Mandate

Personally for me the rogue assassin police bots are far darker than character deaths, although it depends on how they die. If it's "glorious sacrifice explosion" not too bad. If it's the level of darkness that is death by Twilight Marathon...

Wow, that's the best Hype Train photoshop I've seen.... mainly because it's not throwing random things around everywhere. Well, it's Friday (got that song in your head now! ) now for me, so I to wait until possibly even tomorrow

So? They needed to get the general plot done (Hageman brothers can't just make a great season and then hope they can fulfill their plot promises, this isn't Hero Factory) and they need to get the sets polished and finalized. These would have happened in late 2013, possibly by a team separate to the Rebooted team (thus explaining some of the building style differences)

Oops, lol. I forgot to add the second spoiler tag.

Oh wow, I never noticed Zane was chained up like that... I just thought he was raising his weapons All of the symbols are the ones we first saw on the Kimonos. We haven't gotten an explanation regarding them yet, and I'm not sure if they are Japanese or not. But given how much the sets differ from even its own promo art... it's pretty clear these are far from final. Let's hope that's the case with Titanium Dragon Yeah, there was two lots of it in the leak. One was a weird cylinder thing and another was a store set-up display featuring the artwork as well.

That I think a lot of people can agree on...

100% agree with you. I've been looking at some amazing MOCs tonight: http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130708021905/customherofactory/images/b/bc/BA_Caine_%283%29.JPG http://33.media.tumblr.com/502fa43cd3674b04c0ab2a74aa36240e/tumblr_mzsc50C7IU1rm8qp5o1_1280.jpg Point is, I love what LEGO is doing right now. And I can't help but get tingles down my spine when I think about how the BIONICLE CCBS formula is going to evolve over the next few years. BIONICLE in its first year didn't have the amazing look it did in its final years (STARS EXCLUDED!), but over the years it built up. So regardless of some current misgivings, and the lack of pistons (which we may never see a full return of ) if we give BIONICLE 2 a chance to grow (which we are) then in a few years we're going to see some fantastic things. Look at Hero Factory's 1.0 design. Look at Hero Factory 2.0, then 3.0, then Breakout. Breakout was proving ground for Technic-CCBS combos, and it proved not only that Technic works in non-Titan sets but also that you don't always need extra things to make it look good. Yes, I'm disappointed whenever I look at the old BIONICLE sets and compare them with the new version. It looks too smooth for me (I still intend to buy the sets though), and the piston plate doesn't change it much. But I'm looking forward a lot to the final version of these sets, and I'm looking forward to the future variations. To see how much these designs are going to change just compare 2.0 with Breakout. Simple. (wow, the topic of my post changed quickly, didn't it?)

I've brought that up before, it's white, and that confirms for me that Zane won't be silver. Or, at the very least, we have a new white ninja (which I doubt)

Define "mighty people". If you're referring to the amount of people that like and buy NINJAGO, you're wrong. It was brought back because of high demand and from this year's sales they've ramped up the amount of sets. We have a blockbuster movie due in 2016, which guarantees (not including the 2015 Winter Wave) 4 more waves at least. These sets were probably designed waaaay before BIONICLE 2015, that's how far back in the production pipeline. The store art has been completed (and is newer) so we have a better view of many changes they've made (eg, the change of gunmetal/silver Zane back to white) They wouldn't be doing this is it had luck luster sales performance. Although I can agree with you about it looking horrible whenever I see the eyes on the Serpentine vehicles. They just look terrible with that printed version.

But don't we already have a UCS Millennium Falcon?

^ you forgot the third "we like both" group. A lot of people fit into that category.

You might want to censor that word, anyone who's played Assasin's Creed II or Brotherhood (like me) will know enough Italian to read that I wouldn't refer to people's opinions of Constraction like that though.

