VBBN

Oh good, I'm glad I wasn't the only one struggling to drive the buggy in a straight line Great review as always! Overall it's not so impressive from a performance standpoint, I do hope the theories that this is a transition while a new system is developed are accurate - Lego has really been creating a lot of new elements lately, many of which IMO are very hyperspecialized and this definitely feels like it fits that bill, no doubt we will see numerous other cars that use a similar base set of functions as this one. I think my favorite development with this system is the fiber optics, not sure that we've seen those used since Exo-Force and the execution here seems much better with the brighter lights. hopefully, they can find some ways to expand the possibilities of that with some kind of standalone modules in the future

These are both incredible! I love the scaled environmental objects surrounding Merlin, something you don't see enough of in large scale figure builds.

Happy 810NICLE Day! I've saved up a few things to show off today, so let's get into it M001 Macku Not too much to say about Macku, she shares the same matoran-specific elements as Ehrye, though has a slightly shorter stature. For the mask, I wanted to use a Huna that was compatible with Metru heads; Vakama Metru's mask is fine but didn't really seem to fit her aesthetic, plus I have an interesting dilemma where two figures in this wave (Macku and Balta) both wear a similar mask. I settled on this version of the Huna from Galva's City of Legends mask pack as it still keeps that recognizable Huna Metru shaping, but has a bit more of a feminine feel to it. As for her tool, I chose to try out this fantastic Matoran shield from OhluCG. The sculpt is beautiful, though I will warn that it's pretty heavy and definitely wears down 3D printed ballsockets fast, and the file itself wasn't the right scale and required tweaking to make the pinholes fit correctly. I was going to go with silver for the shield, but I really liked the black, sort of a nod to the black throwing disks. Huna by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4841518 5L joint by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4161733Hand Connector by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4204014Fists: model replications by VBBN, utilizing the socket design from Lmk2332 SID_L05 by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/dbuiP Mata themed Hips and torso by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/RUTrN?layout=profile Mata themed chest plate, hips and torso by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/RUTrN?layout=profile Matoran feet by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/bKnjO Shield by OhluCG: https://ohlustuff.gumroad.com/l/JxGFH?layout=profile C005 Pohatu Pohatu has been 100% the most difficult to design. In truth, he's unlike the other Toa in this wave as he has a geared hip system. My very first design for him didn't feature this, but later I designed the gearbox when considering to give all of the Toa gear functions. I scrapped the idea, but decided to leave it on Pohatu here. When the full season is done, more pics will be shared detailing the gearbox, but anyway, it does provide him with wide hips and places him at the same overall stature as Onua. The other challenge here was deciding upon what tool to give him. I've seen a few interesting mata-inspired foot extensions, but they've historically been locked behind Shapeways paywalls (which, I totally understand why some creators choose to only distribute elements through that platform, but for me, it's not really practical and you likely won't see any of those elements featured in this project). I debated giving him an entirely different set of tools, but ended up settling on the classic toe kicks that we all know and love. In my mind, the "reuse" of an old mold helps to justify the higher parts count that this figure would have as a set. P.S.: the curse of the brown set continues. Brown PLA was a nightmare to work with. Some colors are certainly better than others, but blue and brown were relentless in torturing me. No matter how many settings I tweaked, how much I dried the filament etc, it just didn't work. That's not to say I won't be using brown in the future, but It'll likely be elements printed in another color and then airbrushed brown. So, apologies if some elements look wonky in the photo above, I'll likely teak and continue finishing him up in the future, but I had to force him passed the finish line before I went insane. Next up, dealing with the pile of crumbled pieces on my desk that will one day be Gali... Kakama by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4856168 Adaptive Nuva Shoulder Armor by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4199046 Adaptive Nuva Chestplate by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4190994 Nuva Leg & Shell Armor by M06Z Original files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4398403 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4398392 Bionicle sockets/joint connectors:5L joint by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4161733Hand Connector by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:42040147L Joint by SK-Polymer: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2138349Fists: model replications by VBBN, utilizing the socket design from Lmk2332 SID_L05 by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/dbuiP Metru Eyestalk by Slides: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4735352 Metru Head and Piraka Torso by Luukka97: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5246497 One final note: Season 1 is wrapping up nicely behind the scenes. So much so, in fact, that I've already begun some prelim stages of Season 2. I figured in the spirit of Bionicle day I'd drop my teaser of what's coming up in S2 of this project, though obviously, this is still a ways off. I'd estimate I won't be dropping anything for this until next year's Bionicle Day, but here it is.

