Aanchir
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Posts posted by Aanchir
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Thanks! Reported to the front page!
Man, make no mistake. The Journey to One may not have the smoothest animation, flawless pacing, or an extraordinary story. But its art direction is really amazingly beautiful. Just look at some of these stills!
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The short answer is because nobody has added it. The Brickset database is user-generated. One person is selling one, though. Since I have a BrickLink membership, I'll go ahead and add the Dark Bluish Gray Rhotuka as an alternate item now. EDIT: Just submitted the inventory change for approval.
The Dark Bluish Gray version will be listed as an alternate part for the Flat Silver version.-
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Have we actually got a confirmation that they're not just rebooting the whole theme? It's been a fairly continuous story for the past few years, but it sounds like the movie will not be based in the universe of the TV show. Maybe they're pulling a Bionicle, where it's the same characters and basic themes, but a completely different storyline where they can start from scratch in the movie?Don't worry, the theme is definitely continuing. Design director Simon Lucas and writers Dan and Kevin Hageman confirmed it here, here, and here. Don't forget that there's still the LEGO Ninjago movie coming out next year.
In fact, LEGO actually confirmed last summer in their employee magazine that "we now regard Ninjago as an evergreen product on par with Lego City". If Ninjago continues to perform as well as it has been lately, it should be around for many years to come!
No confirmation one way or the other at this point. The movie description we got does sound like it could potentially be a new continuity, but it's hard to tell whether that means the end of the current TV show continuity, or another continuity that will exist just for the movies (like how the latest TMNT movie universe is separate from the ongoing TV show on Nickelodeon, or the Transformers movies are separate from the current batch of Transformers cartoons). The one thing we know for sure is that Ninjago, in some form, is continuing.
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Anyone else care about the new ninja outfits? Seriously, I love these things! It's like a culmination of every outfit they've ever worn.
You have the emblem and ropes from their first iteration, the armor or padding from the ZX suits, the shaping of the Elemental Kimono, the Airjitzu hoods, and one version of Zane goes sleeveless and wears a bandanna instead of the whole hood like they did with the Tournament robes.
Even Lloyd jumps in on this.
I agree, the new outfits are great!
But I have to wonder... The Ninja are basically wearing every outfit they've ever had all at once, and they're going up against pretty much every villain they've ever faced. Hopefully, this doesn't mean they're wrapping the theme up with one great big encore season. This year has given us some of the best Ninjago sets by far, and I'd like to see that continue.
Don't worry, the theme is definitely continuing. Design director Simon Lucas and writers Dan and Kevin Hageman confirmed it here, here, and here. Don't forget that there's still the LEGO Ninjago movie coming out next year.
In fact, LEGO actually confirmed last summer in their employee magazine that "we now regard Ninjago as an evergreen product on par with Lego City". If Ninjago continues to perform as well as it has been lately, it should be around for many years to come!
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It's a picture of Umarak the Destroyer that snuck into Ekimu the Mask Maker's pictures for some reason. He's a pretty cool new titan set, and a pretty neat design for a corrupted version of Umarak the Hunter.
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How is the ghost sensei looking dude in 70595 Ultra Stealth Raider?
Did you mean "who"? That's Sensei Yang, who invented Airjitzu. He first appeared in the show in episode 48 "The Temple on Haunted Hill", and a statue of him appears in front of 70751 Temple of Airjitzu.
The new Sensei Yang minifigure also appears in 70590 Airjitzu Battle Grounds. Considering that in 70595 he carries the same lantern that appears on all the box art for the new story arc and in the recent teaser poster, he probably plays a key role in this new story arc.
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Very cool. Hopefully someone posts scans, even if none of the material is new. The mini Skull Scorpio looks wonky, but its a freebie so take what you can get I suppose.
As for the mag itself, I've always wanted a Bionicle mag. Haha, I know this is a one-time Europe-only deal but it seems like a cool idea, similar to the 2015 pamphlet promoting Bionicle's return. I also find it funny how they seem to be promoting the 2015 sets over the current iterations. Cool about the comic too.
