Zarkan

I agree. Old Gresh = WIN, but New Gresh is not so hot. He looks more from Knight's kingdom than Bionicle. And does he have a NOSE?

I'm a fan of the recent animated series, and I especially like a lot of the character designs - which are often extremely original. Today I made some minifig designs for some of the characters on the show, and I'll probably be making more. Black Mask Firefly Riddler Mr. Freeze Hope you like them. ;)

Yeah, I know a lot of people probably think that. Personally, while I love old Vezon and Fenny too, I like Brutaka even better because he's far more useful for parts. V and F do have several cool molds, but a lot of the pieces are pretty generic (I'm really sick of Bordahk and Takanuva staffs!). Still, they both are awesome.

Nice artwork - I really like how you fleshed out the Communist Makuta concept. And so am I. These animations are probably the last good flash animations we've gotten - they really helped give a creepy air to the second half of 2004, and are shockingly close to real history propaganda.

Thanks for the great review. I personally think that Brutaka was the best titan of 2006, and one of the best humanoid titans we've gotten. His color scheme is striking, his mask really unique, and the construction is actually fairly complex (unlike Axonn). Plus, with all those gold pieces, he's a great MOC'ing resource.

I did a couple reviews last year of Crossbow Attack and Knight's Catapult Defense. I know they have Indexed at the top, but I don't see them on the current index. Could you add them if they live up to your standards? Crossbow Attack Knight's Catapult Defense Nevermind! I only just now realized that if you click the pictures, they lead you to other reviews. Sorry about that!

Thanks for the great review. I honestly love all the castle sets, but this one in particular stood out to me. Until now, we haven't gotten a decent siege tower since the golden days of Castle - the KK ones were terrible! The one in this set is awesome, however - it looks well designed and has a good level of detail. Add that to the great figure count, acessories, and the included tower, and you have a recipe for a rating of 5/5 from me!

I would probably be fine with Nintendo Lego - there's a lot of great kits that could be done based on the rich universes of the Nintendo franchises. Imagine a lego Bowser's Castle, a giant model of Kraid, Arwings and Wolfens, etc. However, I don't think it will happen any time soon. I just can't see any reason for TLC to do it as of now. Maybe in a decade or so... Survey says: NO! Come on, don't try to fool us with something like that.

I'd actually go as far as to say that Makuta is better than Darth Vader. That's because, while they are both really awesome, Makuta doesn't have an incredibly embarasing backstory like the Dark Lord now does (Anikan Skywalker ). Yes, his past may be different than what we expected, but it's been repeatedly shown that Makuta is just kick-butt. He overthrowed Miserix, enginered the Plan, whalloped Icarax when he dared try to kill him, tormented the Matoran for a thousand years, and now he's killed every other Makuta in the universe. The only disapointing thing about Makuta's past is the Mask of Light movie's "battle" with Takanuva. But still, Makuta is so awesome.

Huh? Mystery theme? You mean there's another new theme we don't know about?

Awesome. Especially the Kohlii match line. Now we really know what Greg thinks of the Mask of Light movie...

Orc Castle FTW! The green uglies really need a fortress of their own, and 2009 is the best time to do it!

... wow, I'm in shock. This set is AMAZING! All the detail and acessories, cows, great figures, stunning buildings, exclusive pieces, and a TURKEY! There is NOTHING to dislike about this set. Honestly, this is to me now tied with Green Grocer as the best lego set of all time. TLC is just treating us with awesome exclusive after awesome exclusive - Space Skulls and Star Justice, Custom Cars, Town Plan, the Modular building series, the Castle Chess set, the Death Star playset and UCS Falcon, Taj Mahal and Eifel Tower, and now this set! Kudos to whoever designed this set - it's what Castle fans have been dreaming for ever since the theme was first released.

Correction: the bailout of the banks by the American TAXPAYERS was a bad idea. This bailout plan may have sounded good to the people in goverment, but it was only because common people like us would be paying for everything in the end. Fortunately, we actually saw enough bipartisan opposition to sink the bill - something we don't see too often in the US. All I can say is, whoever we get for president, I doubt that they will have much effect on the overall crisis. America may be headed by the Commander in Chief, but he really can't do much unless the corrupt congress lets him. Part of me has been thinking for a while that we should just fire the whole Senate and House and start all over - half of the people there have been there for years and years, and it's time we got new people that actually have a bigger vision than filling their pockets with money and power.

Except for those that live in areas where they've never even seen the wizard impulse at all, and didn't buy it off of shop at home yet. I can't recall even seeing it at the lego store I visited a month ago, and I'm not actually sure if it's even a US release.

Only after getting 100 percent? Ah man, that stinks - nothing much do after that.

ALL makuta other than Teridax are going to die at the end of 2008? But not every Makuta is in the core right now - we just recently found out about a new one that may eventually be named Tridax, and there's probably others too. How are they going to die as well?

