User blog:BrickfilmNut/My Thoughts on the 2015 Reveals - Part 1
- Part 1
- Part 2
- Part 3 still pending
Silly BFN. He thinks he's a Berrybrick.
Well, in chat a couple of days ago, I was surprised to discover that my opinions on new set reveals were not only wanted, but also perceived as lacking. I guess that, in some sense, that latter part may be true. Some very interesting developments with regards to LEGO, including but not limited to the return of one of the biggest parts of my childhood, have been flooding the LEGO community recently. While I haven't been that introverted with my thoughts (I make a few comments and replies here and there, and the latest news blogs by me aren't all quite unbiased), perhaps I haven't given these events the full attention they deserve. Berrybrick has a few blogs, Nova wrote a blog, Jay practically wrote a thesis on the 2015 BIONICLE prelims at the Custom BIONICLE wiki.... With Just2Good's .png by .png leak of finalized LEGO sets, now is perhaps the perfect time to alleviate this. In a similar light to Berrybrick and Nova (and CJC to some extent, though his style was more innovative), I will be providing a comprehensive, and hopefully insightful, summary of my thoughts on LEGO's 2015 wave as revealed so far. I will split up this blog into three parts, so that I don't bombard everyone with too much text. :P When I write, I write a lot.
I will also be updating this blog as Just2Good gives us more of his pics. In the meantime, I can go by names and what I remember from the prelims (I didn't save most of them), but obviously, I'll have much more material upon us getting official pics.
BIONICLE - The Unprecedented Return
What better place to start this blog off? BIONICLE's return is something very amazing and something very, very strange to go through. It was one of my biggest childhood influences on how I thought of and engaged in storytelling, and was one of my favourite building themes for a while as well, though the strength of the characters kind of worked against itself a little bit in that I never wanted to take any of them apart to MOC with, a problem I'd never have with Hero Factory. Anyway, despite my adoration of BIONICLE, I mostly managed to move on when it was over. Having watched The Legend Reborn helped a bit; I was not excited about the idea of a sequel, and the books had largely disappeared by that point. And though the ending was a bit rushed, I think it was about as good as BIONICLE could have received for an ending.
Interestingly, barely a few days before the first rumors of BIONICLE's return came back, I was thinking about how I was disappointed I had not yet found another story with quite the same tones, themes, and characters as the BIONICLE storylines had, and hoping I could find it again. At this point, I didn't think of BIONICLE returning as even an option. I thought I'd have to keep searching for stories like that, and maybe write some of my own if that did not work. But now, it's back.
At first, I was incredibly excited for this. Really, embarassingly so. Then of course came the fears of nostalgia blinding me, that my expectations will be different or LEGO's delivery will be instead, that this is BIONICLE for a new generation that watches things like Ninjago and Chima and Ninjago. And I really, really don't want to insult those stories, but even if they're just as good as BIONICLE in their own ways, they're not the same. When the main villain for a large part of the series, Garmadon, had control over the Serpentine, he had them... give him a lawnchair, deliver him a cool drink, and the likes. In contrast, Makuta ordered his Rahksi to fight the Toa at the cost of two villages and the life of Jaller. And Mask of Light wasn't even the greatest piece of BIONICLE media. Maybe Greg's writing for Ninjago is better; I haven't really been able to tell because it's been much less accessible to me than the BIONICLE books were. Maybe I should look for them a bit more dedicatedly. But even if the writing is a bit more mature, there's only so much you can do to make me forget all of that cheekiness and slapstick I was bombarded with before.
