Dorek

The hearsay and rumors surrounding another summer set are just what I've heard, personally; if any of that came from the LAN I wouldn't even hint at it until there was something I was allowed to say =P. Might well be nothing at all. As for the other thing, it's more of an announcement of an announcement. Soon, I think. I've asked for clarification =P.

Soon? I know very little, and even less of how much I'm allowed to say. It's nothing super major as yet; no news of the line status or future sets or anything.

There's something related to that which I'll make an announcement on a bit later, once I get some more clarification. (I don't have anything new or definitive, but I'll at least have a chance for more info later; a teaser for a teaser, if you will =P). The post-summer set I've heard some rumblings about ISN'T Umarak, but it's also hearsay, and if those Toyfair dates are indeed accurate (which we have no reason to believe they aren't!) it's likely Umarak's what the stock people were referring to.

I've heard rumors of a post-summer wave set as well, though nothing concrete. Interesting nonetheless. I doubt mixed up release dates means anything, otherwise we would have predicted Hero Factory ending in 2012 =P.

That's gonna be SICK in hi-res.

I've seem Amazon keep pre-order links up like that for a variety of products until the last possible moment before admitting/being forced to cancel, so I wouldn't have that as much of an indication. Maybe there was no GN3 to begin with, and it was just some sort of listing error? Hard to say. Hopefully it wasn't something that was outright canceled, and in such a short space of time.

I think 2016 was sort of the designers attempt to iterate on 2015; they markedly improved the combiner aspect (compared to the silly power-up modes from 2015), diversified the small sets (even if they did share a mask mould), and made the actual theme of "Unity" a design aspect in a lot of ways. I think we'll probably see some toying with the structure for 2017, since the Toa/smaller set combination is as good as it's going to get. Anyway, digging all of the sets (as per usual). I still like Ekimu; wasn't expecting anything more from him at the price point, and he combines a lot of good design sensibilities. Plus, trans-blue MoCr is waaaaaay better than a blend. My theory all along has been that it's a temporary "super energized" form, and that he'll revert back to normal next year (or, if they want to include him as a set again, maybe the process radically alters his body). My biggest disappointment with the Beasts is probably their lack of combination with anything else; I know we have SuperDestroyer (who looks great!), but I was sort of hoping that the beasts could combine individually with Destroyer in the way the Creatures did in the first wave.

Love the series; Maleficent is my favorite. Killer level of detail. I'd love to see a second series, if only to get one step closer to LEGO Kingdom Hearts. Interesting last question; I'm not into the minfig scene at all outside of these ones, but I can see how some people would think that including other brands could turn it gimmicky. Personally, I think they release way too many as it is (it must be exhausting to collect the standard ones!), but I like the idea of occasional one offs, as long as they're well designed. Disney has been great; that upcoming German Soccer team one, on the other hand...

Nothing in the June calendar about the polybag either... hopefully not another Russian/Eastern European only thing.

Well, the thing is that the deliberate mystery of the Toa's origins (that continually gets referenced, so will likely be a future plot point) is what people actually use as evidence that there's a connection; clearly these are the Toa from G1, etc. That said, Makuta being Makuta just shreds that argument. The character whose name isn't actually Makuta somehow existed before all of these things and was known by Ekimu? That's not even bad evidence, that'd just be bad storytelling.

Vahi, huh? Cool.

Haha, I appreciate the visual as well. Thanks guys.

Hey guys, I have a question (don't normally venture round these parts of Eurobricks =P). Does anybody have a breakdown of how many of each character is in a dedicated box of these minifigs? I recently received a whole box from LEGO for giveaways and reviews and such, but I'd rather have some available to blind bag, so it would help knowing how many of each I should be expecting when doing the calculations. Thanks if anybody can answer!

Ignoring the relativity of quality when it comes to dismissing something as a "kid's show", what would you classify any TV or movie property based on BIONICLE as? Anyway, yeah, the simple builds were probably the big one. It's the sort of actual realization of fears/paranoia that people had/have for CCBS; extremely large, incompatible-with-other-LEGO pieces forming an overly basic action figure.

They uploaded that speedpaint as a "Wallpaper" in case anybody was interested. (hard to tell where this belongs, but people discussed it here =P. I miss unified topics.)

