Random set of the day: Vamprah

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Vamprah

Vamprah

©2008 LEGO Group

Today's random set is 8692 Vamprah, released during 2008. It's one of 35 Bionicle sets produced that year. It contains 49 pieces, and its retail price was US$12.99/£7.79.

It's owned by 2,135 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $115.00, or eBay.


37 comments on this article

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By in New Zealand,

I thought they had misspelt vampire for a second.

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By in Canada,

One of the only blue bionicles to be male

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By in United Kingdom,

Love him. It’s not really clear in the picture but he’s by far the most batlike of all the Phantoka Makuta, with huge winged arms ending in hooks combined with very short, stumpy legs with no real feet. He’s gotta be on all fours just to stand but he looks so cool doing it

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By in United States,

Oh no, he's got a Death Star in his chest!

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By in United States,

On today's episode of Bionicle Doesn't Make An Ounce Of Sense...
who the heck saw this and immediately thought "vampire?!?!?!"

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By in New Zealand,

@Robot99 said:
"Oh no, he's got a Death Star in his chest!"

You mean it's reactor core.

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By in Canada,

@Maxbricks14 said:
" @Robot99 said:
"Oh no, he's got a Death Star in his chest!"

You mean it's reactor core."


In 7754 the piece was used to represent the hologram of the Death Star II

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By in New Zealand,

@Lewa8439 said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @Robot99 said:
"Oh no, he's got a Death Star in his chest!"

You mean it's reactor core."


In 7754 the piece was used to represent the hologram of the Death Star II"


Well you could have been more specific in saying, Oh no, he's got a Death Star hologram of 7754 in his chest!

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By in United States,

@WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"On today's episode of Bionicle Doesn't Make An Ounce Of Sense...
who the heck saw this and immediately thought "vampire?!?!?!""


The box art doesn't do it much justice, but he is very clearly a giant bat https://biosector01.com/w/images/bs01/1/1f/Vamprah.png
And in the book's he drinks up people's life force to make himself stronger. A giant bat that drains your life. Doesn't get much more vampiric than that.

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By in United States,

Little on the nose, isn't it? Naming the bat guy vampire?

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By in United States,

@Maxbricks14 said:
"Well you could have been more specific in saying, Oh no, he's got a Death Star hologram of 7754 in his chest!"
Nah, when you over-explain a joke like that it kind of kills it. Those who remember the RSotD from the other week should hopefully get a good chuckle out of it, that's all I need.

On another note btw, I'm sure GSR will give a good big lore dump on this soon, but "reactor core" is not an accurate description either. My bro has one of these sets from when we were kids, and it's actually ammo of some sort, breaking open to release these rubbery parasite things from within.

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By in Hong Kong,

Every bad guy is a Makuta now, yay

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By in United States,

I was gonna keep lore short tonight, but this is my favorite of the Phantoka, but also there's not much about him, so we'll see.

The Maktua were a race of demigod/angel sorts who were created by Mata Nui to fill the Matoran Universe with wild animals. When they saw how much the Matoran praised Mata Nui they grew envious, and cast a spell that sent Mata Nui into a coma.

1,000 years after Mata Nui fell asleep the Toa Nuva arrived to awaken him. Through many adventures they eventually found their way to Karda Nui, the Core of the Universe, to find it in ruin.

The Makuta had sent their 7 strongest warriors and greatest inventors to Karda Nui to conquer the land. They used parasitic creatures known as Shadow Leaches to drain the local Matoran of Light and brainwash them into evil Matoran of Shadow.

When Matoro sacrificed himself and used the Mask of Life to save Mata Nui from death (long story) a bright flash of light filled Karda Nui. This light blinded three of the Makuta in the middle of an assault, Antroz, Chirox, and Vamprah here. These blind Makuta chose Shadow Matoran to telepathically link to who would serve as their "eyes" on the battlefield. Vamprah was paired with Gavla, the first of the Av-Matoran to be corrupted.

Vamprah was an odd sort as far as Makuta go. Whether by choice or ailment, he was completely silent, and had been for as long as anyone remember. He was a loner who lived for the thrill of the hunt, and would quietly stalk and toy with prey before attacking. Even among the other Makuta he would often wind up hidden in the shadows.

