Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[Shakar]

Whoops, I just noticed I made a mess. I meant to wrote that their UPPER backs look empty, where the gear box is. The lower backs are covered by shells, I already knew about that ("It's likely his lower back is covered like on the other Toa"). Sorry I made you waste a whole paragraph.

Anyway, I hope you're right, though I'm more worried about the other Toa (Onua can be easily revamped, but their shoulder height is more unique). Hopefully their backs look good. Technic flowed well with classic BIONICLE (looks wise, I mean), but it's a lot harder with CCBS and its smooth and clean shapes. Most of the attempts to fuse Technic and CCBS looked pretty clmusy to me, ugly even.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Shakar

[the last chronicler]

Transformers does something similar, in that its all alternate universes that generally don't touch each other. So you've got rookie Optimus Prime over in the Animated universe, Optimus Prime who tears people's faces off over on the Movie side, and neither of them have anything to do with Generation 1 Optimus Prime.

Although sometimes the universes do actually touch and that's when you get stuff like Ravage time-travelling back in time to warn Wheeljack he's going to die in the battle for Autobot City so that time changes, leading the Autobots to have to fight Unicron without Decepticon, so Wheeljack builds a clone body and... Well, Binaltech fiction was odd, and that's before you even get into Alternity, or the time that the ghosts of hundreds of Starscreams made a massive gestalt Starscream entity. Or, heck, Sideways, a character who started as an Autobot ninja and ended up the series more prolific cross-universe traveller

James Bond is a code name and its a different agent each time.

Thats a made up myth. His code name is 007, ans the name on his parents grave in Skyfall is Mr. and Ms. Bond

Also, just because transformers does something doesn't disprove the redicoulousness and piontlessness of alternate universes. If they don't cross over then it's pointless, and if they do a crossover you'll never hear movie Optimus say "hey remember when cartoon Optimus was here? That was cool" because in reality crossovers aren't canon and just the musings of the writers.

Canon should be used to create general rules, not excuses.

Edited September 30, 2014 by the last chronicler

[Lord-Vorahk]

Also, just because transformers does something doesn't disprove the redicoulousness and piontlessness of alternate universes. If they don't cross over then it's pointless, and if they do a crossover you'll never hear movie Optimus say "hey remember when cartoon Optimus was here? That was cool" because in reality crossovers aren't canon and just the musings of the writers.

Canon should be used to create general rules, not excuses.

Just saying, but there have been several crossovers. In fact, the latest TF game is a crossover between Aligned and the movies.

[GK733]

Regarding that mock-up of Onua's arm function, I do not believe for a minute that it's accurate to the set.

Yeah, it isn't that great mockup and I thought hordika necks had been discontinued. But my main conscern is still there. His nearly as width as he's tall. I have always hated width shoulders in Bionicle and this takes it to extreme. It's Bionicle, yes they are not humans. But the proprtions of most masters are more human than ever before and they aren't too width. Then there's Onua who's twice as width as others.

[Lyichir]

Yeah, it isn't that great mockup and I thought hordika necks had been discontinued. But my main conscern is still there. His nearly as width as he's tall. I have always hated width shoulders in Bionicle and this takes it to extreme. It's Bionicle, yes they are not humans. But the proprtions of most masters are more human than ever before and they aren't too width. Then there's Onua who's twice as width as others.

Personally, I like Onua's proportions. The wide shoulders of the old Bionicle were a problem because for many years, they were the standard, and only a few characters diverged from that. In these sets, only the dwarf-like and muscular Onua has such ridiculous proportions, and they help to make his physique stand out from the rest. All in all, I love the diverse proportions these sets offer much more than I would have expected to before seeing all the sets together.

[the last chronicler]

Just saying, but there have been several crossovers. In fact, the latest TF game is a crossover between Aligned and the movies.

Okay, I'm just not a huge fan of taking something that can be explained at the real world level and trying explain it in-universe. It must be a side effect of disliking when people judge "film logic" because it's illogical.

