Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[aaroncb]

Picked up Tahu and Kopaka and their respective "protectors"

I honestly have no idea what's going on within the universe since years now, but seeing how well the 2 sets came together makes me want to go out to the crate i have in the garage of and dig out the Nuva versions I have. wonder if we'll get a Taka Nuva?

[MakutaOfWar]

A graphic novel? Ooooh the excitement just peeked. :3 The comics in Gen 1 were my main source of storyline information from 2006-10 so that's really awesome.

[Scarilian]

They are giving stuff away free, so they can naturally give it to who ever they want. They don't owe anything to anyone. It's just an another social media raffle.

To an extent they can give it to whoever they want, but when it conflicts with the rules they wrote that is where i see an issue. Its not that they owe anyone anything. I would just like a competition from Lego that actually is well planned and executed for once and follows the rules.

I think what they mean is that you can only have one prize a week, and not only one for the whole competition. So if you enter with six different masks in the same week and you win with more than one mask, you'll still get only one prize.

If that was the intention its not written that way.

Anyways, I don't really understand why you're so concerned about that, it's a competition organized by Lego, what did you expect ?

Eh, i suppose i'm just not as use to witnessing the sillyness of a Lego competition having been away for a while. I mean, their is always the legendary life-size Visorak competition where Lego never actually revealed the winner, but other than that situation i hadnt experienced any Lego competitions prior to the MOC contest and this BionicleMaskHunt. I guess everyone else is used to this sort of thing at this stage... just will take me some time to accept that Lego competitions will always suck. I'll stop mentioning it now because everyone else has accepted it, but its just disappointing that this will likely be a consistant factor in Gen 2

Got some new info on Bionifigs, thanks to Piruk : a graphic novel will be released on November 24. 7,99$, 80 pages. And we know thanks to the Kindle edition that the Chapter Book will be titled "Island of Lost Masks".

Interesting title, guessing its just a way of re-telling the story of the Mask Makers and the three main masks... alternatively its the Toa getting their masks. Either way, nice to see a graphic novel coming soon :3

[Dorek]

I think you're still misreading it... that Q&A image you posted very clearly says that what happened is allowed. They clarified something in their TOS that would otherwise be confusing. Realistically what they should have done is modify the TOS itself to reflect the clarification, but it's definitely not against their own rules, or at least their intent of the rules.

Anyway, looking forward to the books and graphic novels, it's about time we get some more media up in here.

[Logan McOwen]

Looks like I'll be getting into reading again!

[The Outsider]

Got some new info on Bionifigs, thanks to Piruk : a graphic novel will be released on November 24. 7,99$, 80 pages. And we know thanks to the Kindle edition that the Chapter Book will be titled "Island of Lost Masks".

Nice! Do you think it will keep the webisodes' simplistic artstyle or will it be something different (and perhaps more toy-accurate)?

Edited April 23, 2015 by The Outsider

[MakutaOfWar]

Ew, I hope it's more like the Gen 1 comics, not the box art and web thingy style. Keep in mind that people would be paying for it, it should be of some quality.

[Logan McOwen]

That's unnecessarily dismissive. Things don't need to be as realistic as a technical manual to be "of some quality"... Yeesh.

Edited April 23, 2015 by LewiMOC

[The Outsider]

Ew, I hope it's more like the Gen 1 comics, not the box art and web thingy style. Keep in mind that people would be paying for it, it should be of some quality.

Which Gen1 comics? There were three artstyles I can remember: the one from the Mata Nui arc (which I think is what you are referring to) was mostly toy accurate, but tweaked with things like better proportions and armor cracks to make the characters look more real and less like toys; the one from the Ignition arc was sketchy and a bit abstract (and frankly, a bit of a mess IMHO); and the other comics were completely toy-accurate.

Also, quality in artwork is relative. What some might find good artwork, others might not. I, for example, prefer something a bit more detailed and realistic (but not on Alex Ross levels of realistic), but I think the current simplified style fits the webisodes and their simpler, kid-friendly atmosphere perfectly.

[MakutaOfWar]

That's unnecessarily dismissive. Things don't need to be as realistic as a technical manual to be "of some quality"... Yeesh.

But they don't also have to be cheap and cheesy. And of course it's wrong of me to hope for something more attractive to my preferences, and most likely those of the fans. When you step into media such as graphic and word novels it fades away from promotional material and more into targeting those who already have an interest and supplying the means of keeping an interest.

