Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[The Outsider]

I hope we get new masks for the Toa in 2016. 'Nuva' versions would be nice to see.

I would prefer something more original. Element Lords-style armor would be nice.

Man, I wish those and the Baterra had become a set

[One Very Agile Cat]

I would prefer something more original. Element Lords-style armor would be nice.

Man, I wish those and the Baterra had become a set

I'm not sure how "original" I'd call the Element Lords. They were all kinda just simple, generic designs. One was like a blobby Swam Thing, one was a dome helemt on a scray face, one was just a fish bowl, etc. None of those would make decent masks, in my opinion. They're far too basic.

[Quisoves Pugnat]

I hope we get new masks for the Toa in 2016. 'Nuva' versions would be nice to see.

Surely that's inevitable? Gen1 got at least two years out of each set of heroes, and, given that Gen2 is planned out to three years, I won't be surprised if we get as many iterations of the Toa. Heck, while I have no objections to switching heroes, given the hostility to doing so from some fans, combined with the whole "back to Mata Nui" approach that the team is taking, I'll not be shocked if we see these Toa for the entire run.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Quisoves Pugnat

[The Outsider]

I'm not sure how "original" I'd call the Element Lords. They were all kinda just simple, generic designs. One was like a blobby Swam Thing, one was a dome helemt on a scray face, one was just a fish bowl, etc. None of those would make decent masks, in my opinion. They're far too basic.

I meant the generic idea of elemental-looking creatures. And frankly, I liked how they looked - except Ice, Rock and Sand, they felt too much like generic warriors.

Surely that's inevitable? Gen1 got at least two years out of each set of heroes, and, given that Gen2 is planned out to three years, I won't be surprised if we get as many iterations of the Toa. Heck, while I have no objections to switching heroes, given the hostility to doing so from some fans, combined with the whole "back to Mata Nui" approach that the team is taking, I'll not be shocked if we see these Toa for the entire run.

Yeah, that's more likely (and probably better to keep the story simple for now).

Edited May 25, 2015 by The Outsider

[TheOneVeyronian]

It would certainly be interesting to see "Nuva" versions of the Toa next year, and I'd be especially interested to see how they would execute bringing back the same characters in new sets. Ideally I would want each character's motif to remain while at the same time have a different build to change it up a bit, make them look like upgraded versions or something along those lines. I could see them utilising some of the Star Wars shells actually.

I would also hope that the next villain wave has some significantly different villains to the Skull Army (but obviously relevant). I don't think any of us want "Skull-kal" with exactly the same build, just with colour and printing tweaks now, do we? No dount we'll probably see some form of Makuta next year though.

[One Very Agile Cat]

I would be all up-and-down on "Nuva" Toa with new weapons and builds. Maybe make a new armour piece to compliment the piston addon. New weapon moulds would be sweet and of course new masks. The villains would ideally be unique characters for me. I tire easily of horde variants as main villain sets.

[Clone 01354 Productions]

As much as I would love upgraded Toa next year, I'm just afraid that they will be copies of their current versions, with just a few pieces changed. Take Onua for example: his character is basically the muscle of the team, and he's portrayed as being burly. With the current CCBS pieces, there are very few ways that the burly figure can be portrayed--he uses short bone and armor pieces, a large chest piece, and the wide torso build. How much more can that build change, while keeping the same feel?

Honestly, in order to keep the feel of all of the characters, they would need to keep the same build, more or less, because their builds have helped to establish their characters. That leaves only the armor add-ons to "upgrade" each of the Toa--leading to an Inika-build scenario.

If we had new characters, however, they can all have their own little gimmick, a personalized build, etc, because they are not established as having a specific design.

[DuckBricks]

As much as I would love upgraded Toa next year, I'm just afraid that they will be copies of their current versions, with just a few pieces changed. Take Onua for example: his character is basically the muscle of the team, and he's portrayed as being burly. With the current CCBS pieces, there are very few ways that the burly figure can be portrayed--he uses short bone and armor pieces, a large chest piece, and the wide torso build. How much more can that build change, while keeping the same feel?

Honestly, in order to keep the feel of all of the characters, they would need to keep the same build, more or less, because their builds have helped to establish their characters. That leaves only the armor add-ons to "upgrade" each of the Toa--leading to an Inika-build scenario.

If we had new characters, however, they can all have their own little gimmick, a personalized build, etc, because they are not established as having a specific design.

I agree about Onua. What I personally would enjoy is if Lego introduces a whole new team with new elements in a few years. I get that they stuck with the original elements and characters this time around, but Toa of Iron, Magnetism, and the like would be appreciated. This may or may not happen though, as Okoto is already set up with the six main elements.

