Best and worst Masks and helmets?

[Lord-Vorahk]

Well, I'm not sure if we have one of these already, but if it does exist, then it's so old that using it would be necroposting.

So, what are everybody's favourite and least-favourite masks? In Bionicle, Hero Factory, and anything else?

For me, I might as well divide it up a bit.

Bionicle

Best: The Ignika

Worst: Basically any Glatorian helmet that exposed most of the figure's face. Let's be honest, the Glatorian heads weren't great as faces, being all-trans and looking a lot like a certain Marvel Hero, weren't something you wanted to keep on-show.

Hero Factory

Best: Any of the 1.0/Breakout helmets. They all looked functional, they had their own identity, and they fit their characters.

Worst: Brain Attack Bulk. I mean seriously.

[Fulcrumfan91]

I have no opinion on Hero Factory, as I never bought any of those sets, but Bionicle.....

My absolute favourite mask of G1 has to be a tie between the Olmak and Miru Nuva.

Worst mask from G1....I'd say the mask I disliked the most was Nuparu Mahri's mask..still hate it to this day...never cared for Glatorian, so I have no opinion there.

G2: so far, my favourite mask is the mask of stone...least favourite...honestly I like all the masks...so I'd say least favourite is skull spider mask for me

[MakutaOfWar]

Bionicle G1:

Best: The original Hau just screams Bionicle to me.

Worst: Can't say I hated any, but some of my least favorites would be the 08' Kakama, Bitil's mask, and Berix's helmet on Ackar.

HF

Best: Either Furno or Stringer's 1.0, also Rocka's Breakout and Stormer 2.0's for dat Kopaka vibe.

Worst: All of the 3.0's except Stormer's, not big on animal themed heads. Also Bruizer's Forever Alone face.

Bionicle G2

Best: The Mask of Fire!

Worst: The Mask of Stone, too wide at the temple unlike the original Kakama(which I adore).

[Logan McOwen]

Y'know, I've never been able to decide on what the best mask is. I certainly have my favourites though - The Hau, the Miru, the Avohkii, the Noble Ruru, the noble Huna and the Mask of Fire.

The worst for me are definitely the Kanohi Nuva. Barely resembling their previous forms, with a tar-like consistency that clashes completely with the G1 aesthetic. Explain their goopy appearance away all you like, but it won't explain why the Nuva armour and weapons still had some solid substance. The Kanohi Nuva are just ugly.

As for Hero Factory, I can't really find fault with any of the helmets/heads... Except maybe XT4's head. It's very tricky to use due to its odd proportions. It still looks good though.

[Pate-keetongu]

Hmm.

On 2001 masks, there are none I would really dislike. All of them are great. Some, like Miru or Noble Huna or Pakari are very awesome and still evergreen in their design. The Nuva masks from 2002 on the other hand are mostly rather ugly. I think Hau Nuva looks alright and Kakama Nuva has funny hairstyle and cool moustache, but they are pretty far from the biomechanical looks of 2001 and Kaukau Nuva looks like a hippo that had ran into a wall.

Metru masks were alright. Some better than others, but none too terrible and none too awesome. Great Komau has a funny shape and Matatu and Mahiki have some great character on them.

Inika rubbery things were mostly bad. Iden was cool though and Nuparu's mask - can't recall the name - had rather spiffy design, if not very Bionicle-ish.

Mahri masks were good, better than anything since 2001, especially Arthorn, Faxon and Zatth. 2008 masks were mostly average, I quite liked the new Kakama and Axalara version of Miru, but Mistika masks were mostly bad (everything in Toa Mistika was mostly bad). Makuta masks were pretty cool, though less usable than the Toa ones, being so... monstorous?

Glatorian-Apes had few good mask; Tarduk's, Gelu's, Vorox's and Zesk's. But I have, again, problems recalling these. Smaller Iginka looked always better than the big on to me.

