Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion

[DraikNova]

Got to disagree on that one. Bionicle has personality, but that's in the sense that a chokingly dust-filled room has personality. And what's worse is that they decided to reuse that personality for G2.

Still, all this doomsaying is absolutely ridiculous. Even if Bionicle ends in 2017, it'll have gotten the same pre-planned run as is generally given to LEGO's big bang themes. Moreover, what with SW constraction being as popular as it is, Bionicle ending just means it'll be replaced with something better.

[Quisoves Pugnat]

Surely prognosticating BIONICLE's future on the basis of sets designed over a year ago is rather silly? 2017 is the earliest the line's reception will impact the sets, I should think.

Got to disagree on that one. Bionicle has personality, but that's in the sense that a chokingly dust-filled room has personality. And what's worse is that they decided to reuse that personality for G2.

That's hardly fair. You might not like its personality, but to suggest that it's simply unpleasant residue (if I take your comparison rightly) is to ignore the raw effort that's gone into fleshing BIONICLE out.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Quisoves Pugnat

[DraikNova]

That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that Bionicle's building style, is highly disjointed, impractical and generally not fun to build with. It's all overly complicated pointless detailing and very few parts that help make the creation coherent. I felt that way with G1 and G2 seems to be the same overlayed onto CCBS, which, while alleviating some of the problems, doesn't fix them.

And for those who don't get why overly complicated is a problem, you know why cartoonists generally go for more abstracted character designs? It's because they are easier on the eyes, and allow for whatever truly unique design elements they have to stand out rather than getting lost in the general miasma.

Edited February 16, 2016 by DraikNova

[CabooseBM]

There's good ways to have a "busy" and "complicated" aesthetic, but you still need solid broad strokes and a base to build those details on, and Bionicle G1 very rarely accomplished that.

[Quisoves Pugnat]

That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that Bionicle's building style, is highly disjointed, impractical and generally not fun to build with. It's all overly complicated pointless detailing and very few parts that help make the creation coherent. I felt that way with G1 and G2 seems to be the same overlayed onto CCBS, which, while alleviating some of the problems, doesn't fix them.

Ah. That makes more sense. Still, speaking as someone who's enjoyed both building BIONICLEs and looking at them, for years, methinks that this is a rather subjective issue. I do agree that it's far from perfect. CCBS makes building creatures (of a certain size, at least) significantly faster.

[santaends]

I can't wait for Ekimu..

Edited February 16, 2016 by santaends

[VBBN]

These sets look awful.

-VBBN, 2016.

In all seriousness, I think Ekimu and Umarak are alright but nothing outstanding, but honestly there isn't a single thing about these beasts that I find appealing other than some of the pieces. And while the functions might be interesting in theory, they look very out of place in execution.

[Fulcrumfan91]

All these "2017 doom and gloom" predictions make me want to stop following this discussion.

So what if Lego cancels Bionicle in 2017? They already cancelled it once in 2010, and they still took the risk to bring it back. If the line is canceled, we'll still have had an additional 3 years of life to the line we would never have imagined in 2010.

And if Bionicle only does live 3 years, in that short space of time we got new parts and new methods of building CCBS.Any $15 Toa is light years ahead of similarly priced Hero Factory sets.

Besides if anyone worries the theme will die badly; just think back to the Bionicle: Stars in 2010... Trust me, anything Lego does in 2017 will easily be better than the Stars were :)

This. Well said, and my thoughts exactly. Who cares if Bionicle ends in 2017? We will still get amazing Bionicle sets that we never had back in G1. I'm already pretty satisfied with what we got!

[santaends]

Close enough.. could have more size 4 trans blue shells. I realised I have lots of s3 but only 1 s4 (from Mask maker vs skull grinder, Ekimu's torso piece). Pardon the potato quality.

Edited February 16, 2016 by santaends

[The Outsider]

EDIT: is that a nuva symbol on ekimu's chest? i always thought it was and umarak had one on his box, but i can't make heads or tails of what it is. it looks like two capital F s facing each other.

I don't know, but there's something in your link that I noticed: look at the golden curves in Ekimu's chest. He doesn't have a Nuva symbol.

He has all of them!

[Bigger Fish]

Okay, time for my thought on these sets. I like them, they most certainly aren't perfect, but they do have a unique look, a good variety of parts, and excellent color schemes. I also actually like the beasts' messy aesthetic because it helps sell us on the fact these things are horrific monsters. Lava is the strongest looking out of all them, but has the blandest color scheme. Storm has the best color scheme and his function looks like fun to play around with as well. Ekimu is the strongest set in the wave even though he's the most generic looking. All in all, an interestingly experimental wave with some fun things to goof around with.

