Why do or don't you like Bionicle?

[Front]

Bionicle has been a HUGE succes for Lego. That is a very simple fact. Bionicle still makes money, but is now not the hottest money maker as it has been.

Bionicle is part of the Technic building system. The only thing added is more or less the balls, which actually came the year before Bionicle.

Bionicle peices have Technic connectors, and are designed to fit into the dimensions of both the System and the Technic constructions, and even Duplo for that matter. But most Bionicle pieces are special elements with few building posabilities, and the elements mostly have a short life-span, meaning they are only in new sets for a few years, or often only in one set like most of the masks.

I like drawing Bionicle elements.

I voted yes

I like Krika, Vamprah and others.

Front

[JINZONINGEN73]

I like Bionicle for it's parts. They add action figure-like mobility to even System creations.

The story? Meh... it was cool in 2001. I like it mostly in it's capacity to draw in younger readers and make the line continue on.

I do understand why System guys HATE it though. To a lot, the building appears about as creative as EVERYONE agrees Galidor was.

They're wrong of course... both with Galidor and Bionicle, it's limited only by how you use them... but yeah, that DOES in fact require adding System most of the time to make something GOOD.

But like with the story, the googoo-gaga baby-easy to build sets make "okay" action figures, which again means the line continues and parts that positively affect System will still be made where they might not have if Bionicle died off.

...I just wished more parts were available in many different colors. I miss those old, multi-colored mask packs...

[Algernon]

I'll forgive "baby-easy" model building if they come out with sets like the Axalara T9 to make up for it.

[Rijkvv]

I don't like it. The main reasons: first of all, I don't like the theme/story. I can't explain, I have the same with Exo-Force. Second, as many others have said: it is not easy to combine the pieces for non-Bionicle MOC's. It doesn't look like LEGO, and in my opinion, a LEGO set should have some studded parts. That is what makes it LEGO. I don't like studless very well, but the TECHNIC studless sets you can at least combine with many other elements.

[CP5670]

I'm not interested in Bionicle. The "organic" style of the models never appealed to me and they have neither the brick-building feel of System nor the mechanical aspects of Technic. I have nothing against the existence of the theme though, and there are several other Lego themes that I don't have much interest in either.

However, I don't understand why Bionicle is considered similar to Technic, since they have very little in common. The only thing is that they both use the hole/axle connections, but those are ubiquitous these days and appear in a lot of System sets too. Technic is all about the functionality and intricate mechanisms. There was in fact a time when Technic models were primarily built from stud connections (and many Technic MOCs still are), but what they always had in common was the emphasis on functionality.

Edited December 3, 2008 by CP5670

[Takanuva-nui]

Its quite nice to have buildable action figures with customizable features. Storyline is alright, but its getting good again, so its just more for me to anticipate for this new wave of Bionicle.

T-Nui

[dviddy]

However, I don't understand why Bionicle is considered similar to Technic

Bionicle is considered similar to Technic because it was originally branded under the Technic brand.

Originally, you see, Bionicle sets emphasized functions over action-figure-ability, as can be seen by the original 'baddies' in 2001, the functional Rahi.

The original lineup was all about gears, levers, etc. It didn't last, but that's how the connection came to be.

[Oky]

Very interesting question! I'm curious as to what the responses will be!

There are two good reasons for me to like Bionicle:

1. I like making animation, and Bionicles are great for stop motion!
   
2. I am a geek, and I love robots, so I naturally like action figures of robotic heroes with mystical weapons!
   

Sorry, but I don't give doodelee-squat about the story. I don't like fantasy stories all that much, especially not such weird and confusing ones. The first Bionicle movie was alright, but the others sucked.

Just my opinion.

[Mortymore]

Bionicle and Technic are on oposite sides for me.

If from LEGO only one theme had to survive, and all others end, I'd choose Technic to keep alive, though in my imagination I associate LEGO with the City theme, don't ask me why. On the other side, if one theme had to end, I'd choose Bionicle.

Off course I respect others opinions... this is just my own.

