No Bionicle in 2017 confirmed

[Kalta the Noble Mind]

I am really curious to know why the decided to cut it one year short. I understand ceasing the line after its initial run but this smells of drastic measures, especially with the contest point towards it gaining interest and therefore continuation. the contest itself to stir up fan interest and community recognition and the MoUP hinting towards a new final wave. it is all so fishy and scary.

in fact, I am getting flashbacks to 2010 where they cut off the next 2 planned years so Bionicle ends on a high note, or to cut its losses. was G2's 3rd year planned out and the higher ups cut it similarly?

thirdly Lego is supposed to be the highest grossing toy company nowadays right? making so much money they are able to build their headquarters into essentially a small town! for sure they could have enough in the budget to create a 3rd wave, especially with their plan to plan out every new story based theme for 3 years. they could have gone the STArs route and given us 6 small toa and end it with a giant makuta titan with the sought after MoUP, just to milk some cash out of loyal fans. what has happened to go back on a brand new strategy and ,I hate to say it but, screw over a loyal customer base? I am not even going on fanboy entitlement but a legitimate concern for the company breaking a promise.

but it was a good run while it lasted even with the abrupt end. the lego Group sure knew how to reinvent a franchise and showcased the potential of Constraction, doubly so with the unique action features implemented in all the waves.

lets ope we get a G3 down the line :D i mean 3rd time's the charm right?

also $50 says the Special prize for the makuta contest is the MoUP itself, being the only new element created for this phantom 3rd wave and the most hyped up relic in the lore terefor a most saught after prize.

[DraikNova]

I am really curious to know why the decided to cut it one year short. I understand ceasing the line after its initial run but this smells of drastic measures, especially with the contest point towards it gaining interest and therefore continuation. the contest itself to stir up fan interest and community recognition and the MoUP hinting towards a new final wave. it is all so fishy and scary.

in fact, I am getting flashbacks to 2010 where they cut off the next 2 planned years so Bionicle ends on a high note, or to cut its losses. was G2's 3rd year planned out and the higher ups cut it similarly?

also $50 says the Special prize for the makuta contest is the MoUP itself, being the only new element created for this phantom 3rd wave and the most hyped up relic in the lore terefor a most saught after prize.

Remember, the prize has already been said to be all of the sets. Nothing about the MoUP. But wasn't the introduction of CCBS a factor in Bionicle's original cancellation, or am I mixing rumors up with facts? Could be a good sign.

Did I enjoy Bionicle G2? Somewhat, but not nearly as much as G1. It's no surprise that I wasn't a fan of this year's sets, and I often find myself wishing LEGO would try something new. There are elements of this line that made it feel like Bionicle that I hope we see return, namely the newfound emphasis on mask collecting. Even if we do get a brand new IP or Hero Factory 2.0 or something, I would love to see mask collecting make an even stronger return.

Mask as proper collectables, in large numbers, would be great, since face pieces are integral to making new characters.

Edited July 29, 2016 by DraikNova

[TheOneVeyronian]

Really? I'm honestly disappointed. Like others, I'm sad that there's going to be no MOUP (my G2 mask collection feels pretty pointless now... even if somebody did make a MOUP to sell on Shapeways, it wouldn't feel the same. Both physically and mentally And only a couple of months after shelling out $100 for the 2 comic-con masks too ). I knew there was an upcoming announcement of BIONICLE since a friend told me there would be one, but I've been praying that it wouldn't be bad news. But it was the worst news possible sadly.

But I must admit, I'm more worried about what this means for the future of Constraction as a system. I don't mind BIONCLE's end so much as long as it's immediately replaced by another comparable in-house theme, in other words in January 2017 I want to go to a LEGO Store and see a new Constraction line where BIONICLE used to be. I know there will be Star Wars buildable figures, but I want an in-house Constraction theme, stuff I can buy for parts without breaking the bank (Star Wars figures are way too expensive for that purpose), and stuff that can dare to be more innovative than Star Wars buildable figures can even dream of. If there's no in-house Constraction theme next year, then I'm going to get quite close to packing up all the 15,000+ loose Constraction parts that I have and sell it all. If I wasn't already invested in other LEGO themes, I'd be regressing into a dark age! What's the point of having it when CCBS stagnates due to lack of a second Constraction theme?

Also, I guess that G2 art book being given away in the contest isn't getting a general release? Not even an exclusive or wider promotional release? I love art books, it would be sad to not have a way for us regular fans to get it.

