The Outsider

Thanks, I'll be sure to check! Wait, where is this from?

Wait, so can I get a GWP with an online purchase? Because if not, then I'm screwed; there's only one LEGO Store in my country and it's all the way in the capital. Anyway, if the leaked image is indeed the final set (there's still the chance something changes between catalog images and the final product, even if it's just one piece changing color), I'm actually pleased. Masks are a bit iffy, as expected from being brick-built at this budget, but having two of the poster boys of the franchise (and representing the two "protagonist" species, to boot), and a display of iconic lore elements like the Amaja and the Mata Nui/Makuta stones? Sign me up! Only way it could be better is if it had a character from each element, or a brick-built Toa Canister for Tahu.

Honestly, what I miss most was the story integration. I'd be happy if they, for example, used a cardboard box that could be opened and folded inside-out to become a Toa Canister or a piece of scenery. Then again, though, I'd probably prefer that on a true reboot than just a GWP. Oh thank god you can get it through the site! If it were only through physical LEGO shops, I'd be screwed. Uh, neat! I'd personally like a Bricklink-esque that could let you buy either new molds of discontinued pieces or improved substitutes of defective ones (namely the lime-green sockets from the Mahri era). Maybe a system where you'd register for a piece and, once enough people made orders for the molding to be profitable, they'd charge you and send you the pieces you requested.

Wow, this looks even better than I thought! Comparing with the original figure and the cartoon-accurate Masterpiece toys, they're pretty much alike! I do wish the Matrix had a blue center instead of being all-orange, though. I think this is a single case collaboration, so it's unlikely. Especially for Grimlock; if Optimus is this big, Grim would be huge. But yeah, I'd also like to see more of this in the future. While I know they're even more unlikely because they're less well known than, say, Bumblebee or Soundwave, I'd also love sets of Amalgamous Prime, Nexus Prime and other Shifter-esque characters. I always thought that a buildable figure would be the best way to represent a character with infinite transformations, much like Queen Watevra. Or an alien jet. But the tank seems more popular, so it's far more likely.

Actually, given LEGO's own track record with their in-house themes like Ninjago and Exo-Force, any tank form is plausible provided it's futuristic/not-realistic enough. Or they could go the Movie/Prime route and give him an alien jet mode. As someone introduced to Transformers by Beast Wars, I second that. Might be a bit tricky, though - LEGO action figures tend to be better as mechanical or at least fully armored characters.

Wow, awesome!!

Technically, Bumblebee (and therefore Rise of The Beasts) being or not a part of the previous Michael Bay films is incredibly ambiguous; most fans (myself included) prefer to interpret it as a reboot both to distance from the previous films and all their problems and because the continuity between them is so irreconciliable it doesn't work as a prequel anymore; but it was produced and marketed as part of the original series, and it still is in some current tie-in media, and so far every statement refers to it as a "new storytelling universe" and "avoiding the timeline" of the Bay films, which could mean either a straight reboot or just avoiding the timeframe and themes of the previous films. Anyway, if this is true, and that a HUGE "if", as a fan of both Transformers and LEGO, particularly LEGO constraction - and no I don't care if it's System, if it's an action figure made by LEGO it's constraction in my book - I'm really excited for this. We need more of this among entertainment and toy companies, more friendly cooperation instead of constantly trying to one-up each other. Stuff like the Marvel/DC yearly crossovers after the first one between Superman and Spider-Man, or the cartoon-fest that was Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and sets like these.

The Inika were some of my favorite Toa designs and concepts post-Mata Nui era, despite (or perhaps because) being so wildly different from previous BIONICLE fare (the fact they were fully poseable without being hindered by gear mechanisms, and the first Toa team I ever completed, certainly helped). So seeing these great and wild redesigns, capturing the feel of uniqueness of first seeing this team, really warms my heart! My only critique would be giving Kongu axes; I understand your reasoning, but it feels too similar to Hewkii's, especially when they're presented one after the other. Otherwise, great job! BTW, Nuparu's "sword" was actually a Laser Drill, so you're more accurate than you thought.

