Details: The NXT 2.0's color sensor and disturbingly large quantity of Bionicle zamor spheres makes the kit perfectlysuited for machine guns and machines that sort balls by color. The builder I'm featuring today decided to try a few ball-sorter designs from the Internet and a few original designs. You can see four of Robin Newman’s designs at the link above, along with videos, code, building instructions, and information about what sets and parts you would need to build each version.
I know we're already running late, but in celebration of National Robotics Week in the US, we will be featuring additional robot-themed models this week.
Details: There are plenty of fairly rare colors that seem to be all-too-common in pieces that aren't terribly useful. Sure, we all find uses for various strange parts once in a while, but it seems like there are always some parts that you can't find uses for. People who don't like buying new kits with lots of difficult parts (like the Bionicle theme is for most of us) just don't try these things out. Then there's thire5, who used some dark green and dark bluish grey Bionicle parts from a Toa Mahri Kongu to build this awesome spaceship. Single-seating fighters are a popular subject of LEGO creations, and many of them strain to properly fit a minifigure ("fits a fig!" is a common cry among "spacers"). This model cleverly uses various wedge plates with cutouts (it's a strange part to describe, here's an example of it) to make the edges of the cockpit and leave enough space for the minifigure's arms. Between the really little Space Police II cockpit (I can't recall an official set that used it for an enclosed cockpit that fit a 'fig) and the well-used Bionicle detailing, this is easily the most innovative original spaceship I've seen in some time. Did I mention it uses the fairly rare and difficult to use color of dark green?
Details: There are plenty of interesting mecha built out of LEGO out there, but nothing else quite like this. For one thing, there are three legs. For another, this thing is a few feet tall, with lots of clever Technic bits making it a surprisingly sturdy but still movable structure. Well-placed worm gear assemblies and turntables hold the whole thing up, and the gears can be adjusted to change the pose. Adjustable vertebrae in the torso add even more stability and pose-ability (not to mention more menacing looks). Other Technic trickery is used to great effect as well - check out the way these 12-tooth bevel gears have been meshed with a 40 tooth gear and the way one worm gear assembly secures one of the knee joints. Then there are the details - note the minifig-hand teeth and the various Knight's Kingdom and Bionicle pieces that are used here.
Details: This one's for everyone who thinks you can't build a "girly" creation without pink. These purses modeled after Louis Vuitton designs are very mature and effective, and yet still decidedly feminine. You might recognize the large quantities of dark tan 2x2 tiles and pearl gold elements as parts we saw come out in the Indiana Jones sets. The dark orange ribbed hose used here as a handle only came in one Bionicle kit. See? You can make something clever, creative, and "girly" even with all of those instruction-based, adventure-(You Control the Action!)-packed "boy" kits.
Details: Bionicle might not be the most natural looking thing to most people, but this lobster looks surprisingly realistic. When building animals like this, there's always a certain trade-off between realistically adding movable limbs and trying to squeeze in the most accurate appearance possible. This lobster looks like a good balance to me.
Details: It's very difficult to make humanoid Bionicle creations that don't come off as childish, spindly, or action-figurish. This anthropomorphized sun works surprisingly well, considering how many Bionicle joints, bizarre Throwbot and Bionicle elements, and unusual angles are used. A full 17 photos are up for this one, showing some interesting details and poses - and, of course (this still being related to a world filled with comic books) a storyline.
Details: It can be difficult to achieve just the right shape using only Bionicle parts. It's even harder if you start off with a very limited palette of Bionicle elements. Yes, I know I should nitpick the lack of a third horn (even though there's clearly space for it) on this model, but when you consider that this was built in 2 hours by someone on vacation - without access to most of their collection - it's an impressive little model. If you don't consider those limitations, it's actually still not a bad little dinosaur - it's certainly more realistic texture-wise in some spots than most brick-built ones are.
You'd think that, thanks to the announcement that LEGO Atlantis 2010 kits were actually coming out November 24th, new sets would have been the biggest news in the LEGO world yesterday. You'd be wrong. There was Bionicle news big enough to outweigh the line of 6 new canisters on the shelves ("Stars" of the line being reissued in a different new form). Yesterday, the LEGO company announced the end of Bionicle.