But then again, I should have expected it. Everything I like seems to be getting pulled from shelves faster and faster these days, leaving me with less and less stuff I like. And that's the sad reality of it

[Jetrax99]

I don't even know why they bothered to make a mold for the MoUP if they had no intention of releasing it.

[MakutaOfWar]

Well, this is a pretty lame way to start my day. I still haven't even bought any of the 2016 sets,guess I should get on that. Can't say, like the rest of us, that I'm surprised. Man, I still remember the excitement of hearing the news of it's return two years ago.

Edited July 29, 2016 by MakutaOfWar

[Dorek]

For a few more specifics, I've published an open letter I'd like y'all to read.

For the two main questions: no MOUP, yes other ways to get art books (but not many).

[DOTM Shockwave]

Sorry people, you do actually feel something, society just tells you that emotions are dumb so you're trying to pretend you don't have them.

I know this isn't directed at me, but I don't feel anything at all about G2 Bionicle's end. If the original line's end didn't effect me (despite being a big part of my childhood), then this one isn't either.

I just can't get upset over toylines ending.

[LegoRomania]

So Sunday will be revealed something?

[Hisstori]

To be honest, I'm not too surprised Bionicle ended early. It was apparent Lego stopped giving it attention when the advertising dropped sharply months after the first wave came around. I'm just pretty disappointed. They had a chance to make another really popular theme that wasn't system. Oh well, at least I got into other hobbies. I was never interested in Lego outside of their Constraction line.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Hisstori

[Soul of Cinder]

Well on to their next theme then.

[xboxtravis7992]

For a few more specifics, I've published an open letter I'd like y'all to read.

For the two main questions: no MOUP, yes other ways to get art books (but not many).

I congratulate you that you remained quite on it for two months. If I had know what you did then, it would have been hard not to have revealed it to the community. I am glad to hear that Lego views the digital fans (for all their themes I presume) as their best media representatives.

Glad to hear the art books will be digitized for BS01. While I would have loved a hard copy, the digital format will suffice.

[Kalta the Noble Mind]

It's really a shame because the designer team and people behind the story really did a fantastic job, but someone higher decided the theme's not worth spending any money on advertising campaign.

that would be the worst scenario ever, a franchise or series ending not because of no consumer interest,or because of cost outweighing benefit, or any sort of practical logical reason along such lines but because some executive moneyman either thinking they know better than the creatives he hires to make product or the consumers who pay both him and his team for said product and decides to use his executive power to enforce is will despite all the detriment the professionals can see.

in the pop culture podcasts I listen to, this is everyday happenings in the entertainment industry. like Doctor Who getting canceled in the 80s despite it being the BBC's most popular show merely because an exec producer hated sci-fi. Deadpool movie being delayed for a decade and almost not getting made until test footage made fan demand too loud to ignore and then giving it a small budget (which got to be the most highest grossing R-rated movie of all time!) just because some exec well known for bad decision making didn't like superhero movies ( i think)

I hope the Lego Group doesn't have such executives on their board of directors and such because they have had just the perfect track record for consumer base satisfaction.

[TwistLaw]

Hilarious. Hero Factory lasted two times BIONICLE G2 did, receiving tons of backlash. The Okoto arch was well received by fans, was fresh and well made and yet...

I won't sugar coat it: this is HUMILIATING. It makes me feel embarrassed that such a great line with such great ideas wasn't well received by the general public, and that was castrated (yep) by LEGO itself with a story kept as simple as possible.

Thank you Ryder Widham, for trying as hard as you could to build an interesting story.

Thank you designers, for making such awesome sets.

And about LEGO... I'm not really in the mood right now to thank you. You brought back a great theme without really feeling it. You HUMILIATED our favourite toyline by making people believe it can't even reach its expiration date.

And to all those people who called us, worried fans, "doomsayers in search of web celebrity": just shut up now. Really, please.

I'm bitter af and I don't really give a sheet about what people may think of fans like me. This is ridiculous and, as I said, humiliating.

TwistLaw out.

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I am sad that we won't get more sets but the story this time around didn't really capture like G1's did so I can't help but feel somewhat neutral to this. I think Lego's fear of overcomplicating the story led to the fear of even making it interesting, at least for me. I'm mostly mad at no MoUP and limited distribution of the artbook. Oh well, it's not like it was gonna be like the Gravity Falls Journal that came out recently and contain canon content.

