THE UNRELEASED MAKUTA PHANTOKA | LEGO BIONICLE DESIGNER PART 3
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ส.ค. 2024
- Welcome back! Today we’re concluding my Bionicle retrospective series with with Part III.
For parts 1 & 2 see below:
Part 01/ PRIDAK: • HOW I DESIGNED BARRAKI...
Part 02/ NUPARU: • HOW I DESIGNED MAHRI N...
This episode it’s all about THE PHANTOKA MAKUTA!
More specifically, this episode is about my Makuta prototype figure that never made it to the shelf.
This was one of there very first prototype Makuta figures I created for the BIONICLE PHANTOKA line during the late fall of 2006.
Follow along as I create several paintings in honor of my unrealized Phantom Makuta character all the while sharing stories and insights into my creative process on the BIONICLE team.
Also, lots of never before seen behind-the-scenes artwork.
This one is dedicated to all the die hard BIONICLE fans!
As always, thanks for watching!
~
LINKS:
Website: www.brianandrewellis.com
My Instagram: / brianellisart
MUSIC:
Intro theme: Phantom Antenna
Original episode music/composition: Phantom Antenna
Mentor/Studio Gear: Eric Watkins
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:26 Story/Creative Direction
01:26 Concept Exploration/ Table Top Gaming
02:45 Vehicle and Inspiration/Concept Paintings
03:14 Manager’s Pitch Prototype
03:41 My Makuta Design Inspiration
04:25 Weapon / Napalm Maggot Bomb
12:06 The Prototype/On all fours
14:00 Refined Head Design
14:54 The Wings
16:37 Not Being Produced/ Cannibalized Design
19:11 No Input on Packaging
19:39 Decision to Leave LEGO / Creative Consultant
21:46 Team Bionicle Goodbye
22:43 Additional Bionicle Contributions
23:10 Bionicle Whiteboard Art Prints for Purchase
23:40 Closing Thoughts
![[Live] : ONE FIGHT NIGHT 24 วันนี้!! “จาร์เร็ด vs กุสตาโว”](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ENNA-fsT67c/mqdefault.jpg)
Been a fan of Bionicle ever since I was a kid. Ironically enough, Pridak and Carapar were my first sets, and I absolutely loved them!
Seeing your retrospective series on your time working on the Bionicle teams really shed some light on the whole process that went into making the characters and creatures that us fans know and love today. Really informative, and actually super cool to see some of the behind the scene stuff that went into everything. From the prototyping, to the final product, it's an absolute treat to see what the minds of the entire team was able to accomplish!
Watching this part, I'm super happy to see that you were still around (even if it was just in the beginning half) for the Phantoka line, since they're easily in my top 3 favorite themes from the Bionicle series. And going through the video, hearing how you were the one to put forth the chest cavity opening, allowing this egg full of leeches/maggots to fall and break open, that absolutely tickled me! That easily has to be the reason why the Phantoka stick out so much to me. I'm a huge horror fan as well, and really, these guys were probably the one to get me into it at such a young age. Something about the ribs sticking out, and seeing how emaciated and overall how dark these guys were compared to lines in the past really met my fancy.
And lemme just say, your use of markers, paints, squeegees and even airbrushes on a whiteboard really makes your art unique, and absolutely pop! Never have I seen someone do something with this medium so well before!! Your art done of Pridak and Nuparu were super sick, while your art with this nightmare-fuel creature was absolutely accented by your use of this! All of the dark shadows and light catching details really made this thing pop, and seem like it could be something hiding in the corner of someone's room haha.
I really can't state enough just how awe-inspiring it was to see your mini series on these characters. You have some real talent Brian, and all I can say is keep doing what you're doing. If you ever come out with some merch, I'll definitely see about getting some of it! Best wishes!
Damn man, thanks so much! Really appreciate all the kind words. Glad that I can still offer some treats to the Bionicle community and am happy to hear that my contributions to the team for that short amount of time was felt in some way by the fan community.
Also, really appreciate the love for the whiteboard art. It’s something that I just started doing as a bit of therapy having been burnt out by the corporate/digital world and I really appreciate when I hear from people about it. It’s nothing I’ve personally ever seen done so I’m really trying to find new ways for myself to push the medium as I love the restrictions this medium imposes.
It’s a constant fight against the ink, gravity and delicate nature of the whiteboard itself. I also love not working with an underlay or sketches, that’s very easy to do and I’ve done it for many years as an artist but this is just pure improvisation and not overthinking things.
Anyways, thanks for watching and leaving a comment! My next video will actually be delving a little bit into why and how I arrived here as an artist.
@@brianellisart As someone suffering from it myself, I can hear the corporate burnout in your voice. I feel for you man.
I never had Nuparu, but I had Pridak, and the underwater theme was always my favorite
@@grishy8203 Man, the burnout comes across that bad?! Haha Appreciate the kind words. Hope you’ve been able to find a solid rebound from your own experience.
Working on the next video right now and will be talking a bit more about my burnout and this series.
Thanks for watching and dropping a line!
