybe the opposite. Maybe the two different dye amounts are due to differences in machine calibration at different factories that were making the product. We'll probably never know, but I don't think there's really anything to be said about it all. The silver ones I believe due have some variance from what I've seen in my own collection, but due to the darker dye color it can be a lot more subtle and I have yet to find a Silver Kaukau that mimics the translucent effect of a low dye Gold Kaukau. I have seen dye variability with all the Gold Kanohi by the way, so I don't think it was intentional to make the Kaukau more translucent, but I don't think we have enough evidence to reallyt prop up either take on the whole affair.

Great points and discussion from everyone, it's wonderful to see this thread filled with replies right now!

 

Good info. On the gold Kanohi, while there could be some variation from batch to batch, I have never seen or heard of any of the other 5 being anywhere near as light or translucent as the translucent Kaukau variant. If you or anyone else has pics or info suggesting any of the other 5 do exist with that much translucency, I would be interested in seeing pics.

The fact that green, red, blue, light blue, and yellow Kaukau exist with bubble cheeks and the theory that it is from an early or prototype mold lends evidence to the theory that yellow and light blue Kaukau were intended for Kopaka and Pohatu, hence orange and clear not being produced as early so no bubble cheek versions. It will be interesting to see if Onua's Kaukau ever surfaces in the bubble cheeks version.

[Baraklava]

On 9/13/2024 at 1:26 AM, Turaga of Force said:

OP post mentions trans blue Ruru as prototypes. Is this a typo, since trans blue Ruru are included in Nui-Rama, or is it referring to the prototype Ruru mold (code outside) existing in trans blue?

Basically all parts before 2004 had "prototype moulds" made in order to prototype the parts before a production mould was made. When the set was finalized and approved, these models built with prototype parts were the ones sent to toy fairs and kept as reference models. Several months later the production mould would be made and the prototype moulds would be destroyed, meaning the remaining prototype parts were in extremely limited supply. You could only get these directly from LEGO's product development.

 

When they say the mask are prototypes, they mean it's from the pre-production prototype mould, a prototype mask, even if it was released in that colour. Please check out my video on the prototype Nui-Rama and I should probably explain it in sufficient detail:

 

 

As for the rest of the masks - there were likely hundreds produced of each Kanohi mask out there - what makes them rare is that not all of them make it to the public's hands. I collect mould tests, which are tests to see how the mould performs, and they basically always do those in Red. That means all Kanohi masks of this era should exist in Red - and that is where the red Huna comes from, and there is also a red Rau out there (can't find a picture right now)

 

Edited September 14, 2024 by Baraklava

[David Skyroller]

7 hours ago, Turaga of Force said:

The fact that green, red, blue, light blue, and yellow Kaukau exist with bubble cheeks and the theory that it is from an early or prototype mold lends evidence to the theory that yellow and light blue Kaukau were intended for Kopaka and Pohatu, hence orange and clear not being produced as early so no bubble cheek versions. It will be interesting to see if Onua's Kaukau ever surfaces in the bubble cheeks version.

From all the pictures I can find, it looks like the "bubble" variant was just the ejector pins either not fully retracting all the way before the next part was made, or the ejector pins were too long to begin with, and they were faced down in early production. I think a prototype kaukau mold would have had a thinner rim on the stud (and it looks like you can see that on the prototype dark blue one mentioned in the threads linked above). All the Kaukaus I have are from cavities 1 to 4 of mold 01. If someone with a "bubble" variant can find 1 01, 2 01, 3 01, or 4 01 mold numbers on the back, that would confirm it was from a production mold before they fixed the ejector pins issue. If that's the case, it would be interesting to know if it was just an issue on one cavity (like the 5 hole mask of shadows) or if it was on all 4 cavities.

7 hours ago, Turaga of Force said:

 

7 hours ago, Turaga of Force said:

I am curious to know more about it in general. Was it produced in both prototype and non prototype?

I have seen a couple pictures of a white prototype huna (looks the same on the back and the front as the yellow/orange huna prototypes, no part number, no mask number, and no mold number). The production version of the white huna first showed up in 2003, and the original owner said he pulled it out of a '01 mask pack. It was later traded to someone else then mailed to a BZP admin who confirmed it was real.

7 hours ago, Turaga of Force said:

Out of curiosity, how do you know this?

If you look on the back you will see the part number, the mask code, and the mold number, which is in the format X YY where "X" is the cavity number (For the couple dozen Rurus I have, they only range from 1-4) and "YY" is the mold number. I have Rurus from molds 01 and 02, but I only have a few from 02, and they are all from the nui-rama or Nuhrii.

[Turaga onewa]

Yeah the white huna exists as a prototype and non prototype form. I believe that white huna and brown komau were some obscure promotion with winch toys(I think), but the prototype one was sold on eBay in 2009. I have little info on it.

[Turaga of Force]

7 hours ago, Baraklava said:

Basically all parts before 2004 had "prototype moulds" made in order to prototype the parts before a production mould was made. When the set was finalized and approved, these models built with prototype parts were the ones sent to toy fairs and kept as reference models. Several months later the production mould would be made and the prototype moulds would be destroyed, meaning the remaining prototype parts were in extremely limited supply. You could only get these directly from LEGO's product development.

