Dorek

Ooh, very nice, thanks for that write-up. I had thought Agil would go on Ekimu's right arm just to avoid any leftover pieces, but they cleverly accounted for that.

These don't seem to be particularly innovative, which is disappointing. They're all nice figures, but not much we haven't seen. Death Trooper, even though he's all black, seems like he's got a lot of cool add-ons, though, so I'll probably go for him.

I've mentioned it in a few places, but yes, Mask of Ultimate Power aside, it is a combiner. The sets are: LOSS MM vs SG Ikir Tahu Uniter Onua Uniter Umarak the Hunter Umarax the Destroyer

It's the art they were using for the Rebrick contest (I uploaded the hi-res version at some point on BS01, but it's been my wallpaper for a few weeks now :U).

LEGO was kind enough to provide us with detailed models of the JTO model so that it should be easy enough to build it now; at some point I might myself go and create step-by-step instructions, but this will more than suffice. On my Flickr Courtesy of LEGO (obviously), credit to the designers: Nicolaas Vás (Brickthing), Corvin Stichert (Vezok's Friend) and Niek van Slagmaat (who I believe took the photos, so an extra thanks!) Sorry if this does actually belong on the contest page, but I felt at some point this was a big enough issue on its own =)

Just got a reply from LEGO, they won't be doing any actual building instructions, but they will be providing some pictures of the JTO model for us to try and reverse-engineer. Will let everybody know when I have them =) Edit: Looks like DeeVee will have already taken some pictures, so between us all, I think the community is going to be able to figure it out. I can't wait to build him, myself.

[Flickr Album] Throughout his incarnations, Makuta has always been a failed ruler, secretly coveting the admiration he was never qualified to receive. Here, he has succeeded; King Makuta, fierce defender of the people of Okoto, even at the small expense of their liberty. Freedom is a dangerous thing. Kneel to the crown. Been working on this guy for about a month for the Rebrick contest (technically I had a head start, but I'm going on vacation, so sue me =P). Haven't MoC'd with physical bricks since... 2010, I want to say, so a solid six years. Before CCBS. Pretty pleased with how it turned out, all things considered; there's stuff I could blather on about, but my favorite part is the crown, which was the original design impetus and took a while to get right, but just clicked in the end. Criticism, questions, critiques, etc. always welcome. Yes my photography is atrocious.

"Conventional" development time, as I was told, can be around 18 months. With a new theme, it's probably longer, which is why I'm not expecting anything until 2018. For what it's worth, I was told both Christian Vonsild and John Ho had moved on to different product lines, but there was no mention of what Cerim Manovi was doing, so my hope is that means there's plans for a new line in the works =)

If they were able to get to some concepting before the discontinuation, they didn't show us; I suppose there's an off chance something might be in the art book (I didn't get a look at EVERYTHING in that) but I doubt there was much to show, sadly. Excellent, I'm glad somebody is working on that. I had been trying to see if anybody was willing to take up the task, but I don't know any 3D modelers! I'll definitely order myself a few copies once it's been finalized. Maybe some BS01 giveaways...

We didn't know any of these things, same as seeing a giant robot in the 2008 animations didn't mean we were getting a set of that. The reveal of the mask piece itself was a bit of a snafu (see below) but if anything would have been "inexcusable" (enough with the rhetoric and hyperbole...) it would have been not seeing anything at all and instead having a shapeless lump of black flame. Which was the alternative. Unfortunately, that was the idea; the video was definitely not intended to be released until after the episodes had been shown. The video itself seems deliberately crafted to avoid mentioning the actual end of the line, but maybe that backfired and somebody thought it was okay to post since it didn't give away the "big secret".

People keep using the word "effort" like it's a magical wish that can turn dreams into reality if you just believe hard enough. I'm not going to say that the end result has more money attached to it; obviously it doesn't. But that's neither a dispassionate corporate edict nor a result of jaded workers not caring about the final product (the latter implication is insulting regardless, but especially so now that I've actually met these people and can see how hard they work!). The team had to work within restraints, yes, but LEGO was willing to throw more money in for a final conclusion; it's a vastly more involved process than just "rewriting the ending", although a large chunk of my upcoming interview details the collaboration with Volta, so I'll let that speak for itself. It might be "counterproductive" to axe a line unceremoniously (from the perspective of alienating segments of the fanbase), but at the point where the rewrites occurred, that was already a reality; the end result is a dedication to the people that have stuck by it. It might not be perfect, but it shows caring and pride in the brand, and I think it's a shame people can't see past themselves to that. It doesn't sound like it to me. Based on everything I learned in Denmark (development times, when BIONICLE was canceled, etc) it sounds like the earliest we would see something is 2018, and I think the answers on Twitter seem to confirm as much. I'd love to be wrong, though! A whole year without constraction is going to be hard...

