BIONICLE RETURNING 2015

[Fush]

Is that... Iron Man fighting Skywarp? I want that comic now.

Regarding the blatant trace-over, it's not unheard of for comic book artists to do that. Here's some more examples.

http://jimsmash.blogspot.com/2008/02/david-mack-loves-tracing-paper.html

http://jimsmash.blogspot.com/2008/02/renato-arlem-loves-john-buscema.html

http://jimsmash.blogspot.com/2008/02/more-greg-land-ripoffs.html (possible NSFW)

http://jimsmash.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-greg-land-tracing.html

[emily]

Episode 4 is up.

 

EDIT: Or maybe it was just taken down? Link was working literally a few seconds ago for me.

[STUDZ]

Link takes us to the Videos mirror now.

 

I'll say it now, I REALLY don't like the voice acting. Sure, it can shine at some points, but at others it sounds ham-fisted (Like the narrator channelled the powers of William Shatner). Plus Tahu's "I... CAN... FEEL... THE POWER!!!!" I actually laughed. Why? By the power of Greyskull, I'll show you:

 

No sign of LOSS and what he's supposed to be like so far. Maybe in the next episode? Will there be a proper schedule for these or will it just be "whenever"? 

[emily]

I'll say it now, I REALLY don't like the voice acting. Sure, it can shine at some points, but at others it sounds ham-fisted (Like the narrator channelled the powers of William Shatner).

Part of the reason I love the narrator so much is because he kind of channels one of my favorite things about the Mata Nui online game: me acting out the character's voices to myself like a crazy person. It isn't realistic for everyone to be portrayed by the same actor, and naturally that approach has its limitations, but this narrator guy is having fun being a part of the story, putting himself in the place of the characters, just like I do whenever I turn back to Templar's stuff. I really admire that. I also happen to be a huge fan of the narrator's accent and intonation, so that helps.

[ProfessorBrickkeeper]

...this narrator guy is having fun being a part of the story, putting himself in the place of the characters, just like I do whenever I turn back to Templar's stuff. I really admire that. I also happen to be a huge fan of the narrator's accent and intonation, so that helps.

^This, so much this. One of the things so nice about the first few years of BIONICLE was that it didn't try to take itself seriously, and neither did those who made it. It became much more dark, and significantly more serious after about 2004, which is reflected in his it performed in the markets.

Personally, I'm hoping we get to see the return of the Mukau in this reboot.

[Fush]

I haven't watched any of the animations yet, I need to do that. I'll report back with thoughts once I do so. I only know snippets of the story at the moment.

Also, it's been kind of nagging at me that there isn't a name for this group of Toa that I can use to distinguish them from the Toa Mata. Or is there? If there is I'd love to hear it, but until then I'm probably gonna call them the Toa Koto. I considered Oko or Eki, but those don't sound right at all.

EDIT: Just watched them. They were... interesting. Short. Very short. Not much to comment on. I had no problem with the voices. I thought it was cool that the protector of fire had Vakama's staff in the beginning. And, uh... I wish they had shown a bit more of the other Toa instead of focusing just on Tahu and brushing past the others like "Yeah there are 5 more Toa but they're not important." Also, from the looks of those carvings, each Toa comes from a different planet? Maybe not, but it looked that way to me, what with each planet colored the same as one of the Toa.

I guess there was more to comment on than I thought.

[Quisoves Potoo]

Y'all may find this of interest. On Eurobricks, Dee Vee clarified his position (and reasons for it) on the "Vahi-Controversy"

My position is fueled from having been aware of the story for more than six months, the NYCC panel, and official sources such as the new story writers and even Greg. All official comment is that this is a reboot and a new canon. Anything else is speculation mixed with willful ignorance.

To elaborate, since I am allowed to these days, the story team spoke very openly in our discussions prior to NYCC about raising the 01-03 story eras for new ideas and storytelling, because those parts truly defined the line in the company's mind, and also far and away outsold anything else. They wanted a reboot to recapture the simplicity and the mystery, and talked a lot about stealing concepts from the early years and repurposing them in the new story. They felt the latter years grew messy and convoluted, and the more dark and edgy tone was opposed to the line's spirit as they saw it.

To me, and the rest of the BZP staff at NYCC and the two under NDA with me, that screams solid reboot entirely. Is it possible TLG will leave the door open for fans to connect as they see fit? Sure. But I don't remotely think they want a connection outside of a spiritual one, as it were.

