Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion

[doodleloot]

Hi-res images of the new sets' boxes have shown up.

Where?

[Voxovan]

Where?

I don't think I can post a link here, since they have the preliminary stamp on them, but they're up on 4chan and tumblr and probably many other places by now.

[Bbrink1996]

Yep although it still has the prelim stamp on top of it. Honestly, they all look amazing, I love them. The Mask of Control is actually the version we say in the first leak of that poster with a United Tahu and i'm not sure if I like this version better or the prelim one.

[doodleloot]

I don't like how the final Mask of Control looks. The Prelim version was perfect in my opinion, I'm sure Lego has their reasons, but I'm a little disappointed honestly.

Edited November 12, 2015 by doodleloot

[MakutaOfWar]

Onua has the piston armor on trans purple shells on his thighs now, black torso confirmed. No levitating Skull armor on Tahu, confirmed. Kopaka has a badass mask, confirmed. Umarak has a gunmetal mask, um?

[Tazakk]

wow Lewa and Pohatu's arm connections are something else. Echoes the original 2001 aesthetic, when the Toa didn't have to be strictly humanoid. Pohatu's connection even directly evokes the one on his original build - if that isn't cool, I don't know what is.

[GK733]

Someone pointed out that on Umarak's pic the MoCo shows outline of an island on it's forehead... dunno what to think about that, I personally see something there but it could just be the lighting. Until clearer pictures come available I can't say for sure.

[Kalhiki]

My mixed feelings remain...

Overall, there're some neat things going on, but there're also some things that I don't really care for... Maybe when we get final images that aren't obstructed by a watermark I'll be able to make a final verdict.

[MakutaDreadscythe]

Not sure how to feel, current perspective suggests a torso that's too large for the limbs. We'll have to see when they come out.

[Shakar]

I'm impressed. I actually think most of the Toa are on par with their 2015 forms, some even beating them (Pohatu, Onua and Kopaka at least).

Some of them have lost a bit of their individuality (Lewa's vest thing), but some changes I feel are for the better. Onua 2015, which many like (myself included), looked too bulky to fit my Onua headcanon (who is closer to a wise wizard-warrior than a gentle giant). So I'm glad I can use some of the new pieces and builds to refine my Toa.

Kopaka is interesting in that he's very slender like his 2001 set, but once united with Melum he gets his bulky armour like Kopaka Nuva and Master of Ice back (with matching shoulder pads/paws to boot). The best executed Kopaka set so far, I think.

The colour schemes are fantastic. DARK TAN on Pohatu (I knew it, dark tan suits dark orange more than light tan)! So much trans purple on Onua! And Umarak's mask is confirmed to be black, thankfully.

Tahu is the one that seems to lack the most, funnily enough. Just too much gold and not enough red, and his blades aren't on par with his fantastic Fire Blades. So, sorry, I'm sticking with Master of Fire, dunno what I'll use Uniter of Gold for. I actually think he'd look better if the red was completely replaced by gold.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Shakar

[TheDesuComplex]

Oh man, they look great! Very happy to see that Pohatu uses Dark Tan instead of Dark Brown, which works well, and glad to see that the color changes on Onua stuck as well. Have to say that Kopaka's mask looks really oddly proportioned from this angle. I also don't see the island of Mata Nui on the MoCo's forehead, just runes. Is it in the circle where the mold mark is?

[Fulcrumfan91]

Wow where to begin....I actually love Pohatu. I like the tan, I love his mask...Im very impressed by him. I think my favourite mask of them all though is Gali's...Onua is a must buy for me. I think I have my three Toa picked out!:D

[YellowCorvette]

My mixed feeling for the new wave are still remain the same like before. Pohatu and Lewa still looks good, but I think Tahu still has way too much gold on him, Gali still looks bland, and Onua's and Kopaka's mask looks odd. Umarak still looks great too.

[Darking]

Mmmm... Until now only Gali had appealed to me, with those marvelous 3M shells in dark azure and trans blue (take into account that I'm a MOCist so I don't really care about the looks of the figure but its pieces), but the dark tan shells on Pohatu and the trans purple overload in Onua have added them to my shop list. I'll also get Umarak, but none of the creatures.

Also I'll probably order some other pieces from Lego Brick & Pieces, such as Kopaka's earth blue shells, Tahu's fire swords and the masks from the remaining Toa I won't buy, as I'm liking their looks a lot more than expected. That Onua's mask seems to be the same size as the other's this time around is also a huge pro in that regard.

As a side note, has anyone else noticed the glowing stone carvings in the Toa's box art that show their combinations with the creatures? Tahu and Lewa both gain wings (duh), Gali gets a tail/fin and shoulder mounted cannons (the best combination IMO), Onua and Kopaka seem to just get extra shoulder armor whereas Pohatu... well, he becomes a stick thanks to the box angle.

[Takanuinuva]

I still don't care for these designs. And I really don't like the trans blended masks both regular and gold ones. I'll still get Kopaka Onua, Ikir Terak and maybe Uxar (If he has trans apple green Bohrok eyes. (If not I'll get Lewa) for parts. I might get Umarak for the Mask of Control or just get the mask from bricklink.

[PrimoUltimo]

Pohatu really is the worst set after Umarak, I like idea of dark tan, but he have 3 parts in his dark orange/brown colors, 3 parts! even gold Tahu have more red. And I thought that in this year Pohatu was bad set because he have only 6 dark orange parts and to much silver but now I see he is much better then his new version.

