Jump to content

If a new constraction theme, how would you like it to be?


Lenny7092

Recommended Posts

Hi, guys! :) Since Bionicle G2 ended abruptly and rudely in 2016, there is no constraction replacement with an original story by Lego now (Not like how Hero Factory replaced Bionicle G1 in 2010).

 

Let's talk about the history of constraction. The first constraction theme is Slizers/Throwbots in 1999-2000, and it has elements from a Lego theme called Technic. It was replaced by the second constraction theme called RoboRiders in 2000. This theme also ended in the same year. These dudes lasted shortly, and they barely have stories. RoboRiders is replaced by the very theme that we and love, Bionicle G1 in 2001-2010. This one is the most successful and famous of the constraction themes, and it has an epic story. The theme got a lot of media, including four direct-to-video movies, chapter books, comics, online serials, video games, and online games. There's also music videos promoting the theme's certain storylines. The building system in Bionicle changed over time to become better. 

Sadly, this theme ended in 2010 probably because Lego had money problems in 2010, and its story hasn't ended as it stopped in 2011. It then got replaced by Hero Factory in the same year. Like Bionicle, it has a story and is successful, but it is second most successful of the constraction theme and has the second best story in the constraction themes. The theme has a TV show with 22-minute episodes, online and app games, chapter books, and comics. It also introduced the Character and Creature Building System, or CCBS for short, in 2011. HF ended in 2014 probably because Bionicle came back as a reboot called G2 in 2015. HF had waning successfulness for some reason, anyway. Also like Bionicle G1, HF's story hasn't ended, sadly. As for Bionicle G2, it had online animated videos that tell the main story, chapter books, graphic novels, and a Netflix show with 4 22-minute episodes. Sadly, Bionicle got cancelled again abruptly and rudely in 2016 for some reason (I mean, we just got it back). Well, G2's successfulness was declining, anyway. it's like the Amazing Spider-Man movie series in 2012-2014 all over again. The replacement for G2 never happened in 2017 or this year for some reason. Right now, there are Star Wars constraction still being made nowadays, even though there are a few sets each year. 

Of course, there are more Lego themes that are sort of like constraction, which are Galidor, Knights Kingdom, and Exo-Force, all in the 2000s. Lego Ben 10 was like that, too. When CCBS happened, many playset themes in the 2010s used it, and they are Super Heroes, Legends of Chima, and currently Star Wars. Ones before Star Wars lasted shortly. 

Plus, there are some other themes that are like constraction, but they are made of bricks, and these themes are Mixels in 2014-2016 and Nexo Knights' mech sets in 2017. 

 

To sum this up, I would say that constraction has been going on from 1999 to 2016 by original Lego themes (It's been like 17 years). It seems that constraction is failing this decade (might explain the Bionicle G1, G2, and Hero Factory's problems with waning successfulness.). Right now, people are interested in Ninjago (this decade's minifgure equivalent to Bionicle), Lego Super Heroes, Lego Movies, and Star Wars primarily. Boy, things aren't looking too good for constraction. The Lego constraction themes were keeping the category alive, but with no replacement, it's getting weaker. We don't even know when will the replacement come. :(

 

Now, that's where we are going to talk about how would you like the replacement to be if it could happen. :) So, yeah, how would you guys like it to be? Well, for me, I have some ideas: 

1. Something similar to Bionicle by using the building systems in 2001-2003 and 2006, and all figures should have bendable limbs. Don't make them look too weird or faulty designs on the joints (the Bionicle 2016 sets have this problem), and give the sets good color schemes. Also, their final designs shouldn't leave anything out (Bionicle's Caparar and Nuparu Mahri in 2007 have this problem by abandoning their weapons. You could look at Kongu Mahri because he never kept his main weapon, too.). Make all the sets equal in every way, like having all masks in many possibilities (Bionicle G2 and probably Hero Factory has this problem. Not every G2's Toa has a Skull foe to fight or mask to recover, specifically, for example.). 

