The future of constraction.

[MrHerofan]

Now I know that constraction is a thing that many people don't like, but where is it going to be in the future?

The original Bionicle line did really well, and there seemed to be quite a following. Then Hero Factory came along and got less attention, but still did pretty well. It did last 4 years. Then comes Bionicle G2, something so many fans have been wanting to see for a long time. It comes out and it starts with a rocky road, but finds a stable ground. Then towards the end of 2015 massive clearances started to happen, most sets were 50% off. 2016 comes and already on Amazon you can see clearances happening, some stores, are not even caring the sets, and if they do there are not a lot of them.

So where do you see the future of constraction going to? It seems to be headed on a downwards spiral, and the only real way I see of saving it is through advertising. Just, agh it is just weird to me because system has been going on a huge rise in the past few years, while constraction seems to be going in the opposite direction.

[TwistLaw]

CCBS will live only as an occasional "extra" for bigger themes. Star Wars, maybe even Ninjago or god knows what will be trending in the future.

Constraction as an autonomous subtheme of Technic is over in my opinion, since it has proven two times in a row not to be a great investiment for LEGO.

Let the "where are the sources supporting your claims" comments begin.

[Dr_Chronos]

While it's a very real possibility that Bionicle will be discontinued past 2017, I wouldn't call it down for the count yet. The Star Wars figures and the growing use of CCBS in system sets have shown that Lego is taking interest into the construction market. I wouldn't be surprised if Bionicle continued as a test bed for other construction lines or to add diversity to the parts palette, and that's assuming it's not already proven to be a reliable theme which I believe it has.

Then towards the end of 2015 massive clearances started to happen, most sets were 50% off. 2016 comes and already on Amazon you can see clearances happening, some stores, are not even caring the sets, and if they do there are not a lot of them.

So where do you see the future of constraction going to? It seems to be headed on a downwards spiral, and the only real way I see of saving it is through advertising. Just, agh it is just weird to me because system has been going on a huge rise in the past few years, while constraction seems to be going in the opposite direction.

Clearances are a normal occurrence toward the end of the year. That's just the store getting rid of old stock to make room for the new. Clearances *this* early are a bit odd, although some did happen last year with LOSS, Pohatu, and the Gali + Onua combo. Some sets just sell better than others. As for the shelf space, I will agree it has sigificantly decreased in comparison to the Big Bang deput 2015. In my personal opinion I think it's a combination of the performance of the Skull Villians, the demand for the Force Awakens Figures, and the emergence of a new Big Bang (NK).

While I agree more advertising would certainly help I don't think it is the only way to save it. Constraction has always been a niche market, and I honestly think Bionicle has already reached the bulk of the audience that would buy it. Better Set design, more content, more interactivity like contests, there are many other ways that Bionicle could bring in fans other than a few commercials here or there.

As for the future for Constraction I think it lies in a combination with CCBS and System. The Mixels have proved that such a thing could exist and be popular even among non-action figure fans. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Gundam-esque Mech theme in the future like Exo-Force.

[Lyichir]

While it's a very real possibility that Bionicle will be discontinued past 2017, I wouldn't call it down for the count yet. The Star Wars figures and the growing use of CCBS in system sets have shown that Lego is taking interest into the construction market. I wouldn't be surprised if Bionicle continued as a test bed for other construction lines or to add diversity to the parts palette, and that's assuming it's not already proven to be a reliable theme which I believe it has.

Clearances are a normal occurrence toward the end of the year. That's just the store getting rid of old stock to make room for the new. Clearances *this* early are a bit odd, although some did happen last year with LOSS, Pohatu, and the Gali + Onua combo. Some sets just sell better than others. As for the shelf space, I will agree it has sigificantly decreased in comparison to the Big Bang deput 2015. In my personal opinion I think it's a combination of the performance of the Skull Villians, the demand for the Force Awakens Figures, and the emergence of a new Big Bang (NK).

While I agree more advertising would certainly help I don't think it is the only way to save it. Constraction has always been a niche market, and I honestly think Bionicle has already reached the bulk of the audience that would buy it. Better Set design, more content, more interactivity like contests, there are many other ways that Bionicle could bring in fans other than a few commercials here or there.