Bionicle originally came out in 2001. 9 years is a pretty decent run - long enough to compete with many of the "classic" themes we keep saying LEGO should make more of instead of Bionicle (think about it this way - factions in "Space" only lasted from 12 years, 1987-1998. Pirates only came out in 1989 and was pretty much phased out by the late 1990's. No Wild West or underwater themes lasted more then a few years. For this generation, Bionicle and Town - er, "City", are the only two themes that have reliably been released year after year). Although much of the line was devoted to the all-original storyline and ways to build related action figures, there was a decent share of classic kits in the theme over the years. New, rare, and often exclusive parts and colors frequently popped up in Bionicle kits, and we'll continue finding new uses for those elements in the future. For now, though, I've decided to highlight some of my favorite Bionicle kits from these past 9 years.
8534 Tahu (2001): When the Bionicle line originally came out, there were just the 6 "good guys" - the Toa. At this point, they were expected to be yet another flash-in-the-pan action figure line. This wasn't the first time LEGO had tried to make Technic more appealing to kids by adding an action-figure style concept - the late 90's had brought "Tech Play" and "Cyberslam" (that's "Competition" for those of you in Europe), and we had also seen the "Robo-Riders" and "Throwbot"/"Slizer" lines come and go. The simple gearbox torso elements brought into the Bionicle line made these a bit more enjoyable as action figures (OK, fine, the storyline helped too), and also gave additional gearing and simple animation possibilities for those of us more technically inclined. The unusual characters - controversial back then for their use of MalaysianMāori words as names - turned out to be surprisingly popular, but in the end Tahu was everyone's favorite (the fire sword remains one of the "coolest" weapons we've seen, although I'm sure I could make a separate list of interesting weapons we've seen over the years). Pohatu also deserves a few points for being the only one in the original line to use the torso element upside-down (thus showing us how to control leg motion with gears instead of arm motion).
8557 Exo-Toa (2002): In the earlier years of the Bionicle range, the various accessories and factions were all Technic contraptions, usually capable of one or two simple actions - which, frankly, is reasonably respectable for a $10+ toy. Larger, more technically advanced baddies meant that the good guys had to grow in scale to match the threats against the Island of Mata Nui. In later years, we settled for simpler action figures that happened to be taller than the original line of Toa, but in 2002, this beautiful mecha/armor was the way that the smaller heroes could fight the bad guys. Rare and exclusive parts added to the cachet of the kit, but the play features are what made many of us who bought this for parts actually keep this one assembled. Strangely, though, only Tahu seems to completely fit inside this exosuit even though the Bionicle storyline claimed that all 6 Toa had similar armor.
8759 Battle of Metru Nui (2005): We all doubted the LEGO company's sanity when they announced that they'd be releasing "System" Bionicle kits. Sure, they'll be "juniorized", they'll have obnoxious fake "minifigs", etc. All those complaints turned out to be fair. These kits also included a number of rare or even exclusive elements, generous amounts of parts in rare colors, and some interesting features. Those of us who like dark red slopes for our town layouts tend to think of Cafe Corner as the first great LEGO kit in the world of dark red parts, but this kit came first and gave you a better variety of dark red parts for considerably less money.
8755 Keetongu (2005): After many of us had given up on Bionicle due to too many straight action-figure kits (gears became increasingly rare in the sets as the years wore on), LEGO gave us this delightful surprise. An incredible parts pack in the rare color of bright light orange, this set gave us an unusual physics lesson as a weapon. Yes, even without gears, Bionicle can still bring serious educational value! Spinning the axle in the middle of the weapon doesn't just engage the knob wheels, it also brings in conservation of angular momentum, which makes the entire weapon spin as a whole even while the knob wheels move the outer parts of the weapon. A review that shows the weapon can be seen on YouTube.
8941 Rockoh T3 (2008): I decided to try this set out on a whim, thinking that the dark green round Technic panels could come in handy sometime. I was incredibly surprised by how advanced a construction this wound up being - I still haven't finished figuring out how the unusual geometry lines up (to add to the fun, there's one place where things actually don't quite line up but a beam is "locked" into place by other beams nearby). We also got to see some great uses for knob wheels (I believe this is the only kit to feature them at an obtuse angle), and did I mention that this thing doubles as a giant handgun for Bionicle zamor spheres? Yes, a set can be interesting as a Technic kit, a geometric wonder, and still have play features most kids will love (oh, and this came with some sort of action figure character too).
The Rockoh T3 kit is still available from LEGO Shop at Home - I'm afraid the other sets here are no longer available. One of them (Tahu) will be available in a decidedly less interesting form in 2010, or at a LEGO Brand Retail store location near you in the United States, United Kingdom, or Germany.
An error in this article regarding the language controversy was corrected on September 18th, 2016. We regret the error.
Details: This six-sided structure makes good use of some fairly difficult to use Bionicle elements. The six-sides appear to be provided by a Technic wheel - which conveniently gives another place to connect things through its axle. Constructing something this clever is a feat in itself, but actually getting a proper cockpit with a windshield and seat makes this instantly recognizable as a flying saucer.
