Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[jaller]

*Search the images with HIGH HYPE*

*See the images*

*Wait 10 seconds*

This :

Edited January 23, 2015 by jaller

[Dr_Chronos]

I know, right? Look on the bright side though, at least Ekimu uses a great technique to customize his shield. And his hammer appears to be completely transparent, even where the gatling gun pieces are, with the exception of the middle piece, which is grey.

Just noticed that sheild/buzz saw and the trans gun piece. Definitely a must buy. But man those bones on grinder and basher need some covering.

I think the reason these sets are so bare is to lower the cost. My best guess for the reasoning behind lower cost is for army building. Don't know how well that will turn out. Still super excited for the summer wave though.

[GK733]

Interesting to see the reactions--very similar to some reactions to the original leaked photos of the Toa and protectors, so I'll take it with a grain of salt (though if anyone wants to pm me the link, that would be appreciated)

I'd believe they are all around the net, cough... TTV... gouch.

[DraikNova]

Also, is that a new purple on skull basher, or just the bad prelim art again? Because I welcome more of the purple we've been getting thus far, as we still don't really have enough to make a consistent purple moc.

I think it's tr. pink. It looks exactly like it.

[Timeline15]

Well the sets only ever get better (with the possible exception of fire lord back in 2011) So I know for a fact I'll like the final versions way more.

Oh, and the TTV site is speculating that they've seen some sort of slot and peg connection system on the new limb pieces. Can anyone see this? cos I certainly can't, and I just want to know if I'm missing something.

Also, odd that there isn't any armour if there are connection points. I would think, if able, lego would put on armour, but they've proven me wrong on that point in the past.

Edited January 23, 2015 by Timeline15

[Nekchir]

I would be 10x happier if the villains included trans-pink elements than purple. Even though I hate pink.

It's extremely rare for that color to be included in a contraction set. (not counting classic Tahu's eyes.)

[DraikNova]

Tr. pink is a lot better than plain pink though. I wouldn't use the latter if my life depended on it, while the former adorns some of my favorite sets ever.

[Aanchir]

I've personally never liked the idea that just because something is young, you can't complain about it (not that what he said even sounded like complaining). Obviously you do have to take into account how little we've seen, but at the same time, it's not like the story's just started. We're already at the 'find the golden mask' bit. The toa have met their protectors, had Okoto explained to them, and gone in search of their masks, in the space of about 5 minutes on our end. As much as I like the style of these shorts, they're a phenomenally bad way of telling this story.

Keep in mind that there is one milestone from the original story we haven't reached yet — namely, the Toa haven't even met each other yet. With that in mind, it seems a bit silly to complain that the story is moving too quickly, since in 2001 they had met each other by the end of the first comic.

Anyway, I'll just copy and paste my comments from Facebook here regarding the sets:

I'm definitely intrigued. It's hard to make judgments with these pics as blurry and preliminary as they are, but I do like some of what I see, namely Ekimu. Nice to have at least one non-humanoid set, though it's hard to tell whether it has any interesting functionality.

I'm not really digging the new "scrawny" limb beams, though. I think regular 5M beams with center ball would work just fine for skeletal enemies without their versatility being nearly so limited.

I also ought to mention that I REALLY like Ekimu's shield! It seems like it uses the wheel pieces from Cinderella's Dream Carriage and Battle for Ninjago City, which I hadn't even considered using in BIONICLE!

[Timeline15]

Oh, really? I thought it was just one of those normal dish pieces with some printing. If it's a less often used piece, that's cool.

EDIT: it IS the ninjago piece, right down to the printing, which is presumably due to the preliminary nature of these images.

Edited January 23, 2015 by Timeline15

[Dr_Chronos]

Looking at MM vs. SG I noticed on the the side of the box there is some kind of circle of elements. The colors seem to match the trans color of each skull set. Is it possible that instead of a mask in each set there is a part of a circle and when complete the circle is a forge for making elemental masks? Certainly seems like a good motive.

[Mesonak]

Alright, awesome! PIcture time! Let's go through these one by one if anyone cares to listen to me ramble.

