The hole Bionicle being canceled has left on me

[Fry]

I was born in the year 2000. Since then, I have had every single set except the Manas and 2010 sets. I had missed living through Bionicle in my favorite years 2001-2003 but I didn't intend to miss out anymore. I became a Bionicle collector/Enthusiast. With eBay, I have managed to build up my collection. Now, I am just waiting for a good deal on the manas I remember one day watching a video about the Bionicle Stars. I thought they were garbage, but then I heard it. "These will be the last Bionicle sets ever released by Lego. It litterely felt like being punched in the chest. All the air was knocked out of my lungs. And now, in 2014, the Bionicle website is shutdown. Sometimes I go to the Internet Archive "Wayback Machine" and get nostalgic. It gets me so depressed. When I see all of my adverts like "Live the legend" I get sadder. Would anyone like to share their expirences?

[Sumiki]

I had begun to grow distant from BIONICLE during the 2009 arc, beginning with the story. Still, BIONICLE was my childhood, no doubt. It was brilliant in its heyday and occasionally I miss its simpler days, but all in all it ended when it should have ended story-wise.

[AdaptingChaos]

I completely understand you! I altho i dont have as many sets as you, I would love to have more and possibly own every single set released in the future. Anyways, I also sometimes get that sad feeling whenever I think of Bionicle, bc it was my childhood. And i do miss it a lot. However most of the time whenever I think of Bionicle, I think of how amazing the toyline and storyline was and how it impacted my childhood. This usually happens whenever I look at any of my favorite Bionicle sets and compare it to any Hero Factory set i own (which isnt very much). I do understand the reasons as to why it was cancelled, but if it does come back in the future, I will gladly buy every set without hesitation.

Edited January 13, 2014 by AdaptingChaos

[Aanchir]

Wait, hang on, you were born in 2000 and still managed to get all the sets plus the Manas and the Stars? You deserve a round of applause for your dedication! I rarely ever go to any trouble to get sets that left store shelves before I began collecting a theme. Unless you got the older sets as hand-me-downs or something.

 

For me, when BIONICLE ended... I wasn't really affected by it a whole lot. At that point, there had been rumors about its end being imminent for many years. And with many of the loose ends finally beginning to be tied up in 2008 and 2009, I decided that I did not care how long it would take BIONICLE to reach its end as long as it ended well.

 

In my opinion, BIONICLE did end well in 2010. Some of the sprawling storylines from the serials never got wrapped up, but the main saga came to its inevitable conclusion, with Mata Nui's destiny fulfilled, Bara Magna restored to glory, and the forces of Mata Nui victorious over the forces of Makuta. It was a bit rushed, sure, but I don't feel like dragging Mata Nui's adventures out much further would have improved things all that much.

 

As far as sets were concerned, the Stars obviously weren't what a lot of people were expecting, but they were definite improvements over the Agori and Av-Matoran, and beyond that, they were a wonderful nostalgia trip. Given the circumstances, I don't think there could have been any better way to say goodbye to BIONICLE than a look back at some of BIONICLE's "greatest hits". Together with the story, they really created a sense of all the bits and pieces from previous story years coming together for one grand finale.

 

The Stars also helped transition constraction sets in general back to a more modest scale, which I'm grateful for. Today's Hero Factory sets look a lot better proportionally than the 2006-2009 canister sets with their gangly limbs and exaggeratedly wide shoulders. I think the Stars were an important step in that direction.

 

This doesn't mean 2010 was all sunshines and rainbows for me. It left the BIONICLE fan community in a state of general chaos as people bickered about whether or not it was the ending BIONICLE deserved, whether or not BIONICLE should have ended at all, whether or not Hero Factory was an adequate replacement, whether or not BIONICLE should ever come back, etcetera. Hero Factory, for its part, didn't entirely help matters — its first wave in 2010, prior to the introduction of the new building system in 2011, was mediocre, with heroes that were lackluster even compared to the Stars and Agori and villains who failed to measure up to the canister sets that preceded them.