In conclusion, I think the best Gen1 masks are Noble Huna, Pakari and Miru, and Kaukau Nuva is the worst. Suletu, Calix and Elda were pretty darn bad too.

Hero Factory? Core Hunter's face is fantastic. Really great, I'd say. Scarox's face is quite cool too, despite being lame set otherwise. And Aquagon is spiffy. On the bad ones, I never liked the 2.0 helmets, And Bruizer. There's nothing good on Bruizer, honestly.

Gen2? New Akaku, that someones call mask of ice, is great, even better than the original. New kakama is great too, and The Mask of Creation is simply beutifully designed. On the bad ones, I never liked the new Miru, and against common opinion I don't like new Kaukau neither.

[Lord-Vorahk]

I didn't really consider G2 as a separate, but if we are, then...

Best: The MoCr, the Mask of Fire, and the totally-not-Arthron (Protector Mask) are my favourites. My least favourite of the ones released is probably the Mask of Air, which is a shame, because Lewa had my favourite build. However, I'm not much a fan of some of the new ones. The silver bits, both in shape and colour, put me off.

[VBBN]

Well, I think "favorite and least favorite" makes more sense as best and worst would imply functionality wise, but anyway,

G1

Favorite: I'm going to go against the grain here and say the great Volitak (Nuparu Mahri) and Maxilos' mask, mostly because I absolutely love gas masks and both of these had that look to them.

Least Favorite: Olmak. There's really nothing I enjoy about it.

Hero Factory

Favorite: Core Hunter without a doubt, but I also loved the versatility of the BP/Voltix/Speeda Demon helmet.

Least Favorite: Anything from Brain Attack honestly.

[Fulcrumfan91]

I also really like the Mahiki, Arthron, Iden, and Ruru...really I can't say that any of the other masks excluding the Kaukau Nuva and Volitak are my least favourite. They're all cool.

[Kalhiki]

G1 Bionicle:

Favorites:

Mask: Definitely Lhikan's Hau. Loved the new look of a familiar mask. Especially its concave mouth area. And the Kraahkan.

Helmet (because I differentiate Glatorian and Matoran Universe headwear): Malum. I don't know... Just looked scary.

Least Favorites:

Mask: Kaukau Nuva. D'ya need a reason?

Helmet: Skrall. Just... Don't like elongated back end...

G2:

Favorite Mask: Protector. Looks cute.

Least Favorite. The Bull Skull Mask. Compared to the other skull masks, it just doesn't look very threatening.

Hero Factory:

Fav helm: Corroder. I love that guy.

Least Fav: Rotor. That huge mouth and the lack of eyes is just... Ugh.

[YellowCorvette]

G1 Bionicle;

Favorites: Avohkii. The mask is just looks plain awesome.

Least Favorite: Pakari Mistika. It just don't look right on Onua.

G2 Bionicle:

Favorites: G2 Hau. Tahu looks great with the mask. Skull mask and Pakari G2 been honorable mention.

Least Favorites: G2 Miru. It just looks too small and didn't looks good like the G1 Miru.

Hero Factory:

Favorites: Brain Attack Surge and Breakout Rocka helmet. Like how their been designed.

Least favorite: Brain Attack Furno helmet. Furno looks more like a bad guy when wearing it.

Edited October 8, 2015 by ArmstrongYong

[GK733]

Bionicle

Best ones are Avohkii and Arthron

Worst masks are the Inika and Mistika Kaukau.

Best helmet is the one coming with xendox, vorox, zesk and Mata Nui.

Absolute worst is the one Vastus wears.

For G2 my favorites are the protector masks, Mask of water, mask of ice and the wide-chin skullmask.

I don't really hate any of the new masks but like almsot everyone else I tend to dislike the mask of jungle because I don't feel the design is respective for the original enough.

Best helmets from Hero Factory are the 1.0 ones -bulk and surge

2.0 barely are helmets

3.0 are an astrocity with almost nothing salvageable besides the wolf helmet.

