Hilarious (and vintage) article about BIONICLE

[TwistLaw]

https://brian.carnell.com/articles/2001/lego-takes-juniorization-to-its-logical-outcome/

Substancially this old article from 2001, even before BIONICLE launched, described the theme as the pinnacle of junioritazion aka making simpler sets with bigger pieces. While it holds some truth, the ball cup building system was already three years old. The really hilarious part is the misconception about BIONICLE itself, and the blindness about its bright future.

Do you have any other example of foreshadowing done wrong?

Meanwhile apparently Lego has decided not to do anymore Star Wars sets in 2001, leading many people to fear the worst — that unlike the Star Wars sets, the Harry Potter sets will be heavily <insert that tiresome argument> as well.

I forgot to underline this part, the icing on the cake.

OH MY GOSH I freaking love the censorship for that word :roflmao:

[Tazakk]

I mean, he's absolutely right that oversimplification and specialization in set design was a huge problem that LEGO was sinking itself deeper and deeper into at the time, but it's more than a little apparent that his frustration with the fact led to some exaggeration. Five or six pieces in the BIONICLE sets? That wouldn't even net you Tohunga-level articulation.

[Fulcrumfan91]

2001 AFOL becoming worried that LEGO would change for him, like that's a cardinal sin. Typical AFOL no offence to anyone...but we see the same type of complaints about new LEGO sets today. Just visit the Star Wars forum and you'll see tons of people hating on the constraction sets coming out in September. It's the problem of nostalgia.

[mysteriouspi]

2001 AFOL becoming worried that LEGO would change for him, like that's a cardinal sin. Typical AFOL no offence to anyone...but we see the same type of complaints about new LEGO sets today. Just visit the Star Wars forum and you'll see tons of people hating on the constraction sets coming out in September. It's the problem of nostalgia.

I say "live and let live" when it comes to this kind of stuff. The author's opinions on BIONICLE were short-sighted, perhaps, but hindsight is 20/20. And I would definitely say he was wrong about the "juniorization" of the line; the Toa Kaita models already encouraged consumers to experiment with the "5 or 6" ( ) pieces of each set and make their own models. But if he wants to say the sets were <insert that tiresome argument> (despite the Rahi), he certainly can.

[Brickowski]

I mean, he's absolutely right that oversimplification and specialization in set design was a huge problem that LEGO was sinking itself deeper and deeper into at the time, but it's more than a little apparent that his frustration with the fact led to some exaggeration. Five or six pieces in the BIONICLE sets? That wouldn't even net you Tohunga-level articulation.

I was about to say something about how a pessimist could look at the first promo images at the Toa and assume they're made from single-digit amounts of pieces, but then I remembered the Throwbots/Slizers were pretty much the exact same level of complexity as the Toa Mata. This is definitely residual Jack Stone anger.

[xboxtravis7992]

Just an adult fan ranting about his percieved views of what was wrong with the Lego Company at the time. He has another article on his site from 2005 decrying how foolish Lego was to pursue the Batman License...

And the issue being he never saw it through the eyes of a child. While he moaned about Bionicle in 2001; I was a seven year old who gobbled it all up (you know, part of Lego's target audience!). I do agree to an extent some sets were <insert that tiresome argument>, but he greatly exaggerated some of it.

Bionicle though was one of those themes that kept Lego afloat through years of problems. And by the time "we" (children who liked Bionicle) noticed aspects of juniorization in the sets, Lego had countered with more complexity in builds and new sets aimed to teenage and adult collectors. When I lost interest in G1 sets was the same year the Cafe Corner came out and I got interested in more complex builds. Excellent timing on Lego's part.

The main issue is its just another adult fan with skewed opinions. Makes me feel odd though because I'm also now an adult fan with skewed opinions...

EDIT: Someone installed a filter causing the word J-U-N-I-O-R-I-Z-E-D to say <insert tiresome argument here>. What are the MODs up to? ;)

Edited April 29, 2016 by xboxtravis7992

[Bigger Fish]

And still today, people whine about CCBS being "<insert that tiresome argument>". The more things change, the more things stay the same.