Are they working on G3 right now?

[Alyska]

So, a few people have noted/complained that G2 has nowhere near the level of complexity and forethought that went into G1 . The media representation and marketing has been sparse, and interviews with Ryder Windham strongly imply that the story team is putting minimal effort into planning the story and fleshing out the characters or setting.

 

I've thought about this a lot over the last year, and it got me thinking: At the start of G1, Lego was struggling financially, but they invested a lot of time and resources in Bionicle, and it paid off. So, now that they're absolutely rolling in money, why would they not see the value in making that sort of investment in Bionicle again? Did they not know why the first one took off?

 

And then it hit me: Of course they know. How could they not? Lego has a team of marketing professionals analysing and advising their every move. They know what worked, and you can see them applying the most successful elements of Bionicle to great effect in their more recent work, like Ninjago. They knew that the multimedia marketing/storytelling approach and the depth of the story was a key part of the winning formula. 

 

Bionicle G2 was simply not set up for success the way that G1 and Ninjago were. There was a noticeable lack of marketing fanfare. To suggest it was "purposefully bad" would be silly, but it just wasn't brought in with the expectation that it would be a big seller and a huge pop cultural phenomenon. They still wanted to sell sets, of course, and have a sense of presence in the action figure department, but it was not going to be a staple theme like it once was.

 

So, if they wanted to ditch Hero Factory and make a different line of buildable figures, why reboot Bionicle?

Coulpa reasons:

1)Brand recognition is going to give you a slight edge with older fans, cash in on nostalgia.

2) Saves money on a legal team having to find new names if you can reuse trademarks you already own.

3)Certain trademarks associated with Bionicle, especially character names, may be lost if unused for long periods of time.

 

My guess is, they're thinking about bringing back Bionicle in a big way one day. You don't let potential like that waste away, especially when you have the resources to make it happen and keep the momentum going to continually bring in new fans. Bionicle's been around for fifteen years now. In five years' time, it'll be its twentieth anniversary. We're getting to the point where there'll be a large number of adults who grew upon Bionicle, many of whom will have kids of their own, in addition to the younger generation ready for a new adventure. I like to think they're building up to something here. So they work to keep the trademark current for now, while they start planning it.

 

What do you think? Do you find the lack of investment in G2 suspicious? Is it paving the way for greater things? 

 

Thoughts?

 

[Lyichir]

No.

 

Firstly, because the level of investment in Bionicle G2 has not in fact been uncharacteristically low. The lower media profile of Bionicle at the start of G2 is not that unlike G1's start, and is actually substantially higher than the amount of media its predecessor, Hero Factory, had during its last year. G2 was heavily promoted in its first year, with a huge debut at NYCC in 2014, a large social media presence, including a large number of story webisodes and multiple contests throughout the course of the year, and several chapter books, activity books, and graphic novels. This year the graphic novels and chapter books are seemingly ending, but that is due specifically to low book sales (just as the decline of similar books in G1 and Hero Factory was). At the same time, Bionicle is getting an original Netflix series, a first for any Lego theme (save for Lego Friends, which got a similar series this year). The level of investment may not have been on par with the launch of "big bang" themes like Ninjago, Friends, Legends of Chima, or Nexo Knights, but there's a good reason for that—constraction in general is a niche genre these days, thanks to the renewed popularity of "traditional" Lego sets, and on top of that Bionicle is an established property, not a brand-new theme that needs to create its entire audience from scratch.

 

Secondly, because even if Bionicle's return was solely to maintain the series' trademarks (a questionable assertion at best considering the high level of promotion G2 got), there's hardly any chance that Lego's actual concrete plans for Bionicle extend beyond G2, considering that while they do plan several years in advance, it would be ridiculous to do that at the expense of their ongoing themes. If there were any plans for what will happen after G2's end at the outset of the theme, then those plans would extend at the very farthest to its direct successor—attempting to plan beyond that would be foolhardy, considering the evolving nature of the market. Sure, I'm sure they plan to keep their options open for yet another Bionicle return at some point in the future, just like they did at the end of G1—but there's no logic in assuming that Bionicle G2 pulled any punches or existed solely to pave the way for some hypothetical grander return.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Lyichir

[bionicleFanatic]

I think it actually has received a fair bit of promotion compared to other themes, but we're judging it by the amazing-ness of Bionicle 2001 (or, if we're talking world building, MNOG).

[Fry]

No. When Bionicle ends this time, it's gone for good 

Frankly, though, considering how terrible the story is, what will anyone really be losing?

Edited July 2, 2016 by Jaek_3

[TheSkeletonMan939]

No. When Bionicle ends this time, it's gone for good 

Frankly, though, considering how terrible the story is, what will anyone really be losing?

 

Agreed on both points.

 

The first "generation" of Bionicle started to decline in sales because it had been going on for ten years. Despite the overall high quality of the line throughout its lifetime, people move on and interests change. It's understandable that it was axed when it was.

 

It's not even been two years since G2 started, right? If interest is low enough in that timespan that sales are declining, Lego won't bring it back for a looonnnng time, if ever. Which is fine by me, since G1 Bionicle is the definitive and best Bionicle. 

[Pohaturon]

No. When Bionicle ends this time, it's gone for good 

Frankly, though, considering how terrible the story is, what will anyone really be losing?

While I personally wouldn't mind the end of G2 marking the end of Bionicle for good, nothing stays gone in this day and age...

 

As for your second point, I 100% disagree, but hey, tastes and slaps, right?

 

[Zidonaro]

Lego probably has lots of money today, and themes like Ninjago and other are more popular than Bionicle. They don't need to invest too much money on it anymore.

 

To answers the topic question about G3, I hope not. I want to see LEGO getting creative again and creating a 100% new line using buildable figures.