Jump to content

A hidden gem from the old Official Greg Discussion archive..


Lorentz

Recommended Posts

There are some real buried treasures in there. This from July of 2004.

876fcf3d4d[1].png

  • Like 7

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Bambi said:

I had no idea they had that planned for so long. ._.

It was part of the very first story bible, from the original concept before Greg was even hired as a Lego employee. Really crazy. 

Anyway, I think I'm gonna compile a bunch of other "hidden gems" from the old Greg Discussions and post them here...

Edited by Lorentz
  • Like 1

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Bambi said:

Wow, that's nuts. Just shows how much planning and TLC was put into this, unlike certain other franchises... :P

Not so fast - Bionicle was only originally meant to last one year, with Mata Nui being awakened after the defeat of Makuta and the Great Spirit Robot being revealed right then and there. But because it sold so well, they kept pushing back the revelation and making stuff up as they went along. The story was planned year-by-year (although about two years in advance).

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/11/2021 at 2:58 PM, Master Inika said:

Poor Greg having to pretend that fan wasn't figuring out the entire story.

Yes, poor Greg who was definitely not cackling evilly to himself as he typed that response.

  • Like 1

3DS Friend Code: 0018-0767-4231

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Someone asked if the six Rahkshi that Makuta created in 2003 were stronger than the other 36 breeds, and this was Greg's answer:
 

4908950459[1].png

Here's how we can thank him for all of his hard work:

68faf109a6[1].png

Bonus:

fa314fc08f[1].png

Edited by Lorentz
  • Like 3

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Lorentz said:

Someone asked if the six Rahkshi that Makuta created in 2003 were stronger than the other 36 breeds, and this was Greg's answer:
 

4908950459[1].png

Here's how we can thank him for all of his hard work:

68faf109a6[1].png

Bonus:

fa314fc08f[1].png

Technically, none of those responses are incorrect.

"You are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your
future is an empty book. You must find your own destiny, my brave adventurer.
"
-- Turaga Nokama

nichijou2.jpg

Click here to visit my library!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Master Inika said:

Technically, none of those responses are incorrect.

Who said they were?

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/14/2021 at 11:12 PM, Lorentz said:

Not so fast - Bionicle was only originally meant to last one year, with Mata Nui being awakened after the defeat of Makuta and the Great Spirit Robot being revealed right then and there. But because it sold so well, they kept pushing back the revelation and making stuff up as they went along. The story was planned year-by-year (although about two years in advance).

I had heard that the plan was for a storyline that would go on year after year too. Unfortunately I don't remember my source for that.  Do you have yours?

Personally, I feel that Bionicle was hyped too much and Lego put too much investment into the media to abandon it after one year. But then on the other hand, it would make sense to have a quick "exit strategy" if it didn't do well financially.

GENERATION 4: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Toa Hovoki Zehvor said:

Thank you for finding these Lorentz! Hidden gems.

I second this! These are hilarious and so cool to read - this is one of my favorite BZP topics. Keep them coming! :biorules::bzp:

  • Like 1

:exclamation:currently searching for ANY Gray Plastic Krana Kal (GPKK):exclamation: If you were a member of Proto-squad, or know someone who was, please feel free to get in contact with me

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Humble_Matoran said:

I second this! These are hilarious and so cool to read - this is one of my favorite BZP topics. Keep them coming! :biorules::bzp:

Thank you. I am actually re-reading ALL of the Official Greg Discussion archives, and capturing any answers I find amusing. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes it's just because they aged very poorly. For example:
 

f03d12a394[1].png
 

16 hours ago, Fyndegil said:

I had heard that the plan was for a storyline that would go on year after year too. Unfortunately I don't remember my source for that.  Do you have yours?

Personally, I feel that Bionicle was hyped too much and Lego put too much investment into the media to abandon it after one year.

Greg said it many, many times throughout his engagement with the Bionicle community whenever somebody asked. There actually wasn't that much hype and investment into Bionicle in its first year. It was only after its outstanding success in 2002 that launched it to the moon, where the marketing went psycho in 2003.

Edited by Lorentz

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You don't think two video games, a trading card game, and a board game constitute a significant investment?

For hype, Lego may not have exactly gone overboard with the advertising in its first year, but I remember seeing some ads from 2001 and they talk about a legend, which suggests (to me) that they had further plans for the franchise.

But Greg would be a pretty significant source so maybe there's more nuance than I can perceive.

GENERATION 4: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Fyndegil said:

You don't think two video games, a trading card game, and a board game constitute a significant investment?

guess you got me there

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For some reason, Greg was really hung up on saying that Nidhiki wasn't a mutant. He even said things like "who said Toa can't be quadrupeds?" I wonder what the story would have looked like if there were Toa from different species. This is from late 2004 btw.

b55bf65a3b[1].png
-

Here's a great tidbit of info that Greg teased us with.

greg.png
-

I don't have any screencaps on hand of it, but when Metru Nui was first revealed at the end of MoL, Greg said that the city was "much, much bigger" than the island of Mata Nui. This was flipped around very quickly once 2004's story started.

