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Star Wars Constraction 2018 Discussion & Rumors

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As Captain Nemo said, please be aware of how you are posting and keep things on topic- I know everyone gets heated during moments like this, but forum rules still apply, and attacked each other is not a constructive way to move things forward. Please take this as a second warning- this type of discussion ends here and now  

To me this news isn’t really surprising. Dissappointing news for sure as this really is another knife into construction and while I stopped buying the sets after Rogue One’s first wave, I do think the super battle droid and ATRT looked pretty good and were a nice change from what we have been getting. 

As always don’t forget- while another Lego theme may have ended, there is always fun yet to be had. We’ve got something crazy yet awesome in the works right now for Action Figure fans- so for those talking about leaving Eurobricks, don’t be so hasty :wink:

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12 minutes ago, VBBN said:

We’ve got something crazy yet awesome in the works right now for Action Figure fans- so for those talking about leaving Eurobricks, don’t be so hasty :wink:

No offence man, but most of them have left a while ago, but yey, another site banner or some sorta set review would be alright I guess

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On 3/6/2018 at 10:02 PM, GK733 said:

I think I'm out of Eurobricks for the foreseeable future

Ps. I hope you find your way out Azani without any needed assistance, you don't seem to enjoy your stay here anyways

I'm done with your crap, dude. I've been nothing but patient and polite with you, in this thread and over PM, while you've been pushing all kinds of fringe crap on me. You've been so ridiculously rude and accusatory that it's hard to believe that you've lasted here for this long.

17 hours ago, Takanuinuva said:

Perhaps Lego should give CCBS sets a break for a few years. Maybe come up with something later on that would re-energize the theme

Yeah, I mean, ideally that break would have come after the end of G2; that being said, I'm hopeful. :)

13 hours ago, Frozen Assasin said:

Talking about those SW rumors - any chance they might still get to mainland Europe? Like, apparently you folks got no last wave Chima AF, something we had here...so, is there a chance?

It's possible, at least until the summer rolls up. SvL seemed to be pretty adamant that the two kits were canceled outright.

11 hours ago, Kingriedak said:

infact, this year has had the least constraction sets put out since it started

Actually, we were on track to get more CCBS than we did in 2017. (Assuming that we saw the same number of sets in 2HY as we had last year) Five new sets before May.

10 hours ago, stevethesquid said:

Not surprising that many of the constraction fans here aren't active posters; there are already two forums on the internet dedicated specifically for constraction. Of course people are gonna stick to those.
And complaining that constraction fans generally aren't very interested in system is pretty hypocritical because the fast majority of system fans don't even consider constraction to be lego. Let people enjoy what they want. For example, most of the sets I buy are system but I stick to the bionicle community cause it's what I know and care about.
Yeah the bionicle community is pretty toxic. But I assure you that with the nature of rumors like this, the least common denominators came crawling out of the woodwork. You're joining a dramafest and then complaining that everyone you interact with is toxic..??? Which doesn't make sense. Go interact with constraction fans outside of drama threads and you'll have a much better time.

I understand the whole "lowest common denominator" piece, and you're right about the hypocrisy there. That wasn't worded very well on my part.

That said, I feel like you're making it sound like I'm a fan who never interacts with this side of the community. I've been active in the constraction community for way longer than I've been in the general AFOL wing of things, and the contrast is huge. It's not just this thread, and it's not new. I love Bionicle and constraction and a ton of the folks who make up the community as well, believe me.

What happened is that I made a prediction that turned out to be incorrect, and voiced some opinions that turned out to be really unpopular. Some people in this thread reacted as though I'd just murdered their families. This isn't normal stuff, lol.

9 hours ago, VBBN said:

As always don’t forget- while another Lego theme may have ended, there is always fun yet to be had. We’ve got something crazy yet awesome in the works right now for Action Figure fans- so for those talking about leaving Eurobricks, don’t be so hasty :wink:

Awesome. :)

Edited by Azani

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14 hours ago, Aanchir said:

"There are those in LEGO" could be referring to a handful of people, even people who had no involvement with the theme themselves. There's no reason to leap to assuming that it's a widespread consensus among the company's highest level decision makers.