As for the future for Constraction I think it lies in a combination with CCBS and System. The Mixels have proved that such a thing could exist and be popular even among non-action figure fans. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Gundam-esque Mech theme in the future like Exo-Force.

I agree with most of your post, but would like to clarify that Bionicle was not a Big Bang theme even in 2015.

Edited March 27, 2016 by Lyichir

[MrHerofan]

So pretty much the general consensus is that G2 is not doing that well. I almost can't blame people for thinking this, with both villain waves being pretty lackluster in comparison to both hero waves. The only real way of seeing constraction survive is through other themes, which really shows how much has happened since G1. I can't help but think that if there was more of a budget in the advertising, or even the show(s), that Bionicle would not be on such a grey area. Almost as if Lego brought the theme back just to make fans of the theme shut up. Although earlier it was mentioned that a Gundam style theme which could be a great way of exposing people to the style of building. On the other hand Bionicle could go the Transformers route and "reboot" its self ever few years to get new fans in and start with a clean slate.

It just sucks that Bionicle G2 does not seem to be getting the attention it could be getting to succeed.

[Kalhiki]

Caution, personal opinion ahead:

I really hope they don't decide to keep reviving Bionicle after this. While I can't speak for the theme's overall success, I can say that, to me, G2 has been pretty lackluster. And once it's done, I hope Bionicle stays dead... Like, forever.

I just don't want it to keep being brought back and renewed with a new story for years to come. Heck, for that matter, I don't want to see continuations of current stories either. I want Bionicle to have an honorable death. And leave it at that. While I can't say I'm thoroughly enjoying G2, I can say that its short, sweet, to-the-point, three year arc is a good enough send-off for the line as the whole.

After this, I have no idea on the future of Constraction. The SW figures seem uber-popular, but I definitely don't want Constraction to become a supplement for other themes. After 2017, I'm really hoping for something new, fun, and fresh.

[Leewan]

The only real way of seeing constraction survive is through other themes

You seem really too negative. We don't know how good (or how bad, if you want to see the glass half empty) BIONICLE is doing, as we don't have official sales informations, so why already assume Constraction-only themes are doomed ?

We'll most certainly have more Star Wars action figures in the future, but that doesn't mean we won't get any brand new constraction theme. I'd also like some kind of "Exo Force 2.0", and the addition of minifigs could attract more people to constraction. I would also like to see a medieval theme, but I can't see that happening too soon because of Nexo Knights (unless they eventually make NK Constraction sets).

[HawkLord]

I should start by saying, it's not that I'm against Bionicle, it's just that I've never been drawn to it.

Bionicle and Hero Factory just never appealed to me as a Lego fan. Neither fits in with any of my preferred styles of Lego work and I haven't had any good ideas on how to place them in minifigure scale. The characters and general storyline of Bionicle are unknown to me - I couldn't tell you who the good guys and bad guys are (I will add that the color schemes kinda help this) and I have no idea what they're fighting for or why. I attribute this to the general lack of story in the product and advertising. I find that I just don't care because Lego isn't really giving me a reason to with Bionicle. With other lines, I can see a bit more of the story even if I don't directly understand it. When I look at Ninjago, I see named ninja characters fighting ninja ghosts. I can get that, even in just a simple way. When I look at Chima, I see animal-people fighting other animal-people. I can get that the alligator guys look bad and the lion guys look good. But Bionicle doesn't really have that for me.

I own one constraction figure - Star Wars Darth Vader. As a huge Star Wars collector, he looks cool and is something of a display piece. He works because in this robotic format, Vader who is part robot, seems to make total sense. Now the other Star Wars constraction figures to me don't make sense. The human based characters look blocky and too robotic to make sense. Realistically, I only see myself getting Greivous and Jango and skipping the rest of the line. And even then, those three will be on a shelf together, as like I said they don't fit into any other Lego themes I have.

