KMOI

Yes! Finally! More Avatar fans to whom I shall gloat to! To start off, you've done an absolutely phenominal job in reproducing the official fig decals! Finally, everyone can share a part of the greatness that is Avatar. She actually doesn't. The dark blue is actually typically on the sleeves, so I'm also at a loss to understand why they did that. The only dark blue ever shown on a water-tribe member was actually in one of the recent episodes, where Sokka gears up with armor. The "boobies" version is quite interesting! It's perfect! Though the Water Tribe tends to live in completely frozen areas, they do have summer clothing! If there's one thing I might just add, it would be to put a huge cloth belt which covers the midsection. It appears to be the hallmark of female Water Tribe clothing, though that remains to be confirmed. Anyhoo, here are some references of water-tribe women from AvatarSpirit that might help you out! Katara in season 1 (Reference for the choker) Katara in season 2 (Note lack of sleeves) Random southern Water Tribe warriors Water Tribe "swimsuit"

Great review! While I admit I wasn't into Technic at the time this came out (I was a mere child, give me a break! :-D), I can see now why it was featured so much. From the booklets to display stands at toy stores and at my local LEGO center (when it was still around), this thing was everywhere! With your review, I can now truly appreciate all the details of the set. I got to admit, I can see the appeal now! That comparison shot you took is amazing. I love not only just how it included the little details such as the stabilizers, but also looks incredibly fun to play around with. Great set and an even greater review!

I never said that I would love it. I still think 2008 is designed specifically as a smack in the face to the few like me. Makuta-face-Onua, Naruto Tahu, Man!Gali, 40-piece Krika, and those Racer-esque sleds are continuing to heap the abuse that was started by Gorilla-Musket Kopaka. Also, you completely missed the second half of the post. I didn't like the reused mantax claw either and suggested they replace it with some sort larger melee weapon. Like a pair of blades, while putting the launcher as a forgettable side-piece, because that's all it really is. For starters, the prototype's arms and legs have a different look, as opposed to the one we got, where both his arms and legs not only have the exact same design, but armor as well. At least you can tell the difference between the arms and legs on the prototype. Seriously, the one we got looks like an ape, which is an insult to Kopaka's classic regal "dark knight" warrior theme. Also, the sheer fact that he's alot thinner makes him blend into the rest of the "Winter Three" alot better. The one we have is a highly uninspired rehash of everything we got in the past two years. It seems you also missed what I said. As I said earlier, this is on the right track, but it still needs revisions. Heavy revisions. You know, one major disconnect I have with many of the Bionicle fans is that I see no novelty in "unique" builds when it gets in the way of making something look good, which in some cases, I define as being faithful to the character. To be honest, I hold a great distaste for all Toa canister sets in 2007 because they didn't reflect the characters. The "heroes" ended up looking more nasty and vicious than the villians, which I simply could not stand behind. 2008 has some really strong elements in the first half, though almost all of these were dropped in the second half. I'll say it here and now, and you can quote me on this. I love the Winter canister villians. I love Pohatu. Sure, they've been bashed for being similar in build, but they look absolutely amazing, especially Chirox. I don't care if his build is similar to the others. His arm structure is by far the most entertaining and interesting in the entire Bionicle universe, even surpassing the Piraka's flip arms. Just to have 2 different modes for the arms blows my mind, especially in the now mundane line that Bionicle has become. I also liked 2006's Toa and loved the Piraka. Sure, they were huge, but it looked so good to the point where you completely forgot about it. You loved it for the thrill of the asthetics and how it actually reflected the characters. The Piraka were basically all the same build, but they really worked the look to the point where you just loved it. I had a real blast as I was taking photos of it, as every shot conveyed how simply intimidating they were. In my books, they will be the team of villians who really stood out amidst a sea of bland, "dark", "violent" types in recent years. Seriously, you don't have to be dark, brooding and boastful to be a good villian. Well, those are my thoughts. Not much, as I don't think anyone can see where I'm coming from, but it was well worth the effort.

Ahahaha! You got quite the keen eye there, Svelte! I never even noticed that before! I was thinking maybe, just maybe the designers thought the scout would be saving the falling cat, hence saving the baby in the carriage below from a vicious cat-mauling. Or maybe they did actually want the diabolical scout to set things into motion! Why help? Every moment of this is awesome! :-D

Ah. Thanks for the info. I've been out of the loop for a while and this comes as a surprise! But... Hurgh. It just had to be the one set I had sworn never to touch... Guess I'll have to wait longer. I guess what I meant was "LEGO, please release this piece in the small set-range!" Sigh...