A big complaint about the BIONICLE sets is that it's all just the same as Hero Factory, that it's using that unimaginative new building system. Really, though, I like what they've managed to come up with. Now, I know I'm not too biased, because I had my own "worst fears" that I imagined, and I would have hated them openly. No amount of nostalgia would make me take a look at the building system from HF 2.0 and make me think "now this is cool". But I am actually intrigued by these new sets. The gear systems, though I never cared for them too much, do at least make me curious about the sets' builds. The multiuse tool systems feel much more like BIONICLE than any of Hero Factory's gimmicks. The torsos, some of the worst parts in the first HF builds with the new system, look a lot more solid and complete in these. And finally, the colours are a lot more pleasing to the eyes, and the new pieces/textures make them look much less cartoony than Hero Factory did. I'll be going over the sets individually before, so there's not much use writing too much about them now, but the point is, the sets not only stand out to me as something different and interesting, but... it's like LEGO secretly knows and fears what their fans' complaints would be. The only thing that the sets haven't delivered on yet are the villains, which is where LEGO usually can most show their creativity, but we're already getting thirteen sets in a market where the target audience hasn't ever seen the theme before. Lord of Skull Spiders isn't going to be providing too much playtime adversary for now, I think, but LEGO can rectify that later.
Of course, it's the story that really defined BIONICLE for me. And unfortunately, we know very little to indicate whether it will be clever, thoughtful, dark, or serious. We can gleam a few ideas from rumors and the sets, though. The existence of the protectors themselves stirs up a lot already. My only concern with them is, though they are awesome sets, they are quite formidable on their own, and they don't really seem to leave the Toa with much to protect, and you generally need people to protect to raise the stakes of something. And then there's the fact that the protectors' uniform appearance would indicate they may not have the sentiency of being worth protecting if they couldn't do it on their own. And then there's the theory that they will fight the Toa which would certainly make an effort to solve the problem I have about the Toa outmatching their enemies, but that wouldn't do anything to solve the civilian problem... I do already kind of miss the Matoran, but at the same time, I'm sure my fears won't fold out in the end. I doubt LEGO would create a universe without characters to inhabit it. Heck, in 2001, you could only get inhabitants through McDonalds, so I guess it's possible they're really retreading their old decisions and are going to make the inhabitants more prominent in the story than sets.
As for the conflict, I really hope that much of the first wave is man vs. environment. I mean, those spiders... if Lord of Skull Spiders is the only villain, that's too easy for the Toa, and if there are multiple LoSSs, then that's just kind of dull. Even if the protectors and Toa face off in the story, the Toa are still a fair bit larger, so it still wouldn't feel quite balanced. Man (& Gali) vs. Environment would really work, though. It would really allow LEGO to explore the new setting they give us, it would test the Toa in a way that says more about their character than just "he's a good guy and better fighter than the bad guy", and it fits their abilities much better than in a theme like Ninjago. Honestly, I really hope that's what the first wave goes for primarily. If so, I'll be interested.
And finally, we have the artwork. It looks fantastic. It's a lot more mysterious than anything HF has given us at very least, and it looks a fair bit darker and more desolate. And that is what I like in my BIONICLE. The idea that the heroes are alone in a harsh or new environment, and that one of their greatest enemies is the shadow of doubt and unknown... Also, we finally get a story theme not hyped up with tech, and I've got nothing against tech in BIONICLE (I loved 2004), but the thing is it's different. And that's the first step in impressing some older fans.
Anyway, this blog is about what was revealed, not what we want. So lets see what we get so far.
70778 Protector of Jungle
If these Protectors do end up getting personalities, I must say this one is the one I'd be most interested in. He looks like a quite formidable opponent, especially with that pose and (what might be?) BIONICLE's first bow-like weapon. The bow is really my favourite part of the set. The I like that the stud shooters actually have some variation to the way they are implemented to give the Protectors some variety, whereas in the past, such as with Thornax Launchers, that wouldn't be the case. I like this new shade of green a lot. Some people don't care so much for the orange in this year's "Jungle" sets, but I think it works to add some varation, though it does look a bit better on Lewa. The two things this set has me wondering about are if the vines are a slightly different shade of green than before, and if the figure's right hand is connected to the weapon, where you turn the hand to fire the bow. I think someone at TTV hypothesized this, and that would certainly be nice. As a kid, when I played with action figures, or even recently when I animated minifigures, I'd sometimes be annoyed that there wasn't always a way for the character to look involved at all in the firing of their projectiles; this would be a lot of fun to play with if I were that age again. Oh, and those long pieces at the sides of the bow look excellent in green. As it is right now, it doesn't contain any pieces or build that I need, but it'll be fun to look at, and if I get a different defender, I'd probably try to maybe MOC something similar.
