Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion

[MakutaDreadscythe]

Done my order too, gone with Umarak, Pohatu, Tahu, Lewa and Gali. Not much interest in the creatures yet.

[TwistLaw]

Lulz because of the holidays they would arrive on the 15th, by that day they'd be in stores.

Since I refuse to pay a gazillion of shekels in order to have them earlier I'll just wait.

Happy New Year Eurobricks!

This is no place for friendship, hate to shatter your dreams. Happy New Year, anyway.

[DOTM Shockwave]

Ordered Lewa and Umarak from Toysrus, both should be here next week.

[Bigger Fish]

I was gonna check the LEGO store at MOA last night to see if they had any new sets, but they were closed for New Years Eve along with everyone else except for the park and restaurants.

[Kalhiki]

Went to the Lego Store (and spent way too much). Got Umarak, Kopaka/Melum, Pohatu, and Ketar.

Umarak 'cuz he's the big bad, Kopaka and Melum just because, and Pohatu and Ketar because I always get the Stone sets first.

[Dr_Chronos]

DesignerJohn Ho shares what sets he designed for 2016 as well as a few personal remarks https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/iced_coffee/24025810231/

[Kalhiki]

Okay, built Kopaka and Melum.

...

*sigh* What to say... Let's start with the build. It was a nice throwback to days of old. But I couldn't help but feel that it was really... Disjointed. Especially Kopaka's shoulders. It's like it was trying too hard to be complex and resulted in a build that didn't really flow.

The new parts are neat. I like the Creature head and Kopaka's mask. The crystal sword is cool. The piece of unity is cool. The torso... Count me in the boat that doesn't like it. Way too much detail.

Melum is so-so. Looks fine, but his legs are a bit too short, and the shoulders are kinda awkward. Doesn't pose too well I find.

Kopaka on his own. Ugh. Too lanky. Looks pretty bad. Just... Looks off to me. I like the sword, though. That's cool

Unity Mode is, I feel the main draw. Looks very nice. Colors work and gives Kopaka some much needed bulk.

So yeah, if you're getting the set, it'll be for Unity Mode.

Next up is either Umarak or Pohatu and Ketar. Guess I'll see how they hold up.

[Dorek]

Nice to see some remarks from the designers, I always feel we need more of that.

[geezerman402]

Umarak is a must buy for me, but everything else is just so... eh. The reboot started out incredibly well, and now these seem lacklustre; similar to how I felt about G1. Great start, second round was worse. Still, I'm getting Kopaka and Pohatu, because since the beginning they were my favourite toa.

[VBBN]

Well my attempts to make a Wairuha today met complete failure. The color scheme is a mess, I can't get cohesive armoring (the three torso shells are miserable to work with as anything other than a chest plate), and just nothing was going my way it seemed... I think I might need to add the parts from their respective creatures to make something halfway decent.

[Lyichir]

Well my attempts to make a Wairuha today met complete failure. The color scheme is a mess, I can't get cohesive armoring (the three torso shells are miserable to work with as anything other than a chest plate), and just nothing was going my way it seemed... I think I might need to add the parts from their respective creatures to make something halfway decent.

I had worried that that would be the case... it's kind of ironic that these allegedly more "Technic-based" figures would be harder to combine, while the 2015 Toa were surprisingly well-suited for it.

On the other hand, at least you have more friction joints to work with this time (one of the biggest challenges I faced last year when MOCing a Wairuha was how few friction joints the component sets offered for supporting a larger build or appropriately-sized weapons).

Edited January 2, 2016 by Lyichir

[Kalhiki]

Well my attempts to make a Wairuha today met complete failure. The color scheme is a mess, I can't get cohesive armoring (the three torso shells are miserable to work with as anything other than a chest plate), and just nothing was going my way it seemed... I think I might need to add the parts from their respective creatures to make something halfway decent.

Well that's unfortunate. I had a lot of fun combining the 2015 Toa into Kaita. I may still try it with the 2016 Toa just to see if I can come up with anything.

Because, yeah, I'll probably end up getting all the sets. After messing around with Pohatu for a bit, my faith in the wave has been rekindled. He's surprisingly not that bad.

[Shakar]

I didn't attempt to build Wairuha and Akamai last year and I doubt I'm going to do that with the new Toa. But, It would be interesting if someone tried to build a Toa Kaita and a Creature Kaita (or should it be named Creature Chimera? ) that can unite together.

It's a personal theory of mine that Umarak the Destroyer can link to the Beasts individually or link to a 3-way Beast combo model, so I was probably influenced by that thought.

Just a suggestion.

Lulz because of the holidays they would arrive on the 15th, by that day they'd be in stores.

Since I refuse to pay a gazillion of shekels in order to have them earlier I'll just wait.

Yeah, no point spending 12 Euro on shipping since it takes a week for the sets to get there, and by that time they should be already in stores (or they should in a few days). I bet the major stores are gonna get them on Monday 11th.

DesignerJohn Ho shares what sets he designed for 2016 as well as a few personal remarks https://m.flickr.com...ee/24025810231/

http://brickset.com/sets/list-13387

His stuff is pretty darn good, all good sets IMO. He seems big into marrying CCBS and Technic (DV, Kopaka, Korgot, etc), which is a style I'm starting to appreciate quite a bit.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Shakar

[VBBN]

I had worried that that would be the case... it's kind of ironic that these allegedly more "Technic-based" figures would be harder to combine, while the 2015 Toa were surprisingly well-suited for it.