I like robotics also, but when I look at a bionicle set I can't see any robotics there, but when I look to technick "bricks" (and Mindstorm), I can imagine lots of working things, robots included, humanized or not.

Cumps

PS: And by the way... It bothers me to have here in the forum, Bionicle mixed up with Technic and Minstorms, because I have no interest in the first, and I always have to dig here, the post that I'm really interested in.

Edited December 4, 2008 by Mortymore

[Ralph_S]

I appreciate that there's a market for this kind of thing and the parts design is often very clever, but I'm afraid that apart from the colours, most Bionicle MOCs that I see on MOCpages and brickshelf look rather the same to me. Of course, there are people who do interesting stuff with Bionicle parts, but action figures really aren't my cup of tea and I couldn't care less about story lines.

Cheers,

Ralph

[CP5670]

Bionicle is considered similar to Technic because it was originally branded under the Technic brand.

Originally, you see, Bionicle sets emphasized functions over action-figure-ability, as can be seen by the original 'baddies' in 2001, the functional Rahi.

The original lineup was all about gears, levers, etc. It didn't last, but that's how the connection came to be.

I guess that makes sense. I remember that they had the 8xxx numbers at a time when those sets were otherwise exclusively Technic. The functions were fairly basic though compared to most Technic sets, and today there isn't any connection at all.

PS: And by the way... It bothers me to have here in the forum, Bionicle mixed up with Technic and Minstorms, because I have no interest in the first, and I always have to dig here, the post that I'm really interested in.

I don't mind the Bionicle threads, but I always thought it would make more sense to put Technic and Mindstorms together with Model Team (and some types of Creator) instead. A lot of Technic MOCs also fall into the Model Team category, and the two themes have similar scales and design concepts. They also used to share the same catalogs at one point.

Sinner once said there wasn't enough interest here in Technic to warrant its own forum, but we have had more Technic fans register lately and if you combine all of those themes, I think there would be a decent number of threads. Bionicle also arguably has enough activity to have an exclusive forum for itself. (right now, most of the Bionicle discussion seems to be mixed into that one massive thread)

[Dennimator]

I broke the tie by voting ´no´!

I don´t like them because they´re not really lego for me, they look more like action figures designed only for a kid´s interest (well, they are). However, if there is any parts that seem useful in a smaller Bionicle set, I´ll buy it.

[Algernon]

It's impossible to say because there is a huge difference between what Bionicle was and what Bionicle turned into.

I love Bionicle 2001, but 2003 forward was just crap.

[Front]

Although Bionicle is mostly based on the technic building connectors, I think it would be nice to have a seperate forum for Bionicle.

Technic threads may be too few here (which is rather odd for such an "adult-aimed" site like this), to justify a seperate category. But it has been my thought from back when I first found this site, that the mix of technic and bionicle keeps technic users away from the site, and keeps registred users from starting new threads.

Personally I like bionicle for the cool look of the figures, and like technic for the complexity. A lot of Bionicle parts use the sphere connectors, and these does not make a lot of sence in technic mocs. Many bionicle parts are "end pieces", with only one or a few connectors, not enabling a part to be in the middle of a chain of connected lego pieces. The classic example is the many weapons.

I still think there is a big unexplored moc area though, where bionicle parts, classic technic parts and system parts are used together. This is essentially what we see in a lot of system sets, just look at some of the new PowerMiner sets. But the moc'ing posebilities could be driven to whole new territories by people combining all kind of Lego parts.

Front

btw. quite funny to see a 33-no and 33-yes voting so far

Edited December 4, 2008 by Front

[Brickthus]

I'm in two minds about Bionicle.

Pro: some of its parts are useful additions to the Technic range of parts, such as the rack that turns two 8-tooth cogs together.

Con: Bionicle steals far more than its fair share of new moulds every year, moulds that should be spent on more useful small Technic pieces that are missing from the range, forcing me to modify Technic parts to make mechanisms work in small spaces. More short thin beams are especially required.