2. If either Bionicle G3, Hero Factory G2, or a completely new theme, it or they should have a good story, as good as Bionicle G1 or Ninjago, and if or they could use references about other original Lego constraction themes for fun. Or A theme that is a constraction equivalent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where original Lego constraction themes, Bionicle, Hero Factory, Slizers/Throwbots, and RoboRiders, have a crossover by sharing the same universe and work together to fight evil Avengers-style. Either way, this theme should have humans and Planet Earth in there. If that crossover theme, it would be called "Lego Constraction Universe". Here are my ideas about that, too: 

- Phase 1: 

-- First year would be 

--- Winter - Bionicle - Toa Mata/Toa Masters as the main heroes who can keep their personalities and elemental powers from G1 (Lewa being a Toa of Air again). It's optional to have Pohatu having a Batman-like personality from G2 because I love it. Lol. :P The main villain would be any Bionicle villain, not a new one. At the end of that storyline, there would a foreshadowing thing that hints crossover.  

--- Summer - Hero Factory - The first six Heroes as the main characters and can keep their personalities from their G1, not like Invasion From Below (because they were just acting like Stormtroopers from Star Wars). Main villain would be Black Phantom. It would be cool if there are some Bionicle references and Easter Eggs in there, and would still do the same foreshadowing thing. 

-- Second Year: 

--- Winter - Slizers/Throwbots - Characters stay the same as their G1, but with an actual story and better character development. There would be references and Easter Eggs from the other themes. Again, foreshadowing thing happening. 

--- Summer - RoboRiders - Same as Slizers, but also with an identified villain. Again, there would be references and Easter Eggs from the other themes and the foreshadowing thing happening, but this thing hint an Avengers-equse crossover next year. 

-- Third Year. It would be like the Avengers movie in 2012, where the main heroes from the previous themes (at least Tahu from Bionicle, Preston Stormer from Hero Factory, good-hearted Slizer leader, and good-hearted RoboRider leader. They're all leaders.) working together and form a special team to stop Black Phantom from collecting magical cube-shaped objects, which the themes hinted in the past and found on the heroes' worlds and Planet Earth, to try to take over the whole universe. I picked Black Phantom to be the main villain because I would love to see him as a mix of Avengers' Loki and Steppenwolf from the Justice League movie in 2017 by wearing a horned helmet like those villains and being Hulk-from-Marvel-sized like Steppenwolf. BP would have new villains or minions (from other themes, and not completely new villains) to assist him. There would be six worlds that Black Phantom would travel to to search for the six cubes, one cube in each world, which are Spherus Magna and the Great Spirit Robot from Bionicle, Makuhero City from Hero Factory, the Slizers' world, the RoboRiders' world, and the Planet Earth. The cubes would either be either the Doom Box(es) from Hero Factory's first chapter book or not, and BP would use them for his evil plan to take over the universe. The heroes would have a boss to guide them, whether be a certain Turaga from Bionicle, Mr. Makuro from Hero Factory, or someone else. The heroes would have new looks, like the Toa being in their Toa Uniter forms. The Slizers and RoboRiders would also kind of act like Dinobots from Transformers to other heroes by being clumsily destructive. Lol. :P

End of Phase 1 

- Phase 2 

-- Fourth year: Bionicle - The Toa Mata becoming Toa Nuva (but Tahu would stay that way in this story this time) and fight against a new villain. Heroes and villains from other themes would appear in there as cameos or with major appearances. This villain would smuggle and use technology from other themes and this one, too. Imagine the Piraka got some stuff from some Hero Factory villains, like Von Nebula or Black Phantom, for example? 

-- Fifth year: Hero Factory - The Heroes getting their 2.0 upgrade to fight against a new villain. Heroes and villains from other themes would appear in there as cameos with major appearances. This villains would smuggle and use technology from other themes and this one, too. Imagine Von Nebula's or Black Phantom's gangs of villains getting weapons from some Bionicle villains, like the Brotherhood of Makuta, and Vortixx's Xian weapons from Bionicle? Also, add New, Eco, and Rocka in there. 

-- Sixth year: Another crossover year - The team of heroes go fight against a villain, like Von Nebula, Makuta Teridax, or Velika from Bionicle. If Makuta Teridax, he would be like Ultron from Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2016 by infecting technology. Either of these bad guys would be this theme's equivalent to DC Comics' Darkseid and Marvel's Thanos by being one or two of the heroes' toughest and worst villains. The Toa would get Adaptive Armor from Bionicle, the Hero Factory Heroes would be in their Breakout looks, and the heroes would use each other's technologies to make themselves better in fighting than how they usually do. 