70779 Protector of Stone
Interestingly, in spite of the similarities to the Protector of Jungle in certain areas I praised it in, this guy is probably my least favourite of the protectors. I imagine this has a lot to do with his pose. Though the two-handed weapon thing I liked on the Jungle Protector remains, this variation just looks a lot more awkward in the prelim. The hands should really be switched around in their orientations: the one higher up should be facing down, and the one lower down facing up. Two-handed close-range weapons are always going to be a bit clumsy in Contstraction, but that would be a start. Aside from that, the teeth at the base of the feet just don't seem to blend in colour-wise or style-wise as much as the Jungle Protector's vines. And then the pose really just makes those spindley lower legs look ghastly and unbalanced, with the weight distribution on the arms not looking much better. A technique that looked great on the Jungle Protector just looks horrible in this pose. As for pieces, this brown is certainly more appealing than bright and shiny yellow armour, and I could actually find more use for it than some other colours in the other protectors. Overall, the stone Protector is appealing for the brown, but the awkward pose, and the ugly teeth on the feet, just makes it a little unappealing.
70780 Protector of Water
This one is the main protector I'm leaning towards purchasing, not because the build or colour is particularly interesting (I don't build much in either of these shades of blue, though they do look good on the figures this year), but because of those transparent turbines. These look like they may have a lot of usages in futuristic System creations, and those are really my specialty. The weapon on this one is kind of strange, though. Not only does it seem kind of pointless to make it two-handed in this case, but I also think the position of the knob may make it a bit difficult to turn to shoot the studs. I dunno. The look adds some variation, but I just don't think there's any sort of reason provided to make it two-handed.
70781 Protector of Earth
This guy is one of the best-looking protectors in my opinion. The colourscheme has just enough purple in the right places to break up the black, but not enough to make him too bright or colourful. The stud shooter in the chest is not only unique, but its shape actually compliments the whole shape of the torso quite well. I really am in love with these torsos. Unlike a lot of the Hero Factory's armour-on-a-stick ones, this one actually looks complete, and the substance feels real, whereas with a lot of the old Hero Factory sets, the chest armour was like a fake cardboard cutout, as you knew there was nothing behind it giving the mass that the armour's shape implied. Also the arms and legs compliment it a lot better than some of the other protectors. In this case, all the armour is black, which is good consistency, and where there is no armour, the bone is black to make it look like at least a continuation of the armour. Granted, there are some things I'd like to have seen changed. The big mace is just a bit too remniscent of Hero Factory's style, with all those smooth gaps between those oversized spikes. His dagger is slightly too short, but honestly not that much of a concern. Same goes for the shoulder armour; I don't really dislike it, but there seems to be a bit of a gap between it and the arm, like it's almost sort of hovering there, so while I like the look they were going for, perhaps something else could have looked better. Still, though, this is a very nice set with a tough-looking Defender.
70782 Protector of Ice
This is another case like the Stone Protector where the angle really kind of takes away from the set, though it's not as bad this time, and a lack of watermark would probably mostly resolve it. Thanks to the watermark, it kind of looks like there's torso above the white armour piece that lacks any covering, but in reality I think that that one torso piece will do the job fine enough, even if it's not quite as interesting as the Earth Defender's; there still has to be some variety after all. The arms really are kind of funny on this one. It looks kind of like it thins out a lot, and quite suddenly, at the lower arms since the shoulders are so bulky, but sometimes that's how LEGO armour works; so long as the base armour is the same thickness and colour for both the upper and lower arms, then the white will just look like shoulder pads.