As evank said, the World Map is technically the highest parts count at 11,695. Granted, it’s a mosaic set and so a large majority of those pieces are 1x1 round tiles, so it’s not exactly a traditional set. Plus - like many of the other art sets - quite a few of those pieces are extras that aren’t used in the official configuration, so it’s not truly all 11.6k parts being used at once in the build. There is one other non-traditional set that beats the Eiffel Tower, the extremely rare Chima Ultimate collection clocked in at 10,004 pieces, but obviously this is just a big collection of existing sets and to my knowledge was only a giveaway prize, never available for retail sale https://brickset.com/sets/BIGBOX-1/The-Ultimate-Battle-for-CHIMA

M005 Korhin Agori Helmet by Rothanak: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5482977 5L joint by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4161733Hand Connector by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4204014Fists: model replications by VBBN, utilizing the socket design from Lmk2332 SID_L05 by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/dbuiP Mata themed Hips and torso by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/RUTrN?layout=profile Metru Nui Guard Chestpiece by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3833173/files

M003 Ehrye Okay switching gears a bit to Ehrye. In my "post 2010" head I wanted to evolve the Av-toran build away from being so simple and difficult to customize. I've always considered the Inika/Piraka building system to be a precursor to the CCBS system, in the sense that it was a "standard" Bionicle building system and lead to the changeup away from clone builds and more consistent scaling year over year. For the small sets here, I've curated some elements that essentially provide a "mininika" build, which I'm sure many people will absolutely despise, but it's the headspace I'm in here. Keeping in mind the "parts budget" of a year like this that would blast new parts everywhere, I made sure that the limbs here are the same as what was featured on the Nuva, and you'll see that narrow Inika torso reappear in some of the other Nuva. I wanted my small-sets to be a good mix of old and new characters, as well as characters of different varieties; Ehrye represents a Metrutoran, which meant two very important things for me - first was giving him his classic disc launcher (I chose to eliminate the inclusion of collectible "shooters" this wave since I'm bringing the mask pack back as you'll see, but I still wanted one to make an appearance in some capacity). Second was maintaining a similar color blocking as the original figure with his gray and white. As a Matoran, the size of this figure is now pretty big and actually comparable to the Toa, but being that this is a "cheaper" set with less parts, it's far less armored and lacks some features like colored eyes. While I love the original stubby McToran design, I like the idea that Matoran and Agori were still capable characters but not nearly as amped up as the Toa. Regreated Mahiki by BigPhan: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4991895 Bionicle sockets/joint connectors:5L joint by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4161733Hand Connector by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4204014Fists: model replications by VBBN, utilizing the socket design from Lmk2332 SID_L05 by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/dbuiP Mata themed chest plate, hips and torso by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/RUTrN?layout=profile Metru Head by Luukka97: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5246497 Matoran feet by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/bKnjO

If you'd like to make more posts about custom Minifigure designs, I'd recommend to post your new thread over in our Minifig Workshop forum https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/forum/90-minifig-customisation-workshop/

You can directly show the photo here on the site if you so wish. When making a post, on the bottom right of where you are typing your post you should see "Insert other media" option. Click on that and from there the option "Insert image from URL" Then, paste in the link you just shared: https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/eee0e8ab-d755-4737-8c37-380ef93ef3fa.png And the result is this-