Not exactly a Pokémon fan ( Idon't really like creature battles unless it's "fate-of-the-world" stakes like Digimon and Monster Rancher), but for what it's worth it looks impressive to me. And yeah, translating a stylized design to a physical form is always going to be a pain, so I wouldn't fault you for the eyes.

Wow, cool! Even though it's clearly lacking armor, it feels very complete - you could almost expect it to be used as-is!

From what I understood, the fixed piece is because these are sets for a younger demographic where stability is more important than articulation - in fact, one of the main quality tests after several complaints regarding Exo-Force is for the figures/mechs/creatures to stand on their own without needing to fiddle with them. Should the system prove successful and be adapted to older demographics, they'll probably include more articulation; the early designs even showed the fixed limb as two pieces connected by a pin.

I honestly always found the Barraki canisters harder.

So, recently it's been announced an Iron Man Figure which is pretty much an action figure built with bricks, much like the Knights' Kingdom II of old. Meanwhile, in Ninjago, one of the developers posted his work designing a new, brick-based mech and creature building system called SCCBS, clearly inspired by CCBS both in style and name (DuckBricks goes into a deep analysis of the posts here). And in the meantime, we've had very little development regarding CCBS or constraction as a whole. Do you think this means future constraction will be brick-based? Are you for or against it? For my case, I always assumed constraction was more a case of marketing and aesthetics than building system and as such would easily count Knights' Kingdom II and Exo-Force as constraction anyway (both of which I loved for the sets and particularly the story), so I wouldn't mind at all. I only hope future SCCBS sets will feature more articulation, which given it apparently depends on the intended age group it seems likely.

So, quick question: which canisters from all of LEGO's constraction history (from Throwbots/Slizers to Roboriders to BIONICLE to Hero Factory to any I'm forgetting right now) were the best and the worst in your opinion? Myself, I can't say much before the BIONICLE era, but I can definitely point what I believe was the worst from then on: the Toa Mahri canisters. Once they were open, they were practically unusabe as storage, which defeats the very purpose of a canister, and the armature/sub configuration made very little sense as a set (where was the floor?) or in-story. The best, on the other hand, it's hard to tell, but I'd probably choose the Toa Mata's original canisters. They were simple but functional, the rotating cover revealing the different Toa and iconic marketing scenes made for great advertisement, and they could easily incorporate not only one but two in-story elements: the Toa Canisters, obviously, but also the Suva with the lid - which also made an effective subtle collecting nudge to complete it with more masks and Toa heads.

This looks really cool! Great job!

This looks really great! Can't wait to see the rest! Are you looking for collaborators for the story development? Cause I'd love to help.

Given the idiom detection for Google Translate doesn't work for "Makuta", it seems to be made up for the BIONICLE character specifically, so that's unlikely. Anyway, I was looking at the BIONICLE Wikipedia page, and came across these examples from the music world: Whoever did these clearly likes Brutaka's blades. There's also a couple "Robonicle"/"Roboticles" parodies, but name aside they're not really very like BIONICLE. EDIT: While looking through D&D sites, I found this little thing. While a homebrew product and not an official license, it clearly wears its influences on its sleeve. I mean, just look at the artwork! They even have mechanics for Kanohi shasht masks!

And I know what I'm backing right now! Great design!

Funny, I remember seeing that comparison a lot throughout the internet, but somehow I always forget it until the next time I see it again. Maybe it's because I'm not as much of a DC fan.

Yeah, I've noticed already. Oh well, time to go create an account. At least I'll be able to vote on the canonization contests this way. I guess things haven't been as lively here since we've had no more official constraction sets. Here's to hoping for a future line.

