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BIONICLE 2019


ToaSerwain

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Yeah that looks to be a simple mistake I'm afraid. Pro tip don't hold your breath for a bionicle reboot again. Especially not as quickly as 2019. Given the recent romours of the situation of star wars constraction (I'll let you search for that) don't expect another constraction theme of any kind for a LONG time. Don't wait around for old childhood nostalgia to return. I say just move on like I and so many others have.

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It's time to move on.

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I already did, but this just coming up on my google search results is just plain out weird. but I'm 99% sure this might be a ruse or some stupid april fools prank, but if it's true then now what?

Given the recent romours of the situation of star wars constraction (I'll let you search for that) don't expect another constraction theme of any kind for a LONG time.

ccbs since G2 was dying and probably wouldn't last for long, sw ccbs is a prime example of that. the system in itself is flawed sure, but same goes for technic G1. the thing here is just that lego was going full on with this (remember the announcement where they told us to raise awareness of said theme?) and that seemed to die utterly. 

 

on one side, I'm glad that ccbs is going out, on the other side though, no constraction would probably be better for the time being. 

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I already did, but this just coming up on my google search results is just plain out weird. but I'm 99% sure this might be a ruse or some stupid april fools prank, but if it's true then now what?

Given the recent romours of the situation of star wars constraction (I'll let you search for that) don't expect another constraction theme of any kind for a LONG time.

ccbs since G2 was dying and probably wouldn't last for long, sw ccbs is a prime example of that. the system in itself is flawed sure, but same goes for technic G1. the thing here is just that lego was going full on with this (remember the announcement where they told us to raise awareness of said theme?) and that seemed to die utterly. 

 

on one side, I'm glad that ccbs is going out, on the other side though, no constraction would probably be better for the time being. 

If there is any truth to these romours I won't bother supporting the new theme. I just don't have the money and the space anymore. Unless it manages to truly recreate the original feeling of wonder that Mata nui brought to me when I was 4 years old I don't see any reason to support it. I think Lego will just forget about action figures for a while now. Remember their profits have fallen so I don't think they'll want to take any risks right now and release action figures on a market that doesn't seem to be into them.

It's time to move on.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bomb

 

There's nothing to see here, folks. If you're still not convinced, try changing the word "Bionicle" in the Brickset hyperlink to anything that suits your fancy. You'll get the exact same results.

Edited by Zarkan: Master of Storms
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What exactly are people seeing here that supposedly warrants an entire rumor for an incoming G3? I don't see any results when I click these links.

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What exactly are people seeing here that supposedly warrants an entire rumor for an incoming G3? I don't see any results when I click these links.

 

Somebody was google bombing the empty Bionicle link to appear when people searched for "Bionicle reboot," making it look like Brickset had recently gotten an exclusive scoop that Bionicle was coming back into 2019. But you're right, it is pretty ridiculous that this was enough to get people to believe it.

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I have slept for so long. My dreams have been dark ones. But now I am awakened. Now the scattered elements of my being are rejoined. Now I am whole. And the Darkness can not stand before me.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bomb

 

There's nothing to see here, folks. If you're still not convinced, try changing the word "Bionicle" in the Brickset hyperlink to anything that suits your fancy. You'll get the exact same results.

 

To whomever set this up: that's just mean-spirited

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You all have your own opinion, but do any of you read news on The Lego Group? They have a new CEO now, and they are talking about resetting the company. Going back to basics, that could indicate a possible...small chance that they are planning on bringing it back with better/different leadership.

 

//edit:

 

I'm not saying that the uh, site thing is real in any way. I'm just being hopelessly hopeful.

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If we get a Bionicle again it won't be for a long time. G1's success made it sensible to only wait 5 years for a reboot, but G2 was such a failure that if Bionicle ever does come back it won't be for a real long time. Bionicle will only be a distant memory and sometimes meme, so it'll be reinvented into something only resembling what we know.

 

But yeah, this definitely doesn't look real, and at this point I'm so apprehensive that I'd be just as worried as excited if I heard LEGO is dragging Bionicle's decaying corpse out onto the sidewalk again.

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If we get a Bionicle again it won't be for a long time. G1's success made it sensible to only wait 5 years for a reboot, but G2 was such a failure that if Bionicle ever does come back it won't be for a real long time. Bionicle will only be a distant memory and sometimes meme, so it'll be reinvented into something only resembling what we know.

