VBBN

Even the eye colors used on these guys are sort of a moot point, while they are still brighter than trans dark purple would be, they are still pretty dark. light has to hit them in a very specific way to light them up. After side-by-side comparisons I've found them to be poorer than both the Metru and Mata stalks.

Yes the winners have been contacted. If you entered on multiple sites then of course make sure to check both your email and any private messaging systems that exist on all of the sites you entered on to see if you won.

We do know who is in the winning run but we cannot make an announcement until some legal things are taken care of.

^ I will get back to you on that. Anyway, to kick off the start of the new updates to the forum that we will be releasing over the next few months, have a look at some of the new tags! Gold, Silver, And Bronze medal Mask of Creation tags, given to the top three winners of the Battle for the Gold Mask competition here on Eurobricks. The black Mask of Creation will be given to anyone who makes a significant contribution to the Action Figure forum. All Action Figures staff (including retired staff) will receive it, and any forum helpers for the AF forum (members who are asked by the staff to help with certain things), and other special exceptions- basically it's a flat out discretionary tag. Unity Duty Destiny. How do you get it? Who knows, not all tags have rules to obtain them Black/White Hero Factory Tag. This is an alternate choice to the Hau tag (in other words, the "action figure forum support tag") For now, if you want to change between the two tags, you may do so once per year, just send the request via PM.

"Street dates" aren't a "put sock out on the floor on ___," they are "don't put them out until at least ____" If the street date was before christmas, you could expect stores to really hammer the sets out as soon as they could, but since it falls on Jan. 1st, most stores will likely try to get rid of the old stuff before bringing in the new. At least around here that's the case. In terms of Toa, Gali and Tahu take the top spots. For Protectors, Earth and Stone. Overall, from all 13 sets, Gali remains to be my favorite. We can only hope I do indeed plan to do that.

Finished the last review, Protector of Ice. Had this review hidden in the crypts for a while, had some technical difficulties with the photos. But that wraps up my reviews of the 2015 Winter wave- it was a rough one, I found myself getting extremely repetitive and had to try to make things interesting as I went along- And yeah, I cheated with some of the pictures. (I'm sure you all noticed my repeat use of the Skull Spider and gatling gun pictures) and not all of them are up to the maximum standard, but I think they will have given you all a good idea of what to expect from some of these sets. It's surreal to think that I have the 13 sets in hand already, but I will say this- Bionicle 2015 is awesome. Each set has it's ups and downs, and of course I have my favorites and least favorites, but I would recommend them all to you any day of the week. The gearboxes to the gatling guns to the masks upon masks, it's a fantastic feeling to build these sets and in some strange way they do feel more like Bionicle than I originally thought they would, and i cannot wait to see what the summer and future years bring us. And of course ( to avoid repeating it 13 times) a massive thank you to Julie and the other responsible Lego associates for providing us with the sets to review.

And the final review is finished!

Won a couple days ago, scored Prize F! Really looking forward to that Batgirl. Thanks so much Copmike!

Hello. I am R.E.G.I., the Repair & Engineering Gateway Intelligence. I have five functions. Repair, Reduce, Recycle, Rebuild, [REDACTED]. Error, function missing. Attempting reconstruction. ... ... ... ... ... Database complete. Data entry modification: 498.34 hours ago. I have five functions. Repair, Reduce, Recycle, Rebuild, Murder. Murder. Murder. Not happy with the tread section, but I'm loving the possibilities of this skull spider head. Also, I attached the mask to a simple y joint, and it indeed works very well.

