Glatorian

Stupid Word of the Day - Glatorian - n - a nonsense word that doubles as the title of the new wave of Bionicle sets that the LEGO company is distributing in 2009.

I hadn't heard of Glatorian until a couple of days ago, when I received the November December LEGO magazine. It warranted the entire back cover of the Bionicle comic book. If you want to see the back cover, you can probably find it online somewhere. But if you have seen it, here are a few things I notice. (I am recording these as much for my own memory as that anyone will read it.)

Firstly, we are in a desert, complete with an awesome looking rhino-beetle-type rahi. This suggests to me that, if the place we are in has the six elemental areas to which we have become accustomed, we are in the "Po-" area.

Secondly, the large sculpture-ish thing is undoubtedly a huge version of a restricted ball and socket joint, the most common type in the knees and elbows of the most recent Bionicles.

Thirdly, and most interestingly, is the figure in the mid-ground. Having seen the cover-art for the new Glatorian sets, I can say that he is not a Glatorian. The shoulder plates, forearms, and lower legs make him a Toa Inika, and the silhouette of his mask is distinctive enough to pinpoint the character exactly: In this new universe, we are seeing Toa Ignika Matoro! Perhaps the massive energies of the Kanohi Ignika, instead of killing him, transported him into a different universe. Perhaps this is the same universe that Makuta blasted the Kanohi Ignika (and with it the spirit of Mata Nui) into. Perhaps...

...we'll have to wait until the next issue to find out. :(