I do think that this set could have used a bit more white, particularly at the lower arms. Overall, though, the trans blue, white, grey, and black are spread out mostly pretty nice and create a pretty sweet-looking model. Actually, I am pretty happy that the Protectors' colourschemes are more creative than just swapping colours one for one. That was a bit of a problem with some of BIONICLE's clone sets. As for tools, the studshooter one is pretty basic enough. I'd have taken another modification over the ice prong at the top, especially since it leaves quite a gap between the shooter and the prong, but I don't care too badly. The saw is kind of interesting, and I wonder if it will work more as a shield than an offensive weapon; I really kind of hope for the former, as the ange at which it seems to attach to the protector's hand sets it up much better this way. The yellow does kind of break the colourscheme, though. Not that weapons shouldn't break colourschemes, as it makes sense for them to stand out a bit, but yellow is such an odd choice in-universe. It looks better in nearly every other protector. Jungle, Stone, Fire, and Water all have other elements that are yellow or orange, and as for the Earth Defender, the yellow amounts to one little ring that almost looks just like a "heartlight". On the plus side, the trans-blue saw looks to have uses like the trans-blue propellors in the water protector. So overall, I think this is one of the more solid defenders, even if there are a few changes that I really wish were made.
70783 Protector of Fire
This guy's torso is awesome. Just like the Earth Defender, it looks like it has substance, it is a bit complex, and it is just, well, cool. Unfortunately, though, it breaks up the colourscheme a bit, and this defender's bulk is all concentrated in that area, while the legs and arms look to be moderately light. This mask is also unique in that it is yellow at the back, which is alright. It kind of harkens back more to the Glatorian/Agori helmets than any MU mask, in my opinion, but that's not a bad thing either. The use of the stud shooter as shoulder-mounted kind of bothers me as, well, in real life, there's no good way to aim or fire such a thing, but maybe robots don't have this problem. :P The tools really perplex me, though. Having the blades away from the hands in that direction would, I would think, decrease your ability to hold onto them while striking something thanks to leverage. And aside from that, I can't tell what sort of play value this has, even though I see they're connected in a way where they can spin around at the joint to the hand... And then for appearance, well, it's nothing special. So I really can't figure out why this choice was made. Tools for a protector aren't as important as for a Toa, though, so even if it's not that iconic, I can let it slide. It just decreases my desire to buy the set.
70784 Lewa - Master of Jungle
This is a set a lot of people are split upon. I personally really like it. Like with the Jungle Protector, I think the orange in the colourscheme works well with the green, and actually prevents it from just being monochrome and dull. The weight distribution fits Lewa well, making him look quite agile, but with enough armour in critical points. And there's nothing there that would seem to inhibit one jumping from vine to vine or flying through the air. And as for the Miru, I actually think it's a mask that's cool and original, and if anything is perhaps even a bit more streamlined, good for a Toa of Air. The axes look great; "normal" enough where they still look effective, I think, but still unique enough where it looks like BIONICLE. Additionally, the nice details on that axe makes me really curious to see what else I can use that piece for. Of course, Lewa isn't all without cons. Those shoulder pads do look pretty weird, but if the axes can be used as wings or part of a flying device, like how Gali's axe turns into flippers, then I think it may start to make sense. And if not, it's a bit weird, but it still doesn't detract that much from the set's value. Then the gear functions seem to kind of stick out at the side, which isn't too bad by itself, but I hope that it doesn't look bad from other angles, and is decently covered at the back. As for the gear functions themselves, it's a neat idea, so long as it doesn't make it difficult to pose or stay still. Honestly, I didn't really like the gear functions on the Toa Metru for this reason, but the way the arms are posed in this image seems to indicate that it at least will still be easier to pose/move than with the Metru.