Personally I'm just glad we're getting rid of Flick Missiles. I liked the concept, but they never really worked properly. They were too hard to fire, etc... although the original ones were a lot worse. At any rate, they won't be gone entirely. Small sets will still feature them, and the Spring Missiles are a bit hard to incorporate because of how big they are. Wish they had have included the stud machine gun, but I'm assuming it's to make BIONICLE's Protectors more appealing (which they most certainly are made to be from that addition). Although it could just be that they're untested by the fanbase and they want to see how they run before fully incorporating them. Personally I think it's the former. But seriously though, no one cares about the spinny-firing mechanism of Boulder Blaster other than me?

Spring loaded missiles made their first appearance in the X-1 Ninja Charger and in BFNNC. Regarding Sensei Wu, I think everyone's wondering. Let's hope they didn't do a Dr Julien with him Not when you consider they only have a base, two vehicles and a bunch of shrines. Meanwhile, at the Ninja's vehicle and character collection: -Cole's Machine Gun Plane (aka boulder blaster ) -Lloyd's Jungle Raider -Jay's Electro Mech -Zane's Titanium Dragon -Kai's Motorbike -Nya's hover...board...thing. Whatever that is. -Keetoninja's hoverboard -Garmadon's HQ (probably Nya's actually, but might as well for consistency) -unidentified guy in black So... 2 vehicles, 8 (possibly 5/7) cultists versus 8 vehicles and 9 characters. Although admittedly BIONICLE has a worse ratio with its facehuggers.

How about three separate words? It can certainly work: "IamGroot"

I was actually going to comment on this, I had noticed the similarities and it would certainly explain a lot. Although the one in 70747 is depicted with red shoulderpads, while the area showcasing the Minifigures shows him with the sand red ones. Alright, this is relatively non-spoilery for you. Pythor made a deal with the Overlord, dubbed it a "small favor" in return for his services. It hasn't been elaborated on in any further episodes, other than the mentioning of a serpentine general Arcturus (although I can't remember him being mentioned, but that's because I've watched very little of Episode 31, 32 and 33) There's three different new Anacondrai (Pythor not included). 70750's Anacondrai features sand shoulder-pads, but it has a printed torso. 70749's Anacondrai has no shoulder pads, but features something going over his chest, but it's not armor. 70748 features one with shoulder-pads but with no torso printing. While they could still all be the same character, it's not as likely. They all feature Pythor's tail (with its old printing), but the differing torsos is a bit weird. It could be a design error, but I doubt it. Upon closer inspection, the Titanium Dragon has a steering wheel

Of course we're going to get more vehicles, but don't expect a lot. We've had six total in HF, IFB doesn't count simply because everything was a vehicle and nothing was to scale with an actual Hero (on another note, it would be AWESOME if someone could make Hero-sized versions of the Mechs. Like, really. Please ). The last thing that remotely equates to a Constraction-Figure sized vehicle was Rocka's jetpack. Even then, that was pretty small. Although I would love some more vehicles for BIONICLE this time

I was under the assumption Blaze's brace was what enabled him to walk in the first place? No, you don't sound heartless. I can agree with you, magic cure plot device isn't the greatest thing to do. Arguably better than dropping him altogether, although they could keep him at the Mobile Ninja HQ like Oracle in the Batman comic-verse. But regardless, I'm still wondering who the character is. They have (probably have) Will Turner hair, and we know they aren't the new ninja because of their color scheme. EDIT: I just noticed a function on Boulder Blaster that may actually convince me to buy it. There's a handle on the underside, and a "trigger" as well (although that could just be part of the build obscured into looking that way). The gears on the side would be turned by pulling the trigger similarly to the Hero Factory Dropship. It doesn't flap the forewings, (they're attached like the Kai Fighter's) so my assumption is that it would spin the center turbine, when the turbine spins, a little notch connected to the non-spinning wheel used in the turbine construction will allow the tap missiles to fire. So it's basically a machine gun plane Not entirely certain of a "trigger" mechanism. Very hard to tell from the image, and there's a lack of room for it to fit, but I'm 100% certain on the actual turbine function. This set is a whole lot cooler now! EDIT 2: Noticing even more functions now. The wings on the Electro Mech have their own lever/gear turn thing. There's a black Four Knob gear for each wing, both controlled by a yellow Four Knob connected to a grey part I can't quite make out. Not sure what it is, but it's connected directly to the yellow Four Knobs. Jungle Trap's swinging swords are operated by a rod through the center of the build, probably connected to a gear at the back. The set is too small to have counter-swinging blades though The rest of the functions are either too obvious or hidden (eg, the Ninja Mobile HQ)

