Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[Mandate]

LOSS hasn't really been stated to be a spider... only as the "Lord of Skull Spiders". I'd be more worried about his four-legged friends that just want to give everyone a nice, warm hug!

Also, you'd better look up the definition of an arachnid. All spiders are arachnids, but Scorpions, etc are also arachnids. LOSS *is* an arachnid, just not a spider anatomically speaking. He's going to be considered a spider by the plot and by definition anyway, though.

[Dinobrick]

Um, I know what an arachnoid is. You left out ticks and mites, and loss resembles none of them, as he lacks any defining traits of an arachnoid.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Dinobrick

[Mandate]

I left them out because

1) I didn't even know they were

2) Does it even matter? I gave an example, arachnids aren't exclusive to being eight legged creatures.

Also, yes, LOSS actually does have traits of an arachnid. It has six legs (Scorpions) a bulbous abdomen (Spiders) has a number of eyes corresponding to the number of legs (Spiders again, but you can debate this if you want) and if you asked anyone what LOSS resembles everyone would say a spider.

Oh, and the Morbuzakh was a sentient plant with a tendency to spread, and looked like a Venus Flytrap with tentacles and bad breath- oh wait, wrong universe. The Morbazakh had a split mouth with giant teeth, it even had vines covered in thorns. That's not anything like a plant, last time I checked.

Edited November 10, 2014 by JayWalker

[Dinobrick]

Um, scorpions have ten apandages (eight legs and two pinchers. The homologous organs in a spider are the tiny "arms" on either side of the mouthparts) And yes, ticks and mites are arachnoids. And loss doesn't appear to have an abdomen, just a cephalothorax. And the number of eyes of a spider dose not correlate to the number of its legs. As can be seen in the brown recluse, with six eyes arranged in three pairs.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Dinobrick

[Mandate]

Oh, sorry, thought they had six legs. And I said legs, not appendages. And thanks for the information about the brown Recluse. Regardless, LOSS was never said to be an arachnid, or a spider. You can argue all you want about the actual Skull Spiders, I'm not going to stop you.

[Dinobrick]

Appendages can refer to legs.

Your welce about the brown recluse

And no I don't wish to argue, I want this to get back on track. We have strayed too far.

[Mandate]

Appendages can refer to legs.

Your welce about the brown recluse

And no I don't wish to argue, I want this to get back on track. We have strayed too far.

Last time I checked Scorpions didn't use their claws as legs.

Anyway, am I the only one more excited for the Protectors than the Toa? The Toa are all unique in their personalities, something completely absent from Hero Factory, but I really think the Protectors are far more interesting.

Edited November 10, 2014 by JayWalker

[Mecheon]

One last thing:

My experience with reboots has told me that every time something's rebooted, it's ruined.

Someone hasn't seen Transformers Animated, aka "Hey, did you want amazing fan related stuff?" the series

Now. Unfortunately there is an argument about spiders. This will not do. I will firstly point out that the other spiders and insects in Bionicle have had nowhere near the right number of legs. Heck, Nui-Jaga was the only one that came close (And is also amazing). Nui-Jaga's great. If they remake any old Rahi, it needs to be that guy

Now, reap what you have sown, thread:

An Arachnid is any creature with the following: A fused cephalothorax, holding the creatures 8 legs, and an abdomen. They also have two chelicerae, which can serve many purposes. For example, in spiders they're those large blunt parts protecting the head, but in scorpions? They're the claws. My favourite arachnid, the Solifuge, has these as a massive pair of "beaks" almost, capable of crushing just about anything they want to feast upon. Also featured are the pedipalps, normally being small, however in solifuge they've grown to massive sizes and almost function as an additional pair of legs, while in the amblypygi, or whip scorpions, they've instead become massive almost mantis like spiked arms for grabbing prey

Arachnids consist of the following: spiders, scorpions, mites (And by necessity ticks), solifuge, amblypygi (Whip scorpions), opiliones (Harvestmen), uropygids (Vinergaroons), pseudoscorpions, palpigradi (Micro whipscorpions), schizomida (Short-tailed whipscorpions) and ricinulei (Hooded tickspiders). Closely related, but not arachnids, are eurypterids (Sea scorpions, extinct), horseshoe crabs, and possibly sea spiders

Sea spiders are -weird-

And that was your Mecheon biology segment for the day. I am bound by ancient law and ritual to provide these facts

Edited November 10, 2014 by Mecheon

[arc]

Eh, biologically accurate or not, I still really like LoSS. I don't think fictional toys should have to be restricted to real world biology. How else would we have gotten Fenrakk?

Edited November 10, 2014 by arc

[Kalhiki]

Anyway, am I the only one more excited for the Protectors than the Toa? The Toa are all unique in their personalities, something completely absent from Hero Factory, but I really think the Protectors are far more interesting.

You're not alone. I'm really excited for the Protectors. Not only because I enjoy smaller-scaled figures but also because they have a good amount of trans parts and Gatling guns. And the two-toned masks (which have trans as well :D ) look phenomenal, especially the Earth Protector's with his black and trans purple blend.

Yeah. The Protectors look great. Hope we get reviews soon.

[InfurnallDragon]

I think LOSS is what happens when you invest a bit too much in the Function rather than the appearance. I wonder what is up with that random red pin in the axle for his pseudo-abdomen handle. You could probably use it with the pinholes of the handle to mod a more complete look to him, I just wonder why LEGO didn't to begin with. Without it he looks so small compared to the Toa. I can see them punting him around like any of the other spiders really.

I look forward to buying quite a few protectors. The Jungle one looks really interesting, and the Earth one. Any of the protectors would make pretty good part packs depending on what you are looking for because they bring a lot of rare and unique recolors of pieces.

