Aanchir
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Everything posted by Aanchir
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Yes, the CCBS has improved since then, in terms of introducing some amazingly useful new parts... but also, it wasn't all that badly in need of "improvement". The parts for the 2.0 sets tended to be pretty amazingly versatile, the sets just weren't able to fully explore the system's potential at that point. Over time we saw more and more sets using mostly existing parts in new and creative ways. Toxic Reapa is a great example of this. Its only two brand-new parts are its faceplate and shoulders, but it has a creative design that makes it feel wholly unique. Jawblade includes even fewer new parts but an even more unique look. More recently, Furno Jet Machine introduced a custom torso skeleton made entirely of parts from 2011 sets, though the cockpit it uses over top of that skeleton is brand-new. The Chima constraction sets are probably a poor example of what to expect from the new BIONICLE. They're clever sets in their own right, but still fairly simplistic, hence the $15 sets being recommended for ages 6–12 rather than 7–14 like the current $15 Hero Factory sets and upcoming $15 BIONICLE sets. Likewise the $20 Chima constraction sets are recommended for ages 7–14 rather than 8–14 like in Hero Factory or BIONICLE. They have some things in common with the new BIONICLE sets, such as that they are fairly humanoid with pretty good armor coverage, creative weapon designs, and some build variations, but I think expecting the new BIONICLE sets to be like those would be setting the bar for the new sets kind of low.
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The LEGO Group did a staggered release like that for the first year of BIONICLE, but lately they've tended to release each wave of sets all at the same time, regardless of size. That way, people can buy whichever size of sets they can afford right away, and also the smaller sets can complement the bigger sets.
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Glow-in-the-dark colors, you mean? No, they're not. The three glow-in-the-dark colors the LEGO Group has released are called Phosphorescent White (1990–2005), Phosphorescent Green (2006–2011), and Glow White (2012–present). Fluorescent colors are something different. They kinda-sorta equate to what Bricklink calls "Trans-Neon" colors, but there are some exceptions (Bricklink's name for Tr. Flu. Blue is Trans-Medium Blue, and they conflate Tr. Flu. Red with Tr. Med. Reddish Violet, which they call Trans-Dark Pink).
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As in "glows under a UV light". All of the Toa Mata eye colors but Onua's were fluorescent.
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That's Tr. Bright Green. As I mentioned, it IS fluorescent, so I'd be happy with it appearing in any of the new sets.
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I really dislike Onua's old Tr. Green eyes. They were easily the worst eye color among the Toa Mata because they weren't the least bit fluorescent, so they wouldn't glow at all except when lit from behind. Sadly, some of the old transparent fluorescent colors like Tr. Flu. Red and Tr. Flu Yellow (Tahu and Gali's classic eye colors) are discontinued. There are still at least five transparent fluorescent colors on the palette, but two of those are additional colors of orange and green (Tr. Bright Orange and Tr. Bright Green), so that wouldn't really amount to much greater variety than just using the same three colors used for the Glatorian head (Tr. Flu. Reddish Orange, Tr. Flu. Green, and Tr. Flu. Blue) for all six sets.
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There's also Mata Nui and Toa Mata Nui in 2009, and the two versions of Vezon in Vezon & Fenrakk and Vezon & Kardas (though that latter case is kind of special because one is a combi model of the other).
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Honestly, it might be a lot easier to make a good-looking BIONICLE costume based on sets that use the CCBS than based on sets that were characterized by having a preposterous amount of detail. Look at this costumed character from SDCC 2011. Obviously, some parts of that are out-of-proportion, and it's a much higher-budget costume than the ones you see available for sale around Halloween, but I think even using just a few parts of that costume — the chest plate and the armor on the lower legs and arms — would result in a more cohesive look than some of those BIONICLE costumes. Of course, I don't expect to see any BIONICLE costumes available for retail sale, since there haven't been any officially licensed Ninjago costumes, and Legends of Chima costumes have been limited to a handful of accessories like swords, hoodies, and capes. Seems like the LEGO Group doesn't really want to invest in that kind of licensing agreement anymore.
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I doubt it. I'd expect them to keep it around for at least a few months, since this year's Hero Factory sets are probably expected to remain on store shelves for a while. There just won't be new Hero Factory sets joining them or taking their place.
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I don't like the word cancelled — it sort of seems to suggest there were plans that got cut short, and we don't know for sure that there were. I prefer "discontinued". But yeah, it doesn't look like Hero Factory is continuing next year.