Barges into the Bionicle team
Makes the best bad guys in the line
Refuses to elaborate further
Leaves
😂 😎💀🦈🤘🏼
Vamprah seems like the makuta that closest held your design to heart
Yes, and I would say Mutran too
@@antonioquintanilla2233 THAT'S FUNNY, i was thinking of adding mutran to the comment, but thought it didn't feel too close in my opinion besides color
I would think the head was more Gorast
Definitely.
As someone who's family had a tighter budget back then, I had to make limited choices. Vamprah was the Makuta from this year that I chose, as the set best encapsulated the theme for that release.
Bit of Krikka too
Brian: Rotting Bat Monsters, Beastly Walking Stances, Napalm Maggot Bomb™
Me, who runs Tabletop Games: *Takes Notes*
😂 love watching tabletop gaming but I’ve never played any. If I did I’d be making some RIDICULOUS dioramas
@@brianellisart Righteous
OH that's pretty cool! who knew the damage counter used for the Glatorian were originally for the Phantoka/Mistika lines 👀
So there were damage counters released? I never saw any in other lines. Must have missed that in the Glatorians. Thanks for the info!
@@brianellisart YEAH!! the glatorians had gears on their backs that went from 5 to a skull!!!! they called it the BIONICLE Action Figure Game and had a bunch of rules for different game modes, the most common was a 1v1 battle where you had your figures 2 meters from each other and their can behind them, that you had to defend and you could either try to attack shoot, if you hit the opposing glatorian they lost 1 point on the gear, if you managed to hit the can then that would be 2 points lost and after that whenever the proyectile landed, you could move the glatorian there and end your turn, the other action was just a move shoot, to shoot somewhere on the playing field to just move there and end the turn and uh yeah thats was pretty much it, whoever reached the skull first loses the game, it was cool... there were also team game rules and vehicles and stuff.... tho... didnt get to experience much of that as a kid... didnt realized that was the gear for after quite a while... but me and my brother did get use out of em after doing the classic of just bashing the figures and calling it an epic fight ajsajdsjaja ah man... fun times...
@@alphads2000 they also did it for 2009's Titans and Vehicles
@@alphads2000 oh rad! Thanks for sharing the details, awesome to hear that it’s bringing back some good memories!
@@brianellisart Yes they were, and it was really cool too!
Send this man some bionicle sets. He deserves them
🤣
he may enjoy some horror themed mocs
Co-Bionicle team member in 2007 on first pitch: "There Brian goes, trying to put the line weapons into the chest again. 🙄"
😂every pitch meeting “maggot bombs guys!”
The Phantoka Makuta are some of my favourite Bionicle villain designs, and seeing your prototype I'd say between them and the Mistika Makuta your internal image of your prototype giving birth to these creatures as like iteration is very accurate. Vamprah(Blue Phantoka) inherited his overall shape and posture, Chirox(Black Phantoka) got his wings, and Krika(White Mistika) got his rotting, skeletal aesthetic, if all a bit cleaner than you originally envisioned.
It really is incredible just how clearly they descended from your design, I took one look at the prototype and went "hey, that's Vamprah!"
EXACTLY! He says "hey, i dont know what happened with my designs" and im like "oh, i know. and we THANK YOU for them"
I just love being able to share this bit of history with the community!
@@TheShadowKiller97 appreciate that!
Low key, the Makuta chest "Napalm maggot bomb" was my favorite aesthetic/action of the 09 Makutas. Wish it stuck to the Mistika Makutas
Edit: that prototype looks a lot like Vamprah, the blue Makuta
Oh yeah, this prototype design 100% trickled down into Vamprah and Krika.
I remember noticing both the similarity between the squids and maggots and the overall more horror-y theme of the Phantoka/Mistika wave when I was younger.
Always thought the maggots (I think they were called leeches officially?) were cooler than the squids because they had a connection point on the back AND a funny face on the front.
Also loved the more scary, demonic look for the Makuta. The exposed ribs, bat wings, huge fangs and claws... just awesome.
Good stuff.
Appreciate the love for the more gruesome creatures!
Some time ago, a German TV show produced a short documentary about the development of the later 2008 Makuta models. It gave fascinating insight into the design process, especially how focus group tests affected the way the sets looked. The designers wanted to emphasize the organic and animal-like traits of the toys, but the kids wanted more robotic, mechanical looking figures. The model that became Krika was one of the concepts that survived the harsh focus group tests. Now we know some of the inspiration for that concept came from your ideas.
Thank you for all of these videos! All the people on the Bionicle design team seem like an amazing group of creative minds tossing around ideas and putting their personal inspiration and passion into their work.
Would love to see this short doc! 😮 thanks for watching!
@notmyname th-cam.com/video/SRwF3IgtFig/w-d-xo.html
@@Mrlolol7779 awesome! Thanks for this, just watched it. It was great to see my old manager Christoffer in there!
@@brianellisart That guy’s comment got hidden/deleted, can you post the name of the program so we can search it?
@@sssspider weird, not sure why that would have been deleted. This was the video th-cam.com/video/SRwF3IgtFig/w-d-xo.html
17:22 Your design definitely inspired at least 2 or 3 of the other Makuta designs. Vamprah and Krika come to mind, two of the better sets of their respective waves!