Brain attack Breez helmet is one of my favorites despite not owning it myself.

Scarox has a really good looking helmet.

That said Brain attack Bruizer and Bulk are the absolute worst.

[TheDesuComplex]

I have to say that I dislike the original Kaukau- the design itself is very good, but I hate the fact that the entire mask is Trans-Blue and not just the visor with the mask coming in two pieces. I remember seeing a 3D printed model that did just that using a Mahri visor, but I can't seem to find it anymore.

[mysteriouspi]

Generation 1 has a ton of great masks so it's hard to pick favorites. However, I do prefer the Noble Komau, Noble Ruru, Rode, Vahi, Kualsi, Faxon, and Tryna. I thought the Adaptive Miru Nuva was pretty cool too, despite disliking most of the other Adaptive Nuva masks. Speaking of which, I can't say I care for the Nuva masks, Inika masks (though the Iden is all right), nor almost any of the 2008 masks. The Nuva masks were too large (so add the Olmak to that list too), and the 2008 masks just felt...off.

Can't speak for Glatorian nor Hero Factory, though I think Bulk's normal helmet, Witch Doctor's face/mask, and Core Hunter's helmet are all pretty cool.

I don't dislike any of the Generation 2 masks so far, though the Bull Skull mask is my least favorite. The best ones (in my mind) are the normal Skull mask, the protector mask, and the Mask of Creation. Hopefully next wave will add to this list.

[Banana92]

I'm gonna go and say for 01 masks, ruru for sure, any of the 04-08 masks would have to be Onewa's great komau,, wish it had been in more colors, or that a wind screen fit it because dang, didn't like the voya masks, and from 09, vorox's helm was awesome but I'd have to say, Tarix's helm was my favorite :D

[Onepu the Protector]

The worst: 2015 Mask of Fire, Sanok, Elda, Suletu, Kakama Nuva, 2008 Pakari Nuva, 2008 Kaukau Nuva, Brain Attack Bulk Helmet.

The best: 2001 Pakari, 2001 Kakama, 2001 Kaukau, 2001 Hau, Lhikan's Hau, Mask of Creation.

[Antak]

the Inika masks all looked pretty dumb, and were incompatible with everything. The 3 masks from the toa mistika were the worst though. oh, and hewki mahri's awful looking hat thing..

My favorite masks were the Ignika, The Olmac, The Kualsi, and the original 6 toa masks.

Hero factory wise, Core hunter's helmet was AWESOME. I really hated the later hero masks on bulk, breeze, and surge, when they started putting mouths on them instead of the cool looking mouthplates.

[Shakar]

I'll try:

BIONICLE G1

Best: Miru 01, Kakama 01, Akaku 01, Noble Matatu, Avokhii 03, ME Kraahkan, Kualsi, Faxon, Arthron.

Worst: Kakama Nuva 02, Pakari Nuva 02, Great Matatu, Great Komau, Kaukau Nuva 08, Hau Nuva 08.

HERO FACTORY

Best: Breez's helmet (both 2010 and 2013 versions), Surge's helmet (both 2010 and 2013 versions), Core Hunter's helmet.

Worst: Bruizer's face plate is the only one I really really dislike, all the others were ok.

BIONICLE G2

Best: Mask of Jungle 2015, Mask of Ice 2015, Mask of Creation, Skull Mask, Mask of Ultimate Power

Worst: the Corrupted Mask of Control is the only one I actually dislike.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Well, since this has gone and been dug up I suppose I may as well put in my two cents worth.

Y'know, I've never been able to decide on what the best mask is. I certainly have my favourites though - The Hau, the Miru, the Avohkii, the Noble Ruru, the noble Huna and the Mask of Fire.