Has anyone ever seen a character or a design in another piece of media that seems to reference BIONICLE or constraction in general? Not in the usual namedrop or set in the background, but something clearly its own thing but obviously with constraction influence. I ask because I've been looking through my comics, and I found some interesting panels. The first is from Siege: The Cabal, where a meeting of the titular group goes wrong and Doctor Doom is struck down, only to reveal itself to be a Doombot and unleash an army of robotic locusts. Robotic locusts with very familiar heads and pincers... Another is from Thor: Reign of Blood, where the titular hero pilots a familiar-looking Blood Colossus. This one the Marvel wiki outright says is a combination of Maxilos and Spinax. (Sorry for the poor quality of the images; my scanner is in the fritz so I had to use my cellphone) Also, there's this I've found on Youtube. What do you think, coincidence or inspiration? Any more examples you can find?

So, here's an idea that's been circling in my head for the past months: Apparently, one of the many reasons fans didn't like the 2005 storyline (I personally loved the aesthetic and themes, even if they were not well executed, and my greatest gripe is how the third movie is completely incompatible with the surrounding media of that year) is because, as a midquel, we already knew what the end result was going to be. And one of the main reasons LEGO insisted on it was to reuse the assets and environments from Metru Nui. So, I wondered: why didn't they make 2005 a direct sequel to Mask of Light? The Matoran were going back to Metru Nui anyway, and it had been abandoned for thousands of years; it'd be perfectly plausible for the Visorak Horde to settle in the meantime and become the next threat to the returning villagers and Toa. Seeing the city overrun and devastated right after hearing about its former greatness and teasing its return might even be a bigger emotional punch (to the character and to the audience) than it all happening in a flashback of a flashback. The Toa Hordika could even be the mutated forms of the Toa Nuva instead to go back to the fan-favorite team, or completely new heroic characters (therefore avoiding the "controversy" of their wildly new looks) who were former victims of the Visorak and followed them around trying to thwart them, becoming allies of the past characters. At that point, the only major unresolved plotlines were how the Toa Metru saved the remaining Matoran Pods in the coliseum (which, if the Horde hadn't moved in yet, didn't need much of an explanation; they just went back and got them) and how Makuta got out of the Toa Seal (which could be explained as the work of the Horde or Makuta breaking free of his own power with time, I don't remember if they established by then how durable the Seal was). What do you guys think? Do you think it could've worked? Do you have any ideas of your own?

My mistake, then. I kinda thought they died out sooner than the Star Wars CCBS. Plus they skipped the middle third of their story with the Dark Tribes, so that may have confused me.

Personally, I always defined a constraction line less by how they were built and more by how they were marketed. For a quick example, both Knights' Kingdom II and Legends of Chima had normal System sets and action figure-styled sets. However, when comparing both, even though Knights' Kingdom was entirely brick-built and Chima used CCBS, I would say the first was a constraction line with System sets and the latter was a System line with constraction sets, for a very simple reason: in most Knights' Kingdom media and advertisement, the "human"-like proportions of the action figures were treated as the official look of the characters, and the minifigures from the System sets as a scaled-down approximation, and not the other way around. It's also why I consider Exo-Force a lot closer to constraction than other mecha sets. That being said, would these sets count as Constraction? https://ideas.lego.com/projects/020b51d3-5fee-4f8d-8179-878ee40c7ef3 https://ideas.lego.com/projects/7b0627e8-5f97-4fbe-844c-a2b7a1e0dc90

Didn't they try that on Legends of Chima and failed? Then again, aside from sorta-maybe representing that projection the characters had when using Chi, those sets weren't canon anyway. One market I think would be great for constraction would be adult collectors, either of licensed properties or as updates of previous constraction sets in the style of Ninjago Legacy/Transformers Masterpiece. The latter would be a little harder to pull off, though: since the sets are usually assumed to be the closest to the canon appearance, most media tends to be as toy-accurate as possible, so aside from a BIONICLE Miramax trilogy line or characters we know the looks of but have no sets (unmutated Karzahni, snake Metus, Energized Protodermis avatar), the most significant difference would be better articulation and perhaps whatever weapons were cut from the toy but sneaked into the media (Mahri Nuparu's Aqua Blaster Blade, Inika Jaller's second Energized Flame Sword, Stormer 2.0's baton).