@Lewa8439 said:
"To bad the 2006 and 2007 Bionicle playsets are not in the lore, because some of the designs are really fun "

Should make someone's job really easy, then, yeah?

Well, dadgumit, this is Lego!

I also like Boncle minifigs. Does that make me a hypocrite? :/

@GSR_MataNui said:
"I absolutely love this thing because it is the most "biomechanical" BIONICLE ever got. One of Faber's goals with the IP was to blur the lines between organic creatures, machines, and locations, and IMO a giant shrimp submarine you ride inside is the epitome of that philosophy."

No set that they've ever produced is even remotely biomechanical in nature. This is closer to being cybernetic (though even that's not the correct word), rather than involving the mechanical nature of purely biological organisms. "Biomechanical" refers to stuff like how the human musculoskeletal system works to provide leverage, or how the cardiopulmonary system moves chemical energy and waste around the body, not living machines. In terms of misappropriated words, it's right up there with "duct tape", which comes from mispronouncing the brand name "Duck Tape", and heavily implies that a tape that was designed strictly to create a waterproof covering is remotely suitable for the taping of joints in ductwork (in truth, it's going to fail pretty badly as the adhesive dries out, and can even be a fire hazard if you use it on the wrong bit of ductwork, which is what aluminum tape is for).

I'm surprised I didn't see that big mask used in MOCs. That thing is terrifying. Some one must have used it as a train head somewhere...

@GSR_MataNui yeah, Hahli was the one who got mad. I suppose they figured she was the one most likely to be upset by the mistreatment of a sea creature. Or maybe they thought it was fitting given that the Crawler’s head resembles the Kanohi Faxon that Hahli was wearing at the time.

A train, a bug and a robot all in one, no wonder I thought it was cool

I've never been a big fan of Bionicle, but I really respect the series for having such a rich history and the design of some of the robots. I have 8910 and 8745 myself. This set has always been interesting to me because it looked like a mix of different techniques and series to me, like a MOC. As for Bionicle, I don't rule out buying some classic robots to expand my collection. Lately, I've been catching up on old Bionicle online games. Some are pretty absorbing. I'm shocked that VNOG is so long, more like a Video Game.

Okay, the Kanohi Faxon is one of my favorite Kanohi Mask designs in the franchise (the original Kanohi Kakama is my personal favorite), and I remember seeing JangBricks use the Kanohi Faxon cockpit piece from this set for a pretty sick Ultimate Arachnix MOC during his Hero Factory MOC days!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AwA4XnFLWI

Hello to the reason every story I write has characters living inside a massive vehicle

@MusiMus said:
"I've never been a big fan of Bionicle, but I really respect the series for having such a rich history and the design of some of the robots. I have 8910 and 8745 myself. This set has always been interesting to me because it looked like a mix of different techniques and series to me, like a MOC. As for Bionicle, I don't rule out buying some classic robots to expand my collection. Lately, I've been catching up on old Bionicle online games. Some are pretty absorbing. I'm shocked that VNOG is so long, more like a Video Game."

First of all you gotta stop calling them robots. Only a few sets like 8556 and 8557 are technically (heh) robots. But welcome! There's no shame in getting immersed in one of the most expansive stories based on toys just because you don't like the toys themselves! Moving onto the comics is a good next step. But in the meantime, Inika Island Assault and Battle For Power were my favorite games, and MNOG is a classic

@Lewa8439 said:
"To bad the 2006 and 2007 Bionicle playsets are not in the lore, because some of the designs are really fun "

As soon as I saw the words "not in the lore," I had a feeling @GSR_MataNui would prove you wrong. And I was right!

@ShilohCyan said:"Only a few sets like 8556 and 8557 are technically (heh) robots. "
is a vehicle.
8556 is a vehicle. Technically (there's that pun again), 8557 is too, but it's capable of operating on its own.

heck yeah! Love this thing to bits

@PurpleDave said:
"In terms of misappropriated words, it's right up there with "duct tape", which comes from mispronouncing the brand name "Duck Tape", and heavily implies that a tape that was designed strictly to create a waterproof covering is remotely suitable for the taping of joints in ductwork (in truth, it's going to fail pretty badly as the adhesive dries out, and can even be a fire hazard if you use it on the wrong bit of ductwork, which is what aluminum tape is for)."
Duct tape, invented during WWII, is definitely not a mispronunciation of the brand name "Duck Tape"—the opposite is true: "Duck" brand tape—debuting in 1980—was a deliberately humorous mispronunciation of duct tape, as a way to goose sales with a cute mascot. You can see the visual evidence right here:
https://www.duckbrand.com/about

