Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[Bob C]

Yano, comparing HF sales to BIONICLE's isn't that good considering that HF has been around for 4 years and BIONICLE went through 13/12 years.

... (I think)

Plus, BIONICLE ended due to the declining sales. From what I get HF isn't doing as great as BIONICLE's earlier years, but I'm pretty dang sure it's doing better than 2009 considering it's still going strong.

bionicle was only around for 9 years (2001-2010) 10 if you count inclusively. Although I don't know the numbers, I'm pretty sure bionicle was more popular, because EVERYTHING in 2005 and 06 had some kind of bionicle versions- napkins, cups, towels, water guns, everything!!

[vexorian]

bionicle was only around for 9 years (2001-2010)

You mean Bionicle it was only around for more than twice the amount of years HF was?

[Meiko]

a lot of people care about the story, why do you think HF sels less han bionicle did

From my work at the English Wikipedia, I feel the need to tag this with "No source".

[Freddy Bricker]

From my work at the English Wikipedia, I feel the need to tag this with "No source".

Oh hehe ho ho he hehe haha

But seriously, as much as I would love for Bionicle to come back, can't anybody just be glad we might be getting something new? If they were to reboot Bionicle (which I'm all for) they would have to limit themselves to the already confusing plot, and bring that into a new generation. And as far as Hero Factory goes, I hat it's plot, but that simple plot(Hero Factory), complicated plot (Bionicle) and consant changes in build (the shift from technic in 2005, specialized parts in 2010, and now bones, which have been around for about 3 years) can all be addressed in a new theme, isn't that alone something to drool about?

There should be a disinfectant to keep the fanboys out xD

[Mesonak]

Oh hehe ho ho he hehe haha

But seriously, as much as I would love for Bionicle to come back, can't anybody just be glad we might be getting something new? If they were to reboot Bionicle (which I'm all for) they would have to limit themselves to the already confusing plot, and bring that into a new generation. And as far as Hero Factory goes, I hat it's plot, but that simple plot(Hero Factory), complicated plot (Bionicle) and consant changes in build (the shift from technic in 2005, specialized parts in 2010, and now bones, which have been around for about 3 years) can all be addressed in a new theme, isn't that alone something to drool about?

There should be a disinfectant to keep the fanboys out xD

I concur; I loved (correction: love) BIONICLE, but think that it's run its course. I don't want its memory tainted by a poor revival, and I'd rather the chance at a new, successful IP. So here's hoping that's the direction they're going.

[Meiko]

But seriously, as much as I would love for Bionicle to come back, can't anybody just be glad we might be getting something new? If they were to reboot Bionicle (which I'm all for) they would have to limit themselves to the already confusing plot, and bring that into a new generation. And as far as Hero Factory goes, I hat it's plot, but that simple plot(Hero Factory), complicated plot (Bionicle) and consant changes in build (the shift from technic in 2005, specialized parts in 2010, and now bones, which have been around for about 3 years) can all be addressed in a new theme, isn't that alone something to drool about?

There should be a disinfectant to keep the fanboys out xD

I agree with you there. I was a fan of Bionicle while it was around, but anymore, I've "moved on". I'd rather not just keep having the same old thing forever-- I like a new idea, a new concept. A new constraction theme is something I'd love to see, which is part of why I'm excited for Mixels in March 2014.

[Freddy Bricker]

Agreed, as long as its new and fresh, I'm all for it. And is anybody else worried that this thread will be bumped up after months of inactivity at some random point in 2014?

[LegoPanda]

Mesonak, you and the others are feeding the fanboy.

i am not a fanboy, i love bionicle but i didn't put the vid here to say "lets revive bionicle that would be super awesome" because it wouldn't be because it wouldn't have the feeling of the old sets, so I'm a moron about me being fanboy

[ToaJaller78]

i am not a fanboy, i love bionicle but i didn't put the vid here to say "lets revive bionicle that would be super awesome" because it wouldn't be because it wouldn't have the feeling of the old sets, so I'm a moron about me being fanboy

I wasn't reffering to you. Don't feel insulted.

[LegoPanda]

I wasn't reffering to you. Don't feel insulted.

well, you quoted me, so it was pretty normal to think you ment me, but i don't feel insulted

[Aanchir]

bionicle was only around for 9 years (2001-2010) 10 if you count inclusively. Although I don't know the numbers, I'm pretty sure bionicle was more popular, because EVERYTHING in 2005 and 06 had some kind of bionicle versions- napkins, cups, towels, water guns, everything!!