Right, but that much he's shared openly. His mannerisms and subtle ways of holding information back made me think that there's something greater at play. More specifically, when he talks about destroying the Mask of Control, it sounds incongruous; he's willing to do exactly what Makuta literally just tried to do to him. I didn't expect that from the so-called "Wise Master". I'm probably imagining most of it, but it's the impression I got from the delivery of the lines. #ekimubigbad2018 Anyway, as for JTO itself, I really liked it. The delivery of the lines is a little stilted on occasion, but it works out for the most part. The voice modulation wasn't nearly as obtrusive either. Umarak himself was a mixed bag, but primarily in terms his relationship to Makuta. He says he doesn't answer to Makuta in one scene, then in the next he's bowing on one knee. I could get false subservience, but the dialogue compared to the body language doesn't convey that. Similarly at the end when Umarak puts on the mask, Makuta is monologing at the time, so you can't quite tell if Umarak is putting it on to spite Makuta, or if if he's being compelled to do so. Rest of the time though, Umarak was a total bamf. Animation was gorgeous, and the painterly backgrounds juxtaposed well with the 3D models. Plot was serviceable. A bit predictable, but at the same time, since it's our first real taste, it told it efficiently and accurately enough. Pacing was all over the place, but I think they took their time with the important stuff. Kopaka's fight with Melum felt cut off though, which is a shame since they seemed the most at odds with each other. Character dynamics were solid, in particular the way the Toa all had different encounters with the creatures, which reflected their own personalities and the creatures'. If I ever get around to doing a text review for BS01, these points will all come up in some form, but I enjoyed it. Worth the hype, even if I wish we had gotten more episodes.

Finally managed to watch it. I'll post a more in-depth summary of my thoughts later, but I really liked it. Also, is anybody getting a kind of... sinister vibe from Ekimu? Just the way he talks makes me think he's up to something. I doubt that's really the case (and it would be super cheesy if he were really Makuta in disguise or something) but he sounds less like a wise master and more like he's got an agenda that he's not telling everybody.

Got three of the constraction sets for review, here's Finn. My least favorite, in large part due to the creepy face and weird design choices. Very good for recolors, though, I love the feet and hands, and all the dark tan he comes with. Phasma and Ren coming later.

If I had to pick in pairs, Onua(s), easy. But for individuals, I'll still go with Master Onua for 2015. He was just phenomenal, one of the most fun to build BIONICLE sets, and a great resulting figure. 2016 is a little tougher. I like them all well enough (except for Pohatu, kinda =P) but my favorite standalone Toa would probably be Tahu. I think it comes down to the weapons; Lewa's tonfas get in the way, while Onua's spinning hammer irritates me. Both edge out Tahu in terms of build, but Tahu's weapons give him the title overall.

Given the particular voiceover at the time ("He's using the elements against us!") maybe we'll see other Umarak-ites based on different elements? These ones come from the earth and take obvious inspiration from Onua, so maybe we'll see combos with Tahu, etc. Either way, I hope they release some official building instructions, even if it seems easy enough to mod yourself.

I mean, it's possible that JTO might show things slightly differently, but the animations were meant to be the story, so it's easy enough to take at face value. The passage itself is too long to quote, but the end of RotSS makes it clear that they are the same masks. If nothing else, it calls them all the "Golden Masks", vs the standard Unity masks that their Uniter forms will start out with.

No, the books and animations both confirm that he recreates the original Golden Masks of Power (and is the one who made them in the first place) after Kulta breaks them. As for the Unity Masks, what I'm getting is that they're sort of an imitation of the Golden Unity Masks. The Golden Unity Masks already exist, and exist for the purpose of uniting with the Creatures - who made the masks originally is probably the biggest question, since it might not actually be Ekimu or Makuta! At the start of 2016, it sounds like Ekimu then forges ordinary versions that have enough of a connection with the Creatures to show the Toa where they are; the regular Unity Masks are basically just glorified GPS's, which the Toa will abandon for the Golden versions.

I was hoping for something a little more specific than just a vague shadow controlling power, but I guess it had to come into play somewhere. At least the Unity Masks make more sense in the grand scheme.

Not a huge fan of Onua Uniter's weapon (the spinning is ew) but the rest of the figure is great. Obviously not as good as 2015 Onua, but still one of the best Uniters. Cohesive colors, trans purple, shoulder plates, all good stuff.

This makes up for those lazy box comics =P. I've always liked these one-offs, even if they don't offer much new.