The bigger question is whether "duct tape," was originally called "duck tape," then later mispronounced. On the pro side, we have the Oxford English Dictionary, which claims it is "perhaps an alteration of earlier duck tape," a phrase first documented in 1899. On the con side, it turns out that all the stuff referred to as "duck tape" was actually non-adhesive strips of fabric. The first official citation of "duck tape" referring to what we know as "duct tape" is apparently from the 1970s, by which time "duct tape" is well-attested.
https://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/03/14/tale_of_the_tape/

It does appear to be generally agreed that whatever undocumented name GIs called this tape during the war, it soon came to be used on heating ducts when it was commercialized after the war, and was retroactively given its silver color to match this application.

True, it was a poor product for heating ducts and is definitely not recommend for such today. But that doesn't mean it wasn't the original duct tape. The construction industry is littered with previously common practices which are in retrospect manifestly terrible ideas—knob-and-tube wiring, asbestos insulation, and lead paint all spring to mind. Adhesive tapes are barely a hundred years old at this point, so specialized foil tapes may well have come much later. (Apparently clear packing tape didn't even exist until 1981?) I didn't find any history of temperature-resistant foil tape, so who knows?

I need to see a moc built with that front end

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Lewa8439 said:
"To bad the 2006 and 2007 Bionicle playsets are not in the lore, because some of the designs are really fun "

As soon as I saw the words "not in the lore," I had a feeling @GSR_MataNui would prove you wrong. And I was right!

@ShilohCyan said:"Only a few sets like 8556 and 8557 are technically (heh) robots. "
is a vehicle.
8556 is a vehicle. Technically (there's that pun again), 8557 is too, but it's capable of operating on its own."

Bionicle Legends 8, page 25: "Even stranger was that the beast was outfitted with mechanical add-ons and weaponry, making it look more like a living vehicle than a creature."

@GSR_MataNui said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
"I absolutely love this thing because it is the most "biomechanical" BIONICLE ever got. One of Faber's goals with the IP was to blur the lines between organic creatures, machines, and locations, and IMO a giant shrimp submarine you ride inside is the epitome of that philosophy."

No set that they've ever produced is even remotely biomechanical in nature. This is closer to being cybernetic (though even that's not the correct word), rather than involving the mechanical nature of purely biological organisms. "Biomechanical" refers to stuff like how the human musculoskeletal system works to provide leverage, or how the cardiopulmonary system moves chemical energy and waste around the body, not living machines. In terms of misappropriated words, it's right up there with "duct tape", which comes from mispronouncing the brand name "Duck Tape", and heavily implies that a tape that was designed strictly to create a waterproof covering is remotely suitable for the taping of joints in ductwork (in truth, it's going to fail pretty badly as the adhesive dries out, and can even be a fire hazard if you use it on the wrong bit of ductwork, which is what aluminum tape is for)."

We've had this conversation fifty damn times so when are you going to shut up about it. It is biomechanical in the sci-fi sense of the term, not the scientific sense. Much how Pokemon don't actually "evolve" they go through metamorphosis, the term the series uses is "evolve" so if you don't like it though luck. I've told you this time and time again, do I have to take a hammer to your skull to make it stick?

Biomechanical in the sci-fi sense has meant "part organic, part machine" since H.R. Geiger coined it in '79. You don't like it? Too bad, whine to LEGO 25 years ago, not me. I don't like the term "post-modern" or "neo-western" when it comes to art, but I don't write the rules and neither do you. My job is to deliver the lore *as canonically stated* so let me do my damn job! "

I'm on your side dude but you need to chill out with threats and swearing on a toy site (Even if we're probably all AFOLs). That was extremely uncool.

@ShilohCyan said:
" Hello to the reason every story I write has characters living inside a massive vehicle

@MusiMus said:
"I've never been a big fan of Bionicle, but I really respect the series for having such a rich history and the design of some of the robots. I have 8910 and 8745 myself. This set has always been interesting to me because it looked like a mix of different techniques and series to me, like a MOC. As for Bionicle, I don't rule out buying some classic robots to expand my collection. Lately, I've been catching up on old Bionicle online games. Some are pretty absorbing. I'm shocked that VNOG is so long, more like a Video Game."

