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What Will Be Hf's Replacement?


FrozenFlash

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Bionicle! :PJoking aside, I'd say that HF will probably be replaced with a new Lego line that will have sets with new pieces. But that is me just guessing. The only way we'll find out is when HF ends.

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It depends on when it ends. If it ends within the next few years, I wouldn't be surprised if LEGO does not make new lines in the buildable action figure genre, aside from perhaps licensing them out like they've done with their System lines.If it ends after Hero Factory has completely runs its course (which would be in a long time), then some other non-licensed line will take its place. Perhaps after Hero Factory, or maybe after Hero Factory's replacement, would we see BIONICLE, if ever.

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The only reasons Hero Factory might end are if:A. Kids aren't buying sets, in which case Lego may stop producing constraction lines altogether, or,B. Kids aren't responding to the story, although I think their first course of action in that case would be to re-tool HF into something a bit different, which is possible given the flexible storyline.C. They get a licensing deal with a film/TV show to produce constraction figures based on their characters. If this line was too popular, it would cannibalise sales of Hero Factory, leading Lego to look into more licensed products than creating their own franchises.Edit: Or D, a director approaches them with a pitch for a Bionicle film. To tie in with the movie, Lego starts putting out Bionicle sets again, sacrificing Hero Factory.

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Hero Factory replacement line, IMO, will either be a another non-Bionicle construction figure line w/ the 2.0 parts or will be nothing at all.

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Either a brand-new constraction build-based theme, or Bionicle will come back.

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I suppose that, if they do replace HF, they'd go for a new pitch. Depending on how long HF lasted, that is - if HF doesn't last all that long, they'll go for something different than constractible figures that they've had with Bionicle and Hero Factory. Only if HF doesn't last for another year to three years.

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It depends on the reason for Hero Factory's failure. Hero Factory will end at some point, though. Even things that seem like they go on forever eventually end (e.g. Bionicle, Lost, Law and Order, The Roman Empire). If it ends because it isn't "new" anymore, then they'll probably launch a similar un-licensed theme that differs slightly to make it more interesting. I don't really know what they could license for a buildable action figure line. Battletech maybe? That'd be sweet. I'd almost prefer that to a return of Bionicle. Almost.-don't touch my pocket protector

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Or D, a director approaches them with a pitch for a Bionicle film. To tie in with the movie, Lego starts putting out Bionicle sets again, sacrificing Hero Factory.

Yup. That'd be awesome.
Indeed.As everyone else has said, it is a bit too early to speculate.But, for the sake of the topic, I'll comment. :PI myself think it would be nice for Bionicle to come back. Still, there's a possibility that Lego will make a new line of constructible action figures altogether, or just discard the idea of that and move on to something bigger. Constructible action figures are awesome, and have been a great source of profit for Lego, but who knows? In the future, maybe they will be a trend of the past. :( Edited by MakutaKlak

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I think something with a good but not detailed story, so as to strike that balance with Bionicle and HF.I doubt they'll bring back Bionicle just yet unless they make it a 6-month filler like they did with Ben 10.

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Hopefully something better that HF, or I'm going to gag! =s |@(|_/rn@

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Like everyone else said, what causes HF's demise will probably influence what comes after it. If it fails because of poor sales, then it won't be replaced. If it runs for about ten years and gets old, then we will likely see another contraction figure line or Bionicle.It also depends on the technological advances between now and when HF ends. Lego is still adapting to new technologies - they may choose to adapt something novel storywise or setwise between now and then, and adapt whatever line they use to Bionicle's return or whatever line they are currently using.

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Like everyone else said, what causes HF's demise will probably influence what comes after it. If it fails because of poor sales, then it won't be replaced. If it runs for about ten years and gets old, then we will likely see another contraction figure line or Bionicle.It also depends on the technological advances between now and when HF ends. Lego is still adapting to new technologies - they may choose to adapt something novel storywise or setwise between now and then, and adapt whatever line they use to Bionicle's return or whatever line they are currently using.

