If Bionicle and Ninjago had switched places.

[Lenny7092]

Hi, guys. Well, you see, in 2001-2010 and 2015-2016, we had Bionicle, but it is not here. Ninjago has been around since 2011. Basically, Ninjago outlived Bionicle G1. Both are famous in their own ways. This year, Ninjago’s 10th anniversary is being celebrated, but why not Bionicle’s 20th anniversary? It’s a pity unless Lego would device to make a Bionicle Lego Ideas project successful. I’m so jealous of Ninjago for having all of the glory. Now, suppose both Bionicle and Ninjago had switched years. Would anything be better for Bionicle? What about Ninjago? 
 

Well, if Bionicle was born in 2011 and is still continuing, that’s hallelujah for us Bionicle fans. We would have had a TV show in place of all the media that we had in 2001-2010 and 2015-2016, and G2 wouldn’t have existed. We could get more episodes for the G1 story, and Hero Factory could have been said to be a part of Bionicle G1’s universe (I still believe it does. Greg Farshtey is just thinking about business, and if he were to do this, he would have to re-continue both of these stories to do so), like how Legends of Chima is a part of Ninjago’s universe. We would have a live-action movie or cinematic universe for Bionicle rather than a Lego Movie, and a reasonable TT Lego game for it. Ninjago has all of that glory. 
 

If Ninjago was born in 2001 and did the same as Bionicle did in its G1 and G2 stories, that would be disastrous. Direct-to-video movies and story serials would be interesting, but it wouldn’t Ninjago as much as Bionicle. 
 

What do you think, guys?

[Bambi]

If they had switched places, Lego probably would have gone bankrupt.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Bambi

[TERIDAX941]

Before Ninjago, LEGO already had a ninja line (similar to castle I think, correct me if I'm wrong). I have no idea how popular that ninja line was, but I do know that there are some who remember that ninja line with fondness.

Ninjago possibly could have been released too close to that line finishing for it to have been the smash hit it is today.

I think both are right where they were meant to be, to allow both to shine when the time was right.

[masterchirox580]

Asking such a question is certainly an interesting hypothetical. When trying to answer such a question you have to consider the fact that both lines are very much a product of the time they came out. Both in terms of Lego's own internal management and general pop cultural trends. One thing to understand about the Lego company is that it has a very conservative attitude with regards to its management. When I say conservative I don't mean that in a political sense so much as in terms of Lego's own image of itself and what it wants to make. They have a clear comfort zone that they generally don't like leaving. Bionicle was relased at a time when the company was in a sink or swim situation where the entire company's continuation relied on them creating something which could be a break out hit. Bionicle was very much opposed by a number of higher ups in the company because it strayed so much from the company's own self image and many believe it violated the founders' principle of no depictions of warfare in Lego sets. At the time the company had no choice but to step out of their comfort zone and take a chance on something radically different for them. Not only that it was also created by a small handful of creatives who had a lot of control over the project and were given generally free reign. 

Ninjago on the other hand was a product based more upon marketing surveys and internal collaboration between executives, researches, and designers over the course of three years. The theme itself was initially meant to launch in 2010 but got delayed by one year. Bionicle on the other hand had a fairly quick development cycle of around one year and being more defined by a small team. With this in mind I'm going to break how each theme might have looked in the place of the other. We're gonna go by story, set design, and marketing/media.

STORY

Ninjago 2001

In this hypothetical ninjago 2001 we would have to assume that the theme was created in similar cirucmstances. A tanking company with a small crew to save them. Now we have to consider wider cultural trends at the time. Stories with darker themes were more popular around this time so one thing I could say for certain is that the story would have taken itself a lot more seriously. The characters would probably be better fleshed out and more indepth in comparison to the ninjago we have today which (last time I checked) was a lot more silly with the characters' backstories and motivations really didn't matter all that much. I imagine the plot points would have stayed as the one we got in 2011. However Garmadon would probably be a bit more imposing and speak in a more brutal manner. Sensei Wu would likely be a bit more down about what happened with his brother. Kai would likely be much more distressed by what happened to his sister Nya. Zane would be a lot more bothered by where he came from. And Jay and Cole I can't say. The story would be told more through comics as Lego didn't have the funds to make a TV series at the time. If they had choosen to make one it would probably look very different with much lower quality CGI.