Whoa. I never thought I'd say this, but they REALLY nailed Kopaka in the prototype. Whereas the one we ended up with is a highly unimaginative mish-mash of random (awful) Mahri designs (seriously, his legs minus the foot and arms minus the hands are the EXACT same build), the prototype comes pretty close to what I would have imagined what Kopaka would have looked like, given the trend Bionicle is diving down into. The shoulder pads and kneeguards are just amazing, actually making his arms look like arms and legs look like legs. It just blows the current "Kopaka" out of the water. To be honest, I would have been VERY happy had they just used the prototype with just a few adjustments. Using Inika thigh armor instead of the Mahri ones, give him a pair of large, double edged swords (ala Transformers Animated Megatron), get rid of that awful Matoro-looking mouth growth and replace it with some sort of triangular mouth and I would buy HUNDREDS of him. Heck, even if LEGO came out with those shoulder pieces later on, I would DEFINITELY go out and buy whatever set they come along in AND a Kopaka set. LEGO, please release those shoulder pieces! I BEG of you! Oh, and for those who don't know what I mean by Megatron, here's a pic. Yeah, that's right. Kopaka's blades are in season. It'd be awesome if they did Kopaka in similar form, attaching his cannon (as much as I hate that thing) onto his arm and freeing his hands for giant melee weapons. It doesn't even have to look like what's in that picture. Just swords in general would be enough for me.

Hahaha, awesome, Hollisbricks! You got really got an eye for these moments! While I never got to fully appreciate how awesome these lines were at the time (I was just a child who was completely obsessed with mid and late-90s space), I sure wish we had these sets today, as others have said! Oh, and here's some of the image tilted the right way, just so that nobody accidentally snaps their neck trying to read the first few images. (Just kidding!) http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/5672/22...395577f2xo2.jpg http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/5759/22...18fa1f10ce2.jpg http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/8283/22...7f3175e6cb4.jpg

I couldn't have said it any better myself. Though I find the Mahri to be somewhat bland in terms of body type (they all looked like they were on steriods), I totally agree about the Barraki. But still, as others have said, 2001 remains to be the strongest showing, thanks to the subtle (and often unappreciated) differences as well as a diverse line of box sets (the fact that they weren't all a bunch of Toa with more pieces) of the likes that will never be seen on the face of the planet again. And I agree with Darth Vader. Also, why do you need to feel to use the word "shitty"? Do we really have to resort to immature, derogatory comments to explain that you simply dislike it? Quite frankly, I disagree with everything you said, but you didn't see me going around calling Cordak and Midak's shitty now, do you?

...Not I. I thought they Mahri (except for Matoro, I thought he was horrid) looked alright when they were tiny and blurry, but I absolutely hated them when they came out (and Matoro to an even larger extent). Just look back at my post history and you'll see. They may be prototypes, but the thing is, the overall look won't change much at all. Tahu's still going to look like Blocko and Gali's still going to look like the Ninja robot from GI Joe. Like this one: Not a bad design for a normal generic robot, but definitely not for a female one. As for Onua, I have hope, though the chances of this turning out well are very slim, given the tone that Tahu's setting for this quarter. Mind you, this is coming from a person who liked the Inika (minus those awful Zamor launchers) and Piraka, yet hated the Mahri with a passion. I've also thought Pohatu from this year looks pretty good too, even if the orange looks quite out of place. I'll make up my final judgement after the Toy Fair, but at this point, I'm going to pass this entire year too.

That was precisely what I was thinking when I was looking at these pics. Y'know, I think Hinkley's thoughts on the blurry pic nailed what I thought of these sets. Aside from the fact that these sets have completely and utterly desecrated all of the original Toa, these sets are without a doubt a massive blemish on the face of our planet. Seriously, I wouldn't even know these were even LEGO at first glance. I'd love to say I'm being sarcastic, but these honestly look like those new Megabloks sets. The designs are almost as if the designers weren't given the right source material. Even parts-wise, none of these sets even look remotely appealing. And for those who're going to slam me based on my judgement on the sets now, I think Kynok summed it up rather nicely. If you've already bought the set, you can't return it. Once you've opened the seal and built that wretched monstrosity, there's no turning back. By purchasing it in the first place, you've demonstrated that you support this crazed, senseless new direction, regardless of whether or not you like the set you now own.