 

When they say the mask are prototypes, they mean it's from the pre-production prototype mould, a prototype mask, even if it was released in that colour. Please check out my video on the prototype Nui-Rama and I should probably explain it in sufficient detail:

 

 

As for the rest of the masks - there were likely hundreds produced of each Kanohi mask out there - what makes them rare is that not all of them make it to the public's hands. I collect mould tests, which are tests to see how the mould performs, and they basically always do those in Red. That means all Kanohi masks of this era should exist in Red - and that is where the red Huna comes from, and there is also a red Rau out there (can't find a picture right now)

 

Yeah I was aware of most of that. Just wasn't sure if the trans blue Ruru were known to exist in code outside version. I'll check out the vid, thanks

Edit: That is your video and your Nui Rama? How did you get them?

5 hours ago, David Skyroller said:

From all the pictures I can find, it looks like the "bubble" variant was just the ejector pins either not fully retracting all the way before the next part was made, or the ejector pins were too long to begin with, and they were faced down in early production. I think a prototype kaukau mold would have had a thinner rim on the stud (and it looks like you can see that on the prototype dark blue one mentioned in the threads linked above). All the Kaukaus I have are from cavities 1 to 4 of mold 01. If someone with a "bubble" variant can find 1 01, 2 01, 3 01, or 4 01 mold numbers on the back, that would confirm it was from a production mold before they fixed the ejector pins issue. If that's the case, it would be interesting to know if it was just an issue on one cavity (like the 5 hole mask of shadows) or if it was on all 4 cavities.

I have seen a couple pictures of a white prototype huna (looks the same on the back and the front as the yellow/orange huna prototypes, no part number, no mask number, and no mold number). The production version of the white huna first showed up in 2003, and the original owner said he pulled it out of a '01 mask pack. It was later traded to someone else then mailed to a BZP admin who confirmed it was real.

If you look on the back you will see the part number, the mask code, and the mold number, which is in the format X YY where "X" is the cavity number (For the couple dozen Rurus I have, they only range from 1-4) and "YY" is the mold number. I have Rurus from molds 01 and 02, but I only have a few from 02, and they are all from the nui-rama or Nuhrii.

The first I heard of the white Huna was of it (and brown Komau) being from a non-Lego variety pack. This is the first I ever heard if it coming in mask packs. Are you sure you remember right and aren't getting it mixed up with brown Komau? Do you remember any other details or know who claimed to find it in a mask pack?

4 hours ago, Turaga onewa said:

Yeah the white huna exists as a prototype and non prototype form. I believe that white huna and brown komau were some obscure promotion with winch toys(I think), but the prototype one was sold on eBay in 2009. I have little info on it.

Where did you hear about the winch toys thing? Is that the same as that non-Lego variety pack with the calendar? Do you know any other details and/or remember a source for that info? Is "winch toys" a brand? I cant find any info on it.

Edit: Oh I found the variety pack pic you posted in the other thread. Where did you find that pic?

Edited September 14, 2024 by Turaga of Force

[Turaga onewa]

I found it on brickshelf.

[David Skyroller]

33 minutes ago, Turaga of Force said:

The first I heard of the white Huna was of it (and brown Komau) being from a non-Lego variety pack. This is the first I ever heard if it coming in mask packs. Are you sure you remember right and aren't getting it mixed up with brown Komau? Do you remember any other details or know who claimed to find it in a mask pack?

My memory isn't 21 years old perfect, but it doesn't need to be when you have screenshots!

 

 

[Turaga of Force]

27 minutes ago, David Skyroller said:

My memory isn't 21 years old perfect, but it doesn't need to be when you have screenshots!

 

 

Interesting, thanks! He said Kanohi "box" but I assume it was actually an 8530 (bag) rather than 8525 (box). If it was an 8525 that would be even more weird and interesting.

[Letagi]

On 9/13/2024 at 12:08 PM, Turaga of Force said:

Yellow Huna: Are you sure fifi had one? I know he had a yellow Ruru and white Huna but this is the first I have heard of him having a yellow Huna. I thought the yellow Huna was just the one from many years ago (name was KayTee or something like that? it wasn't fifi. Turaga Onewa linked gallery above and I believe gallery is also linked in OP) and then that bunch of 10 or 11 that showed up a few years ago. (the number 11 is getting thrown around and I previously said 11 but I think it was actually just 10, and the number 11 comes from that 10 + the one from long ago)

My mistake, it was KayTee. My brain combined yellow Ruru and white Huna 🙃

[Turaga onewa]

Anything here

[ToaZero]

I recently got ahold of these two incredible prototype metru masks! I'd seen a silver Huna once before at BFVA, but had never even heard of the Mahiki until now 😯 Would other silver metru masks exist too?

[David Skyroller]

Perhaps silver was the initial plan for the Voya Nui Matoran, but they couldn't get transparent silver looking right for Dalu?