Bricknave

Same with me. Older Bionicle sets with some sort of function other than plain-old boring launchers were my favorites. Sure, the Toa Mata / Nuva models were clunky and hard to pose, but at least their gears could be re-used for something else. I also liked the Toa Metru models, because they combined the pose-ability of recent action figures with gears; something I wish recent Bionicle figures could be like.

I'm not a "system only guy". I own several old-school Bionicle canisters, mostly Toa Nuva and Metru. I also follow Bionicle's epic story. When I said "Older LEGO Fan: Is there more to the plot? Are the good guys fighting the bad guys to save a world that tiny people inhabit, or something to that effect?" I was actually hinting about the Bionicle story, which involves Toa protecting the tiny Matoran. What I was trying to say before I edited my post was that this HerO Factory might be like the Ben 10 Alien Force sets, except with a possibly bad story. One huge reason why I like Bionicle is because of the unique story. Sorry I wasn't clear enough. I'd hate to burst your bubble, but the reason why Bionicle lasted more than other LEGO themes was because a majority of Bionicle consumers were just non-LEGO-addicted kids who weren't into the Bionicle story or MOCing with it. They just want to quickly build the model, shoot the launcher several times, and keep it built. The majority of all of the MOCists and story fans (like us) probably make up a fourth of the people who buy Bionicle, sadly.

I'll help you help LEGO with names for series 2! Sandy Sand, Wally Water, Pete Plants, Robert Rocks and Leet McNoobcaek. LOL! I agree with you, the names are horrible. LEGO might as well just make one HerO and name him Bob Person. _ I personally think that the figures are either supposed to be Humans tightly concealed in futuristic exo-skeleton battle-armor, or Human that have been turned into cyborgs, which would explain a lot of things. You see, if they were robots, their names would be like just "(Name that hints it's power)" or "(Name that hints it's power) A4-89". If they were alien biomechanical humanoids, like the characters in Bionicle are, their names would be like "Blahblahblahix" or something. Thus, I think that the HerOes are either cyborgs or Humans tightly concealed in battle-armor because of their Human names. It could also be possible that the names are just random joke-names, that have nothing to do with the characters being Human or not. Let's just hope that the story of the HerOes Factory line will be just as good as the Bionicle story, and it wouldn't be something cheesy. Even if the story was cheesy, though, it would still sell right off of the shelves because of little kids who get them for the purpose of playing with the main model rather than MOCing with it or the story (this has NOTHING to do with the story of LEGO system sets.) The names of some of the new HerOes are rather "<insert that tiresome argument>", and I have a feeling that the story will be like the average bad Saturday morning TV cartoon (not saying all Saturday morning TV cartoons are bad). Story prediction, could be totally wrong: "The evil villains led by Van Nebula are attacking, but the HerOes are here to stop them!" Little kid: Awesome!! Bionicle Fan: Hmm, the story could be more complicated, but the sets seem to be good enough to MOC. Although, who am I to assume that the story of the HerO Factory line will be poor just because of the names? Hopefully, the story of the HerO Factory line will make up for the silly names.

Bravo, to everyone who even participated in this contest. I'm happy that I participated as a constructive critic! So, as usual, I'm going to give 1 point each to my favorite entries. I Scream Clone - 1 Guss - 1 Kris Kelvin - 1 Cutlass_Iz - 1 Infomaniac - 1 Stanley KBrick - 1 Derfel Cadarn - 1 Leg Godt - Play Well

Fantastic job, everyone. I'm so glad I was a Constructive Critic in this contest, because I was able to view and help many wonderful MOCs. I am going to give 1 of my 7 points each to my favorite entries. Legosasoperative - 1 TinyPiesRUs - 1 Zepher - 1 PaulCantu - 1 General Armendariz - 1 Tereglith - 1 Tom Bricks - 1 And remember, everyone. It's not whether you win or lose, it's participating and how you play the game. In the great words of LEGO's Danish meaning - Leg Godt.

A "Thank You" from me to all of you who have added such nice comments to my review!

Such an amazing contest! I am so glad that I was able to constructively criticize and view lots of absolutely wonderful MOCs! There are so many terrific entries that are my favorites, so I'll do what Maydayartist did and give one of my seven points each to my favorite MOCs. Rampant Dingo - 1 Trubal - 1 Admiral Ron - 1 Lorenzen - 1 Jansued - 1 TomBricks - 1 Salender - 1 Good job and good luck to everyone who entered the contest, participating is the most important. And remember: It's not whether you win or lose, it's about having fun, participating and how you play the game. Leg Godt - Play Well

Great entry! I really like the "smoothness" of the MOC, the use of a brown Exo-Force Robot Arm as a tree trunk, and the story of the MOC. My only suggestion is to replace the gray grid tiles with solid tiles in either tan or gray, as the grid tiles seem a bit out-of-place.