Vamprah's greatest weapon was his Kanohi Avsa, the Mask of Hunger. This mask let Vamprah drain the energies of a nearby target and make the wearer stronger, killing the target if used for long enough. While Rahkshi of Hunger could only sap physical strength, this mask let Vamprah drain elemental energy and dampen emotions. The Avsa could even drain the moral light of a target, serving an alternative to the Shadow Leeches, and is how Radiak fell to the darkness. Toa considered it's powers immoral.

But what the Makuta sent to Karda Nui didn't know, is that the realm would become their tomb. Makuta Teridax, leader of the Brotherhood, hadn't informed his kin of his full plan. While the 7 generals knew they had to delay the Toa long enough for Makuta to excise Mata Nui's own soul from his body and take it over, they didn't know what would happen when the Toa actually awakened this body with their leader's mind. Karda Nui was actually a massive nuclear generator, and when the Toa awoke the Great Spirit Robot energy storms flooded the cavern, disintegrating everything in sight. These 7 hadn't been sent to conquer Karda Nui because they needed to control the land, they were sent so Teridax would have no further threats to his rule.

Vamprah's death in the energy storms was perhaps the most tragic. Not only did his blindness prevent him from seeing the storm and finding a way out, but his muteness prevented him from calling his allies to aid, and so the silent hunter met a silent doom.

One thing I love about how Vamprah in the books is not only does he not speak, but the narrator rarely gives insight into what he's thinking (as it does with most characters, in italics.) The narrator only guesses as what Vamprah is up to, never quoting his mind directly, meaning even the omnipotent force telling us the story hasn't been told anything by the vampire.

Also shoutout to Vrahno's Makuta Arrive in Karda Nui. It's so short but one of the best BIONICLE fan animations out there for the sheer might it gives the Makuta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEaVvav9gIg

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By in Canada,

Vampire: Hocus Pocus...I am a VAMPIRE
Bugs Bunny: Abracadabra...I'm a UMPIRE (Bugs dressed as such)
Vamp: Hocus Pocus...I am a BAT (Vamp transforms into the flying mammal)
Bugs: Abracadabra...I'm a BAT too (Bangs is transformed in a Baseball Bat)
Vamp (cautiously): You wouldn't hit a bat with glasses on, would you...(Vamp-Bat put glasses on his face)
Bugs: *WHACK!!!*:D

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By in United States,

Oh an since people are asking about the "reactor core"

That is the Tridax Pod (or Napalm Maggot Bomb as they called it during development.) In universe it was a device invented by Makuta Tridax that could drop Shadow Leeches onto foes bellow, which would drain a person's moral light and make them evil.

Out of Universe most of the Winter wave of Makuta had these rubbery ribcages holding the pods. You could push in on the back of the figure and their ribs would split open and the pod would fall out. It's shell was made of two halves with a loose connection, so it would burst apart when it hit the floor and a bunch of little rubber creatures inside would pop out.

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By in United States,

Vamprah, like the rest of the Makuta in 2008 (especially Phantoka) was freaking horrifying. Which was fantastic in portraying them as the soul tainters they were. I wish I'd had this one back in the day, along with his Shadow Matoran companion Gavla. I'll hopefully part them together one day soon.

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By in United States,

@brick_r said:
"Vampire: Hocus Pocus...I am a VAMPIRE
Bugs Bunny: Abracadabra...I'm a UMPIRE (Bugs dressed as such)
Vamp: Hocus Pocus...I am a BAT (Vamp transforms into the flying mammal)
Bugs: Abracadabra...I'm a BAT too (Bangs is transformed in a Baseball Bat)
Vamp (cautiously): You wouldn't hit a bat with glasses on, would you...(Vamp-Bat put glasses on his face)
Bugs: *WHACK!!!*:D"


What a maroon!

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By in Australia,

its a boy!!!
(which is uncommon for the blue characters because reasons)

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By in United States,

@Robot99 said:
"Oh no, he's got a Death Star in his chest!"

Don't we all? I mean, uh, oh, hey, look, an elephant!

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By in United States,

@Rabrickzel said:
" @Lewa8439 said:
"One of the only blue bionicles to be male
"

listing all blue male Bionicle:

8623
8902
8981
8975
8993 Two Characters
7137
70780

I think I got them all here. Didn't include Bohrok because they don't really have specific gender."


You missed 8734, 8916, and 8935

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By in Poland,

@Rabrickzel said:
" @Lewa8439 said:
"One of the only blue bionicles to be male
"

listing all blue male Bionicle:

8623
8902
8981
8975
8993 Two Characters
7137
70780

I think I got them all here. Didn't include Bohrok because they don't really have specific gender."