[Aethersprite]

Anyway, am I the only one more excited for the Protectors than the Toa? The Toa are all unique in their personalities, something completely absent from Hero Factory, but I really think the Protectors are far more interesting.

Same here, but for me it's more so due to the fact that we've seen so much of the Toa sets already but next to nothing of the Protectors. But I do enjoy small sets, and the Protectors have some really neat designs! I just wish they had individual names, perhaps referencing past Turaga/Matoran.

[Nekchir]

I think he's a great size. He doesn't need to be a 20-foot monster to pose a threat.

Spiders are small but still pack a punch.

[Echo]

So these should start trickling into stores in a few weeks, right? End of November/early December?

[Agent Fusion]

That's a bit too enthusiastic. I would guess mid to late December, at the earliest.

[Dinobrick]

Mecheon, no I didn't see animated, it was a kiddy homage fest. Worst move Hasbro made.

Ehem, let me help you: the mouthparts of a spider are NOT homologous with scorpion pinchers. The mouthparts are homologous with scorpion mouthparts, while the pinchers are homologous with the spider arms, which sometimes end in bulbous sacs used in mating.

Last time I checked Scorpions didn't use their claws as legs.

Appendage dose not mean leg, it means any outgrowth of the body that is used for movement, manipulation of food, and mating. It is even sometimes used to reffer to digits (fingers and toes).

[InfurnallDragon]

Mecheon, no I didn't see animated, it was a kiddy homage fest. Worst move Hasbro made.

Ehem, let me help you: the mouthparts of a spider are NOT homologous with scorpion pinchers. The mouthparts are homologous with scorpion mouthparts, while the pinchers are homologous with the spider arms, which sometimes end in bulbous sacs used in mating.

Appendage dose not mean leg, it means any outgrowth of the body that is used for movement, manipulation of food, and mating. It is even sometimes used to reffer to digits (fingers and toes).

I too was once one of those kids in class that knew too much about arachnids and let everyone else know. Memories. Protip: never tell a reading group of 10 yr olds about the dust mites.

Now back on topic: I understand spiders can be dangerous even when small, but there can also be MANY of them. Unless LOSS is not a unique badguy and there are more running around, I will never be able to take him seriously while comparing him to all 6 toa at once.

I would also expect the Dragon Bolt effect, where if hes unique he will be shown much larger in animation.

Edited November 10, 2014 by InfurnallDragon

[Dinobrick]

Will do about the dust mites!

Back on topic, why are the toa two different sizes? Is it a marketing strategy, let the kids get the not matoran and lower priced to a with their own money, and beg their parents for the three bigger ones?

[Quisoves Pugnat]

Will do about the dust mites!

Back on topic, why are the toa two different sizes? Is it a marketing strategy, let the kids get the not matoran and lower priced to a with their own money, and beg their parents for the three bigger ones?

Back on topic, why are the toa two different sizes? Is it a marketing strategy, let the kids get the not matoran and lower priced to a with their own money, and beg their parents for the three bigger ones?

The most obvious benefit is the avoidance of making all the Toa clone-sets. It's also possible, that, given this is a reboot, LEGO is still cautious about releasing titans in the first wave of the year (as was the norm from 2007-2009.) If that is the case, then the larger Toa might be seen as something of a compromise, fulfilling the demand for larger sets without introducing extra characters (LEGO has apparently expressed a desire to avoid making BIONICLE Gen 2 unnecessarily complicated.)

[Dinobrick]

Dang. I liked the complex story. :(

But I'd be careful too if your bringing bionicle back, having titans this early on could kill of the line before it gets its footing. Save the big sets for the summer wave.

[Echo]

That's a bit too enthusiastic. I would guess mid to late December, at the earliest.

Toys R Us usually gets the winter waves in early-mid December for Christmas with some themes occasionally a bit earlier.

[ZORK64]

The Brothers Brick has a Flickr album some great high-res images of all the sets. The official website also has great high-res images of the Toa, masks, and weapons on its character pages. Finally, the LEGO Bionicle Facebook page has most of the pictures from the NYCC panel, as well as pictures of all the Toa in both Battle Mode and Adrenalin Mode.

Here's a Brick Fan article containing all the released images.

Thanks for all those links!

Now, I guess I'll share my thoughts on these guys with you just like I always used to do with new waves...

As already stated in the respective reviews, I really like Kopaka, Tahu and Onua.

Lewa looks fine, except for his weird-looking mask. It also possibly alienates me because I fail to see on what mask it is supposed to be based on. None of Lewa's old masks looked like this, as far as I can remember.

Gali is cool. While her mask also seems more original, it fits her theme quite well, as it looks like some sea monster.

Pohatu is my favourite of those three. His mask looks awesome, and his weapons are Jetarangs!

Among the Protectors I like the Protector of Wind and Earth the most, with Ice being a close second and Water 3rd. Fire and Stone look okayish.

The Spider creature itself looks like a decent parts pack. Especially for its head which is apparently a chest plate - that allows quite some interesting MOCing ideas.

[Lord-Vorahk]

Got to say, I'm not a fan of LoSS. He's just some random technic parts with limbs.

[arc]

As far as the protectors go, stone and air (I know the box says jungle, but it will always be air to me.) Are definitely my faves. Really like their weapons. One thing I just noticed about the air protector is that he has an asymmetrical add on piece on one arm like the protector of stone.

My least favorite is actually fire. I'm not sure what it is, but his design just seems off to me.

[Aanchir]

Got to say, I'm not a fan of LoSS. He's just some random technic parts with limbs.

By that logic, is every Technic set or G1 Rahi also "just some random Technic parts with limbs"? Pretty much the set's whole design is built around its function. There's nothing the slightest bit random about it.