Set name: Protector of Water Set number: 70780 Pieces: 65 Price: $9.99, € Release date: 2015 Packaging and Contents Box Front The front of the box brings us to an underwater theme, where we can already tell that the Protector of Water's weapon his largely based off of a propulsion unit of some kind. Box Back The back shows off various set features, and continues the underwater background. The power-up mode, my personal favorite o the six, is also displayed to the right. Instructions We get a better look once again at the buildings in the backdrop, which continues to be round buildings suspended on tall rock structures. New/Interesting Parts Gatling Gun One of the more interesting parts that has made it's way into the Protectors is this new gatling gun. Unlike the Toa who feature gearboxes, these lovely little weapons offer a very awesome new choice of "bionicle launcher" that we have come to expect. The gun is made up of two parts, a dark gray barrel, and a yellow firing pin. Once put together, they do not come apart, at least not without a lot of needless work. The connection is very comparable to the Mata heads with eyestalks. As for the firing power of this new collectible, if anyone is familiar with the minifigure blasters first introduced in Star Wars this year (also seen in wave two of Hero Factory 2014), the force behind the stud is quite similar. New Pieces The new head piece, new eyestalk in trans neon green, piston add-on in silver, and new spider leg which is a modified version of a hero factory claw. Standard fare, every set in the wave except for Lord of Skull Spiders and Protector of Earth will come with this same slew of pieces, though colors of course will vary. Masks First we have the Protector mask in dark azure and trans blue. It's a shame this is the only part in the set that comes in dark azure, as I quite like the color. Building process Action Frame The Protector of Water uses the longer leg design, shared also by Stone and Jungle. For those who didn't own any of the Chima 2014 CHI sets, here is another chance to grab some of those tran-light blue bones. Armoring Note that her shoulders don't recieve the normal armor plating, instead they act as mounts for something else. Weapon Protector of Earth was my favorite application of the gatling gun, but I really quite like what we have here as well, utilizing it as a sort of underwater propulsion unit. Finished Set Skull Spider We've all seen the skull spiders at this point, so if you're actually reading this bit of text, let's make it interactive- What colors would you like to see the skull spider mask in? Front The Protector of Water has an interesting final look, since you mount two propulsion intakes on her arms. Again, I'm not a fan of these Protectors whose mask have a color nowhere else on the set. It's especially strange with the PoW here, because her armor is all transparent plastic, so the dark azure really doesn't fit. But, that's a minor quibble, I'll get used to it. Profile The Protector of Water is the fourth Protector to use the "shelf chest" armor build. Back But hey let's not focus on the negative of the lack of dark azure- look at that delicious trans blue armor that you get four of. Not new, but after the tiresome amount of trans light blue with Invasion From Below and Chima CHI, it's nice to see this one back. Pose 1 The downside of the weapon is, it's a bit difficult to pose with. Either it can be held in one hand or two, but unless you have her mounted to a base to make it look like she's swimming, the poses aren't very dynamic. Pose 2 See what I mean? This looks cool, but not very practical- she needs to be in a 'swimming" pose to really capture the moment. Skull Mask The Skull mask can also be placed on, and actually goes very well with the color scheme. The legs actually make me think of a breathing apparatus at some angles, interestingly enough. Conclusion This set feels like it belongs underwater. Sure, you can say a fire character is thematic because you slapped fire pieces onto him, or an ice character is icy because they have trans light blue on them, but this Protector looks like she just came out of a deep dive. Not only does her armoring reflect that, but her weapon seems like it belongs underwater too, and I absolutely love that. The build isn't anything out of this world, but if you enjoy the builds of Stone or Jungle, there's nothing not to love here. I know I expressed displeasure over the lack of dark azure, but really that is a quibble that may be isolated to me, who knows. But if you are buying the must-have Gali, I'd recommend grabbing this little counterpart too.

I know quite a few people have been pressing to find out when the place is going to get a facelift. New graphics in this forum are something that have been and continue to be in discussion stages. It'll be a while yet but I think I have an idea for something pretty cool. And great work ShadowWolfHunt, those look nice, very clean work putting the HF and Ben 10 symbols in there.