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Why do you get the impression the magazine will be a one-time thing? While it likely will be constrained to Europe, the Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Friends, and Elves magazines have all been ongoing publications, so it would not surprise me if this Bionicle magazine did the same.
Yep. How often new issues will come out is still a mystery (so far the Elves magazine has been semiannual while the Ninjago, Legends of Chima, Friends, Nexo Knights, and Star Wars magazines have been monthly), but I don't think it's likely to be just a one time thing.
The pamphlets/inserts released with LEGO Club Magazine are a different matter, since they're merely a bonus for LEGO Club Magazine subscribers. Europe's theme-specific LEGO magazines are available for purchase on their own either by subscription or from newsstands.
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So is anyone else perplexed by the whole "Villains United" theme of Ninjago sets later this year? I mean, let's look at the lineup:
*Skeletons-makes sense seeing as how they were never destroyed.
*Stone Warriors-a little bizarre since the only one we've seen since the end of season two was the big guy in Cryptarium Prison.
*Nindroids-again, only ones we've seen were in Cryptarium Prison.
*Chen and his Anacondrai Cultists-were last known to be inside the Preeminent...right before she was destroyed, apparently taking everyone inside with her aside from Clouse. Even with that, how are they flesh-and-blood again?
Of course, it will hopefully all be explained once those episodes start-though who knows when that'll be since nothing past Skybound episode one has premiered in the U.S. yet.
It's mysterious for sure!
I wonder how Sensei Yang factors into this. He carries a lantern in 70595 Ultra Stealth Raider that appears to be significant to the new story arc, since it appears on all this story arc's box art and on the teaser poster. Since his powers seem to be fairly broad from what we saw in "The Temple on Haunted Hill" (whether that be via illusions or reality warping) it's hard not think he could play a key role in bringing these villains together.
Cole also appears to be central to the new story arc, appearing prominently on the box art banner and teaser poster and getting a special new form none of the other ninja appear to be getting in the Rock Roader set. Cole also has a unique connection to Sensei Yang, having been turned into a ghost at Yang's haunted temple, so I'm sure the new story arc will be taking advantage of that. He might be trying to master being a ghost or fighting to win back his humanity. Alternatively, maybe Yang instigates this conflict because Cole didn't remain with him at the temple and become his pupil like all the others who stayed there after daybreak?
Don't forget about Pythor! His role here is pretty uncertain as well since when he was last seen he seemed to be on good terms with the ninja, but he now seems to be allied with the other villains since they all carry the same ghostly green weapons. Of course, Pythor has never been a reliable ally, and it's easy to imagine a motivation for him to turn against the ninja yet again.
These sets are not due in North America until August, so fortunately that means there's plenty of time still for Cartoon Network to finish airing Skybound before moving on to the new story arc in the fall. But I hope we hear soon about just when they'll get around to doing that…
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I'm a real sentimental person, and continuity in long running sagas is like, my favorite thing.
I personally really hope this is LEGO trying to connect G1 to G2.
I just can't part with the amazing lore and setting of G1 BIONICLE. Rahi, Kanohi, Matoran. I love these things too much to just see it...disapear.
it seems to me that certain fans are not too keen on having such a connection, I am not exactly sure why. Because the devs said it doesn't exist?
Is there something else I am missing? are people retrospectively hating on G1?
I luv Beast Wars :3
I'm not overwhelmingly opposed to a connection (particularly of the "alternate universe" variety). I've even got a fanfic in the works that explores a connection, though I don't know if I'll ever finish it. But I think a lot of people's expectations of a connection between the two generations are unrealistic:
- We are unlikely to see all of G1's loose ends wrapped up. There are just too many of them, and trying to address each and every one would surely derail the G2 story.
- I also don't see why some people think that making them share a continuity would make G2 better. If G2 is really as much worse than G1 as a lot of these people believe, wouldn't making them a part of the same universe hurt G1 as much as it helps G2? Why would you want to do that?