 

But yeah, this definitely doesn't look real, and at this point I'm so apprehensive that I'd be just as worried as excited if I heard LEGO is dragging Bionicle's decaying corpse out onto the sidewalk again.

Yeah I'm in the exact same place I was back in 2013. I actively do not want bionicle to return. I remember back in 2012 and 2013 when there was still a lot of "bring back bionicle" stuff going on I saw the trends in 2010s Lego themes and I realised that if bionicle were to return they'd probably tone it down a lot and remove the more mature themes and would probably make it very comedic and cartoonish. And in hind sight I was right. They toned it down, simplified it, removed all the darker elements that appealed so much to me when I was 3 years old I think. If it were to return they'd probably do the same but this time even worse. I say leave bionicle in the 2000s. It was a great franchise but I don't think Lego can support it in the same way they used to.

 

You all have your own opinion, but do any of you read news on The Lego Group? They have a new CEO now, and they are talking about resetting the company. Going back to basics, that could indicate a possible...small chance that they are planning on bringing it back with better/different leadership.

 

//edit:

 

I'm not saying that the uh, site thing is real in any way. I'm just being hopelessly hopeful.

That's really stretching it. It probably means that they're going to close down certain sectors of the company that are draining resources away. Such as those licensed animated films they make now. It likely means they're gonna focus more resources on producing nothing but Lego bricks. I mean if they were really gonna go back to their roots they would ditch instruction manuals and licenses and go back to just shipping boxes of miscellaneous bricks.

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Given the recent romours of the situation of star wars constraction (I'll let you search for that) don't expect another constraction theme of any kind for a LONG time.

 

Forgive my laziness, but are the Star Wars figures not selling well?

 

If so I'd be surprised, as I thought Star Wars was pretty much invincible as a brand name.

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Given the recent romours of the situation of star wars constraction (I'll let you search for that) don't expect another constraction theme of any kind for a LONG time.

 

Forgive my laziness, but are the Star Wars figures not selling well?

 

If so I'd be surprised, as I thought Star Wars was pretty much invincible as a brand name.

 

There's several accounts of SW merch in general declining in popularity after The Last Straw dropped. It's generally anecdotal YT vids, but I wouldn't be surprised if the brand name were dying after...that.

 

Even so, that's the IP associated with the line declining, not constraction itself. Constraction has been great before, and it can be great again. It just needs something behind it for kids to suck up like those sucky bois you see in every other home aquarium sucking up algae.

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There's several accounts of SW merch in general declining in popularity after The Last Straw dropped. It's generally anecdotal YT vids, but I wouldn't be surprised if the brand name were dying after...that.

 

Is that a negative name for the latest film?

 

 

 

Even so, that's the IP associated with the line declining, not constraction itself.

 

Yes, but the quick cancellation of Bionicle's last run and the decreasing number of sets in each year of Hero Factory suggest constraction has declined. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been as successful as it was for most of the original Bionicle.

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There's several accounts of SW merch in general declining in popularity after The Last Straw dropped. It's generally anecdotal YT vids, but I wouldn't be surprised if the brand name were dying after...that.

Is that a negative name for the latest film?

Even so, that's the IP associated with the line declining, not constraction itself.

Yes, but the quick cancellation of Bionicle's last run and the decreasing number of sets in each year of Hero Factory suggest constraction has declined. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been as successful as it was for most of the original Bionicle.

Welcome the Dark Age or Great Depression or constraction. This decade, it ain’t in an age as golden as the 2000s, sadly. I think it would be best that if Lego would make constraction great again, probably in the 2020s (because Lego’s certain themes, like Mixels and Nexo Knights, are decreasing in some ways and then get cancelled), so we could get Bionicle back and have the golden age of constraction again. I think G2 came in the wrong time because Lego was focusing on a lot of themes often, like Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Mixels, and Lego Dimensions.

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

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There's several accounts of SW merch in general declining in popularity after The Last Straw dropped. It's generally anecdotal YT vids, but I wouldn't be surprised if the brand name were dying after...that.

 

Is that a negative name for the latest film?

 

 

 

Even so, that's the IP associated with the line declining, not constraction itself.

 

Yes, but the quick cancellation of Bionicle's last run and the decreasing number of sets in each year of Hero Factory suggest constraction has declined. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been as successful as it was for most of the original Bionicle.

 

Yes. Yes it is. It's a negative name for a negative movie.

