Kalhiki

Stop being so awesome. Actually don't. I want to see more cute animu grills.

Is that so... Well that sucks. Haven't ever anticipated a Technic set like this, so I'm unfamiliar with their regular release patterns. Though I should'a figured as much. Shop@Home has all the Coming Soon Aug. 1st sets listed with the BWE nowhere to be found. Oh well. I've waited this long. I can wait a bit longer. Just keep treating us to pictures to tide me over until then!

Good Lord, all those gears. So, here in the States... I guess it's coming out August 1st? Is that correct? Can't wait to get my hands on this monster.

Breez, what happened?! Kidding aside, that's... Terrifying. Probably the scariest mask I've seen in Bionicle. Like, ever. I'm inclined to believe this is the final version. While it has some similarities to Witch Doctor and Breez, I find it's different enough to be a final design. Too bad it's probably impossible to get the smoking effect on the set. I really like that aspect of it.

The Kingdom Hearts fan in me is screaming at me to get this. Kingdom Hearts is my biggest tie to an interest in Disney. It's very cool. Absolutely love picking out the references in all the rooms to Disney films. Very much a Disney Castle. Kinda want a Maleficent Dragon to terrorize it... But really? Still no Goofy? I understand Tinkerbell's inclusion, but I think I'd have preferred Goofy. And/or Pluto. Who knows if I'll get this. Pretty expensive. But it does look phenomenal.

Well, now that I've built Gali and Onua, I gotta say. I'm actually pretty impressed. Wasn't really too keen on Gali at first, but after a while, she grew on me. Really love the color scheme. She's just so bright and vibrant, and I very much welcome the addition of orange. Onua is just great all around. Not as obviously bulky as his 2015 version, but still clearly a big guy. I think my biggest issue is his neck/shoulder area which just feels a little thin. Unity modes are cool. Gali's... I was never really a fan of to begin with as it doesn't add much to the figure. It's mainly just a hat and shoulder cannons, but other than that, there's not any real good integration of the creature. Still alright. Onua's is great, though. Really surprised. The stock version is ugly, but since you can arrange the shoulder pads however, there're some options. I find moving the shoulder pads forward to his chest and putting Terak's claws behind them does wonders. Really bulks him out. I gotta say, the Uniters look really good as a team, even if I feel the individuals aren't all that fantastic. They're very bright and colorful. I don't regret my purchases. Overall, I still think Lewa may be my favorite. Then Onua and after that probably Gali. Then Tahu, Pohatu, and finally Kopaka.

Took me long enough to upload these, but here are my Akamai and Wairuha that I built in early 2015. Gotta say, I was (and still am) pretty happy with how they turned out. Sorry for the slightly blurry picture. Gallery when public: Features more pictures as well as in-depth looks at their builds if you want to make them yourself! Little background: I left out the gear functions since I was going more for looks and stability over playability. In terms of looks, I based their appearances mostly on the Mata Kaita in their color layouts and weapons. Unfortunately I couldn't give Akamai his club, so I just gave him backhand spikes of doom. Their builds are roughly the same. The shoulders and arms are pretty much identical, structurally-speaking. Their pelvises as well since I wanted them to share similar skirt armor. On the whole, I think their similarities are a benefit as it ties the two together as a team. Of course, I did take some artistic liberties. I made them much more armored up and almost Samurai-esque. Also gave them some extra flair: Wairuha has an extra set of blades stored on her (yes, I identify Wairuha as female) back, and Akamai uses Pohatu's boomerangs for some back wings (I guess he has a jetpack now?). you may also notice I left out Onua's purple and Lewa's yellow. They just clashed way too much with the rest of the colors. If you're curious about Wairuha's feet, I used a similar design on another MoC. Actually quite stable. I just didn't want to give her goofy clown shoes, so I went with smaller, spike-toes. That's about it. Really looking forward to doing the same with the 2016 Toa.

So I went to Target. They had Onua and Akida marked down a few bucks each. Since I didn't have them, I got 'em. But then I was like, "If I have these two, then all I'm missing are Terak and Gali." So I went to TRU and got them. And they're having their whole Free Bionicle deal with purchases of $40 or more, and my brother got some stuff, so I ended up getting a free Quake Beast. So not only did I end up getting figures I had no intention of getting, but I'm also now only missing two figures from 2016 (Lava and Storm Beast). And the completest in me is telling me I might as well finish off the collection. Gosh darn it. On the flip side, I can fiddle around and try my hand at making Akamai and Wairuha. So that'll be fun.