- I think making the G1 and G2 universes the same universe or making their Toa the same Toa also would create more problems than it resolves. If the Toa are the same, then why are their personalities, appearances, mask powers, weapons, and even Lewa's element different in G2 than in G1? If the G2 Mask of Time is older than the stars, then how how far apart would you have to put it and the G1 Mask of Time (whose origins we saw very clearly) for them to be part of the same timeline? These are questions that you'd have to take time to answer, and just like wrapping up the G1 loose ends, that kind of exposition could easily get things sidetracked.
- Finally, I don't want to see G2 using the G1 story as a crutch. Even if G2 is worse than G1, there's no reason to think the only way for it to get better is to merge it with G1. G1 had plenty of its own flaws and its own growing pains, after all. If G1 could achieve greatness without depending on a pre-existing continuity, why can't G2 do the same?
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Interesting Easter egg that these pictures reveal: in 70596_alt2, you can see a viewscreen displaying "FILE: PHANTOM NINJA" with a picture of the Phantom Ninja from Greg Farshtey's tenth Ninjago graphic novel from Papercutz. Nothing outside that graphic novel has ever referenced that specific character, and generally the events of the graphic novels are considered non-canon, so to see a reference to one of them in an actual set is mind-blowing!
Airjitzu Battle Grounds looks even more awesome than I could have imagined! It's got new brick-built Airjitzu launchers for ground-based battles, in addition to the regular air launchers tastefully disguised as columns. It's also the first set I've seen to incorporate the classic cartoon "stairs-that-turn-into-a-slide". Additionally, I had practically given up on the prospect of getting Airjitzu versions of Nya and Lloyd to go with those versions of Kai, Zane, Cole, and Jay from last year's Airjitzu fliers, so to get both in one set is amazing! For the first arena-style set since 2012, it certainly ups the ante from previous offerings.
Some AFOLs are inevitably going to be disappointed that it's a playset rather than something designed specifically to further enhance last year's Temple of Airjitzu. However, it's still a beautiful set in my opinion, and even color-coordinated with the Temple of Airjitzu, so integrating it into the same layout is not out of the question.
Ultra Stealth Raider is also still looking incredible, and we now get a clearer look at the transformation function of the lower center section, in which the cockpit switches place with a wheel to become a bike!
Overall it continues to be an exciting year for Ninjago fans!
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Not aurprised they're doing poorly, build is pretty simple, nothing new and the story is pretty... Flat.
Shut it down I say! Switch to graphic novels and wrap up G1 you clucks.
I mean, the Toa and villager builds are more complex than they ever were in G1, so I don't see what exactly they're "pretty simple" compared to. Titans, I guess? But if you ever expected standard Toa sets to be that complex by default then you were just setting yourself up for disappointment.
And wrapping up G1 via graphic novels isn't going to happen. There's no incentive. Without even getting into the question of how the G2 books have sold, you have to remember that sales on the Papercutz graphic novels #8 and #9 were so poor that #10 got cancelled a third of the way into development — and mind you, this was back when the G1 story was still at least marginally relevant. Same goes for chapter books, what with the cancellation of Journey's End outside of Poland. So what makes you think there'd be any more of a market for new G1 graphic novels today than there was back then? The more time that passes since the conclusion of the G1 sets and story, the more G1 fans are just going to move on. Meaning there's a smaller audience for books that wrap up the G1 story now than ever.
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In the words of Cyrus Borg from Ninjago "I used to think technology was the answer to all of our problems, but then I saw technology invent new problems, devastating problems", it really is a shame the kids of today want to have technology more than the fun of Lego, Lego has been the only thing I've collected my entire life, I never had anything else as a kid, and that's shaped me to be the person I am today, I didn't have a phone or a laptop till I was 14, now kids who are like 6 years old have phones and computers already, Lego will forever be popular and do well as a company, but at what point will technology become the only thing that kids want, and where will that leave everything else?I wonder though if today's children just have dare I say, different interests! Take for example when most of us where kids the big names in children's toys where Star Wars, Pokemon, Power Rangers, etc. There was a HUGE focus on "collect them all" in a lot of toy lines, again especially in Pokemon. I have no doubt part of early success of Bionicle was due to arriving in the same era with a similar "collect them all" advertising campaign, and a lore that began to rival other themes. Don't forget also Lego's financial issues at the time to. Hard to think but sets built in classic Lego bricks where hard to sell. Design quality dropped. Bionicle's success was in part because as the company was failing Lego put EVERYTHING they had into Bionicle (and Lego Star Wars to) in a desperate attempt to save their company.
