I’ve checked all around the UK, been on a bit of a sight-seeing tour to see friends/family. Doesn’t seem to be much anywhere.
Admittedly my constant comments at a local store did convince them to stock the Bionicle sets, though they were charging them at a rounded-up price because ‘Its difficult for young children to add up numbers that are not rounded’ ¬.¬
Not sure whether that was just an excuse for charging more than the RRP or whether they actually think the target audience for the sets is below number adding age… :L
True… Hopefully we actually do get good pictures of the sets. I just want to see how Umarak The Destroyer looks as it’ll likely be the most expensive.
Not sure i get the whole afterlife idea, though i think the potential for the creatures to have been more powerful before Makuta made the MoUP and disrupted the harmony of the island. I like the idea that they were strong enough to fend off Umarak before however now that he has returned (probably empowered by Makuta somehow) Its possible that they are weaker so they are no longer strong enough on their own to really defend against Umarak or Makuta, so instead of fighting against them they simply hide the Mask Of Control and then go into hiding themselves.
I think rather than this being an afterlife it would be better suited to what the Toa need to prove to earn the creatures trust. I’m not sure the creatures would really be suited to being the god-like beings of Okoto that are not only representing the elements but also in charge of their own afterlife style realm.
This one i really do like, its kind of disturbing and like a perpetual hell of purgatory of some kind. Though once again, feel this could work without it being an afterlife. Simply have it as the elemental location that Umarak has power over, maybe make him similar to the Creatures in that he represents an element and similar to Makuta that he wants power over more than just a single element.
I kind of feel if he had this ability he would use it instead of the shadow traps. Though admittedly my view of the shadow traps is that they are simply mechanical creations made by Umarak that he has imbued with a dark energy that allows him to control them.
I like this idea, however feel it would work better for a character such as Makuta when he has the MoUP, that he is starting to learn to control it by creating shadowy echo’s of himself that use up the power of the mask to keep it stable. Sort of like the ‘oily shadows’ from Mass Effect.
Also, i really like the shadowy Umarak you did, can you do this for all the villains? Possibly as a separate topic? 
In my viewpoint;
- Hype train 1.0 was the hype for the 2015 Winter sets
- Hype train 2.0 was the hype for the 2015 summer sets
- Hype train 3.0 was the hype for the 2016 Winter sets
- Hype train 4.0 would be the hype for the Netflix series when that is released
- Hype train 5.0 would be the hype for the 2016 Summer sets
I think he should to be honest, or at least be defeated by the Toa and escape with the Mask Of Control to give to Makuta - now realising that he is not strong enough to defeat the Toa without help. Makuta would then be awakened and active enough to travel to find the MoUP. Though Makuta would kill Umarak for his treachery of trying to wear the Mask Of Control, establishing himself as the main villain for the 2016 storyline.
‘New Epic Universe and Story’ could imply virtually anything.
Though admittedly the collab with Christian Faber is something… plus Merlin recently teased his involvement in a collab also…
###Things are happening… 0____0