I’m sad to see these videos conclude. Thank you so much for sharing these! Love the artwork and the behind the scenes look with your time at Lego Bionicle.
Hey thanks for watching! Glad you’ve enjoyed these little archaeological design digs. Unearthing this beast was a lot of fun!
"Or at least in the prototype stage they had like a hit damage, a dial on their backs"
Good to see that carried over to the Glatorian line.
You are, without a doubt, the number 1 reason why lego ever made the coolest most badass villains in the bionicle universe, the Makuta Phantoka are my favorite, your design is what pushed Vampirah (my favorite bionicle ever) to being what it is. And everything you intended the toy to be, based on kinetic motion and dynamic movements of monsters, crawling, striking, flying was fulfilled. You deserve so much praise for how you pushed for unique innovations in a toy series like this.
I appreciate that but the whole team deserves credit, these dudes are all awesome designers and I think the final toys are great, really just grateful to have been able to work alongside these guys, hope they’re all well! Thanks for watching!
You said your ideas were (fitting enough) cannibalized into other characters.
To be honest, I think you kinda underappreciate the sheer amount you brought into this line. I mean, Pridak and Nuparu were super cool, but from what I see you literally just invented the entire 2008 design, from Phantoka to Mistika.
Now that I look at your prototype and paintings, I cannot not see how EVERY other Makuta drawn from this to become something new. And, prop to other artists for what they did, but they are not even close to how deep your character was supposed to be here. It was so dark and utterly disturbing! I mean, one can obviously see its remnant through Vamprah and Chirox most, but this one alone could have honestly been the only antagonist of 2008 and still be way more frightening than anything prior. You exactly portrayed the creature R.E.Howard described in the Valley of Lost Women, and let me tell you this is a rare feat.
Seeing the shoulder blades, the spiked spine, the self feeding maggots and the more "boney" look to it feels so much closer to the mystic, obscure, esoteric, occult and inexplicable nightmares Makuta are supposed to be. And I can't express enough how marvelous was the head design. Slicker and way sharper than the final Phantokas were. Can definitely see how this carried onto Mistikas but honestly should have been on Phantokas already. These metru heads + masks (awesome designs nonetheless) seems so dull now that I see what was originally intended. Definitely gonna MOC the hell out of mines now!
I don't want to overreact here, but you clearly blew the roof off the place with this idea which was, once again, way to incredible to be a toy!
Thank you for sharing, you made a fan happier than rarely before!
Thanks so much! Really appreciate the mention of R.E. Howard, this prototype was absolutely my favorite to have worked on because I saw him as just one of the top baddies, like final boss mode and extremely dangerous because not only is he deadly, but he has no life to lose and when you live to be devoured by your own offspring then it’s just game over plus he can taint your teammates around you. Quite the predicament and your good guys are only as strong as your villains so you gotta give them a serious threat to overcome, makes them more heroic.
Thanks for watching and dropping some love maggots on this vid!
@@brianellisart I think the same: you literally inspired all of 2008 villain characters. Vamprah, Krika, Chirox the most.
The maggot bomb held with ribs is extraordinary, one of the best BIONICLE designs and play features imho.
@@LegsON appreciate it!
Lots of people saying Vamprah and Chirox, but I would say Vamprah and Mutran. Vamprah because of the general form, you know, the wings and the legs, and Mutran, for the mask, that is the same thar Chirox, yeah, but Mutran colors are green an black, giving it thar rotten stile it was in mind since the beging
I would have happily had this as a titan set for the series end. It would have been perfect as a "final form" or "true form" of Teridax.
And I thought Makuta Nui from 2003 was what a "true form" should have been!
Also, is it weird the prototype's mask reminds me of Evil the Cat's head from Earthworm Jim a little bit?
The table top idea was realized in 2009. each figure had a hit dial piece and there was rules for a game like the one you described in the video. I still have some of the hit dial pieces, they are really fun to make games around.
Oh rad! I have never seen the final dial, I was looking in line but I didn’t run across any so good to know it did materialize.
Yeah it was the glatorian line i think
@@Teim640 gonna have to pick up a set to see it in person. Thanks!
@@brianellisart just be careful cuz the plastic of that series is extremely brittle and breaks after 1-2 builds
@@Michaelsoft_Pain that sucks to hear!
Now having watched the whole video. I can very much see how your contributions beyond just the Napalm Maggot Bomb(now I wanna start a band with that name) filtered into the designs of Vampra, and I'd say even Krikka from the Mistika line. Of the various bionicle gimmicks, the spheres in the chest was one of the better ones. And the parts the Engineers came up with for them had become pretty useful parts that even saw use later on in Hero Factory a few years later. It's awesome that concept came from you. Thanks Brian!
Thanks man!
The makuta leech bomb was my favourite bionicle weapon of all time!
it seems like your concept ended up being used for Makuta Vamprah, which is BY FAR my favorite Makuta, and created one of my most memorable childhood memories... Your series was entirely inspiring, and i loved it!! thank you for giving me and many others our childhoods! godspeed, my friend!