Pro: Bionicle has kept Technic alive because Technic on its own is not so profitable. The number of 7-year old boys buying Bionicle is far greater than the number of teens and adults buying the large Technic sets. Bionicle and Technic parts were still made together by TLG in Denmark when standard bricks were first outsourced, so Bionicle has supported Technic parts production volume by making it viable. (Technic and Bionicle parts are some of the most complex to mould, so they were last to be outsourced).

Other themes than Bionicle have produced great Technic parts, such as Hailfire Droid wheels from Star Wars and the new wheels with annular 48-tooth gear rings from Power Miners, so the benefit to Technic parts is not exclusively from Bionicle.

Con: I have to wade through the Bionicle discussions in this forum to get to the Technic, which I find more interesting. (This is not really Bionicle's fault, more a request for admins to reallocate forums!) I suppose Technic would be swamped by either Model Team or Mindstorms if it merged with one of those instead. The best result would be to merge it with a compatible theme of a similar volume of posts, to make a 50:50 forum rather than the current 90% Bionicle 10% Technic. (The same is true for Trains vs. Town but that's another story).

Con: I don't care for the Bionicle storyline but that's understandable because I'm a lot older than 7! I don't blame TLG for having a believable storyline if it helps to sell more product, because more sales help to support my hobby in other ways. I would prefer that the storyline wasn't based on magic or eastern mysticism, but it's hardly likely to lead kids astray at that age, and is no worse than Harry Potter, so I'm prepared to let the kids have their "magic" till they're old enough to understand the differences between childhood stories and the more serious (sometimes dangerous) adult versions of these things. It just grates because it doesn't fit with the original ethos of TLG as a company.

I think overall I don't like Bionicle but I don't have to like it to appreciate that Technic needed it in order to survive.

Mark

[brickzone]

I think Bionicle is a reasonable concept for Lego to have a stake in that particular segment of the toy market (in the same way Racers kinda takes on matchbox cars. However, I do not like it, for the simple reason that I think it diverges too much from Lego and even technic - too many specialised parts.

I think the Exo-force theme and the amount of fancy hull pieces and custom ordinary Lego parts we now have shows that something like Bionicle could now be done with more "proper" Lego (i.e. more versatile and multi-purpose).

[dviddy]

I still think there is a big unexplored moc area though, where bionicle parts, classic technic parts and system parts are used together. This is essentially what we see in a lot of system sets, just look at some of the new PowerMiner sets. But the moc'ing posebilities could be driven to whole new territories by people combining all kind of Lego parts.

That's the focus for some of us. ;)

[CP5670]

I still think there is a big unexplored moc area though, where bionicle parts, classic technic parts and system parts are used together. This is essentially what we see in a lot of system sets, just look at some of the new PowerMiner sets. But the moc'ing posebilities could be driven to whole new territories by people combining all kind of Lego parts.

This could lead to very interesting models. I incorporate Technic functions into some of my Space MOCs (and plan to do a lot more of this in the future), but have not used much in the way of Bionicle parts.

[Hewman]

I'm not a fan but hey, I'm an old dude that didn't grow up with them. I guess they just don't gel with what I traditionally think of as lego with all their rather unique pieces; but hey, it helped Lego's profits when other sales weren't great so I'm not going to bash it.

Edited December 5, 2008 by hewman

[~Wrack'n'Ruin~]

I'm in two minds about Bionicle.

Pro: some of its parts are useful additions to the Technic range of parts, such as the rack that turns two 8-tooth cogs together.

Con: Bionicle steals far more than its fair share of new moulds every year, moulds that should be spent on more useful small Technic pieces that are missing from the range, forcing me to modify Technic parts to make mechanisms work in small spaces. More short thin beams are especially required.

Pro: Bionicle has kept Technic alive because Technic on its own is not so profitable. The number of 7-year old boys buying Bionicle is far greater than the number of teens and adults buying the large Technic sets. Bionicle and Technic parts were still made together by TLG in Denmark when standard bricks were first outsourced, so Bionicle has supported Technic parts production volume by making it viable. (Technic and Bionicle parts are some of the most complex to mould, so they were last to be outsourced).