I'm curious what you mean by "gets old". Since a lot of what made BIONICLE end was that it couldn't draw in new fans, how long it had been around wasn't that much of a factor. New fans probably wouldn't know or care how long it had been around if not for the fact that its dense backstory made it so that you had to understand a lot of what had gone on in those years to understand the current story.Hero Factory is a bit different in that to understand Savage Planet, for example, you really don't need to understand a thing about Ordeal of Fire or Rise of the Rookies. One reason is that Rise of the Rookies itself started out in media res. There could have been five years of Hero Factory sets before it and the story would have been about the same to a new fan. Each wave's status quo is the same, besides how the characters look.So potentially, if Hero Factory continues to have good sets and a story at least as tolerable as its first wave, then there's no reason future waves should do any worse than the first wave just because of age.
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Like everyone else said, what causes HF's demise will probably influence what comes after it. If it fails because of poor sales, then it won't be replaced. If it runs for about ten years and gets old, then we will likely see another contraction figure line or Bionicle.It also depends on the technological advances between now and when HF ends. Lego is still adapting to new technologies - they may choose to adapt something novel storywise or setwise between now and then, and adapt whatever line they use to Bionicle's return or whatever line they are currently using.

I'm curious what you mean by "gets old". Since a lot of what made BIONICLE end was that it couldn't draw in new fans, how long it had been around wasn't that much of a factor. New fans probably wouldn't know or care how long it had been around if not for the fact that its dense backstory made it so that you had to understand a lot of what had gone on in those years to understand the current story.Hero Factory is a bit different in that to understand Savage Planet, for example, you really don't need to understand a thing about Ordeal of Fire or Rise of the Rookies. One reason is that Rise of the Rookies itself started out in media res. There could have been five years of Hero Factory sets before it and the story would have been about the same to a new fan. Each wave's status quo is the same, besides how the characters look.So potentially, if Hero Factory continues to have good sets and a story at least as tolerable as its first wave, then there's no reason future waves should do any worse than the first wave just because of age.
People still get tired of stuff if it stays around for too long. There are other reasons why HF may no longer work, since I doubt it is like City in theme structure. It may be that the HF narrow story line may eventually choke it out from the top down - the Lego designers might get bored of it, or the public may get bored of it, or Lego may make a mistake and doom the line - whatever.Eventually, HF will lose its appeal. People like novelty, and some of us like depth. HF's story is shallow, and creativity has been limited to try to avoid Bionicle. Eventually, the designers on top and the people that buy the sets are going to get bored. Then Lego will have to try something new to keep its audience, and it will have to be better than HF, and probably will have something more fascinating, like an in-depth storyline, to try to boost sales.It may not have to be as in-depth as Bionicle, but it will have to be better. That's why some of us are eagerly looking forward to HF's natural demise, the one where it last for a little while longer and allows the target audience to reach the point of boredom.
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I'm hoping that whatever replaces it will be designed to cater to a wider audience; kids and adults, males and females alike. HF's demographic seems a bit too narrow, as based on my conversations with kids, the TV show seems to alienate anyone over the age of ten.

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Like everyone else said, what causes HF's demise will probably influence what comes after it. If it fails because of poor sales, then it won't be replaced. If it runs for about ten years and gets old, then we will likely see another contraction figure line or Bionicle.It also depends on the technological advances between now and when HF ends. Lego is still adapting to new technologies - they may choose to adapt something novel storywise or setwise between now and then, and adapt whatever line they use to Bionicle's return or whatever line they are currently using.