 

HF didn't have anything behind it, either. The media surrounding it wasn't something kids had a lot of incentive to get invested in, and it only got worse with time. HF didn't do well because it didn't attract kids like G1 Bionicle did. Constraction is declining because there's nothing backing it. Even most System themes come and go at a rapid pace, with more generic ones like Pirates being hauled up from the grave every so often.

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Rule #3: EVERYBODY TYPE IN THE CHAT "AVAK IS A STUPID TRIGGER"

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Given the recent romours of the situation of star wars constraction (I'll let you search for that) don't expect another constraction theme of any kind for a LONG time.

 

Forgive my laziness, but are the Star Wars figures not selling well?

 

If so I'd be surprised, as I thought Star Wars was pretty much invincible as a brand name.

 

I can't talk about it in detail but there has been trusted leaker who said things aren't looking good for star wars constraction. And I think it has been confirmed that star wars merch is declining. Which if true could spell a whole host of issues for the Lego company beyond losing constraction. 

 

 

Yes. Yes it is. It's a negative name for a negative movie.

 

 

HF didn't have anything behind it, either. The media surrounding it wasn't something kids had a lot of incentive to get invested in, and it only got worse with time. HF didn't do well because it didn't attract kids like G1 Bionicle did. Constraction is declining because there's nothing backing it. Even most System themes come and go at a rapid pace, with more generic ones like Pirates being hauled up from the grave every so often.

 

Yeah I'm not entirely sure if it's just media being bad (this is coming from someone who also hates the last jedi). From what I've heard the toy industry in general is declining. The only company that wasn't hit (until recently) was Lego. I imagine that might have more to do with it than just media being bad. Kids will consume anything both good and bad. In fact I saw a video by the brick show (yeah they're still around) where they claimed it was due to the increased popularity of roblox and similar games. I personally do believe it is completely possible that smart devices are replacing a number of things that we may have enjoyed as kids. 

It's time to move on.

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Yes, but the quick cancellation of Bionicle's last run and the decreasing number of sets in each year of Hero Factory suggest constraction has declined. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been as successful as it was for most of the original Bionicle.

Welcome the Dark Age or Great Depression or constraction. This decade, it ain’t in an age as golden as the 2000s, sadly. I think it would be best that if Lego would make constraction great again, probably in the 2020s (because Lego’s certain themes, like Mixels and Nexo Knights, are decreasing in some ways and then get cancelled), so we could get Bionicle back and have the golden age of constraction again. I think G2 came in the wrong time because Lego was focusing on a lot of themes often, like Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Mixels, and Lego Dimensions.

 

I certainly wouldn't call the 2000s a "golden age" by any stretch of the imagination. The first half of that decade saw LEGO fall to the brink of bankruptcy, and while they began to recover around 2004/2005 and Bionicle served as a valuable lifeline during this time, the company as a whole didn't reach the soaring heights that they did in this decade with hits like Ninjago, Friends, and The LEGO Movie. The LEGO Group may be in a bit of a decline now, but that's after well over a decade of growth, hitting their peak sales and profits around 2015/2016.

 

I've seen no indication that themes like Nexo Knights and Mixels were expected to last longer than they did, but even if they had been, plenty of themes in the 2000s were just as short-lived or more, including Knights' Kingdom, Exo-Force, Mars Mission, Vikings, Agents, Space Police, Power Miners, Life on Mars, Dinosaurs, Jack Stone, and LEGO Island Extreme Stunts.

 

G2 definitely entered into a more competitive space than G1 did, but at the same time, the Elves theme launched at the same time with a similar amount of promotion and seems to have been a lot more successful. Part of this is probably from targeting a demographic that LEGO hasn't already tapped as thoroughly with their existing themes, but beyond that I think it calls into question whether the concept of magical tribal robot warriors, or even buildable action figures in general, resonates as strongly with kids as it used to.

 

Constraction is declining because there's nothing backing it. Even most System themes come and go at a rapid pace, with more generic ones like Pirates being hauled up from the grave every so often.

Themes coming and going at a rapid pace was pretty normal even during and prior to Bionicle G1. Bionicle was something of an anomaly in terms of how long it lasted compared to concurrent themes. Nowadays there are about as many long-running themes (City, Friends, Ninjago, Creator, Technic, etc) as there were back then.

 

And it's not a bad thing for other themes to rotate on a frequent basis! It lets LEGO custom-tailor their products to current trends, keep the competition off guard, and maintain a strong sense of novelty.