End of Phase 2 

- Phase 3 

-- Seventh year - Bionicle vs. Hero Factory - Someone evil made Toa and Hero Factory Heroes fight each other. It would be like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 (but much better) and Captain America: Civil War in 2016. Imagine Tahu, Toa of Fire, and Stormer, Hero who use ice, fight each other like this, for example? Stormer would be like Batman while Tahu would be like Superman. The Heroes would use equipment that use the Toa's weaknesses to beat them while the Toa Nuva use Adaptive Armor and their smarts to counter the Heroes' attacks, even if the Heroes' technology is more advanced than the Toa's. 

-- Eighth year - Slizers vs. RoboRiders - Someone evil made those heroes fight each other. Same hero-vs.-hero scenario, but with these guys, instead. 

-- Ninth (maybe final) year - After the heroes got over their wars with each other, they had to fight against their greatest villainous foe, who would be either Von Nebula, Makuta Teridax, Velika, or someone else completely new and responsible for the theme's events just to do his master plan, which is to collect 1-7 magical artifacts that could allow him to take over the universe. It would be like DC Comics superheroes fighting Darkseid and Marvel superheroes fighting against Thanos, even in Avengers: Infinity War coming this year. That would be a big final battle. 

End of Phase 3 

Maybe end of the whole theme because Bionicle G1 lasted for nine years, so I thought it would be okay for Lego to end the theme after this time. I pick the idea of the crossover because Lego is not doing well with making new franchises for the constraction category now (Look at Hero Factory's Invasion From Below and Bionicle G2), so I thought reusing old stuff would make something new out of them. Plus, people wouldn't say silly stuff, like "Stormer is my favorite Bionicle", which is not true about Stormer (a friend of mine once said that. Lol.:P). I would say that a shared universe like this would be a huge improvement for the old themes and probably the constraction category as a whole. It's called a renaissance. 

3. A TV show with 10-13 22-minute episodes per season. No Netflix, and the show would be on Cartoon Network or Disney XD, and the primary source of story that shows character development greatly and better than other media. Make all characters in their sets equal to each other in every way in all media (Bionicle G2 and Hero Factory have this problem. Kopaka never had his mask stolen, specifically, for example). Don't make stuff in the story look confusing, not even to the sets, and don't make too silly. Just have a good amount of comedy and a super-great and dominant amount of action. Also, no unresolved stuff, rude cancellations, or rushing before the theme ends. Plus, a theatrical movie(s), which could be either a Lego Movie with positive reviews this time (unlike The Lego Ninjago Movie, which sort of disappointingly got mixed reviews) or a live-action or 3-D animated movie with human and the Planet Earth, similar to Transformers, but with constraction characters and always positive reviews, like the Avengers. Also, constraction-based Lego TT Games video games with positive reviews (and make every boss-looking antagonists bosses with boss meters, and make the game be open-world, like the Lego City Undercover, the Lego DC Comics games, and the the Lego Marvel games). Online games would include something similar to Bionicle's Mata Nui Online Games and Voya Nui Online Game. The chapter books, comics, and online serials would just be side stories or re-tell the stories from the TV show or movie(s). Do not make sets for characters that aren't too important in the story (Bionicle G1's 2007, 2008, and 2009 characters, like Lesovikk and Mazeka, sort of have problems with that, for examples. However, they can be shown in cameos if they aren't too important). Again, the TV show's great way of telling stories must apply to all of the other media. For the animation or whatever look on the constraction characters, there would be a mix of certain animation styles. They would have realistic parts of their bodies, like the first three Bionicle direct-to-video movies, looking very accurate to the sets, like Bionicle: The Legend Reborn, Hero Factory TV show, and Bionicle: Journey to One, but to the sets' final designs specifically rather than the prototypes (B:TLR and HF have this problem). Make them look 3-D animated, like all four Bionicle direct-to-video movies and HF, rather than looking 2-D-3-D mixed (like Iron Man: Armored Adventures and Transformers: Robots in Disguise in 2015. B:tJtO has this problem.). No drawing-like 2-D animation as the main animation style (Bionicle G2's online animations in 2015 have this problem). Nothing in the media or sets go missing, so everything should be there. Give the constraction characters pupils. Think of this as a Transformers: Prime animation style. For actors in TV shows, I prefer famous ones from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, B:tLR, and/or HF TV show (Hero Factory's Invasion From Below episode and B:tJtO have actors that we don't know, and the Bionicle 2015 online animations only have one actor voicing everyone. Weird.). For actors in theatrical movies, use celebrities from the Lego Movies. 