Now in 2016 what are the big names in children's Toys? Star Wars remains, but we now have Minecraft, Ninjago, Etc. Lego is no longer in dire need of help, it has come to be the a brand so powerful it was briefly recognized as more notable than even DISNEY! Wow! Lego no longer needs Bionicle to be a smash hit, they now have dozens of successful themes. All they need Bionicle to do now is perform well enough it remains "in the black." Also look at kids interests now to, things like Minecraft or Halo or other games aren't promoting a "collect all" culture anymore. Kids focus a lot on YouTube and what not, and when they want to play with Lego they want the characters they know from movies or TV. Since Bionicle does not have a major presence in those fields, no surprise it has had less fame than Ninjago.
But, is that a bad thing? Themes such as City, Friends, Speed Champions, Technic, etc are still produced by Lego even if they aren't as "well known" as say Star Wars, Ninjago or Super Heroes. If anything Lego might be trying to see if Bionicle still performs well even if they only invest in it only slightly less than they do in other themes.
I always think too much towards the future but this is something I strongly believe is wrong with the world today, school is going to become purely based on computers one day, and that will be fine and all but with so many distractions, how will kids achieve the marks they need for a good career?
I rarely ever play video games, I've always been one to play sports and be creative with Lego and that is all, I have tried my best in school and now I'm at university, my Ninjago collection 100% complete and my Bionicle collection 95% complete, I can see what you mean by the "collect them all" thing, because that's always been my goal haha.
I am glad Lego aims high every year to produce the best quality products and sets, I will forever be collecting Lego, most people tend to have a dark age but I'm 18 soon and it hasn't happened, and I am aiming to be a Lego designer, so it never will happen.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Your entire premise (that technology is making kids in general less interested in Lego) couldn't be more wrong. Lego in general is more popular and successful than ever. Ninjago, Friends, and City are all huge. Same goes for licensed themes like Star Wars, Super Heroes, and Disney Princess. The Lego Movie was a smash hit and led to a huge uptick in Lego's popularity among kids and adults alike. If kids today cared more about technology than physical toys, you would expect Lego to be suffering across the board, but that clearly isn't the case. So it doesn't make any sense to try to ascribe that reasoning to Bionicle's less impressive sales.
Beyond that, technology has time and time again supported Bionicle's popularity, not detracted from it.
- It's a theme that, when the Internet was still a new thing for a lot of kids, put a whole lot of its marketing (including collectible checklists, character bios, a lexicon, and an immersive online game) on the web.
- It's a theme that has always used computer-generated imagery extensively in its ads and promotional media.
- It's a theme that had video games as a major part of its promotional strategy from the very beginning.
- It's a theme that put actual mini CDs in some of its earliest sets in order to put digital content right in the hands of users.
- It's the first LEGO theme that ever implemented unique laser-engraved codes to unlock online promotional content.
- It was one of the LEGO Group's first themes to include games for mobile phones — even before the dawn of the iPhone!
- It's a theme that, when it was rebooted, was heavily promoted via social media, including contests, exclusive concept art, and a series of eighteen short, sharable web videos.
- It's the first LEGO theme to have a Netflix-exclusive series, in response to kids increasingly watching cartoons via online streaming instead of cable TV broadcast.
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Because Adventure Time is a show that has barely any consistency within itself and is terrible grounds to being a line of sets upon. It's kinda like the idea for a Nintendo line; it wouldn't last or make much money, the exception being Nintendo makes money off of anything it touches.
Why would LEGO making a single set based on a popular cartoon spell doom for LEGO? They've made entire themes based on movies that bombed (Speed Racer, Prince of Persia, The Lone Ranger) and still managed to come out sparkling.Well, thank goodness!
After they announced Adventure Time as a set I was sure LEGO was doomed.