On a side-note, I found the "stealing concepts from the early years" bit intriguing. Does this mean that some of the unused story ideas for Gen1 (a few of which can be seen on Faber Files, if memory serves me correctly) will pop up in the new BIONICLE?

[emily]

On a side-note, I found the "stealing concepts from the early years" bit intriguing. Does this mean that some of the unused story ideas for Gen1 (a few of which can be seen on Faber Files, if memory serves me correctly) will pop up in the new BIONICLE?

I dunno, I'd like to think they are going to keep the creative juices flowing by taking things in their own direction. "Stealing concepts" makes me think more of borrowing thematic traits and some certain iconic story beats to hit - hero robots arrive on mystical island to save Polynesian tribes from a corrupting evil that has harmed their great figure.

 

And really, those beats have all already been hit. It'd be cool to see some unused story ideas show up in some form, but I wouldn't like them to be direct translations in any sense.

[Shadowblaze]

Bionicle commercials have started appearing in my country. Just letting you know, in case you were interested. Certainly, not telling you what my country is is a great limitation, but knowing that there are Bionicle commercials somewhere  other than in UK/US is informative.

[Fush]

So I ordered Kopaka off of Amazon, and the package just arrived yesterday. I tried taking some pictures but unfortunately, my standard photo-taking area has a white background which Kopaka sort of blends into, and I'm having trouble finding an a better area to take the picture.

Suffice to say, I like this one. He's not quite as articulate as Pohatu due to his much bulkier armor, but he's a lot closer to the original design and hell, he just looks pretty damn cool.

This is the worst 600th post ever.

[Quisoves Potoo]

And it looks like the leaks have once more commenced...

 

Someone on the European social-networking site VK has linked preliminary pictures of the summer wave.

Even keeping in mind the preliminary nature of these photos, I think it is safe to say that they are a radical departure from what has come before. Boneheads of Okoto, as it were.

 

And speaking of bones, it looks like we're getting some new CCBS bone-pieces.

[emily]

Glad Ekimu has his hammer. Interested in getting a better look at the new chain element/s.

 

Scorpio looks like he has a clamping function on his tail. In the images here you can see the lines for the mockup boxart a little more clearly - it looks like there will be Toa hands grabbing at the masks the Skulls have from the corner of the box a la the Skull Spiders just out of view on some of the Protector/Master boxes.

 

Also, LEGO's YouTube has these really impressive stop motion shorts advertising the power-up feature that are really cute.

 

EDIT: Link fixed, McStudz.

[STUDZ]

 

Scorpio looks like he has a clamping function on his tail. In the images here you can see...

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2015/01/23/scooby-doo-lego-exclusive-first-look/22206189/

 

...That's a Mystery Machine. Good news nonetheless, but I think you slipped up a bit there!

[Fush]

Are those... are those new sets based on Zodiac signs? O____O Sagittarius, Taurus, Scorpio and the 4-armed guy could be Gemini... Hm. 6 Toa, 12 signs... I can see that working out.

Interesting how they each come with a golden mask. I wonder what the purpose of that is, seeing as how the Toa themselves come with their respective golden masks already. That's just giving you duplicates.

And dang I want that Ekimu set but I just know it's gonna be the priciest of the lot.

[Quisoves Potoo]

Interesting how they each come with a golden mask. I wonder what the purpose of that is, seeing as how the Toa themselves come with their respective golden masks already. That's just giving you duplicates.

I imagine that those are preliminaries. After all, the faces themselves (with the exception of Slicer, who uses a Skull Spider as a mask in his photo) are particularly blurred.

[emily]

And dang I want that Ekimu set but I just know it's gonna be the priciest of the lot.

Historically larger constraction sets haven't done well for LEGO. According to the reported price in pounds for the set from Toy Fair (25.00) it'll probably be only $30.00 or $35.00 at the most, which isn't too bad.

[STUDZ]

I'd also like to point out what MIGHT be obvious, but should be touched on...

 

"Skull Grinder's" mask looks a lot like the silhouette we got with the North American LEGO Magazine pullout. I'm not sure if this will ACTUALLY be Makuta, but it's too soon to tell at this point. 

 

As for overall designs... Well, these new villains are all varied. Like, they're KIND OF humanoid, but very different from one another, unlike the Toa who just had fairly similar builds. I also wonder how these baddies will intertwine with the Lord of Skull Spiders. I'm almost 100% sure that the masks with the villains (other than the Mask of Creation) are all placeholders, and if I'm right then what would the masks be?