70785 Pohatu - Master of Stone
This is the one that, upon the release of the official images, seemed to take a lot of people by surprise. Pohatu does look pretty cool. Some complain about the lack of brown, but I personally think there's enough of it in the right places to make it count. The armouring on the legs, making them a lot tougher than some of the other Toa's, is a nice hark back to the original set. I don't really care too much for the assymetry on the arms, but I have to give it credit for looking neat and adding some variety. Trans yellow bones still look a bit odd to me, especially since there's so much of it. I can't say that something like brown or black would have worked better, but maybe something like silver? Dunno. The mask looks really good to me on this one. Nice and aerodynamic, like a mask of speed should be, and quite heroic and determined-looking too. As for tools, Boomerangs actually do make a lot of sense, both for a toa of stone and for a Toa with a mask of speed; it'd be neat to see the mask and tools in combination in whatever media there is for BIONICLE. I'm not quite as excited about the pieces as the axe ones; these look like they're harder to find uses for. And I don't like the assymetrical look created by the Bohrok eye at the end, but again, there wasn't much else I could have expected LEGO to do. If double tool usages are something that are going to be done for all of the Toa, I'm curious about what Pohatu's would be.... On the continued note of tools, that staff at the back looks a bit funny just hanging out there in this pose, but at the same time it's cool to have a Toa that has a bit of an "arsenal", so I'll pass a positive judgement on its inclusion. Same comment on the gear functions as with Lewa. As for the skull scorpion, it is interesting enough, but it feels kind of weird to only have such variation in one biome, so really what it mostly does is make me wonder what could have been done for the others. Overall, a cool-looking set, and a contender with Lewa if I decide to only get one smaller Toa.
70786 Gali - Master of Water
I don't have quite as much to say about Gali's. I still have the same feelings about the gear functions, so I won't repeat that bit again. I was pretty happy to see that the axe blades connect to the feet to form flippers. They look a bit unbalanced, as in they stick to the side, but that doesn't bother me enough where I'd rather not have the function at all. And hey, maybe they're less of flippers, and it's the rotor in the centre that propels her along, in which case it does look pretty natural. Or alternatively, she could move both legs at the same time swimming and it looks like a dolphin tale. :P Since we're on that note, I do really like these feet pieces. I don't know if they were present in Hero Factory, but it looks like they will provide quite a few options for customization, with all those holes for connectors. Um, what else... the trident looks alright, though the axe form looks a bit better. The gold spear at the end looks a bit funny, but I don't know what I would have done to change it, so I wouldn't chalk it up as a con. I have no problems with the colourscheme, and the shoulders look pretty good, better than Lewa's. The new mask does look a little bit fierce for Gali, but it still looks cool, and it fits the underwater theme quite well. Anyway, yeah. Nothing about the set stands out to me as making it a must-by, but it looks pretty nice, and I really want to see it in action in BIONICLE's new visual media.
70787 Tahu - Master of Fire
Ah, Tahu. Many BIONICLE fans' favourite and most recognizable toa, and the one I know the least... He's not a character I dislike, but I do prefer the other Toa of Fire, Jaller and Vakama, a bit more. But hey, I grew up with them, so this is really just personal preference. Anyway, onto the set. The weight distribution actually looks pretty good on Tahu. The armour piece on the legs helps balance out what is looking like a pretty thick torso, and... I don't know how to quite describe the effect, but I like it quite a lot. It makes it look more like something out of, say, the Mask of Light movie than anything built with Hero Factory parts, which is the best I can do to describe it. As many others have pointed out, the colourscheme works quite well, with the gold complimenting the red. The armour is generally spread out smartly, so long as there's another gold piece hidden on the right upper-arm, because Tahu really has this symmetry thing going for him, and it should not be messed up. I haven't made up my mind on how the gold armour on the side of the legs looks; I'll have to see another view. The mask looks okay; not something I was really impressed with like Kopaka's or Pohatu's, but it looks good. The gearbox on the back... it looks a bit more obvious on Tahu than some of the others, but again, I'll wait until I see other views.... The lava surfboard is pretty cool, and I feel the connection setup is a step up from the Nuva version. The big gap near the back kind of bothers me, but I guess if you're surfing on freaking' lava, safety concerns about a misstep probably aren't on your list of priorities. And, good gosh, Tahu, you still need to wield weapons while surfing on lava? Once you're surfing on lava, I don't think you'll have to worry about combat. Nobody in their right mind is going to be fighting you while surfing on lava, just like how nobody in their right mind goes surfing on lava. Anyway, from a prelim that shows Tahu holding his big swords, I think they look pretty awesome in his hands. Tahu may not be that memorable of a character for me, but if I were to get one of the larger winter-wave sets, I think Tahu has the least problems, as well as some pretty solid pros.
