Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[OmastarLovesDonuts]

Well, it's great to see that Gali now looks feminine. The Protectors should be easy to MOD elbows onto, and their backs won't be hard to cover. Overall, I'm becoming increasingly impatient for December/January! Thanks for the pictures, VBBN!

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I love how the Protectors look (well, minus the lack of elbows)! At first, I saw them as mere parts packs, but they've grown on me a lot, so I think I'll keep 2-3 built. Fire P's torso build is pretty clever, though Earth P's seems like it'd better since it leaves room to build some back armouring. Love the masks, most weapons look a little lame to me but they do they do feaure some nice pieces anyway. Stone P's Pyrox flames are tr. lime and tr. clear! Pretty versatile.

LoSS is - you guessed it - still my least favourite set. He's just so... gimmicky. Poseability aside, I think one of my issues is his looks- he looks like a generic spider monster, not like a super-Skull Spider. He has nothing in common with the 5 piece Spiders. I'm not even interested in his parts, aside from the gold mask and the printed chest. So yeah, not buying him, better buy another Onya instead.

Remember, there's still the Summer wave we have to see. I doubt they're going to make the year's main villain into a mid size set.

Yeah I really doubt LOSS is more than a boss mook.

[Nekchir]

Yeah I really doubt LOSS is more than a boss mook.

I second this, from experience.

[VBBN]

You're welcome for the preview pics everyone, that's what I've got the sets for.

And from BZP's frontpage-

We had a lot of fun doing our last live stream talking about the 2015 Bionicle sets and hope you did too! LEGO has sent us the rest of the sets, and we thought you guys might like to see them. We'll be hosting another livestream on Google+ and

this Friday, November 14th at 9:30 PM Eastern! Come join the BZPower staff and special guest VBBN to check out the other Toa, the Protectors, and the Lord of Skull Spiders! Hope to see you there!

Once again I'll be with some of the BZP staff who also have the sets, so if you can't wait for reviews, be sure to check out the stream!

[Aanchir]

Disappointed with LoSS. Yeah, the callback to the 01 Rahi is nice, but the Toa manage to keep the gears and dual-function weapons of their earlier incarnations, while also having the articulation of more recent sets. Pohatu in particular surpasses them, with his balljointed elbows. Not to mention, the awkwardness of the 01 Rahi was due to their use as part of the "Function Game" at the time, whereas LoSS, lacking a full Skull Spider, or a giant face to latch onto, is the only set that can't really do much there.

Well, he can steal a Toa's mask, but that's not a fully-fledged game because as far as I'm aware there's no "failure state" for the Lord of Skull Spiders, whereas the 2001 Rahi had masks of their own to knock off.

[Chro]

LOSS confirmed as invincible

[Takanuinuva]

Why did they not give the Earth Protector Trans purple 1x1 round studs?! All the other protectors have trans 1x1 round studs.

[Aanchir]

Why did they not give the Earth Protector Trans purple 1x1 round studs?! All the other protectors have trans 1x1 round studs.

Probably wasn't within the budget. All the other protectors have transparent studs, but then again, all the other protectors also have studs in colors that are already in production for other sets. So adding a new recolor might have meant getting rid of a new recolor in another set.

I agree that it's a shame we're not getting 1x1 round plates in Tr. Bright Bluish Violet, but I'm not sure the set needs those quite as badly as some of the other BIONICLE sets need the recolors they actually ended up getting. I mean, I guess ostensibly Lewa and the Protector of Jungle could have used Bright Yellow instead of Flame Yellowish Orange... but it'd be a shame not to get two new Flame Yellowish Orange parts.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Aanchir

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I'm willing to sacrifice trans-purple studs for flippin' Flame Yellowish Orange shells.

VBBN, can you tell us how many Protectors have elbow articulation?

[Aethersprite]

I'm willing to sacrifice trans-purple studs for flippin' Flame Yellowish Orange shells.

VBBN, can you tell us how many Protectors have elbow articulation?

Agreed, I need more Keetorange parts to go with those I got with Jetbug!

As for the Protectors, it looks like all of them have elbows, with the exception of the Ice and Fire Protectors.

[Kalhiki]

I'm willing to sacrifice trans-purple studs for flippin' Flame Yellowish Orange shells.

VBBN, can you tell us how many Protectors have elbow articulation?

I'm not VBBN, but it looks like they all do except for Ice and Fire.

The Protector of Fire looks really weird with those short arms...

EDIT: Lockon Stratos, you darn ninja, you.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Kalhiki

[DuckBricks]

I imagine that too.

(I'm using my phone camera for these random pics btw, don't complain about the graininess I know they look terrible :P )

Also, officially my favorite set of the wave

I never realized that her feet could connect together to make a mermaid fin

As for when reviews will begin, I have planned a selection of characters to be reviewed by Sunday night- Gali, Protector of Stone, and LoSS. The rest will come after that of course, but that's the immediate plans

Anyone else think the chest armor for some sticks out way too much? It may just be the angle, though...

[Aanchir]

Anyone else think the chest armor for some sticks out way too much? It may just be the angle, though...

You mean for the Toa or the Protectors? On the Toa it looks fine. On some of the Protectors it does look a bit funny, though. I think it looks best on the Protector of Fire, for whom it doesn't stick out quite so far.

[Rayskull]

I did some LDD experiments, I highly doubt I can squeeze gearbox on the back of one of the Protectors without it being awkward, probably still try it though. There are interesting constraints on the Builds of fire and earth shoulders.

