Logan McOwen

£1.36 for one mask. Wowzer.

I felt the same way about most of the characters, honestly. The level of stylisation was almost unreasonable with most of them - Especially with the Matoran, Krekka and Teridax. I also hated how their masks were not only flexible, but had mouths. That made absolutely no sense to me.

The Ben 10 figures were ridiculously <insert that tiresome argument> in comparison to G1 Bionicle and arguable even the CCBS - not to the same extent as Galidor, but all the same. Very specialised parts with little-to-no customisability past the odd barb here and there. The torso frame was pretty cool though.

If you want a truly movie-esque mask, try this.

Thank you! I have considered it, yes - I've always liked the idea of building a big burly bodyguard for Jet Judge.

Glad you like 'em :) I've been on a bit of a Slizers high lately!

I'm glad you like this year-old MOC :P The wheels are just detail.

New Video on the Bionicle Facebook Page. I've also ripped the music from it.

Thanks! That was certainly the intention :)

Tremor Slizer Tremor here serves as my Slizers self-MOC. Construction Slizer Chopper Slizer

Huh, TIL.

I thought Mata green (I still call it that) was discontinued?

Yep, lots of these lovely little things.

JtO has indeed been very good at marketing the toys, as I've ended up buying Pohatu and Akida, which I originally swore I wouldn't buy. Pohatu is actually really great. I do wish he had more burnt orange originally, but after modding his upper arms to accommodate size 4 shells I'm satisfied. The only major design flaw for me was the trans-lime lower arm armour, which I've swapped out for silver. Otherwise though, I don't know why I was being so pessimistic - He's a good figure, with lots of character. The shaping of his mask's eyeslits still read as somewhat feminine to me, though :P On the other hand however, I haven't changed my mind on Akida at all. I really do feel that Akida is comparable to LoSS or Skull Scorpio - functionally impressive but aesthetically challenged and lacking in manoeuvrability. To me, the Technic function feels wasted on repositioning the stud shooters - don't get me wrong, it works really nicely, but I feel that it would've been more worthwhile to invest in a less bulky mechanism to steer/flap Akida's tail/flippers, and have the stud shooters on simple hinges. Other than that though, I do like Akida's colourscheme, and the trans-light blue 4M slim liftarms were a nice surprise!

They most certainly don't. I built a copy of the Kopaka & Melum + Gali Twotoa, which I dub Kogala. It looks a little messy, but the build is interesting - especially the shoulder structure and the large, snipping weapon. Some parts of it are a bit questionable though, such as the claws on the back of his legs and that staff/sword/whatever in his left hand. Oh, and he has a monocle!

Y'know, it's really not common to see an oversized constraction MOC that cohedes nicely. This though? It really meshes together pretty nicely. The top of the body is a little lackluster however, and the panel arrangement could be done a little more neatly, but otherwise I'm really impressed!

TSUNAMI BEAST Front Back Closeups - Head Closeup - Claw Closeup - Middle leg segment Closeup - Back without mask cage Closeup - Mask cage Skeleton - Torso build Pose - Roaring Pose - Defending its bounty

This is a really tough choice! I'm gonna go with 2015 Gali and 2016 Lewa. Gali has some great shaping and colours, and I love her big ol' weapon. Same story with Lewa, really, as he's the most cohesive of the Uniters.

I was gonna skip him as I didn't really want any more white or gold CCBS at the time. I of course changed my mind.

I know the feeling. I was originally going to skip Kopaka and most of the Protectors, but instead ended up getting every 2015 set - some multiple times.

My love for Storm Beast and Lava Beast has only been further kindled

So I picked up a second copy of LoSS yesterday as he was on offer. I'm still not keen on the set as a figure, but as a parts pack it's pretty great.

Tahu was my first proper Bionicle set (my true first being a pair of mask packs). While I certainly have fond memories of how much I loved the figure when I was little, I can't help but be critical of it now that constraction has evolved so much; Tahu's mask was - and still is - an iconic design. However, the very smooth, almost organic shaping of the mask really sets it apart from the rest of the figure. While Gali, Pohatu and arguably Kopaka's masks feature more angles and mechanical details, Tahu's is one big smooth shape. It's most certainly not a bad design at all, but I feel it could've used some hard angles here and there to match the mechanical detailing a bit better. One obvious thing you notice when you look back on old Constraction sets is the lack of articulation. But one factor of this I've never appreciated or understood was the positioning of Tahu's hip joints. His legs can splay out to the sides as far as you'd like, but they can hardly twist forwards at all. The pelvis area of the torso really should've been 2M wide, so the sockets could've been rotated to allow for more range of walking motion without interfering with Tahu's arms. Speaking of the torso piece, this one was a real devolution from that of the Slizers - from two pieces which could be separated and spread apart however you like, to one massive chunk with a very specific shape. If the Toa Mata torso was also in two halves, with the chest halves closing together to form an encapsulated gearbox, I think I'd much prefer it. Instead, a lot of possible customisability is taken away, which is especially evident when you look at the Toa Kaita. The looseness of the gear driven shoulder is a big letdown. While it can be locked with a couple of extra pieces, one shouldn't need to so. Tahu's sword being locked in position is a bit of a pain. Why he didn't get a Slizer arm with a socket hand instead of this weird tube-arm, I don't know. What even was the black orb on his chest supposed to represent? Was it just stored there for later use in combination, or was it meant to have any story relevancy? I don't dislike how it looks, I just don't understand the intention of it. However, there are many things I love about Tahu's design. Again, the mask was and is a very iconic design. The shaping of the mouth has a very gasmask-esque feel to it, and the "whiskers" give the impression of painted stripes tribespeople sometimes wear on their faces. The sword is a great design. I love how the hilt looks like some sort of fire-extruding exhaust. The level of mechanical detail on the Mata sets really was an ideal standard. Every rivet, joint of piston actually looks like it does something, rather than simply being there for detail's sake. Other than these mechanical details, there really wasn't much more texture added past than the odd groove or grille here and there, which was great. Past 2004 though, this minimalist, essentialist approach to mechanical detailing started to disappear, which is a shame. Tahu's big ol' hand, while very alien, always intrigued me. It reminds me of a European electricity plug, which fits in with the robotic look these guys have going for them. The pink eyes are really... Well, eye-catching. They stand apart from all the intense red and orange, while still coheding with the overall colourscheme. It's a good look. Overall, while Tahu is a major source of nostalgia for me, I can't help but notice his - and by extension, the rest of his team's - design flaws.

Funny you should say that, actually. Just the other night at about 11:45, I had some randomer on Facebook speaking on another guy's behalf asking if I wanted to join the LEGO Group. I was gobsmacked, and asked if I could speak to the guy he was referring to, to get more information. My heart was literally in my mouth, I was in such disbelief. Turns out he was just referring to a Facebook group called "The LEGO Group", though.

Haha, sorry about that :P Thanks! Thank you!