Tuesday 17 January 2012

Go Figure!

Following quickly on from my earlier look at the inherent colour code in various toys, heres another set of Lego figures that link directly to the earlier Kelloggs Bionicle ones. The original line of buildable figures included six hero figures in primary colours. Each figure came with a removeable mask which held a different power or attribute, the masks were initially available in small bags with a random selection of three inside and proved extremely collectable.

As the line grew over the years, large playsets were introduced and these included small scale minifigures of each character. The initial release of the figures were single piece molds with a detachable weapon and reminded me of the fifties and sixties Archer and Tudor Rose spacemen. Each one was produced in a single colour, relative to their larger versions, black, white, brown, blue, green and the leader, red.




Each figure is about 4 cm high on average with a ridiculously oversized weapon. Later sets would introduce multipart poseable figures.

8 comments:

  1. Don't most guys claim to have oversized weapons? (grins)

    For a few seconds I thought that purple mask was Scorpio's head. (The alien from Major Matt Mason ... have I got his name correct?).

    These are interesting. You say they are Lego figures. Does that mean the bases can attach to Lego bricks? Can you show us a photo of the one of the bases, please? (The only Lego minifigure I have is Jar Jar Binks, and he seems quite different from these in every way).

    Finally, why are those spacemen carrying Gucci handbags?

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  2. ha, ha - my weapon is twelve inches, but i dont use it as a rule!

    Yep - they do fit on standard lego bases, the bottom is equivalent to a standard 4 stud brick. Thats the great thing about Lego, the connectability. With the advent of Star Wars lego, the standard Minifig underwent a massive change and the need for aliens meant that some of the SW figures had to be made as single piece castings. These Bionicle figs follw that early idea.

    Most importantly though, that single mask is red - do you see it as purple ? Heres old Scorp for comparison: http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2011/07/xenophilia.html

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  3. Tch ... give 'em an inch ...

    Four stud brick? Thanks, Wote. I get a better idea of the size of them from that. (4cm I have to look at a ruler to see - can't gauge it in my mind).

    (nods) I definitely see the mask as purple. (But it's a while since I last calibrated my eyes). Maybe it's this computer screen. How do others see it? Is it just me?

    Thanks for the Scorpio link. I can now see why I (very) briefly thought as I did.

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  4. Interesting that you should flag this up when im on my colour kick!

    So what colours do you perceive with scorpio ? 3 main ones.

    The Bionicle mask is pillar box red.

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  5. Scorpio in that picture ... to me ... is pink,or pinky-purple skinned, wearing dark purple boots, arm band, and "clothes". Has gold eyes ... or gold flecked with a darker colour. And this chest pack is a bright green.

    And in case anyone is interested, my jeans are coloured 7 and I'm wearing a top which is coloured 9. (smiles)

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  6. Sorry, not "dark" purple clothes ... more a mid-purple. But that is so subjective, I know. What if I give you DMC colour codes?

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  7. Looks pinkish-purple on my monitor.

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  8. So Andy and I see purple. (Removes Wote's spectacles, polishes and replaces them) ... Maybe it's a browser-created colour change? Or are you using a CYMK screen, Wote?

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