You have to admit that's a pretty bold statement, though. David Robertson worked pretty closely with LEGO and the people behind the brand while writing Brick by Brick, so if he went out and said "There are those in LEGO who still believe it’s not an appropriate toy to carry the LEGO brand.", it's because he knew quite a few people in the company shared this belief. And, again, that's something pretty unheard of: it would be like someone saying "There are people in Hasbro who think My Little Pony is not an appropriate toy to carry the Hasbro brand" and so on. On top of that, Robertson made that statement in 2013: BIONICLE G2 was already in developement, making things a tad bit shadier.

I'll make an example for clarity's sake.
Let's just say you're a publisher. Like, a big publisher, one of the most renowned in the US. People have been buying books from you for years, and you're selling all the best american authors: Faulkner, Hemingway, Kerouac and so on. At one point things are going downhill, and it looks like you're about to be history. But then, all of sudden, you decide to give this young author a chance, since selling big names doesn't work anymore. His name is Dan Brown, and everybody loves him. He writes genre fiction, and you know deep down he's not even that good at that, but damn people are throwing money at you to read more of his works. You're back in business, you can't even believe it, and while you dislike this Dan Brown guy, he makes so much money you can tolerate him. That is, of course, until the day people begin to like Faulkner and Hemingway once again. It's like a renaissance, and all of this happens while Brown's success starts dwindling. It's your chance: you can get rid of thim with the promise of publishing his works again some time in the future.

After a few years, you go back to him. You two talk about ideas for possible books, and after a while it happens: Dan Brown's great comeback. But you still dislike him. So what? You let few people know about him. Yeah, his hardcore readers are crowding book stores, but the general public doesn't even know if he's still alive or not. Ops! Sorry Dan, your new book bombed. No more of you, you'll live off your royalties, it doesn't sound that bad, does it?

At last, it happens. You're reading your catalog, and they're all there: Burroughs, Fante, Hemingway. But Dan Brown is nowhere to be seen.
And you're the happiest publisher on earth.

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6 hours ago, TwistLaw said:

You have to admit that's a pretty bold statement, though. David Robertson worked pretty closely with LEGO and the people behind the brand while writing Brick by Brick, so if he went out and said "There are those in LEGO who still believe it’s not an appropriate toy to carry the LEGO brand.", it's because he knew quite a few people in the company shared this belief. And, again, that's something pretty unheard of: it would be like someone saying "There are people in Hasbro who think My Little Pony is not an appropriate toy to carry the Hasbro brand" and so on. On top of that, Robertson made that statement in 2013: BIONICLE G2 was already in developement, making things a tad bit shadier.

I'll make an example for clarity's sake.
Let's just say you're a publisher. Like, a big publisher, one of the most renowned in the US. People have been buying books from you for years, and you're selling all the best american authors: Faulkner, Hemingway, Kerouac and so on. At one point things are going downhill, and it looks like you're about to be history. But then, all of sudden, you decide to give this young author a chance, since selling big names doesn't work anymore. His name is Dan Brown, and everybody loves him. He writes genre fiction, and you know deep down he's not even that good at that, but damn people are throwing money at you to read more of his works. You're back in business, you can't even believe it, and while you dislike this Dan Brown guy, he makes so much money you can tolerate him. That is, of course, until the day people begin to like Faulkner and Hemingway once again. It's like a renaissance, and all of this happens while Brown's success starts dwindling. It's your chance: you can get rid of thim with the promise of publishing his works again some time in the future.

After a few years, you go back to him. You two talk about ideas for possible books, and after a while it happens: Dan Brown's great comeback. But you still dislike him. So what? You let few people know about him. Yeah, his hardcore readers are crowding book stores, but the general public doesn't even know if he's still alive or not. Ops! Sorry Dan, your new book bombed. No more of you, you'll live off your royalties, it doesn't sound that bad, does it?

At last, it happens. You're reading your catalog, and they're all there: Burroughs, Fante, Hemingway. But Dan Brown is nowhere to be seen.
And you're the happiest publisher on earth.

It's a plausible scenario given the right circumstances, but also a fairly ridiculous one when applied to Bionicle G2. If LEGO were wanting to keep the general public in the dark about it, the LAST thing they'd do would be to dedicate their entire presence at New York Comic-Con that year to announcing it. It's not as though big events like that are where LEGO sends new themes to die. Moreover, they could have easily vetoed giving it its own Facebook page — after all, there are many much better-selling themes like LEGO City, Friends, and even Star Wars that don't have their own official social media channels. All in all, Bionicle G2 got a fair amount of promotion compared to many other themes — Bionicle fans just seem to have some misguided idea that it both needed and deserved Ninjago/Chima/Nexo Knights levels of promotion and that anything short of that amounts to either pure ineptitude or a deliberate attempt to kill it.

