best and worst bionicle box/sets

[Umarakthefan]

I wanna hear your opinion

[Pohaturon]

The "/sets" in the title makes this hugely ambiguous, but I'll assume that isn't there and you're asking about the packaging itself. Since the small sets and the titans/playsets all came in regular boxes, I'm guessing this is supposed to be a "best and worst canister" thing. Now, something I loved about the canisters is that they were always functional beyond storing the set itself pre 2007, when the Barraki introduced purely decorative canisters. The Mahri were a brief venture back into functional canisters, but that was the last of that. 

 

I'm actually really torn on "best", because there are so many fantastic ones. The Suva lids of the Mata were awesome in displaying masks. The way the Bohrok canister was a 100% lore friendly Bohrok hive-pod made it really cool. Combining two Metru lids to form a Matoran sphere, albeit oddly colored, was genius. While many people criticised the Mahri canisters for not being reusable for storage, I never actually used canisters for that purpose anyway (sans the Bohrok), and them turning into a small turret/outpost/base/thing for the Mahri to attach their Cordaks to was great play value.

 

But overall, I must say that the original Mata canisters win for being double purposed - they work as their canisters from the lore, and the lids work as Suvas.

 

The worst canister title will have to go to one of the non-functional ones (I count the small indent on the Vahki lid to storing a single kanoka to be functional). The Barraki canister looks awesome, as does the Phantoka one, however from then on things went downhill. However, the Mistika and Glatorian Legends at least had unique or interesting designs, however the first wave of Glatorian had such utterly bland, uninteresting and boring canisters, that they have to be my pick for worst. I can't speak for the Stars, because I unfortunately don't own any. 

 

[CommanderKumo]

Canisters have always been an iconic part of Bionicle and I hold many of them near to my heart, and not just in a metaphorical sense.

 

The two best:

 

#1. 2001 Toa mata canisters, these are so iconic, and awesome, they can do everything they need to in story and double up as suvas, the only downside is that the masks on the perimeter of the suva look quite out of proportion.

 

#2. Bohrok canisters, once more these are iconic and fulfil story and play roles very well, plus I'm sure anyone who has opened up a wmkk or sskk will have a deep love for these too.

 

The two worst:

 

#1 Glatoran canisters, these are just bland!

 

#2 Stars canisters, while I know it was the "grand" finale, they could've atleast added a bit of functionality to the detailed, but flat lid of the canister.

 

Special/honourable mention:

 

Kraata canisters, small and cool, and they could be used to make Whenua's kraata cave.

[BioFan95]

Best: the Toa Mata canisters

 

Worst: the Phantoka canisters.

[evil_jaga_genius]

Not quite sure what my favorite and least favorite are, I feel compelled to mention something: Everybody talks about the Toa Metru lids turning into Matoran spheres, but you can also take a disk and fit it into the notches on the top of the lid.  I did it with Vakama's disk and can all the time.

[That Matoran with a Vahi]

I kinda want to say the Barraki cannisters were my favourites. Sure, they didn't serve any functional purpose - and you couldn't easily fit a set back inside for storage without some serious dismantling, Kalmah's shoulders in particular being too wide for the opening when he was assembled - but from a solely aesthetic standpoint? They were by far and away my favourite it terms of appearance.

 

Functionally, the Mata canisters are classic, so I've got to second everyone who said them, too.

 

 

As for least? I was never really a fan of the Inika canisters, or... any of the similarly-shaped ones that came after them, really. I liked the more unique shapes of the pre-06 (and Barraki) cannisters; once being more rectangular started becoming the standard, they quickly lost any interest to me.

[Tarix819]

The Toa Mahri 'Canisters' look good when they're sealed but you can't open them without breaking them unfortunately.

[BioFan95]

The Toa Mahri 'Canisters' look good when they're sealed but you can't open them without breaking them unfortunately.

 

At least they had some functionality, unlike say, the Glatorian canisters (aside from storage).

[Alligaytorrr]

Seconding Barraki canisters as my favorite. The blue is really pretty, the lopsided look is unique, they were just so aesthetically pleasing. But of course the Toa Mata canisters are a close second. To design toy packaging to have an in-universe function was ingenious and I think reflects the kind of effort that went into world-building to make the early years of Bionicle so magical. 

[Tarix819]

Seconding Barraki canisters as my favorite. The blue is really pretty, the lopsided look is unique, they were just so aesthetically pleasing. But of course the Toa Mata canisters are a close second. To design toy packaging to have an in-universe function was ingenious and I think reflects the kind of effort that went into world-building to make the early years of Bionicle so magical. 

 

Have to agree with you, the cracks and bubbles up the side, as well as the coloured rock formation 'lid' at the bottom made the Barraki canisters some of the most unique and creative canister designs in Bionicle.

[slifer3000]

We're talking a lot about the functions but I like a lot of the canisters'/boxes' designs.

 

The boxes of all the titans/rahi from 2001-2003 were so aesthetically pleasing. The world the rahi were depicted in looked so real and believable and helped me to feel immersed in the island of mata-nui. The lair of the Bahrag was so nicely depicted in a way that was very ominous and mysterious, and made me wish i were there watching the Toa and the Exo-Toa battle the Bohrok queens. The boxes of 2003 were beautifully simple and sinister looking. A recurring theme was the stony floor of the Makuta's lair with an image of Takanuva and Makuta facing off in the final battle of good and evil on Mata Nui. It just had a very epic look to it. 

 

The Bohrok Kal canisters had some of the best graphics on them as well, in my opinion. The terrains were so interesting, especially Nuhvok-Kal's. 

 

As far as functionality and overall looks go, the Mata canisters have to win here, though, with a great and unique portrayal of Mata Nui (as opposed to the portrayal on the Turaga and Tohunga packages which just includes the Kini Nui placed in the wrong terrain) along with a 100% play functional canister itself.

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

I'd say all of them are good in their own way but i'm surprised no one has mentioned the horrors of the mistika/swamp makuta team canisters?

That weird design was often way too tricky to open. I wouldn't be surprised if small kids would need help because they didn't have a strong enough grip to squeeze the lid properly.

Edited November 5, 2017 by necross hordika