Toa Eljay
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Everything posted by Toa Eljay
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That's all nice and good and all, but how does that excuse things? A toy with limited articulation is a worse toy than one with more. I dunno about you, but when I was a kid, I was all about posing. Posing is an incredibly important part of play to many kids. The most? Not likely. But having both is certainly better than just one. Even then, I'd think articulation would be more important than a function. That's just me, though. Bionicle being aimed at children may be a reason, but hardly is it ever an excuse. =P
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To be honest, I'd bet money that the extra piece is just another stud. Each and every one of my Protectors came with 7 extra studs, totaling at 13.
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I quite honestly hope no one is stupid enough to buy it for that price when they can get it for so, so much less while also giving Lego profits that can go further into Bionicle itself.
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On the flip side of that coin, one could argue that it is that lean look that is the issue. In fact, that's what everyone already does. They're gunning for the skeletal look, so one oughta ask: What's a skeleton? Obviously, these are - as you noted - undead skeletons. Meaning that they were once living... Toa? Protectors? Protectoa? Anyways, since they're decayed and undead, shouldn't that be reflected? While Slicer looks lean and mean, I'd argue that Warrior does it better. He has armor, but not too much. Just enough to remind us that he was once alive, and has decayed. Yet, he still has enough of a lack of armor to remind us that he is, in fact, a skeleton.
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That photo of Skull Basher has me thinking. If you look behind his head and at his shoulders, you can see that his arms are connected to Glatorian necks and what appear to be those three holed pieces used on the Rahaga. I'm gonna say it now, I personally believe he has a function that allows his arms to swing back and forth, instead of up and down like the Toa. AKA literal bashing. Money is down. Place your bets.
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At best, those were polybags. At worst... No, those were just polybags. They don't even get to count as sets. >=( Okay, hold on. This is an issue I have with a lot of people. The story rarely affects the sets in most cases. Hence forth, the Av-Toran being prototype Matoran means nothing to me. The sets were terrible because they were terrible. Nothing more, nothing less.
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Now now, I'll let you finish, but the Av-Toran were most certainly the worst sets we've ever gotten. =P All in all, I see both sides of the coin as far as these sets are concerned. Skull Grinder/Ekimu: Quite honestly, they look fantastic. I'm glad the representation of Ekimu in the animations can finally be seen in set form, and I'm eager to get a hold of those masks. I like the hammer design and the new recolors, and since I didn't get Queen Beast from HF, I'm looking forward to the shoulder armor. Skull Grinder looks, for the most part, alright. He is a bit gappy in some places, and the upper legs compared to the lower legs is a tad jarring, but I eagerly await the new gearbox variant. (Clarification: When I say "new gearbox variant", I mean what they add to the gearbox and how they use it. Like the different ways they used it on the Toa.) Skull Basher: This one, surprisingly, is my second favorite. Now, I'm not normally one for purple, or any color nearby, but I will say that this one looks really nice. As opposed to most of the fellows I've discused these sets with, I'm actually not opposed to the orange/red and purple color scheme. Out of all the sets, he seems the most consistent, solid, and fleshed out. Skull Warrior: It was a really close call between him and Scorpio, but I went with this guy for my third because he's fairly basic, and because of that he can't do a lot of harm. I like the color scheme, and I like the weapon. Not sure how I feel about the white ammunition, though. What are they? Solidified souls? Teeth? Breath mints? Other than that, I don't like the orange, but everything else seems fine. Skull Scorpio: I like the design of the more finalized set, primarily the legs. The scorpion look is gotten across well enough, and I think he'd make a good pal for LoSS (R.I.P). Not a fan of the trans lime/trans orange mix, though. Quite jarring. The tail, while most don't like it, makes sense to me so long as it's able to come down in front of it and pin opposing Toa down. Otherwise, it's useless. But here's hoping it has some mobility. Skull Slicer: So, with all the debate regarding how they all look, I think they're overall brought down a little when this guy is around. He's really the one primarily throwing around the naked ball joints and overall lack of armor. While I like the new recolors, I feel they're overshadowed by the severe bare bones (no pun intended) feel of this set. I like the concept for the four arms, though. I'm also interested in the piece at the end of the orange chain. All in all, I don't mind this wave. I think they are supposed to evoke "skeleton" in every sense of the word. They're skeletal as we know that to be, and skeletal as the CCBS knows that to be. With that in mind, I think these sets pull it off. Without that in mind, they still seem to function, but are certainly lack luster compared to what we just got with the Toa and Protectors. TL;DR: The Av-Matoran were horrible in retrospect.
