JINZONINGEN73

Totally. Totally totally. Ok, so there's the UBER FANS who buy anything Lego makes, and the UBER LOSERS who lament for a return to the 2001 line and such. Both are a bit idiotic. The best way to go is by giving credit and criticism where it's due. For example, if Lego were a person you could talk to, it should go like this: (PRAISE) Hey Lego, nice amount of new, strange parts in these sets. (CRITICISM) What kind of DRUGS were you doing when you thought either new customers or old fans would find the squid launchers fun or useful? (PRAISE) These canisters stick out and should increase sales. (CRITICISM) Hey, thanks for AGAIN not making the canister lids able to be used as part of the set, like the 2001 ones were. (PRAISE) These Barraki are decent enough figures to welcome new customers with. (CRITICISM) Yeah, it's that "enough" that annoys me. Have you never watched anime? These could be way cooler. What next, Robby the Robot? (PRAISE) Thanks for dragging Bionicle kicking and screaming out of the hell that was the kiddy goo of tools instead of weapons. (CRITICISM) Ok, ok, we get it... EVERYONE loved Kopaka's (2001) sword. But that was only because he was the only one with a bonafide, undeniable weapon! Not EVERY set has to have silver crap blades everywhere! Etc etc... It's unrealistic to expect to see 2001 again. It's also bad for the line and for you to get it. It's unrealistic to love everything they put out. It's also bad for the line and for you to blindly buy it all without voicing your complaints. True, true, true, true, true BUT.... but they're not as "rehash" as the Toa Nuva were. And they are FAR from as useless they were in the parts area. I remember the feel of the 2001 line quite well. The masks and all the different colors they came in brought a tear to my eye, along with the thrill of hunting for trans ones in the packs. I also remember feeling a little stupid, with Lego's anti-violence policy. (Lego fixed it). I remember hating how the large Rahi sets were like 80 million dollars each. (Well, at least the characters now aren't that expensive). I remember wishing the ball parts had a hole going all the way through. (We got'em). I remember hating the gear-crotch on all the Toa (well...) and the lack of differences in the 6 main guys (fixed) I remember wishing they had actual fingers. (Exo-force robot arms / Bionicle minifig arms anyone?) I remember campaigning for glow in the dark figures. (They're on the right track now.) I remember TERRIBLE Rahi designs. Punching snakes on tank treads? Worthless piles of axles? (Way more coherent now). I remember wishing they could fire weapons like all the cool toys in the 70's did. (Zamor, and now the gatling guns) Keep in mind, there's a whole set it's attached to, much as the Barraki are (unfortunately) packaged with the awful squid launchers (which better not ever return, EVER, in any Lego set), so are the Mahri. And personally, gatling guns are fun. That they actually fire is an extra special bonus. I admit that the Barraki and Mahri aren't the most aesthetically pleasing set designs, but man... some of the ones from before the Inika were downright dog-assed UGLY. These newer figures looked like they were forged by a god compared to the previous incarnations! Look, I loved 2001 alot too. I loved all those smaller Technic bits. To this day, those parts are STILL integral parts to my mocs. But think about it... if Bionicle started with, say, the Inika... wouldn't it have been somewhat retarded if the next wave were the minimalistic 2001 Toa? It'd be a car wreck of disgruntled fans! Another thing that people forget, which bugs me to no end, is that those wonderful parts of the 2001 Toa are not GONE. They're in non-Bionicle sets! Right there, maybe what, 2 feet away from the canisters in the Lego aisle? So ok, one year 2001 purists get their wish and the sets go all back into Technic. Then what? Other Technic lines will trail off, with no outlet for the weirder Bionicle parts that are common these days? Bionicle having these weird parts is OK. It gives builders more freedom, not take it away. You just have to buy outside the Bionicle line here and there. The Inika, Barraki and Mahri are adequate sets to get new customers. And the parts included are great additions to older fans/builders. (PRAISE) Hell, I just bought Pridak today for those sweet, sweet, gigantic white feet. There's a million uses for something that cool. And the blue eye globes. And the white connectors. And the axles/pegs. (CRITICISM) But the squid and their launcher can go STRAIGHT into the trash. Way to misappropriate a figure's budget with unwanted parts, dude! Yell when you like something. Yell when you hate something. And never forget exactly what you think you're initially yelling for. I think Lego's got a great balance now, especially looking at the parts-heavy Rahi type sets on the horizon. They actually look like they're trying. I say they're succeeding.

