Dr_Chronos

While it's a very real possibility that Bionicle will be discontinued past 2017, I wouldn't call it down for the count yet. The Star Wars figures and the growing use of CCBS in system sets have shown that Lego is taking interest into the construction market. I wouldn't be surprised if Bionicle continued as a test bed for other construction lines or to add diversity to the parts palette, and that's assuming it's not already proven to be a reliable theme which I believe it has. Clearances are a normal occurrence toward the end of the year. That's just the store getting rid of old stock to make room for the new. Clearances *this* early are a bit odd, although some did happen last year with LOSS, Pohatu, and the Gali + Onua combo. Some sets just sell better than others. As for the shelf space, I will agree it has sigificantly decreased in comparison to the Big Bang deput 2015. In my personal opinion I think it's a combination of the performance of the Skull Villians, the demand for the Force Awakens Figures, and the emergence of a new Big Bang (NK). While I agree more advertising would certainly help I don't think it is the only way to save it. Constraction has always been a niche market, and I honestly think Bionicle has already reached the bulk of the audience that would buy it. Better Set design, more content, more interactivity like contests, there are many other ways that Bionicle could bring in fans other than a few commercials here or there. As for the future for Constraction I think it lies in a combination with CCBS and System. The Mixels have proved that such a thing could exist and be popular even among non-action figure fans. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Gundam-esque Mech theme in the future like Exo-Force.

Lego has released some new combo models for some of the new Toa, they're a little weird but I'm happy to see any combo models at this point. http://www.lego.com/en-us/club/member/articles/details/bionicle-article-march-1b8e228855014071af3c7e67db6e77f6

The PGD-1 was an attempt to create a more realistic punching motion. I went through a lot of different designs, most of which were either to wide or too bulky. I think I hit a compromise here but I still think it can be improved. Video demonstration: PGD-1 test

The quality jump was unexpected. I really liked these last few episodes and the series as a whole. I feel it works better as an action-comedy more than any other Lego show. I can't wait to see where this goes next.

Pros: -Excellent animation, this includes the models, effects, backgrounds, colors, etc. -The Prolouge was a nice way to bring viewers up to to speed. -Basic but good plot. -Balances show time for each Toa. -Average voice acting depending on the character. -Heavy hinting toward the Toa's origin. -It was funny. Cons: -Lackluster pacing. While there were time constraints I do feel the pacing could have been greatly improved, specifically the second half of the second episode and the first half of the third episode. -Average to cheesy to sometimes even uncharactisc dialogue. Kopaka and Pohatu suffer from this. -The dialogue. Why need I say it twice? Because it is one of the largest cons I have and it really bogs down the experience. The word choice and repetition, how exposition was revealed, and how the unity "lesson" was crammed into five lines too many. -The hinting on how the Toa were related to the maze was nice, but where it really falls short is the much needed explanation on how they relate to the creatures. Overall I enjoyed JtO for the most part, but I feel it could have been much better. I had set my expectations low so it exceeded them, but in the end I can't say I was fully satisfied. I would (but didn't) rate it as 3/5.

This is just an uncommon photo comic depicting Blaster and Millennia "fight". It's most likely not canon considering the crowd, but it does hint that Blaster and Millennia were on opposing sides. I'd like to see it if you don't mind.

The "good" Slizers were Fire/Torch, Sub/Scuba, City/Turbo, and Ice/Ski. They faced off against the "evil" Slizers who were Judge/Jet, Jungle/Amazon, Rock/Granite, and Energy/Electro. I use quotations because we don't have any actual information on what each side was fighting for. We're not even sure how they fought, some comics show them fighting an open plane while another shows them at the dome playing some kind of disc-throwing game. They were described as gladiator-like figures and that's all we really have to go on. The discs they had showed various scenes. I forgot the relation between the power level and the picture, but I do recall some types. One had each Slizer facing off an environmental enemy, another had them flying in their pod, traveling across their environment, and one had an object that would power them up. The last type is the most mysterious, because Judge's power up had a beam of light launch from the dome implying his motivation was the control of the planet or perhaps unlimited power. Later on the Meoteor hit and the story became more convoluted. Jungle and Judge fused into Blaster as evidenced by his face, but the rest of the new bot's identities is up to theories. We do know that Millennium fought against Blaster in a game not unlike the previous Slizer games, but that comic is not confirmed canon.

With Nexo Knights taking up the more European setting I'd like to see if the next historic Castle theme focuses on other civilizations, like Greeco Rome or perhaps Mesoamerica.

I'd like any member of the droid army, Battle Droid, Super Battle Droids, Droidekas, you name it.

I don't see it, but the idea of Ekimu piloting a Green Lantern-esque armor suit has improved the set dramatically in my eyes.

I must have watched the Tahu video at least 15 times already and I'm still clicking replay. The quality is absolutely fantastic and the cel-shades work much better than I though they would. Most importantly for me is the amount of dynamic angles and movements, which was something the animations lacked. Everything feels so alive. The effects were also very impressive. I was dampering my hype for JTO but now it has hit maximum overdrive!

Storm does have some exposed ballpoints, but they're in front of the Skeleton torso yet below the SH chest. It doesn't look like the SH addon is attached to the Skeleton shell so maybe he uses two torso bones. Or perhaps something else entirely.

Storm doesn't use the Uniter Torso, he uses the standard HF one. Quake I'm not sure about, he either uses a custom solution or a flipped small torso.