The worst for me are definitely the Kanohi Nuva. Barely resembling their previous forms, with a tar-like consistency that clashes completely with the G1 aesthetic. Explain their goopy appearance away all you like, but it won't explain why the Nuva armour and weapons still had some solid substance. The Kanohi Nuva are just ugly.

As for Hero Factory, I can't really find fault with any of the helmets/heads... Except maybe XT4's head. It's very tricky to use due to its odd proportions. It still looks good though.

Okay, first off, "consistency" doesn't mean what you think it means. If any of your Legos have a tar-like consistency then they have literally melted.

As for "barely resembling their previous forms".. First, that's completely untrue in the case of the Akaku and Kaukau Nuva. The Hau Nuva still has the distinctive "mouth" and top ridge and bell shape, it's just lost the gaps and gained some ridges in their place. If you look at the Kakama Nuva, you can still see the "cheek" slits (just with a solid backing) and even the original bullet outline beneath the ridges. The Miru Nuva also has that going, the original but with some reinforcing ridges (that happen to make the mask in its entirety look like an oak leaf. Appropriate - something so easily blown about on the wind makes a good symbol for Lewa's element and the mask's power). The only one "barely resembles" really applies to is the Pakari Nuva. But on the upside, the design definitely works with the mask's power.

And there is a real-world reason that motivated the redesigns for the Nuva versions of the masks: Durability. The original masks were made of ABS, if you'll recall - it wasn't until the Avohkii and Kraahkan that they started being made of that semi-soft plastic. The original Great Kanohi, particularly the ones with big holes (Hau, Pakari, Kakama, and especially Miru), are thus a bit on the delicate side. So they were redesigned to be bulkier and less gappy so that they could take more abuse.

My personal pick for worst.. I'm splitting this between toy and story because reasons.

Toy: Kanohi Mohtrek (Bitil's mask). Why? Because the darn thing doesn't have its own peg! It relies on a separate axle! Tied with the Inika masks if those are counted as real mask parts despite their nature.

Story: The Kanohi Ignika, the mask of Death and Destruction and Dragging Certain Plot Elements Past When They Should Have Ended and Generally Just Being All Kinds Of A Nuisance.

As for best..

The Kanohi Avohkii, which looks awesome and which promised victory and happiness (even if that part was ultimately negated by the villain it was supposed to vanquish becoming a Creator's Pet... grumble grumble grumble...)

Can't really speak as to G2 Bionicle or to Hero Factory.

[Bartybum]

Okay, first off, "consistency" doesn't mean what you think it means. If any of your Legos have a tar-like consistency then they have literally melted.

As for "barely resembling their previous forms".. First, that's completely untrue in the case of the Akaku and Kaukau Nuva. The Hau Nuva still has the distinctive "mouth" and top ridge and bell shape, it's just lost the gaps and gained some ridges in their place. If you look at the Kakama Nuva, you can still see the "cheek" slits (just with a solid backing) and even the original bullet outline beneath the ridges. The Miru Nuva also has that going, the original but with some reinforcing ridges (that happen to make the mask in its entirety look like an oak leaf. Appropriate - something so easily blown about on the wind makes a good symbol for Lewa's element and the mask's power). The only one "barely resembles" really applies to is the Pakari Nuva. But on the upside, the design definitely works with the mask's power.

And there is a real-world reason that motivated the redesigns for the Nuva versions of the masks: Durability. The original masks were made of ABS, if you'll recall - it wasn't until the Avohkii and Kraahkan that they started being made of that semi-soft plastic. The original Great Kanohi, particularly the ones with big holes (Hau, Pakari, Kakama, and especially Miru), are thus a bit on the delicate side. So they were redesigned to be bulkier and less gappy so that they could take more abuse.

They were still ugly as hell. Also, I think Logan was talking about their looks, not how they actually felt. As for resembling past forms, all the Nuva masks aside from the Hau and the Akaku are really stretching it.

My favourites were (top 3 in order & excluding G2): the Faxon, Arthron and Adaptive Miru.

