Jump to content

Why didn't Lego celebrate Bionicle's 5th, 10th, and 15th anniv


Lenny7092

Recommended Posts

Hi, guys!:) We probably know that Bionicle is 15 years old, and I have been seeing many other franchises celebrating their anniversaries this year lately, like Ninjago with its 5th anniversary, Sonic the Hedgehog with its 25th, Captain America 75th and Wonder Woman 75th. Each of these anniversaries are also treated with cool stuff this year, like Ninjago showing a script to its very first episode in 2011 (perhaps that Day of the Departed wave is an anniversary present, too, because villains from the past come back?), Sonic the Hedgehog appearing in Lego Dimensions and trailers for new and announced games in 2017, Captain America having a Lego statue and monument (perhaps Captain America: Civil War is an anniversary present, too?), and Woman Woman with Lego pictures and statue (perhaps Wonder Woman's appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is an anniversary present, too?). Plus, they also say "Happy some-number-th anniversary!" or something similar. So, my question is why Bionicle did not have any of these in its 5th, 10th, and 15th anniversaries? 

 

You ever thought of that? It's weird that Bionicle never gets a treatment of any kind or there isn't a sign that says something like "Happy some-number-th anniversary!" It makes me feel bad that Bionicle didn't have these things to celebrate its anniversaries. I mean, Bionicle is pretty popular, was successful in some of its years, and is loved by many fans, including us, so it should get something on its anniversaries in my opinion. 

I have been remembering about certain things that could have been signs of celebrating Bionicle's anniversaries, and here's what I got: 

1. 2006 - 5th anniversary - The Piraka used the Toa Mata's canisters to arrive in Voya Nui. This reminds me of 2001 when the Toa Mata used their canisters to arrive in the island of Mata Nui. Plus, the video game, Bionicle Heroes, includes characters from 2001-2006. 

2. 2011 - 10th anniversary - The Bionicle toy line wasn't there because of Hero Factory, but there is the ending of one of the Bionicle serials, Sahmad's Tale. Plus, Hero Factory's Savage Planet wave in that year has a lot of similarities to Bionicle's first storyline in 2001: a big villain mind-controlling animals, a team of six heroes arriving from the sky to stop him, and they fight against the possessed animals in a jungle. 

3. 2016 - 15th anniversary, this year - The Netflix show, Bionicle: The Journey to One, shows the text "2001-2016", which is Bionicle's age, in the end credits and a final battle between the Toa team and Makuta, which reminds me of their battle back in the 2001 storyline. Sadly, G2 died this year as well. This is very disappointing and heinous when cancelling a franchise on its anniversary. (crying in tears of sadness :(

 

Lego never celebrated Bionicle's anniversaries. Lego even never calls what I have on the list above anniversary presents, either. Lego also didn't say "Happy 5th anniversary!" or "Happy 15th anniversary!" to Bionicle. Man, that's heartless, harsh, and unfair in my opinion, as it is like a kid doesn't get his birthday celebrated by people that he likes and loves or presents. Plus, Lego celebrated Ninjago's 5th anniversary, so why not Bionicle's anniversaries?:( 

 

If Lego really celebrated, that would be awesome. 

Now I would also like to ask you guys another question: How do you thing Lego would have celebrate Bionicle's anniversaries and how would you like Lego to celebrate Bionicle's future anniversaries, like its 20th and 25th anniversaries?

For me, I would go with these ideas: 

1. Say "Happy 5th anniversary" or "2001-2006" in 2006 and call the Bionicle things in the year that I mentioned above presents. 

2. Say "Happy 15th anniversary" or "2001-2016" (on the sets) in 2016 can call the good Bionicle things in the year that I mentioned above presents. 

3. Re-release the old sets in the past, or at least the Toa Mata sets. 

4. Release golden versions of the Toa Mata sets. 

5. Make a video game. 

6. Have Bionicle's Facebook a page make a post to celebrate Bionicle's 15th anniversary. 

7. Put Bionicle in Lego Dimensions, like Sonic the Hedgehog. 

8. Make a storyline that takes place after both the 2011 serials the 2016 storyline where Velika from G1 and Makuta from G2 work together to ruin the events of Bionicle's main storylines defeat the heroes in there and have the bad guys win, so Velika and Makuta would take over both the G1 and G2 universe. They would use some kind of a inter-dimensional device (perhaps use Vezon or make a new Olmak?) and the G1 and G2 Vahi's or a time-traveling device to do this. They would also revive dead villains in the past storylines (perhaps except Makuta Teridax because he would be too un-cooperative because he was obsessed with power?), recruit the still-living ones, and mind-control the reformed ones to assist them somehow. The heroes from the storylines would have to work together to re-live the storylines and fight the villains in there, who are improved, and defeat Velika and Makuta to save their dimensions. A video game would be great to tell the story. Also, perhaps have the Toa Nuva celebrate their anniversary of their first adventure to cherish themselves as heroes and a team. 