Really appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
@@brianellisart Ironic because your design seemed to be going in all 6 makuta in some way or another,Krika for example took your skeletal look.But Vamprah is by far the closest and yea vamprah was the most unique and probably the best makuta out of the phantoka line.He seemed to be the most batlike and having 4 wing pieces,very much like a long wing design.
Woohoo I've never clicked on a video so fast!
No shot. My buddy sold me the Vamprah figure a couple months ago. The proto-design you made is 1000x cooler. I’m gonna miss this series but man it was a ride. I hope more people come out with their bionicle stories and I hope you keep making great art.
Thanks so much! Appreciate the love for this gruesome zombie beast!
To someome who grew up with Bionicle, this is absolutely fascinating. One of the designers of the online game Club Penguin, which was popular at the time, also came out a couple years ago and made some behind the scenes videos. Such insights after all these years are great.
I loved the set that was inspired by this particular prototype and the other sets you showcased here, so thanks for that as well.
Would be lovely to see more sets featured.
Thanks for checking these out!
"Fleshy, rotting zombie bat." And that's why those Makuta were some of my favorite canister sets. Also, your bomb idea was fantastic--it was nice having something that was so different from the other projectile launchers and had a buildable mechanism. While it would have been so cool to see a finalized version of your design, I'm glad a lot of its elements did show up in the other sets.
On a more personal note, I lost my grandmother that winter, and I remember those sets as a source of comfort and fun in an otherwise difficult time. Thank you so much for your awesome contributions to that line and Bionicle in general.
Thanks so much, really appreciate you watching and sharing a bit of your personal memories. Losing a relative is very difficult and I’m glad to hear that you found something to channel your emotions into as a creative outlet in those hard times. Be well!
Thank you so much for this video! I'm pretty sure that the blue Makuta, Vamprah, both his stance and overall look was heavily inspired by your prototype, even if you personally didn't designe the finished model. I don't think your Makuta was lost, he became one of the coolest characters of the 2008 story. :)
Appreciate it!
I am so happy I stumbled upon your channel. Your Bionicle designs are one of the biggest reasons I got interested in art when I was younger. I remember thinking the Phantoka and Mistika Makuta designs were the coolest things ever, inspiring me to make my own creature designs. 15 years later, I'm taking graphic design courses and hoping to make a career out of it. Thank you, sir, for your incredible artwork and making my childhood awesome!
Hey thanks for watching! Best of wishes to you on your artistic journey!
I have to thank you again because, after the Barraki, the Phantoka/Mistika Makuta were my favourite Bionicle line, with Antroz being my favourite non-titan set of all time. I absolutely loved the creepy animalistic theme with the bats and the bugs, and the horror elements came through crystal clear; the rib cage and the tridax pod were absolutely inspired, integrating the weapon into the body like that was such a unique and elevated design. Awesome work! I'm glad you were able to stretch your wings :)
Really appreciate it! Glad to hear feedback on these figures for the first time after all these years.
Rest assured, your pitch clearly was the spark for most Makuta sets from '08.
😂 appreciate that
You being a horror fan kinda explained why bionicle becoming a lot more darker in latter year and I gave you my gratitude for that.
Glad it seems like people enjoyed a bit of that extra spice in the mix 😂 thanks!
Honestly, I'm looking at your prototype and all I'm thinking is "can people 3D print this stuff?" Because it looks awesome!
I always thought it was a mixed bag that you guys didn't design the toys around the characters. On one hand it sounds extremely liberating that you were able to basically make anything and the writers built up the characters from there, but on the other hand it seemed to cause a lot of contradictions and strange explanations that seemed half-baked in story. Like the oxygen pipes on the Mahri becoming gills in the story. I find it interesting how, despite knowing little or nothing about the characters that were being designed there was still a level of continuity that every figured that, like going from Lewa Nuva to Lewa Phantoka. You were also able to add a lot of visual story telling elements into the characters which is really cool, like how Matoro was malformed which became an in-story test by the mask of Life to see if he was worth.
It’s pretty incredible what Greg was able to achieve in my opinion. I’ve worked in quite a few IP development projects and when you see how much continuity doesn’t exist in a lot of these writing/toy relations it’s really something to behold that Bionicle was so integrated and turned out as well as it did.
Seriously, a lot of these companies just hire bad writers that want to write word salad and don’t care about toys whatsoever. I’m usually very outspoken in these meetings cause it drives me mad! 😂
Even though your set was never produced, it's clear that your ideas stuck around with the team- thank you for helping create one of my favourite years of Bionicle.
Also, your wing idea was actually used in a Lord Of The Rings set, the figure of Smaug included flexible wings
Oh! I’ll have to look for it, thanks for the info!
2007 and 2008 are my favourite BIONICLE years for sure. Very cool designs!
Definitely had the best set design variation, each set was unique, no clone build. Creativity bursting.
You can see your influence on all of the Makuta sets during Phantoka and Mistika. Absolutely incredible!!!