On that note… considering that of Ninjago, Chima, and Nexo Knights, only Ninjago has lasted more than 3 years… I'm wondering why Bionicle fans are so confident that a Cartoon Network show or more books or more magazines or more webisodes or whatever else those themes got that Bionicle G2 didn't would have "saved" it. More media is not some kind of silver bullet. It is an expense, and that carries as much risk as it does potential reward. And if it turns out that it simply wasn't in the cards for Bionicle to make a big comeback at that time, then a bigger media investment could have brought it to a crashing halt just as abruptly.

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Unfortunately the media that they chose to promote G2 with did not reach the main target group: today’s children. I think a cartoon network show may have helped to get G2 through its first three years, though I agree the extra sales would probably not counter the extra investments and G2 would’ve lasted only 2 years either way.

I’m also super disappointed that we knew of the set names and then later on the prelims of the SBD and AT-RT. If I didn’t know they were coming I would’t have that feeling. It would just be a shame that constraction is over, but now we’re missing out on some of the most innovative sets. 

I would’ve loved that SW constraction was all about CW stuff, as the Clones vd droids aspect lends itself really well for constraction. The sets would also be quite colorful. Unfortunately Disney only pushed their own (mostly disappointing) characters resulting in drab monochrome sets and the same humanoid build and way too many human unhelmeted characters. Granted, I like pretty much every set, also the human faced ones, but more variety was welcome and it’s really weird we got so many of those drab characters instead of more classics from the OT and PT.

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On 8.3.2018 at 2:27 AM, Kingriedak said:

no, we got Hero Factory almost immediately afterward, and the first wave was filled with recoloured parts

Hero Factory was mostly completely new parts though, the amount of Bionicle parts that survived it's end was rather small.

 

Man, I just realized that I still need to get the new Vader and Boba Fett. I might get the Range Trooper as well though, he looks like a good parts pack.

Edited by ZORK64

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On 3/9/2018 at 10:20 AM, JekPorkchops said:

Unfortunately the media that they chose to promote G2 with did not reach the main target group: today’s children. I think a cartoon network show may have helped to get G2 through its first three years, though I agree the extra sales would probably not counter the extra investments and G2 would’ve lasted only 2 years either way.

It's interesting to see how differently people respond to the idea of a Cartoon Network show versus a Netflix one between the Ninjago and Bionicle fandoms, and I wonder if that difference might be generational. Among Ninjago fans, I've seen a number of cries for LEGO to ditch Cartoon Network due to their unpredictable scheduling and limited reruns, and instead focus on releasing any new or previously-aired seasons straight to a streaming service like Netflix where people can watch them on demand without a cable subscription. Likewise I feel like LEGO Elves has gotten a LOT more attention via Netflix and YouTube than it ever did through the TV specials on Disney Channel.

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On 11.03.2018 at 5:41 PM, Aanchir said:

It's interesting to see how differently people respond to the idea of a Cartoon Network show versus a Netflix one between the Ninjago and Bionicle fandoms, and I wonder if that difference might be generational. Among Ninjago fans, I've seen a number of cries for LEGO to ditch Cartoon Network due to their unpredictable scheduling and limited reruns, and instead focus on releasing any new or previously-aired seasons straight to a streaming service like Netflix where people can watch them on demand without a cable subscription. Likewise I feel like LEGO Elves has gotten a LOT more attention via Netflix and YouTube than it ever did through the TV specials on Disney Channel.

Netflix isn't as popular among kids in many countries, as opposed to TV cartoon channels.

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Hello everyone. Some mixed thoughts since I haven't been posting here forever:

-SW Constraction's end would be a pretty heavy blow. While the quality of the sets had been declining sharply (especially from the Rogue One wave onwards), the sets would always provide some pretty good recolours, and some very good molds as well (I really should get my hands on those sweet blades from the Elite Praetorian Guard set). My biggest regret is that we never got iconic characters like Yoda, C3PO and more droids, more droids, more droids. I still want those gold hands, though I'm sure they would've came up with an excuse to not make them.