I hope Bionicle does well if it can find a good footing. I think it could be more successful if the designs had even more of a robotic theme to them. Maybe make them something like Gundam/Macross/etc, where the figures are robots with minifigure pilots or something to connect them to City or Space. I think the distance from basic Lego hurts Bionicle.

[Dr_Chronos]

I couldn't tell you who the good guys and bad guys are (I will add that the color schemes kinda help this) and I have no idea what they're fighting for or why. I attribute this to the general lack of story in the product and advertising. I find that I just don't care because Lego isn't really giving me a reason to with Bionicle. With other lines, I can see a bit more of the story even if I don't directly understand it. When I look at Ninjago, I see named ninja characters fighting ninja ghosts. I can get that, even in just a simple way. When I look at Chima, I see animal-people fighting other animal-people. I can get that the alligator guys look bad and the lion guys look good. But Bionicle doesn't really have that for me.

I can see how some would be confused on who was the villains and heroes were in G1 Bionicle, especially in neutral designs like the Bohrok or 08 Takuanuva. However the reboot has been pretty clear on the heroes and villians. In 2015 you have named characters with noble titles pitted against a evil-looking spiders on each box and later on skeletons. When have spiders or skeletons ever been good? This year is also fairly clear who's on what alignment. Even the creatures which have the most neutral designs are pitted against menacing-looking beartraps. On top of that the back comics on boxes show a skirmish with allies against of that set against their enemies. With all that I'm surprised there could be any confusion.

I definitely understand that it is hard to mesh Constraction and System together, and honestly I find it hard myself. Aside from a small mech display my Bionicles usually have the shelves to themselves along with a few non-Lego robots. That being said MOCs from those parts designed for minifigure scale work extremely well if you use the flexibility to your advantage.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Dr_Chronos

[Aanchir]

CCBS will live only as an occasional "extra" for bigger themes. Star Wars, maybe even Ninjago or god knows what will be trending in the future.

Constraction as an autonomous subtheme of Technic is over in my opinion, since it has proven two times in a row not to be a great investiment for LEGO.

I don't know if I'd make that assumption. Something to remember about constraction is that it's not just another theme like Ninjago or Nexo Knights. And it hasn't been a "subtheme" of Technic since 2004 or so. Rather, it's its own product category. As such, a constraction theme doesn't necessarily have to sell as well as System themes to justify its existence, so long as it caters to a different type of builder than those themes.

Mind you, I wouldn't have anything against the prospect of the constraction category continuing as spin-offs of other themes. But I don't know if the performance of Hero Factory and Bionicle G2 would be reason enough for LEGO to give up on original constraction lines. LEGO had decades of failures to develop a successful girl-oriented play theme, and yet they never gave up on that. Likewise, the Juniors theme seems to be doing well even after previous attempts at "transitional" themes like Jack Stone and 4 Juniors underperformed. The LEGO Group isn't one to give up that easily when it's a whole segment of their market that's at stake.

[GK733]

That's kinda the thing. Only thing keeping Bionicle afloat even if the sells aren't that great is that there's nothing to replace it.

[bidiminished]

That's kinda the thing. Only thing keeping Bionicle afloat even if the sells aren't that great is that there's nothing to replace it.

HF continuation/reboot or another generic robot theme.

[Darking]

HF continuation/reboot or another generic robot theme.

I believe he was referring to constraction as a whole, not just Bionicle.

I don't really see any reason for these speculations which have been coming up lately about "the end of constraction". If Bionicle isn't selling as well as expected, that's the theme's fault and its lack of proper advertisement, not because of its system (CCBS). HF had some quite successful years afterall. I'm confident that TLG will come up with better selling themes eventually.

[BubbaFit45531]

I was away from Lego during Bionicle and Hero Factory, but they both look too weird with weird parts. I don't know anything about their TV shows stories. I do like Star Wars constraction aside from the exposed skeleton parts. I would like to see more interchangeable head options like standard head + helmets or hair. I bought a bunch of skeleton parts from Bricks & Pieces, but am stuck without being able to order any heads or shinguards or torso fronts.

They probably could have used constraction to make some nice Sentinels for the X-Men sets. I'm eager to see what's next for constraction.