That's not the point I was making. There's a possibility that's a stand in for the Anacondrai Staff, which we haven't seen before. If the round trans purple part has printing, it'll be easy to create a new staff if it isn't a Snake Staff. That's not what I was saying. I was pointing out that we know 5/6 (Zane's ice powers may no longer exist after characters with elemental powers. What I'm saying is, we don't know who the new character/s with elemental powers are. Not that there won't be any new characters with elemental powers, but which characters have them. It's probably not the "followers", and it's almost certainly not the new ninja. I'm not exactly sure as to what you mean by that first part. Are you implying that Blaze is fine without the brace, or fine with the brace? Cyrus is an inventor. It would be silly of them to introduce him as a major character and then drop him immediately, like they did with Misako (not the fault of the writers, I know) and Dr Julien. What I'm saying is, it's not entirely out of the question that Cyrus would invent something to help his legs, or eve cure them. Who knows? We can only speculate on what we have seen, and in the past that's led to radically different story presumptions.

LEGO is announcing *edit* something *edit* this Friday! Hurray! *could still be bionicle EDIT: oops, late lol.

I believe you've just found me a new Avatar. Can I use it? Pwease?

We still don't know who has the elemental powers yet. Lloyd, Zane, Kai and Cole have theirs (Zane is ambiguous, and I won't explain why). The statement was "the ninja discover they are not the only ones with elemental powers". We've only seen one new snake thus far, the other General. Apparently he's Arcturus. I don't remember most of Episode 32, so it'd be good if someone could confirm this. Keeto-Ninja is just a placeholder. It's not a "human" (so to speak) version of Zane, and there's no printing to hint at anything. The black figure in Titanium Dragon could be Cyrus Borg, actually. It would make sense to keep him as a character, considering Jay hasn't invented anything since Episode 5. Regarding Borg's disability, Solomon Blaze has a brace around his leg. But at the moment Borg is the only secondary/tertiary character with black hair, and I wouldn't mind him playing a part in the action. Oh, and can I please point something out? Look at the Mobile Ninja HQ set. Look at Pythor. Look at the staff. Look at the trans purple round 1x1

Eh, I don't mind "romantic stares" as log as they're done right and don't interrupt the flow of the plot. Example: episode 24 The Dark Island from (you guessed it!) NINJAGO. The only point Wu and Misako have a "lovey dovey stare" is just a spur of the moment thing. Lloyd realizes what's going on, and because of it we get some exposition on Garmadon's background and showing that Lloyd doesn't want to fight him. I can't say how Chima has gone though, as I haven't seen the episode. Although this is going to be absolutely hilarious if they drag in LEGO.com's love-triangle-with-Sir Fangar into this *Laval gives love stare at Li'ella* *Li'ella returns it* *Sir Fangar gives Li'ella love stare* *Laval and Li'ella stare in disgust*