Amazing, it's like combination of Vamprah, Chirox and Krika
when i originally got vamprah, way back when, i was actually a bit confused and disappointed. it had these tiny stubs for legs and i wasn't really sure how it was supposed to use them. it wasn't until i tried incorporating the arms into it's stance that i realized what they were and how they weren't supposed to really stand on them on their own, especially for a creature with such massive wings, it was almost like it evovled weaker legs because it didn't need them as much. overall, i kinda wish there could have been a few more pieces like your prototype had, with more claws and hooks, but it also felt like the wings themselves that vamprah had were the blades in which it used to attack since the outer-most wing pieces were fullysilver , more akin to the weapons in contrast to the inner wings that had blue. really appreciate the whole phantoka line for it's aesthetics and how it did tend to branch out there a bit more when it came to the designs.
on another note, a fairly recent ninjago set had called "skull sorcerer's dragon" actually used the ribcage play feature again with a more similar method to the prototype you made. i'm not sure if you had anything to do with that, but maybe you inspired a fan to give their own take on the "maggot bomb"
Thanks for letting me know about the Ninjago set, nope, I haven’t worked on Ninjago stuff in ages. But definitely drew my share of skeleton warriors in the early days!
"Napalm Maggot Bomb" would be a great name for a rock band.
Someone needs to try and build this as a moc, it’s an awesome design
Appreciate that!
Interesting to hear that the tabletop game idea was initially gonna be part of the Phantoka wave before the Glatorians
I was just working on a MOC of Vamprah and seeing this made me appreciate him even more.
The Makuta in the Phantoka line are the best designed villains Bionicle had ever seen. I absolutely love them. Thank you so much for creating them and making these videos
I only played a small part in their creation with my early prototype, beyond that I have to also give credit to the rest of the writers and designers who created these themes and ideas.
Appreciate the comment though and am glad to see that they still retained some of the elements of the prototype design with the ribs and maggot bomb!
Thank you so much for sharing about your time on the bionicle team! It's so interesting to hear how the toys that were so inspiring to me as a kid were designed!
We must protect this man at all costs
Haha, appreciate you checking out the vids!
Phantoka and Mistika were banger toy lines. It's great to learn where the concept of those Makuta originated from. I'm still trying to collect those sets but I can't wait to mess around with the chest maggot bombs when I get my hands on them 😂
Props to you man for making these 3 episodes talking about your designs in BIONICLE.
Really appreciate it! Thanks for tuning in!
They made your prototype INTO a set: Vamprah. It ended up being a dark blue, but was 100% a bat design. Your team kept your idea going, love that!
Appreciate it, although I heard straight from one of my colleagues that they really just shafted my figure haha and no one really tended to it as it got pushed to the side and sort of cannibalized.
So there might be some element of inspiration there but I believe the Makuta that were ultimately released are definitely their own original designs.
I will always give credit to my team mates who are also very talented designers in their own rights. If they did indeed harken back to my designs in some manner, I certainly would not be able to say as I was not there. A fun idea to ponder though!
Thanks for watching!
I think this concept got split into two different Makuta sets, one is obviously Vamprah, a very bat-like Makuta that walks on all fours, but there is also Krika that is more spiney, insectoid in nature but still walked on four legs.
This Series has been so interesting to learn from and to see all the prototypes. Yours and the rest of the teams work is a big inspiration to me and this peak behind the curtain was really cool Thank you for sharing these retrospectives.
Really appreciate it, thanks for watching!
"maggot bomb" is so metal and so fitting of the makuta
🤘🏼🔥Guarantee there was definitely some metal playing on my headphones when I was working on his design, possibly some old school Slipknot.
Maaan if Bionicle EVER comes back, I'm begging you....please, pleeeeease come back.
😂 I’d absolutely love to have another round of design with my old colleagues
2:27 The hit damage dial, that one made it for the Bara Magna ones.
This was a great little series; it really brought back childhood memories. That Makuta art was great. Also cool to hear about the hit dial: it's interesting to me that that mechanic from the later Glatorian sets started back with the Phantoka/Mistiks design process. But that was some great insight to the design process of the Makuta. It was such an epic moment in the story, and your influence added a great aesthetic. My childhood greatly appreciated your contribution to the Mahri and Phantoka/Mistika waves.
Really appreciate it!
Could not imagine wanting to leave bionicle. But thank you for helping design one of my favorite generation's villians. The chest launcher is so cool.
Well, it does happen haha. A job is a job no matter where you go. Bionicle was a great time but there's generally only a 3-4 year lifespan of most designers at LEGO and I'd say that comes down to the company being located and isolated in a farm town that eventually gets to you.
Thanks for watching, really cool to hear from fans and to see how the toy lines turned out after I left the team.
The tridax pod is still to this day one of the coolest toy mechanisms I've ever seen/played with. It wasn't just a really unique and effective gimmick but it also made the phantoka half of the makuta look so striking with their silver ribcages and bright orange-red balls that cracked and flung countless of blue little parasites around (which were a pain to collect afterwards lol).
As for the lost makuta design itself, It definitely was cannibalised into the designs for Vamprah, Chirox and even Krika (aka the blue, black and white makuta respectively). Ironically, the orange and green makuta look completely different.
Overall, I'm really glad you made this series. It gave me an even deeper appreciation for my favourite years of my favourite lego theme and I feel that without your creative input these sets would not have been nearly as awesome as they turned out to be. Cheer!