I'm curious what you mean by "gets old". Since a lot of what made BIONICLE end was that it couldn't draw in new fans, how long it had been around wasn't that much of a factor. New fans probably wouldn't know or care how long it had been around if not for the fact that its dense backstory made it so that you had to understand a lot of what had gone on in those years to understand the current story.Hero Factory is a bit different in that to understand Savage Planet, for example, you really don't need to understand a thing about Ordeal of Fire or Rise of the Rookies. One reason is that Rise of the Rookies itself started out in media res. There could have been five years of Hero Factory sets before it and the story would have been about the same to a new fan. Each wave's status quo is the same, besides how the characters look.So potentially, if Hero Factory continues to have good sets and a story at least as tolerable as its first wave, then there's no reason future waves should do any worse than the first wave just because of age.
People still get tired of stuff if it stays around for too long. There are other reasons why HF may no longer work, since I doubt it is like City in theme structure. It may be that the HF narrow story line may eventually choke it out from the top down - the Lego designers might get bored of it, or the public may get bored of it, or Lego may make a mistake and doom the line - whatever.Eventually, HF will lose its appeal. People like novelty, and some of us like depth. HF's story is shallow, and creativity has been limited to try to avoid Bionicle. Eventually, the designers on top and the people that buy the sets are going to get bored. Then Lego will have to try something new to keep its audience, and it will have to be better than HF, and probably will have something more fascinating, like an in-depth storyline, to try to boost sales.It may not have to be as in-depth as Bionicle, but it will have to be better. That's why some of us are eagerly looking forward to HF's natural demise, the one where it last for a little while longer and allows the target audience to reach the point of boredom.
Older fans may become tired of stuff if it stays around too long. New fans, on the other hand, won't likely care unless it's a story where the previous years actually matter a great deal. Look at other toy lines like Transformers that have gone on for decades, with occasional reboots of course.We haven't seen any signs that Hero Factory is limiting its creativity in a way that will hurt it. Its sets have been extremely innovative, especially since introducing the new building system that allows for more variety without relying so heavily on new pieces. Its story might not be too deep, but has covered a variety of settings and a variety of types of situations.Sure, pretty much all of the stories are about the same thing-- good guys go on a mission to capture bad guys. But this could also be said of about any police procedural drama on TV, even if those occasionally indulge in longer story arcs. It could be said of pretty much every Scooby-Doo cartoon (besides possibly the most recent series-- I haven't seen it but hear it has more expansive story arcs and character development). It could be said of any story that has a "monster-of-the-week" style of storytelling. But this isn't a death sentence for those stories any more than it is for Hero Factory. In either case, the writers aren't simply repeating ideas, but rather re-using a story framework that allows them to tell lots of unique stories without things becoming too tangled-up and confusing.I don't mean to imply that Hero Factory is guaranteed to last longer than BIONICLE, or even to last anywhere near as long. It could very easily end after 2013. But there's no reason we should assume at this point that its style of storytelling or sets limits its lifespan in any way.
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^There is the factor of older kids telling their younger siblings "That's boring."Story line depth has been limited: characters have been sliced in and out, that kind of thing. The story is not really creative; I could argue that it even repeats some of the Bionicle situations, the difference mostly the characters and lack of continuity. Eventually, they may run out of character types and situations. It may take them a long time to do that, but it will still happen.

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One potential risk of monster-of-the-week storytelling - and I'm not claiming this is happening with HF, as I wouldn't know - is that its nature tends to reduce fan involvement in the story. Part of the reason, I imagine, many followed Bionicle for such a long run was that there were plot elements and characters that people had known from the beginning and were happy to follow along in their development. MOTW storytelling largely eschews that in the hopes that individual stories will be engaging enough to keep people returning and bring in enough new blood to replace those who would have stayed around had they been more invested in the story.

I'm hoping that whatever replaces it will be designed to cater to a wider audience; kids and adults, males and females alike. HF's demographic seems a bit too narrow, as based on my conversations with kids, the TV show seems to alienate anyone over the age of ten.

Well, that's always easier said than done. If LEGO tried to expand the appeal of the media for whatever this hypothetical new line is (or even tried to do it to HF at some point) they run the risk of making something that's not appealing enough to their main audience (young boys) and yet fails to capture much interest in other demographics. I'm not saying it can't be done - whether you like it or not, you must admit My Little Pony has broadened its appeal so fast most of us got whiplash - but it's a difficult, potentially risky move that LEGO might opt to pass over in favor of "safer" media.

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One potential risk of monster-of-the-week storytelling - and I'm not claiming this is happening with HF, as I wouldn't know - is that its nature tends to reduce fan involvement in the story. Part of the reason, I imagine, many followed Bionicle for such a long run was that there were plot elements and characters that people had known from the beginning and were happy to follow along in their development. MOTW storytelling largely eschews that in the hopes that individual stories will be engaging enough to keep people returning and bring in enough new blood to replace those who would have stayed around had they been more invested in the story.

I'm hoping that whatever replaces it will be designed to cater to a wider audience; kids and adults, males and females alike. HF's demographic seems a bit too narrow, as based on my conversations with kids, the TV show seems to alienate anyone over the age of ten.

