Tag Archives: Bionicle

Bionicle was a line of sets that grew out of the LEGO Technic line that LEGO produced between 2001 and 2010, succeeded by Hero Factory. Bionicle had an incredibly complex storyline that accompanied the sets, and most of the elements didn’t integrate well with traditional SYSTEM bricks. As a result, long-time adult fans like the contributors here on The Brothers Brick never quite appreciated what Bionicle had to offer, so most of the LEGO models we feature here on The Brothers Brick are built from traditional SYSTEM bricks. Nevertheless, we do appreciate a great Bionicle creation from time to time.

I’ve got two big blades and may or may not know how to use them

Meet Dalga, a new LEGO creation by Ron Folkers. He’s a highly armored specialist with dual blades and a pulse cannon. I’m pretty convinced he’s a great white killing machine and a schlub like we wouldn’t stand a chance. However, Ron tells us he’s a newly assembled inexperienced fighter who has not yet known the perils of combat. Still, I’m going to err on the side of assuming his whole head is a deadly weapon and I’ll just take my cookies elsewhere. If you’d like to risk it and stick around, you should check out some of Dalga’s friends.

Dalga

Praise Tlāloc! Lord of clouds, god of waters, bringer of fertility to the parched land...

The annual BioCup competition is producing a wonderful range of LEGO Bionicle creations in many themes, but my favorite so far is Latin American mythology, with fantastical gods like the Aztec god of death Mictlantecuhtli by Tino Poutiainen. But my favorite so far is the Aztec rain god Tlāloc by Vlad Lisin. Tlāloc has characteristic round eyes and fangs, and wears a verdant crown with clouds encircling his waist. I love how Vlad uses click-joints for Tlāloc’s necklace, and the Bionicle mask at the top of the water flowing from the barrel is a brilliant use of parts.

LEGO Bionicle Tlaloc by Vlad Lisin on Flickr

Way back in 2006, I built the Aztec pantheon as minifigures — strange enough to go mildly viral through the “blogosphere” in the era before social media — but these latest figures show the power of large-scale builds using organic pieces from Bionicle and Hero Factory.

Simurgh yourself in the lore of this mythical beast

As LEGO builders ourselves we are inherently already fond of the creations we write about here on The Brothers Brick. What makes me take special notice however is something like this Simurgh built by Joss Woodyard. According to Joss, the Simurgh is a unity between land and sky incarnate. According to Iranian legend, the mythical creature is so old that it has seen the world end three times over. Plus it will also rid your surrounding area of snakes, so there’s that. I’m seeing also a unity between System brick and Bionicle. This seems to be Joss’calling card as he has taken us through a menagerie of mythical beasts before.

The Simurgh

The better to eat you with!

We all remember the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, right? There’s a part where Little Red says to her wolf grandmother “my, what big eyes you have”. To which she retorts “the better to eat you with”. Wait, that didn’t turn out right. Anyway, the point is old people are scary! PaleoBricks mixes Bionicle with “regular” LEGO to build the wolf in grandma clothing quite nicely. The shawl is a great touch as well as the…um…grandma hat. Grandmas still wear those, right? The wolf’s expression looks like he really does want to eat you…with his eyes. It has been a while since I’ve read the story but I’m sure it also involved doilies and a dish of Werther’s Originals. And a ticking clock, a VCR, and one of those creepy pictures of Jesus that moves when you walk. Old people! Am I right?

"The better to eat you with!"

Elder Beast mode engaged

In other news today The Elder Beast has escaped from a cosmic sea. LEGO builder Cody Avery has illustrated the unspeakable abomination from the cosmic depths and describes it as “…an entity of great strength. Its maw a mass of tendrils like that of an octopus.” He goes on to say; “Remnants of its imprisonment remain.” 2020 has proven to be a tumultuous year and The Elder Beast is added to a long list of cosmic anomalies that has already hit the fan. This is problematic as sources in the know tell us The Elder Beast was not scheduled to be unleashed until mid-July. The astral monstrosity is here to either put a damper on your weekend plans or devour your soul, depending on which news sources you follow.

The Elder Beast

We’re gonna need one helluva scratching post!

Leave it to Joss Woodyard (Jayfa) to build something so alien yet we can still recognise it as a feline. That is a testament to this builder’s excellent choice of color, shaping, and pose-ability. The pneumatic T-bar as his nose and the Hero Factory armor as the mane are stellar parts usage. This is one cat I’d not want to meet in a dark alley or even a well-lit alley for that matter.

BattleCat

This satiated pose makes me feel slightly better but still.

BattleCat

I advise you to give this cat some catnip and tuck into Jayfa’s archive to see the other times we were totally wooed by his stuff.

No Pain, no Gain! Feel the burn!