 

Furthermore, the issue of constraction having insufficient backing is often brought up, but the question remains: if LEGO can get a better return on investment from System themes than constraction ones, why invest more heavily in constraction? It's true that Bionicle might be able to be reasonably successful with a Ninjago-like TV show, but let's not forget that Ninjago started out with just a 44-minute special, not a full show, and still became the company's best-selling new product launch of all time. Elves, as mentioned, seemed to get a similar upfront investment to Bionicle G2, and yet has lasted twice as long. So when a theme like Bionicle or Hero Factory needs a much larger media presence than System themes to attain an equivalent level of success, that seems to be pretty compelling evidence against investing more heavily in constraction themes.

Edited by Aanchir
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HF didn't have anything behind it, either. The media surrounding it wasn't something kids had a lot of incentive to get invested in, and it only got worse with time. HF didn't do well because it didn't attract kids like G1 Bionicle did.

 

Well, Hero Factory did last five years, longer than quite a lot of other themes.

 

 

 

From what I've heard the toy industry in general is declining. The only company that wasn't hit (until recently) was Lego. I imagine that might have more to do with it than just media being bad. Kids will consume anything both good and bad. In fact I saw a video by the brick show (yeah they're still around) where they claimed it was due to the increased popularity of roblox and similar games. I personally do believe it is completely possible that smart devices are replacing a number of things that we may have enjoyed as kids. 

 

I wonder if the dropping fertility rates in the US in the last ten years are starting to have an effect as well. Sales aren't exactly going to increase if the target audience is shrinking, are they?

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Some of y'all are really absurdly passionate about TLJ, and Star Wars in general. I get that a movie, series, or character can mean a lot to someone but honestly maybe we should identify less with being consumers and rather take the things we consume to become better individuals and creators. If it doesn't help you get there, you're only wasting your time, energy, and attention on something that makes you feel bad. Just. . . relax.

 

In my opinion (for however much it matters) I think LEGO will be fine. There seems to be a budding concern in this forum over the stability of LEGO in the long haul, which I don't think is unreasonable, but I don't think video games are pushing physical toys out of the market completely. Physical toys may have to downsize to find a more comfortable place in the market, but they will still be there for your kids (after that, who knows, but it won't matter to you by then). LEGO is even more persistent than other toys. If someone survives the changes in the market, it's LEGO. It has an impeccable brand and offers a play experience more complex and endearing than most other toys.

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From what I've heard the toy industry in general is declining. The only company that wasn't hit (until recently) was Lego. I imagine that might have more to do with it than just media being bad. Kids will consume anything both good and bad. In fact I saw a video by the brick show (yeah they're still around) where they claimed it was due to the increased popularity of roblox and similar games. I personally do believe it is completely possible that smart devices are replacing a number of things that we may have enjoyed as kids. 

 

I wonder if the dropping fertility rates in the US in the last ten years are starting to have an effect as well. Sales aren't exactly going to increase if the target audience is shrinking, are they?

 

Thing is there is still the eastern markets Lego can appeal to. However from what I can tell they're not really taking off there either. It'll probably be another ten years or more before the company face anything like bankruptcy. Assuming they don't manage to fix their issues in the next few years.

 

 

Some of y'all are really absurdly passionate about TLJ, and Star Wars in general. I get that a movie, series, or character can mean a lot to someone but honestly maybe we should identify less with being consumers and rather take the things we consume to become better individuals and creators. If it doesn't help you get there, you're only wasting your time, energy, and attention on something that makes you feel bad. Just. . . relax.

 

In my opinion (for however much it matters) I think LEGO will be fine. There seems to be a budding concern in this forum over the stability of LEGO in the long haul, which I don't think is unreasonable, but I don't think video games are pushing physical toys out of the market completely. Physical toys may have to downsize to find a more comfortable place in the market, but they will still be there for your kids (after that, who knows, but it won't matter to you by then). LEGO is even more persistent than other toys. If someone survives the changes in the market, it's LEGO. It has an impeccable brand and offers a play experience more complex and endearing than most other toys.

I'm not saying video games are destroying them. Lego and video games co-existed fine in the 2000s. I believe however that with the advent of virtual building block games especially with the portability of a tablet I think it has a real chance of killing the sales for physical bricks. I think what's different with the games we all played as children is that they were usually a one and done kind of deal. Typically a platformer or other genre that once you finished you were done with. You'd have to go buy another video game. Things like roblox and minecraft basically provide potentially infinite content due to the emphasis on user generated games at a very cheap price. Something that really wasn't available (to kids at least) during the last decade. So I think it could end up satisfying that creative need that Lego used to fill. Maybe I am thinking in terms of doom and gloom but google trends does show that with the increasing searches for roblox the searches for Lego go down.