Skull Warrior looks pretty nice! I think I almost see a transparent blue torso beam, but it could just be armor. Overall, I'm pleased with him and think he looks complex enough to warrant the price point.

Skull Slicer, though... ehhh. I appreciate what he's trying to go for, and I'm sure the four arms on a gearbox will be very cool in person. The actual set just isn't that impressive, and seems to line up with Shakar's prior worries about limb complexity being sacrificed for the four arm feature. Regardless, I feel like I'd enjoy him more if the trans red was gone. Still, not terrible, just not my favorite. :|

Skull Basher is my second favorite of these sets. He looks very menacing, bulky, and well built. There's not a lot to say about him, but I'm pretty confident in this set.

Skull Scorpio, pulling no punches, is my least favorite set of the entire wave and my least favorite constraction set since Evo Walker. There are very few redeeming qualities about him amongst his overcomplicated "tail" build and generally awkward looking build in general. In terms of positivity, I like his mask, the choice of legs, and uhh... I hope he ends up being tan.

Mask Maker vs. Skull Grinder is outstanding in every way! Ekimu looks very well built, and I didn't expect him to have a shield. That's a nice touch. Skull Grinder looks very menacing, well built, and with a plethora of new pieces. The Mask of Creation's pretty nifty too.

OVERALL: I love, love, LOVE the presence of new "bone" pieces to further the Skeletal theme. Honestly speaking, I'd be 10 times more disappointed with this wave if they weren't included. Yes, they look to not feature traditional armor attachments. Yes, it looks somewhat odd to go from bulky to skinny in a short period of time. The purpose they serve, however, is very important, as they tie together the visual theme of this wave. Without them, we would have a bunch of slightly awkward looking villains without any team cohesion and bizarre color schemes. Taking away the bone pieces, none of them look all that "skeletal." With them, however, as well as the excellent masks, the wave ends up looking very nice despite one or two disappointments. I think it'd going to be pretty good.

[DraikNova]

Oh, really? I thought it was just one of those normal dish pieces with some printing. If it's a less often used piece, that's cool.

EDIT: it IS the ninjago piece, right down to the printing, which is presumably due to the preliminary nature of these images.

Isn't that just the shape of the piece itself, rather than printing?

[the last chronicler]

The new axe weapon reminds me too much of this:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Tyranide/fakes/sakron.jpg

Lego seems to have a serious problem with colour schemes, I genuinly think the designers have gotten worsae over the last couple years. Maybe the sales on those multi-colour HF beast sets somehow convinced them more variety in colour and limb width, (yet with overdesigned cartoony generic weapons) is better.

I'm sure they'll look better in real life or the final design, but they don't look like Bionicle or HF, they look like deformed knockoffs. And I was hoping for a replacement for the stupid two-pin on-shell attachment system, and I was hoping for thinner limbs somehow with shells and instead they removed attachments entirely.

EDIT: I actually think Skull Warrior works better then some as his scale and use of boney limbs seem more congruent to the skeletal style. Skull basher(?) with the horns has a bull-skull design mask I think.

EDIT2: I hope Lego winning the awards for the Toa (and sales) will get them to rethink the designs for 2016. (Or, if lucky, these summer sets) . To be fair, I always found the whole skeletal thing too stereotypical, Bionicle villains works best when reflecting something cool in the real world without directly copying it, ex. Rahkshii = Raptor Snake people.

Edited January 23, 2015 by the last chronicler

[Timeline15]

Personally, they don't give a 'skeletal' vibe to me, as they don't look like bones, just uncovered pieces. if they were placed weirdly, giving the sets a zombie look, it might work, but as they're so orderly and symmetrical, they just look like unfinished lego sets.

Oh, and I think the trans blue on hunter is his torso armour, which he shares with the others.

I hope I'm not coming off as overly negative, cos I like these as a whole, there are just a couple of things which really bother me, so that's what I talk about the most.

Edited January 23, 2015 by Timeline15

[jaller]

I think that we'll se something better at the next Toy Fair...with better images.