 

My activity on BIONICLE sites like BZPower decreased further and further until I finally took a long hiatus, joining other LEGO sites like Eurobricks in the interim. I only came back to BZPower for good in 2012 after the site returned from its own lengthy downtime and restructured itself to promote more general and open-minded LEGO discussion. By that time, Hero Factory's new building system had brought me back into the constraction hobby, and Ninjago had done a fantastic job fulfilling any need I might have had for an epic, story-driven adventure theme. These days BZPower is quieter than it was back when BIONICLE was alive and running, but it's easier to have a thoughtful, insightful discussion in a quiet atmosphere than in the kind of clamor and controversy that used to erupt on a regular basis back when BIONICLE was going strong.

[Lyichir]

Bionicle was a big part of my life, but I'm not quite as sad as others about it being gone. It wasn't quite my childhood so much as my awkward teenage years, full of good and bad in equal measure. Lego, on the other hand, was my actual childhood, and it was with me throughout Bionicle's run, and now it's the lumbering start to my adulthood.

 

So yeah. I'm not going to say that Bionicle's end didn't leave a hole for me. But what is a hole but something to be filled? The Lego themes since then have done a great job filling that hole for me, so I have little need to dwell on the past anymore.

[fishers64]

Perhaps I now fully have the benefit of hindsight.

 

In 2008, I wanted Bionicle to end. I was tired of all the storyline foot-dragging. Finally the Toa Nuva would awaken Mata Nui, and this big thing would finally end. I could finally move on and invest my time somewhere else.

 

And then the plot twist happened. And I had to concede that it made sense.

 

And then 2009 happened. 2009 was a low point for my following of Bionicle. It no longer gave me the complex world and the thought stimulation I wanted. I was so bored...that I actually pulled out my long-neglected bucket of Lego System parts and started Mocing. I always find that ironic.

 

In 2010 I found BZP, and that really scratched my itch I had to talk about the story. Bionicle used to be this thing that I liked that nobody else liked, and it was refreshing to talk with people like me. But the lack of new story content since has started to leave a void, yeah. Mostly I've been able to move on to other stories of the similar caliber, but it's just never quite the same.

 

I reluctantly concede that Bionicle is just one story out there among many. But it's the story that I grew up with that introduced me to this larger world of story, and it's very hard to leave behind.

[LordofBionicles]

BIONICLE was what made me realize I liked reading and writing too, it has always been a great inspiration for me and I work hard to not forget what it means to me.

[Geardirector]

Bionicle was my childhood, too, and while it was far from perfect, it certainly was a lot of fun while it lasted. I try to step back and appreciate that, but I still find myself spending a lot of my free time with it even now, because of what it meant to me and what it represented.

 

Ultimately, if I could choose, I don't really think I would've wanted to change all that much, more than anything else I can just hope that the fans continue to remember it and have fun with it, not really much else.

[Hahli Husky]

Moving this support group to LEGO Discussion, since this isn't limited to just sets.

[Kopekemaster]

I think I got into Bionicle when I was seven, so it makes up a large part of my easily rememberable childhood. Its passing was unexpected for me. I had for some reason thought that it was going to go on for the foreseeable future.

How wrong I was.

But, in a way, I think its end actually made me more into it. Because I didn't have the month-to-month story to keep me happy, I delved into the serials, and, somewhat, the books.

Of course, I probably would have eventually gotten into those whether Bionicle ended or not.

[fishers64]

Moving this support group to LEGO Discussion, since this isn't limited to just sets.

Bioniholics Anonymous?

[Hahli Husky]

 

Moving this support group to LEGO Discussion, since this isn't limited to just sets.

Bioniholics Anonymous?

 

(I was trying to figure out how to make this joke but it wasn't working. Thank you haha)

[You just lost the game]

BIONICLE was my favorite Lego theme when it was still around.

After it left, I simply started buying more of my other favorite themes.

[Sybre]

Bionicle was also my childhood, and I flipping loved it! I don't know where I'd be without it. No matter what anybody says about Bionicle and its later years, I was torn up when it ended. I still hope for its return, but I'm losing hope with every passing week.