First of all you gotta stop calling them robots. Only a few sets like 8556 and 8557 are technically (heh) robots. But welcome! There's no shame in getting immersed in one of the most expansive stories based on toys just because you don't like the toys themselves! Moving onto the comics is a good next step. But in the meantime, Inika Island Assault and Battle For Power were my favorite games, and MNOG is a classic"

Okay, you're right, I've simplified things a bit and I'm not saying I don't like them. For example, Toa Kongu was a really good fit for me. I'd buy myself Taxu, jets like Axalara or something from Creeps of The Deeps. I've simply been collecting Modular Buildings, Model Team, old City, Creator, Technic for many years, lots of original themes like Agents, Mars Mission, Aqua Raiders or Exo-Force, those based on movies like Star Wars, Bionicle are something completely different but also interesting. Unfortunately, some sets, especially MiSB have really crazy prices per piece. As a child, I remember playing Battle for Power or Mistika. Now I went back to this as an AFOL, I've played both parts of MNOG (especially the first part has a great atmosphere), Piraka Attack and a few other games and they really interested me. However, I tried to play Inika and the game didn't load but I managed to get it working and I'll play it someday.

@AllenSmith said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"In terms of misappropriated words, it's right up there with "duct tape", which comes from mispronouncing the brand name "Duck Tape", and heavily implies that a tape that was designed strictly to create a waterproof covering is remotely suitable for the taping of joints in ductwork (in truth, it's going to fail pretty badly as the adhesive dries out, and can even be a fire hazard if you use it on the wrong bit of ductwork, which is what aluminum tape is for)."
Duct tape, invented during WWII, is definitely not a mispronunciation of the brand name "Duck Tape"—the opposite is true: "Duck" brand tape—debuting in 1980—was a deliberately humorous mispronunciation of duct tape, as a way to goose sales with a cute mascot. You can see the visual evidence right here:
https://www.duckbrand.com/about

The bigger question is whether "duct tape," was originally called "duck tape," then later mispronounced. On the pro side, we have the Oxford English Dictionary, which claims it is "perhaps an alteration of earlier duck tape," a phrase first documented in 1899. On the con side, it turns out that all the stuff referred to as "duck tape" was actually non-adhesive strips of fabric. The first official citation of "duck tape" referring to what we know as "duct tape" is apparently from the 1970s, by which time "duct tape" is well-attested.
https://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/03/14/tale_of_the_tape/

It does appear to be generally agreed that whatever undocumented name GIs called this tape during the war, it soon came to be used on heating ducts when it was commercialized after the war, and was retroactively given its silver color to match this application.

True, it was a poor product for heating ducts and is definitely not recommend for such today. But that doesn't mean it wasn't the original duct tape. The construction industry is littered with previously common practices which are in retrospect manifestly terrible ideas—knob-and-tube wiring, asbestos insulation, and lead paint all spring to mind. Adhesive tapes are barely a hundred years old at this point, so specialized foil tapes may well have come much later. (Apparently clear packing tape didn't even exist until 1981?) I didn't find any history of temperature-resistant foil tape, so who knows?"

Add Orangeburg pipe to that list of terrible construction practices!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangeburg_pipe

Yeah I think I need this, and I don’t collect Bionicle at all

@AllenSmith:
The tape in question was indeed invented during WWII, but it was used to keep ammo boxes dry. There's not a lot of ductwork in a foxhole. The tape that's actually intended for use on ductwork is a thin metal foil of some sort, with a high-temp tape that makes it safe for use on heating ducts. I can't say for sure that the adhesive won't dry out and turn to powder, but shortly after buying my condo, I had to redirect the ductwork when I moved my gas dryer from the opposite corner of the basement to the space between the hot water heater and the laundry tub, and that tape is holding up fine nearly two decades later. "Duct tape" goes slimy within less than a year, and rotten within no more than five. The stuff is reviled in the stagecraft industry, for being a poor man's version of gaffer's tape, and the fact that you practically need to use a solvent to clean the goo off your hands if someone used it to spike the lines in your fly system.

@Murdoch17:
I watched an episode of Great Lakes Now, where they revealed that my old hometown actually had wooden water mains (I think even until shortly after I was born). They never explained exactly what that entailed, but now I'm wondering if this is what they were talking about. On the plus side, if you royally screw up the water treatment formula, like someone did in Flint, you won't end up with lead poisoning...like Flint...