Gotta say, I'm actually getting pretty excited for these episodes. Looks like it's going to be pretty great. I also hope they continue into next year as well.

I'm sigging that quote in the spoiler tag, if you don't mind. Best comparison. :D (hopefully it's not an issue to anyone since it was in a spoiler tag...)

Hopefully because it's been done to death and no one wants to revisit that discussion. We'll talk about it if/when it becomes relevant. Anywho, I'm also curious as to the gold fragment. When are the episodes coming? August?

UtD appears to be holding a mask near the end of the trailer. Black and glowing purple. Wonder if that's the MoUP. Kinda hope so. Really want to know what it looks like. Also, awesome shot with him staring down Pohatu. Can't wait for these episodes!

I don't quite see how? Pull a lever to open the mouth, release to snap it closed. If they even wanted to go that far. Otherwise just a lever to manually open and close it... Or something like the IFB beasts. Just something other than the mask pop-off. It's a neat function, but I don't think it's necessary for all the figures to have it...

If you're in to that sort of thing... I think a snappy jaw function would've been a lot more entertaining.

Yeah, neat that we got a little preview for Season 2 from those storyboards. Very curious as to what Umarak must be up to. And also, yes, Ekimu's falcon. Gosh darn it, now I really do have to get it if he's appearing in story media.

Yeah, the beast jaw definitely isn't useless. It just doesn't look good for its intended purpose :P I've been thinking about spikey shoulder armor or even a cool outline for chest armor. Or ankle guards... Definitely has its uses.

Thanks for the pic, Leewan! If that's our Mask of Ultimate Power, it's going to be incredible. Even if it's not, it's gotta look good. It's rightly terrifying. Menacing grin and evil cat eyes.

It pleases me that Pohatu is front and center. I like Pohatu and am glad he's been a pretty key character this year.

I'm right there with ya, buddy. I'm right there with ya... Anywho, Storm Beast doesn't need to be grouped into a single element. His element is Storm. And all that entails. He will soak you with rain, freeze you, and then strike you with lightning.

Yeah, I get that elements are easier to represent through a color scheme, but that's why I was thinking about less conventional color schemes. I keep thinking Hero Factory. I don't recall Bulk ever having an elemental basis. I believe he was just the strong man. He was silver and orange. I guess silver would make you think of metal, and metal is strong...? Still. Not exactly an elemental basis. And Nex was orange and he was a tech-head. Evo... I don't even remember what his skill/attribute/whatever was, but he didn't have an element either. and yellow doesn't really bring to mind any elements (same with orange... And no, Stone doesn't count). It's not out of the question that elements could be dropped. Maybe keep a few (red fire guy always seems like a good idea), but also throw in some more ambiguous powers as well. Or if we're keeping elements, do some that haven't been done as much. Lightning is always fun. In terms of Nexo Knights Constraction... I wouldn't complain, but I'd find it kinda funny that Chima and hypothetically Nexo Knights would have had Constraction lines, but Ninjago (the arguably more popular brand) never has... Aside from those knock offs.

Less conventional color schemes. That's what I want. Something like with what 2015 Lewa had with green and yellow or 2016 Gali with blue and orange. I'm getting bored with red guy, blue guy, green guy, etc. I want more variety. And sorta spurring from that, no more elemental basis. We've had that pretty much since Slizers. I mean, some of that is fine, but if we're going the superpower route, give us something different. Like super speed or strength or whatever.

This looks promising. Very cool so far! Just make sure to give him his sexy butt ;)

Alright, so while the Spring Anime Season still isn't completely over, I figure I'll pot my thoughts now since most of my favorite shows have ended. This isn't everything I watched, just some pick-and-choose: Kabaneri still needs to finish up. And I went with dub on My Hero Academia, And You Thought there is Never a Girl Online, AssClass, and Shounen Maid. So I'm not done with those yet. Next Season... I can't say I'm looking forward to much. I got a bunch lined up, but I'm unfamiliar with most of it and haven't been keeping up on the details. Flying blind. Aside from Food Wars Season 2. Looking forward to that. Honestly I'm just holding out until the Fall Season. Bungou Stray Dogs Season Two and Brave Witches? It's going to be great.

Most likely, I'd say. Seems like a good time to do so. And I hope this is the case as well. Comic Con is in less than a month!

The MCFD Max Transforms?! Wow. I've been building my own Maxes, but I may just have to build this one. That's super cool.