How Did You Get Into Bionicle?

[Toa o Uria]

I was around 6 or 7 at the time. I got a LEGO Racers set and went on the LEGO website to check it out. I scrolled down a little bit on the website and found Bionicle. The rest is history. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by Toa o Uria

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Got Onua (Mata) back in 2002 I think. I went onto the website, read all of the little bios, and I fell in love immediately. A little flame sparked that day, a flame that has grown and withered in variance throughout the seasons, but a flame that still has been continuously lit to this day.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Iaredios Paerkenon

[Sumiki]

My grandmother got me two Bohrok Va in early '02 and everything just sort of went from there.

[McNugget]

My Cousins had a few Bionicle Sets.

My Brothers thought they were cool.

My Brothers bought some.

I stole them from my brothers.

Then I got my own Bionicle sets.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Dragon11603

[Iruini Nuva]

I remember seeing the preorder ad for Tahu + Vakama on the back of the...May-June '01 Lego Magazine. At the time it they seemed odd to me, but that was probably my first encounter with Bionicle.

 

I got really interested in it after reading the first comics in July. Between those and MNOLG, I was hooked. I remember how disappointing it was to have to wait for the next stage of the game to release. You could play through the Nui Rama fight sequence, but not actually enter the hive to rescue Le-Koro, etc. It just sat on the loader and spun.

 

People also forget that back then dial-up was a thing, and it could take 10+ seconds for a panel to load. Minutes for the minigames.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Iruini Nuva

[SPIRIT]

I started reading the comics and thought the story was pretty interesting, but then I found the website and I was hooked.

[Sir Kohran]

I found it in 2001 through an issue of the Lego Magazine that focused on the (then new) line, and from that I found the website. Pretty simple really.

 

Between those and MNOLG, I was hooked. I remember how disappointing it was to have to wait for the next stage of the game to release. You could play through the Nui Rama fight sequence, but not actually enter the hive to rescue Le-Koro, etc. It just sat on the loader and spun.

 

Are you sure that wasn't a glitch? IIRC each new release was a complete chapter of each location, so it wouldn't make sense for the game to stop in the middle of the Le-Koro story.

[Danska: Shadow Master]

Having been a fan of Slizers and Roboriders, I got very excited when I first saw Bionicle in the LEGO magazine. They were more human looking, had awesome weapons and cool masks/elemental powers/personalities. As soon as story details started coming out (again in the LEGO Magazine and in the first comic) I thought it was amazing! It was one of those stories that absolutely felt epic. Plus there were collectable masks, and that's too much temptation right there. I'm sure I'd have so much more money if not for Bionicle, but you know what? I regret nothing!

[Toa Smoke Monster]

Back in 2001, My Mom and I were in Toys R Us when we found the Bionicle section. I grabbed Tahu Mata and Lewa Mata that day, and I was hooked on the line ever since.

[Bonkle]

Got my first issue of Lego Club Magazine in '08 (had been a Lego fan prior to that), and saw these weird things called "Bionicles". This was just a cross-sell, right? There's no way these could be Lego. It kinda just unfolded from there.

[Electric Light Gunhaver]

I watched Bionicle: Mask of Light a lot when I was a little kid. I didn't know what a "Bionicle" was for until 2006, when my brother had introduced them to me. My first set that I ever bought myself was Toa Hewkii Inika. After that, I tried my best to read every comic that was released. Good times.

[Fry]

*._-=~9887sco0-67~=-_.* Now that that's done, I started with my brothers sets.

[MrSciFiGuy]

Got the Mata in 01, after a friend showed me his sets, and I've been getting them ever since. No regrets! (besides not buying store exclusives)

[Aanchir]

I was already a dedicated LEGO fan by the time Bionicle came out and had quite a few Technic sets, including the Throwbots and RoboRiders sets. My first glimpse at Bionicle was in LEGO mini-catalogs that came in some of the 2001 LEGO sets (the Technic mini-catalog included a story brief, while the System mini-catalog just included the names and pictures of the six Toa).

At the time I was quite weirded out by the designs. The specialized masks, the focal point of the designs, were a whole lot different from the more generic faceplates I was used to from the Throwbots and Roboriders. And likewise the new weapons were a lot more specialized in appearance than the repurposed System tools of those earlier sets. It was not what I was used to LEGO being like.

However, when I got my March/April 2001 issue of LEGO Mania Magazine, with a special offer for the Tahu and Vakama sets in the back, I took the plunge and ordered those sets. And after that I was hooked!

[masterchirox580]

Well when the people you grow up with like it you're bound to at least look into it. 

[Xboxtravis]

I had gotten into Lego a year or two earlier, and I was already receiving the Lego Mania magazine. I saw the early ads in 2001, and perhaps the first comics. On a school bus I saw a kid with a Vakama figure. That red face beneath the mask burned into my memory.

