Were the Bionicle playsets ever popular?

[Jobber]

As the title says, were the old Bionicle system sets popular when they were released? I mean, I can see collectors mainly getting them for their exclusive elements and masks alike.

 

And.

 

Could we them return for G2?

Edited March 25, 2015 by Anonymous User

[-Windrider-]

This belongs in Bionicle Discussion, so I am moving it.

[Dorek]

Popular enough to go on for three years, but I assume they wanted to take the same "large-scale" building principles and apply that to the vehicles we got in 2008.

 

I got the 2005 ones and really liked them, but they also took up stupid amounts of space, so they're all in pieces at this point. The non-poseable minifigs weren't that great either, but they even fixed that for the later waves.

 

Dunno about returning for G2... I mean, we did get Invasion From Below, so I'd say there's a solid chance of it happening at some point.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Dorek

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Yeah they were, but they were so expensive that they weren't as sold as much as the standard size sets. I got one for 2006 and another for 2007.

[LegoSWfan]

They were never kept by stores in large quantities where I live.

[Lyichir]

I liked them a bit, apart from their terrible flaws (like their inability to depict characters accurately or even consistently in 2007). The builds were extremely interesting, using Technic and Bionicle parts heavily even for architectural detailing.

 

I would absolutely LOVE to see new ones for the new Bionicle. Invasion from Below was amazing and the change in scale really helped to refresh the Hero Factory theme. The Hero-fig designs were fantastic and could probably be adapted to depict the new Bionicle characters with some minor alterations (new masks, and probably new chestplates). I do hope that if such a thing happens for the new Bionicle, it does like IFB did and bases the character designs on the Toa's most iconic appearances—I often regret that because of the timeframe of the original Bionicle playsets, we never even got figs of the iconic Toa Mata/Nuva.

[MrSciFiGuy]

I was never intrigued to buy them at the time. But recently I got the Battle for Metru Nui off ebay and I have to say, I really like it. Cant wait to eventually get the others

[bioniclepluslotr]

Eh, I got one in 2007 and swapped it for a Fenrahk that was on clearance.

[Bfahome]

I can't speak for their popularity (though from what I've heard they didn't do that well, if I'm remembering correctly) but I really liked them.  I wanted some of the 2005 ones, but didn't end up getting any (I only got, like, five sets that year anyway).  In 2006 I got Lava Chamber Gate and in 2007 I got Barraki Deepsea Patrol.  They were both fun to play with and got me some pieces I wouldn't have gotten otherwise (two Axonn masks with the Gate!) and some cool recolors.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I can't speak about the popularity of the playsets, though from what others have said they didn't do too well. I personally only got the 05 Bionicle playsets. They were interesting sets, but they weren't my favorites.

 

As for them returning in Gen 2 Bionicle, I guess there is always the chance that they could return. Again, I have no idea.

[Sumiki]

I think they were marred by a lack of consistency. The designers didn't seem like they had a really good grasp on how they wanted to integrate the playsets into the year's story. The minifigures improved after 2005, but that was about it.

[operater139]

Insanely popular indeed. Trust me. I've been here since the beginning, and still loving this line. They brought so much commercial success to Lego it sparked off movies, comic books, and more.

[Sir Kohran]

Insanely popular indeed. Trust me. I've been here since the beginning, and still loving this line. They brought so much commercial success to Lego it sparked off movies, comic books, and more.

 

This topic doesn't concern Bionicle sets in general, but a specific group, often called 'playsets', released in 2005, 6 and 7 that rendered content from those years in the style of System. Most fans have never been crazy about them.

[SPIRIT]

Price was the main thing that held me back.  I could get the titan sets or the playsets, but not both.

[Munty]

I have a bunch of these but I'm not a big fan. So much so in fact that I haven't even tried to sell them yet as I just don't think there's a great market for them out there! I imagine that was less true when they first released but by the sounds of it they never had a very good time of it. While it may have been an interesting new idea it just never felt very Bionicle to me... 

[masterchirox580]

I have one that I got on boxing day 2005 as a late Christmas gift, I remember really liking it (it was the visorak battle ram), today it's broken up and I realize a lot of issues with these things. I don't really see them coming back, they only did it with bio, HF never got this kind of treatment (unless you count the minifigures), maybe it was because HF wasn't popular enough, considering the budget restrictions it put on the regular figures (you know the main appeal of the theme) I don't think lego would/should reintroduce them.

[LegoSWfan]

I don't think taking bionicle and making it a system theme was the best idea.

[Xan]

Well as somebody who has to have anything Bionicle related, I want to someday acquire all of them. The ones I have now are really nice. Not fantastic, but they look good on display. 