Other themes than Bionicle have produced great Technic parts, such as Hailfire Droid wheels from Star Wars and the new wheels with annular 48-tooth gear rings from Power Miners, so the benefit to Technic parts is not exclusively from Bionicle.

Con: I have to wade through the Bionicle discussions in this forum to get to the Technic, which I find more interesting. (This is not really Bionicle's fault, more a request for admins to reallocate forums!) I suppose Technic would be swamped by either Model Team or Mindstorms if it merged with one of those instead. The best result would be to merge it with a compatible theme of a similar volume of posts, to make a 50:50 forum rather than the current 90% Bionicle 10% Technic. (The same is true for Trains vs. Town but that's another story).

Con: I don't care for the Bionicle storyline but that's understandable because I'm a lot older than 7! I don't blame TLG for having a believable storyline if it helps to sell more product, because more sales help to support my hobby in other ways. I would prefer that the storyline wasn't based on magic or eastern mysticism, but it's hardly likely to lead kids astray at that age, and is no worse than Harry Potter, so I'm prepared to let the kids have their "magic" till they're old enough to understand the differences between childhood stories and the more serious (sometimes dangerous) adult versions of these things. It just grates because it doesn't fit with the original ethos of TLG as a company.

I think overall I don't like Bionicle but I don't have to like it to appreciate that Technic needed it in order to survive.

Mark

Tao is not Toa, dude. Vague Maori Island references with robots is not Eastern Mysticism.

And "dangerous Magic" is rubbish.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Tao is not Toa, dude. Vague Maori Island references with robots is not Eastern Mysticism.

And "dangerous Magic" is rubbish.

Wrack speaks the truth.

[The Crazy One]

I have always been a fan of bionicle, great desing, articulation and story, though i was disapointed with the Toa last year ( Mistika ) so i am remaking them and i will post them as soon as possible.

[rriggs]

I voted no - No minifigs...

Cheers

Rog

[Zarkan]

Con: I don't care for the Bionicle storyline but that's understandable because I'm a lot older than 7! I don't blame TLG for having a believable storyline if it helps to sell more product, because more sales help to support my hobby in other ways. I would prefer that the storyline wasn't based on magic or eastern mysticism, but it's hardly likely to lead kids astray at that age, and is no worse than Harry Potter, so I'm prepared to let the kids have their "magic" till they're old enough to understand the differences between childhood stories and the more serious (sometimes dangerous) adult versions of these things. It just grates because it doesn't fit with the original ethos of TLG as a company.

Eh? Are you sure you're talking about Bionicle, sir? Seriously, Bionicle couldn't be further from eastern mysticism - or any form of actual beliefs, for that matter. Bionicle is at most, a sci-fi story with elements of fantasy and myth. It shares basically no similarities with Harry Potter, and relies far more on technological and physical explanations than "magic."

Honestly, I don't get what you're so upset about. Is it wrong for kids to enjoy fantastical things like "magic" in their playing and imagining? TLC's ethos has always been "just imagine" and in some ways Bionicle has incorporated a far greater dose of imagination than general lego themes, which are usually based off of historical periods, liscenses, or already established themes like fantasy and Sci-Fi. So, Bionicle does fit into TLC's original policies. Are you advocating that kids only "imagine" if they think realistically? Seriously, I'm really wondering what your point is from typing that, because I don't quite understand what you mean by it.

I voted no - No minifigs...

Woah, I think fans of Technic as a whole may have something to say about that - not to mention fans of Creator, Starwars UCS, the achitecture models like the Eifel Tower and Taj Mahal, etc.

[Bfahome]

Where does that link lead to? It's not showing up for me for some reason.

Thanks,

VBBN

The "History" section of the "BIONICLE" page on the BIONICLEsector01 wiki.

I voted no - No minifigs...

Cheers

Rog

News to me.

Woah, I think fans of Technic as a whole may have something to say about that - not to mention fans of Creator, Starwars UCS, the achitecture models like the Eifel Tower and Taj Mahal, etc.

Don't forget a lot of "Racers" mini car things.

I voted yes. It's kinda like my hobby, and I've been hooked since I was seven.