@The Outsider I was talking about just more detail in general, though the variety of artists and style in Gen 1 was pleasant. :P I thought Sayger's 06's and 07's work was very fitting for the dark tones of those years, and the shift to a new artist in 08 with the cleaner style was fitting as well.

[Logan McOwen]

I know this isn't G2 related, but I just want to point out that Christian Faber has released

... And he shows us the Voodoo Heads! Most of these are never before seen concept models, so this is pretty bloody amazing!

[TheLastToaofLight]

http://www.brincalan.../lego/bionicle/ Official summer wave box images. Edited April 23, 2015 by TheLastToaofLight

[TheOneVeyronian]

http://www.brincalan.../lego/bionicle/ Official summer wave box images.

Nice find! It's always nice to have crystal clear high res pictures. I don't know what it is, but somehow I'm not such a big fan of the new armour add-on anymore. I think, weirdly perhaps, the rough 3d printed ones we saw at Toy Fair looked better. But I'll probably end up loving them when I've got them in my hand. Notice there's hands reaching out for the masks in all the pictures (aside from Grinder's for obvious reasons) - I wonder whose hands are those? The Toa's? Seems to me the Skull Army want the masks too, but I wonder why...

Here's direct links to the images for easier viewing:

Skull Warrior

Skull Slicer

Skull Basher

Skull Scorpio

Mask Maker vs Skull Grinder

[GK733]

I know this isn't G2 related, but I just want to point out that Christian Faber has released

... And he shows us the Voodoo Heads! Most of these are never before seen concept models, so this is pretty bloody amazing!

Funny things to say the least. I'm surprised how much some of the bone heads look more like the Okoto heads than metru or mata.

But seriously these need to be confirmed as Great Beings :D

[Kalhiki]

Voodoo Heads looks like it would have rocked. That walking ball and chain guy is nightmare fuel.

[mysteriouspi]

Quick, somebody MOC all the Doo-Heads! Fascinating that this is what BIONICLE spawned from. I like some of them, not so much others.

Good find on the box images too. Funny how dark they are compared to the winter wave's more colorful look.

[Logan McOwen]

That walking ball and chain guy is nightmare fuel.

The motorised one? Yeah, he's pretty horrifying.

[Scarilian]

I think you're still misreading it... that Q&A image you posted very clearly says that what happened is allowed. They clarified something in their TOS that would otherwise be confusing. Realistically what they should have done is modify the TOS itself to reflect the clarification, but it's definitely not against their own rules, or at least their intent of the rules.

The question asked was about multiple winners, not multiple prizes. They acknowledge multiple winners can happen but didnt acknowledge the fact the winner recieved two prizes and the potential to win two more prizes due to being a winner twice.

http://www.brincalan.../lego/bionicle/ Official summer wave box images.

Definitely going to be getting all of these for parts anyway, but i cant help compare them with the Star Wars sets. Sure a licensed theme would have better sets, but still. Definitely going to be modding a lot of the sets by combining them with the Star Wars builds.

As for the box art, i wonder if Basher being closest to the temple means anything or is just for showing off a new box art... Worth noting the furnaces in the forge are also powered up so maybe someone is already their...

Edited April 23, 2015 by Scarilian

[The Kumquat Alchemist]

Voodoo Heads looks like it would have rocked. That walking ball and chain guy is nightmare fuel.

I may end up trying to replicate something similar, as that devil looks like a mechanical version of something out of Killing Floor. It will probably end up being all "classic" parts -no CCBS- as something about the old Technic aesthetic, with its gappy wing-like armor and few slightly-greebled beams is quite appealing.

Edited April 23, 2015 by The Kumquat Alchemist

[Tazakk]

I just realized that Skull Scorpio is sitting atop an opening stone coffin on his box art. Perhaps Ekimu is buried in that graveyard, and that's where the Toa find and awaken him. Then they proceed onward with him to the Great Forge, and we eventually get to the scene on the Mask Maker vs Skull Grinder box art.

[ZORK64]

Those Voodoo Heads are an interesting find. I like the Rahi-like creature with the "moving head forward and biting" action.

As for the Necrons... err Skull folks, I'm still unsure which one I want to get. Mask Maker vs. Skull Grinder looks like a great set, as Mask Maker as already a nice built from the get-go and Skull Grinder comes with a healthy amount of those new axes (he looks also pretty cool).