Well that's unfortunate. I had a lot of fun combining the 2015 Toa into Kaita. I may still try it with the 2016 Toa just to see if I can come up with anything.

Being more Technic based does offer more in the way of creative builds and I made some really awesome frames (one even utilized the torso hip articulation as shoulder joints) the problem is putting anything over the frame. When the majority of the parts you have to work with are the unification piece, vorox piece, and crystal add-ons/the torso shell, you are just left with just a measly pile of shells. While it's understandable Wairuha would inherit the more greebled look of the individual Toa, it just looks...gappy and unfinished.

That, and there is a laughably little amount of each color of shell. Two white, two dark blue, 4 trans dark blue, 4 dark azure, 4 bright green. (and keep in mind the quantities of 4 are small 4m shells)

Also on a side note the unification piece is a lot harder to use as armor than I initially thought. Great for structure, not so much for aesthetics

[ZORK64]

They're also out in Germany now, if anyone is wondering.

Haven't picked up any of them yet, but I'm confident I'll snatch Umarak, as he looks the most interesting parts-wise.

Kopaka, Lewa and Onua also look interesting, and for the creatures, I like Uxar.

[_shaddow_]

Like many of you, the short arms on the medium Toa, and here, Lewa, were not to my taste, and while I tried the solution Aanchir proposed, I felt like it wasn't adapted to the figure, since the problem of proportion comes from the upper arm.

So here is what I came up with : first, for the crappy picture. it's not perfect since the arm structure is 0.5 module nearer the body and the structure touches the shoulder's balljoint, but it helps the proportions very much I think.

Edited January 2, 2016 by _shaddow_

[dviddy]

I bought Lewa yesterday. And boy. The absolute worst shoulder design I could ever have imagined. All this custom nonsense on so many of these just to have less movement than traditional ccbs builds. So frustrating.

[TheBrickPal]

Got Tahu and Umarak today! Only built Tahu so far, but I love him. I don't really mind the excessive gold; I seem to be in the minority there.

Look out for a possible review on Brickset soon!

Edited January 2, 2016 by Puffle Pal26

[Volthoom]

Went to Barnes and Noble and I saw the 2016 sets, they did not have Lewa, so I got Pohatu.

[MakutaDreadscythe]

I bought Lewa yesterday. And boy. The absolute worst shoulder design I could ever have imagined. All this custom nonsense on so many of these just to have less movement than traditional ccbs builds. So frustrating.

Have to agree on the articulation, however I will say I appreciate they're trying to do something a bit different with CCBS, despite the questionable execution, and I like the aesthetic for the most part (torso shell is a bit of a stretch though).

[Fulcrumfan91]

Ive already built Gali and I very mich like this custom built torso they've come up with. Her masks are stellar,her colours are excellent...but I feel like she needsAkida. She's nice, and I think the spear isnt a bad weapon. Also built Ikir...who is a bit underwhelming for me. The wng function is fun...but Im not enthralled by the set. I find his wings bend forward way too much when the flap function is used (no friction essentially) but I do admire the trans neon orange. Also this is my first shadow trap and I have to say, I don't like it. I did end uo buying the K/M Unity set and I am actually really glad it has no shadow traps.

[Dorek]

Have to agree on the articulation, however I will say I appreciate they're trying to do something a bit different with CCBS, despite the questionable execution, and I like the aesthetic for the most part (torso shell is a bit of a stretch though).

Mostly my feelings. It's not perfect, but it's new, inventive, and keeps his build nice and compact. I can see there being a tipping point in terms of too much Technic vs CCBS, but the 2016 sets have hit a solid balance.

[Tarvaxx]

I bought Lewa yesterday. And boy. The absolute worst shoulder design I could ever have imagined. All this custom nonsense on so many of these just to have less movement than traditional ccbs builds. So frustrating.

I disagree. I think it's creative and still works well. I happen to have Lewa. Also, your view points on Tahu? Yeah, I disagree with those too, and I have the set in hand, and he's pretty much the best Toa of Fire I've ever had the pleasure of owning. The view points of most reviewers just seems to be a bunch of cynicism, since these sets are overall more fun to play with and better looking than the 2015 Toa. The 2015 Toa were great, but I've been seeing the same shell design year after year since I also liked HF. I wanted this change, and I hope LEGO continues to move in this direction. :D Edited January 3, 2016 by Tarvaxx

[VBBN]

since these sets are overall more fun to play with and better looking than the 2015 Toa

That would be your opinion, no different from us reviewers being "cynical" about them.

I am in no position to force my disagreement with your thoughts at you, but every time I see someone who likes the 2016 sets automatically dismiss the thoughts of reviewers and assume they are on some kind of love/hate bandwagon it irks me as it isn't true at all.

[santaends]

The view points of most reviewers just seems to be a bunch of cynicism, since these sets are overall more fun to play with and better looking than the 2015 Toa.

I do not understand, reviewers bring forth their own viewpoint to help consumers make a more informed decision.You think it is cynical, just read/ watch more reviews and gather your final opinion, of whether to buy the set or not.

every time I see someone who likes the 2016 sets automatically dismiss the thoughts of reviewers and assume they are on some kind of love/hate bandwagon it irks me as it isn't true at all.

Wait till I get my hands on mine..

Edited January 3, 2016 by santaends