Well, that's always easier said than done. If LEGO tried to expand the appeal of the media for whatever this hypothetical new line is (or even tried to do it to HF at some point) they run the risk of making something that's not appealing enough to their main audience (young boys) and yet fails to capture much interest in other demographics. I'm not saying it can't be done - whether you like it or not, you must admit My Little Pony has broadened its appeal so fast most of us got whiplash - but it's a difficult, potentially risky move that LEGO might opt to pass over in favor of "safer" media.
In a lot of cases you are correct, but I'd argue that a certain type of fan involvement actually benefits from MOTW type stories. In a looser story like Hero Factory it's perhaps easier to make up your own hero and villain characters than in BIONICLE. The presence of Hero Recon Team actively encourages this.Also, Hero Factory does have some character development, although it unfortunately seems to mostly occur off to the side and never forms the core storyline behind an episode. In 2010 there were story briefs analyzing characters' strengths and weaknesses. Some of these were unfortunately never touched on elsewhere, such as Surge's concern that he may have been built with a flaw. But one of these did show up again. Dunkan Bulk was said to be self-conscious about the fact that he wasn't built as a mental type, and thus felt slower or stupider than his fellow heroes in a lot of situations. In Savage Planet, we learn that Bulk has since done a lot of reading and now has a wider background knowledge than some of his teammates. He even states with a little bit of resistance that "I'm not just the big guy!"Likewise, in 2010's Hero Factory FM episodes, Breez was very concerned about how people often stereotyped her because she was a girl, and made a clear statement that she wasn't interested in romance but rather in just being the best hero she could be. If only some BIONICLE characters had this opportunity, the shipping scene might have been less chaotic! But anyway, with this in mind, the often-criticized feminist attitude she exhibited in Ordeal of Fire (such as in her line "I'm my own woman-- I'll protect you!") seems less out-of-nowhere and more a part of her ongoing characterization. I really feel Ordeal of Fire was a chance for her to shine after mostly being a background character in Rise of the Rookies.One of the main reason I think there are fewer of these wonderful story snippets in Hero Factory than there are in BIONICLE and Ninjago is just that Hero Factory as of yet has had far less story media. The main story medium is the TV series, which unlike Ninjago never grew into a full season (and isn't nearly as well-written). Most of the comics are merely adaptations of the TV episodes, and there have been no books.To be honest, I actually had problems with some aspects of BIONICLE seeming tiresome and repetitive in its early years before I was introduced to the books. After those, the ongoing characterization and plot development became a lot more evident. Hero Factory unfortunately shows no signs of expanding much in this way. It has had a few books in some countries, but they're really nothing bigger than the BIONICLE mini guides that were published in Poland by AMEET. Next year it will get its first "storybooks", but these are just Level 3 Readers like "The Journey of Takanuva" which unfortunately I expect to merely cover the main story rather than telling amusing side-stories the way that did.So no, I'm not entirely happy with the way HF has been taking such big steps to avoid retreading BIONICLE's path (I would say "BIONICLE's mistakes", but I am firmly believe that while those decisions were bad for the theme they still helped make its story unique and enjoyable for those of us who were dedicated fans). At the same time, there is a moderate amount of side-story in the form of the Hero Recon Team story-snippets, the LEGO Club Magazine comics, and Hero Factory FM.I'm hoping we might see more story in the future, but at the same time a lot of people's ideas like bringing back old villains, having entirely new casts of characters, etc. just strike me as ways to send Hero Factory in the same direction as BIONICLE without taking advantage of the very different benefits of its storytelling style.
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Well, as I insinuated in my above post, I'm not particularly familiar with the details of Hero Factory's story and media, so I can't comment on the quality or depth of what is currently available. I think you raise a good point about the MOTW style being advantageous in Hero Factory due to opening up the possibility of people making their own characters - which is a very big part of building with LEGO, of course. Sure, there'll be people who buy the sets, build them, and leave it at that, but plenty of people enjoy making something original, and having a storyline conducive to that sort of creativity adds incentive for anyone who enjoys having some sense of story interaction.Of course, as you mentioned, allowing characters and situations to be overly-static will most likely lead to the audience getting bored with them. HF seems to walking a bit of a tightrope at the moment, then - LEGO is reluctant to provide us with new characters, yet the current ones are receiving perhaps less characterization than they should, simply by dint of lack of media. As has been pointed out, this is presumably to avoid the style of storytelling BIONICLE fell into, but it runs the risk of boring its viewers. I mean, granted, at the end of the day story isn't LEGO's number-one priority by any means, but if they want to use it to sell sets - and they do - I think swinging one way or the other too hard could damage their ability to do so.