70788 Kopaka - Master of Ice
Kopaka... certainly among my favourite Toa Mata/Nuva (Onua contends strongly for the title), so I find a bit more excitement "reviewing" him than Tahu. This set is certainly quite interesting. Overall, there are a lot of things that look freaking awesome, but then there are a few cons that sour that awesomeness just a little. Kopaka looks nice and bulky, and the way it was done kind of fits his character, I feel, making him look formidible as both an inhabitant of the harsh land he's in as well as in terms of being a fighter. Gold and white work very well on him, and considering his bulk, I'm glad trans-blue was only used where it needs to be, though the little trans-blue that's there still adds some nice variation. The silver on the chest would probably have worked better as white, so it's kind of puzzeling that they'd do that. The printing on the upper-legs is something I view as favourible as well, as Tahu was almost looking a bit too smooth and polished; Kopaka doesn't have that problem as much. Kopaka does have what looks like Batnipples, unfortunately/hilariously. But it's not that noticeable, and it's still nice printing, much more uniform and orderly than on some of the other Toa. Hey, if Kopaka's been likened to Batman, maybe the designers are just harkening to that with a bit of allusion to ol' Batman and Robin. ;) As for the build, Kopaka's bulk actually doesn't make the gear area a problem for me like on some other sets... in this picture, at least. The arms look good, and I'm kind of glad that unlike Tahu where everything was evenly distributed, Kopaka stands out a bit by having some more armour on the upper arms. It just makes him look all that more tough, and it works well with those awesome shoulders. The lower legs... are probably Kopaka's biggest con. The right one looks pretty gappy and it's jutting out so far forward, but at the same time, trying to envision a different angle, I imagine it looks better if you don't bend the leg in such a way, and it does kind of reinforce the appearance Kopaka has going for him. So while I wasn't a big fan of the legs at first, they've kind of grown on me a little. I mean, his left one does look pretty awesome from the front. The tools are kind of interesting. The shield looks a bit thin to protect much of his body, but it looks like it would still fulfill its "duty", in a sense, and that sword element is still just lovely. The fact that it can spin should be both frustrating and fun for different groups of people. I do hope it splits into skiis or something. As for the spear, it's a fine Toa tool to have, and kind of fits in with Kopaka's nomad look this time. I do wish that instead of just having that random ice piece on the top, which just seems pointless, I would have bulked up the spear a bit more with some white pieces closer to the top, and in a way that still preserves another degree of symmetry. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the mask. It looks really good, honestly. Nice and recognizable, its feature is intuitive... just like the originals. Overall, Kopaka may have a few notable cons, but he's also one of the Toa with the strongest lasting impression, and it'll be tough to, if I get a large Toa, choose Tahu or Onua over him.
70789 Onua - Master of Earth
Though Onua is probably my favourite Nuva as a character, I can't say that this set appearance is my favourite. It still looks like a strong set, but unlike with the Jungle element, where the Toa is clearly the master with their colourscheme, in this case, the Earth Protector did better. I get that they had to do gold for all the larger Toa to unify them, but silver does really work a lot better with the black. There is just too little purple as well for it to look natural whenever it does appear, and they may have been better off having none at all. Onua is the only Toa I have to look at the prelim for, though, so maybe it'll look a bit better in the final image. As for the distribution, I think it's mostly fine. Some complain that Onua isn't supposed to be so hulking, but that's mostly those shoulderpads' doing. Without them, he'd look about as strong as Kopaka. Honestly, yeah, I don't care for the shoulderpads as much. The mask is a bit too difficult to see here, so I won't comment on it. As for the weapon, a hammer works, and it looks okay. If they really do transform into "shovels" as some are guessing, though, not only would that be awesome, but that would probably be my preferred way of posing him if I were to buy the set.
