Wednesday, January 27, 2016

The Building Chronicle: A Critical Consideration of LEGO's "Bionicle" Series - Building Through part 2.2 - 2002

Okay, I lied slightly. Last time I said we'd have a look at the Swarm, but we're not. Not quite yet. First we'll look at the Toa Nuva, superpowered versions of our six focal heroes from 2001, and at the Tohunga/Matoran, who start to fight back against the threats to the island of Mata Nui.

(Note: the controversy over the term "Tohunga" stems from an appropriation by the Lego company of Maori terms for their own use. A Tohunga is an expert practitioner, often a priest, in Maori culture. Thus the Tohunga from 2001 and 2002 become the Matoran of 2003.)

As I mentioned last time, I'm not a huge fan of the protodermis-mutated masks of the Toa Nuva. Some of them are cool. I really like Gali Nuva's mask, though I wish it had been transparent blue, like her old one. I think my main problem with them is that where the original masks and original Toa were designed together, the Nuva bodies are only very basic redesigns of the originals, yet the masks are radical redesigns that, in my opinion, are far too large for the older bodies. Now, having said that, the addition of the early armouring goes some distance toward fixing this problem, but, as I've said, not enough I think.



The various Toa teams straddle an interesting line between originality and cloning throughout the first decade of Bionicle's existence. In some cases, the Inika series for example, there is so little differentiation (aside from colour) that the figures are amongst the least popular of the series. Their second form, however, the Toa Mahri involves perhaps the most diverse range of builds that the Toa ever see. In this, we see an important delineation between the ways we can think, and how collectors think, about these series. On the one hand, we can talk about the models from the perspective of what kinds of different flourishes, different armours and weapons, a model possesses, and on the other we can talk about them from the perspective of the complexity, or novelty, of the build. It is the sets that do both that are often the most popular and lauded.

In the 2001 series, it was the Rahi that provided this novelty of building, and for 2002 it is the proto-Titan models that do so. For today's post, these novel builds are represented by the Toa Nuva combiners, and the two variations of the Boxor. I've already waxed lyrical about the Wairhua Nuva combiner, who is sadly obscured behind a clock in the picture. Akamai Nuva, our other combiner, is a very basic redesign of the original Akamai, and, if I'm to be honest, is not really that interesting. The Boxor, both versions, on the other hand, offer both a novel build and a cool aesthetic design, which makes them one of my favourites of this wave. The creator of the Boxor (which, rather macabrely, is built from destroyed Bohrok) is the Tohunga Nuparu, who eventually becomes one of the aforementioned Toa Inika. He's interesting, in that of the Inika, he's one of only two who is not based on one of the 2001 McToran figures. The Boxor is one of the last gasps of truly Technic-style building for the Bionicle line. The main model features a punching motion that is activated by pushing down on the model and making it walk. The gear assembly for this model is really great. The secondary model (over to the far right in the picture) isn't quite as interesting, but certainly offers some variety in a wave that is, sadly, overly clone.

That's enough for today, I think. I'll move on to the Swarm next time, and then the Rahi zoo of the Master Builder Set.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Flea Market Finds

This past weekend, I did something that I very rarely, if ever, do. I bought a box (a whole box!) of comics.
At a local flea market I found myself flipping through a single long box sitting below a vendor's table. I'd been disappointed with this trip to the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Centre, as this was the only box of cheap comics (and actually the only cheap comics, period) that I could find. There was one other vendor selling key Silver Age issues at guide prices, but no other "dollar bins." This particular one had quite a few issues of the latter bits of Avengers v.1, issues up in the 300s, which is the section of that series that I'm currently in the process of tracking down. So I'd decided to pick up a few, maybe $10 worth, when the lady behind the table said she'd do a good deal on the whole box. I considered for a few long moments, and then asked what kind of deal. She said $50 for the whole thing. Again, a few long moments passed, and then I agreed. I dashed to the ATM, got another $40 out, and left with a box of comics.

I've spent the last 4 days going through, databasing, bagging, boarding, removing duplicates. In the end, doubles included, there were 228 comics, which very roughly breaks down to 22 cents per issue. I think I did alright there.


Up above, there, you can see the collection laid out after I got home. The stacks of comics are all issues from the same, or similar, series. Thus, the Avengers pile is all Avengers. The Archie Comics pile is all Archie Comics (the only bit I haven't finished cataloging quite yet). I bought the collection primarily on the strength of the number of Avengers comics in it, though, of all the runs in the box, that was the one that produced the most duplicates. It was, in fact, the stuff that I initially dismissed as "filler" that turned out to be the gold amongst the dross (yep, I'm looking squarely at that enhanced cover Silver Sable #1 from the 90s).

Up in the top left corner there is a pile of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, both initial and deluxe editions. I love these encyclopedias, so it was a nice treat to get them. I'm also in the process of tracking down duplicate issues of each one so I can remove the covers and use them as posters. There were a few doubles in that pile, but mostly it was new stuff. The large pile of Archie comics is mostly mid to late 80s. Betty and Veronica's fashion sense was, in a word, atrocious in that era. I remember living through those fashions, both the first time and in the ill-advised 80s revival that seemed to take the world by storm a few years back.

Next to the Archies is the pile of comics I was most surprised by. It's an almost complete run of Marvel Two-In-One, Marvel's solo title for The Thing, from #80 to #100. I had little to no interest in this run, written predominantly by Tom DeFalco, who I immediately associate with the deplorable Clone Saga. But, as my impetus for the 40 Years of Comics Project had it, I shouldn't automatically assume that a comic is bad having not read it. I did read a few of these issues (once I'm done with Age of Ultron, I'm going to devote a few weeks to the stuff in this collection), and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. In particular, issue #86, and the story "Time Runs Like Sand," now ranks as one of my favourite comics ever. I'll re-read it and blog it next week some time.