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I have to agree with the "less storyline media" argument. Could it be argued that Lego has had less experience with the storytelling style that they are using? (after all, Bionicle was different) Would that make them a bit more cautious in putting out more media? It gives me this vision of the HF directors arguing in the back room: "This piece of depth might be helpful." "No, that's too much continuity, cut it." "But this will help the audience relate to the characters better." "No, we don't want this to look like Bionicle."However, the fact that it is so shallow doesn't leave room for much storyline media. To have a large amount of storyline media, you have to have a lot of story, you either have to have depth, or you have to have a lot of shallow story.Lego can't have the Heroes have a long mission in the same form, because that involves either inserting depth or boring the audience, and they can't have the Heroes switch forms every week because they cannot retool their set-building factories every week. And so the followers of HF story grow disappointed...and eventually their wallets will voice their disappointment.

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To be honest, I haven't seen any of the HF TV series after the first season, and don't really intend to watch any more of it, but it is nice to know that they are trying to flesh out the characters. Although, just from what's been said of Breez, that sounds like a pretty clumsy way of making a "strong" female character (You don't need to point it out, sweetie. The boys don't run around boasting about what strong male characters they are). Strong female characters should just be there, rather than being treated as some sort of Great Big Anomaly that needs to be shoved in the audience's faces. Then again, maybe that was meant to be her character defect. But, I'm ranting...I don't think having a show that appeals to a wide demographic is a difficult thing to do, at least, not if you have good writers. Most shows on Nickelodeon have sizable teenage/adult fanbases that are much bigger than Bionicle's, and yet they all appeal to kids just fine, too. And many of the things that appeal to the older fans- such as well-choreographed action sequences and original, clever jokes- will also appeal to the kids.Based on this topic, it doesn't seem that many people here have developed the same sort of emotional attatchment to the HF storyline that many of us had to Bionicle. I guess that says something, doesn't it?

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To be honest, I haven't seen any of the HF TV series after the first season, and don't really intend to watch any more of it, but it is nice to know that they are trying to flesh out the characters. Although, just from what's been said of Breez, that sounds like a pretty clumsy way of making a "strong" female character (You don't need to point it out, sweetie. The boys don't run around boasting about what strong male characters they are). Strong female characters should just be there, rather than being treated as some sort of Great Big Anomaly that needs to be shoved in the audience's faces. Then again, maybe that was meant to be her character defect. But, I'm ranting...I don't think having a show that appeals to a wide demographic is a difficult thing to do, at least, not if you have good writers. Most shows on Nickelodeon have sizable teenage/adult fanbases that are much bigger than Bionicle's, and yet they all appeal to kids just fine, too. And many of the things that appeal to the older fans- such as well-choreographed action sequences and original, clever jokes- will also appeal to the kids.Based on this topic, it doesn't seem that many people here have developed the same sort of emotional attatchment to the HF storyline that many of us had to Bionicle. I guess that says something, doesn't it?