It's time to move on.

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Constraction is declining because there's nothing backing it. Even most System themes come and go at a rapid pace, with more generic ones like Pirates being hauled up from the grave every so often.

Themes coming and going at a rapid pace was pretty normal even during and prior to Bionicle G1. Bionicle was something of an anomaly in terms of how long it lasted compared to concurrent themes. Nowadays there are about as many long-running themes (City, Friends, Ninjago, Creator, Technic, etc) as there were back then.

 

And it's not a bad thing for other themes to rotate on a frequent basis! It lets LEGO custom-tailor their products to current trends, keep the competition off guard, and maintain a strong sense of novelty.

 

Furthermore, the issue of constraction having insufficient backing is often brought up, but the question remains: if LEGO can get a better return on investment from System themes than constraction ones, why invest more heavily in constraction? It's true that Bionicle might be able to be reasonably successful with a Ninjago-like TV show, but let's not forget that Ninjago started out with just a 44-minute special, not a full show, and still became the company's best-selling new product launch of all time. Elves, as mentioned, seemed to get a similar upfront investment to Bionicle G2, and yet has lasted twice as long. So when a theme like Bionicle or Hero Factory needs a much larger media presence than System themes to attain an equivalent level of success, that seems to be pretty compelling evidence against investing more heavily in constraction themes.

 

Never meant to imply it was bad, just saying that a dying theme is not out of the ordinary at all.

 

If System is doing better than constraction, then why not just make Bionicle a System theme? I'll miss the constraction element as much as the next guy, but I would never define a franchise's value solely on what merch is available.

 

 

HF didn't have anything behind it, either. The media surrounding it wasn't something kids had a lot of incentive to get invested in, and it only got worse with time. HF didn't do well because it didn't attract kids like G1 Bionicle did.

 

Well, Hero Factory did last five years, longer than quite a lot of other themes.

But did it do particularly well? Because there's not much reason to believe it did when Lego couldn't be bothered to give it a decent sendoff.

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Thing is there is still the eastern markets Lego can appeal to. However from what I can tell they're not really taking off there either.

 

People there are generally not as rich as most Americans, so it might not be a very promising market to begin with.

 

 

 

Things like roblox and minecraft basically provide potentially infinite content due to the emphasis on user generated games at a very cheap price. Something that really wasn't available (to kids at least) during the last decade.

 

Minecraft has been around since the start of this decade and Lego's decline has only been in the last twelve months, so I don't think there's a connection there.

 

 

 

But did it do particularly well?

 

Perhaps not particularly well going by the decreasing number of sets each year, but that it lasted that fairly long whilst the last Bionicle got cancelled within two years suggests it did at least fairly well.

 

 

 

Because there's not much reason to believe it did when Lego couldn't be bothered to give it a decent sendoff.

 

I don't think the quality of the sendoff says too much about the sales of the whole line.

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Some of y'all are really absurdly passionate about TLJ, and Star Wars in general. I get that a movie, series, or character can mean a lot to someone but honestly maybe we should identify less with being consumers and rather take the things we consume to become better individuals and creators. If it doesn't help you get there, you're only wasting your time, energy, and attention on something that makes you feel bad. Just. . . relax.

 

In my opinion (for however much it matters) I think LEGO will be fine. There seems to be a budding concern in this forum over the stability of LEGO in the long haul, which I don't think is unreasonable, but I don't think video games are pushing physical toys out of the market completely. Physical toys may have to downsize to find a more comfortable place in the market, but they will still be there for your kids (after that, who knows, but it won't matter to you by then). LEGO is even more persistent than other toys. If someone survives the changes in the market, it's LEGO. It has an impeccable brand and offers a play experience more complex and endearing than most other toys.

I'm not saying video games are destroying them. Lego and video games co-existed fine in the 2000s. I believe however that with the advent of virtual building block games especially with the portability of a tablet I think it has a real chance of killing the sales for physical bricks. I think what's different with the games we all played as children is that they were usually a one and done kind of deal. Typically a platformer or other genre that once you finished you were done with. You'd have to go buy another video game. Things like roblox and minecraft basically provide potentially infinite content due to the emphasis on user generated games at a very cheap price. Something that really wasn't available (to kids at least) during the last decade. So I think it could end up satisfying that creative need that Lego used to fill. Maybe I am thinking in terms of doom and gloom but google trends does show that with the increasing searches for roblox the searches for Lego go down.

