Lyichir

This is certainly an interesting question. I've heard a lot of people talk about how to prevent or repair discoloration, but I don't think I've ever heard any discussion on how to cause it. The first thing that comes to mind would be just letting the sun do the work by leaving the sets in direct sunlight, but not only could that be a slow process, but it'd also be hard to keep consistent. Anyone else have any better ideas?

If face printing is necessary to convey the idea of "heroes", then why didn't they even need faces in 2013 (the last year of Hero Factory before Invasion from Below)? Hero Factory characters aren't like Bionicle characters who wear masks—their masks essentially ARE their faces for all intents and purposes. Your comparison to Chima, meanwhile, is off-base—the only reasons for the Chima figures to be like that is to allow for greater print detail and alternate expressions. Bionicle and Hero Factory characters have no such need, hence most heroes having masks that cover everything but their glowing eyes. The lack of compatible helmets is also a non-issue—the solution, when something doesn't work, is to find something else that works or make do with something that works slightly less well, like System builders have been doing from the get-go. There are plenty of minifigure helmets that do fit and do cover more of the faces, and regarding Hero Factory specifically, you seem to be missing the point that the only reason there were fewer helmets designed for that theme in particular was that that was the first series of sets to have minifigures in the first place. If the theme had continued and continued to use minifigures, then there would be more selection. It didn't, and there wasn't—though you seem to have missed my entire point, which was that Bionicle could change that by continuing to expand upon the solid base the mini-hero presented. As for customization, figs are generally designed with a limited amount of customization in mind. You CAN swap the legs, arms, and hands, but you're not SUPPOSED to—the standard minifigure is designed with the torso assembly and legs assembly preconstructed, and exchanging parts can damage them. I don't see how that's that much different from the Mini-heroes, which if anything offer MORE built-in customization potential, with the ability to exchange the legs and arms and even attach standard parts to them. The lack of suitable torso armor, like the lack of helmet variety, is entirely due to the duration of the figure design's use, and as such continuing to use the design with Bionicle would make your complaints even less relevant over time.

Which is why he explicitly stated "besides regular catalogue themes". Most sets that are sold through normal retailers get revealed early. But Direct to Consumer or "exclusive" sets (which include Ideas sets, even if certain retailers also stock some of them) generally only get revealed a month or two before release. The same will probably apply to the Doctor Who set.

...So? Those criticisms apply equally if not moreso to the older Bionicle figures. I can't imagine how to fix the first issue without requiring an entirely new torso design that's functionally identical, while I fail to see how the second issue is even an issue at all (if you want a helmet that shows the face... maybe swap in a more suitable face for the helmet in question). I feel printed faces would have been a mistake and only would have served to make it harder to line up the heads with the helmets so that the eyes showed through. The only problems you really have only have to do with customization, and to be honest future Bionicle figures use the same system would make it easier to customize that fig design, not harder. You're basically saying you hope future figs use a brand-new design, while criticizing the older figs solely for their design having been brand-new and not having been expanded enough. That seems awfully counterintuitive to me.

...Am I the only one who likes Umarak's legs? While they seem a little bit unfinished, I feel like the look works for him (especially with the effect it has on his posture), and having built a mock-up in real life I was impressed by the range of motion they allow for (which exceeds most older Bionicle titan legs that had their articulation limited by pistons) as well as by their stability.

The set could've had civilians, but unless you somehow made them involved in the main play scenario—the carriage getaway itself—they'd be redundant and would do nothing but reduce the number of parts that could be used on the actual subjects of the set, those being the carriage, ballista, and small outpost. The Kingdoms Mill Village Raid was a fantastic set when it came to civilians, but that's partly because it made them part of the action—they could rebel against the foreign invaders using features like the hay loft, crane, and horse cart. They were INTEGRAL to the set, rather than peripheral to it. And the size of the set made it so that every figure could have something to do all at once, something that's much harder to do with a $20 set that already features three figures.

Well, I for one am impressed with that shell design on Kopaka. Not because it's G1-esque... but because, for all intents and purposes, it seems better. It's greebly, but logically so, with a look that will probably work well either as the outer or inner layer of a figure's build. It has plenty of connection points, like some of the most versatile G1 shells (such as Kalmah shells, but without a texture that's totally incompatible with anything else). The same piece seems to be used on Terak's torso, which is nice—expanding the types of armor for the smaller torso beam is a good thing. It does also look like we're getting a new torso bone—not too sold on the shell covering it, though, unless it's hiding additional connection points. It does look like the sets lack gearboxes, which is a bummer—while some figures like Kopaka seem to be getting added articulation in exchange, it's unclear whether the smaller figures will make the tradeoff worthwhile.