Again, though, nobody ever said anything about Adventure Time getting a LINE of sets. All that's been announced is one single Ideas set. And I see no reason it wouldn't make money. There are plenty of companies that have been making Adventure Time merchandise for years and continue doing so, so obviously somebody's buying it.
I don't see why Nintendo sets would be a bad move either. "Consistency within itself" has never been necessary for a LEGO license to succeed or last — if it were, then Batman sets wouldn't be remotely successful, given that Batman, Robin, the Batmobile, the Joker and so forth vary wildly from one appearance to the next.
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Why would LEGO making a single set based on a popular cartoon spell doom for LEGO? They've made entire themes based on movies that bombed (Speed Racer, Prince of Persia, The Lone Ranger) and still managed to come out sparkling.Well, thank goodness!
After they announced Adventure Time as a set I was sure LEGO was doomed.
Anyway, this set looks phenomenal, and has a great value! Not sure if I'll be getting it, but the design appears to be spot-on!
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No, not all lines. Some are designed with a much shorter lifespan in mind, like Pharaoh's Quest, Monster Fighters, and Galaxy Squad. And even certain licensed themes like Jurassic World and Scooby-Doo....I thought Lego had all lines run for a minimum of 3 years, then decided if they would be renewed or not. I find it incredibly unlikely Bionicle would end before 2017. Could it end then? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Before? Really unlikely.
It's worth noting, though, these aren't the backbone of an entire product category the way Bionicle is. When a theme like Pharaoh's Quest is introduced, there are usually more already queued up to replace it when it runs its course. That's generally not the case with constraction. It's a much smaller category that doesn't cycle through themes as regularly. LEGO did try cycling through themes at a brisker pace in the beginning, but it didn't work out well for them, leading them to adjust their strategy when developing Bionicle.
From Brick by Brick, p162: "Taken together, Slizer and Roboriders also delivered a painful lesson: the development team couldn't sustain the relentless pace required to turn out an entirely new product line every year. A better tack was to aim for a story that could be told over many chapters, like a serialized movie."
We already know Bionicle G2 was developed with a three-year plan. It's not that the LEGO Group couldn't change those plans, but to cancel it this abruptly would mean not having a replacement ready to go, meaning they'd be missing out on a few years of revenue. And if the constraction category as a whole is still relevant, then I can't see LEGO wanting to take that risk.
I don't doubt the rumors that Bionicle distribution may be on the verge of becoming more limited. I've seen with my own eyes that certain stores do not appear to have gotten the full range of 2016 Bionicle sets. But we need to put that in context. Bionicle is not the only theme that has not been available reliably from all retailers. Others that fit the bill include Architecture, Speed Champions (which, since its introduction, has been exclusive to Toys 'R' Us in the United States), Power Functions, and for a while, even the Bionicle theme's parent brand, Technic. Not being able to get these sets reliably at Target or Walmart has not been a death sentence for any of these brands.
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The idea that Bionicle could end as soon as the end of this year seems really, REALLY dubious to me. Not just in the sense that it's unlikely, but in that it's hard to believe it would even be POSSIBLE what with the pace LEGO works at.
First of all, by last November, designers were already working on the 2017 sets (Also, when asked how Bionicle was doing at BrickFair New Jersey last year, Christian Vonsild basically answered "well enough"). Six months is a pretty short time to completely change course. What's more, cancelling it this abruptly would not allow time for LEGO to develop a replacement. They'd effectively be cutting in-house constraction themes out of their portfolio entirely for up to two years.
Let's not forget that the decision to end G1 Bionicle was made in 2008, and the decision to end Hero Factory was made in 2012, yet both of those themes continued for two whole years after that, simply because that was how long it took for LEGO to have a replacement ready. For LEGO to have a Bionicle replacement ready for 2017, they'd have had to start working on it in 2015 at the earliest, and LEGO could not have decided to cancel Bionicle that soon based on sales — they wouldn't have even had access to all that year's sales figures at that time.
Needless to say, I think the sales rep you spoke to must have been misinformed.
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Not sure I fully understand what you're supposed to do here.
Basically just make a fifteen- to sixty-second movie about Ninjago's greatest villain. Who that is (whether it's a villain from the TV series or a villain of your own creation) is up to you.
