BrickList: BIONICLE Canisters 3 - Ball joint Bionicle, the "Mask of Life" Era
BIONICLE Canisters 3 - Ball joint Bionicle, the "Mask of Life" Era
To Celebrate the 10th year of Bionicle products (and its end), I'll be doing my own classification for the Bionicle sets instead of the official sources, making it easier to see their history through the years.
This list shows one set per Canister series, featuring each different construction or design style. The Canister included in this list are from 2006-2009.
Since 2006, Lego developed a new pattern to the construction style of the Bionicle canister sets, which is pratically followed until now. Some notable characteristics and similarities among the canister sets of 2006-2009 are:
- The lack of complex Technic-based functions, such as the traditional gears
- The use of pre-developed body pieces with ball joints glued in the lateral sides
- The increasement of sizes and costs, but not necessarily number of pieces included per sets
- The use of launching weapons, no matter how bad they can be connected in the set
- The priorization of design and free playability, not priorization of application of complex manual functions or new kinds of construction (though it still having some exceptions)
- All the sets usually have the average of 13 articulations
The name "Mask of Life" is used in the title of the list because it is the factor in the Bionicle story which links the years of 2006-2009.
Link for Part 2: http://www.brickset.com/brickLists/?621
Link for Part 1: http://www.brickset.com/brickLists/?617
Created by Gus263. Last updated on 04 Dec 2009.
1. 8904: Avak
An example of a Piraka set. The Piraka were the first one to included brand new torsos with glued ball joints, beginning a new era and a new way to build figures. It was meant to follow the Bionicle concept, but the differences are huge.
They had no gear function; instead of this, they followed the idea of launchers from 2005, but bringing that time the Zamor spheres (used for GBC and in a lot of other playsets, also in the NXT 2.0), with buildable launchers.
They also had light-up eyes and glow-in-the-dark teeth, very attractive pieces. And they aren't proportional, like the Toa Hordika, they have longer right arms. Their weapons were dual sided and included a lot of details, buit were used few times in other sets that succeeded them.
The spines of the Piraka are very characteristic, though they were all exclusive, except for Thok's, that was included in golden for the Irnakk set.
The set I chosen to show is Avak, known as the last brown canister set, he is actually in a reddish shade of brown, while he includes dark tan connectors. Another set, Thok, has very light bluish gray limbs. Those are really good rare colors, but once they are the only ones to have those, in few variety, it doesn't becomes that useful.
8904-1
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4.2
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1133 members own this set | 287 members want this set |
2. 8730: Toa Hewkii
An example of a Toa Inika set. The Toa Inika followed the concept of the Piraka but with brand new pieces.
- They had new bodies, feet, lower leg sections and armors.
- Their head was an all-new piece (never included in any set after them), connected to an axle, a simple balljoint and a sokcet.
- Their masks were all made with rubber, with lot of details, and just fit at the head.
- That time it was their weapons that included lights.
- Their zamor sphere received additions, to contain 4 spheres instead of one.
The set I chosen to represent his series is Hewkii, including a lot of gunmetal pieces (none of them are in the body structure except the lower legs, the others serves for armors/mask), bright light orange pieces (a color scheme that supposedly took out the place of brown) and also a new style of chains, more resistent than the ones which started with system.
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8730-1
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4.4
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1300 members own this set | 293 members want this set |
3. 8919: Mantax
An example of a Barraki set.
At the time of the Barraki, after create molds for torsos with glued balljoints, consolidating the new "ball-joint based buildable action figure system", the designers used what they had already, making new vertents of this building. Then, all the Baraki are very characteristic while they have also different buildings.
What they have in common however is the lack of masks, with heads placed above pincers and translucent eye pieces to put in them.
And their launcher, the Squid launcher is not buildable anymore, and isn't good at shooting, either.
This set in specific, Mantax, has an inverted Inika body, with good use for one of the Rahkshi's chest section and also a Vahki lower body section. Alongside with two armors new at that time (used in carapar as chest armor, and in Mantax as shoulder armors), it is sure he has done well with a Manta Ray looking.
It is also interesting to note that he included pieces common with the Aqua raiders (released at the same time), such as a long tail, included in plenty of creatures from the recent playsets.
His new pieces were the small claws (used a lot nowadays) and his feet.
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8919-1
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4
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1192 members own this set | 284 members want this set |
4. 8921: Pridak
Another example of a Barraki set. This one has very flexible arms and body.
It is interesting to see Toa Nuva legs used as his arms, as those pieces were first seen like 5 years before Pridak's release. His body consists basically of two Vahki lower body sections and a Hordika head in the structure (another one is used to support his face).
His almost exclusive blades are white mixed with a shade of red. The red parts are more flexible than the white.