I'll wait a year for all the costs to go down, then see where I stand. The PS3 is the one I have my eye on though. Once developers start gettin' jiggy with the untapped potential, things are going to get interesting. For now, my plate is full for a very long time: >:-) PS1&2, Dreamcast, Saturn, etc etc are in the "odd" folder. X-D

Living in America, I am deprived of these treasures. But I did catch the tv commercials for the figures on youtube.com. Had I the money, I'd get the whole set. But Lego is all my budget allows, Doctor Who and the occasional Transformer be damned. :-/ Aside from these new figures of the new series', I liked the "Millenium" Daleks made back around 2000. They were funky, made of clear and or speckled plastic. I like the final figures from Dapol, especially the clear one with the little green glob of a Dalek... I'd kill to get that one.

No biggie. Alot of us have made 'mistakes of excitement' at some point in our internet lives. ;-) http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...?showtopic=7624

Probably around the time that the bean counters in suits get their hands on the designs and cheap it all the hell out to save money. I bet more than one Lego designer has jumped out their 4th story window after seeing what a mutilation job their hard work underwent. Which is odd, because (especially in Bionicle's case). they THROW AWAY the budget for the sets on some of the stupidest, unfun gimmicks. (Free the Band, Squid Launchers, Rhotuka... )

8921 Pridak. The white feet are looooong. These parts are goin' places. ;-)

^^^ That's a day I've been asking Lego for in my sigs over 5 years. But heck, they're definitely going in the right direction now. Stay the course, set designers!

Moving to My Own Creation forum. Yeah, they're cute. And a good inventory pic of some of the weirder parts one might want to get these sets for. (Or not, if they're a purist sourpuss). :-D

Lol, yeah, I know. But I'm stupid and try to rationalize it with thoughts of using the pull-back motor as something not car related, like a throwing arm or something for a mech lol. Hope you're right about the hood having a sticker. I'm not sure if it's true that stickers have either only stickers or are painted. I can't think of an example of a hybrid set at the moment though.

I saw the $20 sets at the store the other day. The only thing that ALMOST made me buy the lime green one was, well, the few lime green parts on it. But as I was analyzing the images on the box to try and validate spending 20 for just a few panels, I noticed that the corny racing art on the lime hood piece might not have been a sticker. So, I put it back. If all the lime was clean (like is the case with the Tiny Turbo, thankfully), then sure. But I can't cough up that much loot just to have one of the desired pieces disfigured with crappy racing graffiti. I buy sets as parts packs. And I'm not about to build a mech with racing flames on it's freaking chest... which is where that hood part would've gone. I have to say, to Lego's credit (and profit), they sure have gotten better with box images. They place distinct outlines around the stickers depicted on the models now. I would NOT have bought the Tiny Turbos had the annoying racing art on the wheel covers not clearly been depicted on the box as being merely throw-away stickers. I noticed this "showing you what you're getting" approach even on the Bionicle figures. The new Barraki have hand-drawn art on the back which CLEARLY depict what parts the model contains. No more squinting at MICROSCOPIC images, or trying to discern what's what only by airbrushed CGI junk on the front. Hopefully this will continue as well.