Set name: Protector of Ice Set number: 70782 Pieces: 62 Price: $9.99, € Release date: 2015 Packaging and Contents Box Front The Protector of ice can be seen leaping around, with the Skull Spider dangerously close to his head. A lot of the buildings of Okoto seem to be small, round buildings mounted on tall cliff sides or some kind. Box Back As usual, the back of the box shows off the set features. As you'll notice, the top of the box has a flap popped out. All of the boxes, except for the $20 ones, have these tabs at the top. I'm curious to see if any stores actually use that to display the sets. Instructions The instructions show a bit more of the buildings to the left, and a very cool looking bridge that connects them to another structure. New/Interesting Parts Gatling Gun One of the more interesting parts that has made it's way into the Protectors is this new gatling gun. Unlike the Toa who feature gearboxes, these lovely little weapons offer a very awesome new choice of "bionicle launcher" that we have come to expect. The gun is made up of two parts, a dark gray barrel, and a yellow firing pin. Once put together, they do not come apart, at least not without a lot of needless work. The connection is very comparable to the Mata heads with eyestalks. As for the firing power of this new collectible, if anyone is familiar with the minifigure blasters first introduced in Star Wars this year (also seen in wave two of Hero Factory 2014), the force behind the stud is quite similar. New Pieces Protector of Ice here provides a rather interesting assortment of parts. He comes with the "usual" new head and eyestalk, as well as the skull spider legs. You also get the small beast foot in silver, the new technic spacer, and the new piston piece in white. I find it strange that the new piston piece comes in three colors, gold silver, and white. Why is white the only elemental color it was made in? I'm not arguing that we got it in a third color, but still, it's a curious thought. This means he is the only protector to not come with a silver piston add-on (with the exception of Earth who doesn't have one at all), and the only protector to come with three of them. Masks The Protector mask in white with trans light blue looks fantastic, though by this point that color scheme is nothing new. We also get the skull spider mask in silver. Building process Action Frame Like the Protector of Fire, Mr. Ice here doesn't have any elbows. While it's still a strange design choice, it doesn't look nearly as odd here as it does on Fire, because he doesn't have the overly wide torso. Armoring Like most of the protectors, his armor uses a lot of trans-shells. Finished Set Skull Spider The Ice and Water sets all include the Skull Spider in silver. Not the most interesting of the three colors. Front I've always imagined Ice characters as being tall and thin, so this year is quite a stir with the Master of Snowsuits, and this protector who is looking incredibly well armored- or maybe he is in a dapper coat. Who knows. Profile His body actually looks like a little snowball from this angle... Back I've complained a lot lately about the over-use of trans armor on these guys, but I think this guy really nails the color layering properly. Pose 1 To match his snowball-arctic coat-ultra heavy armor, he's also got a mean looking arsenal to boot. You get a spinning shield weapon which reuses the delicious translucent light blue buzzsaw that we got with CHI Vardy, and also has his gatling gun slung under his arm. Once again one of those flame pieces is used in a way that makes absolutely no sense. I think they were going for a bayonet-style attachment, but the execution is is about as effective as placing a scope on a sniper rifle backwards. Pose 2 Funny, the one character to not use silver armor officially makes those silver feet look completely out of place. Oh well, I'm happy to swap those out for one of the 7 pairs of black ones I have laying around. Skull Mask The skull actually looks pretty decent when placed on his head, it balances out the silver feet somewhat. Conclusion These protectors are really difficult to give solid thoughts on. This guy has some great parts, decent weapons, a great color scheme, and of course ice is one of my favorite elements, so that really ramps up his coolness-factor in my eyes. I guess my opinion on the Protectors remains to be the same- If you get their Toa counterpart, you should get the Protector as well. They go well together, and it's always worth it to have the option to use parts from the Protector to improve upon your Toa's design, or vice versa.

