Bionicle 2015 (Leaks!!)

First of all, if you can wait until tomorrow when something should be revealed on the Bionicle Facebook page, or you like surprises, read no further. Seriously, stop right now, close the page, and continue in your blissful ignorance. Should you decide to read on:

I seriously can't stop smiling right now. I'm in the middle of class and grinning like an idiot, which, to anyone who knows me well, is the equivalent of jumping up and down and screaming at the top of my lungs. I'm a fairly conservative person.

The reason why I'm so ecstatic is because I just watched this video: Bionicle 2015 Set Review (I'll link it because I respect those of you with patience). I was just browsing Deviantart when I came across it, and I had to watch it. It includes preliminary images of all the box art for Bionicle 2015! It's a bit plain right now, but I'm assuming they'll fill in the background later.

And yes, I said box art. At least, that's the closest thing these resemble. Gone are the flimsy plastic HF envelopes (I've torn so many of them...), and here comes the new Bionicle cardboard packets! If you think about it, they're probably more environmentally friendly, plus they come with less cardboard and more space-saving abilities. They're not canisters, but they look really good.

That's not the only thing to get excited about. You guys remember the backlash when Lego released the Phantoka? Besides a few features, they were practically unrecognizable from their previous counterparts. Not this time! Just look at those Kanohi! The Hau, the Kakama, the AKAKU!!

Oh, Mata Nui, the Akaku. That's what really gets me excited. I could not picture a better way for a new Akaku to look that reminds of the old forms of Kopaka while having its own look. The nostalgia is so real right now! Kopaka will be my first purchase!  The Miru is questionable, and I can't see enough of the Pakari and Kaukau to really judge, but I'm so excited! The packets also show golden versions of the masks. I really, really hope that means they get their Golden Kanohi back. Maybe we'll get a new quest for the masks (I recall something similar in a Lego Facebook post) with new collectibles! That would make me so happy, I may possibly spontaneously combust.

Alongside the good-old Mata we've got the Defenders. If they have names, they are really well hidden. The earth one looks like Onepu (PURPLE!!), but beyond that, its impossible to tell who they are or what role they may have instory. I've heard talk that they could be a neutral faction that fights both sides, and a side-mission of the Toa could be to get the Defenders on their side. They all have the same masks, so maybe they're a race native to Bota Magna or something. I just had another exciting thought though: What if those masks are just temporary, and Lego will make a last second change to the real masks, revealing who they are (possibly the next Toa Team?). There's just been so much mystery surrounding these guys, I can't imagine they would just be Defenders.

Setwise, they are amazing. I'm going to buy as many of them as I can. I'm so glad to see the return of the Invasion from Below small foot in new silver and white, as well as new recolors of HF armor and bones. I for one am always happy to receive new colors of bones, especially the smaller ones I can use in my smaller MOCs. I foresee a lot of builds based on my Tanma revamp in the future. I just am still really hoping for medium azure 4L bones for a few plans I have (plus medium azure is just such a nice color to have a lot of). One thing that I also noticed was the new launchers. They appear to be a six-shot version of the new stud blasters released earlier this year. Similar to the Legend of Chima Ultrabuilds, they don't just hand the Defenders their guns, but the guns are actually integrated into various weapons. Defender of the Jungle has an awesome bow, Defender of Stone has a dual-spear-thing with the gun in the middle, and so on. There's already so much to love about these guys before we even know their significance in-story!

Last, but not least, the Skull Spiders. When I first heard the name, my hype for Bionicle 2015 dropped drastically. Skull Spiders?! Seriously Lego?! We've had fearsome enemies like the Piraka, the Rahkshi, and the Bohrok in previous years, and now our heroes are fighting spiders?! We only get one villain set, the King of Skull Spiders (which sounds even more ridiculous), and the rest of our heroes only get to fight little guys they could probably just step on. I really hope these guys have some amazing abilities like the Kraata to at least make it a fair fight. The one part I can't object to would be the design. The Skull Spiders are reminiscent of the spiders of Black Phantom from a year or so back. They have four claw pieces attached to a central hub. This time, the hub resembles a mask of sorts, with a sinister look and a great design with plenty of connection points. I can't wait to see how people use it. I'm going to hypothesize an "infected mask"-like story, where the spiders jump on the defenders faces and become controlled by the King for the Toa to save (because the Mata are too awesome to be controlled...besides Lewa ). It sounds pretty cool and gives me some good points about them. The King, however, does not look attractive at all, and I think I'll pass on him....

BUT WAIT!!! Read the side! "Skull Krata?!" Do we have some Makuta on our hands, with some new Kraata with new abilities! It's kind of funny, because I literally just realized this after I talked about how I hope the skull spiders behave like Kraata. I might be a little more excited now.

So, that's my thoughts, just to prove I too am excited for Bionicle 2015. It looks great, has some great pieces, and I'm really excited for it. The worst part about it is I'm going on a "Two-Year Ecclesiastical Vacation" next year, as some people call it. Of course, I'm going to miss out on two whole years of Bionicle!

As far as art goes, I'm probably going to be inspired by these leaks to make some 2015 art. I've already done a quick sketch of Artahka based on a little story I wrote. I'm also working on a new project fueled by Bionicle Nostalgia. As I've worked on it, a little poem came to mind that might make a good teaser (still working on it):

To the Monsters in the Dark
We are one, we two...

...Together, we have more than faith,
We have Victory.

And I want to get my tablet out more. I hope you saw my Ninjago art (and kind of hope you didn't) and thought it was okay. I also have a few 3D projects I'm working on I'm really excited for, but its been a crazy little while with college and I haven't made much progress. I hope you like it as much as I do!