Well, 'spose I should do a "pre-review" as well lol. Anacondrai Copter Attack: Looks like a nice helicopter, but the turbines look too small for a VTOL of that size. The skeletons with the curved necks are a stark reminder to the Anacondrai's fate. Looks very streamlined, but I'm curious as to where it's launching that net from. Underneath, probably. But whether it is a "mouth" function or a new cannon (the traditional net cannon is waaaay too big to hide), or a brick-built function is yet to be seen. The tan color works so well with the ancient, Mayan/Aztec/Incan theme the old Serpentine ruins have. It really looks like a Chopper from South America. Keetorange ninja is odd. That's definitely a placeholder. After the yellow spaceman incident/s (although I think LEGO has moved past that, didn't they redo that figure recently WITH yellow hips?) it would be very odd to have an all-yellow character again. Methinks this is going to be PIXAL, but I'm open to letting a new ninja join. Hoverboard is really cool! Anacondrai Crusher: Better version of Overborg Attack with the lovely Anacondrai theme. It's an atrocity in the best way possible, and the bone engine gives me Turbo Shredder vibes. Curious as to where the flick fires launch from, clearly from inside the mouth but how do they fire? Hopefully not a "rod push" again. Skeleton tail is genius, but the little catapult (why are there so many in this wave?) is underwhelming, and as much as I love having actual buildings for once I would have loved a mini-vehicle. That Bone Sword in the "follower" (let's just call the weird jungle people that, please)'s hand is a bit odd. It'll probably grow on me, as most of the sets have already. Lava Falls: My glowing praise for this set can only be summed up with a YouTube video. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. Simply put, I love this little thing already. It reminds me of my first LEGO set "Tygurah's Roar". The rickety rope bridge's collapse function is fantastic. While the rock face is fairly uninspired, placing the black in amongst the grey was a good idea. The mini-shrine is cool, and it's shared in Jungle Trap as well. Overall, looking forward to this set very much. It's cheap, and that basically means that I'll be able to get it no matter what Jungle Raider: Simply put, this set looks pretty good. Lloyd's first actual vehicle that wasn't a Mech or bike (dragons don't count, neither does Ultrasonic), and it's beautiful. The build looks pretty uninspired, we've seen the technique before in Nuckal's ATV, and we've seen dozens of the Serpentine Shrines. I'll probably be buying this one. Ninja Mobile Raider Base: Looks good. I don't really like the way they did the wheels, the visibility of the "shell" in the Power Miner wheel is offputting. I don't really like this set very much, it looks good but the sides are far too smooth. The cow-catcher at the front looks out of place, and the Shrine is very basic. I'll get this one just for white Pythor. Enter the Serpent: Am I the only one reminded of BFNNC by this? Actually, a lot of sets are similar in layout so I'm not going to complain. The gong functions looks neat, and so does the Purple Macaroni in large. (please don't tell me it's going to be a giant purple Great Devourer this time, as awesome as getting that many purple parts would be). Not much I can say about this set. I might skip it unless I can get it easily. Titanium Dragon: I have to agree with Penkid on this. The angle it's shot from takes away one of the wings, and obscures so much of the body. The tail looks far too spindly. The overall look is really... underwhelming. The change for Zane is annoying, but the artwork for the *map *mat *roll *whatever that thing is shows Zane in white, and with a yellow face, so all hope is not lost yet . The Shrine is fairly unique (though I could draw some comparisons to 2010 again) but I'm wondering what the golden key is for. Overall, looks very bad. I'm hoping it changes a lot between now and release, because otherwise I'll be skipping it unless I have no other choice for getting Zane. Jungle Trap: For the smallest set, it doesn't look too bad. I can guess as to how the swords swing back and forth, but overall this isn't too shabby. I'll definitely be getting this simply for its price. Electro Mech: Lacks a lot of details. Dare I say it, this thing needs stickers. It looks very bare. The cop-out on the digitigrade legs is annoying, and the little turret is too... thin. The wing function looks great. I'll be getting this set first, probably for Christmas if I can find it. Boulder Blaster: Last, but certainly the least. Boulder Blaster is a gigantic mixed bag for me. It features a great amount of the "tap missiles" but it's definitely the weakest point in this wave of sets. If it's cheap like the Earth Driller, I'll be getting it. Let's hope it's a case of Garmatron/Destructoid. Dissapointing to see that it's a "Kai" year again. Overall the wave looks pretty good, but I think I'll be skipping a few of these.