A new book cover for "BIONICLE Metru Nui - City of Legends" has surfaced, which is apparently a guidebook to the island city. In other book news, the third in the Bionicle Adventures series, The Darkness Below, is beginning to ship through Scholastic book orders, even though it's not officially released according to Amazon.com. Finally, the title for the sixth book in the Bionicle Adventures series will be Maze of Shadows, due for release in December.

The Guardian, a UK newspaper, has an extensive article on LEGO in general and Bionicle in particular, and how Bionicle has helped the LEGO Company in several ways. The article is targeted at adults, but younger Bionicle fans will pick up a few interesting tidbits along the way.

Comic 17, In the Grip of the Morbuzakh, is now online at Bionicle.com. "The Toa Metru have rescued the six Matoran. Only these know the locations of the Great Kanoka disks that are key to defeating the devastating menace of the Morbuzakh plant. As more of the city crumbles to ruin, the race to save Metru Nui has begun..."

A couple of German readers have let us know that BIONICLE: Mask of Light will be aired on German TV "Super RTL" this Saturday May 1st, at 3:30 p.m.

Sometimes, very early in the marketing of a new product line, prototype images of the new gadgets sneak into advertising. Case in point: this ad from the Netherlands shows early versions of Toa Matau, Vakama, and Nokama. Vakama more closely resembles Turaga Dume, Matau's mask is a bug-eyed helmet, and Nokama's upside-down-Clikit-heart mouth is quite pronounced.

If you're planning on taking LEGO's Rahi Challenge, you'd better kick it into gear. The deadline is three weeks away, so grab your 702-pc. Master Accessory Kit and start building - the contest deadline is May 15th.

For those of you following the Mars Rover DVD codes, the cat's out of the bag. The secret messages have been revealed, and 50 people who had the correct answer to codes on Spirit and Opportunity DVDs will receive prizes. The first 10 to solve each DVD code receive LEGO prizes and membership with sponsor The Planetary Society, and another 30 randomly-selected cryptographers will receive prizes as well. You can still try to solve each DVD code, although you won't be eligible for prizes.
l-lll-l-lllll-ll-ll-l---l--ll-lllll-l-l--llll!

Sources within LEGO confirm the Bionicle 702-pc Master Accessory Kit is a limited-run item, so if you see them, it's probably a good idea to grab one - or more. Although there's no word on how many units were produced, once the initial shipment is gone, there likely won't be any more.
As for why the product was produced in the first place: LEGO Marketing Manager Lars Kaae told us, "We've had a lot of requests on making a bulk BIONICLE item, because children love to make their own BIONICLE creations. The elements were randomly picked, but we also looked at what elements were especially popular among our fans."

If you think LEGO.com is pretty darn cool, you're not the only one. The site is up for a Webby award in the "Best Practices" category - whatever that is. It's up against some other well-known sites such as BBC News, Google, Turner Classic Movies, and Wikipedia.

The bios for all Toa Metru and Matoran have been placed on Bionicle.com - sort of, maybe. Some people can see them, some can't. And the Metru Nui district descriptions are also up. It looks like the Bionicle web team is doing some work, so expect some adjustments to the Legends section today.

As we reported last January, the Proto Squad is expanding with new members. Those lucky new PS members are starting to get postcards signed by Greg Farshtey, letting them know they've been accepted. The postcard has a picture teasing for the next part of the storyline.  

Just a reminder: BIONICLE: Mask of Light is on tonight at 7:30 p.m. Pacific/Eastern on Cartoon Network. Remember to complete Vakama's quote: "The new dawn stirred in me visions of the past. Visions of a time when we thought new legends could not be made. It was the time of the _____" to get 50 Kanoka points. Update: The new images for Metru Nui are at the very end, in an expanded epilogue voiceover by Turaga Vakama. The pictures are misty but worth watching.

What's more popular than a Star Destroyer, a Classic Castle, or a Pirate Ship? Brickset, a fan-run LEGO reference site that posts user reviews and ratings of sets, currently shows Toa Nuju as the top-rated LEGO set with a rating of 9.28 (out of 10). Not to be left out, Kopaka Nuva is listed further down, along with several other Bionicle sets, past and present.

The third recent update to Bionicle.com features Nuju on the front page, although his bio isn't online yet. If the past is any indication, Nuju's and Ehrye's bios and a description of Ko-Metru should be available soon.

Got a whole bunch of Kanoka Club Points saved up in your Kanoka Club account on Bionicle.com? You can now start buying content with the points, including: Toa icons, Vakama wallpaper, IM icons, a Morbuzakh screensaver, and Toa or Metru icons. Most items cost about 150 points, although the wallpaper is 75 and the screensaver is 125. The "store" will be updated monthly with new items.

"Voyage of Fear" by Greg Farshtey is due to be published by Scholastic in October. Amazon.com in Japan lists the book as "Bionicle Adventures 5", begging the question, what's the fourth book in the series?

Good news for often-neglected Australian Bionicle fans: the Mask of Light movie will air on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) on Monday, April 26 beginning at 10:24 a.m. No word on whether there will be any extra footage for Bionicle 2 as promised on Cartoon Network.

Cartoon Network is showing a teaser commercial for next Saturday's airing of BIONICLE: Mask of Light, and you can also see the commercial online, although it doesn't show anything we haven't seen before.

Building instructions for some old friends have shown back up on Bionicle.com's "Building Instructions" page (Products -> Building). Both Rahkshi Kaita models and Bohrok Kaita models are available in step-by-step mode.

The first online comic for the new Bionicle.com is now online. Comic 16, Toa Metru: Part 1 is available under the "Legends -> Comics" link.

With slightly under 200 days until BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui is released, the advertising has begun. Bonus.com is featuring an ad linking to the movie's page on Bionicle.com, as is the Games section on FoxBox.

There's been some confusion about the actual time BIONICLE: Mask of Light will start on Cartoon Network, April 17th. The real, final, honest-to-goodness time is 7:30 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, according to Michael McNally of LEGO. Also, Vakama's quote which rewards users with 50 Kanoka points on Bionicle.com is in the "extra" footage that will be shown that night.

Over the last couple of days, we've heard from three more Gold Kanoka winners who are BZPower members. That means nearly half of all the fastest builders belong to the BZPower community! Please join me in congratulating Shadrahk, Legoman, and -Takua- on their speedy fingers. We have pictures inside.  

The world TV premiere of "BIONICLE: Mask of Light," scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern time, 4/17, on Cartoon Network's "Toonami" programming block, will feature exclusive, never before seen footage, including scenes from BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui. You can also win 50 Kanoka Points by completing this quote from Turaga Vakama: "The new dawn stirred in me visions of the past. Visions of a time when we thought new legends could not be made. It was the time of the _________." Log into the Kanoka Club to enter your answer.