[Fulcrumfan91]

Well.....I'm pretty sure that Bionicle didn't do well because....it just didn't. The kids of this generation are different from those who grew up with G1. They just clearly didn't seem that interested (of course, this is my theory as to why Bionicle's run has ended so quickly). I'm sure the line ended because sales were not good, and likely because sales of Star Wars constraction sets might have been better. I don't know for sure, I don't even know whether SW constraction is doing that well anyway. All I can say is....I've been kinda expecting this for months now since I heard all that odd talk in January from LEGO stores telling me the theme was cancelled. I'm not surprised, but I'm happy to have gotten what we've gotten. Really cool tv series, art, awesome sets, the coolest masks I've ever seen in Bionicle...it's all been super great. I'm not angry at LEGO, I actually kind of understand. Disappointed, but still satisfied with what we got.

[Kalta the Noble Mind]

Remember, the prize has already been said to be all of the sets. Nothing about the MoUP.

I may have missed that part. I stand corrected then.

But wasn't the introduction of CCBS a factor in Bionicle's original cancellation, or am I mixing rumors up with facts? Could be a good sign.

first time I heard of CCBS's development being a factor in G1's cancellation. from what I understand it got canceled merely for underperforming and the first year of hero factory was made to act as a placeholder system until CCBS was perfected. also that if G1 was still going on it would have become CCBS regardless since lego planned for that system to replace whatever ball and socket system they had been using.

the only thing I can say for certain is that the abrupt cut in 2009 was to keep the franchise from being spoiled by fatigue if I make sense. cutting it in its prime and all that. got no clue if that is the same issue with G2.

though even then G1 got the rinky-dink Stars line to give some sort of resolution rather than the flat out ceasing production like Lego planned.

it's actually why it was so rinky-dink in the first place,due to being a last minute rush job. with G2 they had at least 3 years planned out so they could have easily done a condensed version of the final chapter if needed to since it was already written out but they just ceased production,even after showcasing new characters and props.

it just baffles me:(

[GK733]

For a few more specifics, I've published an open letter I'd like y'all to read.

For the two main questions: no MOUP, yes other ways to get art books (but not many).

As this is pretty much the only thing regarding Bionicle to look forward (at least from canon perspective) any idea when that concept art gets uploaded?

[Dorek]

As this is pretty much the only thing regarding Bionicle to look forward (at least from canon perspective) any idea when that concept art gets uploaded?

Not a clue, sorry =P. I would imagine closer to the end of the year, but I'll let you guys know when I find out more.

(for what it's worth, the whole thing is super cool; I got a sneak peek through a prototype printout, and it's amaaaaazing).

[Aanchir]

It's really a shame because the designer team and people behind the story really did a fantastic job, but someone higher decided the theme's not worth spending any money on advertising campaign. I believe this is the main fault of the theme's failure - no marketing whatsoever, barely any TV ads, contests that no people outside Lego communities would even know about, a magazine released when it was basically known the theme's dead and so on... if there's anyone to blame, it's mostly Lego.

I disagree about this. LEGO did a LOT of things to promote Bionicle G2: making it the sole focus of their NYCC 2014 presence, giving it its own official Facebook page (and cross-promoting a lot of Bionicle content on the main LEGO Facebook page), filming lots of designer videos, making a Bionicle mask one of their highly publicized SDCC exclusives, running TV spots for both the first three waves of sets AND the year one webisodes on channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, giving it its own insert in the January 2016 LEGO Club magazine, putting highly conspicuous Bionicle displays in stores like Target and Toys 'R' Us, creating two free mobile apps, publishing chapter books, graphic novels, and an activity book, giving it its own Netflix miniseries, sending a Bionicle designer to BrickFair New Jersey, and as you mention, running various contests.

Maybe these things might not have been as effective as LEGO hoped they'd be, but no sensible person could reasonably suggest LEGO didn't spend any money or go to any effort to advertise or promote the theme.

I don't even know why they bothered to make a mold for the MoUP if they had no intention of releasing it.

Chances are they didn't. The Masks of Ultimate Power we saw were painted, so they could have just been made in a rapid prototyping machine.

[MakutaDreadscythe]

Honestly wouldn't have been so bummed out if we didn't at least get the MoUP. Sounds like a really small trivial detail but it goes a long way towards satisfaction. The most important feature of a character is the mask after all.

[NOMOUP4U]

I've lurked here forver but had to sign up to say my piece about this. I'm pissed honestly, maybe upset is a better way to put it. For me Bionicle G2 was the best constraction has ever been. They managed to combine Bionicle (its Technic functions and elements included) with CCBS and even System. To me it seemed like every time this line got closer to its namesake and its history the more people complained and disliked it. It happened with LOSS and Scorpio, and now with Umarak and the Beasts which I thought were the best sets of G2, the one wave that really felt like the old Bionicle was back to me. I think people don't want Bionicle, I think they just want more of the same old same old of Hero Factory.