While I'm not bothering to share my thoughts until Toyfair, these leaks are in a much higher quality than the Skull-leaks. What you see is what you get.

The summer sets have been leaked on 4chan. First impressions; as of right now none of them look appealing, but I hope my opinions will change once toy fair comes along. The Beasts all seem to be humanoids similar to the Invasion from Below monsters, even down to a similar head design. Ekimu will probably get some printing to cover up his chest and maybe his mask. I like his hammer but that's about it. I need to see more of Destroyer Umarak. Right now he looks like an aesthetic downgrade from his Hunter form, although I do like his Ganon-esque appearance. His MoCo seems to look like it melted into his face. You can definitely see the mask is weathered and stretched, and the horns of the mask have become actual horns. That's actually really cool. I'm usually the most critical type, but to be honest I'm just going to wait until toy fair and set reviews before I slam these poor fellows. I have a feeling the blending, printing, and actual IRL pictures will show them in a slightly better light.

Well, the third episode was very disappointing. The exposition was incredibly heavy and they've already sucked the life out of the personality-based jokes. Not to mention the suddenly poor dialogue near the end. Finally, the Nexo Power once again does no special effect other than poofing monsters on contact. That's not to say there wasn't any enjoyable parts, but I think the postives and negatives here canceled each other out to make an alright episode.

The Bionicle site has updated with some new info. Umarak's page is intriguing: "Millennia ago, when the Elemental Creatures came into being, the shadows gave birth to a terrible fiend whose sole purpose was to hunt the Creatures, to trap and bind them in darkness and drain them of power. He is known among the Protectors as Umarak, which in their tongue means ‘Shadow Hunter’. They fear him greatly and pray that the Toa will be strong enough to confront him. Should the Hunter ever track down the Elemental Creatures, Okoto’s very foundation will be threatened with destruction." So "Umarak" means "Shadow Hunter". Nice touch.

I was going to do a series of new part analysis because it's sort of a tradition I do every wave but it looks like I'm going to have to cut it. Here's just a quick summary because I doubt I'll have the time to write it: Unity piece: A little more clunky than I would have liked and doesn't fully cover the torso, but it's an alright looking piece. It's not so much much the textures that bother me, it's more of its deceiving flat surface. Bear trap: Nice part with a future in the claws department. It looks pretty spiffy as armor, and the fact that two of them can mesh together is fantastic. It does have a few maybe-useless pistons but since they aren't that noticeable compared to the teeth I'll let it slide. Crystal Armor: Probably my least favorite new piece. Some colors look good on it, others don't. So far on mine the translucent half is more of a tip, with the metallic covering too much. The transition between mechanical to crystal just seems off because it looks like the crystal part was slapped on rather than integrated. Credit where credit is due it flushes nicely on the shell. Crystal Sword: The fact that it isn't translucent doesn't really bug me, this thing looks glorious. It's a nice, thin, detailed sword piece that doesn't feel cumbersome. I actually think it looks closer to the Unity piece instead of the crystal armor, the hilt textures match with the UP and it isn't translucent in color. My only gripe is that compared to the hilt the actual blade is a bit small but the piston detail makes it look like it can extend. New Torso Shell: Remember when I said the Crystal Armor was my least favorite piece? Scratch that, my brain was just trying to make me forget this thing. As someone who has a monstrous pet-peeve for distracting useless piston this thing nearly made me lose it when I got it in-hand. The printing is great, the shape is nice, the lack of more than one connection point is very disappointing, all of this I could accept. The belt of useless pistons in the midsection? Nope. Burn it. Cleanse it all, it must be cleansed! Axel-Gear: This piece is downright revolutionary. With the addition of many small Technic bits over the years it is now possible to integrate functions better than any before. It's versatility is amazing. Suspension! Tiny play functions! Switches! So many ideas and uses I could see this working for. Hands down the best new part. Turntable Function pieces: For a function I think this is less complex and less versatile than the gearbox but I like it. The movement won't collide with set as much, plus waist articulation for everyone. I do worry about the friction. I hope it doesn't wear out after long use. Creature Head: The ideal clone mask with more connection points to give each a bit of individuality while keeping that team look. The shape is very similar to the Protector masks of last year, which I thought was nice. It's hollowness and metallic colors may make it a nice armor piece. The eyes (or rather lack of them) are a bit disappointing, but making them more visible would have made the combiner helmet look awkward. I'm interested to see what this piece would look like with non-metallic colors.

DesignerJohn Ho shares what sets he designed for 2016 as well as a few personal remarks https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/iced_coffee/24025810231/

Here's a new webisode, personally I liked this one much better. Jestro and the BoM make the show so much more fun.

I've got a few purchases decided already, but I can't decide on either Gali and Akida or Lewa and Uxar. They both seem to be evenly matched. Which pair would you folks recommend?

Good ideas. My ideal monsters would be disease themed. It's really hard to describe, but try to imagine alien vehicles with a micro-organism motif. Probably with a lot of spikes thrown it for good measure. The Dragon-Mech sounds like a really good idea, if Lego doesn't make it I sure will. It would be nice to have a unique Dragon these days.

There's an idea!

Seems a bit counter-productive to the whole "not your typical princess" thing she has going.

Great review. Of all the Toa I think Onua is the best, and he's the only Uniter that will be a Day one purchase for me. I like his previous incarnation more but to honest both are fantastic sets.