Thanks so much! Appreciate that
Man if I had enough of every specific part, I would love to put together remasters inspired by these prototypes that were cut because of budget or other reasons. They all looked so badass!
Especially this sorta "Primordial Makuta" you made! I'D LOVE TO HAVE IT! I wanna have it on my shelf and proudly explain the history behind it! Thank you for your amazing contribution to Bionicle!!!
Really appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
I absolutely applaud your work on these sets man! The worldbuilding alone for the Toa Mahri sets really floored me when I was younger. I’ve had an infatuation with designing robots ever since and your experience in being on the team pitching ideas for Nuparu might just have me swinging towards a job in Lego design :)
Thanks! Hope you have fun and lots of success in your robo pursuits!
It's a shame you had to leave lego but the information you passed to us won't be forgotten its a shame your peer haven't opened up yet there's so much we don't know It would be great to hear their stories as well the design process, prototypes etc, regardless thanks for the 3 epic videos.
Thanks for watching!
It’s so unfathomably cool seeing the person who designed some of my favorite childhood toys explain how and why they were conceptualized and made the way I remember them. I wish I could watch this sort of thing for every Bionicle generation but even just these three videos are so so awesome to have!
Appreciate it!
These vidoes have been interesting and i would love if more of these deaigners made vidoes about it like you do.
I’d love to see that too! Thanks for watching!
Phantoka and Mistika makutas are the best bionicle for me from my childhood. I wanted all of them then, and now I have them. Krika, Gorast, Bitil, Vamprah, Chirox, Antroz, Mutran. And of course Gavla, Kirop, Radiak and Vican. Impressive, ingeniously, unique bionicle of all time (sorry Icarax)
2:33 that drawing kinda looks like the Terapusmordax from King Kong
Designing for Bionicle seems like it was so fun to work on… I hope that when I work at LEGO, I get to design a theme similar to it!
Thanks! It truly was my favorite time there! Lots of fun and so grateful I had the opportunity to be a part of that team. Thanks for watching!
@@brianellisart I’m glad to hear that. And of course! Loved getting all the insight and behind the scenes info! It’s so interesting. It’s been my dream to work as a set designer for LEGO since I was little, so I’m glad to see and hear about how fun it was!
You should do a reaction to the phantoka makuta and the mistika makuta. Your ideas were carried through completely.
I thought this sort of was a reaction to them! 😂 thanks for watching!
@@brianellisart Oh I meant in terms of building them and having them in hand.
@@HadrorexHun I’m very tempted to at least buy on but I’d probably just keep it boxed on my shelf haha. Probably make for a very boring video sitting boxed up on my shelf haha
Others have already pointed out that your design ended up being used for Vamprah, Chirox and Krika in different ways, and also the idea of the gear for the Glatorian in 2009. I was really impressed by this beast of a design and how your ideas inspired others, but the most amazing thing was hearing you describe the creation of the rib-cage launcher and how the team reacted to the prototype. We really have to thank you for your contributions to this legendary line, Bionicle means the world to me and defined A LOT of my taste, even today.
You're cool, Brian. Keep up creating and I wish you the best!
I need every bionicle set ever to relive my childhood and they should bring it back no matter what
As always its awesome to get a peek behind the curtain. Your designs are rad and totally lived on after your departure from the bionicle team.
Appreciate it!
I think I'm not alone in wishing for "professional" Bionicle reissues, or otherwise more adult-oriented Lego kaiju monsters, that can capture all the HR Giger goodness that wouldn't fit into a $10 canister 15 years ago! Seeing your design process play out for these figures I played with as a kid was intriguing.
That would be awesome, no doubt!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for an amazing retrospective series, Brian! Hearing your decision to leave the BIONICLE team and moving on to more creative freedom through consulting and other storytelling works was very humbling and exciting! I'm very happy knowning some of your conceptual ideas for the tridax pod and eventually a tabletop hit point style battle actually made their debuts in the toy line.
Thanks a bunch! I’m very grateful to have worked with such an awesome team of guys and it’s cool to see that they kept some of the early work I did alive and integrated as much into the line as possible.
i loooove this design. seeing the thumbnail i thought it might’ve been some pterodactyl makuta for the dinosaur arc they were supposed to do. the silhouette and colors, just gorgeous, wish we got some cloth wings like that on the real sets
Really appreciate it! Definitely not a Dino haha absolutely agree, I think cloth/co molded wings could have been something really cool and unique
it's interesting how, even after your departure, your concepts still found their way into Bionicle with the Tridax pod and Makuta Vamprah and Krika being spiritual successors
Yeah, it's a nice surprise for me to find out after all these years! I just sort of turned my brain off from Bionicle after leaving the team so I didn't keep up with the future lines.
I can totally see the influence of your initial design in almost all of the Makuta from 2008. Vamprah has the general body shape, especially the lack of feet, Chirox as the spreading out wings and the mask looks very similar, and Mutran took on that rotting green color that you mentioned, at least that's what first came to mind when you said it. The Makuta were by far my favorite sets, along with the Barraki (Pridak was actually one of the first I got), and honestly as much I would've loved to see a final product of your initial figure, I'm glad that it still lives on in the final products.