His feet were new, and until now it has been used very few times. With a great playability and flexibility overall, he can shift into a shark like form, and his blades serves as the fin.
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8921-1
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3.7
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1268 members own this set | 233 members want this set |
5. 8916: Takadox
Another example of a Barraki set. Just like Ehlek (the green Barraki) this lacks of some armors yet it has an interesting and simple use of a Technic liftarm as the body. Two Vahki lower body sections attach the limbs while another technic piece attach his head.
His exclusive blades works together with Piraka arms to give a pray mantis looking and there are glow-in-the-dark pieces, such as his face.
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8916-1
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4.6
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1333 members own this set | 247 members want this set |
6. 8910: Toa Kongu
An example of a Toa Mahri set. The Toa Mahri, differently of the Barraki, re-used more the other pieces, as they were destined to be humanoid figures (the heroes). Most of them included new silver coloured weapons and many tubes, to induct they're underwater. As notable characteristics; Matoro has his face coming from the front of his body; Nuparu has a shield and some limited posability, Hahli has wings; Hewkii has very good blades, few armors and is exageratedly unproportional; Jaller follows his Inika building and the most interesting here is Kongu.
The green Toa Mahri has two Cordak Blasters (those giant shooting weapons which aren't that effective at shooting), and a new mold to the body. This is bulkier than the Inika or Piraka bodies and to attach the arms it is needed two hordika lower arm sections.
His head/eye/brain was the first one to be cut in half, as he has a technic/system piece simulating a breathing tank in his back. All in all, he is the most interesting of them, except for the fact he has no melee weapon.
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8910-1
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4.1
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1065 members own this set | 356 members want this set |
7. 8692: Vamprah
An example of a Phantoka set. The toa Phantoka had all re-used parts except for the orange one, that included propellers. The Makuta were also very repetitive except for their own design and for the innovation at time, their hollow bodies.
The set I chose to represent those Makuta was Vamprah. A single piece (the one with the claws) is placed in the black body and the Tridax pod (that are two halves) is placed in its center. By pulling the back part of the claw piece, the Tridax pod fall and release it's rubber shadow leeches. Not the most effective weapon, but different of the other ones. Vamprah uses original Gali's hooks and four wings. Those seems to be bad colored, as one has blue and other, gunmetal, instead of black (or even blue). He has practically no legs, but those two blades never were seen colored in dark blue after it.
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8692-1
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4.5
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941 members own this set | 300 members want this set |
8. 8696: Bitil
An example of a Mistika set. The Toa Mistika still followed the humanoid padrons like their predecessors, the Phantoka. The Makuta, however, had some innovations.
Gorast, the green Makuta, has four arms, however, those aren't bendable, as they are Av-Matoran's. Krika has four paws, not bendable, also. His body is an armored tridax pod launcher. One of the most interesting here is Bitil, that doesn't have any matoran leg/arm. However, he lacks in armor besides those claws and has an Av-Matoran body. His wings are good additions, and his blades, very well designed, by far the largest of the Mistika line.
The Nynrah ghost blaster is based in the air contained in a squeeze-like piece and its base is very large. It has a efficient shot, but it is already too large and is not fun at all.
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8696-1
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3.6
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709 members own this set | 405 members want this set |
9. 8978: Skrall
An example of a Glatorian set. The first wave of the Glatorian included different types of building and marked the return of some not so neutral colors. Both Skrall and Strakk have inverted Inika bodies. Vorox has a tail and a variety of tan pieces. Gresh has some lime pieces and Tarix has few blue pieces. Malum has also some good recolors.
Skrall is the most interesting here because he brought three new blades and also a saw blade shield, very well designed (without to mention the original red connectors). It's been a while since a figure with both a weapon and a shield wasn't released, mostly because the "need" of a firing weapon has been priorizated over the inclusion of melee weapons. Glatorians' shooting weapon is very versatile, the Thornax Launcher keep being used nowadays in different Lego themes as well.
The marks of the Glatorian were the unproportional hands and head. While the hands increased, the head diminished and kept as one solid translucent piece, instead of two or three pieces. Instead of masks, fitting in the front of the head, they have helmets. But they were far to be proportional.
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8978-1
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4.6
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917 members own this set | 321 members want this set |
10. 8987: Kiina
An example of a Glatorian Legends set. By far the most different of them, Kiina brings more than the common new pieces. The building of her torso is unique, using two Hordika heads and some Technic pieces on the back, with a limb in the frontal part. This make-a-torso technique is really good and never was seen before her.
The other Glatorian Legend sets followed the concept of their predecessors, and few included a new connector piece, like Kiina's.
However, her proportions are off, like most of the other sets from the Balljoint era.
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8987-1
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4.4
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652 members own this set | 281 members want this set |
