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Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion

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Are Lava's crystal shells.....trans black? Now that' surprising. I think he's the best Beast overall. Very bulky and threatening. I wonder how Fire Lord's printed shells would look on him?

I do like Storm, mostly. Trans neon green looks a lot better with dark blue than it does with medium blue.

Crystal looks iffy, the worst one I'd say. The asymmetrical look isn't a bad idea, but as it often happens budget limitations limit the set's potential, and once again the look isn't the best. And, once again, someone doesn't understand that trans purple and solid purple are completely different shades that shoudn't be mixed together.

Can the Beasts' jaws even close? They look locked in place. It looks like their heads are the G1 ones, the chin is a pretty big giveaway. I honestly didn't need such a recolour, but at least we know they can produce that piece in transparent colours, so crossing the fingers for more shades. Overall, it seems that removing the lower jaw and using silver heads would actually contribute to the figures' look.

Ekimu's printing is pretty good, but I don't get what those grey wires on his chest are. Does he have a gearbox?! Even without it, he's a great value for 15 Euro, he's got so much stuff going on.

Umarak is a mixed bag. I don't like the hands and the Mask doesn't look that great honestly, even if it were fully gold. I'm mostly interested in the torso, which most likely isn't going to use exclusive pieces, so I'm not sure if there's even a point for me to buy the set.

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Can Umarak's upper legs handle all that bulk? I mean, he's standing so they can. Guess I never tested those friction joints to the extremes.

And Ekimu's shoulders are really wide, does he use a 2015 gearbox? If so then I guess no Piece of Unification, perhaps.

And Storms' arms are a tad ugly, imo.

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He has 3 fingers. 2 normal ones and a thumb. Just like in the leaked prelims.

In the prelims, it looked more like he had three basic fingers and a thumb. Also, I'm confused on why corrupting the creatures gave them lower jaws.

Edited by DraikNova

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So I'm wondering if maybe the jaws aren't static- From what it appears, they are mounted on an axle that runs though the head (which normally is used to mount a brain stalk) but what if there isn't a brainstalk on these sets? What if the build instead allows for the jaws to be pushed up? It could be part of the reason why the heads the trans neon green, to allow for some form of eye color since there is no stalk.

Since this would, in theory, give no friction to the jaw, it would hang open by default like it is in all these photos.

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In the prelims, it looked more like he had three basic fingers and a thumb. Also, I'm confused on why corrupting the creatures gave them lower jaws.

Nothing indicates that the Beasts are corrupted creatures, though...? That was just speculation before we even had pictures.

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It's still valid speculation, and the best explanation we have for the appearance of the beasts.

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It's very disappointing that the beast jaws are fixed and can't move. I really like the recolored crystal blades in Lava Beast and the trans black crystal shells are a nice surprise. The trans neon green head pieces under the masks(?) are a welcome surprise as well. Quake Beast's mask being the only solid purple in the whole set kinda stands out like a sore thumb but otherwise, he looks great and is very reminiscent of a Brachydios from the Monster Hunter series with the crystal appearance and his color scheme. I can't get over Umrak's new Uber Rancor form, so awesome! Insta-buy for me. Quake Beast was my favorite of the 3 initially but I gotta say, Lava Beast has to be my new favorite, just so awesome and Balrog-like. I really like his Wyvern-esque wings and the color scheme is great. The only thing I don't like about him is that from that angle he looks very empty in the back. Storm Beast has a good color scheme but is more mediocre compared to the other 2, although it's nice that it has a tail. Also, is it me or are the hands swapped around? The thumbs are upside down and it looks rather odd. Will there ever be a toy fair where there aren't any sets put together wrong? :wacko:

So I'm wondering if maybe the jaws aren't static- From what it appears, they are mounted on an axle that runs though the head (which normally is used to mount a brain stalk) but what if there isn't a brainstalk on these sets? What if the build instead allows for the jaws to be pushed up? It could be part of the reason why the heads the trans neon green, to allow for some form of eye color since there is no stalk.

Since this would, in theory, give no friction to the jaw, it would hang open by default like it is in all these photos.

Hmm, you might be on to something there. Perhaps they do have brain stalks though, and hitting them makes the jaws chomp instead of knocking the masks off, that would be pretty sweet actually. Edited by ToaDraco

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It's still valid speculation, and the best explanation we have for the appearance of the beasts.

With that same logic, we could also say that the Skeletons of last year are undead versions of the Toa. Which wasn't the case. Let's not jump to conclusions while we have literally no information. I don't know about you, but I don't think it's the best explanation either, considering that none of the beasts look like their corresponding creatures. Surely Lava Beast would have corrupted wings? In sets that are meant to be new forms of previous characters, there tend to be hints of their previous form. Shadow-trap shoulders on Umarak the Destroyer, for example, and I don't need to speak about the Toa. Whereas, in the beasts, there are no hints of Ikir, Melum, or Terak asides from one or two shared colours and weapons, but if we go by shared colours and weapons then Tahu is also Ikir because Tahu also has trans-orange and the new blade pieces in orange.