 

 

 

 

I'd also like to show you guys some fan art I found of the 2015 Toa... But with a style like the old 2001 comic covers. I thought these were pretty well done!

 

 

Source is HERE.

 

EDIT: I'm using the latter image as my phone background. It looks surprisingly great.

[ProfessorBrickkeeper]

Episodes 5 and 6 have been posted in Czech on LEGO's Czech YouTube channel. Look's like come episode sis we'll finally get some more of the backstory we have been clamoring for so much, including how the Lord of the Skull Spiders plays into the story. You can see episode 5 by visiting http://youtu.be/KPqb1u3JuiI, and episode six by visiting http://youtu.be/Kc3xnstQmYQ

Also, how long until Kopaka going "weeeeeeeeeeee" at the end of episode six becomes an internat meme?

[emily]

Also, how long until Kopaka going "weeeeeeeeeeee" at the end of episode six becomes an internat meme?

ahahaha wow I missed that

 

I hope it carries over into the English version.

[STUDZ]

So BIONICLE was named "Best 'New' Toy" at the London Toy Fair this past week, along with a Minecraft set and that one set based on Disney's Frozen.

 

Reminds me of when BIONICLE won "Most Innovative Toy" back in 2001.

[Ayliffe]

Well, three more episodes have surfaced in another language that isn't english (apparently it's Italian?)

 

Episode 7:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Af7Kr4G58o

 

Episode 8:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mb9sDzgbAc

 

Episode 9:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Spge6Ywws

[emily]

Only nine episodes? Laaaame.

 

But these episodes are still super great. Tahu's walking in, all "Hello, I am Tahu, and I am now your leader" and Kopaka's all "nope" and Gali and Onua are all like "yeah okay just get over it" and Pohatu is all like *loner* and Lewa is all like *jokes*.

 

Just like old times. Except the Pohatu part.

 

And LOSS fares about as well against the Toa as would be expected. lol'd pretty hard at Pohatu plowing through everyone else and getting a web in the face.

 

The only real disappointment here is that we're past the point where we could reasonably expect to see more Skull Spiders and Lewa didn't get controlled - noone did, in fact.

 

And then the zombies came.

 

Pohatu points out that shrine in the middle of the bridge but gets ignored. It's going to play into the plot later, I bet.

 

Also, goshdangit why the heck did they credit Greg for "Original Concept?" Dear LEGO, Greg didn't actually do anything for BIONICLE but the comic until 2004, thanks.

 

And there are some erroneous omissions from "Original Story." Alastair Swinnerton, Martin Riber Anderson, and Bob Thompson were all part of the team Faber was on that actually, literally created BIONICLE. Bob was the person that had the idea in the first place, for goodness sake.

[Quisoves Potoo]

Also, goshdangit why the heck did they credit Greg for "Original Concept?" Dear LEGO, Greg didn't actually do anything for BIONICLE but the comic until 2004, thanks. And there are some erroneous omissions from "Original Story." Alastair Swinnerton, Martin Riber Anderson, and Bob Thompson were all part of the team Faber was on that actually, literally created BIONICLE. Bob was the person that had the idea in the first place, for goodness sake.

That is odd. Personally, I wasn't clear on whether or not the credits were referring to the new story or the old. I seem to recall Greg saying that he had given some input on Gen2.

 

I really like the fellow they got to do the Italian voicing. In terms of gravitas and vocal flexibility, he blows the English and Czech-speaking narrators out of the water.

[Quisoves Potoo]

I just thought I'd drop this here.

[ProfessorBrickkeeper]

That was one nice drop- thank you. Though I await more close-up pictures to emerge, from what I can see thus far, it appears only one or two of the summer sets has a new mask design, and most instead feature the reused skull-spider mask. That said, mask-wise, I am excited to see the Toa masks in new mixed color versions, though I wish they had Tahu and Gali mixed color masks as well. Also interested to see an apparently new element for the knee of the skull crusher and shoulder pads of the pint-size protector Ekimu. On another tangent, is that a new animation in the upper-right of the image?

And before I forget. To respond to what was posted here earlier, I am glad to see the last three episodes feature more of the destroyed city on Okoto, which I hope to build as a MOC at some point, an effort aided by the fact many of the buildings are just oversized elements in themselves!