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Intruiging Tweet from TLG-Apparent huge news is coming
Aanchir replied to ocifant's topic in General LEGO Discussion
Well, the whole building aspect of it sets it apart from most Transformers and similar products, for starters. Even though its parts have historically been more specialized than your typical LEGO System or Technic parts, they're still very versatile for building your own articulated creations. Beyond that, BIONICLE had a very engaging storyline focusing on the heroic Toa and their quest to awaken the Great Spirit Mata Nui from a spell cast by the evil sorceror Makuta. A lot of the quests involved searching for magical artifacts like the great Kanohi Masks of Power, which gave the Toa new abilities that they could use in battle. The theme had a rich vocabulary inspired in part by various Polynesian languages and cultures, plus lots of mysteries that helped drive the story and keep fans on their toes. It was the LEGO Group's first really full-fledged intellectual property, with a wide range of supporting media such as books, movies, comics, music, and video games. A lot of today's story-driven LEGO themes such as Ninjago and Legends of Chima are informed by the lessons the LEGO Group learned from making BIONICLE. Obviously, BIONICLE doesn't appeal to everybody (what franchise does?), but its originality and immersive storytelling made it a fast favorite for many kids and adults. Not only is BIONICLE a LEGO theme, it was actually one of their most successful themes about a decade ago. -
What happened in 1999 (and similar years)?
Aanchir replied to Tommi1's topic in General LEGO Discussion
In fairness, some of those weirder products were the LEGO Group's flailing attempts to get OUT of a financial slump, not the original causes of it. But for the most part they certainly didn't achieve what they were meant to. -
I think you very well might be on to something. There are no other rumored themes for the first half of next year that seem like "big bang" material, with the exception of Elves, and that theme only has six sets announced rather than thirteen. So we might very well be seeing a big promotional push for the BIONICLE theme in 2015.
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BIONICLE has always had magic. Magical masks, magical elemental powers, etc. Even when things like where masks came from were explained (i.e. they are made from magical disks which are made from a magical substance called Protodermis), it all boiled down to magic in the end. The difference is that with the new BIONICLE, the writers are calling it as they see it. I can't complain. And yes, Ninjago's elemental weapons and the like ARE magic. Even if they don't directly call them that, that's what they are. Again, I think this is a good thing. Honestly, I think the way the LEGO brand name was diminished by the old BIONICLE branding was a bit of an indignity. It was, of course, a product of its time. The LEGO Group was not doing well, so it's easy to see how they might have thought the LEGO brand was more of a liability than an asset. But nobody would make that mistake today. Today, its ties to the LEGO brand makes BIONICLE stronger, not weaker. It's also easy to see why BIONICLE's old branding might have caused problems towards the end. There was a lot of hate directed at LEGO for ending BIONICLE, and some people didn't even entirely realize that LEGO had created the brand in the first place and been in charge of pretty much every aspect of it ever since. If it had been branded as "LEGO BIONICLE" from the beginning, I doubt the "From the makers of BIONICLE characters" icon on the first wave of Hero Factory packages would have been anywhere near as necessary — everybody would know it was from the same creators as soon as they saw the LEGO logo on it.
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And here's my concept of one way I think Pohatu's torso might be built (though I expect the real thing uses some new pieces). Unlike Lewa, his shoulders do not appear to be raised. I honestly don't know whether the gear that drives the shoulders should go in front of or behind the shoulder gears, but it doesn't entirely matter for Pohatu's function — it just affects which direction you turn the gear to raise or lower each arm. LXF Download
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If there is a single part that all of the Toa use for their gear functions, then I'm fairly certain the points at which it connects to the torso beam are aligned vertically, not horizontally. From what I can tell, the gear-driven shoulders on Pohatu are directly behind the shoulders of his torso beam, whereas the ones on Lewa are higher than the ones on his torso beam. Getting a part to fulfill both of those requirements would be... impractical. I also think it's very likely that all the gear functions are driven by knob gears, because there would be little sense in using a knob gear as the control gear and using regular 12-tooth gears for the functions themselves. If you're not going to use the same gear for the control gear as for the function, why not use a classic 20-tooth gear, or even the weapon barrel piece that was introduced for the Super Heroes constraction sets? Even the Protector sets seem to pretty much universally use a regular 12-tooth gear as the control gear, and they don't even need them for any other parts of the build. Finally, I think a half-module offset from the torso beam is unlikely. Generally, small and medium-sized constraction sets don't use a whole lot of half-module offsets, and this has been the case since the Toa Mata. There are some exceptions, but I honestly don't think we're likely to see an offset like that built into a brand-new part. Pohatu's picture in particular LOOKS to me like it has a full module of thickness between the shoulders and the torso beam.
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The decision to use the Toa Nuva in 2008 could have taken place before the decision to kill Matoro at the end of 2007. In fact, it almost certainly did, because the original 2008 storyline was supposed to focus on bringing Mata Nui back to life, not awakening him. And if he didn't need to be brought back to life until the end of the 2008 story arc, then Matoro would have no reason to die before then.