Making this more unusual yet, this model was built for the Flattery Challenge, a contest that asks LEGO hobbyists to attempt a model more in the style of another builder. Part of the game is that when the models are first shared online, the builder of each model isn't revealed - so people have to guess who built what and whose style they are imitating. In this case, the builder was trying to imitate Arpy's creations.
Details: I like to think I've seen plenty of great techniques for working DUPLO parts into LEGO models - and I've similarly been on the lookout for new BIONICLE techniques. I have no idea how I never knew about all of the exciting techniques I'm seeing here, though. Apparently Bionicle sockets fit at a angle into the corners of DUPLO bricks (note the arms here). A similar technique for other Technic and Bionicle parts allows other DUPLO bricks to stick on at various angles. You can also create a sturdy connection with the inside of the tops of DUPLO studs and the small 1x1 "tap" element (note how the legs are assembled). Finally, the age-old technique that LEGO used to promote heavily in their own official advertisements - standard LEGO bricks in many sizes fit directly on top of DUPLO bricks. While this is a technical tour-de-force, it's also a pretty interesting looking model in its own right - it's a stunning design and a spectacular use of these yellow parts.
Details: Looking at the Bionicle universe, it's hard not to notice that LEGO has chosen not to release many civilian characters. It's a world of heroes and villians, Toa, masks and whatever came after the Toa (I lost track of the plot fairly early on, and started deriding it openly after they announced that the planet of Mata Nui is itself a giant Toa that would star in the 2009 line). Wounded Toa are something that LEGO simply hasn't accounted for. Part of this might be expense - the sheer size of some of these Bionicle characters means that properly scaled vehicles and buildings are generally too expensive to build or for the company to sell (to their credit, though, LEGO has created a few Technic-based vehicles that seem to be roughly to-scale).
On to this model, now - this is a builder after my own heart, clearly trying to mesh disparate parts from a wide variety of LEGO themes. "Arctic" treads and "X-Pod" lids (two parts largely ignored as "useless") take on a whole new context when used together and combined with Star Wars droid arms and Explorien octagonal elements to form wheels. The studs of log bricks have been connected directly into studless Technic beams (a simple but surprisingly underused technique) to create a comfortable looking back for the chair. Bionicle elements are used both in the chair's structure and as accents. Triangular Technic propellers (sparsely used now but widely available in the '90s) hold the footrest at just the right angle - and of course, the footrest can be retracted using the Bionicle ball joints. Finally, there's the spectacular color scheme - dark blue and yellow. I had no idea that some of these parts were even made in these colors before.
Details: At first glance, this is a haunting and spectacular mecha. Then you look closer, zooming in on the photos to see the various greebled elements. The closer you look, the more surprising the parts are and the more you start to appreciate the brilliant techniques used here. Chains and masks provide startling details while simultaneously appearing to float detached from the model. While there are quite a few spectacular uses of parts in here, my favorite thing about this has to be the way it takes "useless" Robo-Riders elements and gives them new life - a wheel casing is a back, an arm uses that bizarre faux-gear element, and the visor become the top of the mecha's head. After spotting those, the combination of Bionicle joints with Ninja swords doesn't seem all that shocking anymore.
Details: Every so often, the various Bionicle fansites out there will do a building contest. Most of these contests are based on Bionicle-style creations, but the most exciting ones to those of us who aren't Bionicle fans are always the contests that ask builders to use the Bionicle parts to build something outside of the theme. This sculpture of a rose is beautiful, and fitting for Valentine's Day today.
Love is sacrificing rare colors like dark red, dark green, pearl gray, and trans-dark-blue, isn't it?
Most of the building techniques here are fairly straightforward - the two to catch are the paird-up masks at the top and the use of loose balls from ball-and-socket-joints to put dark green socket beams close together (Close up photo: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2815373 ).
Details: Occasionally, someone will introduce himself (or herself) to the LEGO fan community with such a bold, original, how-did-he-do-that-with-LEGO-parts style that it just takes everyone by surprise. This is one of those builders. I don't care what you think of Steampunk, minifig-scale, or Bionicle - these are truly works of art. There are technically 5 models here, but only 15 photos. I found myself going to the "All Sizes" link on every one to decipher what was going on. So many of these parts are the sort of thing people tend to write off as useless - it's truly shocking to see some of them put to such great use. To see so many of them used so well in this context is mind-blowing. Just to top that off, there are a few more common pieces - but they're all used in unusual ways (note the boat sections that turn into jaws on the HMS Vern).