C003 Onua, Toa of Earth Here we have Onua! While the third figure I'm unveiling, he was actually the first one that I had basically completed, until I made a few changes with the standard limbs for these figures. I'll show more photos when the full team is complete, but true to his original forms, Onua here is shorter (both in his legs and with a shorter posture). One note, in my story continuation, Onua will pivot more towards the plantlife side of the earth element to better differentiate him from Pohatu - he'll control the "roots" of the earth whereas Pohatu will manipulate rock/stone/sand. Pakari by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4856168 Adaptive Nuva Shoulder Armor by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4199046 Adaptive Nuva Chestplate by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4190994 Nuva Leg & Shell Armor by M06Z [Remixed by VBBN to be longer, files will be available on Thinigiverse eventually. Unforunately, I lost the files in a computer changeover, so I'll need to rebuild them] Original files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4398403 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4398392 Bionicle sockets/joint connectors:5L joint by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4161733Hand Connector by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:42040147L Joint by SK-Polymer: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2138349Fists & feet: model replications by VBBN, utilizing the socket design from Lmk2332 SID_L05 by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/dbuiP Beast Claws by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3842395/files Mata themed chest plate by KingSidorak (not visible in this picture, you'll see it in a later update, but it's on his back): https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/RUTrN?layout=profile Metru Eyestalk by Slides: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4735352 Metru Head by Luukka97: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5246497

Well, I didn't want the shadowbox Batcave initially, but after seeing it in person at the Lego store yesterday...sigh, I want it. It has an impressive footprint, if a bit shallow. it's not exactly what I wanted from a D2C Batcave, but it's certainly something I can use as a starting point. Definitely not grabbing it until any VIP promos pop up, though.

Okay, well, it's taken wayyy longer than I'd have liked for an update. Right after I kicked off this project, we decided to build a new house which meant that my 3D printer was boxed up for a while. I've been working on things in the background, so I have much more done than what I'm showing here today, but I've also got some ideas on how I'm going to deliver updates on this project quicker, I'll talk about that shortly. But first, an update has been made to Tahu - I've already updated the first post with the new pic, but here it is again (and for reference, here's the old version). He's mostly the same with the exception of the mask, which has been changed from the Adaptive Hau by Galva to the Metru Mata Hau by KingSidorak/Rothanak. Originally, I was going to do the full team with the adaptive Kanohi, but I wasn't loving how the final aesthetics were looking in the end. I wanted to go with something that better captured the original Mata feel while still working with the 2006-2009 building system. I came across the champions pack by Galva, which you'll see more of in a moment, but one element of that pack that I wasn't a fan of was that the Hau was just Lhikans Hau. I printed it, it printed well enough, but even in red... idk, it just looked like Lhikan to me, rather than Tahu. Luckily, KingSidorak posted up this Metru Mata hau in collaboration with Rothanak, and it fits the look and style of the champions pack perfectly. Anyway, onto something much more exciting, Kopaka! Kopaka uses a fairly similar build to Tahu for his body overall, the main differences are that incredibly cool Akaku, and figuring out his Toa tools. After giving Tahu the flame sword, I knew that all six Toa were going to have weapons inspired by their original Mata forms. Unfortunately, Kopaka's old sword would be much too small to include here - luckily, onomatopeyista on Thingiverse created a fantastic update to that sword at a much larger scale. The print came out perfectly and looks right at home here. It's also got some really unique attachment points, so I look forward to integrating this in future builds. Last, the shield - I tried dozens of different solutions for this, most of them sticking with round Lego disk-style shields as Kopaka has traditionally had, but none of them ever looked right with this figure. I decided upon this protosteel shield by vahki6 mounted to his wrist, which definitely gives me vibes of Infinity War Captain America's Vibranium shields. Below you can find the relevant links to all pieces used here. Akaku by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4856168 Adaptive Nuva Shoulder Armor by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4199046 Adaptive Nuva Chestplate by Galva: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4190994 Nuva Leg & Shell Armor by M06Z [Remixed by VBBN to be longer, files will be available on Thinigiverse eventually. Unforunately, I lost the files in a computer changeover, so I'll need to rebuild them] Original files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4398403 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4398392 Bionicle sockets/joint connectors:5L joint by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4161733Hand Connector by Lmk2332: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:42040147L Joint by SK-Polymer: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2138349Fists & feet: model replications by VBBN, utilizing the socket design from Lmk2332 Toa Metru Foot by GrimUrsine: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4802948 SID_L05 by KingSidorak: https://kingsidorak.gumroad.com/l/dbuiP Bionic Sword Toa Kopaka for Toa Nuva by onomatopeyista: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1377807 Great Protosteel Shield by vahki6: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4415875 Metru Eyestalk by Slides: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4735352 Metru Head by Luukka97: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5246497 Materials used: Hatchbox 1.75mm PLA White FilaCube 1.75mm Light Gray PLA Hatchbox 1.75mm PLA Black Last thing, I mentioned I wanted to deliver updates more quickly on this project, and so I've decided that I'm going to start showcasing the prototyping and development process as I go along. I'll probably set up a display to show the current progress on all open pieces in this series, but rest assured, no more 1.5 year breaks will be happening on this. Next update should be within the next 1-2 weeks; Onua and Ehrye! If I'm honest, I was never really a big fan of gear functions. Even when executed well like 2015, it just hasn't been my cup of tea and so I opted to stay away from it here. With that said, when this project is done I'm going to reveal tons of behind-the-scenes prototypes, work in progress etc photos, among which will be Pohatu with a fully developed leg-kick gearbox. Not sure if you're still around the forums, but yes I'm absolutely open to collaborators. I haven't really started this part of the project yet, I wanted to ensure the actual physical builds continued and used my energy to drive that forward, but it'll happen.