Well, I'll admit that rehashing the Ininka is weak, but the casual kid (rather, their parents) probably didn't buy all 6 Toa last time. Hell, I'm a fan of Lego Technic and only bought a few different colors. So, rehashing isn't TOO drastic an action. From a business perspective, it takes a bit of stress off their backs. Even though I'm a consumer who wants newer things, the reason I'm getting into bed with them on that decision is because they clearly devoted their resources to making the Barraki diverse and full of parts goodness. Exactly. Has not every year had these kinds of tradeoffs? One thing blowing monkeys while another thing clearly being where attention was placed? It's pretty forgivable, if you ask me. As for the Mahri (or Inika, or Barraki...) sucking... couldn't disagree more. The Inika had good armor pieces to be had. Sure, it might blow paying $10 for ARMOR, but the elongated mocing pieces were welcome to those who didn't even SEE the Toa Metru at their local toy stores. (I swear, my Walmart had the Metru and Hordika Toa maybe one week). Keep in mind too, alot of kids are just getting into Lego, with no sets in their arsenal. And the sets deliver them a complete action figure that doesn't look too bad. I don't know... i can't imagine how the Inika, Barraki or Mahri could be BETTER. Well no, i can... get rid of the SUPER-LAME squid launchers and ammo. What a worthless waste of the line's budgeting resources. The kind of garbage someone should get fired over. But looking at their core structure, they could only be made better by starting to get into a large increase in the set's part quantity. New fans will like the sets as figures. Older fans will realize they can buy System sets to enhance them and make the figures "right". But I'm not sure what could be done to make the few saying they suck like them. If you don't like the Inika, Mahri or Barraki... what could be done differently?

I was in a MAJOR Lego building flatline due to wars with my landlord and no heat in this house, but then I started buying myself some sets with what meager cash I did have: Jabba's prize -(mom sent me it) The blue Barraki -(2 of them, because they glow) Green mini car -(3 of them, because of lime green tiles) 10 various matoran -(LAST year's, $1 each at Walmart). ExoForce Gate Assault -($21, Walmart). And best of all, the Ultimate Collector's Batmobile... for just $10 at Goodwill. And the bastard was even fully complete, too! So yeah, my building juices are recharging.

Indeed. If they can keep up the part quantity, part diversity and part colors... this line could and should go on for decades with Lego. Bionicle attacks the action figure aisle. System attacks the model kit aisle. And Tiny Turbos attack the car aisle. Just got 3 of the green TT. $5 isn't a bad price to get a decent amount of lime green. And unlike the yellow fenders on one from a previous year, these lime ones DON'T have the accents painted on. Thankfully. I HATE Lego bricks with lame-assed things painted on. Really kills one's want to build (buy more sets).

Yeah, it's about as non-"Titan" as a Bionicle set can get. But hell, back in the action figure boom in the 90's, it was most common to pay a few extra bucks for figures just in variant (often glow in the dark) colors. At least this one's a little different. If this dude's any more than $15, it'd be a complete ripoff. ::is a sucker for gitd toys:: X-D

That wouldn't be at the Brickfest where people had to sign non-disclosure agreements, would it?

Now that's just a silly generalization. It's like saying anyone who finds violent things fun, or doesn't crave 6 sets each year who only differ in head, color and weapon = someone unintelligent or uncreative. lol In a mild defense of Greg, it's entirely possible that any complaints people have with him could be due to disgustingly short deadlines by his bosses. I'd love to sit and call him stupid for plopping out horridly stereotypical characters, but it could be all that's possible on short notice, and likely with bosses also adding their own arcs and whatnot right up to the last minute that need to be hurriedly written in. If what Greg's described in regards to treatment of the set builders is anything like how they treat him, then it's no wonder the story comes out as it does. Of course, I could be totally wrong, with him having a large amount of freedom over direction & the time to implement his vision. But I'm not about to sit through topics on either of the sites he appears on to find out. My brain probably would be badly damaged by the posts of the insanely young before I'd find that one post he might answer that in.