Part of the reason for that is not that BIONICLE was selling a lot better than Hero Factory, but that the LEGO Group's other themes were selling a lot worse. BIONICLE gets remembered as a huge success in part because it was one of the LEGO Group's few successes back then, other than licensed themes like LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO Star Wars. But its sales peaked in 2002, and after that it was on a steady but mostly profitable decline. LEGO City swept the rug out from under it somewhere around 2006 or 2007, I think. This isn't something to fault BIONICLE for, necessarily. Almost all themes, besides evergreen themes like LEGO City, lose steam as they get older. The main thing that made BIONICLE different was that it was so ambitious — it had an incredibly deep long-term story it was setting out to tell.

In contrast, when you look at today's themes, the ones getting a whole lot of third-party merchandise are ones like LEGO Star Wars, LEGO City, LEGO Ninjago, and LEGO Legends of Chima. Ninjago in particular was the LEGO Group's most successful new product release of all time. Chima was expected to be even bigger — it doesn't seem to have met those lofty expectations, but it's still been incredibly successful. Even if Hero Factory achieved the same sales BIONICLE achieved in some of its stronger years, it'd be a footnote in the LEGO annual report compared to LEGO City's perennial success or the powerful sales of these sorts of "big bang" themes.

[Lyichir]

Info? What info? There is literally no info other "new constraction theme in 2015". Why does it warrant a video? And why title it "Return of Bionicle/End of HF in 2015"?

Are you trying to give the fanboys of both lines a reason to go nuts????

Just....WHY???

This is why I dislike Youtube as a Lego community or Lego news source. So many videos (like this one) contain a small snippet of factual information (if even that) and 20–30 minutes of speculation and rumor-mongering.

[Bob C]

Part of the reason for that is not that BIONICLE was selling a lot better than Hero Factory, but that the LEGO Group's other themes were selling a lot worse. BIONICLE gets remembered as a huge success in part because it was one of the LEGO Group's few successes back then, other than licensed themes like LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO Star Wars. But its sales peaked in 2002, and after that it was on a steady but mostly profitable decline. LEGO City swept the rug out from under it somewhere around 2006 or 2007, I think. This isn't something to fault BIONICLE for, necessarily. Almost all themes, besides evergreen themes like LEGO City, lose steam as they get older. The main thing that made BIONICLE different was that it was so ambitious — it had an incredibly deep long-term story it was setting out to tell.

In contrast, when you look at today's themes, the ones getting a whole lot of third-party merchandise are ones like LEGO Star Wars, LEGO City, LEGO Ninjago, and LEGO Legends of Chima. Ninjago in particular was the LEGO Group's most successful new product release of all time. Chima was expected to be even bigger — it doesn't seem to have met those lofty expectations, but it's still been incredibly successful. Even if Hero Factory achieved the same sales BIONICLE achieved in some of its stronger years, it'd be a footnote in the LEGO annual report compared to LEGO City's perennial success or the powerful sales of these sorts of "big bang" themes.

You're right that Bionicle was declining in sales constantly. But what I was trying to say waS that it was really well known and had some kind of passionate reaction from everybody (negative or positive). On the other hand, ninjaGo and Chima are like fads. A lot of people like it, but most people above age 12 or so don't care much about it. Unfortunately though, a bionicle-like theme or a rebooted bionicle wouldn't be profitable for LEGO anymore, after the blind bag/Grumpy Sparrows craze has swept the world. What would be horrible is LEGO making cheap, useless toys to compete with blind bags.

[Mesonak]

This is why I dislike Youtube as a Lego community or Lego news source. So many videos (like this one) contain a small snippet of factual information (if even that) and 20–30 minutes of speculation and rumor-mongering.

I'll preface this by saying that you're right in that I've seen that many a time on YT, however I feel that it's different in our case. The reputation we have on YT is built from discussing, analyzing, theorizing, and, yes, sometimes speculating. We run a podcast; it's what we do. People don't come to us for the news; rather, they come to us for our commentary ABOUT said news. Reporting the news in small videos and offering little to no additional commentary isn't what we do or how we market ourselves. Our fans know that, and they enjoy our content anyways.