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Which is better - BIONICLE 2015 or HERO Factory?
Aanchir replied to Chimaninja454's topic in LEGO Action Figures
I think it's hard to compare the two fairly. Hero Factory sets are more diverse, but that's to be expected, since it's comparing four and a half years of Hero Factory sets to just half a year of BIONICLE sets. -
There's no reason to assume the Bara Magna storyline wouldn't have happened in those original plans. It just wouldn't have happened as soon. Frankly, I think accelerating the storyline was the right decision in the end, because it was really starting to drag on and on, and sales had been declining since 2002. It's not like the writers would have been guaranteed enough time to finish out those original plans if they had just stuck to them. In fact, they're lucky they were able to keep the theme going for as long as they did.
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No, not at all. Going on actual field missions is a big part of what rookies like Von Ness, Stormer, and Furno had to do to prove themselves. As you point out, simulated training exercises can only prove so much. They test your skills, not your heroic resolve. With that said, it was established in the story that the mission Stormer and Von Ness went on was not supposed to be a major crisis like it turned out to be. Neither Stormer nor Von Ness would likely have been trusted to know what to do when presented with such a serious threat. Stormer was able to rise to the challenge, but Von Ness was not. He was willing to save himself at the expense of his team leader, something Stormer would never consider. For Hero Factory heroes, proving themselves is about WAY more than showing they can handle themselves in battle. It's about being able to make the right decision at the right time, being able to work together with their teammates, showing courage in the face of danger, knowing WHY they do what they do, and earning the trust of the general populace. This is just as true of real-life heroes like firefighters and other emergency personnel as it is in the Hero Factory storyline.
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BIONICLE was no better about that. Toa in the BIONICLE universe are literally defined as heroes. Matoran aren't selected as Toa because they've proven themselves in some way — they're selected by the seemingly-arbitrary force of "destiny". The reason why some Matoran are destined to become Toa and others are not is never explained. The Toa Mata, Toa Metru, and Toa Inika all had to prove themselves as heroes after they had been chosen for the role, not before. Only Takua actually had to prove himself to become a Toa, and proving himself in that case was as simple as not running away from his duty, something plenty of other Matoran like Jaller had already mastered. How is magically granting a character with the body of a hero before they have an opportunity to prove themselves in any meaningful way any better than creating a character with the body of a hero and then asking them to live up to the name? Sure, Hero Factory heroes don't get an opportunity to prove themselves before they're created (generally, nobody in any story or in real life ever does). But after they're created, they still have to prove themselves. That's what separates rookie heroes like Furno or Evo from fully-fledged heroes like Stormer. Von Nebula exists as proof that not all Hero Factory heroes have what it takes to deserve their title, just as Nidhiki demonstrates the same in BIONICLE. Also, for what it's worth, the Toa Mata were created as Toa for the express role of being heroes, the same as any Hero Factory character. That doesn't make their role as heroes any less legitimate, because as with all Hero Factory rookie heroes they had to prove themselves through both training exercises and actual missions.
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No to both. Originally, the 2008 storyline would have concluded with Mata Nui being revived (and presumably, with Matoro's death), and then the story would shift to the Toa Nuva for a three-year quest to finally awaken him (which may have been connected with a story concept mentioned on Faber Files in which the Toa would travel to various parts of the Matoran Universe to retrieve the keystones).
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I don't see any reason to think it will be a placeholder in either case. Those rocky detail parts have never existed in silver before, so it wouldn't make sense to use a new color for that part to stand in for an entirely different new color for that part. In fact, these sets are all renders, so there's no reason to assume ANY of the parts are stand-ins for the same part in a different color. They are. They're food for your mind, man. Your imagination
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The wings and the reeds are both Warm Gold if I'm not mistaken. Can't tell what color treads are used for the bridge in the Treetop Hideaway. Dark Brown ones already exist thanks to the Ultra Sonic Raider from LEGO Ninjago, but I don't think that's what the treads in that set look like. Good spotting on the new flower stems — I hadn't even realized that they held more flowers than usual. I have a feeling the classic flower stems wouldn't have looked nearly as good in trees like that. EDIT: Oh look, the topic's been moved. Well, that's nice for me at least. One less subforum to have to check.
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Bruizer didn't actually use gears, his action feature was basically just a lever. You can see how it's assembled in his building instructions. A gear function could be more dynamic than a simple lever, but it will also take up considerably more space... I hope the sets will still look good from all angles. Even if it doesn't look flawless, a high-quality gear function will be able to make up for that — but only to a certain extent.