Give Bionicle a Break

[Visorak-kal]

Books, comics, movies... they're ALL a pain to me.

Books, for a normal person, take time away from building. And unfortunately, one might spend a day on a book only to find it sucked and they just wasted alot of time and some money.

Comics... pfft. They come free in Lego mags, but are kinda' wonky in storyboard layout... very vague stuff.

Movies... gyuuh... no. They cost alot of money to make and with the exception of the third, really aren't entertaining enough tio cough up 20 bucks OR wait a year or more for the next installment.

But simple weekly or monthly online flash movies telling the story? You can't toss me a download button fast enough.

If you're talking about the 2002 flash animations, THAT was pure magic. Shame they don't do that anymore. They tried to get back to it in 2005 and 2006 (with those animations) but the quality just wasn't the same.

Although, I can see their reasoning for eliminating the flash animations. A lot of them focused on Matoran (especially in 2002), and Matoran weren't the sellers, so flash animations didn't further sales any. So they dropped them. Shame, but it's a world of money. Don't worry, though, when I win the lotto, I'll pay LEGO to make more of the classic flash animations. :-P

The 2001 guys of Bionicle Chronicles created a ton of interest for the next series Bionicle Adventures.

Then, much sucking occured, which resulted in a 70,000 unit drop in sales for Bionicle Legends... a 70% decline in demand.

You can't get numbers like that by being good at what you do. Sure, one could blame the people in charge of distribution, but... it's a bit far-fetched to say it accounts for a drop that drastic.

I'm assuming those are the correct figures, as I haven't researched them myself.

That's probably part of it, but another reason is simply time. Research shows that series sales drop as time goes by. Bionicle Adventures did well in 2004, Bionicle Adventures slowed down in 2005, and in 2006 things continued to slow down. Though the change in characters from legendary Toa Nuva to novice Toa Metru/Hordika no doubt played a part in it.

The Piraka were a group of professional Toa-hunters. But Toa Nuva were so much more than just normal, run-of-the-mill Toa. And when the clashed, the Toa Nuva went out without even a wimper. I expected this to be the battle to end ALL battles. I expected part of Voya-Nui to be blown into oblivion from the raw might of the Toa Nuva's untamed power. Instead, we never got to see it. The Toa Nuva suddenly lacked the essential powers that made them "Nuva." No more extreme element usage, no more extreme unchecked power of the masks. Sure, the Piraka could beat the daylights out of a run-of-the-mill Toa, but the Nuva were insane when they were introduced. Sure, the Toa Nuva would be caught offguard. But so should the Piraka. I expected BOTH sides to limp off the battle field. I expected a battle that would literally tear the island apart, because that's just how powerful the Nuva were when introduced.

The Piraka-Toa Nuva battle could have been more, I agree. The Toa Nuva-Brutaka battle, although it makes sense from storyline view, could have been more climactic from my view. Storyline-wise, Brutaka was just way more powerful than Toa; you have to imagine basically a full-fledged Makuta powered up with energy. (From the antidermis spheres that Zaktan shot him with.) Climactic, yes, but not for the villains.

GregF could of made the Brutaka litterally killing the Nuva in one blow, they should of made it.... more complex. like, Brutaka throwing Pohatu into Tahu while the Piraka beat the rest while they are caught off guard.that would be better. instead now it is basically a "drop a penny and we all die..." situation

Well, the Piraka were planning to let Zaktan die. I actually would have preferred the Toa Nuva charging, then Brutaka swipes out the Matoran resistance and sends the Toa Nuva flying. Tahu's shield protects them, so they get up, but by that time Brutaka has appeared by the antidermis vat and is throwing Zamor spheres through himself like crazy. By the time the Toa Nuva get to him, he is so strong that they don't have a chance, and he beats them off one by one, while Zaktan distracts them with his flying form. Nothing beats a villain who keeps growing in power.

At yet, they can be beaten easily. The Inika have the advantage of knowing their foes, eh? Then why, when Avak creates a "perfect prison" which the captive can never escape from, Kongu does it with ease by using his conveniently bestowed Kanohi?

That's the point. In that scene, Kongu knew about Avak's prison power and knows that most powers are tied to the mind. If Avak had known that Kongu had a Suletu, things would be different. The powers of the Toa Inika were decided before that battle. It's not like Greg Farshtey said, "Look, Kongu will lose, so let's give him a Suletu so he can win!"