I think the best explanation for the appearance of the beasts is that 'The set designers designed them to be beasts'.

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Yeah, definitely not in for the jaws. Lava Beast and Umarak make it look good enough, but the other two... eh. Maybe they'll be better in hand, we'll see.

Lava Beasts overall design is actually probably my favorite.

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Even though we have only one close up picture of each set. I'll give some opinions

Ekimu- Just like his protector version in MM vs SG. He has too much trans light blue. And I really don't like the trans light blue Mask of Creation. His hammer also looks worse than his 2015 one. I'll only get him if his lower legs have Size 5 armor in Trans light blue.

http://img.bricklink.com/PL/90639.jpg

Lava Beast- Definitely looks better than what the prelims showed. I like the design and colorscheme but its a bit too gappy in the torso. I'll pick this one up If/when it goes on sale

Storm Beast- This is a mess. Those arms look awful and the torso isn't even the 2016 uniter one. Pass

Quake Beast- I was really hoping he would have Size 5 armor in trans purple. But I guess not. The left arm looks ok but the right arm is a complete mess. Another one I'll be skipping

Umarak the Destroyer- Other than the fact he uses trans neon green instead of trans apple green. He doesn't look to bad. I might get him depending on what other parts he has once his instructions are released

Overall the 2016 summer wave is one of the worst ones in constraction history IMHO. Hopefully more pictures will change my mind.

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Actually G1 did an awesome job in reusing pieces, especially with titans. And I'd love to remind you that from 2006 onward the amount of new molds introduced declined dramatically, causing the well known Inika syndrome.

I feel like this decline is often overstated. The Toa Mata introduced 19 new molds, the Bohrok 17 (Krana variations shared a mold), the Toa Nuva 15, the Bohrok-Kal 6, the Rahkshi 22 (Kraata variations shared a mold), the Toa Metru 23, the Vahki 12, the Toa Hordika 23, the Piraka 22, the Toa Inika 25, the Barraki 26, the Toa Mahri 23, the Phantoka 25, the Mistika 22, the Glatorian 19, the Glatorian Legends 18, and the Stars 6. So until 2009 there was no noticeable decline in the number of new molds in canister sets.

Edited by Aanchir

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To anyone complaining about Storm Beast's arms, especially the hands - keep in mind that ther are built incorrectly and posed extremely awkwardly, they should look better after having the set in hand. Those open ball sockets irk me a lot though.

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Surprisingly Awkward-legs Lava Beast is my favorite of the Beasts. Looks really nice. Black/orange crystal swords, trans black crystal armor, and that glorious chest print. Very sinister.

Ekimu's okay-ish. Still haven't decided on all the trans blue. But the black/trans red (orange probably) Umarak mask is sweet.

Not too sure on Storm Beast's colors. Something about them... And those hands are atrocious. Quake Beast looks alright aside from the solid purple head. And the shoulders. What is going on there?

Umarak's still monstrous. the gear hands should be fun to mess with. And I can tell the new Mask of Control will look really weird when not attached to the head.

In general stuff: I really hope the jaws move. I really do...

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Not looking like Ekimu has trans light blue 5 long shells. Guess he's another pass for me. Lava beast and maybe Umarak the destroyer are looking to be the only summer sets i'll be getting.

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Well Ekimu to me is still just meh. I never liked the idea of him going Toa so seeing it happen is off putting.

The Beasts are alright, their heads will take some getting used to, but they seem to be really fun toys.

Umarak, like many have mentioned, is the highlight of this wave, but he still has issues. Those ribcage pieces are too high for me, and the black on his horns is off putting to me.

Overall I do like these sets, and they leave a good impression, better than the skull villains.

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I swear sometimes these photographers don't understand the concept of kneeling down- I really would like to see some head on shots as opposed to the top down ones

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I'm thinking the jaws are attached to the mask knocking off feature, since it looks like they have eyestalks in addition to transparent heads. Better than being completely fixed... but not by much =P.

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I'm thinking the jaws are attached to the mask knocking off feature, since it looks like they have eyestalks in addition to transparent heads. Better than being completely fixed... but not by much =P.

No love for face breaking uppercuts?

Quake Beast seems to have a hair sticks and flower look going on...

I'll get that Umarak. And Umarak 1's chunk-of-bark face design aesthetic works better on the Lava Beast for me. I like that there's a ball linkage tail function on Storm Beast.

But Umarak and Lava are the only ones I'm into.

Edited by SpiderSpaceman

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I think Dorek's right about the jaws - which also means the 'knock-mask-off' feature is being used in a rather creative 'make the jaws close' way instead. Would add functionality to them and not make them completely in place. Only problem is that means they have no friction, unless we're getting a new eyestalk piece as well?

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