I mean, my biggest hope for City was for it to borrow liberally from Undercover (and maybe even result in unreleased characters like Rex Fury getting released in Fun Packs). And even Friends could have some potential—there are clearly defined characters, plenty of vehicles, and even if the characters aren't necessarily suited to hand-to-hand combat they could always incorporate some more creative options like Marty McFly's guitar attack. City and Friends are two of Lego's most successful themes, so even if they didn't get a starring role I had hoped for at least a nominal inclusion. And yes, you're right that Bionicle, Elves, and Nexo Knights probably need to be fleshed out more (gaining additional vehicles, characters, etc.) before being added to the game. But it bothers me that not even the existing Lego IPs in the game (The Lego Movie, Ninjago, Chima) seem to be getting follow-ups, despite the potential for characters like Vitruvius and Lord Business in the Lego Movie theme or ANY past Ninjago villains (particularly Ronin) for Ninjago. It may not necessarily mean that there won't be any more Lego-owned IPs in the game, but that's certainly the impression it gives.

In Onua's case, he looks less like one to me—he has the same size of chest plate and torso shell as the other Toa. Tahu doesn't strike me as that much bigger or more complex, and I haven't seen Kopaka clearly yet so I can't make a judgment one way or another.

I think a big part of it is just because LDD's drop-down menus in general are desperately in need of an update. Back in the day the color palette DID include more colors, but because of the way it was coded, people with smaller computer screens couldn't even select from the full range of colors. Speaking of which, that's a big thing I'd like to see in the next major update. Those drop down menus need attention—not just for colors, but also for the infuriatingly small decoration thumbnails.

Oh, I agree that the YouTube and Facebook communities can be awful... but at the same time, I get the feeling that both of those feature a much larger percentage of the overall Bionicle fanbase than sites like Eurobricks and BZPower do. As far as the amount of building is concerned, I was referring more to the Toa-sized sets than to larger "titans" (of which you're right that we haven't really had anything that really qualifies). I've actually seen people insist that the classic Toa offered more building potential than the new Toa, despite the new Toa outclassing them significantly in part count and complexity.

Looking at this list, one thing that disappoints me is the lack of Lego-owned IP. Not only do none of the listings correspond to the current Lego-owned themes in Lego Dimensions (The Lego Movie, Ninjago, and Chima), but there are none that even seem to line up with Lego IPs that would be new to Dimensions—no City, no Friends, no Elves, not even any content for the upcoming Big Bang theme Nexo Knights! I understand and appreciate that licensed themes are one of the biggest selling points of Dimensions, but I had hoped that wouldn't be to the exclusion of Lego-owned story themes.

It's not about the individual perspectives so much as the overall narrative. In this corner of the Lego fan community, we're generally pretty good at adapting to updated information. From what I've seen, the wider community (in places like YouTube and Facebook), is not quite as adaptable. For example, I STILL often see complaints on the LEGO Bionicle Facebook page about the new sets having less building than classic sets (which couldn't be further from the truth), or being aimed at younger builders (again, totally untrue). On communities favored by fans of other themes, different misconceptions run rampant—I've seen a lot of complaints about the new Star Wars constraction figures having "too many new, specialized parts" (despite having relatively few all things considered). It doesn't matter how much those get corrected—they have persisted long enough to become a significant part of the overall narrative around the sets, and even if you convince one person, you're working from an initial disadvantage. The best example I can think of of the narrative around a major release being tainted by prelims was this year's Technic 24-Hours Race Car. The preliminary set design had a significantly different front section, and when the final set was revealed, many were disappointed by the redesign, which changed the look of the headlights and wheel arches, among other things. Of course, most reviews I've seen have been more positive about the finalized model—the redesign made the curves of the front section more continuous, and made them look better from more angles. But the preliminary image only had to look better from a single angle to convince many fans that it was indisputably better, and once that narrative had taken hold, no amount of reviews could dispel it. If these prelim pictures had not ever been seen, I think the narrative around the final set would be much less critical, since it would not be compared against a model which may well have had its own unverifiable flaws. I wasn't intending to be condescending. If it came across that way, I apologize.

Because while MOST people's opinions will change, there will always be people who hold on to their preconceived notions. As the adage goes, you only get one chance at a first impression, and even if only a few people allow preliminary pics to define their entire impressions of the sets, that still taints the initial narrative around the sets, and makes it take that much effort to turn that overall narrative about the sets from negative to positive. The fact that you're willing to admit that the finalized sets will probably look better puts you a cut above the rest. The smart thing to do with these sorts of pictures is to take them with a grain of salt. Even if nothing substantial changes about the builds or new parts, they'll almost assuredly look better once we see them in-the-brick than in blurry, lightly edited pictures like these. For instance, the colors on the Onua set in the catalog seem WAY off, and will almost assuredly look better once we see the crisp, shiny polycarbonate bricks physically.

