Zarkan

I've always understood the divide over the Piraka - but honestly, I like them. Sure, they're not exactly the most organized or powerful villians (and don't bring up the victories over the Toa Nuva - it was clearly shown that the the Piraka were just lucky), but I feel that having villains that are more boast and less power adds variety. Not every villain has to be this "super incredible force of nightmares" like the Bohrok, Kal, Rahkshi, Makuta, and others were. Besides, I personally found the Piraka's bickering hilarious. As for Dalu and Velika, I don't understand why you dislike them or think they were ruined. Sure, Dalu was arrogant and self centered, but she showed that not every Ga-Matoran is all nice and peaceful. And how did Garan ruin Velika's riddles? To me, he helped Velika's appearance - if headn't explained what he was saying, than Velika would have come off as nothing more than a nutter without any real sense. Garan showed that Velika was in fact one of the wisest Matoran on Voya-Nui, if you got past the language barrier. As for the sets - Personally, I felt that the Piraka were great sets that didn't completely work out (most notably the useless spines), but they had a lot of originality and looked plain beastly. The Inika were not great, I can concede, but I felt that Hewkii, Matoro, and Nuparu were at least decent. Still, I totally agree that the Matoran, Axonn, and Brutaka were way better. However, I'd also add Vezon and Fenrakk to the list, as it's one of my favorite titans.

Thanks for the interesting summary of one of the more overlooked Space themes, Algernon. Honestly, I'm split on this theme. One the one hand, I like the large saucer and the base a lot, as they both have some great features and design techinques. On the other hand, I'm not fond of either of the robots, mainly due to their propulsion system. I mean, come on - wheels on robots that are extremely vertical and narrow? These machines would probably have trouble just going up a small hill without tipping over and wasting millions of credits. This is the same reason I don't like the Robo-Force theme - the propulsion these robots are using is just downright silly. Oh well, at least they have a nice saucer. Speaking of which, I own a fair amount of Insectoid kits and was recently planning to do reviews of all of them. Anyone interested?

Except that its not stealing. Megabloks is doing something that is perfectly legal - since TLC's patnent on the lego brick ran out, other companies now have the right to produce bricks as well. Yes, they are taking advantage, but they are certainly not stealing. Stealing is when you take something that legally belongs to someone else. And in reality, the brick no longer belongs solely to TLC. Still, I totally agree with what you've said about Lego's products - they now have far surpassed Megabloks, which keeps sinking lower and lower with their new "innovations," instead of focusing on their good themes. Strange, that almost sounds like lego's dark ages...

Well, both of them have amazing vehicles, but in the end I'm going to go with Shanghai Chase. The reason? Every one of it's five figures is both brand new and exclusive, while all the figures in Race for the Stolen Treasure could be found in multiple sets right from the start (generic soldier can be found in Motorcycle Chase, and regular Indy can be found in just about every flipping set).

*sigh* Here we go again with eurobricks' trademark brand loyalty. Seriously, I've never understood why so many members here bash megabloks and other clone brands for the sole reason that it ISN'T LEGO. I mean, come on - that's like bashing Sony and Microsoft for making systems just because Nintendo was there first! In all honesty, I feel that if a product is not illegally ripping off another company (like Shifty did to many of TLC's sets), then you should judge them solely on their quality. And no, that doesn't mean that you should go "hey, most people say they're crap, so they must be poor quality and I shouldn't even touch them." If you really want to back your comments up (positive or negative), you need to actually experiment with the pieces, like I have. And actually, Megabloks isn't as bad as some of you guys make it out to be. Sure, the quality is definitely lower than lego, but it's improved vastly from their early days. Plus, Megabloks does have some very interesting pieces - the walls used in the Dragons line have a great texture and design, for example. And concerning acessories, I think they've really done an execellent job. Their fantasy themed lines have some very cool handweapons, and those guns that were posted above look nice too. Plus, Megabloks actually had the guts to produce a military themed line, which TLC will probably never do. Of course, my opinion about them is rapidly changing, as they seem to now be focusing less on their stud based play line and focusing more on novelty toys like Magnetix, Struxx, and Neo Shifters, which IMO is just an obvious cash in on Bionicle's success. Still, I honestly feel that anybody who doesn't at least try out Megabloks toys has no right to bash them. *prepares to get bashed himself*

That person seriously does not know how to pose. Look at his neck - it's not suposed to stretched up as high as possible!