[Master Inika]

I got into BIONICLE in 2003 around the time the Rahkshi were coming out. I was hooked immediately and have never had a hiatus away from BIONICLE. It got me into writing, which is another major part of my life. When it ended, I was reasonably crushed. The void was filled in by MLP and LEGO Star Wars.

[Makuta_of_Oz]

I understand entirely how you feel. I actually felt betrayed by Lego when they made their decision.

 

Other big-profit companies are willing to make series for fun rather than profit (eg. Nintendo with the Pikmin series), but not Lego. They got rid of Bionicle because they put money first. Sure, maybe there weren't that many NEW fans getting into it because of its story, but there were more than enough older fans that were still buying the sets and following the story!

 

BTW there are a couple of things I need to point out. Firstly, Lego said in their announcement that the Stars would be their last sets "for the forseeable future", implying they may decide to bring it back in the future. They didn't say "their last sets forever". Secondly, didn't the Bionicle website get shut down last year alongside BIONICLEStory, or am I mistaken?

[Lyichir]

I understand entirely how you feel. I actually felt betrayed by Lego when they made their decision.

 

Other big-profit companies are willing to make series for fun rather than profit (eg. Nintendo with the Pikmin series), but not Lego. They got rid of Bionicle because they put money first. Sure, maybe there weren't that many NEW fans getting into it because of its story, but there were more than enough older fans that were still buying the sets and following the story!

 

BTW there are a couple of things I need to point out. Firstly, Lego said in their announcement that the Stars would be their last sets "for the forseeable future", implying they may decide to bring it back in the future. They didn't say "their last sets forever". Secondly, didn't the Bionicle website get shut down last year alongside BIONICLEStory, or am I mistaken?

No, no, no. Companies like Nintendo make games like Pikmin for fun AS WELL AS profit. Just because they don't have the kind of sales of franchises like Mario or Zelda doesn't mean they're sold at a loss. The Pikmin games still make mountains of money, and they net a unique audience that might not be as interested in those other games. Nintendo isn't making any sacrifices.

 

Bionicle, on the other hand, did NOT have a sustainable amount of old OR new fans, especially when it came to buying the sets. And every change they attempted to make to the products or story to make them more accessible did little to attract new fans OR keep older fans from "growing out of it". I was a member of BZPower from as early as 2005, and I witnessed this happening personally. Every time the story shifted to new characters, or got darker, fans left. Every time a new type of set was introduced, fans vowed to stop buying. Bionicle certainly wouldn't have needed to attract as many new fans if it could keep the older fans buying the sets (to a greater extent than any other Lego theme, at that), but that's not even close to what was happening. Fans grew out of it at the regular rate, even as the number of new fans plummeted. Eventually, it became clear that more success would be had by replacing it with a new theme than by trying desperately to keep Bionicle running, so Lego did so.

 

Regarding the "foreseeable future" bit, they very well may decide to bring it back someday. That's why they wrote it that way. But it also means they had no plans of ever doing so when they ended the theme, and I doubt they do now. The wording is no more than an acknowledgement that they only plan ahead by a finite amount, that anything could happen ten or twenty or fifty years from now, and that there's nothing to be gained by ruling out options that could someday (in the far, unforeseeable future) have an opportunity for success.

 

I'm sorry, but portraying Lego as the bad guy for ending a theme that satisfied fewer and fewer customers each year is ridiculous. EVERY company is trying to make money in the end, but in the case of a toy company like Lego, that end is achieved primarily by making kids happy. I think that's a fairly admirable goal in and of itself. I didn't want to bring too much negativity to this pity party, but casting blame and hatred on Lego (which I stated before, was MY childhood to a far greater extent than Bionicle was) crosses the line.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Lyichir

[Space: Ocean of Awe]

BIONICLE was what made me realize I liked reading and writing too, it has always been a great inspiration for me and I work hard to not forget what it means to me.

Same here. I didn't much care for books, not even comic books, until some time in 2005, when, for whatever reason, I became attached to a single Bionicle comic to the point of taking it everywhere, like a safety blanket, and mending all the tears with scotch tape. In 2006 I started collecting the Bionicle books and comics, and have been a voracious reader. I never cared for writing either, until I got into the Bionicle story.