4. For the combiner models, give all sets a chance to be in a combiner in every way (Bionicle's Sidorak and Roodaka never combined, which is an example of a problem). All-members-in-a-group combiners should happen, like having all six Toa Mata combine into a Toa Nui, for example. Don't make combiners look too weird, and I would like them to be in the story somehow, like fusion of members of a team. 

5. For terms of money, small sets should be $5-7, medium sets $10-12, and large sets at least $15-20 or more. Bionicle G2 has this money problem. Also, bring back the titan combiner sets (Bionicle G1's Takutanuva, Ultimate Dume, Voporak, and Vezon and Kardas are such sets). For the instruction manuals, make the pictures 3-D in at least the small and medium sets again, like Bionicle G1's early years. Also like those years, have manuals show instructions for the combiners again. It would be neat if the canisters are brought back. Don't make the small and medium sets too chunky by amounts of pieces (Bionicle G2 probably has this problem). 

 

So, yeah, that's all I can think of. This is an ideal thing for me, and I would like everything to be perfect. I know it's a lot of stuff that I said, but that would do. What about you guys' dream constraction themes, too? :)

Edited by Lenny7092

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly I don't have any elaborate ideas on how to "save" constraction or whatever. But I do suggest that there's a mixture of all 3 current building systems from Lego (system, technic, & CCBS) (if there's more than those 3, please enlighten me).

 

I think that CCBS on it's own gets repetitive design wise. I think that technic on it's own requires too many specialized parts. And I think that having system on it's own defeats the purpose of constraction (unless it's like Exo Force or Knight's Kingdom).

 

Just look at how a good majority of the community builds MoC's; I'd say 96% of the ones I've seen recently have blended all 3 Lego systems beautifully and I think that's what constraction lacks overall. The system parts add smaller details, the CCBS is the bare bones, and the technic forms the gear functions. I think if Lego tries to incorporate some more system aspects into constraction, the popularity could rise again because it'll establish that the parts included with those sets can be used with the consumer's "regular" legos.

 

Maybe everything I just said is dumb and irrelevant. It's what I think at the moment though.  :nahnah:

  • Upvote 1

evergrey_l01.gif


Other great bands:


Iron Maiden    Journey    Mercenary    The Unguided    Trivium


Boston    Stratovarius    Symphony X    Epica

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I've been giving this some thought for a while...

 

1. Brand-new IP. While I would enjoy some Bionicle (or even Hero Factory or Throwbots) nostalgia, I want to see Lego impress me with something original.

 

2. 2D-animated cartoon. Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of modern 2D children's cartoons, the "sausage-mouth" style that dominates Cartoon Network is just plain unappealing to me, but I've seen some interesting rt styles and designs here and there from poking around animation fans, such as a poster for an indie cartoon titled "Outrun Express," so an aesthetic that is sleek yet mechanical (or organic with defined segments, like what I've seen of classic Ben 10) would fit CCBS naturally.