Details: I don't think that there are any failed LEGO themes that I truly hate. Galidor is one of the most despised pre-Bionicle action-figure themes. A true Galidor creation will, by definition, look ridiculous. However, you can take a few parts from that theme at a time and build them into other things well. This bluish pod thing in the middle was apparently a spaceship originally, but now it's the driver's seat of a mecha. Of course, that part is pretty huge and useless - you really need to look at a few of the close-up photos just to get an idea of the scale of this thing. I also love the irony of using other "useless" Technic parts - mostly Bionicle ones in fact - to revive the ridiculous Galidor theme.
Details: Here's an interesting sculpture of Ollie the dragon, made from Bionicle parts. Lots of clever uses here, but when nothing is used in the traditional way, it's kind of hard to point out just a few in particular. Ollie is an unusual character herself - a somewhat apocryphal part of LEGOLAND folklore. I'm not clear on where she (he?) came from, but apparently Ollie can be found in various incarnations at every LEGOLAND park and at most other official LEGO displays - regardless of theme. Bizarrely, when Ollie did finally show up in a set, she was simply called "LEGO Dragon". Since the inspiration for this one is itself an enigma, I'll let it slide that there's only two photos of this one instead of a regular photo gallery.
Details: For obvious reasons, LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT kits generally inspire people to build fairly complex robots. However, there are some awesome things that can be done with ridiculously simple programs as well. The program is essentially "wait 5 seconds, then go forward for 5 seconds" - the appeal being that after the program is started, you have 5 seconds to aim for your opponent and then 5 seconds for the two 'bots to go on the attack. It's kind of like a castle-themed video game, but with Bionicle figures instead of virtual violence. Of course, with an NXT intelligent brick and 2 motors in each horse, this isn't exactly a cheap little game, but it looks like lots of fun.
Details: This gorgeous horse sculpture is made entirely with Technic and Bionicle pieces - it looks like there might not be a single stud in it. The dark red color scheme isn't exactly a natural color but it works well (and shows off a sizeable collection!). I would have preferred a longer nose, but that probably would be very difficult to add. I love the way that various "tentacle" elements were used to create a mane. The reins, tail, and legs all look great, but the perfect touch is definitely the horseshoes. Stuff like that just proves that the naysayers are wrong about the amount of detail you can get in a model made with Bionicle parts. If you're into this model, you'll also want to check out the rider made by the same builder - which can ride this horse or a few different motorcycles. No word, though, on how long it will take to line up the ball-and-socket joints to get a front-legs-in-the-air money shot of the horse and rider.
Details: This adorable elephant is a winner from a Bionicle-Based Creation building contest at BZPower (I'll be featuring more entries into these contests in the future - it's an oversight on my part that you haven't seen more awesome Bionicle stuff here so far). It's not hard to see why - it's one of those few Bionicle creations that is immediately recognizable as something from outside of the Bionicle world. I think the colors used here include both dark stone and dark gray, but they blend together pretty well here. For those of you not into Bionicle, those are balls from ball-and-socket joints for eyes, Toa heads for feet, head elements from smaller Bionicle creatures for ears, and a Toa leg-piece for a tail. They did have to use a few of the "normal" LEGO® pieces near the top to flesh out the rounded back, but in my book you get extra points for reminding people that all the parts still work together.
The NXT 2.0
's color sensor and disturbingly large quantity of Bionicle zamor spheres
makes the kit perfectly suited for machine guns and machines that sort balls by color. The builder I'm featuring today decided to try a few ball-sorter designs from the Internet and a few original designs. You can see four of Robin Newman’s designs at the link above, along with videos, code, building instructions, and information about what sets and parts you would need to build each version. 
to build this awesome spaceship. Single-seating fighters are a popular subject of LEGO creations, and many of them strain to properly fit a minifigure ("fits a fig!" is a common cry among "spacers"). This model cleverly uses various wedge plates with cutouts (it's a strange part to describe, 
8557 Exo-Toa (2002)
8755 Keetongu (2005)
kits generally inspire people to build fairly complex robots. However, there are some awesome things that can be done with ridiculously simple programs as well. The program is essentially "wait 5 seconds, then go forward for 5 seconds" - the appeal being that after the program is started, you have 5 seconds to aim for your opponent and then 5 seconds for the two 'bots to go on the attack. It's kind of like a castle-themed video game, but with Bionicle figures instead of virtual violence. Of course, with an NXT intelligent brick and 2 motors in each horse, this isn't exactly a cheap little game, but it looks like lots of fun. 