[DraikNova]

Close enough.. could have more size 4 trans blue shells. I realised I have lots of s3 but only 1 s4 (from Mask maker vs skull grinder, Ekimu's torso piece). Pardon the potato quality.

-snip-

I think your MOC may look better than the official set. Also, potato quality is the best spell check error ever.

[Toa_Bomb]

I don't know, but there's something in your link that I noticed: look at the golden curves in Ekimu's chest. He doesn't have a Nuva symbol.

He has all of them!

i noticed that but didn't mention it because i thought everyone already saw it

i looked through them to see if there was a seventh distinct one because i'm really not sure if that thing on his chest is even a nuva symbol, it's very rounded at the sides.

Close enough.. could have more size 4 trans blue shells. I realised I have lots of s3 but only 1 s4 (from Mask maker vs skull grinder, Ekimu's torso piece). Pardon the potato quality.

-snipperooni-

nice moc. what are the tail things by the legs? pardon if this is off topic

Edited February 17, 2016 by Toa_Bomb

[santaends]

nice moc. what are the tail things by the legs? pardon if this is off topic

Supposed to make a chainskirt but realised can't fit one in the middle due to torso shell. So they were left hanging xd.

OkayI also actually like the beasts' messy aesthetic because it helps sell us on the fact these things are horrific monsters.

Ekimu is the strongest set in the wave even though he's the most generic looking. All in all, an interestingly experimental wave with some fun things to goof around with.

Agree with that. Can probably learn some cool techniques from the lava beast. Anyone spotted new colours for shells, or rare colour?

[Shakar]

Well, I've followed the topic but never found the right time to reply, so I'll try to sum up my thoughts now:

I can't share the enthusiam for this wave that others have shown. I think the Winter wave has much better sets overall, it's not a quantity issue at all. It seems many (EDIT: why was this all-caps? Lol) people here criticize Ekimu for being generic while praising the Beasts for the innovation, but I completely disagree on that. I guess I value looks over function, at least when it comes to Lego.

-Starting from Ekimu, I honestly think he's the best set out of the box. He's fully armoured, he has two functions and two weapons! And he's very faithful to his 2015 form. The trans light blue MoCr is gorgeous and I'm glad it didn't fall prey to the BMS (Blended Mask Syndrome™). I'd replace some tr. light blue and gold with silver. But overall, good set, can't wait to get him.

-I..don't like the Beasts very much. I can appreciate experimenting, but Scorpio was an experiment too. Scorpio's issue was "function that sacrifices articultation and aesthetic". The Beasts are fully articulated, yes, but Storm and Quake are complete messes. Creative, I guess, but, not worth the result in my humble opinions.

-Quake honestly look like a bunch of random parts stuck together, with a purple head and a magenta chest printing that mess up the otherwise clean and fairly good colour scheme. Storm is the most interesting in terms of colours, but he's not as solid looking as Lava and his back is terrible. Meanwhile Lava plays it safe and looks like the best of the bunch, too bad his colours are so overdone.

-I'll get Lava and probably Storm since they have pretty good parts, Lava especially can be revamped into one of my villains. Quake is a pass since Terak and especially Onua are far better trans purple parts packs. I fail to understand why the designers think the villains in this "reboot" need to look so awkward compared to the heroes.

-I can't defend Umarak the Destroyer. The legs are out of proportion, with tiny thighs and gigantic shins. The arms are.. awkward, and I'm being nice. The entire neck/head section looks like a bunch of parts thrown together. The colour scheme is boring, a far cry from the striking and unique colour palette of Umarak the Hunter. The otherwise good mask is rendered useless by the neon green top. There's not even an extra mask included.

-The only good part is the torso build..but that can't justify my purchase, especially since it's made up of parts I most likely already have.

-It's unaccetable that Grievous is such a good figure while BIONICLE 2016's main antagonist gets such an underwhelming set. Umarak the Hunter is a terrifying and unique monster, this "upgrade" of his looks like a generic brute.

Ah well, looks like I'll save up some money (40 Euro, at least). More bucks to spend for pieces I need.

EDIT: fixed some typos.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Shakar

[Logan McOwen]

I can't help but notice something.