What an absolutely incredible alt-build/improvement of this set. Fantastic work!

Great review Jim, and a fantastic-looking case! It's pricey, but it's also quite a large case - unless you have a shop nearby that can get you wholesale prices on large pieces of acrylic, I anticipate building one custom won't save too much or have quite the fit and finish this has. Is the background printed on the plexiglass? It's definitely the star of this display and truly elevates the displayability of the AT-AT (that MF case with the hyperspeed effect also looks insanely cool)

It's not the Bionicle that we remember, but I have to say, this is a pretty fun-looking set that really packs in a decent amount of content into such a small size. A nicely articulated-looking figure (to be honest I was almost worried they'd be using the new, less articulated mech limb system), a detailed smaller build, plus extra accessories in the form of the throwing disk and Makuta/Mata Nui stones. I'm sitting on $50 VIP points at the moment, so I'll probably use that to cut down on the minimum purchase. GWP's have been getting stuck behind some rough paywalls lately, but this one is somewhat manageable at least. Anyway, I'll review it when I get it. Excited to have an actual Bionicle set of some form to review in 2023.

Living in a phonk mood today

Awesome idea! The resurfaced block looks believable as some sort of in-universe case, and the microscale builds are instantly recognizable. Agreed with you, I'd love to see this same concept replicated with other themes/licenses!

Definitely interested to see what becomes of this. I'm placing my bets that this will be some kind of system build, probably akin to the recent Spider-Man/Venom/Miles figures, maybe even using a printed version of those "heads" as a Hau. Either way, I doubt this is anything more than a special vintage celebration set and likely won't have much headway in any potential return of the theme, but I'll take it.

I love this! Excellent recreation of the Toa in stud form, with plenty of personal touches. Seeing them all set in this scenery adds a lot to the finished display, as well.

