Why are the Cyclone Kraata so Valuble?

[The Archivist]

I can't find any information on why these are so hard to find. They seem to have been distributed in the Wild Kraata packs with no special rarity. So why are they the holy grail of a collection?

EDIT: While my below replies show a large number of sealed cans purchased looking for cyclone boys, you can shine a bright flashlight through the cans and see the color and even the level. So, none of this matters and there's no good data. I still don't know why cyclones are rare. 

Edited July 30, 2023 by The Archivist

[Xboxtravis]

To be honest, I have no clue. But looking at it, all I can take a guess at is it was distributed in the random packs and maybe wasn't as common as the others? Could be the sand-blue makes it often confused for say the Disintegration Kraata, and maybe its sometimes hidden in Bricklink lots by people not aware of what each Kraata variant really is? 

Kraata are just so strange overall, really a moment of collector's glut from LEGO compounded by the Rahkshi design actually not SHOWING the Kraata once in the suit. I find both that (and the Krana-Kal) to be some of the weirder collector's items of classic Bionicle, by creating a rare item which is not actually visible in the finished set on display. Its cool how many Kraata variants we got, but strange to try and make sense of it. 

[T.B.O.C]

It is likely coincidence - as you said, they were commonly available in Kraata pods back in 2003. I find Kraata are a particular mixed bag on the market - I think the casual consumer is unequipped to properly categorize and understand what they're worth, other than they can be sold for high amounts. I also find in particular, many people on Bricklink don't seem to understand the instructions for listing colors (often just listing one color and not differentiating between the second). This can make finding them difficult. I agree with Xboxtravis in that case - I actually ended up getting a Slow Kraata instead of a Disintegration one the other week for that same reason, seller just did not label them correctly.

There's also a degree of confusion I've personally seen in people determining color - likely exacerbated by the official lists for Kraata being written for Lego's own color terms, some of which are surprisingly esoteric. Metallic Sand-Yellow, for instance. Again, I've seen much debate on Bricklink concerning colorations, especially for metallics. For instance, it can be a bit hard to differentiate between the pearl colors for the Rahkshi parts, and standard colorations that came later (the standard white and black for Bomonga and Kualus).

The glut of different Kraata colors also just makes it hard, and now that we're approaching 20 years from release, somewhat difficult for the market. Kraata are just notoriously expensive now, especially compared to the historical cost on the market. I recall for many years you could get Kraata for a dollar or less here, which is somewhat unheard of nowadays. That and how larger lots on eBay and other websites tend to get bought up quick by collectors coming into the scene or bolstering their own collections. I figure a lot of the particular gaps in the market right now don't necessarily reflect a lack of stock or production at the time as much as market space in the modern era, where a lot less of us are going for comparatively more pricey objects.

[The Archivist]

I'm starting to strongly suspect that they're literally just in the packs at a lower rate. I've opened a dozen canisters and found none, though the opposite colors (light-gray-to-sand-blue) are just as common as any other color. Admittedly 12 is not a definitive sample size.

I've also looked at several lots like the ones below, and found a similar pattern. I know pre-opened canisters aren't really evidence, since the owner would just swap out any cyclone boys if they had common sense. However, none of the sellers below seem like they'd know to look out for the cyclone ones. This answer makes more sense than secondary market attrition. 

The question I'm now trying to answer is "why?"

Edited June 12, 2023 by The Archivist

[Xboxtravis]

Well, you got actual data from pulling Kraata packs which could maybe with enough samples suggest if they were actually statistically rarer for some reason. Even then we might never know the "why" of it at all.

Think about the silver Nuva Masks also from 2003. Why were those so rare? Unlike the Gold masks the year prior there was no real advertisement of them, unlike the Vahi there was no push to "chase it" or any promotions like the copper masks or the Trans-neon green Miru had where they were handed out at specific locations. If anything the silver Nuva masks were overshadowed by all the metal Krana Kal promotions and chase sets! The silver Nuva masks are rare for reasons LEGO never really advertised, and were products I imagine many Bionicle fans (myself included) were not really aware existed until they began a serious deep dive into masks produced years after these masks were long off store shelves. 2003 is just a glut year in general for weird Bionicle collector's stuff (*cough* Platinum Avohkii *cough*) and the Kraata just sort of fit the trend that LEGO was tossing everything at the wall they could. 