Isn't that... exactly what happened here? In 2009, we had were similar rumors of a cancellation, combined with the leaks of the weird looking Stars sets. Finally LEGO was like "yeah, this is the last wave" and we deviated from the original three year Spherus Magna movie plan to the final ending. Back then we didn't know anything about it that we know now; that Kelly fought for the final wave, that they hadn't been factoring in new molds to the pricing for the line, etc. And the vitriolic response was similar! Talks of betrayal and backstabbing and whatnot. Here they were good enough to let some people know about the ending, and actively worked towards making a definitive conclusion. Much like 2009, they could have just ended it, but instead the went back and reworked the story to give us something much more satisfying. And they made it a point to give the fans something they'd been asking for ever since the line started: an art book. The art book is limited to 100 copies, and there won't be anything included in it; the only mask models that exist and ever will exist are prototypes at LEGO. BS01 will have a few physical copies to give out, and we'll host the files too =)

I don't think anybody ever actually talked about attention seeking (if so, it was a poor choice of words, or maybe even a translation error!) but my stance on that is that people always have to put their (figurative) money where their mouth is. Were the people constantly going "the sky is falling!" actively doing anything productive in terms of engagement with the line otherwise? If people want to use violent hyperboles, like being "stabbed in the back", or "slapped in the face", then they should probably take a look at why they feel so hurt, and whether or not that fervor translated across the span of the line. I'm not saying that means exclusively fanfiction, or art, or whatever, but keep in mind that, nowadays, these are the kinds of metrics that TLG uses. If sales aren't going to show enough enthusiasm for a brand (and it appears they weren't), then how else can people communicate their passion?

Shhhhh you're ruining my top secret plans...

I can't provide actual instructions unless I build it myself (and I don't necessarily have the resources for that) but once the contest comes out in proper, I'll share all of the great pictures of that model they sent me, so hopefully together the community can recreate it! This was a really beautiful sentiment, thanks for that =). I'm sure the team is reading too.

That was the announcement. There were a few mixups in communicating the date.

LEGO Ideas, plain and simple. We won't be getting the mask, but if there'e enough fiscal demand, it's at least in the realm of possibility. They've already said they won't release the mask, and they told me as much in June, when I was in Denmark. I think Aanchir pointed out that they were made using a rapid prototyping machine, and he was right, the few that exist were; for legal reasons, they weren't allowed to send one home with the fan groups (nuts). Although, amusingly, they also had one in black (like in the show), which I have yet to see in their images released. Not really... a recolor is much less expensive than a new mould. They had likely already decided to cease production at that point.

I'll be asking LEGO for some high quality photos (they gave me some for every model except that one! And shadow villager) of the model, but hopefully people will be willing to make a start on reverse-engineering it based on what we have now. We're not going to get instructions, but I sure as hell plan on building him.

Yuuuuuup.

I'm still in for a Slizers reboot, but honestly I think I don't want the next constraction theme attached to a specific storyline. I loved BIONICLE, and Hero Factory, but it's an enormous effort to create a huge transmedia base and have it go off without a hitch. Whenever we next see constraction figures, I'd like a barebones framework of a world, and let the rest be up to people's imagination. (you know, like Slizers)

Not a clue, sorry =P. I would imagine closer to the end of the year, but I'll let you guys know when I find out more. (for what it's worth, the whole thing is super cool; I got a sneak peek through a prototype printout, and it's amaaaaazing).

I've been working on my model for two months (I'm a slow MoCer!) since I'll be on vacation for most of the entry period; thankfully I knew it was coming =P. It's all ready to go, though I'm not satisfied with the photos I have now. Most of it's pretty shoddy, but the mask design I've got going on is absolutely stellar.

For a few more specifics, I've published an open letter I'd like y'all to read. For the two main questions: no MOUP, yes other ways to get art books (but not many).

The passion and vitriol I can deal with, it's this jaded narcissism that gets to me. Sorry people, you do actually feel something, society just tells you that emotions are dumb so you're trying to pretend you don't have them. I'm sad, obviously, but I've at least had two months to prepare =P.

Can't say anything else, the official announcement will explain it all. But believe it or not the list of sets actually came from the designers themselves; I got to hang with Corvin, Nick, and Niek in Denmark for a bit (shout out B6 for introducing me), and the model was all them, so they told me what went into it. Edit: ALSO jk I got the wrong time zone, it will actually be the 31st, sorry.