This definitely has to be the single most amazing feat of engineering I've ever seen! You've totally nailed the entire look right down to the basics. I love how you've managed to build it so that when it's taken apart, it looks exactly like the minifig dismantled! (Sorry about not phrasin that better :P) Anyhoo, as for the issues of studs, I'd say keep them! It looks great that way and it just wouldn't be LEGO without them!

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! Besides, proto, shmoto. Proto means nothing anyways! Anyhow, yes, I agree with VBBN. LEGO's other offerings look absolutely stunning this year and given my already tight budget, I'll even have to skip out on this year's line entirely. (Even though I was considering buying Kopaka so I could redo the set and Takanuva, because of the mask) Speaking of Takanuva, does anyone else think Takanuva's mask looks like an evil version of that Mask of Life? It looks kind of like the other side of the 2008 splash poster, with the black, melting mask.

You hit the almighty reset button, completely nuke the existing Bionicle universe and then give it a complete overhaul, featuring new, hip-hop Toa with handguns and shotguns as weapons! Nah, I'm just kidding. But I honestly wouldn't mind seeing a complete reboot. However, knowing how Bionicle usually runs, I'll probably be even more alienated than I already am. And I agree about how it seems like this is it! From the way this is set up, the finale feels like they're going for something like Lord of the Rings smashed with Pirates of the Caribbean and completely loaded with airships. Here's to hoping it turns out well!

Given the fact that you just completely misread Trexxen AND launched an unprovoked assault on another member, you can keep your pictures. I was actually going to applaud how you just posted the photos even for a few minutes to contribute to our community, but after that accusation, don't expect me to go down on my knees and beg for the pictures. However, I will still give you props for posting them before. Anyhoo, way back on topic! To be honest, I can't even begin to describe how lost I was when I saw these sets. Yes, I know they're just preliminary images, but judging from what we've seen in the past, these are pretty reflective of what we'll get in the summer. Well, let's take it from the top. On the good side, 8699 continues Bionicle's dynasty of brilliant, larger sets. It is, without a doubt, a testament to Bionicle as a whole, fusing older technic parts with new ones to form a design which actually goes forwards from the techniques introduced in Brutaka and Axxon. As for the rest... I definitely cannot say the same. At first, I thought these were minifig scale and that LEGO changed their minds about not doing playsets. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Instead, I am left both dazed and disappointed by these offerings. It was basically like feeling a grenade going off in your face, but instead of being completely lethal, it just knocks the living daylights out of you. In the bad way. The bodies of the riders themselves look like truly uninspired versions of the canister sets we've recieved since the Mahri, with the only truly unique part of them being their masks. The vehicles themselves look like they came out of the Racers line, only they were half built, had their wheels replaced with turbines and given an unhealthy dosage of wings in their everywhere. 8942 (The one with HUGE turbines) looks like an early, primitive concept of the Sonic Phantom that the LEGO designers built in their lunch break. And I mean this in the best possible way. Quite simply, it just seems like they just shoved parts together. Honestly, I think this would work if it were animated in Genndy Tartakovsky (Clone wars, Samurai Jack) style, but there's no way I could find these vehicle sets even remotely appealing. But these sets also leave me with another thought, one more devastating than the designs. I really don't see where they're going with this. With the exception of what appears to be an evil Takanuva, I can't think of ways these new, named riders could fit in properly. Before, we were assaulted by a plethora of characters who were only named, but were never immortalized in a set. Unless they decide to bludgeon all the canister villians within the opening acts of 2008, this storyline is going to explode with a complete overload of seemingly useless characters who play a minimal (in terms of number of appearances, not about sheer "power levels") part in the plot. I honestly think Bionicle is just cycling out far too many large sets in too short of a time, which may eventually cause them to lose focus of their already muddled story. Oh well. C'est la vie, non? :-/

Well, if you're refering to my post, I had to refute that over-used point. I'm not just going to stand there and leave myself open to slander. And I'm sorry you thought I was reciting the American constitution. I was going this feel instead: Anyways, as for Icarax, I'm almost sure he's very close to the final product. The pictures are from the same catalogue that shows the finalized products for other lines, such as the War Wheel for the Castle line. To be honest, I think Icarax is going to be a throwaway character who's going to get offed halfway through the year to make way for the one and only Makuta in time for the second half of 2008. But that's just wild speculation, of course. :) As for the new orbs, I'm starting to be really skeptical about how far they can launch, given the fact that the instruction shows them simply falling flat on the ground, as well as a lack of safety symbols indicating for children not hit each other in the face. However, before anyone comments, I just want to make it clear that my heightened attention towards projectiles is in no way to be mistaken for genuine interest and support for projectiles.