Thanks a ton!
Me too! Glad I was able to be a part of that line, even if I was only able to get it to that prototype stage before I exited the team.
I love the idea of these villains as actual rotting creatures/characters
I always felt it was a little weird that the Makuta, the same species as the BIG BAD of the franchise, were regular Toa-sized sets. I think this design style would have perfect for a group of dead Toa who were mutated by the swamp and resurrected by the villain of the line. Maybe it could've been worked into a side effect of the decaying Mask of Life
The Geiger style would've been such a cool basis for what a “rotted” Biomechanical Zombie could look like. Krika I think it's the only one that fully manaphests that energy, and it's clear your ideas inspired his badass pieces!
Honestly most of the mukuta from that line were pretty spot on though, maybe not your exact model but thats so crazy how you inspired the lego team and made them think outside the box. You put the "bio" in bionicle.
Appreciate it! it was a constant cycle of inspiration among the team though so we were all inspired by each other's thoughts and designs.
It's so cool to hear designers talk about the very non-childfriendly inspirations behind the bionicle like that, lol! Even going back to the Rahkshi you can see the H R Giger influence so the horror aesthetic was always a crucial part to the villains in the series. I personally love that about Bionicle, when things get serious they GET SERIOUS, in a way that really respects the stakes of the universe. Thanks for your contributions and insights!
Thanks! Glad to hear the positive response from everyone. Appreciate you checking it out!
This was one of my favourites. The design is unique and really appealing. Loved playing around with them as a kid. It was spooky but not that spooky. Learning about their origin made them even more amazing. Though I love your original design. It’s also inspiring for creating lore in a bigger fictional world. For blissfully unaware traveler’s to stumble upon. Getting warned by locals but dismissing the existence of such a creature. To ultimately getting confronted with it
Love this! The Lost Makuta is more powerful as a myth, until he rises, like Cthulhu!
The Phantokah were my absolute favorite line of Bionicle, I loved all 3 of the Makutas, as well as the shadow Matoran! I'm so happy to see these behind-the-scenes, and that you were the main designer behind some of my favorite characters in each of these waves! Thank you for everything you did for Bionicle, and everything you've done with these videos for us continued fans of Bionicle, more than a decade later! It's been very cool to hear about and see your concept designs!
Thanks so much!
Duuuuude I wish we had bionicle tabletop games
man this is a nice design for a phantoka, and in technicality, your design can still be somewhat canon to the story since there were several unnamed makuta on all the islands that were killed by Teridax in energy storms when he took over the universe
The Phantoka and Barraki lines stand out to me from all the other villain sets as some of the most creative and interesting looking figures, super fucking cool to see some behind the scenes from these retrospectives.
Really appreciate it! Thanks for checking out the series!
Amazing work. I loved the darker themes of bionicle as a kid and as an adult. Best toy i could have.
Appreciate it! Cool to hear that the darker stuff was so well received
Oh yeah another fun tidbit that’s likely entirely accidental is that in the Lore the former leader of the Brotherhood of Makuta, Miserix, was overthrown by the rest of his species, kinda like your concept for the maggots eating the bat Makuta and growing into new Makuta!
Some disparate thoughts with no throughline: As a kid I was usually on carpet and had no idea how momentum worked, so the Tridax pods were a bit unreliable. But, inspired by the maggot proportions, I stuck 2-axles in all of the leeches and it became far better. The Phantoka Makuta had really tiny wings, so I doubt they'd have given you the budget to make the better proportioned and more expensive wings you wanted. Nowadays there's a huge 3d-printing community so I bet someone will make a version of your mask and try and build a more advanced version of your prototype. The Phantoka Makuta all had an associated shadow matoran so it'd be neat to make one up to go along with that prototype. As other comments have said, the hit point dials got used in 2009's sets. The game felt a bit undercooked, and the detailed instructions were buried on the website so I remember not trying it too much.
Also you've gotta get your hands on a Vamparah (the blue one) and try out the finished function for yourself. I think that year's Makuta were all solid, though Gorast's wings should've been on her back instead of on her shoulders (probably budget issues there). However the Toa received a lot of flak, especially the second wave's. They decided to have them be a new iteration of the original six Toa, but a lot of the sets poorly reflected that (Lewa lined up with his previous iterations the best, Gali the worst). In addition they all had too much dark grey or silver rather than something more vibrant, which is something that the 2009 sets reversed course on.
Appreciate you sharing your feedback and experience with them! For sure, the wings would have definitely been a budget issue, but would have been cool to see what the engineering and prototyping department came up with as failed attempts!
A lot of modern shoe companies use this textile/over molding technique all the time and occasionally I see some designs that are fantastic.
Would love to have had a crack at at least one packaging concept for the Phantoka line…
Thanks for watching!
Pretty sure most of this got used in Vamprah, it looks almost exactly the same, only with another head. Also interesting to see that Giger would influence other designers with Makuta Krika.
Yeah it’s cool to see bits and pieces of the design sprinkled across the line here and there . Thanks for watching!