[ToaDraco]

I liked them. I have the Visorak Battle Ram and the Tower of Toa from 2005, the Lava Chamber Gate and the Race for the Mask of Life sets from 2006, and the Toa Terrain Crawler from 2007. I loved the playsets as we were able to get epic battle scenes and vehicles at a larger scale that would not work for constraction. The only thing I didn't like was in 2007 where the minifigs had recolored heads for heroes and villains, it looked terrible. The sets themselves however, were great. I would be very surprised if we get anything like that this time around. The playsets were quite expensive and I don't think they were well received. The Visorak Battle Ram is still by far my favorite, just a beautiful set that fit very well with Bionicle. The Terrain Crawler was also an epic set and I love that it was used in the promo video for the Mahri, I'm still kinda sad it wasn't better utilized in the story. I used it in quite a bit of artwork at the time featuring the Toa Mahri.

Edited March 26, 2015 by ToaDraco

[Ziontyro Metalhead]

I enjoyed the ones I got, but there was a lack of consistency, and they didn't seem to be united with the bionicle line very well.

[operater139]

 

Insanely popular indeed. Trust me. I've been here since the beginning, and still loving this line. They brought so much commercial success to Lego it sparked off movies, comic books, and more.

 

This topic doesn't concern Bionicle sets in general, but a specific group, often called 'playsets', released in 2005, 6 and 7 that rendered content from those years in the style of System. Most fans have never been crazy about them.

 

 

Ah, sorry. Yeah these were never really popular. Personally I think it's just because they weren't the original Bionicle style.

[Everspark]

I think the playsets from 2005 and 2007 are fantastic. The Metru Nui playsets are really capture the architecture of the city, and it's amazing.

[Toa Doublebee]

I think the minifigs in them are noteworthy, and I find the various rahi in the 07 sets fascinating, but that wasn't enough to make me get any.

 

But if they do make playsets for G2. I will be sure to get at least the minifgs. I bet those would look awesome   

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

I think they were a great concept with interesting results - the mix of traditional system with Bionicle-parts was pretty innovative. It created some really great action set-pieces, but yeah, there were flaws. I'm sure they didn't sell badly, but the decision to change them from playsets to full Technic vehicles was probably a good one. I loved the vehicles because of their complexity and how they fit in with the rest of the established action figure system. 

 

That being said, I wouldn't mind if the playsets returned. Just hopefully with better minifigs. 

 

-NotS

[Nescent]

I can't speak for their popularity, but for the most part I was not interested in them. Some of them were cool, but I thought the minifigures looked pretty bad in the 2007 playsets. The only playset that I really wanted was the 2007 Toa Terrain Crawler. That thing was a beast. I'd buy it now, but I can only ever find them for >$100...

 

I'd be down for some G2 playsets though. How cool would it be to see a System Ancient City? Or a Temple of Time?

[Hasreadit]

I never liked them because I felt that if I wanted Lego System there were better sets out there and if I wanted Bionicles there were better sets out there

[Xabla]

Well, people who didn't like Bionicle could have liked them.

[ineverlikedfelt]

Seeing how they lasted until 2007, I guess not.

As others said, they were inconsistent and for me, didn't feel like they were part of the story.

[Trijhak]

When I was younger, they were... interesting, to say the least. Honestly, I thought the 2005 ones were badly designed, especially the Battle for Metru Nui one. It just seemed to fall apart at every opportunity while I was building it... like there wasn't enough support and the designers didn't care too much... and so you're building it but they're breaking it down. Into smaller pieces, which you then have to assemble again. Because of that less-than-stellar first year, I'd imagine they weren't that popular in the following two years. In 2007, I didn't see them be discussed much - as if they seemed as if they were an afterthought. That was eight years ago though, so I can't quite say for sure how people responded to them.

 

But they definitely did seem awkward to me, to say the least.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

The thing about Bionicle is that they're buildable action figures.

 

Making playsets with mini-Bionicle figurines sort of takes away the whole point.

[Owlexander]

I got like one, but that was it...

Edited April 9, 2015 by Forgeta

[Cwog]

I only got one, and that was the Toa Terrain Crawler. It was so awesome to 8-year-old me! I was upset that Jaller, Matoro, and Kongu didn't have their own masks, but I got over it and had tons of fun. It's in pieces now, and I think it'd be a nightmare to put back together. In any case, it was fun while it lasted.

[Cheesy Mac n Cheese]

I own several, probably most, but I'm not a big fan. I think the real reason I got them was just to own them, as I wanted to own every set. Unlike the Technic-based building system BIONICLE usually has, the sets simply fell apart if you tried to put them in storage. I kept (and still do keep) all my sets in bins so I wouldn't have to constantly display them, and this didn't work with the fragile System-based playsets.

 

Also, I must admit I have a hard time remembering which ones I own, whereas the regular sets I remember all or most of the ones I own.