It might look a little awkward to have those huge size gaps between different characters though. But those are some interesting ideas you have there.
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Why would it be strange when we have the same deal in real life. In real life you dont have people with the same height, but various heights among people and body shapes. And since Lego would go bankrupt making new models for each and every height variation, we can stick we these already made three height variations for all the figures, just mix and match depending on the character you wish to have…this doesnt need a lot of work put into it, we already have 80-90% the model shapes created by Lego, we just need to used those more often in alarger-smaller-equal amount depending on the sets in question.
If monsters figures could have changed their body shapes before, why cant regular humanoid figures have the same variation with their heights and body shapes?
PS: The heroes size should not indicate their power, look at Yoda, the greatest Jedi Master of his time, was a freaking midget in height. Why cant some of the Toa also portray this message. Height should not indicate you are better than someone, it should just indicate how far your nead is from your legs, thats it.
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One reason I don’t think that the Matoran shouldn’t all be short characters is because LEGO never has many short characters in a line. In most lines, say there are 30 characters in a line, the majority of all of the characters have regular legs. Only about 5 or 6 of the characters have short legs. The only exception to this rule is the Hobbit line, which had about 15 short characters in the sets. If we are going at this realistically, we wouldn’t have the majority of characters as midgets.
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For those saying that the toa should be tall to be good compared to the matoran, Warrick Davis is not what you would call tall yet he has still accomplished many things such as being a famous and well respected actor, also matoran were like I said small to be cheap sets however matoran can be tall and respected just like toa,in real life there is not just 6 people who are the heroes, I believe there should be respected matoran such as helpers of the toa or even warriors
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And therein lies the problem. This isn’t real life. It’s a fan made concept based on an already existing fictional IP that feature bio mechanical beings. Like in G1, Toa are Matoran, but with elemental powers given to them (as stated in G3 canon), thereby giving them a larger stature (IMO).
Size doesn’t have anything to do with respect. As you mentioned above, Warwick Davis is an extremely respected individual, and has led an incredibly successful life. The Matoran are no different. Jaller, Takua, Hahli, Macku, Hewkii, etc. are all fan favorite characters due to their roles in MNOG and other material, and many of them expressed how heroic they could be despite their stature, further teaching kids that anyone could be a hero.
It’s just that the size difference between Matoran/Turaga/Toa helps differentiate their respective roles to those that are unfamiliar with BIONICLE lore. As Var stated on the recent podcast in the over-blown and too long argument with Jon, the difference in size between minifigures will help a hypothetical random customer figure out which character is the more important. I personally believe that the Toa should have added tribal printing on their body/armor to help differentiate between roles, alongside being taller.
Also, that hypothetical general consumer probably isn’t going to have a problem with the shorter, non articulated legs that the Matoran would have. There hasn’t been a massive outcry from the general consumer population to give the smaller figures leg articulation, and I doubt that a smaller population of people complaining about it on various forums and message boards would sway LEGO to change anything anytime soon if Brickonicle were real. If Brickonicle were being done by LEGO, the Matoran would all be shorter figs.
True, but how many Matoran would ever be released to the public in this hypothetical scenario? As Var said, there would be one or two Matoran MAX in each set (and even then there may not be any in some sets) to help create the conflict in a box. If only the larger $30+ sets have Matoran in them, there are around 14 sets in a wave (just pulling arbitrary numbers out of my head) and half of those are $30+, then you’d end up with only 7-10 Matoran, and who knows how many Toa and enemies duplicates. That’s not exactly a lot. It’s less than The Hobbit sets.
I started out this past week thinking the Matoran could be regular minifigures while the Toa would be differentiated by armor add ons and printing, but after all of this discussion, in my opinion, the Toa should be regular minifigures while the Matoran remain with the “Hobbit Legs”. Sorry.
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No need to be sorry however toa should have more markings than matoran just the same height, [quote=“prentice1215, post:67, topic:35702”]
And therein lies the problem. This isn’t real life. It’s a fan made concept based on an already existing fictional IP that feature bio mechanical beings. Like in G1, Toa are Matoran, but with elemental powers given to them (as stated in G3 canon), thereby giving them a larger stature (IMO).
Pohatuisawesome:
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But it can be inspired by real life! do you watch a show or movie and say “I do not care for the main character because he is not real” no bionicle should be more realistic in order to appeal to a younger generation matoran should be tall to be more human, plus it makes the matoran more appeal and if they ever fight back they can look more serious, who took the Protecors V Elemental Beasts seriously? The guards in nexo Knights are what the matoran should be like, the squire bots are not supposed to be taken seriously
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The Hobbit still stands out to me as a great example of characters who are small being wildly loved by media as a whole. The argument “BIONICLE should be more realistic and make everybody the same” undermines what BIONICLE is. Its a fantasy story, a work of fiction and it should own it. The size is a huge part of the power hierarchy and I feel is one of the easiest ways to communicate “Yo, this dude is literally a larger then life demigod and these are just some simple helpless townsfolk”
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Well it also aint G1 and G2, so the pre establish notions of Matoran have to be inferior in everything from the Toa should just freaking stop.Plus as we know G1 and G2 if they were sucessful with their way of the highway, they would not be canceled.