9. A theatrical Bionicle movie. 

10. An announcement to something exciting in Bionicle's future. 

11. The return of Bionicle. 

12. Unresolved things in G1 and G2 resolved. 

13. A TV show that is not exclusive in Netflix. I am not going to send more money to pay for it, and I prefer the show to be in a TV channel that we can watch for free, like Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. 

14. Say something like "Happy 20th anniversary" and "Happy 25th anniversary" in Bionicle's future years if it is still running in them and give it presents, like something similar to the things above. 

 

So, there. I know it's a lot, but these are something that Bionicle could have celebrated its anniversaries and would celebrate its future anniversaries. What do you guys think?:)

  • Upvote 1

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LEGO celebrates Bionicle's anniversaries by canceling it.

And going out with a whimper by releasing the STARS which almost never had a chance of being released. Bionicle and star wars saved lego from bankruptcy in 2002-2003 but these themes along with the new head director setting different goals.

 

and yet bionicle was probably seen as fogettable in their eyes.

Edited by necross hordika
  • Upvote 2

 

qs3135.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

LEGO celebrates Bionicle's anniversaries by canceling it.

And going out with a whimper by releasing the STARS which almost never had a chance of being released. Bionicle and star wars saved lego from bankruptcy in 2002-2003 but these themes along with the new head director setting different goals.

 

and yet bionicle was probably seen as fogettable in their eyes.

BIONICLE is recognized as one of the things that got LEGO through its upheaval.  It's going to be on prominent display at the LEGO House.  They haven't forgotten or don't care about it just because you aren't getting more toys.

  • Upvote 10

OpAXNpl.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been away from this site for a couple of months. I'm glad to see you still make these hugely overthought out lists. If only you'd break them up so they'd be easier to read.

 

As for the topic at hand, it would have been cool if they had done cool things for BIONICLE 10th and 15th anniversary (did TLG even publicly acknowledge these milestones?), but I am rather indifferent overall.

keetongorange-bionicle-logo-small.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While some kind of special anniversary celebration would have been cool, I've never lost sleep over it and I will continue that pattern. See, if there's not gonna be an official celebration, the fans will have to celebrate it themselves in their own ways. If I wanted to celebrate BIONICLE's anniversary that badly, I would have just bought old sets in honor of the previous years or something.

 

Has LEGO ever celebrated or really even mentioned the anniversaries of any of their lines? I can't think of any time they have.

Star Wars is the only one I can think of, but it's a licensed theme, so make of that what you will. For all we know, LucasArts probably reminded LEGO about Star Wars anniversaries or something.

mindeth the cobwebs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has LEGO ever celebrated or really even mentioned the anniversaries of any of their lines? I can't think of any time they have.

Lego is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Technic theme next year with a special printed beam in every set. But 40 is a heck of a bigger milestone than 15, particularly considering that unlike Bionicle, the Technic theme has continued mostly uninterrupted since its inception.

 

Conversely, the 40th anniversary of Lego trains went mostly uncelebrated this year apart from the annual Lego employee gift. Like Bionicle, that probably has to do with the fact that the theme is much less popular now than it was back in those days, with only one train set this year and many years in the intervening time that went without any train sets at all.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

Aanchir's and Meiko's brother

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This year LEGO also celebrated the 20th anniversary of LEGO.com with a webpage showing older versions of the site. But the main things I can think of them celebrating 5th or 10th anniversaries for were the Modular Buildings (celebrated, in each case, by releasing a larger modular building set than usual).

 

Sometimes in more kid-oriented themes like Bionicle or Ninjago, the LEGO Group might have incentives not to go out of their way to celebrate anniversaries. For adults who have been following a brand for years, an anniversary is definitely something special. But for kids looking at a toy on a store shelf it might undercut attempts to keep the brand feeling fresh and hip. When designing for the 7–14 demographic a sense of novelty is important. Kids this age don't necessarily want to feel like they're playing with a toy that's over a decade old. That's part of why LEGO designs so many themes for this age range (like Bionicle, Ninjago, Legends of Chima, and Nexo Knights) to be a blend of several different genres — it makes them feel less like a retread of the kind of "ordinary" toys and stories kids have already been exposed to their whole lives. By contrast, the subject matter of themes aimed at younger kids like City, Castle, and Pirates tends to play things a little more by-the-book.

 

With that said, couldn't the re-release of the Mata Nui Online Game in 2006 be considered a way of celebrating Bionicle's fifth anniversary?

 

13. A TV show that is not exclusive in Netflix. I am not going to send more money to pay for it, and I prefer the show to be in a TV channel that we can watch for free, like Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network.

Slight nitpick here — channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network aren't "free". They're cable TV channels, and the most basic cable subscriptions (which tend to cost $15 to $20 a month) often don't even include these channels. Part of the reason services like Netflix have grown so much in popularity is that they cost considerably less than cable TV as long as you already have an Internet provider.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

 

With that said, couldn't the re-release of the Mata Nui Online Game in 2006 be considered a way of celebrating Bionicle's fifth anniversary?

Wouldn't it need to be declared as such? I don't recall that it was.

 

Well, on March 16, 2006, the online game came back for some reason. Lego never called it a way to celebrate Bionicle's 5th anniversary, but we could consider it.

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...