LEGO builder Patrick Biggs presents us with two demons; their names are Pain and Gain. No one knows which is which but they always work together. Their dumbells were cleverly constructed using tires and rims and their clenched teeth are emulated using bevel gears. These are popular demons that are frequently summoned by every meathead dropping their weights and exhaling the ancient spell: “No Pain, no Gain”. Incidentally, the same can be said after eating an entire gallon of ice cream in one sitting. Despite building the very personification of the “no pain, no gain” motto, Patrick tells us he didn’t spend his time wisely and had no winning plans for building this duo. That right there is why he wins the internet today. Here are several other instances where Patrick has totally won the internet.

Pain and Gain

Glowing in the deep

For my taste, we don’t see nearly enough horrific LEGO monsters here on the Brothers Brick. That’s why I’m so happy to write about the Luminescent Levviathan by Marko Petrušić. This creepy creature is based around a lot of hard-to-find Bionicle sets from 2007. In particular, it uses unique glow-in-the-dark pieces from Nocturn, Takadox, and Gadunka. These key elements are mixed with armor plating from the same sets to extend the shapes even further. The best bit, though, is that tail. The fins are made from Batmobile wings and an inverted use of glowing spines from the Nocturn set.

Luminescent Leviathan

From the side, you can better see the build isn’t all black and blue. There’s a bit of brown on the underbelly, giving this an even more natural look. If, you know, nature was really pissed at us. Looking outside, maybe it is. At least this thing appears to be aquatic. If Marko makes a murder hornet version, I might never venture outside again.

Luminescent Leviathan - Side

Spread your crazy Bionicle wings and fly

I don’t know much about Bionicle, but I know what I like and I really like this incredibly colorful LEGO figure by Patrick Biggs. Bionicle builders are a special breed. They have a mastery of the human figure and how to create realistically articulated joints. This is not a skill I possess myself so I am often in awe of these builders’ work. The story here is that the characters of Tahu and Ikir have united their powers to bring an end to Makuta’s plans for the Mask of Control. Yes, Bionicle lore is incredibly deep.

The first thing you see when you view this figure is the fantastic color scheme. The limited palette of red, gold, and dark azure is quite striking and draws you in immediately. Interestingly the figure is somehow both bulky and yet extremely elegant at the same time. The wings are stunning and have a pseudo-Art Deco/Egyptian feel to them. The pose is full of action and the downward-pointing swords create a nice balance to the upward-pointing wings. Speaking of balance, the symmetry at work here is terrific and the raised knee adds that perfect bit of asymmetry to keep it from becoming too much of the same thing. It’s exceptionally well done and transcends the Bionicle form to give us something you might see hanging in an art gallery.

Tahu Uniter

Beware of the ‘borg

If you haven’t seen Treasure Planet, you must. It’s one of Disney’s most underrated films. And if you have watched it, you can probably pick this guy out from a mile away. John Silver is a partially cyborg version of the classic Long John Silver character from the famous Treasure Island stories, and this LEGO version by Jayfa is an excellent recreation. Using balloon elements to create a rum belly is top-notch parts usage. He also wouldn’t be the same without his little space-goo buddy, Morph.

John Silver

We’ve featured Jayfa many times on TBB. If you’d like to see more of his exceptional work, check out our archives.

Microscale Mata Nui

After writing about LEGO for nearly a decade, it’s rare that I see a mashup that’s new, let alone one that’s done excellently. But this build by Mansur Soeleman brought me that rare delight in the form of a Bionicle creation made of system pieces and done in microscale. The lush green island is Kini Nui, the temple at the heart of Mata Nui in the Bionicle universe, and it evokes the verdant foliage of the island’s jungle well. The build is loaded with brand new elements which I’m excited to see put to such great use, such as the white 1x8x3 slopes for the four pillars on the temple.

Kini Nui

Side note: I’m feeling an urge to play Halo now, for some reason…

A shockingly cool Bionicle build

I’ve been a fan of LEGO’s Bionicle for a long time. I came out of my dark age just as the theme was launching in the US back in 2001, and they were some of the first sets I bought. When the line came to an end a decade later, LEGO fans kept the theme going strong with tons of unique creations. Anthony Wilson is among those builders, and their latest offering, Valkyrie: Toa of Lightning, is breathtaking. The base figure has a strong color theme in white and purple, with a brick-built mask. Quality building techniques are at play throughout the model, my favorite being the small offsets created in the armor on the thighs. (The unique shaping of headlight bricks allows for the gap.) There is also a lot of great part usage, including tricycle frames in the hips, worm gears on the legs and forearms, and even a zip-line handle in the chest. As impressive as the base figure is, what made me want to write about this model are the lightning effects. A couple of minifigure-accessory magic sparks hint at the awesome discharge happening on the Toa’s right arm. Made up of layers of hero factory armor and weapons, the angular electric effects have an almost liquid quality to them.

Valkyrie: Toa of Lightning

The build on the Valkyrie is probably several levels above what LEGO would have released for a kid-friendly set had the line continued. So maybe, just maybe, Bionicle is better off left in the hands of the fans. Oh, who am I kidding. They need to bring this theme back, and soon.