 

3. Functions Ahoy! One thing Bionicle G2 did absolutely right in my eyes were the gear functions, especially in how they were incorporating them in smaller sets like the Creatures by the end. When figures I collect are highly detailed and accurate or have amazing articulation, two things constraction have issues with at a small scale, the last thing you can do is make it a functional toy with a fun build

 

4. Less bipeds, more variety. A complaint I head as a kid about Bionicle G1 from my peers is that they're basically the same toy in six colors. While that became less and less the case, especially starting at 2007 and growing more and more with unique builds for the 2016 Bionicle sets, admittedly they're still the same thing we've seen over and over since the start: a humanoid. If they didn't interest you in 2001, they probably won't interest you in 2018. Again, the Creatures did something right in spicing up variety (though not to the fullest, since one pair were winged creatures and another pair looked the same even with different functions), tapping into some of the Rahi and Throwbot magic. While I don't think bipeds should be dropped entirely (I think having three or so humanoid protagonists would be okay for the purpose of audience surrogates), I don't want it to be like Star Wars constraction where my choice over which set to buy comes down to analyzing which sets break from the status quo and casting a deciding vote by my preference of character.

 

5. Price scaling. When was the last time there was a constraction set under $10 USD? Don't get me wrong, CCBS has done wonders for expanding the "impulse" category of constraction in terms of scale, but it's inflated the bar for entry as well. Heck, with Bionicle G2 over and only Star Wars left, the entry-level price for constraction is $25 USD! Sure, we can get into currency inflation and the shifting prices of oil, but that benchmark was reserved only for titan sets in 2006, and now it's the minimum? There should be entry-level sets at the $5 mark, and if CCBS simply is too expensive to achieve that, they should pull a Mixels and make simple figures out of System balljoints. While that could seem too distant from the main figures, this could be an opportunity to create cohesion by incorporating more System parts into mainstream constraction sets, like Evergrey brought up.

 

6. Gender balance. Lego's constraction IPs (and even a lot of their System IPs, yeesh) rely on a single token girl as part of the team. With the current success of the push for female protagonists (especially in action settings) in gaming but especially in cinema, I think it's long past due to have more girls leading constraction.

 

7. More organic CCBS pieces. Okay, so this is something in part to a response to point 6 but also something that's desperately needed for existing CCBS. Most shells and armor pieces look distinctly robotic, even if sleek. While there have been strides to make more fitting armor pieces for human characters, such as the new leg armor pieces in Star Wars, there are two fields that have yet to have a meaningful update since CCBS's inception: feet and hands. While we do have some alternate foot molds, they're all more beastly and not like a realistic shoe. Worse, we've had only one hand mold for CCBS (two if you count the creature hands from Ben 10), which looks mechanical, and it's been printed in flesh colors for human hands! While constraction generally works best emulating robots, armor, and technology-heavy characters, there needs to be a push for better part diversity. Why did I say this tied to point 6? Well...

 

8. Failing having a gender-neutral constraction theme, make a female-oriented one. Kind of like how Lyichir brought up buildable Elves characters, there's a market Lego hasn't fully reached into - while constraction started off as buildable action figures, with how their scale is growing, I think it's prime time they invested in using it to develop dolls. To break away from the robotic aesthetic constraction has had since inception, there would need to be quite a few sleeker pieces, possibly including fully-molded human forearms (before people freak out and cry Galidor, they went and made bony limbs without any points to build off of for Bionicle G2, doing the same with skin can't hurt). The only remaining hurdle I can think of it that the majority of dolls aimed at young girls have individual strands of hair... and I don't see Lego doing anything other than molded hair. (Though even at that, introducing standardized humanoid constraction faces, helmets, and hair would be a blessing to the wider community.)

 

 

 

 

Okay, with that out of the way, I might as well jot down my ideas for licensed themes:

 

Realistically could happen:

- RWBY. It's already action-based, has a bunch of female characters, and has some basis in technology. Weapons could be made of existing parts or some new molds and new cloth pieces could accommodate the need for skirts. Plus, Star Wars constraction has proved that stylized human heads work better in CCBS than realistic ones, so the anime-esque design could work niecely.

- Mega Man. While this would require some new molds for the distinct boot and gauntlet shape shared among the Classic and X series, the vast majority of the characters are in sleek mechanical suits that cover their whole body or robots themselves, so the existing CCBS aesthetic wouldn't clash much.

 

Won't happen but I'd still enjoy:

- Dragon Ball. This series would be natural for sets with action features, but hardly any characters have mechanical aspects of their designs or props, making it difficult to visually make the jump (aside from the head molds, as stated earlier).