[One Very Agile Cat]

You could use longer limb pieces and bulkier armour on Onua to give him a larger size while keeping the burly look. It'd be different from the original shrimp-puff set but evoking the "muscle" look.

[Kalta the Noble Mind]

i forget if we have confirmation on the nature of the Trans/Gold masks the skull people come with because if we don't i could see them being bursting with transformative elemental energy which could upgrade the Masters into the sort of elemental golems the Element lords were supposed to be.

i think we saw some form of elemental traits in the Protectors, most notably the ankle vines of Protector of Jungle and the rocky armor on Protector of Earth.

as for adding new elements/changing out characters didn't Hero factory change its roster every wave? like they had the original 6 and over time added more heroes and periodically left one or two heroes out or swapped some with others.

i could see Bionicle G2 do something similar to change things up a bit and maybe emphasize the fantasy element with finding fellow heroes to join on their quest.

i can also see new elements come about as upgrades to the main six as opposed to being distinct elements in and of themselves. so far it has been established that the masters' elemental power comes from their masks so it wont be a stretch that any new toa centric masks could be of other elements rather than the stock superpowers of G1. like Tahu gets the Mask of Plasma to shoot laser beams and Onua can have the mask of Gravity to make his blows more powerful or something.

on a related note i saw Jang Bricks' nw Ninjago dragon review that comes with slime green ghostly Screamers. $50 says those are the weird slimy ghost heads that play tester talked about for the 2016 wave.

[Kalhiki]

I had a thought that the upgraded Toa could have all trans bone pieces. Like they were super charged with elemental energy or something.

[One Very Agile Cat]

on a related note i saw Jang Bricks' nw Ninjago dragon review that comes with slime green ghostly Screamers. $50 says those are the weird slimy ghost heads that play tester talked about for the 2016 wave.

Is it this review?:

I assume you mean the little green blob minifigs? I don't think so. They were said to be larger and projectiles, and rubbery.

[Kalta the Noble Mind]

Is it this review?:

I assume you mean the little green blob minifigs? I don't think so. They were said to be larger and projectiles, and rubbery.

that's it! and that is true. they seemed to match the description though and going by the elemental blasters the Protectors had i figured Lego was making such action features more generic so they can be utilized in other themes.

i think those figs can fit comfortably on the head of the new missile brick and can be modified slightly with a compatible connector and be casted in rubber. cant really explain the size though.

[Lyichir]

that's it! and that is true. they seemed to match the description though and going by the elemental blasters the Protectors had i figured Lego was making such action features more generic so they can be utilized in other themes.

i think those figs can fit comfortably on the head of the new missile brick and can be modified slightly with a compatible connector and be casted in rubber. cant really explain the size though.

I seriously doubt the Skreemers can be cast in rubber, I doubt they'll ever appear in Bionicle, and I am pretty much certain that the spring missile launcher will never include the ability to connect parts to the tip (modification of the tips of high-powered ammo is a massive safety hazard, which is why there's never been any such capability on any launcher stronger than a flick-fire). More likely—the person who came up with those descriptions was just making things up, probably basing the features on things like the already revealed Star Wars constraction sets that we already knew about in order to make their fake leaks seem more plausible.

[Shakar]

What I've been wondering is how the 2016 Toa are going to be distributed in terms of price points. This year we got 3 Toa as mid size sets and 3 as larger ones- Tahu and Kopaka, due to their popularity, and Onua, who required the extra budget point for his massive body. HF did the same thing in 2012 and flipped the situation in 2013, with Heroes who got small sets in 2012 getting larger sets in 2013 and viceversa (see Surge vs Breez).

It might be different with the Toa though, as their number is smaller. I'm sure Tahu would be one of the bigger sets, but Kopaka has a decent shot at it too (white sets have always been among the top 3 in popularity). Onua, however, might be cut out and made into a still fairly bulky, but more simplistic 15 Euro figure, while one of this year's cheaper Toa gets the third "big set" slot. Pohatu seems unlikely so I'm betting on one of the other two- Lewa with wings, for example, would be pretty cool I think.

As for their look, if they want to attempt a Toa Nuva homage I think we're going to see some bulkier, more armoured figures. The use of the new Star Wars rounded shoulder pads is something I'd especially like to see. I can see a new chest armour piece coming, though I know I'd miss the "tribal chest decorations" of the 2015 Toa.