-I've checked the inventories for the new sets. So Boba has a sand green 3M shell. That's not much, but better than nothing. And a dark red 4M shell, huh? Subarashii!
-Darn, the new Vader is TALL. I doubt I'll buy him, but it's nice to see a proper, fully humanoid CCBS "Titan". Shame about the scarcity of recolours, but still a better set than I initially thought.
-I don't care much for Maul and the Stormtrooper, really. Maul's shoulder armour looks pretty cool, though.
-Han has lots of new brown pieces, including new shoulder pads, I think. Definitely useful stuff.

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So... RIP constraction then? Damned shame, but the writing was sort of on the wall for Star Wars figures. Hoping we get something original sooner rather than later. So much for that 4chan rumor that made the rounds earlier last year? =P

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16 hours ago, Dorek said:

So... RIP constraction then? Damned shame, but the writing was sort of on the wall for Star Wars figures. Hoping we get something original sooner rather than later. So much for that 4chan rumor that made the rounds earlier last year? =P

Wait, what's this 4chan rumor? I don't remember hearing about it.

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On 3/16/2018 at 5:56 AM, Mac Daddy said:

Wait, what's this 4chan rumor? I don't remember hearing about it.

Someone claimed he had seen the summer sets catalogue for this year and there was a new constraction theme coming out. When pressed for details, all he could say was that it was computer-themed with virus enemies, and always had some excuse for not knowing the name of the theme or any details at all. The rumor was already implausible because summer catalogues aren't sent to retailers that early (I believe it originated in September or October), so there was much reason to heavily doubt its credence, unfortunately.

And man, I really, really hope the AT-RT and to a lesser extent the Super Battle Droid are released somehow, although it's looking really bleak. I was really pumped for the AT-RT too - it looked like a change of pace from the norm and would have made an awesome display piece. 

Edited by legozebra

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On 9/3/2018 at 12:57 AM, Aanchir said:

It's a plausible scenario given the right circumstances, but also a fairly ridiculous one when applied to Bionicle G2. If LEGO were wanting to keep the general public in the dark about it, the LAST thing they'd do would be to dedicate their entire presence at New York Comic-Con that year to announcing it.

Well, following my metaphore, it would be like having Dan Brown talk about his book in a McDonald's restaurant. Most people at NYCC didn't care about Bionicle and wouldn't even have been the target audience.

To expand on what I was talking about few weeks ago, I found this old quote of yours:

On 21/10/2017 at 10:47 PM, Aanchir said:

If constraction themes really need that many new molds every year to sell well, then that's probably a pretty valid reason for LEGO not to invest in them now that they can create even bigger hits much more economically.

Well, you said it yourself. The only way to overcome constraction's inherent limit (building the same figure over and over again) would be introducing a huge amount of new moulds every year. If LEGO is not willing to do that anymore (because in this day and age they can create bigger hits much more economically), then there's no reason to keep constraction in their portfolio.

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16 hours ago, TwistLaw said:

Well, following my metaphore, it would be like having Dan Brown talk about his book in a McDonald's restaurant. Most people at NYCC didn't care about Bionicle and wouldn't even have been the target audience.

That analogy doesn't fit at all. Creating and running an NYCC booth is a HUGE investment, and the LEGO Group isn't going to waste that investment on a theme they don't want to succeed in the first place when they have plenty of themes they know could find an eager audience there.

Furthermore, arguing that people who love comics, cartoons, and action figures wouldn't care about Bionicle seems rather disingenuous. Let's not forget, Bionicle G1 and Hero Factory made multiple appearances at SDCC over the years. So obviously LEGO thought that attendees at these sorts of events were receptive to these sorts of brands. LEGO has also been promoting brands like Ninjago at Comic Cons for years, even if it's never made up their entire presence at one of these events like Bionicle did. Heck, the year after Bionicle G2's NYCC debut, LEGO devoted their NYCC booth to LEGO Nexo Knights, a theme they were clearly heavily invested in and that had no established fanbase. So insisting that marketing efforts like these aren't sincere attempts to promote the themes in question amounts to willful ignorance.

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On 3/16/2018 at 6:56 AM, Mac Daddy said:

Wait, what's this 4chan rumor? I don't remember hearing about it.