 

I soon bought Toa Mata Lewa after school one day, I built him and was shocked by how smooth his mask was. I soon discovered the MNOG, and the rest was history...

 

But how I got back into Bionicle: I bought a few of the Bahraki in 2007 and was soon burned out by the brand. I focused the rest of my money on other Lego themes, although I still followed the Bionicle story from time to time. I nearly bought Mata Nui in 2009, but I didn't. The theme was cancelled, and Hero Factory never attracted me as much as Bionicle.

 

In 2013 I left on a two year religious mission to Salta Argentina, I came home in Summer 2015, and soon visited Salt Lake City's new Lego Store. And there they were... Tahu, Gali, Lewa, and the others. The gang was back together, I left the store with a few Lego System goodies plus G2 Tahu: and the rest was history...

Edited September 28, 2015 by Xboxtravis

[Toatapio Nuva]

Got my first set, Gali Mata, as a birthday gift from my aunt. The next day, at the party, three of my friends gave me Onua, Kopaka and Pohatu. Later I got Tahu and Lewa myself.

 

I couldn't access the internet at that time, so all I knew about the story came from the mini CDs (which were more than enough to introduce the basic story - I still think the CDs were a brilliant concept).

 

The sets and the promotional material were so captivating in themselves that they kept me interested in the line throughout 2001 and 2002 despite only having few story details (they were excellent for the basic story). Shows how powerful the marketing scheme was. Finally, in 2003, my family got a new computer and I was able to visit Bionicle.com. I found the comics, the bios, the MNOG... it was all so great, and there was no return from the world of Bionicle after that. I was a fan for life.

[You just lost the game]

I was only 6 or 7 when I got into Bionicle, so the details are a little fuzzy.

From what I do remember, I was watching TV and the Piraka commercial came on.

I was instantly hooked after that.

 

The Toa Inika commercial definitely cemented my love for the theme afterwards aswell.

 

I guess you could say the entirety of the 2006 theme got me totally hooked on Bionicle.

Edited September 28, 2015 by You just lost the game

[Guardian Legend]

It was around 2003, when my cousin gave me his spare Tahu Mata set, brand new. After that, I quickly got into it, reading all the books and going back and buying all the previous sets. Catching up on the sets did take some time though, as I was only 9 years old I believe.

[Hukster]

A friend of mine gave me a McToran Huki back in 2001. After that, I got quite interested in BIONICLE, started to want to collect more since I liked the whole building and being able to play with the figures.

Also, Huki is my most favorite BIONICLE, hence why I have the name "Hukster". 

[Specter Knight]

I forget. I think my earliest memory of it was getting Krekka for my birthday, and at first, was only interested in buying the sets. Then I started to read the online story, read the Lego Magazines, and then watch the first two movies...

 

And just like that, I was hooked.

[Tahu3.0]

Went one day to Toys R Us in 2007 and got Jaller and Kalmah randomly that or my cousin got me in to Bionicle because i remember that i went one time to visit him in 2006 and he had some Bohrok.

[Logan McOwen]

It was 2001 - a Saturday, I think. We opened up a new box of Shreddies for breakfast. On the front of the box stood six unfamiliar characters, beside that big red square I'd come to be magnetised to. Lo and behold, a CD-Rom was inside - a video game. Later that day, me and my sister booted up the game, and entered the world of Bionicle for the first time.

While she wasn't particularly interested, I clung on like velcro. Later in the year, I was bought my first two packs of Kanohi masks - A silver Pakari, an orange Noble Mahiki, a golden Miru, and most importantly, a white Hau. Using what little Technic I had, alongside the masks and heads included in the polybags, I constructed two of my own Turaga, who I introduced to my (now late) aunts at a family BBQ. I used to keep them, the extra masks, and some spare Technic pieces in a little tub, which I carried around with me for quite some time.

 

That Christmas though, my dreams had been answered. There, under the tree, was none other than Toa Tahu. At first I decided simply to build my own silly contraptions with his pieces, but eventually (after much stressing from my mother) I built the hothead himself. He was amazing - he could even slash his sword around! Then, came 2002. In February, I was bought Toa Kopaka, who took the limelight away from Tahu for a while. Kopaka often bore the white Hau, and took on the persona of "Toa Aaron", my avatar of sorts in the world of Bionicle. 
 

But, around Easter time, strange new Bionicle sets were announced - the vicious, vile, but utterly awesome Bohrok. Easter morning, amidst my easter eggs, Pahrak was nestled. As time went on, I obtained Tahnok, Gahlok, Pahrak Va, Levahk Va, Lewa Nuva, Gali Nuva, The Bahrag... And the rest, as they say, was history.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Logan McOwen