Least Favorite Aspect of New Sets?

[Munty]

The masks in general are a good bit smaller too. Though the reasoning behind this may have been to make the Toa look bigger (which of course they are anyway!) I don't mind the Hau but a direct comparison to the original won't hold up mostly due to scaling issues. I'm looking forward to sticking mata heads on them all for a luagh when I get mine

[Zidonaro]

 

Lack of new shells, old foot, and I think some color schemes are off, like Gali's. 

You seem to be forgetting that Makuta DID have a team uniform. They all wore the same armour as Teridax back in the day.

Wait, really ? I didn't know. Do you have a source on this info ?

Will do my best. THIS is the image I remember but no idea where it originated from. Clearly shows other Makuta's in virtually identical armour. Also, as for the 'essence' thing, that's canon and is fetaured in at least one of the Farshey stories (one of the online ones I think) They essentially evolved to a sort of gaseous, 'spirit' form and had to wear the armour so they didn't float away and dissipate. And unless I'm very much mistaken they all would have worn the same armour at this point as that's certainly how it sounds. If you think about it, even Icarax has (vaguely) similar armour but modified to accomodate shadow leeches...

 

EDIT : didn't link image  http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070407153932/bionicle/images/e/e6/Makuta_species.jpg

 

As someone who knows very little about the Bionicle story, that image confused me so much...I was like why are there so many Teridaxes??? Good to know they are just uniforms.

 

 

Ummm, I have some doubts about this image's canonicity, but this really isn't the topic for that.

[fishers64]

For what it's worth, I sorta liked 2006. (I got into Bionicle in 2005, so yeah.)

 

The gang gimmick I didn't like, but I mostly ignored it. Island of Doom made me sick to my stomach, but Dark Destiny, Power Play, Legacy of Evil, and Inferno fell into the "I want to reread this over and over" category. But they weren't quite so good as the 2004-05 books. I just got through reading the comics for that year, and while the '06 comics are nowhere close to 01 - 03, they are a lot more focused and less gappy than the '04-'05 comics, which are a pain and relied too much on summaries. 

 

Of coarse, I'm biased since 2006 was the best year for Bionicle games - from the Piraka Attack to the VNOG to the MNOG download. 

 

Back on topic, my gripes (aside from Lewa's mask, as stated) include Tahu's bad back, some of the Protector masks' color schemes not really looking too good, and Onua's color scheme not being quite as good as I would like. The stickers/printing doesn't bother me though. 

[IcarusBen]

Tahu's bad back?

 

 I see it now. "OW! My back!"

[Xabla]

Lewa's face and Pohatu's size.

[Aanchir]

Lewa's face and Pohatu's size.

What's wrong with Pohatu's size, exactly? I can see why people might not like his proportions, but as far as his overall height is concerned, he and Onua have pretty much ALWAYS been the shortest in their team (except in 2008 when Onua was randomly made taller). In that respect, the new Pohatu is just keeping consistent with tradition.

 

Now, if you are referring to his piece count, that IS a bit odd. He actually has fewer pieces than most of the Protectors! I think MAYBE he could have maybe used some more armor on his back or shoulders. But I couldn't be happier with his height.

[LegoSWfan]

Perhaps because his weapons are the simplest of the Toa (only four parts). After all, Huki Inika had a larger part count, most of it coming from his chain.

[Nescent]

Perhaps because his weapons are the simplest of the Toa (only four parts). After all, Huki Inika had a larger part count, most of it coming from his chain.

 

Tahu's weapons are far simpler, as are Lewa's. I think that Pohatu has the most ingenious weapons of the bunch, what with their folding function. Plus, you know, they are straight-up boomerangs.

[LegoSWfan]

So? Hydraxon had them.

[Nescent]

So? Hydraxon had them.

 

Yes but his weapon looked nothing like a boomerang. I'm talking about the sets; Pohatu's are very clearly shaped like boomerangs, which we have never seen before in Bionicle.

[LegoSWfan]

It was curved like one.

[Jayk]

Masks that won't fit old heads.  If it weren't for that, I'd probably buy all the sets.  I'll still probably get an Onua or two, just for that glorious translucent purple.  Maybe all of 'em if I can find a sale.

[LegoSWfan]

What's with you and purple?

[FallenCor]

The new sets aren't as backwards-compatible as I had hoped, but I can monkey around with 'em. Other than that, my only real nitpick is the presence of yellow in both Lewa and Pohatu's color-schemes...

[Jayk]

What's with you and purple?