Thats the way Bionicle is going. Too many transformations...

Unfortunately, it's one of three choices each year:

Transform the Toa into new heroes. (Mata to Nuva, Metru to Hordika, Inika to Mahri.)

Get new heroes every year, dumping the old ones. (Basically, the Nuva incident every year.)

No heroes on certain years. (2003 was a non-hero year, and not so good. The Kal were part of it, but basically, like Greg Farshtey says, people buy all those millions of batman figures but not as many villain figures because the audience likes heroes better than villains, period.)

Luckily, a new choice is optioning for LEGO: re-release the Toa Nuva with a weapons upgrade, rather than a transformation. The Toa Nuva will also have added articulation, etc. I'm okay with this, provided our favorite heroes aren't "botched up" like some of the Mahri.

Just a thought: taking into account the location BIONICLE is at now and the audience it is targeting (remember, the target likes the Inika/Piraka/Barraki), what do you guys think BIONICLE should release next, in terms of books, story, and sets? City in the sky? Toa Kapura? j/k

Just interested.

VK

[Plural]

I hope they do re-release the Nuva with added articulation etc. and i already did that with my Nuva using Metru and Inika parts.

I think they will do that anyway because they're running out of other people to transform :-)

[Zaktan of the Shadows]

I like most of the books (some suck), I like the comics, and I find the movies okay.

I wish Templar still made lego games like MNOG. I'd also like to see some 2007 animations by them.

-ZotS

[Norrington]

I think that Ecto is trying to point out how wacky the story line is. Seriously, thats what killed my love for the original Bionicle, (Yes I loved bionicle when it was in it's first two waves, but after that, it just got way too wacky for me.) Now, because I don't really follow up on bionicle's story or whatever, I hardly know what I'm talking about here, so just bear with me.

Bionicle's story line has to many repedative plot themes: The original toas mutate, then the continent where they live mysteriously and entirely changes, including it's name, then they they mutate *Again*. Then it repeats it's self. Then every time they have different colored monsters to defeat. The Borahk, the Visorak, all te same old crap over and over again! It was only original in the begining, when it was new, fresh, a whole new thing for Lego, because before, none of the sets had actuall stories to them (maybe pirates, but only slightly...)

Well, I think the theme dosn't have much run time left because of the repedative story. It needs to be refreshed. How? I have absolutly no idea. When? Hopefully soon, or else Lego will have to stop making it, or sell the thing to Megabloks, because if they keep pumping money into this cess-pool of products, the other (System) thems will suffer because of it. And having schoolstic make childrens books wasn't so smart either. You're selling to kids who probably don't even know what a Lego brick is yet. They just want it becuause of the pictures most likely.

[JINZONINGEN73]

And having schoolstic make childrens books wasn't so smart either. You're selling to kids who probably don't even know what a Lego brick is yet. They just want it becuause of the pictures most likely.

That's what i say. I can't imagine that the books are some big massive vortex sucking kids in to buying sets. just the opposite.

The current good sales are almost certainly from more flashy sets, videogame exposure, and people bumping into their movies here and there.

But the books? No way.

Let the kids buy sets if they want to get more story, even if that's as something simple as 4 pages of text...

(I say "text" because the kinds of minicomics included in Alpha Team and Knights Kingdom instruction booklets were incoherently paneled wastes of ink & paper).

Or, if there's a few bucks left in the budget, a 2001-quality flash movie cd.

[Cyclone Titan]

Theres only one good book:Dark Hunters!

[Norrington]

Now I'm going to generalize:

You're saying a rational,collage educated adult can actully put up with that garbage? And buy it to? Dear lord, no one has any respect for themselves anymore :-|

[Darkness Falls]

If you're talking about the 2002 flash animations, THAT was pure magic. Shame they don't do that anymore. They tried to get back to it in 2005 and 2006 (with those animations) but the quality just wasn't the same.

Although, I can see their reasoning for eliminating the flash animations. A lot of them focused on Matoran (especially in 2002), and Matoran weren't the sellers, so flash animations didn't further sales any. So they dropped them. Shame, but it's a world of money. Don't worry, though, when I win the lotto, I'll pay LEGO to make more of the classic flash animations. :-P

That's probably part of it, but another reason is simply time. Research shows that series sales drop as time goes by. Bionicle Adventures did well in 2004, Bionicle Adventures slowed down in 2005, and in 2006 things continued to slow down. Though the change in characters from legendary Toa Nuva to novice Toa Metru/Hordika no doubt played a part in it.