There was also some late-era Fantastic Four v.1 in the box, which, again, I had little interest in, until I realized that it encompasses the majority of Walt Simonson's run on the title that I have been meaning to read for quite a few years now. So I'll chalk that up as a win too.

Before I talk about the other piles, I'll note that there were, as you can see, a number of individual issues of various comics. The ones I've read (Guardians of the Galaxy, Silver Sable) were pretty unremarkable, which is probably why whoever bought these in the first place didn't get any more.

I've already noted the Avengers comics as being the most important, at least from a collecting viewpoint, in the lot. Most of the pile of Superboy were duplicates, and in truly terrible shape. That version of the character was never one I had that much interest in, though the "Zero Hour" tie-in issue does feature the old, pre-Crisis Superboy, so that should be interesting. One thing I will note about the Avengers comics is that they included full runs of both Walt Simonson and John Byrne's tenures as writers on the title, both quite short, but probably pretty good.

The last little bit is that pile of Marvel Age comics, a good 30 of them in sequential order. This might seem a low point to end the assessment of the collection on, until one realizes that, by and large, these are comics that have never been reprinted. That is, of course, because the series functioned as a news magazine, and only included the occasional sequential strip (Fred Hembeck's center pages notwithstanding). What they do contain, however, is a chronological recounting of the events of each year of Marvel Comics narratives in the "Marvel Age" feature at the end of each issue. The earliest one I have starts in 1973, more than a decade after the "Age" begins. The articles are fantastic for the fact that rather than recounting publication history, they actually tell the fictional histories of the characters. I envision this as a scanning-and-sharing/cataloging project for the future. There's also occasional exclusive comics (like the Kirby/Stern piece that graces Marvel Age Annual #2, or the Shadowline summary from Annual #4) and the aforementioned Hembeck work, which I'm assuming has been reprinted somewhere, but maybe hasn't. Add to this the occasional article about the workings of the company, faux Daily Bugles, and such, and it's actually a pretty great find. Not one that I ever would have gone out of my way for, but pretty great nonetheless.

And that's it. As I said, I don't buy collections like this very often, due to both space and financial constraints, but I felt like treating myself on the weekend, and it turned out to be more of a treat than I'd expected. Look for some examples of what was in the collection over the next couple of weeks of the 40 Years project. 

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The Building Chronicle: A Critical Consideration of LEGO's "Bionicle" Series - Building Through part 2.1 - 2002

Welcome to 2002. Today will be a brief introduction, and then we'll have a look at the Bohrok, the Toa Nuva, the early "titan" sets, and the menagerie that is the Bionicle Master Builder Set. We're still very early in the series, but the 2002 line brought to Bionicle one of the more reviled aspects of the series: the clone.

Though the original Toa and their Matoran/Turaga counterparts were very similarly designed, there were divergences, slight and not-so-slight, that distinguished figure from figure. Whether it was Gali's dual arm motion as compared to the Tahu and Kopaka single arm, or Onua's head and neck placement, or the vast difference of Pohatu's upside-down torso, the figures were based around a similar morphology, but not identical.

This comes to an end with 2002 first wave of Bohrok, the insect creatures that swarm the island once the Toa have completed the first phase of their quest and retrieved the golden masks.


Though this picture does contain some variety of design, if we look solely to the Bohrok, it's merely a matter of colour that differentiates them. Okay, not only colour. They do each come with individualized krana (the small rubber mask-like bits that fit inside their carapaces) and individualized hands/weapons. These, however, are more accessory than integral body feature. The body build is identical, with no flourishes depending on environment or personality. It suits an insectoid/robot hybrid, I suppose, but makes for a sort of boring wave of figures. You'll note some variations on that shelf, which I'll post a better picture of next time, but these are combiners and non-canonical models, rather than the main figures of the wave.

And, on the topic of combiners, if you missed the previous post in the series, it highlights what I think is the best build of the wave, Wairhua Nuva, the combiner model of the Nuva versions of Gali, Kopaka, and Lewa.

We're also introduced to more powerful Toa in this wave, with the advent of the Toa Nuva, and I'll admit straight out that though I'm a fan of this early attempt at armouring the figures, I don't like the mask redesigns. The original masks were inspired, I think. These protodermis-mutated masks are too big, and a bit cartoon-y looking for my tastes. Again, though, we'll look at this more fully when I deal with the Toa and Matoran of this wave.

2002 also introduced one of the more interesting sets of the series, the Lego Shop exclusive Master Builder Set, which offers 15 different models of Mata Nui fauna. I really love this set, and to illustrate each of the animals, I've gone through my collection and built each one. Though they're not the same colours as the Master Builder Set originals, it will give a sense of the creatures presented in this relatively rare set.

I don't have too much in the way of ancillary merchandise for the 2002 wave, though there certainly was a fair bit made. I'm not sure if it'll warrant its own post, but I'll have a look somewhere at the 3 or 4 pieces I do have that aren't building sets.

But before I go for this week, another building video. This is a 2002 Japanese Kabaya fusion of Kohrok and Nuhvok, the white and black Bohrok, and it really begins to show the difference of aesthetic in combiners that I looked at here. So enjoy the video, and next time we'll look closely at The Swarm!