In 2010, Hero Factory was introduced. It basically built off what late Bionicle had introduced, but with its own little twists here and there. In 2011, it changed things up quite a bit by introducing a different style of building. The sets that first used said style weren't the best, but as time went on things improved.

Meanwhile in 2015, Bionicle was reintroduced. It basically built off what late Hero Factory had introduced, but with its own little twists here and there. In 2016, it changed things up quite a bit by introducing a different style of building. The sets that first used said style weren't the best.

[WARHEAD]

Not if they keep going in the same direction with the new mould designs they won't. Cluttered and busy, not fitting in with the parts that are already there, and in some drastic cases even very functionally limited, with only a single connection point on the part. The difference between what's happening now and the introduction of CCBS is that the later focused on innovation and freedom of design while some of the new parts actively limit it, both in the looks you're able to achieve (things are always gonna end up a greebly mess of pistons and translucent spikes) and the functionality of the parts themselves.

Pretty disappointing so far IMO.

[Bigger Fish]

EDIT EDIT: look at this sinful mistake

You know what? Uxar actually looks pretty good with the lime green blades, Ketar with the dark green blades, not so much.

[GK733]

Not if they keep going in the same direction with the new mould designs they won't. Cluttered and busy, not fitting in with the parts that are already there, and in some drastic cases even very functionally limited, with only a single connection point on the part. The difference between what's happening now and the introduction of CCBS is that the later focused on innovation and freedom of design while some of the new parts actively limit it, both in the looks you're able to achieve (things are always gonna end up a greebly mess of pistons and translucent spikes) and the functionality of the parts themselves.

Pretty disappointing so far IMO.

The lack of connections sure is.

I mean, out of the four new molds with the summer sets which 2 are masks, (which is acceptable) but both the jaw and especially the crystal shell seriously lack with connection points.

[DraikNova]

Not if they keep going in the same direction with the new mould designs they won't. Cluttered and busy, not fitting in with the parts that are already there, and in some drastic cases even very functionally limited, with only a single connection point on the part. The difference between what's happening now and the introduction of CCBS is that the later focused on innovation and freedom of design while some of the new parts actively limit it, both in the looks you're able to achieve (things are always gonna end up a greebly mess of pistons and translucent spikes) and the functionality of the parts themselves.

Pretty disappointing so far IMO.

Yup. I'm in half a mind to pick up Storm Beast to show that even I could build a better set with the same number of parts and same general volume. The only thing stopping me is that I don't want that atrocious lower jaw piece in my collection.

[WARHEAD]

I actually kinda like the jaw part. I was more referring to the very, very limited '16 toa torso plate, the summer wave crystal addons and to an extent even the "bone" bones from last summer.

[santaends]

Yup. I'm in half a mind to pick up Storm Beast to show that even I could build a better set with the same number of parts and same general volume. The only thing stopping me is that I don't want that atrocious lower jaw piece in my collection.

Hehe there's a reason why villain sets always end up in the clearance pile here. Only the occasional Dragon Bolt gets the good treatment. Everything else is there to make Toas look big.

But if you buy Star Wars constraction.. they are taller than Toas. Technique wise.. you decide.

[MakutaOfWar]

*sigh* I like tall figures with nice proportions, but I like the villains being equal in mass/height or larger then my heroes. ;-; Morality>Might, you know?

[Fulcrumfan91]

*sigh* I like tall figures with nice proportions, but I like the villains being equal in mass/height or larger then my heroes. ;-; Morality>Might, you know?

Other than the Rahkshi and not counting titans....weren't most G1 villains smaller than the toa? Bohrok, Vahki, Visorak, Piraka...I suppose Barraki were pretty equal, but still. I also feel like imagination is supposed to play a role with these sets.

[MakutaOfWar]

^Personally, at least, I felt that the overall mass of most G1 villains were on par with the Toa and such, but most G2 villains are, in my opinion, emaciated and uninspired. Excusable last year, since they were, you know, skeletons, but another year of unarmored villains kind of casts a shadow(heh) on the whole thing. Especially since it could be the 2nd of 3 years of the run. And like I said, they're really uninspired this time around, quite disappointing.

Also, G1 main characters were priced accordingly with each other; canister-canister, titan-titan, canister good guy-titan bad guys. With the exception of 08 Takanuva. G2, though, has the pricing mixed with 15€/$ and 20€/$ Toa fighting primarily 15$/€ villains.

Edited February 18, 2016 by MakutaOfWar