 

 

I definitely hear you and think that you make a good point. I just feel like LEGO can still exist with games like Roblox and Minecraft, like Sir Kohran has said. I agree that eventually building games may start to become a problem for LEGO (especially now that we'll soon be living in a post-Toys-R-Us world, I have no idea what'll become of toys) as society and technology continues to change and progress, even in our lifetime, I just am not sure if we're seeing the effects of that completely, at least not in full force. Besides LEGO is such a huge company that we can probably be sure they will at least put in a good effort in trying to stay relevant. We've seen them adapt with all the different LEGO video games, and especially through LEGO Worlds and Digital Designer, and it's possible LEGO is looking years ahead at expanding how we play.

 

Virtual reality could be really promising for LEGO as it becomes more sophisticated. Could it end the physical experience as we know it? Very possibly, but for now I'll just wait patiently. 3D printing still hasn't destroyed LEGO either, though I won't speak too soon!

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I think there's a case to be made that video games and other forms of electronic media have potentially affected the sales of Bionicle, but not Lego as a whole. Recall that it was explained that G1 Bionicle fans largely did not transition into buying lego sets from other themes. I'd argue that's because Bionicle was targeting the action figure sector of the toy market more than the building toy sector. And Bionicle's sales peaked in the first couple years because, at the time, the other big robotic action figure line (Transformers) was reeling from the failure of it's latest line (Beast Machines).

 

That kind of success seems no longer possible when action figures sales as a whole are declining. And my theory is that the action figure sector targeted a specific kind of kid that now is more likely to play video games than they are to play with real life toys. Perhaps the reason System themes like Ninjago and City still succeed is because they target a different type of kid, one who is far more creative and spends just as much time building their own creations as they do playing with the set right out of the box. I'm speaking in a general sense here obviously - I know plenty of Bionicle fans MOCed as well, but I question if the majority didn't treat Bionicle more as an action figure than as a construction toy, one they would assemble and play with but not disassemble a hundred times and combine with other sets.

 

All of this is pure conjecture, but it would go a long way to explaining why Lego just cant get CCBS back on its feet, and why they may never.

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Some of y'all are really absurdly passionate about TLJ, and Star Wars in general. I get that a movie, series, or character can mean a lot to someone but honestly maybe we should identify less with being consumers and rather take the things we consume to become better individuals and creators. If it doesn't help you get there, you're only wasting your time, energy, and attention on something that makes you feel bad. Just. . . relax.

 

In my opinion (for however much it matters) I think LEGO will be fine. There seems to be a budding concern in this forum over the stability of LEGO in the long haul, which I don't think is unreasonable, but I don't think video games are pushing physical toys out of the market completely. Physical toys may have to downsize to find a more comfortable place in the market, but they will still be there for your kids (after that, who knows, but it won't matter to you by then). LEGO is even more persistent than other toys. If someone survives the changes in the market, it's LEGO. It has an impeccable brand and offers a play experience more complex and endearing than most other toys.

I'm not saying video games are destroying them. Lego and video games co-existed fine in the 2000s. I believe however that with the advent of virtual building block games especially with the portability of a tablet I think it has a real chance of killing the sales for physical bricks. I think what's different with the games we all played as children is that they were usually a one and done kind of deal. Typically a platformer or other genre that once you finished you were done with. You'd have to go buy another video game. Things like roblox and minecraft basically provide potentially infinite content due to the emphasis on user generated games at a very cheap price. Something that really wasn't available (to kids at least) during the last decade. So I think it could end up satisfying that creative need that Lego used to fill. Maybe I am thinking in terms of doom and gloom but google trends does show that with the increasing searches for roblox the searches for Lego go down.

 

 

I definitely hear you and think that you make a good point. I just feel like LEGO can still exist with games like Roblox and Minecraft, like Sir Kohran has said. I agree that eventually building games may start to become a problem for LEGO (especially now that we'll soon be living in a post-Toys-R-Us world, I have no idea what'll become of toys) as society and technology continues to change and progress, even in our lifetime, I just am not sure if we're seeing the effects of that completely, at least not in full force. Besides LEGO is such a huge company that we can probably be sure they will at least put in a good effort in trying to stay relevant. We've seen them adapt with all the different LEGO video games, and especially through LEGO Worlds and Digital Designer, and it's possible LEGO is looking years ahead at expanding how we play.