 

I organize my memories around Bionicle. When I want to pin down an approximate date any time during Bionicle's run, I need only recall which Bionicle sets I had at the time, which ones I hoped to get, which book I was reading.

 

Whenever I visited my cousins, or they visited me, we would spend most of our time with our Bionicles. We would make trips to the store to buy some, or all gather in my basement to create anything we wanted. And I fondly remember the long phone conversations I had with one cousin in 2007/2008, talking about the Bionicle story, where it was heading. I insisted that I had totally seen Karda Nui coming (and I did, sort of). I was sad when they all grew out of it, and kind of lonely from that point on, because there were so few things to do together when we weren't MOCing or making up epic battles.

 

I'm terribly sad that it's a thing of the bast, but I think that it ended at a good time. It's better to quit while you're ahead, to end when it was still good. Maybe years from now there'll be a revival of sorts (though that seems rather unlikely). At least the ending gave me a chance to catch up with the story, which was moving a little too fast for me to keep up with it.

 

When Hero Factory first replaced Bionicle, I didn't mind it so much...I was excited to see what it'd be like. I'm now rather disappointed. It took the "clone build" to a whole new level, and the story is practically non-existent. I also miss Bionicle's style...it looked almost natural, with the detail. The moles were great, and I prefer the Bionicle system, with its strong alliance with Technic.

 

Needless to say, I do miss Bionicle, and recently I've been super nostalgic.

 

=)

[Master Inika]

I organize my memories around Bionicle. When I want to pin down an approximate date any time during Bionicle's run, I need only recall which Bionicle sets I had at the time, which ones I hoped to get, which book I was reading.

For a long time, I thought I was weird for doing that. Am I the only one who feels like 2010-2014 has just been one really long year? BIONICLE's retirement kind of stunted my time perception. I'm so used to associating a year with one of the distinctive chapters of BIONICLE, I feel empty and ageless without anything to attach 2011-now to.

[Space: Ocean of Awe]

 

I organize my memories around Bionicle. When I want to pin down an approximate date any time during Bionicle's run, I need only recall which Bionicle sets I had at the time, which ones I hoped to get, which book I was reading.

For a long time, I thought I was weird for doing that. Am I the only one who feels like 2010-2014 has just been one really long year? BIONICLE's retirement kind of stunted my time perception. I'm so used to associating a year with one of the distinctive chapters of BIONICLE, I feel empty and ageless without anything to attach 2011-now to.

 

One long year, yes. I try to associate different times with other things, like TV shows, but most of the shows I watch are really old.

 

=)

[Tuuli]

Indeed, Bionicle's end is no doubt a heartbreaking one. I personally liked the story, but at the same time I was not ready for it to end and the Bionicle stars sets while cool and fun to play with, really are a cheap way to end Bionicle. I would have preferred if they had at least made them in their original set forms, like the yellow rahkshi being built like the others, Tahu like he was in '01, Piraka as they once were and don't even get me started on Gresh and Skrall. While I know they were essential to that part of the storyline, I just wished they had brought back more classic sets, such as a bohrok or maybe even Lewa Nuva. But what's done is done sadly but we can still pray for the return of Bionicle.

[16N1K4]

I got into Bionicle when it first began, and stuck with it until it ended. That's basically from kindergarten to high school.

To say that Bionicle (and Lego in general) is a big part of my childhood is a huge understatement. Back when I was a kid, this was all I'd obsess about. Sure, I went outdoors, I've played my share of video games (although I play a lot more often now than I ever did then), and I'm part of a great circle of friends (in the present tense because we're still a tight bunch), but Bionicle was basically a part of me then. I would narrate the saga in my head, theorize about this and that, tell myself, "Hey, that character would make an awesome set!" I'd spend afternoons on the computer on bionicle.com (and eventually here), looking at pictures, playing games.... you know, just what a kid would do.

It made a lot of impact in my current life today. My usernames, even my Twitter handle draw influences from Bionicle lore. When I have free time, I spend it by building stuff with my old sets. Even the story inspired me to try out writing. I incorporated many of the philosophical aspects of the story into my ideals.