There's also 8916

And for non-blue female Bionicle characters:
8558 8761 8695 70781
are the only ones I can recall being depicted as sets.

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By in Netherlands,

I built this one and Antroz just yesterday! I got them from a bulk lot and saved them for when I wanted to gift myself something extra. Nice timing!

Giant bat man.

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By in United Kingdom,

@WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"On today's episode of Bionicle Doesn't Make An Ounce Of Sense...
who the heck saw this and immediately thought "vampire?!?!?!""


I would have thought an artist formerly known as Chima Enjoyer would have more appreciation for a guy who looks like a giant bat. Or were you more a fan of the crocodiles?

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By in Hungary,

Vamp Rah is the Egyptian god of the Sun, who happens to be a seductive woman?

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By in United States,

I recall Vamprah being a bit funny looking in the Battle for Power game on LEGO.com because he was the only one that had to actively flap. He didn't have a pair of wings coming out of his back or jets to keep him in flight, there was no gliding, he just had to constantly flap because he designed more like a bat. It wasn't quite like that in the Phantoka promotional animations from what I remember.

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By in United States,

"Armed with deadly piñatas filled with fake, irresistible gummies, the Makuta and their own demonspawn are an astronomical threat to child safety!"

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By in United Kingdom,

@brick_r said:
"Vampire: Hocus Pocus...I am a VAMPIRE
Bugs Bunny: Abracadabra...I'm a UMPIRE (Bugs dressed as such)
Vamp: Hocus Pocus...I am a BAT (Vamp transforms into the flying mammal)
Bugs: Abracadabra...I'm a BAT too (Bangs is transformed in a Baseball Bat)
Vamp (cautiously): You wouldn't hit a bat with glasses on, would you...(Vamp-Bat put glasses on his face)
Bugs: *WHACK!!!*:D"


You know, I was JUST thinking about that cartoon for entirely unrelated reasons the other day...

[Bat!Vampire flitters away down the crack between the floor stones.]
Vampire: Hocus Pocus [turns back into his normal form, raises the stone slab over his head] Now, I crush you!
Bugs: Oh yeah? Ab'acadabra.
[Vampire gets turned back into bat, gets squished under the stone]
Vampire, muffled: Hocus Pocus! [Back into vampire, holding the stone aloft]
Bugs, immediately: Ab'acadabra.
[Down he goes again]
Vampire, muffled: Hocus Pocus-! [Up again--]
Bugs: Ab'acadabra.
[And down again.]

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By in United Kingdom,

On the subject of the set, 2008 was kind of a weird year for me with Bionicle. I was in my mid/late teens by then; but after dropping out for a bit in 2007 before coming back around the time of [SPOILER] Matoro's sacrifice [/SPOILER], I remember diving into the early 2008 sets with renewed enthusiasm, buying three of them right at the start of the year with my Christmas money, and going after several of the others; I remember that by the time we visited my grandparents in Scotland a few months into that year, I had several more of the sets - including Vamprah by then, who was interesting but not one of my favourites. I took most if not all of my 2008 sets at the time on that trip, and I remember it being one of the last times I genuinely just 'played' with them, making up my own big battle scene. I was all set to keep going with the theme from there--

Then, I don't know; a combination of losing steam on my collecting, not fully connecting with the ongoing story direction that year, and an entirely different franchise grabbing my attention and running off with it for the next several years, just got me drifting away for real. I still got some of the sets from the second half of they year, but with a couple of exceptions most of them were no longer so exciting to me. I was kind of relieved when the end of that year wrapped up the Matoran Universe storyline (with an unexpected ultimate villain victory, no less!) and hopped to another world entirely, giving me an easy jumping-off point.

In hindsight I still don't know how I feel about the 2008 line, really. It gave us one of my favourite sets of the entire run - 8699 - but on the whole I just don't have strong feelings about that year either way.

.
.
.
.
Bugs: Abraca-pocus.

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By in Germany,

This was my last Phantoka set as, for a long time, I had not been impressed with the tiny wings and awkward posture. Furthermore, the box art is not a particularly good case of CGI that does not do the actual model any favors. In the end, I'm very happy I added this one to my collection: having the set in my hand in real life, I appreciated features like unique anatomy, the combination with Gavla, and overall look much more.