 

Virtual reality could be really promising for LEGO as it becomes more sophisticated. Could it end the physical experience as we know it? Very possibly, but for now I'll just wait patiently. 3D printing still hasn't destroyed LEGO either, though I won't speak too soon!

 

Oh yeah I don't think they'll be impacted for another decade or so. But that depends on how much technology advances. Today's 4 year old has a lot more to do on their tablet than I ever did on my huge windows 98 at that age. So let's just hope things don't advance too quickly.

 

 

I think there's a case to be made that video games and other forms of electronic media have potentially affected the sales of Bionicle, but not Lego as a whole. Recall that it was explained that G1 Bionicle fans largely did not transition into buying lego sets from other themes. I'd argue that's because Bionicle was targeting the action figure sector of the toy market more than the building toy sector. And Bionicle's sales peaked in the first couple years because, at the time, the other big robotic action figure line (Transformers) was reeling from the failure of it's latest line (Beast Machines).

 

That kind of success seems no longer possible when action figures sales as a whole are declining. And my theory is that the action figure sector targeted a specific kind of kid that now is more likely to play video games than they are to play with real life toys. Perhaps the reason System themes like Ninjago and City still succeed is because they target a different type of kid, one who is far more creative and spends just as much time building their own creations as they do playing with the set right out of the box. I'm speaking in a general sense here obviously - I know plenty of Bionicle fans MOCed as well, but I question if the majority didn't treat Bionicle more as an action figure than as a construction toy, one they would assemble and play with but not disassemble a hundred times and combine with other sets.

 

All of this is pure conjecture, but it would go a long way to explaining why Lego just cant get CCBS back on its feet, and why they may never.

I can confirm that's what I and all my friends were like as kids. I always treated them as action figures first and foremost. Never experimented with them much. However I do think those more creative kids might be more inclined toward roblox now given the fact there is another layer beyond building things (making a functioning game). I don't know as I (understandably) don't hang out with many kids (all I know is that they like minions, minecraft, and that musical.ly thing). I say wait till Lego's results this year to see if they continue on this trend of shrinking. 

It's time to move on.

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"Keep in mind that if Star Trek fans had, as a group, said, 'No point in talking about this anymore, it's never going to come back,' it never WOULD have come back."

 

-- Greg Farshtey

 

;)

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I think Bionicle should do what power rangers did by creating a more mature movie for older fans while keeping a kid friendly show for the kids.

I actually had plans to create a topic on this idea and probably will create it sometime this week.

Hey I got a Flickr because I like making LEGO stuff.

https://www.flickr.com/people/toatimelord/
 

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I think Bionicle should do what power rangers did by creating a more mature movie for older fans while keeping a kid friendly show for the kids.

I actually had plans to create a topic on this idea and probably will create it sometime this week.

Power Rangers is not Bionicle. Power Rangers is built on being campy, tacky fun, while Bionicle was never intended to survive by virtue of delightful cheese. It was never "immature;" no good storytelling is. Now, if you're talking about the kind of promotion G3 would get, then yeah, maybe a big cinematic release would help.

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Rule #1: Always listen to Kek.

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I think Bionicle should do what power rangers did by creating a more mature movie for older fans while keeping a kid friendly show for the kids.

I actually had plans to create a topic on this idea and probably will create it sometime this week.

aah i hate that fad of r-rated kid's show reboots it's so trashy

 

I don't know what Bionicle would stand to gain from that, it was aimed at kids but it never felt censored or anything, it had moments that were as dark and mature as it could ever need to be.

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I miss BIONICLE.
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I think Bionicle should do what power rangers did by creating a more mature movie for older fans while keeping a kid friendly show for the kids.

I actually had plans to create a topic on this idea and probably will create it sometime this week.

aah i hate that fad of r-rated kid's show reboots it's so trashy

 

I don't know what Bionicle would stand to gain from that, it was aimed at kids but it never felt censored or anything, it had moments that were as dark and mature as it could ever need to be.

I don’t like those “mature” reimaginings either. They did it with Ren and Stimpy, Stephen Hillenburg was approached about doing it with SpongeBob, and Seth McFarlane tried to do it with the Flintstones (thank Mata Nui those last two never happened).

 

If you don’t think BIONICLE is mature enough, I encourage you to read Island of Doom again and pay particular attention to the description of the part where Zaktan stabs Tahu.

Edited by Cheesy Mac n Cheese
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My friend went to Po-Wahi and all I got was this lousy rock.