Just imagine if the original story plan had gone through, where in 2008 the Toa Nuva and Mahri failed in their mission to save Mata Nui, thus sending them on a possibly multiple year storyline to find the great beings. Yay for more redesigns of characters that have already been done to death!

I actually must agree with this completely. Honestly, I haven't felt as satisfied with the current Bionicle canister line in years - it seems that ever year I either start out hating them, or end up liking most of them but really disliking one or two of them. This year, I've found myself at least liking every canister set, and many of them I absolutely love.

I'd agree that Tarix is probably the worst, but only because his design is so generic. However, I personally love that his weapons are so unique, I really like his mask, and he has some decent parts. Also, if he was like the Mistika, he'd be almost all silver, would have no melee weapons, and would have a mask that looked like a dark hunter.

That's not what I see, and I've read all the books and comics too. I can think of a lot just off my head, besides the ones that Bundalings and hewkii mentioned: Nervous and quiet - Piruk Unconfident - Vakama, Matoro Sympathetcially evil - Krika Speaking in riddles - Velika Depressed - Nidhiki Dumb Brute - Krekka, Nocturn Pathologicaly evil - Makuta Teridax Zealous for justice - Botar Good but slightly boastful and bombastic - Jerbraz Oh, and don't forget all the characters Greg has written that have broken elemental stereotypes or have stayed true to the personalities fromt he early years: Warrior water type - Helryx, Dalu Serious air type - Toa Kongu (in line with his original personality) Calm fire type - Toa Jaller (again, in line with his original personality) Perpetually positive - Pohatu Phantoka (which stays in tune with his early personality) Angry and fierce ice type - Mazeka Evil Ta-Matoran - Vultraz This is why I called your statement a generalization. On the surface, it may seem like you can divide all Greg written characters into 5 different types, but that just isn't the case if you actually try to get to know the characters. BTW, I hope you aren't forgetting that Greg also wrote the 2001 comics, which seem to be held in such high esteem here.

I disagree about you disagreeing. But in all seriousness, I have simply never gotten how people can get so much emotion from the 2001 comics, or any bionicle comic for that matter. Dialogue is just simply not enough, especially since Bionicles drawn to set form can simply not show adequate emotion. And, that applies to the MNOLG too. Yes, great dialogue is all well and cool, but it's hard to really get the feel for it if all the characters speaking it are wearing masks. That is the big reason why I prefer the books and serials over every other kind of Bionicle media. Since they emphasize description, you can really understand the feelings of characters throughout the entire book. BTW, I really dislike over-generalizations, especially when they involve Greg - mainly because people here seem to make so many about him. It gets really annoying.

Hey guys, someone on BZP just posted some Q&A from Greg in the magazine topic. Guess what - the mysterious character's identity is going to be revealed in the movie, no less. Makes me think he IS a summer set.

Okay, honestly, the new 2009 comic is just incredible. I'd go so far as to say that it's the best bionicle comic ever, although I'm sure some of the 2001 junkies would get upset at me (j/k). But seriously, man was that awesome to read! The storyline was deep and mysterious, and tons of distinct characters were established in just 16 pages. And the artwork... beautiful. Characters look awesome and well detailed, the locations are amazing, and the action scenes were really, really intense. This new artist is a winner in my book. Oh, and best exchange goes to Tarix and Strakk: Tarix: "You've got to admit, for a jungle type, he's got guts." Strakk: "Yes, and I think we'll be seeing them soon."

Thanks for the great review, Brickster. Honestly, this is how 4 wide vehicles should be done. I've never been a fan of the tiny go-cart style vehicles in many old town kits, but that doesn't mean I don't like four wide at all. On the contrary - sets like this one show that you can stay in the 4-wide scale and still achieve a smooth and fairly realisticially scaled design. Add two great looking vehicles to two nice figures and some good acessories, and you have a 5 from me!

As opposed to 2001, which had no actual book series to speak of? I mean, yeah, the animations were awesome, and the comics were far better than the current ones in dialogue, but those kinds of storytelling lack the emotion that real books can give you. But of course, this all comes down to whether you like Greg's writing or not, and that seems to be possibly one of the biggest issues of debate on this forum. Personally, I can't get enough of his writing, while other people here seem to hate it with a passion. Oh well, at least we all can agree that 2009 will probably be awesome!

