Lyichir

Lego DEFINITELY retires pieces, even if they don't have a direct replacement. If a part's mold is old and worn out, and does not get replaced, then the mold itself gets destroyed (occasionally integrated into the concrete foundations of new construction). And while Lego's designers might technically have access to those pieces for the design process, the cost to reintroduce a part like that is similar to that of creating an entirely new mold, and as such it hardly ever happens. In this case, though, there was never any question of a part being retired in the first place. The fact that the part in question hadn't been used in black in years doesn't prevent them from reintroducing it in that color. As long as they still have the mold for the part, all it takes to recolor an element is to change out the color of plastic used in the molding machine.

I don't know the UK release date for the sets, but in the U.S. they'll be coming out in August. There's a topic for discussion of the TV show, books, and other media in the Lego media and gaming subforum, but I'll try and answer what I can here. Lego uploaded the episodes to YouTube ( and ), but they might not work in your region. If they don't, EB member OmShanti uploaded them here and here, where they should work without issue. I'd say Ragana is an okay villain, though she doesn't get a huge amount of characterization in the episode. She is not one of the five sisters—in fact, based on flashbacks she seems to be about the same age as the main Elves characters.

I feel like compared to the updated Toa (who featured changes in their color schemes, armor styles, and weapons), the new Ekimu feels a little too safe. His color scheme is mostly the same, just organized differently. Armor-wise, he feels mostly like last year's Ekimu, just... stretched out (even reusing the same Chima armor pieces that defined a big part of his look last year). And his weapons are just another hammer and shield—both of which almost feel like downgrades from last year's weapons in terms of functionality (his shield no longer has a gear for spinning it, and his hammer no longer has a shooter). When we first heard that we'd be getting a standalone Ekimu set this year, it wasn't clear what to expect. Part of me was hoping that, rather than the cliché "Toa Ekimu" everyone was wanting, he might get an upgrade while remaining a diminutive mentor character for the Toa. Armor-wise, I was kind of hoping for him to trade the Chima armor for gold recolors of the Vorox armor that's shared by two thirds of the new Toa, which would be an awesome recolor for that part and help to create a sense of unity with the new Toa designs (use of the Unity piece might have helped in this same way). In terms of functionality, part of me was hoping for him to do something unique with parts like the Creature gears instead of mostly repeating the functionality of last year's Ekimu and this year's Toa. And I really wasn't sure what to expect, weapon-wise—but it certainly wasn't the reuse of the same shield from last year. I dunno. The new Ekimu is a solid figure, but he feels... predictable. Instead of really doing much that's genuinely new or surprising, he mostly recombines aspects of last year's Ekimu with aspects of the 2016 Toa. The result is a figure that almost feels more like your average "Toa Ekimu" MOC than it does like an original set design, and that definitely puts a damper on my enthusiasm after I had gotten my hopes up for something exciting and new.

It's a new recolor, but it's the same mold as the "ghost sword" piece from last summer's Ninjago sets.

He's not an awful set by any means. But even in these latest pictures where he looks pretty good, he still disappoints me a little, if only because I feel like they could've done so much more with him...

I'm still hoping we get a Nexo Knights chess set with Scurriers and Squirebots as the pawns. The good guy battle pack, at least, would be a good source of King's Squirebots if I wanted to make my own... but Scurriers are still fairly hard to get, and I can't help but feel hesitant to start putting down money to make my own chess set when an official one is still a very realistic possibility...

Considering Azari's technically homeless, unlike the other Elves, it's possible that she didn't attend school with the other Elves, either.

I'm pretty sure Quake Beast's head is still just Medium Lilac, like last year's Onua used for some of his shells. The one at Toy Fair might've been slightly discolored, or it could just have been a trick of the lighting (which often leaves a lot to be desired at those sorts of events).

The "masks of corruption" could conceivably be regular masks (maybe masks originally worn by the wildlife, like the masks worn by the Creatures) that have been corrupted by Umarak the Destroyer's power. No telling, but considering Makuta has so far not been shown to even still occupy a body, I don't think he's been doing a lot of mask making.

Personally, I prefer the Ultra Stealth Raider. It seems like it'd be easier to display, and has a more interesting-looking build/functions. Though I'll probably end up getting both. They basically have no overlapping figs and my budget can probably support both, so for me it's not an either/or situation.

I understood what she meant. I've never had a set that was missing any part as big as one of those Chima bat wings, as far as I can recall. Don't know how I feel about Ragana getting her body back... part of me was hoping she could come back next year instead, as an evil dragon. Though I suppose turning herself into a dragon is still a possibility with or without a body.

Interesting. Apparently Lava Beast can fly? Also, Ekimu's description curiously doesn't even mention the Umarak mask it contains...