I guess I just don't really get the problem here; the place in which I speculate about stuff shouldn't matter. I could post long paragraphs in this topic on Eurobricks (or on BZP, for that matter) talking about this news and the possibilities that it could bring, or I could make a video with a friend of mine and share it with our fans on YT, letting them in on the discussion. The difference is minimal.

REGARDLESS, I do understand that style of video isn't everybody's cup of tea and that's fine. I don't want to derail this topic too much further.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Mesonak

[Aanchir]

You're right that Bionicle was declining in sales constantly. But what I was trying to say waS that it was really well known and had some kind of passionate reaction from everybody (negative or positive). On the other hand, ninjaGo and Chima are like fads. A lot of people like it, but most people above age 12 or so don't care much about it.

Where are you getting this idea from? I know a lot of passionate Ninjago fans of all ages, and I know a lot of AFOLs who are passionately against Ninjago and all it represents, and I knew a lot of adults when I was a BIONICLE fan who felt that it was just a fad and didn't care much about it at all. I don't think there's NEARLY as much of a difference as you think there is.

Unfortunately though, a bionicle-like theme or a rebooted bionicle wouldn't be profitable for LEGO anymore, after the blind bag/Grumpy Sparrows craze has swept the world. What would be horrible is LEGO making cheap, useless toys to compete with blind bags.

I have no idea what you're talking about with the "blind bag" thing... have you forgotten that BIONICLE was the LEGO Group's first foray into the blind-packaged collectibles market, and that lots of BIONICLE fans were desperate for the LEGO Group to bring back the collectibles? I think there are lots of AFOLs who would consider Krana, Kraata, and Kanohi "cheap, useless toys to compete with blind bags."

[Bob C]

Where are you getting this idea from? I know a lot of passionate Ninjago fans of all ages, and I know a lot of AFOLs who are passionately against Ninjago and all it represents, and I knew a lot of adults when I was a BIONICLE fan who felt that it was just a fad and didn't care much about it at all. I don't think there's NEARLY as much of a difference as you think there is.

I have no idea what you're talking about with the "blind bag" thing... have you forgotten that BIONICLE was the LEGO Group's first foray into the blind-packaged collectibles market, and that lots of BIONICLE fans were desperate for the LEGO Group to bring back the collectibles? I think there are lots of AFOLs who would consider Krana, Kraata, and Kanohi "cheap, useless toys to compete with blind bags."

Well I'm not trying to argue here. Where I live, I don't see much buzz in the Lego aisle about Chima or Ninjago. The only people I see interested in it are parents pushing their kids along in a cart, and the kid wants it without knowing it's Lego. With bionicle, however, I saw adults going through the sections, buying the sets for themselves, and people getting much more excited about them. And by blind-bags...I meant things like figures that did not interlock with anything else, like the trash pack, star wars fighter pods, and other stuff like that. I always thought of bionicle collectibles as "fuel" for the stand-alone sets.

[Merc4hire95]

Well I'm not trying to argue here. Where I live, I don't see much buzz in the Lego aisle about Chima or Ninjago. The only people I see interested in it are parents pushing their kids along in a cart, and the kid wants it without knowing it's Lego. With bionicle, however, I saw adults going through the sections, buying the sets for themselves, and people getting much more excited about them. And by blind-bags...I meant things like figures that did not interlock with anything else, like the trash pack, star wars fighter pods, and other stuff like that. I always thought of bionicle collectibles as "fuel" for the stand-alone sets.

The mistake you made was to make your opinion a fact, as your personal experiences are not everyone's else's. In my residential area(southern California) Ninjago and Chima sell like hotcakes. Obviously you will see that the general audience in LEGO products are children, but I always manage to see teens and adults buying from these theme's. Now this may not be the case everywhere, but you see how our experiences differ. One of the mistakes LEGO made with Bionicle was trying to market to teens and AFOLS during its last year. Teens and AFOLS are the minority consumers in LEGO, thus they are not what make toy sales successful.

This topic has become what I have feared, Bionicle fanboy battles. I was hoping to come here and share thoughts about what this new constraction theme rumor could be, but instead I find a forum flooded with Bionicle fanatics.