Least favourites: the Kanohi Nuva and the Inika masks.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

They were still ugly as hell. Also, I think Logan was talking about their looks, not how they actually felt. As for resembling past forms, all the Nuva masks aside from the Hau and the Akaku are really stretching it.

I know Logan was talking about their looks - I was pointing out a bad word choice he made. I also explained how the Kakama and Miru Nuva resemble their original counterparts more than they get credit for (and the regular Miru Nuva resembles its original self more than the Adaptive version, I might add :P)... perhaps I need to make a graphic to show what I'm talking about... As for ugly, that's subjective.

Edited September 19, 2016 by ZeldaTheSwordsman

[xboxtravis7992]

Favorite Masks:

Mask of Creation

Mask of Light

Hau

Hau Metru

Mask of Fire

Unity Mask of Fire (I have a thing for those Hau's don't I!)

Mask of Water

Noble Huna

Metru Huna

Axxon's Mask

Toa Iruni's Mask

Mask of Life (Literally incorporating a DaVinci design into robot form... great job!)

Least Favorites:

The majority of the Mistika and Phantoka designs,

Adaptive Hau Nuva (ughh)

Adaptive KauKau Nuva (double ughh...)

Mask of Jungle (it just doesn't look like a Miru does...)

2.0 Hero Factory clone helmets.

[ZORK64]

My apologies for not remembering the proper names of all the Kanohi, instead I'll refer to them by their respective characters:

GEEWUN Bonkles

My Favourites were definitely Tahu's (because it looks so Space Marine-esque), Lewa Nuva's, and Gelu's (that was rather obvious I guess, if you look at my avatar).

My least favourites were certainly the Inika masks (though that has more to do with the head design itself), along with the Piraka heads. Also, I wasn't too fond of the Toa Hordika either... though I completely missed out on these guys.

Oh, and then there's the design of Kopaka's mask with the lense. While the design isn't bad in itself, I never liked it because it looked so off on a character whose design is as knightly as Kopaka's (though I really liked the Phantoka rendition of it).

Hero Factory

Furno's and Bulk's 3.0 helmets are pretty boss, and I also always liked Breez' helmets (in pretty much any incarnation). Stormer got also some neat helmets

My least favourite (at least among those I own) is probably Furno XL's, since it looks plain awful without its visor on.

Bonkles G2

Once again, Tahu's mask is among my favourites (because SPEHS MEHREENS!), and I also like Gali's new Kanohi. The Skull guys also got neat masks.

But Lewa's first mask looked really awkward to me. His later mask improved on it, though not by much.

[Onepu the Protector]

I don't understand why MoF'15 is so popular... Sure, it maintains some iconic traits from the original Hau (such as the protruding, roundish mouth-piece and the vents on the cheeks) and I appreciate that but the eyeholes being so close-set and the wide, roundish shape with a chin so big it actually hits Tahu's chestplate make the overall design uglier and less dignified than the original Hau.

[xboxtravis7992]

In defense of the 2015 Hau:

It looks like a Hau.

Comes in four colors.

It ain't a Hau Mistika (ewwwww...)!

But in all seriousness, I think so many of us like it because it is well detailed.It is one of the few,masks with a sculpted interior side. Not even the Mask of Creation looks as good from the back. It resembles the G1 mask well, and is very nostalgic for many of us. I compared the differences between the original Hau from 2001, to the Hau in 2015 as the differences in design between a 2001 Mustang and a 2015 Mustang.

However we do understand your criticism to. It is a thick jaw. I personally like it since it gives Tahu an action hero vibe, but I can totally understand why it isn't for everybody. The 2016 MoF definitely improved the look in many ways.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I would actually like the Hau Mistika if it was presented as a new mask instead of an "adaptive armor" version of the Hau Nuva (that same kind of feeling applies to the Tahu Mistika set itself - indeed, it applies to all six main Mistika and Phantoka Toa sets).