I imagine the biggest factor in which parts are printed and which are stickered is whether the parts in question have been printed before. If a part is commonly printed (like the 1x1 round tile), that means that the specific tooling for putting that part through Lego's printing machines already exists. If it hasn't been printed before, there's a good chance that that tooling was never made and would have to be engineered from scratch. In the former case, printing a part adds very little to the cost of production, but in the latter, it can add significantly more. In the case of the new wheel arches, since they're a new part and will be decorated in their first appearance it was probably determined that it was worth the cost of producing the tooling to print them along with the molds for the parts themselves. Which is a good thing for fans of prints since it means that those parts can continue to be printed in future sets at minimal cost, even though it also means that we might have to wait longer for unprinted versions...

I'm not aware of any such change. Are you sure it's not just variation in some of your specific parts, rather than an across-the-board change?

This would probably fit better in the Community subforum than in General Lego Discussion... Anyway, I'm on the autism spectrum and have NVLD (Non-Verbal Learning Disorder). I'm sure both of those things played a role in attracting me to Lego as a child. As a side note, I've always thought it would be a good thing if the AFOL community had some sort of census or survey. I know there have been surveys but I've seen very little in the way of actual sociological studies of what sort of people make up the AFOL community. And I think solid numbers would help point the community toward ways they could be more inclusive, as well as giving insight into exactly how large the AFOL community as a whole is.

The theme was mostly vehicles, but it also had a few decent location-based sets—70010 The Lion CHI Temple, 70014 The Croc Swamp Hideout, 70133 Spinlyn's Cavern, 70134 Lavertus' Outland Base, and 70147 Sir Fangar's Ice Fortress are all fairly nice.

Even a connection as simple as that raises several questions. Why have the Toa's personalities changed? Why has Lewa's entire element changed? Sure, if that were the end of the theme, Lego would be under no obligation to explain those things—but I wouldn't call an ending that leaves loose ends like that "very clean". Ideally, the end should be one that ties up loose ends from G2, rather than creating brand-new ones.

Oh, I hadn't noticed that! Very nice!

Are the decorations on the wheel arches even stickers at all? In the designer video, they were already decorated when showing the new parts... I had assumed that that meant they were actually PRINTED, though I suppose it's possible that they were just pulled off of the already-stickered set. In any case, that's one of those cases where I'd very definitely PREFER stickers, considering that it's a brand-new part that isn't yet available in any other sets, and I'd rather it be available in a solid, undecorated color.

I'm not quite sure what you're asking? UCS Star Wars sets usually have nameplates with information about them, but the information is usually about what the set is based on, rather than the set itself. In any case, this isn't a UCS Star Wars set and since it's not even based on any specific model of real-world Bucket Wheel Excavator, I don't think it's particularly likely to get a nameplate of any sort.

I don't think it's quite clear—on the website I'm fairly sure all the creatures use genderless pronouns, though I don't know if that's canon (since Lego websites are often woefully imprecise when it comes to uncertain character genders).

I think that might be meant to be Nadakhan's lamp, not a teapot. It's been silhouetted on the back of all the Skybound packaging along with the Djinn blades despite being absent from all the other sets, and of course that piece represented a genie's lamp long before it started being used as a teapot (also, as of this year a new teapot piece has been introduced in Friends and Elves). Unfortunately, even if it is the lamp, I'm unsure whether it'll be printed with the Sky Pirate coat of arms like the one in the show...

Brick Oven! That's brilliant! One of the ones I came up with for the family restaurant (and shared on BZPower) was the Stacked Plate, but I had trouble coming up with other punny names...

Thanks! This just made me realize that I'd never shared pictures of my Wairuha on this site yet. I suppose it'd be okay to share the pictures in this topic? The pictures aren't the best because my lighting isn't good today, and I might continue to tweak the design (I'd really love to make a Creature Kaita for it, among other things), so I don't feel like making it its own topic just yet. For now, here's Wairuha: Great Uniter of Wisdom! Front View Back View

Just got Pohatu and Ketar today! Ketar is certainly an odd build, but his function is quite fun and effective provided you connect the arm gears at the right angles. Pohatu's back armor leaves a lot to be desired compared to the other 2016 Toa I've built, but I do like his arm build, his color scheme is quite nice (even with the blinding green of his lower arms), and his weapon is loads of fun. They also look much better combined than I had expected, even though I'd still consider it a less effective combination that Lewa and Gali's. Now Tahu, Onua, and their creatures are the only sets I don't have. I'd been planning on holding off until a sale or promotion, but all these anecdotes about Bionicle's sales might scare me into picking them up sooner. That, and ever since making a much more impressive Wairuha than I'd expected to be able to do with the new Gali, Kopaka, and Lewa, I'm kind of itching to give Akamai a shot.