Congratulations. You've just discovered a big reason why Lego dislikes leaks. In addition to giving their competitors an early advantage, they allow fans to form early impressions of sets based on unpolished preliminary images which were never meant to be made public. You can probably be sure that once the sets are officially revealed in their finalized states, more people will come around to them, and the same will happen once they're available in stores and have been reviewed online. It follows pretty much the same pattern every single year, without fail.

Considering Ekimu was able to construct his Hammer of Power out of spare parts without having the Mask of Creation, I'd assume he has at least SOME degree of creative talent.

It's not a spinner, it's a propeller—the same kind Gali Nuva had, at that. So if anything, it's a throwback to that.

To be honest I'd be all for this being moved to action themes, not because I don't consider it a Castle theme myself (I do), but because I just think its eclectic nature would be better appreciated there. This theme feels to me like the science-fantasy theme Knight's Kingdom SHOULD'VE been (instead of trying in vain to look more like traditional fantasy by neutering some of its most promising concepts). I think in Action themes (not Space, since so far we've seen nothing to suggest that this theme has any extraterrestrial content), it'd get more attention from people who appreciate it for what it is, and less whining from people hoping for it to be something it's not.

Because very few ships in Star Wars have blue and purple laser fire? Don't get me wrong, I'd love a wider variety of laser colors as well (getting them in all six elemental colors used in the new Bionicle sets would be a dream). But for Star Wars, they seem to try and match it to the colors of the actual laser fire in the movies, and in the case of the Jedi Interceptor, that would be green.

Upon review, I don't think I had it quite right either. I think it actually uses a single friction pin to attach the piece to the upper pin hole on a 7M bone. It won't work on LDD, but testing it physically it looks just about perfect and holds its position well without really stressing either piece.

Actually, you're right. On second thought, I think it may just be attached with a single friction pin in the upper attachment point on the bone. It doesn't work on LDD, but testing it physically, it looks accurate to the picture while not stressing either piece substantially and holding its position well. Also, I just noticed that Lewa seems to use Trans. Bright Green Bohrok eyes. If that turns out to be true, then we'll finally have a second piece that comes in all six elemental secondary colors (after the 2x2 round System radar dish).

All of those concepts seem way more complex than necessary. You really only need the Skrall armor, a 2M black friction pin, and MAYBE one of this piece if you want the armor attached more securely. Observe. Your concepts are decent (and might even look BETTER in some cases), but they also look much bulkier than the actual pictures suggest.

There are no Rahkshi legs on Umarak. His lower legs are a custom construction using Hordika necks, beast feet, and Bohrok eyes, among other parts, while his upper legs seem to be fairly standard CCBS. I've built a mock-up using my own parts, and I'm pretty impressed—while they may be a bit odd visually, they give him a unique stature while making his legs very stable! I'm very impressed with the look of these sets overall, and can't wait to see what they look like in the brick!

Posting it to Lego Ideas wouldn't achieve anything—Lego's designers aren't involved with Lego Ideas at all until a project reaches review stage. They might come across it just as users of the site, but that's really no different from coming across the idea here. Anyway, I don't see this idea as practical in the first place. I can't see how it could result in a decent return on investment (or even a wide variety of eye colors) without being used across an entire line of sets, and an entire line of sets with heterochromatic eyes would be weird. It would not work with any existing head design, since every type of head with a separate eye stalk has the eyes more than one module wide (meaning that the left and right halves could not be interchangable). I don't even know how effective the look would be in practice, since it would seem that looking at or lighting the figure from an angle would result in the color from one eye being clouded by the color from the other (in other words, neither eye color would look reliably "pure").

Makuta would want to destroy the mask for the same reason as Kulta would end up wearing it to defeat the Toa—he's a pragmatist. The Mask of Creation may be powerful, but it also belonged to his brother Ekimu—preventing Ekimu from regaining his full power takes priority over collecting masks, just like defeating the Toa using the Mask of Creation would take priority in that instance over destroying it once and for all. There may be other factors in play–perhaps destroying the mask would allow him to channel its energies into something greater, or otherwise further Makuta's plans. But the main reason for trying to destroy the mask seems to be the same reason Makuta had for rebelling in the first place—jealousy and spite.