I don't hate crossovers I just think this discussion is irrelevant for Bionicle where there won't be any.

[Shakar]

I do agree Onua is too bulky and stocky this time around. Gorzan's build+longer legs would've been fine but this is going way overboard.

Ironically, considering the character, it's not even the right build for him: it should be Pohatu who gets that type of body. Onua's a wise guy with average strength like Gali (which is why his Pakari is useful to him), while Pohatu is the big strong guy.

I can see why they did it, though: they chose to give Onua the larger set because they thought he'd sell better than Pohatu (and since it's brown that got replaced in 2006, they might be right). But that's ok, this is Lego afterall and we can change all the things we don't like. And this way, we finally get the Hulk chest in black.

[Aanchir]

Yeah, it isn't that great mockup and I thought hordika necks had been discontinued.

Yeah, Hordika necks are definitely still current! The Exo-Suit uses six of them. They also appeared in three other sets this year and in four sets last year, including three Hero Factory sets.

Personally, I like Onua's proportions. The wide shoulders of the old Bionicle were a problem because for many years, they were the standard, and only a few characters diverged from that. In these sets, only the dwarf-like and muscular Onua has such ridiculous proportions, and they help to make his physique stand out from the rest. All in all, I love the diverse proportions these sets offer much more than I would have expected to before seeing all the sets together.

Yeah, I generally agree with this. Onua stands out, but he doesn't look bad from what I've seen. On a visual level I am enthusiastic about seeing what the team looks like together. The Avengers in the recent movie all had fairly normal human proportions aside from the Hulk, but they still look fantastic together because the others all stand out in ways besides their body proportions. I expect the same to hold true here.

[MakutaNocturn]

I won't read all those new pages but have you seen the combiner model?

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Mesonak/stuff/Final/catalog1.jpg

It looks there's commercial potential in Protectors because of better armors for Toas/Masters. Nice one, Lego.

[Floundie]

These sets still remind me so much of these: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=154688

[Frozen Assasin]

These sets still remind me so much of these: http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=154688

It remains to be seen of they were actually produced ? I LOL'ed.

I won't read all those new pages but have you seen the combiner model?

http://www.majhost.c...al/catalog1.jpg

It looks there's commercial potential in Protectors because of better armors for Toas/Masters. Nice one, Lego.

Kaita. I want Kaita;

[Aanchir]

I won't read all those new pages but have you seen the combiner model?

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Mesonak/stuff/Final/catalog1.jpg

It looks there's commercial potential in Protectors because of better armors for Toas/Masters. Nice one, Lego.

I don't quite get what you mean by that last sentence. Part of the point of combi models has always been to get a person who owns one set to want to buy the others that combine with it. And it seems to me the reason the Toa are combined with the corresponding Protectors is so that the final models will still be color-coordinated, not because the designers think $10 sets won't sell on their own.

I know some people were hoping for Kaita to really drive home the nostalgia that these sets offer. It's not wrong to feel disappointed that you don't seem to be getting those. But that doesn't make the LEGO Group's reasons for doing Toa+Protector combi models less legitimate than their reasons for doing Toa Kaita back in 2001.

[Voxovan]

Emmm...

Guys...

http://board.ttvpodc...ng-dark/2613/34

I don't know if this is real or not, but if it is, then we know a little more about the new Bionicle... Like the island's name - Okoto. Sounds... interesting, I guess.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Voxovan

[Aanchir]

Well that's very interesting! A lot of obvious corporate waffling with some of those answers, which is to be expected (and which lends credence to its authenticity). But it's good that they've prepared answers to all the questions that store employees will inevitably be asked once the line is re-launched.

A few story spoilers but nothing which should ruin any major surprises for anyone who chooses to read the leaks.

