The BIONICLE community is tearing itself apart over the new LEGO Tahu minifigure

As expected, the new LEGO BIONICLE Cosplayer minifigure is proving pretty hard to find in some places – and it’s sending shockwaves through the community…

In the weeks leading up to their release, the tiny Tahu costume included in 71052 Series 29’s dozen new minifigures already appeared to be the new Wolfpack Beastmaster of the bunch: hard to find and expensive to buy on the aftermarket. That anecdotal experience now appears to be playing out on a larger scale in many regions, as BIONICLE fans hunt down their new slice of nostalgia and come away frustrated.

The main BIONICLE subreddit offers a fascinating snapshot of the minifigure’s impact on the community in these early days post-release. Bug_Catcher_Wade scanned ‘every single box’ in an entire bin of Collectible Minifigures, found zero Tahus and immediately concluded that ‘it was a scalper’ owing to the simultaneous absence of the Mysterious Ronin (another highly-coveted Series 29 character).

They’re not the only one highlighting the behaviour of so-called scalpers, who snap up stock of sought-after minifigures and attempt to profit from them on the secondary market. Multiple redditors have shared screenshots of listings for the BIONICLE Cosplayer at what you might call ambitious prices, with some asking for up to $55 for a single Tahu minifigure.

But not everyone agrees that scalpers are entirely to blame. One of the most popular comments under Bug_Catcher_Wade’s post comes from Fr0stybit3s, who pushes back against the narrative that scalpers raided the bin they’d searched through. “Totally not another collector, like you, that also wanted those two figures that are clearly the two most in demand,” they said.

“I swear people like you misusing the term ‘scalper’ are just as bad as the scalpers themselves. Just take the L and try again at a different store instead of whining like a child.” Cue a protracted argument between BIONICLE fans on what constitutes scalping, whether said scalpers are actually responsible for Tahu’s unavailability and the telltale signs of whether a scalper has been through a box of Minifigures already.

Another heavily-upvoted post from Bug_Catcher_Wade riffs on a classic meme format to push back against scalpers and emphasise the traditional audience for LEGO minifigures (you know, kids), but once again the comments are at odds with the message.

“I’d argue the kids either count as fans or aren’t so interested in that particular figure,” said DucksAreFriends. “Unless they just think it looks cool, which is fair.” Most of the other upvoted comments agree that kids are in fact not the target audience for BIONICLE, a theme which last had regular sets on shelves a decade ago. And one commenter pointed out: ‘[The LEGO Group]’ doesn’t make minifigs just for scalpers. Tahu isn’t any rarer than any other minifigure, it’s just in high demand.”

It’s worth remembering at this point that 71052 Series 29 has been on shelves for less than a week, and will remain available right the way through August at the very least. (Our local LEGO Store still has 71051 Series 28 Animals on shelves, for what it’s worth.) And when the post-launch dust settles, the BIONICLE Cosplayer might just be a little easier to find than it is right now.

Not everyone is so swept up in the scalpers vs. collectors furore, either. Those lucky enough to already have their hands on Tahu have been putting it to good use, including BentoDraws, who’s taken the new mask element and conjured up a brick-built mini Tahu to match. _Ryloren_ has posted a cute pic of the minifigure alongside a modified Tahu BIONICLE figure, and GreatEdmondo has built the cosplayer an Exo-Toa Mech.

These are all fun ways to celebrate the first new sliver of BIONICLE content to come out of Billund in a good while, and a timely reminder that there’s more to the release of a new Minifigures series than arguing over scalpers. If you still need to find your own little Tahu, Brick Search can help: download the app on iOS or Android, open up the minifigure scanner and start scanning boxes to see what’s inside.

Take a closer look at the BIONICLE Cosplayer here. 71052 Series 29 is out now.

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