That's it, it's official - 2009 is the best lego year since the begining of TLC's dark age. Seriously, we're getting Farm, and now we'll be getting a garage, camper, pizza shop, bike shop, bus and bus station, and tow truck. The sheer amount of variety in these kits really makes this year feel like the older years of town, where sets weren't confined in two or three specific subtheme releases a year, and weren't always foucused around big action lines like Fire and Police. Even better is the fact that all these kits look superb! There's not a single huge 8 wide vehicle in sight, and all the vehicles look superb and original. And the buildings... oh man, just beautiful! TLC, you just keep making my day, so kudos to you yet again!

On the first, I guess it's just a matter of taste again. On the second, I agree somewhat, but I don't think they were actually trying to achieve an elegant look - the look of 2009 is far more primative and ferocious, which fits in with what we know about the storyline so far. The Toa Mata were powerful but noble heroes, while the Glatorian are savage, agressive gladiators. Oh, and I guess I just remembered wrong. Sorry about that.

Gali Mistika, hands down. She is easily the worst canister set ever, in every spectrum (looks, character similarity, colors, piece selection, etc.). I'm only buying her because I need a base for my MOC of what the new Gali should have looked like. While I agree with you about the Miru and the Pakari, I must disagree about the Hau. Sure, it's an awesome mask, but in the wake of newer masks like the Arthron and Malum's helmet, I don't feel that the Hau is the end all to fire masks anymore. While the newer masks are far more jagged and ferocious looking, with tons of slants, indents, and swirled colors that resemble fire, the Hau is too simple looking and clean to convey the fire element just as well. Also, aesthetics and articulation are totally different things. The Mata were an enormous jump up in looks, but their articulation was no better than the articulation of TLC's first technic robot line, the Slizers. And until 2006, they both had the extremely restrictive gear functions that finally have stopped plaguing poseability and articulation. Besides, with the arival of the Glatorian and Agori, we now have had an enormous leap foward from the aesthetics slump of 2008 - although, I seem to remembe that you were the only one completely against the new line, so that probably doesn't mean anything to you.

Lovely pictures, Erdbeereis! Honestly, Cannon Battle will probably be the first set ever that I get more than one of. It's such a good value that I'm sure I'll be getting two or three.

6243 Brickbeard's Bounty 6244 Soldiers Fort 8699 Takanuva 8690 Onua Nuva 5620 Street Cleaner The Batman Season 1 DVD Nintendo DS carrying case Nintendo Wii Animal Crossing: City Folk Candy and other miscelaneous stuff Money All in all, this was possibly the best Christmas year I've ever had. My parents said they spoiled us this year, as they don't usually buy this much, but I would have been happy with just the three items at the top (which were the only specific items I asked for). Anyway, this was a great way to end the year, and I can't wait until next year, when I can finally attempt to get a regular wage job.

If you think you can do better, than go out and buy the set yourself. Seriously, not everyone is a master photo taker, and insulting someone for it is just rude. Besides, the photos look far better than some of the other ones on BZP.

Basically, it was a term coined by former member xwingyoda, which he used in his set reviews. It stands for "Dreaded Sticker Sheet."

I build alone, but lately I've been starting to teach my little brother how to build sets, as he's starting to get interested in the hobby.

Okay, I dunno how Gekko got ahold of these pictures, but thanks! I just hope nobody loses their job over this like someone did back in 2006, with that whole Exo-Force Bridge Walker fiasco. Anyway, the new pictures look awesome! Lots of new weapons and masks, plus some new limbs and armor pieces! Better yet, these sets are even more in tune with their elements than the winter ones! Best of all - Mata Nui looks awesome! BTW, hewkii, you are so banned.

Thanks for the wonderful review, Brickadier General. Honestly, Oxford looks to be the best lego clone ever made. From what you and other people have said, the quality is exceptionally high for a clone brand, and the entire package (box, instructions, pieces, design) is comparable to lego standards. It's especially nice to see that this brand seems to be inovating as well as copying - some of those unique molds are amazing and would look awesome in lego MOCs. Seriously, if Oxford was brought to the US, I bet they'd run Megabloks out of buisness - the latter company is now at it's lowest quality ever, and I doubt it will last much longer.