[Aanchir]

Yeah, I encounter kids crazy about LEGO Ninjago both on- and offline, and have heard all kinds of anecdotes from parents about how crazy their kids are about it. It's hardly something parents are pushing on their kids. A lot of kids and adults love the TV series, the toys, and the books (several of which, such as the first few graphic novels and the Character Encyclopedia) have shown up on bestseller lists.

I hardly encountered ANY other BIONICLE fans in real life back when that theme was running, except at LEGO conventions. Certainly I didn't see anyone wearing BIONICLE t-shirts out and about. Seeing kids in Ninjago t-shirts when I'm out shopping or dining at a casual restaurant these days is a much more regular occurrence. As a BIONICLE fan, I couldn't help feeling like I was a part of something somewhat niche and exclusive. As a Ninjago fan, I'm much more aware that it's a real, honest-to-goodness craze.

If we can get a constraction theme that gets kids anywhere near as excited as Ninjago does, then I'll be incredibly pleased.

[ToaJaller78]

God the people on facebook found out and all I see are:

"i hope it will be bionicle, but if it is like bionicle and has the characters, i would like it."

"Im hoping for either something completely new,a continuation of Bionicle starting where they left off back in 2010(mabye even kick off the revival with uber upgraded versions of the Stars) or a reboot of the 2001-2003 story"

And it will only continue..............I see this as Fanboy food.

But i'm still gonna laugh when this is'nt BIONICLE.

[Freddy Bricker]

Well I'm not trying to argue here. Where I live, I don't see much buzz in the Lego aisle about Chima or Ninjago. The only people I see interested in it are parents pushing their kids along in a cart, and the kid wants it without knowing it's Lego. With bionicle, however, I saw adults going through the sections, buying the sets for themselves, and people getting much more excited about them. And by blind-bags...I meant things like figures that did not interlock with anything else, like the trash pack, star wars fighter pods, and other stuff like that. I always thought of Bionicle collectibles as "fuel" for the stand-alone sets.

This. Not to try to "join sides" or anything, but where I lived, this is especially true. Back in 2008 when I went shopping, I saw the Lego aisle FILLED with teens and young adults, most were in the Bionicle section, with the occasional parent buying a Pirates or Agents set. People would make mini-lines to get to the Bionicle, they were just so popular, now I never see anyone at the Lego aisle, I'm almost always alone. But then again, I don't live in the "wealthiest" neighborhood of people who prioritize Lego as something they need. This may just be where I live, but Bionicle sold like Hot-cakes, nowadays Hero Factory keeps the same amount of sets with the same numbers on the back for weeks and sometimes months until I get back. However Ninjago seems to be selling okay in terms of sets, but every kid I see or know as a child of a friend, has a Ninjago shirt, or book. I don't know about other locations, but here in southern Florida, both Bionicle and Ninjago sold like crazy, it was tear-worthy.

But i'm still gonna laugh when this is'nt BIONICLE.

I'm not sure that I'll laugh, but I won't be surprised if it isn't. I feel that if we don't get Bionicle back in 2015 (which wouldn't be terrible) everyone will forget about it like they did sliders or robo-somethings (forgot the name) in terms of hype. I assume that after being gone for 5 years, everyone will only talk about Bionicle for reference in sales and what not. I guess this would be a good time to uh, you know, "move along"

Edited December 14, 2013 by Freddy Bricker

[bacem]

i feel like that if the new theme in 2015 isn't bionicle (which is veery likely), many people would be very dissappointed, and ended up hating the new theme only because they're not bionicle.

on separate topic, i got bionicle tag. yay.

Edited December 14, 2013 by bacem

[Kingriedak]

hopefully its another lineup of robutts/cyborgs but this time they- to hell with it

gimme that old Doo-Heads of Voodoo Island concept

[ZORK64]

I wouldn't mind a Bionicle reboot, but I think it's unlikely, and I ultimately don't care what the new theme is as long as the pieces are cool and it adds to the building experience.

[davidr]

As long as GregF creates the story and the story will be deeper than HF and these books or somethings else will be available everywhere, I will be happy.

[Merc4hire95]

Last I checked GregF only writes the books/comics for themes, but he has no association with the general story of the themes he has worked on. He is only allowed to work with the material given but nothing outside of that. Personally If I was in TLG, I would have had GregF work on the backstory for themes as HF books were the only backstory in HF that actually had story depth. Point is I hope (if true) that this new theme has a story that has more depth than HF but not as complicated as Bionicle. That way everyone wins.