Well, in essence, a fellow on /lg/ claimed that he had seen some promotional materials/catalogs for the summer, and that they included a new constraction theme. For some crazy reason, no one ever bothered to ask him for the name of the theme or any further details, though they decided to pretend that they had to make themselves look extra clever. :)

On 3/19/2018 at 9:54 PM, legozebra said:

Someone claimed he had seen the summer sets catalogue for this year and there was a new constraction theme coming out. When pressed for details, all he could say was that it was computer-themed with virus enemies, and always had some excuse for not knowing the name of the theme or any details at all.

Nope.

Anyways, it was patently clear from the start that the fellow on /lg/ was just trolling folks, even apart from any analysis of what he was saying. Why would anyone believe an anon on /toy/? No idea.

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2 hours ago, Azani said:

Well, in essence, a fellow on /lg/ claimed that he had seen some promotional materials/catalogs for the summer, and that they included a new constraction theme. For some crazy reason, no one ever bothered to ask him for the name of the theme or any further details, though they decided to pretend that they had to make themselves look extra clever. :)

Nope.

Anyways, it was patently clear from the start that the fellow on /lg/ was just trolling folks, even apart from any analysis of what he was saying. Why would anyone believe an anon on /toy/? No idea.

Yeah, that’s... pretty much what I said. It was obviously fake, but the construction community was really grasping at straws there, even when it was clearly fabricated.

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3 hours ago, zg0 said:

*SNIP*

Well, thanks for confirming what I said, I guess. :P Want to elaborate?

Edited by Leewan
Removed quoted pictures

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2 hours ago, Azani said:

Want to elaborate?

It's not necessary, at least not here, since it's off-topic, and the most important has been said : someone on 4chan did spread false rumors, period.

About the possible cancellation of the August sets, I think it's safer to wait and see. Didn't SVL say Nexo Knights would end in 2017 ?

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4 hours ago, Leewan said:

It's not necessary, at least not here, since it's off-topic, and the most important has been said : someone on 4chan did spread false rumors, period.

About the possible cancellation of the August sets, I think it's safer to wait and see. Didn't SVL say Nexo Knights would end in 2017 ?

Yup, he did, and Mark Stafford was even wondering where the info was from as they had been planning a third year for a while. So I guess we will see.

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34 minutes ago, legozebra said:

Yup, he did, and Mark Stafford was even wondering where the info was from as they had been planning a third year for a while. So I guess we will see.

We got some semi-big names saying Nexo Knight was cancelled. Which might have been just due to perceived lack of sales, which stays unconfirmed. It then changed into "they decided to cancel it but summer sales made them change their mind" I can't say it was either, but it would had been in Lego's interest to squash the idea that they'd had considered cancelling the line.

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53 minutes ago, GK733 said:

We got some semi-big names saying Nexo Knight was cancelled. Which might have been just due to perceived lack of sales, which stays unconfirmed. It then changed into "they decided to cancel it but summer sales made them change their mind" I can't say it was either, but it would had been in Lego's interest to squash the idea that they'd had considered cancelling the line.

 

5 hours ago, Leewan said:

It's not necessary, at least not here, since it's off-topic, and the most important has been said : someone on 4chan did spread false rumors, period.

About the possible cancellation of the August sets, I think it's safer to wait and see. Didn't SVL say Nexo Knights would end in 2017 ?

It was confirmed at the Nuremberg Toy Fair that Nexo Knights was cancelled. Via Brickset and Zusammengebaut.

Regarding 4chan, there have been instances when accurate information has been leaked on 4chan before, but as always, rumors should be taken with a grain of salt, no matter the source.

Edited by Yeow

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The newest sets are available on the s@h. They cost 30€ / 26£ each. It's a bit better in the US, Maul is at 30$, but Han Solo and the Range trooper cost "only" 25$. Still, I don't know how Lego expects them to sell at such prohibitive prices...

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4 hours ago, Leewan said:

The newest sets are available on the s@h. They cost 30€ / 26£ each. It's a bit better in the US, Maul is at 30$, but Han Solo and the Range trooper cost "only" 25$. Still, I don't know how Lego expects them to sell at such prohibitive prices...

I'd assume that's Disney's doing, but regardless I wish they were markedly cheaper. I still want my AT-RT and B2 though : (

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