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By in United States,

@ThatBionicleGuy said:
"On the subject of the set, 2008 was kind of a weird year for me with Bionicle. I was in my mid/late teens by then; but after dropping out for a bit in 2007 before coming back around the time of [SPOILER] Matoro's sacrifice [/SPOILER], I remember diving into the early 2008 sets with renewed enthusiasm, buying three of them right at the start of the year with my Christmas money, and going after several of the others; I remember that by the time we visited my grandparents in Scotland a few months into that year, I had several more of the sets - including Vamprah by then, who was interesting but not one of my favourites. I took most if not all of my 2008 sets at the time on that trip, and I remember it being one of the last times I genuinely just 'played' with them, making up my own big battle scene. I was all set to keep going with the theme from there--

Then, I don't know; a combination of losing steam on my collecting, not fully connecting with the ongoing story direction that year, and an entirely different franchise grabbing my attention and running off with it for the next several years, just got me drifting away for real. I still got some of the sets from the second half of they year, but with a couple of exceptions most of them were no longer so exciting to me. I was kind of relieved when the end of that year wrapped up the Matoran Universe storyline (with an unexpected ultimate villain victory, no less!) and hopped to another world entirely, giving me an easy jumping-off point.

In hindsight I still don't know how I feel about the 2008 line, really. It gave us one of my favourite sets of the entire run - 8699 - but on the whole I just don't have strong feelings about that year either way.

.
.
.
.
Bugs: Abraca-pocus."


2007 was my jumping-off year. I think a lot of us who were fans in 2001 had reached an age that Bionicle was losing it's appeal so I imaginemany fans "clocked out" around 2007-2008. I still read the comics, so I did follow the story to the end of 2010; but I didn't get reinvested until 2015 with the G2 reboot.

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By in United States,

Vamprah the Bonkle

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By in Germany,

@WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"On today's episode of Bionicle Doesn't Make An Ounce Of Sense...
who the heck saw this and immediately thought "vampire?!?!?!""


I'm starting to fear the boomers were actually right and kids these days actually do not have any imagination...

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By in United States,

@Rabrickzel said:
"I think Nocturn is more green character with blue accents But Brutaka and Takadox I totally forgot."

Nocturn's definitely a weird case. On his box art and in the comics he's depicted as a sickly yellowish-green with lime highlights, but his actual toy is a deep blue with lime highlights. This is probably due to him being made of glow-in-the-dark elements, but for some reason marketing decided Takadox should *never* be shown glowing and Nocturn should *always* be shown glowing. This has resulted in basically every depiction of Nocturn, official or fan, being yellow-green when the actual toy is blue.

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By in United States,

@xboxtravis7992 said:
"2007 was my jumping-off year. I think a lot of us who were fans in 2001 had reached an age that Bionicle was losing it's appeal so I imaginemany fans "clocked out" around 2007-2008. I still read the comics, so I did follow the story to the end of 2010; but I didn't get reinvested until 2015 with the G2 reboot. "

Maybe for those who were kids when the line came out, but I was already thirty when the line came out, so I stayed with it to the end, although there was a point when I wasn't following the story as avidly as I had before. Kept buying the sets, though.

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By in United States,

@SideSalad said:
"Little on the nose, isn't it? Naming the bat guy vampire?"

They also named the guy who performed horrific experiments creating or transforming different forms of life Mutran, the one who looks like a bug Bitil, and their little minion with the one-man flying machine Vultraz.

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By in United States,

@SearchlightRG said:
" @SideSalad said:
"Little on the nose, isn't it? Naming the bat guy vampire?"

They also named the guy who performed horrific experiments creating or transforming different forms of life Mutran, the one who looks like a bug Bitil, and their little minion with the one-man flying machine Vultraz."


Vultraz mask was also later revealed to be the Mask of Vulture/Scavenging, which is even more on-the-nose.

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By in United States,

@GSR_MataNui said:
" @SearchlightRG said:
" @SideSalad said:
"Little on the nose, isn't it? Naming the bat guy vampire?"

They also named the guy who performed horrific experiments creating or transforming different forms of life Mutran, the one who looks like a bug Bitil, and their little minion with the one-man flying machine Vultraz."


Vultraz mask was also later revealed to be the Mask of Vulture/Scavenging, which is even more on-the-nose. "


Or rather, on the beak?

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