I'll be the first to agree that anyone old enough to wipe themselves is probably out of the target audience for these (ok, maybe a bit higher than that), but as was said... 2001 in both story and set was attractive enough for any age group. The mute-charactered ambience of the MNOLG is something that shouldn't have been forgotten. Lego characters represented in video form are always cooler when they don't talk... and the writers must then use their brains to convey what's happening and why. Bionicle might clash with Earth? The hell? I like it from a cross-marketing standpoint... Lego could sell both System minifig sets while tied in with Technic Bionicle sets. In a way, they already are, what with the multitude of aquatic theme in 2007. Though I'm not sure that'd be a very good idea in the long run. Bionicle coming to Earth seems like an "ending" story, something everything else leads up to the climax of. Of course, this HAS been a pretty long-running Lego line. The ending of Bionicle has been on the lips of the executives more than once, yet every year it has returned. I've heard higher-ups say "Blah blah will be the last year of Bionicle" at least twice now. But it never is. Anyway, if there is a MataNui/Earth storyline, it'd be funny. The minifig characters wouldn't even have to actually interact with them... merely be "searching" for weird undersea anomalies lol. Ew... if they did make contact... it would be one hell of a way to end Bionicle, making way for a Technic/System hybrid line. You know, more than Exo-Force already is. :-D This whole "blood" thing is silly. No kid is going to lose it over seeing that, unless they're mentally handicapped in some way or have been blocked from the real world a little too long by an over-protective mommy and daddy. Yes, there's more mindless violence now, but it's not a terrible attempt to keep the fans who grew up with Bionicle still as paying customers. And I'm gonna' have to probably boot anybody down the stairs who says they wish things were still as foofy as the Toa Nuva era. You know, the he-got-scratched-offscreen, let's-play-hockey-instead-of-fight, he's-dead-but-not-really-LOL, look-at-my-tool-which-is-really-a-weapon retardation. Don't even go into defending the horrible new limb pieces the Toa Nuva sets themselves introduced. Great, we got armor...but on bastardize 2001 guys with USELESS masks and hollow, gouged out leg pieces. If Lego were still making intelligence-insulting CRAP movies like Mask of Light and CRAP sets like the Toa Nuva all the way here in 2006, I'd have abandoned things long ago, buying just a System set here and there.

http://www.saviodsilva.net/d/f/teller.htm

And that green Knights Kingdom "Prankster of the group". :-| Most uncreative story designers. Compared to the Inika, these guys are better. They might not have gears (personally, those "play features" were lame as all hell). They might be unfortunately using old parts in colors already done. But I like'em. They're just different enough to not be annoying. The stranger shaped items on them will help the mocing community a bit. Same with them being a bit more Technic this time. Aside from new colors or not reusing existing parts in certain colors, I'm not sure what else could have made these guys look better. Add to that the fact their parts aren't all standardized and identical... now all the little kids with no creativity that change a mask and call it a new character have to think a bit about getting a look. And I don't think even one person could complain that the departure away from baby-simple, giant-assed Piraka torsos is a bad thing. Look at the Bionicle mocing community these days... it's in PAIN. I think the diversity of these will help creativity happen again. I also applaud the aquatic theme, as the cross marketing with the other aquatically themed Lego lines this year will certainly mean System parts will find their way into Bionicle mocs... something sorely missing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream Way too many movies. A mind-boggling amount.

Lol... watch it be a Lucasfilm employee. They put that damned scream in every damned movie they do. X D

Which is good, because it was. :-D Very clever way to add his hands to the cuffs. The rounded pillars look a little off from materials/structures of back then... 1x1 bricks might look better. "Say your name, Toby". "My name... is... Kunte Kinte!"

Why, I don't know what you're talki... Ah. Yeah well, I love these new sets. Better than the Piraka were by far. And someone on a different site said it looks like these might have 2 of those new all-the-way-through balls. Which is mocing gold.

Is this the right page? I see nothing. http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?fb...Id=2274247&pg=1 Unless it's been removed or on a non-US version of Toys R Us. EDIT: Ah, I found them just by typing "Bionicle". Weird. http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?f=...e&kwCatId=&pg=2 And it only lists Kalmah, Takadox and Carapar.

Freaky prototype Bionicle sets... images still used on Amazon.de X D prototype vs. actual prototype vs. actual prototype vs. actual I really liked the parts on 8757's prototype WAY better.