#Bees!?

[boxturret]

Bohrok Pens Part 2: Beads and Charms

In this second installment of my coverage of the Bohrok pens I'd like to cover the pens themselves.

PART 1

PART 3

Just for some quick terminology, the Bohrok feature 3 colours and they will be referred to as such throughout this writeup:

Primary: For Tahnok this would be red, the colour used for the body and shields.

Secondary: For Tahnok this would be orange, the colour used on the limbs.

Tertiary: For Tahnok this would be blue, the colour of the eyes and Krana

The main defining feature of this pen system is the use of a set of interlocking beads and other decorative charms that use a thin metal rod that threads through the assembly to hold it together.

Due to the fixed length of the rod the number of charms you can use at one time is limited.

The pens come with many parts to swap out, but to start let's cover the most coveted one, the miniature Krana.

The Krana featured in the pens are roughly half the size of the real ones and are quite accurate, mainly just missing the eye holes. They're even made of a slightly rubbery plastic. Unlike real Krana the Mini Krana aren't randomised, the Tahnok pen always comes with a blue Krana-Za. This unfortunately means that Kranas Ja and Vu are not available as Mini Krana.

As opposed to the original Toa pens, where their small mask clipped on to a round bead, the Krana attach to a small charm styled after a Toa head in much the same way as the real ones can, using a small peg that fits in to the mouth of the head.

Now for the most important part, structurally, the Bohrok face shield charm, which features the thin metal rod.

This part is styled after the Bohrok face shield, but the pattern is printed on, rather than achieved by mixing clear and coloured plastic like in the real part. The part is articulated and can be flipped up to reveal the Krana, should you decide to place it there. In the downward position it can also function as the pen's clip.

The next charm is made to resemble two Bohrok limbs merged together. Its quite open and allows a view of the metal rod when used in the pen. Interestingly its made in the primary colour, instead of the secondary like the real sets. The Bohrok limbs wouldn't be appear in the primary colours until the Bohrok-Kal.

That concludes the charms, so now we move on to the various types of beads. To begin with, each pen includes two cube beads in their secondary colours.

One features the corresponding Bohrok-Va on opposite sides, interestingly the art is mirrored between the two. The second features an image of the Bohrok's shield alternating with the first letter of the Bohrok's name written in the Matoran script. Unlike the Bohrok-Va being mirrored the shield is actually rotated 180 degrees.

Next comes the cylindrical beads. Again, there are two included in each pen, one is made of transparent plastic in the tertiary colour, while the other is made of solid coloured plastic in the secondary, with the Bohrok emblem printed in the primary colour on only one side. This is true for all except the one included with Kohrak pen, which for some reason inverts the colours.

The last of the printed beads is the large round one. Every set comes with a black one that features a BIONICLE logo. They also come with a primary coloured one that features a monochromatic image of the island of Mata Nui on one side and the name Mata Nui on the other, printed in the secondary colours.

Now for the filler beads.

Due to the fixed length of the metal rod there are several coloured beads that can be used to fill space. Every pen comes with one large ribbed bead in the primary colour.

There is also a much smaller, thinner bead. Each pen comes with two, one in the secondary and one in black. Except for, again, the Kohrak pen, which instead has two black beads.

Finally there are the double beads, basically two of the thinner beads stacked on top of each other. Each pen comes with one in light grey, and one in the tertiary colour.

Last but not least comes the actual pen component of these pens.

Each pen features a pattern specific to the Bohrok's element, bubbling water for Gahlok, flames for Tahnok, etc. This pattern is then encased in soft, transparent rubbery plastic that has, unfortunately, become quite sticky over the years.

The pen mechanism is rather simple, by rotating the very tip of the pen in one direction the tip will be extended and you can write with it, and rotating it in the other will retract the pen.

The mechanism can be easily removed by unscrewing the end cap, which is where the thin metal rod that holds the whole pen together is attached to.

The mechanism comprises of a small metal ink cartridge attached to a white piece of plastic with a large thread on it, which is responsible for the extending of the writing tip. There is a rather large spring to keep pressure on the cartridge, as when the pen tip is retracted fully the part is just floating freely. Due to the specialised nature of the parts I don't know how replaceable the ink cartridge would be. at the very least it would need to be cut down.

That concludes this look at the pens, finally this series will feature a small gallery of some photos I took of the pens.

[infectiouspiss]

a second bumblebee has hit the flowers

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[bluebeesknees]

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And it works. It works like a CHARM. Silly problems require silly solutions!

[bedupolker]

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friends asked me to draw a bee with a binky here you guys can have it too

[auroblaze]

Everybody always so bold when dunking from the other parallel dimension 😔

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[bumblingest-bee]

”which could mean nothing” is maybe my favorite phrase of all time. where would we be without it

[transgirltinkaton]

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it's me and my caffeinated drink against the world

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[skippyisntfunny]

[animusrox]

Bee Movie (2007) dir. Simon J. Smith & Steve Hickner X-Men: First Class (2011) dir. Matthew Vaughn

[saucingitup]

and this is why baseball is the best sport (see also: these baseball sidequests)