 

...

 

IT'S PURPLE

 

 

 

It's not even my favorite color, actually, I just think it's gorgeous and tragically underused in Bionicle.

[LegoSWfan]

Its an Ok color, I guess. Personally, I prefer dark green.

[Jayk]

Dark green is lovely, but regular green is and always should be Lewa's color (and lime, I suppose).  That's one thing I love about the new sets, the bright colors are back.

[LegoSWfan]

In my personal opinion id rather have a sage green Lewa over a lime one.

Edited December 15, 2014 by ToaSalvus

[bioniclepluslotr]

Why don't they ever make a muddy green Bionicle?

[Jayk]

In my personal opinion id rather have a sage green Lewa over a lime one.

 

Ooo, sage green is good too...

 

Why don't they ever make a muddy green Bionicle?

 

This is why we need a Toa of Plant Life!  Make it happen, Lego, you've already established Jungle powers...

[Owlexander]

Meh, the new sets look pretty cool if you ask me. The one thing I'd have to say is my problem are probably the non printed parts and how you have to use stickers. All in all a pretty good set for a reboot if you ask me. 

[IcarusBen]

Speaking of colors, I need to once more throw my hat into the bin. Here's the color scheme I think should work for the Masters.

 

• Tahu - Red and Orange with Gold accents
• Kopaka - White and Grey with Silver accents
• Onua - Black and Purple with Gunmetal accents
• Pohatu - Brown and Tan (or Brown and Light Tan)
• Gali - Gali Blue and Light Blue
• Lewa - Lewa Green and Lime (or Metru Green and Lewa Green or vice versa)

This way, the Titans get metallic colors as a little bonus as to encourage buying them over the smaller sets.

[abstractAgamid]

The really ugly masks of some of them (Kopaka and especially Tahu. Gali's and Pohatu's I actually like, Onua's is okay).

 

(The eyes are also a bit too close together on the new head piece.)

 

The fact that most of the Toa could have been better-designed. (To their credit though, even the smallest sets use some Technic elements, with the ratio getting higher with size. They're not strictly-CCBS builds, which I appreciate.)

 

But really though, my major gripe is the story. Like really, it's so dumbed-down, at least from what we've seen so far. The first one had a lot of cool ideas. This one seems to appeal too much to its target audience, at the exclusion of quality.

Edited November 24, 2019 by abstractAgamid

[LegoSWfan]

Give it time, the story may get deep and hyper complex!

 

And hopefully not get cut short...

[Lyichir]

Give it time, the story may get deep and hyper complex!

 

And hopefully not get cut short...

Deep? Maybe. Complex? Definitely not. The classic Bionicle story's complexity is one of the things the new theme is very deliberately avoiding, since it was a primary factor in the original theme's eventual failure.

[bioniclepluslotr]

 

Give it time, the story may get deep and hyper complex!

 

And hopefully not get cut short...

Deep? Maybe. Complex? Definitely not. The classic Bionicle story's complexity is one of the things the new theme is very deliberately avoiding, since it was a primary factor in the original theme's eventual failure.

 

What they need to do is avoid major plots or characters that can't be reflected by sets. Bionicle doesn't have the luxury of making scenes into sets like regular Legos do.

Edited December 16, 2014 by bioniclepluslotr

[Collector1]

Some of the Protectors' legs seem rather weak and might not support their figures very well. 

[LegoSWfan]

 

Give it time, the story may get deep and hyper complex!

 

And hopefully not get cut short...

Deep? Maybe. Complex? Definitely not. The classic Bionicle story's complexity is one of the things the new theme is very deliberately avoiding, since it was a primary factor in the original theme's eventual failure.

But the complexity made it fun! In my opinion.

[Aanchir]

 

 

Give it time, the story may get deep and hyper complex!

 

And hopefully not get cut short...

Deep? Maybe. Complex? Definitely not. The classic Bionicle story's complexity is one of the things the new theme is very deliberately avoiding, since it was a primary factor in the original theme's eventual failure.

 

But the complexity made it fun! In my opinion.

 

I think you two are working from different definitions of "complex". Lyi is using it in terms of "hard to get into" and you're using it in terms of "intricate/detailed". I think a story can definitely be intricate/detailed without being hard to get into, so long as it doesn't require you to digest huge amounts of detail or jargon just to understand what's going on, and doesn't exponentially increase in complexity with each passing year.

 

Some of the Protectors' legs seem rather weak and might not support their figures very well.