I’m so happy you were able to do a video on this. The tridax pod is one of my favorite lego play functions, and the shadow leeches are my favorite lego piece of all time. I finished my collection of all the prototype shadow leeches last year and I have a couple tridax pod prototypes, wish I could share the picture here for you to see and see where the ideas were going after you left. It’s awesome to know who literally invented this play function!
Very basic prototype!😂 just a hair barrette and some feet for ribs. Love kit bashing!
The Vahki from 2004 had a mode where they would walk on all fours, and the Visorak the next year were four legged spiders, but given their "mindless clone army" nature, I'm not sure either would count in this discussion, same goes for any quadruped Rahi, as they weren't villains per se but just animals.
As for named villains with individual personalities and such, I can't think of any that utilized a quadruped stance like that, at least not that came before the Phantoka line. Takadox from the Barraki comes closest with his praying mantis arms, and while an argument could be made to include Nikhiki from Metru Nui, I wouldn't as he just had four legs, but his arms were not part of his locomotion so he didn't have the same quadruped stance, and I'm even inclined to exclude Takadox as he was primarily a biped and his mantis arms weren't really used for locomotion (as far as I can remember...) so I'm pretty sure you're correct that the Phantoka Makuta prototype was the first to use that specific type of quadruped stance.
I've loved your Bionicle videos! My brothers and I used to call the Makuta from 2008 the "belly button guys" and they're definitely some of the coolest looking characters. It's really amazing to see how these figures that were so huge to be as a kid were originally conceived and the variety of inspirations for them that I never would've guessed. I think the nature of design is that things you find cool or ideas you have just end up fitting in where they can, and I'm glad that the hit counter and other ideas you had made their way into the line even after you left.
Thanks so much, I really appreciate you checking out the videos and sharing your memories and experiences with these toys!
I just heard of the potential return of Bionicle in 2025 and it led me to this video. I had the Mutran and Vican set and it's so cool to hear the story behind how parts were formed and thought out. I loved pulling them apart and mixing them with the Visorak. Some of the sets you helped create and have put out videos of made growing up with Bionicle awesome. I am now an architectural designer. Again, thank you to you and the rest of the team for the work you guys put in.
Thanks so much! Really appreciate it. Congrats on the career path you’ve chosen! There’s definitely some Calatrava kinship going on in a few of these set pieces 😎💀
Twas a lovely trilogy of videos!
It looks like your prototype eventually became Makuta Vamprah. They went with black, and dark blue with silver melding for his color scheme. It also seems they took the four legged idea for Makuta Krika as well, and Krika uses the same color scheme as Pridak.
God I’d love a print of your bionicle art, it’s AMAZING
Thanks a ton! Working on making them available!
You invented the Tridax Pod! You are literally the real-life Makuta Tridax! It's my headcanon now that the horned makuta you drew in the video is Tridax.
Thanks for watching! Glad to hear there was a lot of love for the maggot bomb as a weapon!
i can see some familiarity on few Makuta designs in 2008 with yours and honestly some of those are the best sets.
Makuta Krika and Antroz definitely my MVP.
i guess your Makuta was indeed the father of the official Makuta afterall!
It is cool that you came up with the legs of Krika as well.
I guess one could see it that way but I personally wouldn't take any credit for any other figure designs/parts beyond my 3 figs. It's possible this prototype design lent itself to some inspiration for future figs but I honestly couldn't say. I'm always going to give the other designers full credit and acclaim for their figures as they are all incredibly creative guys. that said, I really appreciate the love for these figures!
Thank you for this. It's your Makuta designs that made me enjoy the Phantoka season so much!
Really loved the whiteboard art, too. Really captured that horror aesthetic you mentioned. Just how they should always have been! :)
Thanks so much!
I love that image of the lost makuta ascending. I'd totally get that on a sticker or a shirt or something.
Good to know! I’ll see what I can do!
Presumably that prototype was eventuality revised into Vamprah
Given the hunched stance & diminished hind limbs :)
The final product is fair bit simpler than the prototype
(Production costs are a big factor in what gets made so set designers often have to sacrifice detail to keep the parts-count low)
but it's impressive how much of the core concept survived that process~
This is insanely cool I’m a big fan of that year was Bionicle i’m a big fan of customising, so I might try and remake your prototype out of my Bionicle collection
well I sure hope for more bonkle content
Really fascinating to hear the process of making Bionicle sets, the past three episodes. 👍👍
I started studying sculpture and graphic design because my dream job was a lego designer like yourself. To see a man explaining the process of creating this is so interesting. So glad u uploaded it refreshed my childhood memories and gave me more motivation, Love from Poland!
Right on! Thanks for checking out the video! I wish you the best of success in your artistic/design career!
@@brianellisart Thank You so much, I had all bionicles, mahri one were my fav.(especially matoro and nuparu)
They did do the turndials with hit damage!! They released it in 2009 on all the glatorians
Aside from Vamprah who others have mentioned, Krika from later the same year honestly feels like a tribute to your designs now. He's the same body form, points and spindles... but he's black white and red.
He’s a great looking figure!
I _really_ gotta look up the guy who outlined the design process for that set. Dude had so many cool-lookin' iterations.