As for the silver, the Toa Nuva came during a time which Lego didn't find the perfect gold shade for their pieces yet. Now they did, they use it everywhere (the hugely popular Ninjago being a huge offender...affectionately speaking) and kids love it. If before 2015 (...or rather, before July 2014) you told me that Kopaka would've been remade with gold armour I would've probably laughed, but they know that gold sells so I doubt that they're going to stop using it now. In other words, I don't see the 2016 Toa being as silver-heavy as the 2002 Toa Nuva were.

And yes, as I said before I'm sure we're going to stay with Tahu and co. for the whole planned story arc. They are the "original team" people know the best and many are especially fond of. Also, all of Lego's recent story based IPs have revolved around a single unchanging (save for a few late additions) core team of heroes- see Ninjago, Chima, Ultra Agents, etc.

[DraikNova]

Maybe they'll all get tr. armor parts, to make them seem like they're overflowing with elemental energy?

[Kalhiki]

Maybe they'll all get tr. armor parts, to make them seem like they're overflowing with elemental energy?

Hahaha! That's what I just said, except I suggested the bones be trans. Then it'd be like their bodies were elementally charged while they had solid armor. It'd be a neat sort of underglow like their insides were coursing with energy.

Regardless, yes. More trans on upgraded Toa. And maybe trans blend masks like the Protectors.

Hmmm... D'ya think the gold/trans blend Toa masks from the Summer sets could be Nuva masks? Maybe the G2 Nuva will all wear gold masks with the trans blend. I mean, they all seem to have swapped out their regular masks for the gold ones. It'd be some nice consistency if the next iterations of the Toa wore their gold masks.

[BrickBuilder3213]

Am I the only person who's curious about the Summer Wave combiner models?

A three-headed skull warrior would be nice, but just how simple will the build be? I mean, the Toa combiners weren't exactly creative.

As for Skull Grinder and Skull Scorpio's combiner, I just hope that Grinder gets more than just Scorpio's legs as wings... :c

[MakutaOfWar]

I'm not too sure they would remake the Nuva, seeing how some masks blend two different forms from Gen 1(Lewa, Pohatu).

[One Very Agile Cat]

I'm not too sure they would remake the Nuva, seeing how some masks blend two different forms from Gen 1(Lewa, Pohatu).

But what about blending them the other way? Using different aspects not present in the current mask lineup.

[Clone 01354 Productions]

Maybe they'll all get tr. armor parts, to make them seem like they're overflowing with elemental energy?

Hahaha! That's what I just said, except I suggested the bones be trans.

Oh no.....With LEGO's current love for trans-colors in CCBS, we'll get trans bones AND trans shells next year.....You know what? Why not make all the pieces in a trans-color, and we can just have sets that look like ghosts.

[TheOneVeyronian]

You know, I'd go completely nuts over the Toa redone with all transparent bones, especially if they do some transparent torso bones and even heads so I can finally make a fully transparent CCBS figure.

And in fact, this just gave me a thought: Trans-Clear is not really represented anywhere in the CCBS system, aside from some Brain Attack visors and a blend that inhabits the Protector of Stone's lightning bolt pieces. I'd really like to see some bones in clear someday, but it's probably never going to happen unless we somehow get the Toa fighting an invisible ghost wearing a suit of armour (I'll be honest, I would love such a set...)

[One Very Agile Cat]

Oh no.....With LEGO's current love for trans-colors in CCBS, we'll get trans bones AND trans shells next year.....You know what? Why not make all the pieces in a trans-color, and we can just have sets that look like ghosts.

I'd be down for spooky scary Toa. Or, they could reprent powered-up versions that are DBZ-ing it up.

Clear plastic CCBS is never not a good thing. Something about the crystal clear colours Lego uses... it's sweet.

[Clone 01354 Productions]

I'd really like to see some bones in clear someday, but it's probably never going to happen unless we somehow get the Toa fighting an invisible ghost wearing a suit of armour (I'll be honest, I would love such a set...)

2015's theme is skeletons and skulls, and next year, it'll be ghosts. Then 2017 will feature the epic showdown between the Toa and the Lord of Jack-o'-Lanterns.

[MakutaOfWar]

I'm a little tired of the trans-shells, to be honest.

2011- I overlooked the trans in Jetbug and 3.0's.

2012- More noticeable in the line-ups.

2013- Fairly abundant.

2014- Here and there.

2015- 2013 repeat.

I suppose I just prefer solid colors more. :P Don't get me wrong, I used to freak over trans armor but I feel it's increasing prominence is trowing off some of the color balance in these Badassicles. With the mix of color solids, metallics, and trans.

Now trans bones, that's where it's at... for now. c_c