They support their weight just fine. The Protectors aren't very heavy, and the friction in the joints is more than enough to support that weight, even if you have them standing on one foot.

 

I actually have a review of three of the Protector sets right here.

[LegoSWfan]

One of the many reason me and Lyi haven't gotten along.

[bioniclepluslotr]

LoSS's handle body

[Lyichir]

LoSS's handle body

*old grandpa voice*

 

Kids these days! Back in my day EVERYTHING had a handle body! Nui Rama, Nui Jaga, Tarakava... even the Muaka and Kane-Ra had one, although it did a good job hiding it from the front. Only thing that didn't was the Manas, and the less said about them, the better.

 

*mumblegrumble*

[Jakura Nuva]

I have two - stickers and lack of new pieces.

 

First off, stickers and I have a love/hate relationship going on. I feel that stickers can and, for the most part, do enhance the appearance of many toys (including those outside of the Lego brand).

 

However...

 

I have shaky hands (and I'm sure many kids do, too). I mean, they could be a lot shakier, but still - applying stickers is like deactivating a time bomb for me. And it doesn't help that I'm a total perfectionist, so one little screw-up will frustrate the heck out of me - to the point where I may rip the barely-off-center sticker off the toy in anger and order new stickers for it.

 

Now, for the second thing I listed: new parts - or rather, the lack thereof. This bothers me extremely.

 

Reading Lego Jang's blog article on his thoughts about Bionicle 2015 pretty much sum up my own - too many reused parts. I mean, I appreciate the new heads/brainstalks for sure, along with the Masks and weapons - but using the same hands, feet and shells as the Hero Factory sets really disappoints me (okay, hands might be kind of moot, but whatever...). Now, don't confuse this as me hating on the CCBS system - I personally love it, and definitely prefer it for the new sets. And don't assume this is because I thinks it looks too smooth for Bionicle - as Aanchir has mentioned before, it's much more "biomechanical looking" then the pistons of old, which, while I enjoy the aesthetic, are much more mechanical than anything. Honestly, the reason I dislike the reuse of shells and such is because, IMO, it makes it look too much like Hero Factory. I adore most of the new masks and weapons (though I would've preferred each Toa to have different pieces for their respective tools), and I especially love the painted designs on their chest plates (a bit unrelated to the parts... meh) - but, overall, I wish we got more than the piston and Onua-shoulder shell add-ons. And, for that matter, different looking shells (maybe something more ridged, like Kopaka's torso piece, or vent-adorned like Onua's torso). I'm sure someone else can put Everything I just said into better words, but yeah - just my two cents.

 

 

Now, if I were to list a third aspect I disliked "just cuz", it'd be the new Miru, or what is now referred to as the "Jungle Mask". Don't get me wrong, I like it - it just looks nothing like the old Miru, and therefore I dislike it on Lewa. Even the Mask of Water manages to homage the old Kaukau in more than a few ways - but the Jungle Mask's only homage I can see are the very small "smiley-holes" on each side of the jaw that just barely manage to look like Lewa's old smile. And given the fact that I'm (quite recently, actually) rather fond of classic Lewa and his Miru, this new mask was rather disappointing to me.

Edited December 16, 2014 by Jakura Nuva

[LegoSWfan]

I feel your pain, stickers are a pain to put on.

[bioniclepluslotr]

Lego Replacement Parts is getting suspicious me of asking for new stickers each time I mess up.

[LegoSWfan]

I just peel them off and re apply them.

[Jakura Nuva]

I just peel them off and re apply them.

I made that mistake with an Agents set awhile ago - took maybe less than a month for the things to start peeling off.

 

Another aspect I dislike which I forgot to mention is mask compatibility. Granted, there was hardly a chance of getting masks that could fit on the old heads and vice versa in the first place, but still - I would've liked to see that.

Edited December 16, 2014 by Jakura Nuva

[LegoSWfan]

I would have liked to see them attempt it. At least.

[Aanchir]

I would have liked to see them attempt it. At least.

Who's to say they didn't? You never know what they might have attempted that turned out not to work out well enough to make it into the final product.

 

Personally, I'm quite impressed with how versatile the new mask connections are. They don't attach to old head pieces too well, but they can still attach to PLENTY of classic pieces, up to and including basic Y-joints and 2M friction pins. Also, they snap to the front rather than the top, which should satisfy pedants who can't fathom the idea of a mask that slips over top of your head.

[bioniclepluslotr]

I just peel them off and re apply them.

My stickers lost the residue and the clear ones got all cloudy.