[Grima]

Anyone else think the chest armor for some sticks out way too much? It may just be the angle, though...

Some of the Protectors are definitely shelf-chesting a bit. The PoF doesn't utilize the same chest armoring technique, though, and PoE has the gatling gun, so they're both blessedly excused from it.

unfortunately, most of them would require a new recolor (and also the sacrifice of their back armor) to use the PoF's less bulky technique. The PoW could have used a Dark Azure shell I think, which may even have made the Dark Azure mask look less out of place, but I guess the only reason the PoF uses what he does is because they couldn't thrust the chest forward and move the shoulders back. Still, it's not a game-changing flaw. I've put up with shelf-chesting in sets before, and I can put up with it now.

[Rayskull]

Some of the Protectors are definitely shelf-chesting a bit. The PoF doesn't utilize the same chest armoring technique, though, and PoE has the gatling gun, so they're both blessedly excused from it.

unfortunately, most of them would require a new recolor (and also the sacrifice of their back armor) to use the PoF's less bulky technique. The PoW could have used a Dark Azure shell I think, which may even have made the Dark Azure mask look less out of place, but I guess the only reason the PoF uses what he does is because they couldn't thrust the chest forward and move the shoulders back. Still, it's not a game-changing flaw. I've put up with shelf-chesting in sets before, and I can put up with it now.

you spotted the limitations as I did :)

These small but remarkable differences in the skeleton on these small sets make them so much more interesting than any previous sets.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Rayskull

[Mandate]

TBH I'm really annoyed at LEGO with LOSS. The leg problem could have been an easy fix with this piece and some actual bone pieces. Armor could still be attached, and the raised price point as a result would allow for better armor at the back. The recolors of the Technic piece could have been used instead for bone joints of the exact same color, even for just a single bone. It's definitely possible to accomplish the same leg style using solely one type of bone, I've done it myself. LOSS would have been near-perfect with just that modification.

And before anyone whines about legs moving up and down and interfering with the gear function, the Toa have the exact same "problem". More legs means more strength, too. I can't imagine LOSS being very heavy, but I guess VBBN will have to say yay or nay. Any chance you could test this?

[Grima]

The difference is, the Toa's functions don't rely on the arms being posed a certain way. You can bend the Toa's arms pretty much however you want and it doesn't affect the swinging function significantly.

LoSS, however, doesn't have a swinging function, it has a grabbing function. What this means is that, unless the legs are posed in sync with each other in the right position (particularly the front legs, which appear to be the focus of the function), the grabbing function doesn't work. I suppose one could just repose the legs whenever you wished to use the grabbing function, but that would be a very unintuitive way to design a play feature.

Also I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they couldn't have upped LOSS a pricepoint; I've always been under the impression that sets are usually designed for a price point decided beforehand that's within their budget. In this case, they budgeted for six $10 sets, four $15 sets, and three $20 sets for the first wave. It's possible that turning a $15 set to a $20 set would have been outside what they were capable of doing.

If they had been able to up its price point, though, my first focus would be on making a custom face that has more dimension to it than the wonky flat chestface that I still don't like one bit.

[Mandate]

Sets are indeed designed with a pre-set price, but I'm pretty sure LOSS's... unplayability... is going to annoy kids and adults alike. Also, you could argue the exact same thing about the Toa's arms. If you have one arm completely upright, and turn the gear, the function will still work, it just won't work as well. You could also argue the exact same thing about LOSS' claw... leg things... albeit an entire leg is different to a claw.

Edited November 13, 2014 by JayWalker

[VBBN]

First I should probably make it clear that LoSS's function is built using a rubber band- you can't keep his legs in a "closed" position.

Second, on each side of the spider, each set of three legs is on one axle that rotates down. There is no focus on the front legs- I had assumed the function was that the front legs could pick up a mask, but that is not possible. Let me put it this way, imagine you set him on your arm, with his face looking down the length of the arm. When you squeeze the trigger, all of his legs would wrap around your arm.

As for weight, he is actually pretty heavy, and actually a bit front heavy.

[Rayskull]

I would be highly surprised if LOSS didn't pegwarm, as nice as everything else is.

[Chro]

Some of the Protectors are definitely shelf-chesting a bit.

Aha, I knew DV was designing these sets

[Chimaninja454]

I must wait if the Lord of the Skull Spiders' gear functions work well - otherwise I'll buy him, because it uses 80% of TECHNIC pieces as well as CCBS (most shells and some ball joints) as it harkens back to the 2001 Rahi sets.

I understand why some of you BIONICLE fans doesn't like him - he is surely good as the 2001 Rahi sets....

[Aethersprite]

I'm not VBBN, but it looks like they all do except for Ice and Fire.

The Protector of Fire looks really weird with those short arms...

EDIT: Lockon Stratos, you darn ninja, you.

Heh heh.

Anyway, on LOSS - I knew I probably wouldn't be interested in it ever since we first got pictures. Aside from some questionable aesthetic design choices, I don't like it that its function impeded on its poseability. The new Toa sets are fantastic in that they combined the gear functions of Bionicle's earlier years with the wider range of articulation its figures had in its later years. Unfortunately, it seems that LOSS is more feature-based and sacrifices some of its articulation in the process.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Lockon Stratos

[TheDesuComplex]

I'm going to give LOSS a chance. If he is fun I'll keep him together. If not, I already have a CCBS-based revamp in the works.