Well, this is George Lucas we're taking about. Whatever he says, the reality is that Starwars is enjoyed by as many adults as kids. Bionicle is different - the vast majority of its fans are between 8 and 11 years old. People like you, me, Ravensburg, Ikki, Darkness Falls, and others are in the tiny majority of teen and adult fans.

A lot of interesting comments about this issue have been made, and I actually agree with a lot of it. HOWEVER, I think it's wrong to put the blame on Greg, because IMO, this is obviously not his fault. The reality is, Bionicle is a kids toy. Technically, basically none of us here should even be playing with bionicle anymore, as we're far beyond the normal age group that buys these toys. I've seen so much complaining about how the storyline is awful, characters are bland and cliche, etc. But honestly, Bionicle's storyline is extremely complex considering what age they are aiming the toys at. All the interconnecting plotlines, a huge amount of characters and locations, and many other things make the Bionicle universe a huge one. To me, it's suprising how sofisticated Bionicle is compared to a lot of the other American kiddy toys and their "storylines." Bionicle, in both storyline and kits, honestly is unlike anything on the market. But let me get back to my point: Bionicle is a kids toy, so it's inevitable that the plotline doesn't kill off a ton of major characters. Killing off all six of the Nuva most certainly would have been bad for Bionicle, so there was no reason to suspect that they would do it. In fact, it's incredibly suprising that Makuta actually won - most people thought that it was inevitable that the Toa would win, because that would be a logical move for a toy's storyline conclusion. I think the reason that Greg revealed those things is probably somewhat along what Hydrobius said - Greg has a job, and often he may be forced to make choices that may anger us, since TLC believes that they will be well recieved with the main fanbase. Sure, he will make some mistakes on his own - everyone does - but we can't assume that these things are all his fault. Whatever the case, we just need to be glad that TLC isn't treating Bionicle like most of their other lego lines - lines that have incredible simple and cheesy storylines. Look at Mars Mission, Knights Kingdom, Alpha Team, Exo-Force, and now Power Miners. Bionicle surpasses those by miles, and it's something we need to appreciate. I'm not saying that we have to like everything, just that we have to be more positive about things, instead of complaining constantly. It always helps to look on the bright side.

.... Okay, let me get this straight. Spoilers from other members are GOOD, but spoilers from GREG HIMSELF are BAD. I mean, you haven't given a single negative hoot about the music video or the end of Bionicle legends 11, and yet you hate it when greg reveals major things like that. Sorry, but that really sounds like a double standard.

Well, I'm honestly not suprised about the BZP deal at all. The reality is, that TLC AND many people on BZP (specially the moderators) believe that leaks are bad, period - and that if you look at them, it's just as bad as spreading them around. They think that the leaks actively harm the company - when there is no evidence that they do. Fact is though, I'd rather have it that way on the site than for BZP to start completely allowing leaks. You know why? Because if they did that, then they would lose all their exclusive things. Things like: - Exclusive easy access to Greg, and the ability for members to send him countless questions and get answers quickly - Exclusive stories (The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet) - Contests that directly add to Bionicle's canon (The story writing contest, the Xian weapon's contest, and several others) - Ability for members to suggest ideas to Greg, several which have actually been used. - Exclusive storyline tibits (Mata Nui's death, the exerpt from Bionicle legends 11, and others) - Screenshots of upcoming games - Other things I'm probably forgetting Now, if you guys think none of that is a big deal, fine, but most of BZP would disagree. For them, having all these goodies given out to their site is awesome, and I can see why. They have closer ties to the Lego company than most other fan sites - which is why they must remain completely against leaks in any form. It's tough, I know, but what are you going to do? One other thing - you guys know that Bink is working for lego now, right? Don't you think that that might also have an influence on BZP's decisions, now that one of their founders is under TLC's authority?

Haha, great! That Admiral sure is stubborn... BTW, aren't you working on episode TWO, not episode THREE? Because this is episode ONE, so TWO would logically come next.

Man, now I am really pumped for 2009! Even though I probably won't be buying any sets (2008 is my bionicle binge year), I'll sure as Mata Nui be following the storyline zealously. Here's to the next year of Bionicle!

Lol. But yeah, I agree - all of us spolier freaks "need" to know what happens to the Nuva.

Thanks for the nice review. While I like this copter, I dunno if I'd agree that the original Alpha Team was the best of the line - personally, I think I like the Ice subtheme the best. I really liked that each vehicle had a transforming mode, and the designs were, to pardon the pun, a lot cooler to me. Overall though, Alpha Team just never sat that well with me, despite having some good sets. That's why I'm glad that TLC completely started over with their new spy theme: Agents. By focusing more on a James bond feel with tons of wacky villians, more realistic vehicles with hidden features, and a volcano base that actually looked like a volcano base, I think they finally succeeded where Alpha team didn't.