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I'll be darned, that appears to be the case. I checked just 2 or so hours ago and they were still there.
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They're so gray. I'd bet my Bionicle key chain on it.
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Let's expand that to summer of 2015 as well. 01: Use awesome mask powers, fight terrible monsters, defeat Makuta, save Mata Nui. Alright, sure. Now 2015.... Use mask powers which allow them to control the very elements, fight terrible monsters (AKA skeletons with weapons), liberate an entire city, liberate an entire island, find masks of incredible power, awaken Ekimu, etc. They're basically the same, actually. Toa had to in the end get golden masks in 01. They're just doing it quicker now and with a lot less fluff. It's January. Hardly time to even judge. Heck, if we went to 01, we'd be annoyed at MNOG for being about beach travel. =P
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Oh yeah, I do realize. All quite true. Granted, there are a selection of folks which wish for the days of 06 or 08, and expect something far more serious and brooding than what we're giving. That, to me, seems a little sad and unusual that there are people that want it to be more serious and try to take it more seriously than they oughta. That's a dislike I've seen from a lot of people, and it's a little unfortunate. I suppose it's like how they don't like CCBS because of how it works and looks, because they prefer the more techno-look of G1. And yeah, good point in regards to the straightforwardness of it. But even with that in mind, I know there are a lot of people that would rather the animations be more serious than anything else. I'm quite glad we've got some humor mixed in, similar to Kapura from MNOG, or heck, even the little Hitchhickers references. I am really interested to see what summer holds. From everything I've been hearing, we're in for a lot of fantastic pieces, at the very least. As far as the story goes, I can't even begin to fathom what they're cooking up for us.
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You know, I do really have to laugh at how a lot of peoples criticisms of G2 are that it isn't darker like the later years of Bionicle, and that somehow makes it worse. I think a lot of people took old Bionicle very, very seriously and are trying to do the same this go around. We oughta just be able to have some fun with the line. Like a bad movie we know is bad, but we watch just because it's amusing. Biggest difference here is that this new line isn't bad, and we don't even understand the full feel of it because the story hasn't been solidly kicked off, sans animations. TL;DR: Let's have fun with G2, and not try and make it the Lego version of The Dark Knight. (Was this all just pointless? Dang...)
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Granted, this is assuming from his post that he never played it and hated it outright. Maybe he did play it, and didn't like what he played so he stopped? Regardless, I doubt this is topic material. The guy is entitled to an opinion like the rest of us, no need to flip pancakes. =P Also, someone clarify something for me, please - Did Bionicle go out of stock on Lego S@H? -LJ
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Well, of course it means something else! If we follow this comic... It means Prisoner of Spiders. But then Pohatu saves him. So he's just a Piece of Sand. =P Okay, I'm done now. Sorry. ;-; -LJ
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Well, according to this fellow on Reddit, they've shown up in Ontario, Canada. Bricks and Blocks... Huh.... -LJ
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Battle For The Golden Mask Competition: Entry Thread
Toa Eljay replied to VBBN's topic in LEGO Action Figures
Entry One: Gallery Entry Two: Gallery -
It isn't rocket surgery or brain science to figure out the contradictions between the images of the instructions you see in the sets actual instructions and mere CGI images. Bionicle fans have always been rather adept at figuring these things out considering we're so used to CGI trickery. And I must stress, VBBN seemed to manage alright. It seems rather straight forward. Speaking of errors, Lewa's shoulders look rather cold, and I actually like Zatth's modification to Gali, don't you? :P -Eljay
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Honestly, video reviews are tricky. If BZPower only did video reviews, I'd agree to an extent. I don't fully agree with what you said considering these barely count as combination models at all and BZP specializes in text-based reviews (something I'd like to get into). The Power-Ups are seemingly easy to figure out, as shown on this site considering VBBN managed them all fine, Kopaka's included. Maybe not at time of release, but that's because he didn't have the Protectors yet, as most did not anyways. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think it's entirely a bad thing Black Six made that review and all, it's just perplexing as to why it couldn't have been done earlier considering these are incredibly simple modifications to make. All in all.... Ok. -Eljay
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I know BioniFigs has a review of him/her. At least, the photos are on Brickshelf here. And yeah, I'm a little confused as to why these modes weren't just covered in either the Master or Protector review. I mean, I guess it's nice to have more pictures, but it seems a little out of the blue. Heh... Blue... And we were talking about the Protector of Water... Heh.... Sorry. -Eljay