70790 Lord of Skull Spiders
This guy is far from a "Makuta" if we're going to be talking about villains, and as of what we're provided with right now, I can't say I like him nearly as much as the Toa, though I will say that he's not nearly as bad as I thought when I first saw him. Trans-Orange and black work well as a colourscheme, and it's neat to see it explored. I do think that the part above his head should maybe have had more black than trans-orange, as it just stands out a bit too much, but it could very well just be the angle (more on that in a sec) that makes it look bad. Everywhere else, it's fine. The printing on the head is honestly pretty disappointing, and I would have preferred a brick-built head by far. It looks a bit cartoony, and, whereas my big problem with some of the 2001 Rahi was that they looked too machine-like (treads and all), this guy looks a bit too organic. *sigh*. As for the build, it looks... okay, but there are certainly things I don't like about it. The white teeth seem a bit too random and generous in their placement, and as for the top section, why is there such a big gap behind the head? He also doesn't look to occupy enough of the z axis in this pose, but an interesting argument by TTV pointed out that it looks like there's a torso armour piece in the back there, indicating his body will probably be a lot longer than it looks in the final set. This would significantly improve the build, and maybe even fix my colourscheme problem a little bit, so I hope that's the case. If it is, what may have been a moderately bad set for me could become just an average set. As for the gear function, I'm really interested in what LoSS's does, actually. Whereas with the Toa I suspect/fear it'll just be swinging the arms, for LoSS, it'll be something different for sure, and I'm quite intrigued. The mask isn't much different than what I'll go over below, so I'll just end my bit on LoSS with that.
The Skull Spiders
I didn't want to single these out in one set, or analyze them each set, so they get their own section. Honestly, they look pretty cool. The "mask" that they all come as has quite a bit of character, and I can't wait to see it used on some figure. The connection points also offer a lot more customization-possibility than we've ever really seen for a mask, and I hope we see it more in the future. It's also cool to have those legs. As a full object, the skull spider looks interesting, and it works. They managed to balance the separate skull and spider looks as much as possible, I guess. Of course, the spider has to look "up" all the time if they're going to have "eyes" in the story, but if not, then there's no issue, and if so, it's not a bad one, certainly not the most frustrating issue in this wave at all.
City - Crime's Everywhere Now, I Guess
You know, I'd never really considered the idea of swamp police. I just never thought too many crimes were going on in a swamp. It's not really a place one would enjoy committing a crime, and not really an ideal place to escape from one. Still, it's better than getting duplicate police sets again (we'll get them next year), and it may as well be covered. Aside from swamp police, we get demolition, which basically feels like a constricted "Construction" subtheme, as well as a few "great vehicles". The great vehicles are a tow truck, which we've seen before in City; racing stuff, which we've both seen before and which honestly isn't crucial in a City or that hard to make yourself; and a snowplow, which actually is both new and fairly useful, but not something I'll probably pick up anyway.
Update: Well, these new motorbikes are interesting. And at least "Demolition", though I still think it's just a restricted "Construction" subtheme, offers a lot of neat scenery to destroy, along with way too many toilets. I have a feeling the Retailer Exclusive is going to be a bunch of them dismantaling this giant toilet with some kind of bulldozer-wrecking ball hybrid. Mixed feelings about those new crocodiles too... I get that the old ones weren't too accurate, but they looked colder and more menacing because of that. On the plus side, these new ones' mouths look like they can actually hold stuff. So I'm not sure which version I like better.
Creator - It Still Exists
And it has buildings, animals, and vehicles still too. This is one I'll really have to wait for Just2Good's images on, but really, even then, it's just creator. Non-minifigure scale isn't quite as intriguing to me, the last few small buildings have been fairly average or blocky, and I've basically gotten all Creator-related pieces I'll ever need by now. I do like that they are releasing a lot more buildings in areas where City was always lacking, though. If I ever have spare money and the ability to brickfilm again, then I will hope that the theme stays on the track it is now so I can build up my City. I'm not sure how I feel about all the animals using those Mixel eyes now, though, as it does look a bit too cartoony.
Update: Some Creator images have surfaced. I have nothing new to say.
Conclusion - Part 1
Well, that's all for part 1! I hope you enjoyed. And if you want to keep reading, part 2 can be found at User blog:BrickfilmNut/My Thoughts on the 2015 Reveals - Part 2.
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