The Piraka-Toa Nuva battle could have been more, I agree. The Toa Nuva-Brutaka battle, although it makes sense from storyline view, could have been more climactic from my view. Storyline-wise, Brutaka was just way more powerful than Toa; you have to imagine basically a full-fledged Makuta powered up with energy. (From the antidermis spheres that Zaktan shot him with.) Climactic, yes, but not for the villains.

Well, the Piraka were planning to let Zaktan die. I actually would have preferred the Toa Nuva charging, then Brutaka swipes out the Matoran resistance and sends the Toa Nuva flying. Tahu's shield protects them, so they get up, but by that time Brutaka has appeared by the antidermis vat and is throwing Zamor spheres through himself like crazy. By the time the Toa Nuva get to him, he is so strong that they don't have a chance, and he beats them off one by one, while Zaktan distracts them with his flying form. Nothing beats a villain who keeps growing in power.

That's the point. In that scene, Kongu knew about Avak's prison power and knows that most powers are tied to the mind. If Avak had known that Kongu had a Suletu, things would be different. The powers of the Toa Inika were decided before that battle. It's not like Greg Farshtey said, "Look, Kongu will lose, so let's give him a Suletu so he can win!"

Unfortunately, it's one of three choices each year:

Transform the Toa into new heroes. (Mata to Nuva, Metru to Hordika, Inika to Mahri.)

Get new heroes every year, dumping the old ones. (Basically, the Nuva incident every year.)

No heroes on certain years. (2003 was a non-hero year, and not so good. The Kal were part of it, but basically, like Greg Farshtey says, people buy all those millions of batman figures but not as many villain figures because the audience likes heroes better than villains, period.)

Luckily, a new choice is optioning for LEGO: re-release the Toa Nuva with a weapons upgrade, rather than a transformation. The Toa Nuva will also have added articulation, etc. I'm okay with this, provided our favorite heroes aren't "botched up" like some of the Mahri.

Just a thought: taking into account the location BIONICLE is at now and the audience it is targeting (remember, the target likes the Inika/Piraka/Barraki), what do you guys think BIONICLE should release next, in terms of books, story, and sets? City in the sky? Toa Kapura? j/k

Just interested.

VK

...but if it were a perfect prison, the one inside shouldn't have been able to use his mask power. THAT'S the point.

[Visorak-kal]

...but if it were a perfect prison, the one inside shouldn't have been able to use his mask power. THAT'S the point.

Remember, though, that the ability to create the perfect prison is up to Avak. He commands his power about what to create. For example, in Bionicle Legends 2, Avak creates a prison for Zaktan consisting of bars. He has to give the bars a smack to get them vibrating at a frequency that disturbts Zaktan's protodite forms. Avak HIMSELF creates the prison, his power doesn't automatically create a prison. Avak saw a Toa of Air, and so created a vacuum prison. It's not his fault he didn't know that Kongu had a Kanohi Suletu. See what I mean?

Another example is how at the end of Power Play, Avak imprisons Hakann in a cage of ice and vibrates the bars so he can't make a mental blast. However, Hakann simply smashes the bars because he has the strength of Brutaka. Avak himself created the prison, but didn't know the extent of Brutaka's powers, and so wasn't ready for Hakann to simply smash the bars with Brutaka's awesome strength. Avak designed the cage to hold Hakann, but not Brutaka.

VK

[Zaktan of the Shadows]

Yah, I guess you are right.

-ZotS

[Darkness Falls]

But then that goes against what his original power was: To create a prison from which the prisoner couldn't escape. Greg needs to specify his powers.

Oh, and plus... who cares? The Storyline pretty much doesn't make sense anyway.

[Cyclone Titan]

Actually, the storyline does make more sense, comic 1(for the Mahri Nui saga)is up and it shows how the Barraki hear of the Mask of Life arrival in the sea.

[Darkness Falls]

Actually, the storyline does make more sense, comic 1(for the Mahri Nui saga)is up and it shows how the Barraki hear of the Mask of Life arrival in the sea.

...Seems reasonable, considering Kalmah and the squid are both closely related. He's a squid-based being, after all. Still... ridiculous.

[Zaktan of the Shadows]

That comic was quite cool. I like the art. Very nice.

The story was okay too.

-ZotS