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As far as why the Toa even bother, well, if they hadn't shown up Ekimu would still be, y'know, in a coma.
Even besides that, people keep forgetting if the final battle in 2015 had been just Ekimu versus Kulta without any help from the Toa, it's fairly obvious that Ekimu would have lost. Kulta had the Mask of Creation, which gave him enough strength to shatter the masks of all six Toa. Ekimu had nothing but an extremely frail, weakened body. Without the Toa, Ekimu would have been a sitting duck. The only reason Ekimu was able to gain the upper hand is that the maskless Toa took a stand and mobbed the Skull Grinder, both distracting him and buying Ekimu enough time to reassemble the Hammer of Power. Then all it took was a clean swing to dislodge and reclaim the Mask of Creation.
Anybody who seriously believes Ekimu saved the day entirely on his own last year clearly didn't pay attention. And there's no reason to assume Ekimu will save the day on his own this year, either. Maybe the Toa will help him again this time. Maybe it's the Elemental Creatures' turn to help save the day. Maybe both!
I'm not pretending the Bionicle animations last year were the most cerebral thing I've ever seen, but if you can't manage to follow the events of two ninety-second videos, you're in no position to say the story is "too simple". The Bionicle writers aren't oversimplifying things, Tuuli — it's YOU who routinely oversimplifies THEIR story, because even in small, digestible portions it's more complex than you're willing to acknowledge.
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Close the circle? Does that mean Ninjago is going to end?
Nope — LEGO Ninjago writers Dan and Kevin Hageman and design director Simon Lucas confirmed on Twitter that LEGO Ninjago is not ending and there are many adventures still to come! Last year LEGO announced that Ninjago is now an evergreen theme like LEGO City, which isn't the sort of announcement they'd make if that were liable to change on such short notice. Plus the theatrical movie is still due for release next year!
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Now when are they going to launch soundtracks from the later seasons?
Jay Vincent used to share a crazy amount of music through his SoundCloud and/or YouTube. He stopped when around when season three started.
And I guess the soundtrack album didn't sell well enough for Varèse to make a second volume. Oh well...
Jay actually uploaded a new track to his YouTube channel just two days ago! Might be a sign that he's starting back up again.
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For a Samurai X cave, it seems to have a distinct lack of Samurai X.
Nya appears in the set in her new ninja outfit, and the latest version of her Samurai X armor appears in the cave right underneath the crossed gold swords if you want to change her into it.
Sorry if I just spoiled Samurai X's identity for you but it hasn't really been a secret in at least four and a half seasons.
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Jeffrey was specifically talking about instructions that use text instead of pictures, because he is blind and so can't really use the LEGO Group's pictorial instructions.
You're welcome.1. Lego publishes plain-text building instructions for all official sets on their website, discontinued sets included.
To be honest I never really thought about the problems that the LEGO Group's normally user-friendly instructions would present for a blind person before. It's an especially tricky problem to try and overcome because the names for a lot of parts aren't all that widely known, and with Bionicle parts in particular, they're often not very descriptive.
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*Bionicle and constraction are finally respected by the wider AFOL community
*A thriving all-ages fan community emerges, on par with other beloved kids' cartoons like Avatar: The Last Airbender or Steven Universe
*I achieve my dream of working in Billund as a set designer
If I had more wishes I'd probably also wish for better gender representation in the sets and story, and for an immersive online game or video game that I could thoroughly enjoy playing.
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I love the cartoony designs of these sets and figures. When people first found out about these sets a lot hoped they would be great cheap ways of getting the characters, but I think the unique chibi/superdeformed style makes them feel like more than just an excuse to re-release existing figures, and I'm very happy about it.
Kind of a shame that the chassis of these sets is too small for a pull-back motor, though, because that could have added a whole other level of playability. That's one of the things I was hoping for when rumors of these sets first started to surface, since LEGO did a great job designing a somewhat compact pull-back motor for some Shell promos a few years ago. Still, I'm sure kids will still have a great time with these.
Why isn't Bomonga's Dark Grey Rhotuka on Bricklink?
in Bionicle Discussion
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