What's really annoying though is that it seemed like Lego didn't even try. Like some people have already said there as virtually no marketing for it and no big media tie in push to back it. It took most of a year for the first book to come out and even longer for the comics and this short animated show. I don't feel like Lego supported this line and put it in a position where it could succeed in the first place. And now it's gone and won't be given one last hurrah, won't be wrapped up story or set wise, we won't even get what they've finished with the MOUP. Imagine if they had released this art book at retail with the mask as a pack in? Something, anything.

I really thank the team that designed these sets and brought them to us, and the people who helped tell the story. But Lego, and the fans in my opinion, dropped the ball here.

I don't even think there's going to be a new constraction theme. I think they're going to keep doing Star Wars and relegate constraction to another branch of sets for their real media backed properties like Chima, Ninjago, and Nexo Knights. Meh.

[Kalta the Noble Mind]

and now learning that the art books are now digital copies for BS01 now makes me more suspicious of the whole thing and making me think foul play. from the first unveiling at NYCC it felt like they were doing "grown-up" marketing and media by way of Behind-the-scenes content from showing production art in the presentation, designer videos focusing on the production rather than the characters, and now sold-in-stores artbooks only teens and adults who are interested in the technical aspects of their favorite series would buy.

it was like they were pandering to the now-grown-up fans of G1 with us as the primary audience. maybe this was the reason for the abrupt cut: Lego didn't want adults as its audience least for a narrative them? lego already produces expert builds UCS and all manner of technic to satisfy AFOLs with the cash to pay for their 3 digit price tags but being such a kid friendly company they don't believe they can make a storyline that can satisfy adult tastes?

I dunno I am just speculating. maybe lego has enough bricks-with-stories already with Ninjago filling in for the long-running narrative Bionicle once had, and Nexo Knights giving enough variety as far as narrative bricks go and the ever popular Star wars has the source material to satisfy the older fans and thus the lego group sees no reason to bring back Bionicle. all niches filled and whatnot.

I would have loved it if lego treated Bionicle as their own Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, where the focus was world building and story and other intellectual meat older geeks crave. they could have even tapped into a new kind of creative market combining the crowdfunding aspect of lego ideas with the goal driven competition of rebrickable to have older fans help flesh out the world via rebricable type contests and have the winners make up the next wave of sets ala lego ideas.

hope that can be for G3 :(

[Leewan]

I wish there were at least one final set, if we can't even get a single wave in 2017. But it couldn't be Makuta anyways, not with the contest. Now, with this contest, I realize they give us the opportunity to make our own version of the final Bionicle set. Maybe it's better that way. Everyone has their perfect Makuta, everyone is happy.

I wish we would've spent more time on Okoto. I like the setting, I like what Ryder Windham did.

It was not perfect, but I enjoyed the G2.

Thank you to Lego, to the designers, and to Ryder Windham.

I disagree about this. LEGO did a LOT of things to promote Bionicle G2: making it the sole focus of their NYCC 2014 presence, giving it its own official Facebook page (and cross-promoting a lot of Bionicle content on the main LEGO Facebook page), filming lots of designer videos, making a Bionicle mask one of their highly publicized SDCC exclusives, running TV spots for both the first three waves of sets AND the year one webisodes on channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, giving it its own insert in the January 2016 LEGO Club magazine, putting highly conspicuous Bionicle displays in stores like Target and Toys 'R' Us, creating two free mobile apps, publishing chapter books, graphic novels, and an activity book, giving it its own Netflix miniseries, sending a Bionicle designer to BrickFair New Jersey, and as you mention, running various contests.

Maybe they did a lot for those who live in the US. Those who don't might legitimately feel Lego didn't do enough to promote the theme. The only displays for Bionicle sets I've seen were in a Lego Store. The first novel and graphic novel will soon be published in France (which is waaay too late), but I believe they won't even be released in other European countries. I've never seen a single commercial for BioG2 on TV (although I don't often watch TV, so I may have missed them).

[Bbrink1996]

Honestly, not getting a final Makuta set with the MoUP is the biggest kick to the teeth Lego could have given us. I can forgive the early cancellation and rushed ending but this is pretty unforgivable in my opinion. "Oh, the character and mask that literally jumpstarted the entire G2 story? Nah, not good enough to make into a set." Just piss off Lego, I appriciate and thank you for all you did with G2 and for us but you can piss off right now.

[TheLastToaofLight]

It would be good if they could make a limited quantity Makuta set just for fans, but that would never happen.