As an aside the one time I got to see and handle the Platinum Avohkii in person, I later learned its owner had so little of the silver Nuva masks he couldn't sell any as spares... That is comical to imagine that plastic parts that were supposedly in mass produced sets have a rarity that somebody who paid five figures for a solid platinum mask regards the silver Nuva pieces with similar rarity; but something really was just messed up in how LEGO handled those that caused this artificial rarity we are now stuck with. 

[Chrono Vogon]

I saw on another post that you're looking for 2 and 5 which sucks because I have extras of all of them except those two. I used to have an extra 2 but already traded it for a red mahiki. The way things are looking now maybe I should have held onto it. Lol. While Cyclone 5 was the 4th to last for me to get, I'm skeptical that they are that much rarer than other kraata colors. I have extras of them, I see them in eBay lots, and they even show up on Bricklink. While there were other kraata that took me months of actively looking to find.

[(-Kopaka Toa of Ice-)]

Personally i think it was absurd to release all to have all those 300 kraata. The original 6 along with the purple shadow and the translucent orange kraata in the bionicle shoes should have been enough.

3 Kraata in 1 canister isn't a good value either. Should have been 5.

Edited June 9, 2023 by (-Kopaka Toa of Ice-)

[Canama]

On 1/15/2023 at 2:35 PM, Xboxtravis said:

 find both that (and the Krana-Kal) to be some of the weirder collector's items of classic Bionicle, by creating a rare item which is not actually visible in the finished set on display. Its cool how many Kraata variants we got, but strange to try and make sense of it. 

not as weird as the kanoka disks, where they expected people to get excited about collecting three-digit codes

[Valendale]

On 6/9/2023 at 11:40 PM, Canama said:

not as weird as the kanoka disks, where they expected people to get excited about collecting three-digit codes

I mean, assuming they actually did expect that. Which seems unlikely.

[The Archivist]

On 6/9/2023 at 8:40 PM, Canama said:

not as weird as the kanoka disks, where they expected people to get excited about collecting three-digit codes

Bionicle is an incredible exercise in how to completely drop the ball on collectibles. It's like they were staring at the Kanohi Mata going

"wow, six shapes in six colors. What a neat collection to display. How can we capitalize on this?"

"We can make a crapton of color blends that are incoherent and difficult to collect" perfect, send it

"What if the number of each color of collectible didn't match? So there's like, 8 of some and 9 of others" amazing, you're promoted

"What if we abandoned all color/shape schemes and just made, like, 23 of them?" can I massage your feet oh exalted one

"Zamor spheres" please raise my son

Edited June 12, 2023 by The Archivist

[Canama]

14 hours ago, Valendale said:

I mean, assuming they actually did expect that. Which seems unlikely.

remember the kanoka club? they totally did

5 hours ago, The Archivist said:

"Zamor spheres" please raise my son

IN FAIRNESS i think those were just meant to be replacements for when you inevitably lost the originals rather than proper collectables, since there were only three colors and each box included all of them

[(-Kopaka Toa of Ice-)]

On 6/13/2023 at 5:29 AM, Canama said:

remember the kanoka club? they totally did

IN FAIRNESS i think those were just meant to be replacements for when you inevitably lost the originals rather than proper collectables, since there were only three colors and each box included all of them

Yes but they had no color variety, just the three armor colors. Squid box made the same thing, instead of yellow/orange you get blue colors which only really fit with Takadox, Nocturn and Gadunka (if you actually used the launcher on him)

The Rhotuka Spinner boxes did this too but it had more variety since 2005 had a lot of characters like Rahage and Keetongu had their unique Rhotuka colors.

Edited June 27, 2023 by (-Kopaka Toa of Ice-)

[Toa Matia]

Well speaking of cyclone kraata, does anyone have a stage 3 or 5 they’d be willing to sell or trade? If so, please message me!

[Canama]

On 6/27/2023 at 2:10 PM, (-Kopaka Toa of Ice-) said:

Yes but they had no color variety, just the three armor colors.

That's... what I said, yes.