One thing that seems to be a bit of a flub — most of the prices are given in pounds sterling, but the Lord of Skull Spiders price is given in Euros. All the prices are consistent with what we'd expect in those currencies, though, so it's probably just a case where they forgot to convert LoSS's price when localizing the FAQ.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Aanchir

[Grima]

Ugh, going to the TTV forums feels like entering Mordor...

Anyway, the wording seems to be just vague enough on some points to make it completely impossible to accurately tell if it's a continuation or a reboot (though I would say it leans reboot, as usual)

[Frozen Assasin]

I really,really hope for this to be a fake. Okoto ? Darkness that they have to battle ? To be honest,it's sound like Power Rangers,with the exception that this isn't a part of my childhood; If this is real,they ruined it.

[Leewan]

Why are the Masters called Toas ? Why are some sets priced in Pounds and the LoSS in Euros ? And only five sets for the summer wave, really ? That sounds fishy to me. On an other hand, it would be a very elaborated hoax. But still, I have mixed feelings.

[Lyichir]

I really,really hope for this to be a fake. Okoto ? Darkness that they have to battle ? To be honest,it's sound like Power Rangers,with the exception that this isn't a part of my childhood; If this is real,they ruined it.

Are you serious? The Toa were battling darkness for the MAJORITY of the previous theme, in one form or another, and started on the tropical island of "Mata Nui" (What a weird name!). What conclusions could you possibly have jumped to that suggest that the new story is any worse than Bionicle's original story?

[Grima]

I really,really hope for this to be a fake. Okoto ? Darkness that they have to battle ? To be honest,it's sound like Power Rangers,with the exception that this isn't a part of my childhood; If this is real,they ruined it.

How is Okoto any less plausible a name than Mata Nui? How is battling darkness any different than 2001?

That being said, I did notice a suspicious contradiction; one of the question answers mentions mini movies, yet another question specifically about movies and mini-movies says they cannot comment on future plans, when it seems to be implied they already have mentioned mini-movies.

Could be a fault on LEGO's part, but could also be an easy mistake to make if you were faking official FAQs.

EDIT: For what it's worth, Merlin Mann is a real person (despite his name kinda sounding like something you would make up off the top of your head), though he doesn't seem to have a ton of experience writing videos.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Grima

[arc]

Well that's interesting, okoto huh? I think I can roll with that. But only five sets in the summer? Strange, after the hoax from the other day, I'm not getting attached to this just yet.

[Aanchir]

I really,really hope for this to be a fake. Okoto ? Darkness that they have to battle ? To be honest,it's sound like Power Rangers,with the exception that this isn't a part of my childhood; If this is real,they ruined it.

Congratulations! You've discovered a couple things that BIONICLE has always, always had in common with Power Rangers! And realized for the first time that BIONICLE was ruined in 2001, but you were able to ignore it because like Power Rangers it was part of your childhood! Have a cookie!

In all seriousness... calling it ruined because they're described battling the darkness (i.e. a colorful way of describing exactly the same thing they've always done) and because the setting has a different foreign-sounding name than previous foreign-sounding settings seems incredibly stupid and premature. Sorry I can't really mince words about that. It's just yet another stupid reason to be worried about the new BIONICLE being ruined, on a similar level to people complaining about the new logo being a few microns too thick. I can't fathom why so many supposed "fans" are reaching for any excuse to declare the theme ruined when they haven't actually heard any meaningful story details.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Aanchir

[TheBrickPal]

Okoto? Sounds Japanese. I'd need to see more to believe this, but for now, this sounds interesting!

Also, more proof about Hero Factory's end.

[Agent Fusion]

Well, it seems like it is a reboot, if that's the correct term. The UK prices seem rather nice, and better than what I expected (except the Defenders, but I probably won't buy them anyway). Okoto sounds rather cool. I just hope they keep the general tribal theme this time.

[Kingslayer]

All in all the only thing that upsets me is the 5 sets in summer. It seems odd they would do that, anyone else agree?

[Agent Fusion]

Well, this last series of HF only had six, though that's not the best comparison.