When the announcement of the cancellation was made, I was taken aback. "That's it? They're just going to tie up all loose ends and kill it?" The epic story, the characters I grew up loving.... it's the final chapter. And the fact that their swan song was just six boring sets wasn't much help either.

Considering how much Bionicle has influenced my life today, I don't think there was ever a void left by its cancellation. I may have grown up, but it's still a part of me.

Sure, I still miss it, but rereading the stories remedies that. Nowadays, I value the lore more than the sets (I still love my collection, though).

 

I'm sorry if what I've written is a bit incoherent. I find difficulty digging deep and writing it down at the same time.

[Azani]

It's amazing to hear from other fans who felt similar to me when Bionicle ended. Bionicle had been a part of my life for six years when the Stars sets were released, and the cancellation of the sets felt very strange to me, as if some essential part of the fabric of the universe was being undone. As a fifth grader in 2010, I couldn't remember a time in my life when Bionicle hadn't existed. The same feeling washed over me in late 2011, when I was in starting seventh grade and it became clear that none of the BionicleStory.com serials were about to be updated again.

 

Bionicle truly rooted itself in my mind during it's run, in a way that time has a hard time of shaking. I was born in 1999, and from the start of 2004 I was buying the sets. Though I wasn't really following the storyline until early 2006, I dived in with full force then and proceeded to catch up on the story from all of the previous years. I decided to stop buying the sets after Winter of 2009, and the only that brought me back to them was the news that the Stars sets would be the last. At that point in time, the sole reason for me to buy Bionicle sets was an incredible sense of nostalgia for past years.

 

Amidst all of this, I had found BZPower in 2008 and slowly began to visit it more often. Since the set line has ended, I felt that I began to enjoy the story more without being distracted by lego sets that were mainly aimed at much younger kids. I have a feeling that I may have stumbled upon the revelation that led Lego to realize that Bionicle was no longer a commercially viable line in late 2009; specifically, that Bionicle is a great and engaging story for teenagers and adults, yet a confusing and disorienting concept for the kids who make up the majority of Lego customers.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Artakha's Nephew

[Hitoshura]

I grew up with Bionicle, which was one of the very few Lego themes I actually stuck to. There were times when I was kind of out of it, like around 2008 and after, so I didn't rreally care about the story or even the sets, but even then I was at Walmart or something and seeing if they had any new sets. When they were going to end it in 2010, I was thinking like "what? are you kidding me?" and kind of disappointed but I always had my sets. But in late 2010/early 2011 I truly discovered the story and everything about it, like my obsession was more than ever. Like I read all the books, got all the comics, got sets from Amazon or yard sales or something, and went online for a whole bunch of Bionicle-related stuff(serials, games, etc), and I discovered BZPower.

 

Well I actually found BZP a few years ago while looking for Bionicle stuff. I was not too interested at the time about social media like forums and Facebook, so I just left without making an account and forgot about it. However in late 2012 I was "getting in" to Bionicle again, and I found this site. I was thinking, "why not give it a try?". so I did and here I am.

 

There have been times when I kind of got out of Bionicle and BZP, especially now that real life is taking over fast. But I always somehow manage to return, because of the nostalgia I've hated but loved at the same time. Like when I planned to give up on BZP around May last year. Around September last year. Around January this year. Like when I would come back. Like a few days ago, when I found myself drawing a map of Mata nui and though of this site and Bionicle. I guess nostalgia always wins in the end. But thats enough about myself.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Dragonstar7

[Just A Dot]

It kinda hurt a bit when it first ended, but I felt that the sets had been going down in quality for years, and the storyline in 2008 and 2009 wasn't that impressive either, so it turned out to not be a huge problem. Sure, there is a lot of nostalgia to be found. I have about 2/3rds of a complete set collection. I have spent a lot of time on BIONICLE. But didn't Mata Nui say that "endings are just beginnings, waiting to be born"? It needed to end, because it couldn't go on forever, and it was already past its prime. There was no need to drag it on much longer. Now, I wish it hadn't been so abrupt, and we got those other two movies we were promised, but had it gone on much after that, I woulda been annoyed.