This set kicked ass and easily the most desirable of each year's flagship playsets due to its prevalence in multimedia Mahri branding, where 8759 despite being an appealing set only had comic appearances and 8894 looked far too bizarre compared to its descriptions in other media. Yeah, it's not quite as cool as the stylized version seen in the mini-movie animated commercial, but it's reasonably feature-rich and made for a great sci-fi battle train/truck.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Murdoch17 :
I watched an episode of Great Lakes Now, where they revealed that my old hometown actually had wooden water mains (I think even until shortly after I was born). They never explained exactly what that entailed, but now I'm wondering if this is what they were talking about. On the plus side, if you royally screw up the water treatment formula, like someone did in Flint, you won't end up with lead poisoning...like Flint..."

Speaking of wooden pipes: they uncovered a hollowed out log in downtown St. Louis that was a part of a pre-Civil War combination sewer / storm drain abut 15 years ago. Yes, it was still in service up to 2010, which says a lot about:
A) the log
B) the city of St. Louis' sewer pipe replacement rate
C) the sewage system of St. Louis average pipe age
D) the sewer system of St. Louis city in general

When it was 'removed' it actually basically disintegrated upon being exposed to the open air / lack of pressure to hold it together.

@PurpleDave said:
"The tape in question was indeed invented during WWII, but it was used to keep ammo boxes dry. There's not a lot of ductwork in a foxhole. The tape that's actually intended for use on ductwork is a thin metal foil of some sort, with a high-temp tape that makes it safe for use on heating ducts."
Yes, I know duct tape should never be used for that application, and I know exactly what the tape that should be used for ducts really is. I merely don't know when the latter was invented, and there is documented evidence of duct tape being promoted for use on ducts (and colored specifically for this purpose) in 1958—the only thing lacking is somebody specifically calling it "duct tape." This would hardly be the first time in history that the wrong tool came to be used for a job, nor would it be the first time a wrong or anachronistic name has stuck for a product. (Did you know pencils have never, ever had lead (Pb) in them? When was the last time you dialed a phone? And how can you dial a dialpad at all?)

The argument that duct tape was ever called duck tape appears to be based entirely on the documented existence of the historical term "duck tape", even though it clearly meant a completely different thing in every known usage. That in itself is fascinating; it indicates we have largely forgotten that "tape" is actually short for "adhesive tape," and that for most of tape's history, it was never sticky.

@Murdoch17:
Weight of the dirt holds it in, water pressure holds it out, and complete lack of contact with oxygen keeps certain natural biological proceses at bay. The actual interior surface of the pipe itself doesn't take the abuse you might expect, since the water in contact with it moves very slow. The water in the center of the pipe, on the other hand, can move extremely fast (there's a term for this, which I can't recall at present). They have the same problem with wooden shipwrecks. They're fine as long as they're left where they went down (anything that's not would have rotted away pretty quickly), but a combination of physical movement and a massive change in the chemical nature of its surroundings can quickly destroy something that has sat there for thousands of years. If that had been an archaeological dig, they might have been able to preserve it. Of course, they might have had to shut off that run of sewer for weeks while they prepared it for extraction, which...well, this is why they don't hire archaeologists to do utilities upkeep.

@AllenSmith:
The last time I can say for sure was probably before my parents moved out of my childhood home, where for most of my young life our only phone was one of those beige thief-beater desk phones that you got free when you had your phone service hooked up. Only in my teens did we have a touchtone cordless phone installed in the kitchen. If you wanted to have a lengthy conversation, that battery couldn't handle it, so you were limited to a range of about 12' from my mom's desk, which was kinda central in that house.

Dialing a phone, at least, was a term that originated from a time when phones had a rotary dial, so it's merely a case of the term not evolving to fit the newer forms of technology. PIN Number, on the other hand, is just stupid. I know I've encountered at least one other similar instance where the last letter in an acronym stands for the word that invariably follows that same acronym.

Lead...gets messy, like dialing a phone. Prior to the 1500's, scribes and artists did use lead, tin, and silver for writing and drawing utensils. The first graphite mine was mistakenly believed to be producing lead. It was soft enough that they had to start encasing it in something hard (thus the stylus became the pencil), and the name had already stuck.