I think the point of that quote by Breez makes sense when you consider that, as explored in Hero Factory FM, she exists in a world where she does have to point that out. And I think it's remarkably smart of TLG to explore that, since the narrow-mindedness of the target audience for this and BIONICLE is part of the reason there are so few female characters in either of those themes. Even Avatar: The Last Airbender had plotlines that concentrated on sexism, including "The Warriors of Kyoshi" and "The Waterbending Master". And while I've seen criticism of both of these episodes for this very reason, I think that both HF and Avatar: The Last Airbender are admirable for trying to teach a lesson that won't necessarily resonate with their audience, even if A:TLA obviously has done a much better job of this with its more diverse range of female cast members. Breez doesn't want to be treated like an anomaly-- part of the point of her more feminist portrayal is that she considers herself a hero like any other and is indignant (there's the word I was looking for yesterday!) about being stereotyped by her gender.Obviously I don't have as strong an emotional attachment to HF's story as I did to BIONICLE. And part of this is just that it hasn't been around for as long. It took me until BIONICLE: Mask of Light for the personalities of any of the characters to strongly resonate with me-- until then, I have to say the way I interpreted their personalities was pretty generic and boring. The limited story media is another thing, as the BIONICLE books (and now, the Ninjago books) give me a much more three-dimensional portrayal of the characters than either theme's comics did.And the TV episodes for Hero Factory have somewhat fumbled the issue of characterization more so than the BIONICLE movies. Even though the Toa Mata got limited screen time in BIONICLE: Mask of Light, you got a sense of each one's personality. Contrast that with Hero Factory: Rise of the Rookies, in which Surge, Breez, Bulk, and Stringer were hardly given any characterization despite each getting plenty of screentime. They mainly served as the Greek chorus to a plot driven almost entirely by Furno and Stormer. Savage Planet and Ordeal of Fire seem to improve on this in some ways (side characters usually get at least a few lines of defining dialogue), but Savage Planet is almost painful to watch with its plethora of lame jokes and banter, and the heartwarming moments like Bulk's quest for self-improvement and Rocka and Furno eventually putting aside their rivalry are most easily appreciated in hindsight.I still feel a connection to Hero Factory's story and with its characters, especially when you get brief glimpses of multi-year character development. But it isn't a gem of brilliant writing by any means, and unlike the Ninjago TV series which I continue to have high hopes for with each passing episode, with the HF special planned for 2012 I can only hope that it will be better than Savage Planet.
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I hope for a halfway point between Bionicle and Hero Factory. I will never wish for Bionicle to return, because I'm well aware it will just never be the same, so I will accept the next best thing. I wish for a more intricate and far less episodic story, although not on Bionicle's level, that's not afraid to ask the occasional moral question or mention death.Of course, that'll never happen because it will always be seen as just not having the potential to sell.

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I hope for a halfway point between Bionicle and Hero Factory. I will never wish for Bionicle to return, because I'm well aware it will just never be the same, so I will accept the next best thing. I wish for a more intricate and far less episodic story, although not on Bionicle's level, that's not afraid to ask the occasional moral question or mention death.Of course, that'll never happen because it will always be seen as just not having the potential to sell.

Ninjago is like that in some ways. It's more lighthearted than BIONICLE but also tells a deeper story than Hero Factory, with more character development and less repetitive scenarios. You can view the first four episodes of Ninjago (which originally aired as a one-hour TV special in several countries) here. There are also six two-minute mini-movies at that link that occur after the main episodes.A new season of Ninjago has begun airing on Cartoon Network, and there are some chapter books by Greg Farshtey if you want to investigate further. Obviously Ninjago is probably not going to be exactly the sort of thing you were asking about. As of yet it hasn't gone too deep into questions of morality, except perhaps in the Zane chapter book. But then again, the early years of BIONICLE didn't really explore issues of moral ambiguity much either. So if you have time to watch a couple episodes I'd definitely encourage it. Edited by Aanchir: Rachira of Time
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A story about an alien race of robots which fight against other robots who intend to do harm to their world.Wait, that's identical to Bionicle, Hero Factory, and Transformers. :P

Yes, but familiar setting does not have to equal familiar plot. There have been hundreds of fantasy books that basically take place in the same Tolkien-esque setting, but they have different plots. I image that whatever eventually replaces HF will probably be somewhat similar in setting to it, but I hope that the story will evolve somewhat.-don't touch my pocket protector

Three great comedies at one low, low price....NOTHING!

 

Three late-middle age matoran think of something they want to do before they kick the bucket.

 

Choose Your Own Bionicle Adventure (archived)

Navigate your way through a myriad of meaningless choices as you try to not make a fool of yourself in perhaps the only comedy ever written almost entirely in spoiler tags.

 

Useless BZP Junk that you Must Have!!!

Get to your phone, whip out your credit card, and prepare to buy some useless BZPower related junk that has no benefit on society except that you want it!!!

 

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