Dorek

I have yet to hear of LEGO directly contacting anybody; all I have seen are people taking it down so that the leaker "doesn't get in trouble" or board officials reinforcing their usual policy of "if it is actually leaked, we don't want it here". (which is exactly what a hoax-maker would count on)

Isn't that exactly what someone who wanted people to believe a hoax would say? Again, all of this could be real; if this turns out to be legitimate, nobody would question the evidence (or lackthereof). But that's precisely what makes these situations so easy to take advantage of; complete uncertainty, coupled with vague statements and plausible scenarios, create this idea of something that doesn't exist. The pictures I see do not seem real to me; more than that, they look like they were faked. I'm not saying this "just because", I'm just trying to express appropriate skepticism.

Maybe he made his own. Anybody remember "Outlaws"? That said, the main mask totally looks like a modified Avsa. I've been wrong before, and I'm not trying to be hypernegative or anything, but these pictures have not convinced me of their legitimacy in any way.

Which itself could have been the base for the BIONICLE image; not that hard to shop.

Well, considering their rollout of the HF webpages we had this year, it's still a little odd.

Why not both? :U

I'm definitely in the nonbelievers camp; the backgrounds look reused, the logo alignment is terrible, and it just doesn't look like something that would be hard to shop. I'd love to be proven wrong, but this has hoax written all over it.

Some of those combo models are a little dopey (all humanoids? Natch), but there are some really awesome ones in there; Fluminox+Panthar is legiiiit.

Depends on my budget, but Queen Beast for sure. I still haven't gotten any of the winter sets, sadly, so I'll probably just save up and pick from the whole selection once they're out.

eBay and Bricklink would probably be the best options in terms of finding deals. Amazon is a possibility, but those individual sellers (who will ship to your country) tend to be more disorganized and all over the place with prices. It won't be too difficult, the trouble is in keeping the costs down.

It was basically the same for last year too, and part of why I wish they'd go back to separate waves for each half of the year. Obviously it'll get a bump in the summer (and they're pretty good at maintaining that until the new year) but it is frustrating, for sure.

Man, the one year I'm NOT going to Europe, natch. Do we have a timeline on these? I could, in theory, send a family member unit to acquire some from the local store, depending on when they show up.

TRU usually breaks street dates these days (though they often mark it up from MSRP, soooo...)

Either he missed a comma (and some kind of article qualifier, but hey, semantics) or he was saying that none of the 2014 lines have been cancelled, which is good news, no? I'm thinking the latter.

It's not out of the question for them to be real; as seen with Hero Factory, Korea often releases those combi-packs, and it's not impossible for them to have certain models that never saw any other use (plenty of mini-models, for instance). Can't speak to the legitimacy of the packaging, though.

I mentioned the cocoons not being as translucent ages ago =P. Aside from that, though, the sets were a lot more finalized than in years past. Anyhow, that Breez polybag is pretty cute. Hope it ends up as a S@H promotion or something along those lines.

I think it more has to do with the presentation of the information rather than the information itself. When I see things like "not final" and "may change", that just seems like the original purpose of the article was clickbait. What was the context of this; was this mentioned offhand, or in a formal announcement? I appreciate the update and it's good to know that there is in fact something amiss with the line, but at the same time there isn't much concrete info to walk away with. I don't doubt the information, since BZP has always been pretty reputable when it comes to things like this. And it is a bummer if it turns out to stay this way; makes you wonder where those showroom models will end up.

The expectations argument is definitely legitimate (you need to understand what you should be able to get out of something) but that doesn't make certain criticisms any less so. Creep dislikes that the story (which he enjoys) is disseminated in such a way that leaves nothing to support the later year. Nothing wrong with thinking that.

This is why we should have the episode(s) broken up into fragments; the pacing won't seem as rushed and we can actually experience the story. Buuuut it'll probably repeat the cycle for next year too.

Nice little spread of HF in this month's LEGO mag. Too bad they axed the online ones, this would have been fun to have.

I've always thought it would be cool to see essentially an "alternate universe" take on BIONICLE, but on a massive scale; ignoring the fact that BIONICLE actually introduced AU's, just do a completely rebooted timeline, but keep all of the same universe elements and just do different things with them. Have our first team be all Fire Toa or something. Just draw from the rich world that exists but play with our own expectations of the story and the universe in a broader way. Plus, that way we wouldn't have to have them spend any money on new names :U Ideally, of course, I'd like BIONICLE to return, but I'm pretty neutral as to how or when. Preferably some even newer iteration of the building system, after a fashion, but I can't imagine what that would look like.

Haha, I didn't even look at Bfa's link, I assumed he was referencing Rock Raiders, or Power Miners. BIONICLE works just as well.

Ah, drama. Here I thought BZP had the monopoly on LEGO-related internet drama =P I think it merits a comparison, sure, none the least of which is because the same animators worked on both projects. And LEGO definitely cares about it, if their interactions with the development team are anything to go by (although Ghost and Advance definitely take the cake for "most interested" because they all seemed pretty jazzed about the product). But it still is an advertisement. Which by itself begs an interesting question on how long the line was actually in development, and at what point they settled on the theme details; as mentioned, part of the comparisons are evoked because Pacific Rim was so recent (although it had been in development for a while). Faber mentions development on the episode started last March, so I just wonder what the decision was to send the line in this particular route. See, you try and pass that off as being "facetious" but then immediately turn around and do the exact same thing you were pretending was a joke. I think the rest of us are the ones who should find this "unreal".

It's actually on the website too, if you want a direct route. Calling it "crap" is not only unnecessarily insulting, it's ignoring that you are not intended to be the one enjoying it. "Not enjoying something" and it "being crap" are remarkably different things (one is a subjective interpretation while the other is an objective judgment), and not realizing the difference between the two is rather disingenuous. There's also the middle ground of "capitalizing on a trend". A rip-off would be, say, all of those clone games in smartphone app stores. I agree that this is decidedly "inspired by".

You're absolutely right in that something intended for children can find an audience with adults (whether intentionally or unintentionally). You're wrong in just about everything else, including your unnecessary putdowns of other people's opinions; perhaps yours is the one we shouldn't be taking seriously. Sometimes a children's program finding an audience for adults unintentional (such as the recent My Little Pony phenomenon). Other times, it is designed with innuendo and references in mind that would deliberately speak to older generations (such as your example of Looney Tunes, although some of that stems from evolving levels of censorship). Sometimes shows change to accommodate the unexpected demographics (MLP, the Avatar series, etc). And sometimes something is simply geared entirely towards children, hits the mark, and has no need or want to fit outside of its bubble. There are plenty of children's shows I do not watch because it is not in my own personal interest to do so, because I will not be able to appreciate any of it. You're obviously not required to like the Hero Factory show, but everybody else can make up their own minds on the subject. I don't think it's a masterpiece by any stretch, but enjoyable enough based on the parameters that I'm invested in. I'm assuming the target audience (i.e. people whose opinions actually matter to the company) enjoys it too, otherwise they wouldn't keep making the episodes. And I don't really see how LEGO "checked out" on BIONICLE toward the end (in fact, the cancellation was quite abrupt and came as a surprise to many, since it had been outlined for at least a few more years). But your own expectations betray you; thinking that Hero Factory was supposed to be a "great story" is setting the bar too high for what it was always quite upfront about being: a simple, episodic story.