Skull Slicer might be a good parts pack, while Skull Basher looks also pretty cool. I also like Skull Warrior, even though his toes kinda stick out (but they'll be great for MOCing). Skull Scorpio is the only one I'm not that much interested in, though the black bone thingies and the mask might be useful parts I'm still lacking in my own collection, so who knows.

[GK733]

Those Voodoo Heads are an interesting find. I like the Rahi-like creature with the "moving head forward and biting" action.

The Rahi thing is the most complete of those. Became Muaka and Kanera. Honestly only ones that resemble anything that can be guessed are the axe guy (Lewa),, Those two bulky dudes Tarakava, kanera prototype and that RC controlled fellow. (Manas)

And if I want something form future sets, it's animal like creatures with functions.and creatures that are almost clone sets, but not mroe than 2 As far as clone sets go, having two of a kind in different colors is okay. One of the reasons why the idea of Hydruka and Mahritoran's worked so well, there was only two of each (not counting Karzahni) so they didn't really felt like clone sets that much.

Edited April 23, 2015 by GK733

[Lord-Vorahk]

*Quietly seethes at the mention of Hydruka*

The Voodoo Heads look kinda awesomely-creepy, but I think they'd be pretty poor as sets. Funny to see the barely-altered Muaka.

[dviddy]

Ew, I hope it's more like the Gen 1 comics, not the box art and web thingy style. Keep in mind that people would be paying for it, it should be of some quality.

Since we'll be paying for it, I agree, we should get something quality. So I hope it's nothing like the often quick and shoddy artwork we got with the Gen 1 comics, which were free, after all. I want it to be something better than that, since we're basing an arbitrary concept of quality on how much something costs. The new style is brilliant, and it's dismissive and rude of you to say it's cheap and not quality when people have worked very hard on this, and a less realistic art style says nothing about quality or work that goes into something. I have friends who do caricature work for a living- it takes just as much, if not more, work to create something that is cartoonish, yet represents reality in an exaggerated manner as it does to create something that looks life like.

And if the more set-accurate style was what "most fans want", it is what we would have gotten, as these things are all very heavily focus tested first. You're more than welcome not to like it- I didn't much like Sayger's artwork for BIONICLE (though his "real" comic art is fantastic and he's one of the nicest people I've ever met at a comic convention), but that's not to say he's not talented and that his contributions weren't quality. There's merit in saying you don't enjoy something- there's very little in saying it's not quality or cheap when you have little understanding of the work that went in behind the scenes or the talent utilized therein.

[Lyichir]

Since we'll be paying for it, I agree, we should get something quality. So I hope it's nothing like the often quick and shoddy artwork we got with the Gen 1 comics, which were free, after all. I want it to be something better than that, since we're basing an arbitrary concept of quality on how much something costs. The new style is brilliant, and it's dismissive and rude of you to say it's cheap and not quality when people have worked very hard on this, and a less realistic art style says nothing about quality or work that goes into something. I have friends who do caricature work for a living- it takes just as much, if not more, work to create something that is cartoonish, yet represents reality in an exaggerated manner as it does to create something that looks life like.

And if the more set-accurate style was what "most fans want", it is what we would have gotten, as these things are all very heavily focus tested first. You're more than welcome not to like it- I didn't much like Sayger's artwork for BIONICLE (though his "real" comic art is fantastic and he's one of the nicest people I've ever met at a comic convention), but that's not to say he's not talented and that his contributions weren't quality. There's merit in saying you don't enjoy something- there's very little in saying it's not quality or cheap when you have little understanding of the work that went in behind the scenes or the talent utilized therein.

Love you Deevee.

I often prefer a non-set style for Lego media because in a strictly realistic style, you generally see fewer original characters and subjects, since most artists are not in fact MOCists and designing custom builds is outside their wheelhouse. Heck, even when you DO see original subjects (like various scenery elements in the Mata Nui Online Game), such objects often use non-real pieces or parts in non-production colors. A more abstract style means that, should you want to build an object from that comic/animation/game/whathaveyou, there's more room for creative interpretation and part substitutions without the end product looking any less accurate than the set-based designs from the same media.

That said, it would indeed be terrible if the quality was like those horrible, clearly-traced Bionicle comics that surfaced earlier this year. But I don't think that's likely to happen at all.