Edited by Lorentz

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope this guy eventually figured it out.
 

8131bea805[1].png

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greg did not like the Hordika sets.

01a0656401[1].png

-

The absolute mad man...

eyelids.png
-
 

f2633080ea[1].png

Edited by Lorentz
  • Like 1

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Lorentz said:

eyelids.png

They dangled it like a carrot in front of the fandom for seven years, and somehow we didn't catch on until the big reveal. I love it. :D

As for the idea that Bionicle was scheduled only for one year, I have heard that mentioned before but not sure of what source there is for it. Christian Faber or Alastair Swinnerton... maybe? But it raises the question as to when the following years were green lighted though, since animated films have at best a year to year and a half production cycle when rushed, so Mask of Light would have had to been contracted and ordered by early 2002 at best; or about right as the Bohrok wave was still on shelves (we know Lego hired Creative Capers due to their promise to be able to rush out a film every year on a quick schedule). Maybe that explains why the Bohrok Kal (and maybe even the Toa Nuva) exist and sometimes feel like a filler wave... it could have been the stopgap sets to fill up the the release schedule without introducing to many new molds.

  • Like 1

52641688958_d61c0bc049_w(1).jpg.c0871df0de376218d7ca2bc4f409e17d.jpg

All aboard the hype train!

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/11/2021 at 3:56 AM, Lorentz said:

There are some real buried treasures in there. This from July of 2004.

876fcf3d4d[1].png

 

On 3/19/2021 at 3:18 PM, Lorentz said:


The absolute mad man...

eyelids.png

Greg: *sweating nervously* 

 

9 hours ago, Xboxtravis said:

They dangled it like a carrot in front of the fandom for seven years, and somehow we didn't catch on until the big reveal. I love it. :D

As for the idea that Bionicle was scheduled only for one year, I have heard that mentioned before but not sure of what source there is for it. Christian Faber or Alastair Swinnerton... maybe? But it raises the question as to when the following years were green lighted though, since animated films have at best a year to year and a half production cycle when rushed, so Mask of Light would have had to been contracted and ordered by early 2002 at best; or about right as the Bohrok wave was still on shelves (we know Lego hired Creative Capers due to their promise to be able to rush out a film every year on a quick schedule). Maybe that explains why the Bohrok Kal (and maybe even the Toa Nuva) exist and sometimes feel like a filler wave... it could have been the stopgap sets to fill up the the release schedule without introducing to many new molds.

Greg said in an interview 10 years ago that LEGO decided to end it after a year, but he and other people protested against this idea.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

how did he know

e524d22f7f[1].png

  • Like 2

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not my goodies!

65fdde00dd[1].png
-

TSO'S NAME COMFIRMED!!!

f1f8386d11[1].png

Edited by Lorentz

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back when we just learned that the 2006 heroes weren't going to be the Toa Nuva, someone had this to say about it:

"Honestly, I have all seven of the original Toa, and I'd rather get all-new characters. But if I were just getting into the story, and didn't have a chance to buy this awesome new Kopaka guy who never needs help and is always so in control, I might feel empty inside, like a Bohrok with no krana."

Man oh man, I cannot wait to see his reaction to how 2006 kicked off.

  • Like 1

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This man *somehow* figured out antidermis.

d538e14f0d[1].png

  • Like 5

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/24/2021 at 2:48 PM, Lorentz said:

Back when we just learned that the 2006 heroes weren't going to be the Toa Nuva, someone had this to say about it:

"Honestly, I have all seven of the original Toa, and I'd rather get all-new characters. But if I were just getting into the story, and didn't have a chance to buy this awesome new Kopaka guy who never needs help and is always so in control, I might feel empty inside, like a Bohrok with no krana."

Man oh man, I cannot wait to see his reaction to how 2006 kicked off.

 

 

52641688958_d61c0bc049_w(1).jpg.c0871df0de376218d7ca2bc4f409e17d.jpg

All aboard the hype train!

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Daler99 said:

Wow, that pre-dates the Ask Greg threads...
-

 

f2633080ea[1].png

Edited by Lorentz

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a very long time.

vezon.png
-

One of the rare direct posts from the man himself... (this was right after he confirmed that he knew what Mata Nui looks like)

e85de574df[1].png
-

Of course, almost immediately followed by..

bfdc88e597[1].png
-

Greg's fatal flaw is answering yes/no questions like... this..

3be69ef52c[1].png
-

A poorly aged factoid about Botar...

616f1b63a8[1].png

Edited by Lorentz

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

??????????????

31a7384fd8[1].png

9bbf715d9b[1].png

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Xboxtravis said:

I sure hope it was a dumb seven year old who asked that question, because that is below the belt. 

It's gotta be. I really wish he knew how to actually quote Greg, rather than just awkwardly paraphrasing the man's replies, because I would really like to see how he actually responded.

Edited by Lorentz
  • Like 1

#makeBionicleG1andHeroFactorysharethesameuniverse and #giveBionicleansHeroFactorytheirownliveactioncinematicuniverse 
GENERATION 5: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

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...