Great review! This one is decent, I think the misplacement of the yellow line really throws this one off for me, it completely changes the visual shaping of the vehicle - I know LEGO is obsessed with racing style liveries, but in this case I think it would have been much more beneficial to stick with a standard paint job for this car. In any event, great parts here and those new headlights look much nicer than previous solutions huge kudos to the designers for actually making a valiant effort at that tailight design

Great review Oky! These sets continue to impress and this one is no exception in terms of shaping and build quality. Strange that the real-life photo on the back of the box isn’t of a stock model, but maybe an oversight. I agree with you that the windscreen is quite an eyesore. I’m curious to see how it looks in person, but clearly white was a bad choice here and it reeeeeeally kills the final look for me. That alone drops this to (so far) the bottom of the pile for this wave, unless your other upcoming reviews reveal any other surprises.

Star Wars is a poor point of comparison because it is not a Hasbro property, it's Lucasfilms. The market may have been dominated by hasbro & their acquisition of Kenner at one time, but as SW has grown, so too have the massive number of companies that LF licenses with, Lego and even Mattel included, it is not really accurate to compare pre and post Lego SW as many other brands entered the marketplace around that time . Assuming this post has a fragment of source to back it up, sure Hasbro may have come to the conclusion that partnering with Lego was detrimental previously, but there is a reason companies invest in continual research; things change. Hasbro has been heavily diversifying lately, especially in products that may not necessarily be competitors to their own. For example, Threezero makes high quality non-transformable figures with diecast, impressive paint and articulation, and higher price tags. If these figures could transform, then there would be an issue, as these would be in competition to Hasbro's masterpiece line of figures. However, by partnering with Threezero in this capacity, they suddenly attract the consumers such as myself who prefer high end collectibles like Hot Toys, Sideshow etc, that do not necessarily want the transformation hindered toys that Hasbro produces. By comparison, brick built Transformers aren't going to cannibalize Hasbro's sales. Using the example above, the sale of a brick built Optimus prime is not likely to replace the potential sale of an assembled Optimus toy. Someone who has a TF Generations collection is not going to replace a figure with a brick built alternative that is visually completely different. Someone who enjoys buildable figures but not typical action figures, though, may enjoy the Lego figure more, gaining Hasbro a sale that they wouldn't have captured through their normal toylines. They themselves produced three different buildable series (BTR, Kreo, ConstructBots) that spanned 9 years, it is quite clear their research proved that there was untapped market potential in the buildable figures area. But Hasbro does not have the patents, the infrastructure, the engineering, and most importantly the marketing and branding (keep in mind what I am talking about here is within the buildable figures market, specifically, this is very important to distinguish.) Partnering with Lego provides a lot of advantages in these areas and if this relationship is real, it's likely that the savings Hasbro can realize from outsourcing buildable figures to Lego is worth the profits they are seeking from this market - meaning this: Would Hasbro make as much money on the sale of a Lego Optimus set as they would if they created their own in-house buildable Optimus? On the surface, the income of an in-house product goes directly to Hasbro. But how much did they have to spend on creating that product that is fundamentally different from anything else they create? How much do they have to spend to get people to search "KreO" over Lego? What about shelf space? I never saw Kreo in stores, and even Mega Construx is fighting to gain more space after many years. And while many people in the company are talented at making a figure convert from a car to a robot, it's not likely that Hasbro has the knowledgebase to engineer figures that could transform effectively, stay durable, and survive other playtesting that companies like Lego already invest heavily in within its workforce.

The idea isn’t far fetched to me. LEGO already licenses out the Transformers brand to other companies for things that they don’t produce in house. Threezero, Prime 1 Studio, etc. So it makes sense to me that they would consider licensing to LEGO since they’ve tried many previous attempts at buildable transformers (BTR, KreO, and ConstructBots) but none have stuck in the long run. plus as some people have mentioned elsewhere, LEGO already has a relationship developed with Hasbro, there is some sort of Peppa Pig stuff that’s sold at LEGO parks or something so it’s not the most unbelievable rumor IMO

Hey all, As Captain Nemo mentioned a few days ago, in the interest of mitigating spoilers related to Spider-Man: No Way Home, this thread will now be locked until December 20th, upon which we will kickstart the 2022 themed discussion. Thanks everyone!