P.S - The leaked images are sooo preliminary,i mean,look at the mask in each sets,it's obvious that they're placeholders

Edited January 23, 2015 by jaller

[Dorek]

And a good morning to you all too. Some casual thoughts:

1. I'm assuming the masks are preliminary, and not just re-releases of the Toa's golden masks?

2. The 2x1 brick outline, along with the pedestal in MM v SG, make me think we might get some kind of stand in each set?

3. Loving all of the scenery bits in MM v SG

4. No skull spiders from what I see, but four-arms has a skull spider face?

5. A lot of the skulls remind me of Witch Doctor... not that it's necessarily bad, but I was hoping for something a little more unique.

6. A bit jumbled and weirdly colored overall, but A. these are preliminary, and B. I'm okay with some bonkers decisions every now and again.

Mask Maker vs Skull Grinder is clearly going to be the best set of the lot, but I'm looking forward to getting my hands on all of these.

[toatali]

Personally, while I don't hate the new sets as much as some, I think Skull Grinder is the only one who manages to pull of the skeletal look, despite being the most armoured. With Ekimu also looking great, this seems to be the best set, at least until we see better pics of the rest.

Also, is it just me, or is Skull Slicer using his whip to catch Lewa's mask? Could this lend credence to the idea of the Toa's masks not being placeholders? And whose decision was it to put red onto Skull Warrior? Because that was an awful idea, and really ruins the set IMO

[Nekchir]

I think that we'll se something better at the next Toy Fair...with better images.

P.S - The leaked images are sooo preliminary,i mean,look at the mask in each sets,it's obvious that they're placeholders

They're probably as old as the winter wave's prelims.

[Mesonak]

Personally, they don't give a 'skeletal' vibe to me, as they don't look like bones, just uncovered pieces. if they were placed weirdly, giving the sets a zombie look, it might work, but as they're so orderly and symmetrical, they just look like unfinished lego sets.

I hope I'm not coming off as overly negative, cos I like these as a whole, there are just a couple of things which really bother me, so that's what I talk about the most.

Well, they are asymmetrical in some areas; Warrior's legs are flipped much in the same way as Furno 2.0 was handled.

Nah, you're not coming off as overly negative. I can definitely see where people that aren't happy with some of this stuff are coming from. There are plenty of aspects I dislike, like the frequent use of red in the color schemes and almost everything about Skull Scorpio. :|

[jaller]

They're probably as old as the winter wave's prelims.

Exactly,so i think that we might reserve our thoughts until we see detailed images from a toy fair.

Edited January 23, 2015 by jaller

[CM4Sci]

Could someone PM me the images? Thanks!

EDIT: Wow, that was quick.

They look a bit.. naked. Good thing these are prelims.

-Sci

Edited January 23, 2015 by CM4Sci

[Timeline15]

Interesting how much dislike there is for skull scorpio... I mean, he looks an awful lot like a nui jaga to me, which is a good thing. I mean, the tail looks ridiculously big, but other than that he seems one of the most well armoured and consistent of the new sets.

I also hope the previous descriptions we received are correct, and that he does in fact turn out to be dark tan. I have 2 dark tan shells from vardy sitting lonely in my collection.

[Voxovan]

2. The 2x1 brick outline, along with the pedestal in MM v SG, make me think we might get some kind of stand in each set?

The 2x1 brick outline is actually a logo of the website...

[Leewan]

Scans for the "french" comics.

[Mesonak]

Interesting how much dislike there is for skull scorpio... I mean, he looks an awful lot like a nui jaga to me, which is a good thing. I mean, the tail looks ridiculously big, but other than that he seems one of the most well armoured and consistent of the new sets.

I also hope the previous descriptions we received are correct, and that he does in fact turn out to be dark tan. I have 2 dark tan shells from vardy sitting lonely in my collection.

His actual build is solid, but the overly complex, impractical, and straight up bizarre tail design makes him look very unappealing, as do the random bits of red. Hopefully the tail undergoes some revisions or there's some hidden ingenuity we're not aware of.