Its so freaking strange with you people, on one hand you want the element of size matters not, but on the other hand you want the size do literally dictate the superiority and power level of characters. You are contradicting yourselves.
No it should not be, plus its a horrible message to people…aka Im better than you in everyway possible and my height shows it (thats a freaking horrible message to anyone, specially kids). Kids should learn that ones appearance matters not, its what you do or the deeds of people that makes them great or horrible. One can have all the powers of a Toa but its useless if he doesnt use it (specially for good).
Or how about he is a literal demi god by his deeds and yet he is normal size, or smaller physically.
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Superman is not twice the size of everyone else, neither is batman or wonder woman or spiderman, these heroes do not have to be tall, I can understand the villains being tall but why do toa have to be sooooo big, what if tahu has a home (he probably does) in ta koro, would it make much sense if he was 6ft compared to everyone being sooo much shorter I mean he might scare matoran and so would the others
Toa physically should not differ from the Matoran (specially if you include the Three heights two body shape variations Ive given above) in the sense that only the Toa Matoran are a specific size, while the regular Matoran are another specific size.
They are granted powers others can not weild as easily, however that should not be the end all be all. The Toa hold exceptional power but have no skill in using it…which can make him go toe and toa with another character who doesnt have the massive power level, but is exceptionally skilled with what he has.
The Toa should work for their actual power level (skill and general elemental power), and ironically they would learn that from those that are not pert of this group called the Toa, which have far more knowledge of the elements than the Toa that embody them…which makes them initially more powerful than the Toa.
Size of the characters should never be the visual representation of someones power level, however it should be used to indicate several things:
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People of the same size, or different sizes can achieve great things and elavate themselves through their deeds.
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A Persons size does not indicate their actual size in terms of power, and deeds.
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Some people are born and grow up to be tall, some small, some buff, some curvy…and that is all okey, not everyone is the same.
When you have everyone of different size and body shapes, it fixes the problem of Matoran Toa HAVE to be taller, or the Matoran being smaller. You can just as easily have a tall regular Matoran, or a short Toa Matoran…and that is honestly way better cause you get variety set wise, story potential.
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But that isn’t the message that is sent to kids. Sure, the Toa are insanely more powerful than the Matoran, but in 01-03, the Matoran were the more “grown up” characters if you will. Jaller and the Ta Koro guard were able to muster up the courage to fight off the Rahi long before the Toa showed up, and even when they did, the Toa bickered endlessly before they finally got the job done. The Toa Inika were a better Toa Team right off the bat because they had been Matoran on the Island of Mata Nui before hand, and knew how to put aside their petty differences and work toward a common goal, something that took the Toa Mata/Nuva and Toa Metru ages to do.
The Matoran being smaller compared to the Turaga or Toa doesn’t mean they’re any lesser a person than their elders or heroes, it just shows that they don’t wield as great a power as them.
Size doesn’t matter. Your stature doesn’t mean you can’t help out or be a hero, it just means you can’t throw fire from your hands like Tahu can (I actually don’t like the idea of the villagers having a small amount of elemental powers, BTW. What they can and can’t do with their limited powers is too vague at this point). That size helps show the buyer of the toy which character can do what.
Thank you!
In a movie/show that is more realistic, sure, but BIONICLE is basically the old legends of the Greek gods and goddesses in robot form. Beings of immense power doing cool stuff. Can anyone really relate to Zeus?
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Speaking of all this height stuff… I haven’t gotten the chance to listen to the latest podcast; anyone know what was decided/discussed?
This. It was nothing but this for an hour and a half. The same points over and over and over.
But did they come to a conclusion?
Hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha.
No. No, they did not.
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Yes but their silliness was shown throw personality body Language and printing. The matoran in brickonicle don’t have to be this way. As you stated earlier, Warwick Davis is a well respected actor. But we can still respect him and take him seriously.
It is exactly this which separates us from bionicle it is ‘not real’ it is as real as you make it out to be, some people believe in other things that i do not understand why, plus what has this got to do with legs, and tesla effect is right you are being hypocritical[quote=“prentice1215, post:73, topic:35702”]
Size doesn’t matter. Your stature doesn’t mean you can’t help out or be a hero, it just means you can’t throw fire from your hands like Tahu can (I actually don’t like the idea of the villagers having a small amount of elemental powers, BTW. What they can and can’t do with their limited powers is too vague at this point). That size helps show the buyer of the toy which character can do what.
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but not all matoran should be short or talll
Em, I didnt say that quote that you have put my name in, that Was Raptor. Mine was the one bellow regarding the hipocrisy and contradiction of their statements.
How am I being hypocritical? Size doesn’t matter in importance to the story, which is what I’m arguing for. Size does matter when it comes to showing what someone’s power level is.
What it has to do with legs is part of the argument Jon was making on the recent podcast. The reason that he doesn’t want the Matoran to be small is because of the smaller “Hobbit” style minifigure legs that don’t have articulation.
His entire argument is predicated on the idea that the smaller legs are terrible, and because of this, the Matoran should be taller, especially since, in his opinion, they should have a larger part in the story. Var then made points that I brought up in my earlier argument that size doesn’t have anything to do with importance to the story. It might do you well to watch the latest podcast (although it’s basically the same three arguments repeated over and over, meaning it quickly becomes very repetitive. Proceed with caution).