Great job! I think that this is a very detailed MOC! I really like the Mermaid that you put on the side of the ship, very clever. However, I have a few suggestions: *The water shouldn't be 100% blue. Some more detail should be added to it, whether it would be transparent blue slopes to represent waves, or some white tiles around the wooden beams of the dock to represent foam. *If you are able to get lots of tan and brown tiles just in time for the deadline, I suggest adding them to the dock and the floors of the buildings.

Bravo! I think that this is an excellent MOC! I really love the highly detailed rock wall, the 100% covered in smooth plates / tiles water, and the creative concept of cannon-powered jet skis! Usually, I suggest for MOCs to be historically accurate at all times, but I think I will stop suggesting that. However, there is but one teeny suggestion for this. I suggestion for the handlebar railing to be made up of smooth plates, as no Minifig would want the railing to be bumpy.

Great work! I think that this is a very creative and well built MOC! I really like the concept of a "banana duel". However, I have a few suggestions for this MOC: *A lot of smooth plates / smooth tiles could be added to the floor of the MOC to add extra detail, I would prefer brown, but what TheOtters has suggested would work well too. *I agree with what previous comments have said, the MOC could be more colorful. I think that maybe some vibrant solid-color flags (to promote different dueling contenders) could be added to the building and audience. *The pirate captain with the gold hook should have his hat in a position so that the jolly roger faces the viewer. *The building behind the audience would look much better if the windows and the door were different. Don't fret about my suggestions, if you can't get the necessary bricks in order to fill out my completely subjective suggestions in time for the deadline, then oh well. Good luck!

Thank you very much for this nice comment, ILikePi! I really couldn't understand why two other versions of this set were released either.

I think that LEGO Universe will basically be the average 3-D grind-oriented MMOG, except LEGO-themed and with the ability to build things with virtual LEGO bricks. However, I am not worried about the monthly subscription fee. In-fact, having a monthly subscription fee has some huge upsides for the customers. Monthly subscription fees deter most Hackers and Bot-Makers, as they wouldn't want to get a ban from something they paid for. Also, "N00bz" would probably avoid playing LU due to the monthly fee, because they are usually in the younger age groups. So if LU was all free-to-play, we wouldn't enjoy it as much as it would be if it were pay-to-play because of the large n00b and trouble-maker infestation. If LU was half free-to-play half pay-to-play, it wouldn't be very different from an entirely free-to-play version of LU, except if it had the members' content on separate servers. However, it is possible for n00bs and trouble-makers to buy a membership. Hopefully, the monthly fee won't be too expensive. Even if it was very expensive -- think about what you're getting here; HD-quality graphics, ability to build your own custom LEGO models (think about how many lines of code it would take to program all of those brick positions), plus lots quests, items and other average MMOG elements.

Deep in the heart of the arid Egyptian desert; two opposing groups of adventurers (one for the education of Minifigure kind, the other for themselves) are following maps that lead to the great treasures of a lost ancient Egyptian kingdom. To search for the treasures in speed and ease, the groups have constructed vintage vehicles for themselves, although one member of the good group has decided to stay put to study an ancient sarcophagus. I give you a review of -- 5909 Treasure Raiders. Set theme: Adventurers, Egyptian desert Sub-theme. Set number: 5909 Set name: Treasure Raiders Number of bricks: 192 Number of Minifigs: 4 + 1 Skeleton Year of release: 1998 This set is the same as both versions of Desert Expedition, except that this one includes a special edition MUMMY STORAGE CASE. The set itself is basically just 3 models; a bi-plane, a jeep, and a very small camp in the desert with a sarcophagus to study. The Box: (Note: The box is not in mint condition) Quite a nice box, with the usual orange-y sky Adventurers Egypt box art. I sometimes wonder if it is supposed to be sunset or sunrise for the Adventurers? On the back is the usual somewhat-goofy building alternatives, including special edition MUMMY-CASE alternative. The Mummy-Case: Very nice to have around! It's great to store your bricks in if you're on vacation, plus it makes a great collector's item. The Minifigs: The Minifigs aren't as exciting as the Johnny Thunder Minifig, but they are fine. The Harry Cane Minifig with the neat-looking bomber jacket and Dr. Kilroy Minifig with interesting overalls make fine editions to anyone's Minifig collection. The bricks: This LEGO set has a good variety of bricks in tan and white. Here is a picture of some of the more interesting bricks ... (Note: The tail wing and compartment door bricks have stickers on them.) Now let's get on to the LEGO brick models themselves! The Campsite: My ratings: Playability: 1/5 Brick content: 2/5 Interest level: 2/5, 1/5 without the sarcophagus. There isn't much about it that makes it special, except for the printed-decal sarcophagus. The Jeep: My ratings: Playability: 5/5 Brick content: 3/5 Interest level: 4/5 A very good model, considering that it is one of the very few set models that have a black jeep cabin brick. The side-mounted rifle turret is also a nice touch, but it makes the jeep like more like a WW1 combat vehicle than an exploration vehicle (good if you're a military LEGO builder). The Bi-plane: My ratings: Playability: 5/5 Brick content: 5/5 Interest level: 5/5 In my opinion, the best model in the set. It has a wide variety of bricks in tan and white that aren't usually in those colors, not to mention that the panels with the "shark mouth" stickers on them can flip out to expose the bi-plane's mighty engine! Overall rating: 4/5 It would be 5/5, but the small campsite brought it down a notch. Overall opinion: This set is definitely a good one, but it isn't really an absolute must-have, unless you need more vintage vehicles for your LEGO collection. The models are great, except for the small campsite, which begs for something else to be added to it. The set is also good in terms of MOC-ability, as it offers vehicle bricks that are in rare colors.