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Man, this trailer got me even more excited than I already was. Gosh dang it, that was awesome. Only things I wish to mention here would be the videos upload/publish date, which the website claims to be Jan 31st. Anyone else find that unusual, or expected? And finally, as if it needed to be confirmed anymore... It's Lee-wah. I kept telling everyone, no one believed me. :P That trailer was great, the epic music took me by surprise. I am looking forward to these videos. -Eljay
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I would like to take a moment to inquire about 08 Takanuva real quick, and his storyline size/consistency. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it established before we saw 08 Takanuva that Av-Matoran were given a size increase in Karda Nui, and as such, the same held true for Takanuva? That seems rather consistent to me. Also not something I think Greg decided since it was main storyline material. I don't really mind seeing larger bad guy sets so long as they're well built. It's almost been a staple of Bionicle to have it that way, at least since the Bahrag. If we get another Tuma or Irnakk, though, that may be... Problematic. -Eljay
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Yeah. I saw the review. And like I said earlier, I do have Lewa's chestplate, so I'm aware of the metallic look of them, as well as the cracks. I do like that aspect of them. All in all though, I'm still not entirely convinced. Cause we've seen patterns in Bionicle before, and I'm well aware the current members of the team have done their research, so it seems a little strange to me that these are the patterns we're given. Normally when I see tribal patterns, they're often very symmetrical. Maybe I just haven't seen a lot of tribal patterns... As far as it being like patterns we've seen before in Bionicle, however, would you happen to have some examples that resemble the format of these? Cause the majority of symbols and patterns I remember from the Mataverse years were often a clean pattern, and quite symmetrical. Maybe I'm forgetting something, which is why I'm asking. I will say, I do like the cracked look they have if you look closely. I feel if they just removed the large marks across them, the chest pieces would be a lot better. Either that, or something closer to the Nuva symbols. I'm glad that there is something there that draws the eye, cause if it were left blank it would certainly feel empty. Honestly, I do have to disagree in regards to the vines on the Protector of Jungle's feet. I'm glad that they are there, but the color seems really odd being mixed in with the KeetOrange and... Other translucent green of which name I am not aware of. One could argue that it's a mix of the two aforementioned colors, but it's oddly placed and could easily have been swapped out for another color. Which color, I'm not sure. At the moment I don't know which colors it came in. However, I would agree that they do look good on Lewa once he's been "powered-up" with the Protector pieces. Gali's is also very nice though, yeah. Works well with her colors for sure, so no complaints there aside from the design. -Eljay
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Yeah, I can't say I see it anymore after looking at them based on how you see them. Lewa's is the only chest piece I have with me, and I looked up vines and plantlife, and the closest thing I could find that was close enough was this. (Warning, large image). I guess this is just one of those things I'll just never get used to, unfortunately. Ah well, everything around them looks fantastic, and that is what matters to me. :) -Eljay
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I don't really understand how that's a good thing. You can make something cluttered and abstract and not have it look like a child drew it with a marker. And I guess it's interesting if one finds weird X's and abstract Y's interesting, but I guess I'm not one of those people. There just seem to be much better ways to go about this. You can print a techno design on these and it'll have an even better look, I'd believe. I mean, look at Onua's. Onua's printing (er, stickers) is the only one I really like, cause it not only matchs with all of his colors, but almost invokes a sort of... tribal feel, I'd like to say. Like he's wearing armor painted with a symbol of the Earth Village/Tribe/Koro/Koto/etc. The others don't seem to have that same feeling, and just feel weird to me. I don't understand why they didn't just go with an elemental design, or a design like that of the new armor add-ons. -Eljay
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This perplexes me a little bit. Maybe I'm not seeing it right or something, but all of the chest printings look like obscure scribbles with the sole aim of making the torsos asymmetrical and dorky. I can understand if these were suppose to work alongside the mini-movies, but there are certainly better ways of adding a complex look to their torso armor than this, I'm sure. Not to mention, some even break up the color schemes. Lewa's has lime for no apparent reason, Pohatu's seems to have dark red... It's really odd. Am I just not seeing these properly? Is there some pattern, something I haven't realized yet? Cause right now, they're just really... Abstract. -Eljay