- Hyperdimension Neptunia. I remind you that this is in the "Won't happen" category; unfortunately the character designs can be provocative and the series is no stranger to sexual themes, but some of the CPU designs have a slightly mechanical look that could possibly turn out good in CCBS.

- Bionicle Fan since 2002

- Former Lego Universe Alpha/Beta Tester

- Owner of The AGL Group

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

 

7. More organic CCBS pieces. Okay, so this is something in part to a response to point 6 but also something that's desperately needed for existing CCBS. Most shells and armor pieces look distinctly robotic, even if sleek. While there have been strides to make more fitting armor pieces for human characters, such as the new leg armor pieces in Star Wars, there are two fields that have yet to have a meaningful update since CCBS's inception: feet and hands. While we do have some alternate foot molds, they're all more beastly and not like a realistic shoe. Worse, we've had only one hand mold for CCBS (two if you count the creature hands from Ben 10), which looks mechanical, and it's been printed in flesh colors for human hands! While constraction generally works best emulating robots, armor, and technology-heavy characters, there needs to be a push for better part diversity. Why did I say this tied to point 6? Well...

 

 

 

You made a lot of great points in your post, but I want to focus on this one. I've never liked the foot piece that we've had since the 2.0 HF wave and yet that's just about the only foot piece that ever appears in any constraction set post 2012. I could rant on and on about how much I hate the design of the foot piece...

 

But that would take away from this: The robotic element. Yes, since the dawn of constraction, just about everything has been robotic. Slizers, Roborider, Bionicle & Hero Factory. All of these are based on robots to some degree. I think that because of the gear functions, it's just made sense to have the characters be robotic in some fashion. But we've had this trend for almost 20 years of constraction: something's gotta change.

 

I have another constraction idea. Remember good ole Knight's Kingdom? Or the Marvel/DC liscenced Super Heroes? Those were constraction by definition as well. Actually, Knight's Kingdom would be a perfect revival to constraction: You still have use for gear functions, the characters wouldn't be robotic, and system could definitely be incorporated into the mix. But what about organic parts? Well we could have archers, princesses, and other medieval stuffs to offer parts that aren't sleek or armour based. And that could give way for a dragon and horses and other non-biped creatures for constraction.

 

The big question is though, on a scale that big, would Lego be able to keep the costs reasonable?

evergrey_l01.gif


Other great bands:


Iron Maiden    Journey    Mercenary    The Unguided    Trivium


Boston    Stratovarius    Symphony X    Epica

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another Knight's Kingdom would be a pleasant move, especially with those details you mentioned. In terms of keeping costs reasonable...

If I had to guess, and this is being conservative on the costs:

 

Small Creature / Dragon Child: $10 USD (Includes small action feature)

Archer / Generic Knight: $15 USD (Possibly includes spring-shooter in place of action feature)

Named Knight: $20 USD (Includes action feature)

Noble / Princess: $20 (Includes cloth pieces)

Named Knight with Horse: $40 USD (Includes action feature on knight, horse is just posable)

(Store-exclusive bundle) Duel: $40 USD (Two Named Knights)
Large Creature / Dragon: $50 USD (Includes action feature, possibly some projectile for breath attacks)
(Store-exclusive bundle) Joust: $80 USD (Two Named Knights with Horses)

When we incorporate the "conflict in a box" philosophy that was used from Invasion from Below through Bionicle G2, costs raise substantially. Unless there would be a similar common enemy with less than 15 pieces that can be packaged with every knight, the only real source of adding the conflict is with the store two-packs, which would simply have the same price as two individual figures (unless there was a minor exclusion to reduce costs, a la Kopaka and Melum Unity Set). Things get out of hand fast, but at the same time, Ninjago sets typically fall between $10-120 USD, so as long as there's something to make the entry level margin, there's new material to rekindle the CCBS fire, and it's marketed well, it could work fine. I feel like the generic knights are very necessary for the theme to stay afloat, as they function as mid-entry-level-range sets and fill a similar purpose to army building as Star Wars Battle Packs, as well as providing a somewhat convenient source for new decorative parts for MOCists or relapsing fans.

- Bionicle Fan since 2002

- Former Lego Universe Alpha/Beta Tester

- Owner of The AGL Group

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...