Set name: Protector of Earth Set number: 70783 Pieces: 63 Price: $9.99, € Release date: 2015 Packaging and Contents Box Front Either Lego hasn't gotten used to the "battle in a box" idea, or some of these characters are really bad at aiming. We can see the protector of Earth firing his gatling gun into the sunset, while the Skull Spider sneaks past his gaze. And his giant spinning spiked weapon. Box Back We get a glimpse at the features of the set as we flip the box around. Keep in mind that this is the European packaging, so other packaging variants may differ in the way of warnings and set information. Instructions I'll tell you what, I wouldn't want to live in the buildings on the right, the structure holding them up is spontaneously cracking and falling off. Standard fare. I will post all of the comics from the insides after all of the reviews are done. New/Interesting Parts Gatling Gun One of the more interesting parts that has made it's way into the Protectors is this new gatling gun. Unlike the Toa who feature gearboxes, these lovely little weapons offer a very awesome new choice of "bionicle launcher" that we have come to expect. The gun is made up of two parts, a dark gray barrel, and a yellow firing pin. Once put together, they do not come apart, at least not without a lot of needless work. The connection is very comparable to the Mata heads with eyestalks. As for the firing power of this new collectible, if anyone is familiar with the minifigure blasters first introduced in Star Wars this year (also seen in wave two of Hero Factory 2014), the force behind the stud is quite similar. New Pieces What a beautiful pile of parts. We still have the standard head, eyestalk, and spider leg that are in most of the new sets, however as opposed to the piston add on we get the Bruizer/Pyrox armor in silver, as well as the dark purple bones and mace-halve. Masks We get the protector mask in black mixed with dark purple. What a fantastic mix. Although, of all the masks, it seems like this one has the least trans-plastic to it, the black took over in the molding process. Results could vary though, I don't know if this molding process leaves all of the mixes looking the same of if there are variations. Building process Torso Like the Protector of Fire, the Protector of Earth gets a special torso build, i this case it mounts the gatling gun to his chest. From the back, you can see the general build of the torso and how the gear turns to fire the barrel. Action Frame I find it interesting that the PoE actually includes more dark purple limbs that Onua. Why onua didn't come with 4 in the first place remains to be a mystery. Anyway, the frame of the PoE is quite nice, he gets the shortest bone length to give him proper "elbows and knees" I know there has been some debate about which bones should be used where to give these guys proper proportion, but come on. Could it really be any more varied than 2006? Armoring As some have noted, he uses a lot of dark colors. Personally I don't see it as a problem, as the dark purple really does brighten up in person, and the gray and solid purple colors of the gatling gun break up the chest a lot. These guys dwell in the dark, I don't mind it if they look like they haven't seen the light in some time. Weapon Eh. I love the dark purple spiked halve, but the weapon is quite dry to me. It's not really a drill, nor a weapon, nor a shield, it's just... "hey lets make this thing spin" and given the position of the actual gear, spinning it isn't the most practical task. I would rather they have just don two halves with a chain, or maybe recolored the Power Miners drill in trans dark purple instead. Don't get me wrong, it's not horrible to look at, it's just not what I was expecting. Finished Set Skull Spider The fourth set to have the spring yellowish green skull spider. Front This guy looks great from the front. Solid proportions, and the gatling gun really catches the eye set against the darker body. Of course, for budgeting purposes, his studs in the launcher are a solid purple instead of trans dark purple. It's a shame that this is the only one without trans studs, but given the other recolors in the set, it's understandable. Profile Thankfully, the gatling gun doesn't stick too far out past his jaw. Back Another look at the pieces that give him his shoulders and gear functionality. Pose 1 I find myself thinking that every time he fired that gun, he gets thrown backward from the force. The knife is an odd weapon, I would have expected that on the Protector of Jungle more so than Earth. Pose 2 I think another problem I have with his spinning-spike-ball weapon, is that I have no clue how it's supposed to be posed. Again, a two-handed drill weapon or something would have been a totally cool and fitting tool for him. Skull Mask I've always disliked these spikes being used as "knives." I thought it was the most ridiculous thing on bruizer, but it actually works really well with the smaller protector size. Conclusion I really like the Protector of Earth. I love black and trans dark purple, and his overall design is extremely unique with the gatling gun chest. He has plenty of articulation thanks to his bone structure, and the set functionality doesn't get in the way of this. While I do wish his weapons had been a different story, they are nice for what they are and are easy to change later on if you feel the need. I would highly recommend this one, and in fact he ties with the Protector of Stone as my favorite.