Onua looks better with black torso, but legs with black armor was better.

I think Lewa have little too much of silver, green feet could help. And Kopaka should have a little more gold and that strange dark blue armor should be removed.

[The_Fiery_Rooster]

On each of the toa's boxes ,the mask pedestal has little diagrams of how the combiners work. Sadly, onua's is just like kopaka's , and you can't see pohatu's combiner. Other than that, there pretty much what we expected.

[MakutaDreadscythe]

Not a fan of the upper arm technic thing we got going. Pohatu is a mess, both in colour scheme and his upper arms, good lord.

[Dr_Chronos]

The biggest disappointment for me here is the Mask of Control. The horns are flatter so they appear less curved from the front, the forehead circle is larger and the crest is less prominent, the top of the mask is domed instead of angular, and the chin is squared off rather than pointed. In fact I would go to extreme and tone down the false beard. Another issue I have is the inclusion of a "mouth", why? No other mask in all of Bionicle has had a humanoid mouth. It pretty much ruins emotional projection and manages to look exteremly out of place.

Hopefully the MoUP is good so I have no regrets in making it Makuta's main mask.

[ToaDraco]

Every one of the sets look even better than before and I'm especially happy Onua has a black torso. The biggest disappointment for me is the MoC. The prelim one was far superior even if it was very elephant-like. Also it's a bit odd Kopaka only has 2 gold pieces, throwing off his color scheme. I guess Tahu decided to hog all of the gold armor to himself because he just has to feel superior to Kopaka. You know, it makes a lot of sense that G2 Tahu would be gold plated given his ego. He seriously has way too much gold.

IGN's review of Tahu Uniter of Fire: 9/10 -too much gold.

EDIT: It appears that Onua has armor plates on the sides of his torso under his arms. It appears to be the same piece used on Kopaka's blaster to beef out his torso a bit. It was jus hard to see on the prelims due to the bad angle highlighting the gaps. Also, Lewa looks awesome, easily my second favorite of the new Toa, then followed by Kopaka, Onua being the first of course. The MoC looks a lot better on Umarak's package than it does up in the corner of the logo. It isn't bad but that logo image makes it look horrible Umarak's mask looks awesome and I'm very glad it's black and trans apple green. It is SO going to be used on my self-moc.

Edited November 13, 2015 by ToaDraco

[dviddy]

Mask of Control looked way way way more exciting in the animations. Supremely disappointed to see it represented in plastic like this. :(

Otherwise, while I'm more sold on Lewa, I'm in the "Pohatu looks terrible" camp, though oddly I like his "more like G1" mask design a lot. But goodness his design looks awful. I hate the dumb technic limbs, they feel like a massive step backwards in terms of aesthetics and smart set design. The first new Toa designs worked so well because of how strongly the visual cues all meshed with the CCBS design language, while maintaining that more fantasy-oriented BIONICLE feel from the earlier years, paired with a smart and simple design aesthetic. These look messy and complex solely to please the "but ccbs isn't the god-given TECHNIC PINS I NEEDED" complaints. Really really not thrilled with that.

I'm hoping these look better in person, as they often do. Thrilled for some new shell colours, not thrilled with the design choices. Hate the torso shell so far. Proportions look miserable on a lot of these.

Though the golden Tahu mask on the pedestal leans hard into the MoL Hau Nuva design. Love it. Gali's mask, meanwhile, looks like she's wearing a silver bathing cap and it looks silly.

[DraikNova]

I still hate Kopaka's technic shoulders. And the fact that they're using technic as part of the builds, which throws off the CCBS aesthetic and just looks ugly. Also, too bad that they're apparently using 4m shells for Terak's shoulders. I would have loved 5m ones. Although those on Onua's upper legs look like they could be 5m.

[CabooseBM]

I'll be the first to admit it if these really come together in meatspace, but wow this wave is a massive downgrade from 2015's Toa. It's like the line forgot all the design lessons learned when it debuted in 2015, with messy technic builds and no sense of aesthetics.

[Mandate]

I didn't think LEGO could disappoint me any more than they did when images first came out. Mask of Control has an uncanny resemblance to Dobby, and LEGO has learned nothing of "subtlety" with their color schemes since last year. Tahu's practically the Skakdi Fusion with how much gold they put on him, and while I appreciate the efforts they've put into the Creatures but it's a big, fat no for most of them. The saddest part about this is that lds5621's "BIONICLE Episode 19" is going to be canon pretty soon

[Logan McOwen]

I'm gonna agree with you there, Caboose. While I'm certainly very excited about the new mechanism and the recoloured parts, these really do pale in comparison to 2015's Toa. Awkward Technic-based limb builds and new parts with unfittingly dense detail make this wave feel like it's trying too hard to emulate G1's styling, which undoes the delicately executed balance we saw in this year's sets.

That's not to say that it's all bad, though. The new torso build for example looks to rely on Technic structure for the addition of shoulder joints, which opens the door to more torso build diversity [in sets] than the previous setup could even dream of. Also, Vorox armour works really nicely with CCBS, due to its similarly bevelled, flowing shaping. And for me, Umarak is more in-keeping with this year's aesthetic than next year's, which I really appreciate.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Logan McOwen