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It was never "immature;" no good storytelling is.

Counterpoint: Captain Underpants is hilarious. Which isn't to say that approach would work in any way whatsoever for Bionicle, though I'm sure plenty of people in the BZPower comedies forum back in the day gave it their best shot. :P

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It was never "immature;" no good storytelling is.

Counterpoint: Captain Underpants is hilarious. Which isn't to say that approach would work in any way whatsoever for Bionicle, though I'm sure plenty of people in the BZPower comedies forum back in the day gave it their best shot. :P

 

Counter-counterpoint: One can write good humour without getting the other elements of storytelling right. And I did read a few of those books back when I was a wee lad and... well

 

That said I would be curious about a timeline where Lego would secretly consult the BZP comedies subforum for concepts and tonal direction  :P

 

:kakama:

:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

:smilepohatunu: :smilehuki:

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It was never "immature;" no good storytelling is.

Counterpoint: Captain Underpants is hilarious. Which isn't to say that approach would work in any way whatsoever for Bionicle, though I'm sure plenty of people in the BZPower comedies forum back in the day gave it their best shot. :P

Counter-counterpoint: One can write good humour without getting the other elements of storytelling right. And I did read a few of those books back when I was a wee lad and... well

 

That said I would be curious about a timeline where Lego would secretly consult the BZP comedies subforum for concepts and tonal direction :P

 

:kakama:

Well, Captain Underpants is mainly about humor. When it is targeted for children, it has a little bit of mature content. The book series that the movie in 2017 is based on has this kind of thing. Go look at The Angry Birds Movie in 2016, Samurai Jack’s Season 5, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, and the Shrek movies, for examples. They’re like that, too, but with more mature content.

 

Now, Bionicle, though, hmm..., well, the Zaktan-stabbing thing is one dark thing. If Bionicle were to be revived, it would be like the live-action Transformers movies because that’s how returning franchises evolve sometimes.

Hero Factory is like Bionicle for how it utilizes a little bit mature content, like the part where Fire Lord’s hand got ripped out.

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

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It was never "immature;" no good storytelling is.

Counterpoint: Captain Underpants is hilarious. Which isn't to say that approach would work in any way whatsoever for Bionicle, though I'm sure plenty of people in the BZPower comedies forum back in the day gave it their best shot. :P
Counter-counterpoint: One can write good humour without getting the other elements of storytelling right. And I did read a few of those books back when I was a wee lad and... well

 

That said I would be curious about a timeline where Lego would secretly consult the BZP comedies subforum for concepts and tonal direction :P

 

:kakama:

Well, Captain Underpants is mainly about humor. When it is targeted for children, it has a little bit of mature content. The book series that the movie in 2017 is based on has this kind of thing. Go look at The Angry Birds Movie in 2016, Samurai Jack’s Season 5, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, and the Shrek movies, for examples. They’re like that, too, but with more mature content.

 

Now, Bionicle, though, hmm..., well, the Zaktan-stabbing thing is one dark thing. If Bionicle were to be revived, it would be like the live-action Transformers movies because that’s how returning franchises evolve sometimes.

Hero Factory is like Bionicle for how it utilizes a little bit mature content, like the part where Fire Lord’s hand got ripped out.

 

Graphic =/= mature.

 

The misconception that violence and viscerality renders a work mature is what tossed the world of video games into an intellectual dark hole and place of social stigma from which it had to work really had to crawl out of. An utterly non-violent piece of fiction may still be mature. Grimdark themes and violence are the shortest and cheapest way for something to be considered "mature".

 

As someone higher up pointed out, Bionicle's story was fairly mature in G1 but this can in no way be attributed to the violence

 

And I bloody well wouldn't call the live-action Transformers films anywhere close to mature  :D

 

Bionicle's level of "maturity" in G1 was perfect, well balanced. It lost some of that in G2, but that doesn't mean that a hypothetical continuation/g3 needs to overcompensate for that.

 

:kakama:

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:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

:smilepohatunu: :smilehuki:

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Bionicle's brand of edginess would be godawful as a live-action Bayformers clone. The only way it can even remotely work is as an ufotable anime (or another competent studio that can handle 2D and 3DCG integration with decency), since tone shifts in anime are common enough that it won't seem jarring as the tone changes per arc, and because at least everything will look beautiful as opposed to hideous eye searing live-action-CG hybrid garbage. Live-action "mature" reboots were a mistake.

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