Bravo! I think that both the MOC and it's story is absolutely excellent! The MOC is so detailed that there is barely anything in the MOC itself that I would criticize, other than the position of the whine that is spilling out of the goblet (genius idea). The whine should be spilling from the side of the cup that is the closet to the floor, rather than the side that is farthest from the floor, as it currently seems to be defying the laws of physics. This suggestion isn't really critical, but would help if you are going for 100% accuracy.

Well done! I think that this MOC is very creative. Flame pieces to represent spilling punch? Brilliant! The only thing about this MOC that I dislike is the floor. The grid 1x2 plates don't seem to have a reason to be there, and the floor is far too stud-y. I suggest removing the grids and making the floor smooth for the most part, but with studded plates beneath the objects.

This sounds like some great holiday fun! Here's my entry! Sometimes, when good ole' Saint Nicholas is done delivering presents to good children around the world, he enjoys himself by driving his HyperSpeed Sled all around the Arctic tundra. The sled is equipped with dual electromagnetic radiation faster-than-light turbo engines which allow Santa to travel at Warp-8!

This is a great entry, but it could use many improvements. On the pictures, I agree with what previous comment-ers have said. You need to either get a better camera, or create a perfectly white paper / sheet background around the MOC, and then find a way to create "soft-light" with the lamps (Here is something for reference). On the MOC itself, I agree with what previous comment-ers have said. You might want to add some transparent blue or white 1x1 slopes to the water (or anything else that could represent waves), some tan slopes / curves around the island base to make it look more natural, some greenery, and some gray 1x1 slopes to the island base (to represent rocks).

Brilliantly well done, PE668 and ROBUKO!

Fantastic work! This MOC is absolutely a magnificent blast from the past! I love the immense amount of detail you put into this! I love; the gravel ramp, the highly detailed rock wall, the S.N.O.T red-bricks-sticking-out-of-the-wall technique, and the lovely red roof on the (storeroom?) However, there is one tiny little suggestion for this. I suggest for the fishes to be facing the inside of the barrels, because it seems more likely that they were dropped in the barrels in that position.

Thank you all for such nice comments! And a "Thank you" from me to anyone else who leaves a nice comment to this topic! Have a Brick-y Halloween! :pir-skull:

I'd like to join this please! I've always liked the sci-fi horror concept of a creature that infects people, and the number of non-infect'eds whither away one-by-one.

Ghost Train Entry Hi there! This is my entry for the Build a Ghost Train Building Challenge! I hope you enjoy it! Years ago, on Halloween night, the Lanternworth Locomotive was pulling the night train. The engineer wasn't happy about this; He wanted to go back home, but his boss wouldn't let him (for greedy reasons). It was a long and gloomy train ride .... UNTIL, all of a sudden, the train slipped on loose pumpkins that were laying on the tracks, and crashed into a nearby ravine. The train was lost for 30 years ..... Now, the ghost of the engineer in the newly transformed Jack 'O Lantern Locomotive is after the son of the engineer's boss!

Bravo! I think this MOC has been built well and is very creative! I admire the S.N.O.T. shelf you built for the gold goblet, along with the highly detailed floorboards! I also find the dentistry shark on top to be quite amusing and unique. The only suggestion I have for this MOC is to replace the old brown 1x2 smooth plate with one in new brown (if one is available), as old brown with lots of new brown around it looks too clashy and sticks out far too much. Or, you could add more old brown to make it even.

Thank you very much for the compliment, and you're quite welcome for the tips!