Bionicle 2011

This would probably look almost identical to what we got in G2. G2 was very much following the modern trend of stories which don't take themselves seriously. In fact it's likely that the names of the characters would be very different due to Lego's focus on dumbing itself down for a younger audience around this time. There's not really much to say here. Just watch journey to one and you'll get an idea of what it would have been like

SET DESIGN

Ninjago 2001

Now you have to consider how the average Lego set looked in 2001. Back then Lego had only just stepped in to the world of more complex moulding (as can be seen in harry potter). The set design would likely involve minifigures which are a lot less detailed than today. I imagine we would have seen a lot more baseplates in grey or black (maybe green). In fact I imagine the skeletons would have involved samurai elements. It would likely have taken more from medieval Japan generally as Lego weren't as afraid of incorporating real world cultural elements in a manner that might be considered unflattering. Which also means that Lego themes that came after this hypothesised ninjago 2001 wouldn't have had the same unease around the use of foreign cultural elements thanks to the fact the Maori people wouldn't have sued the company. The ninja themselves would likely have been the same and certain elements like the sai and shuriken would have been created much earlier. And of course there is the two most important elements in the success of bionicle. That is affordability and collectibility. Now if Lego would have done this is up in the air but for the sake of the hypothesis let's assume they had done. What sets could they have made which were both collectible and affordable. They could have gone the spinner route but part of me doubts it as it would have been territory Lego weren't particularly confident in. So I imagine mechs would have been used instead. Yes that's right. This ninjago would likely be similar to exo-force in a lot of ways. In fact it's very likely Lego would have used anime styling like exo-force. The mechs would have been the collectible and affordable thing they needed to get the cash they needed to stay afloat. I imagine it would have perhaps involved certain special bricks as collectibles. Something a bit like the light up bricks of the actual exo-force. This would have been the only way such a line at the time could have saved the company.

Bionicle 2011

Now this one is a lot more tricky to imagine as it would all come down to one thing. Had bionicle not existed in 2001, and run for ten years, would CCBS have been introduced? This would depend on one of two things. In the scenario where Ninjago was released in 2001, would they have kept making constraction figures. I think in this scenario there is a heavy possibility that Lego would have released boneheads of voodoo island. Needless to say it would probably fail. Would Lego have continued making constraction figures? I don't imagine they would have done if both roboriders and voodoo heads were failures (I think roboriders was a failure). In this scenario we would have to assume that there was some kind of upward trend in the action figure market later in the 2000s resulting in Lego taking up interest once again. So after such a long pause would CCBS have been created? The more I think about it the more I'd have to say no. For the simple fact that CCBS was something of a backlash to bionicle from within the company. They had decided that after a decade, technic pieces were not appropriate for creating constraction figures. Without the prior experience I doubt Lego would look to create something as drastically different as CCBS. So in this scenario it would be technic based as what happened in our current timeline. One difference I could probably note is that the sets would be bigger and much more detailed. Likely featuring more robotic elements and would perhaps look something a bit like mindstorm. In fact given that the smartphone was just picking around 2011 it's very likely they would have combined it with more technology like smartphones. I imagine something like a miniature mindstorm with an elemental theme is what this bionicle would look like. 

MARKETING/MEDIA

Ninjago 2001

Now back in 2001 the internet was still a relatively new and upcoming thing so all the hallmarks would be there. That is flash based animations. However unlike bionicle it would probably have anime stylings (much like exo-force). It would likely use a lot of anime tropes as well. There would probably have been an emphasis on collectibility and possibly might have used actual Japanese. Now we get to a bigger question, would there be a film? My answer to that is probably. Despite Lego's financial issues at the time they still funded three films so I don't see why this hypothetical ninjago would be any different. I'd imagine the film would be similar to the forty minute pilot for ninjago that we got in 2011. Only it would be longer and would take itself much more seriously. I imagine there would have been more on the backstory of the ninja as well as more world building. Overall it could have been better than the ninjago we got.

Bionicle 2011

Now this is much more straight forward to imagine. The media we would have gotten would have been the same in tone and style as in journey to one. There really is no need to use your imagination because journey to one is 2010s bionicle. One difference however is that it wouldn't have used those flash animations as those were created to harken back to the series' origin. Seeing as in this scenario bionicle wouldn't have that history, it would rely purely on CGI instead. The advertisements would likely be similar in style to G2. The main difference would be its use of apps. Apps would likely play a heavier role. It's possible that masks would have been imprinted with QR codes which, in turn, would make for a collectability appeal. 

Conclusion

Overall I'm happy with what we got. I never cared much for ninjago anyway so I'm glad I got bionicle. Of course if I had grown up in this hypothetical timeline there is a good chance that statement could be reversed. But it does leave the question of if Lego could have survived with this ninjago. And the answer is quite possibly yes. If they had managed to work out a decent price point it could have matched the sales of bionicle which kept the company afloat. That's all. Thanks for reading. 

[Bioniclefan7782]

On 5/9/2021 at 4:55 PM, TERIDAX941 said:

Before Ninjago, LEGO already had a ninja line (similar to castle I think, correct me if I'm wrong). I have no idea how popular that ninja line was, but I do know that there are some who remember that ninja line with fondness.

Ninjago possibly could have been released too close to that line finishing for it to have been the smash hit it is today.

I think both are right where they were meant to be, to allow both to shine when the time was right.

Your correct!

[Bioniclefan7782]

On 5/9/2021 at 5:16 AM, Bambi said:

If they had switched places, Lego probably would have gone bankrupt.

Well ninjago sold well in its first years right?

[Bambi]

1 hour ago, Bioniclefan7782 said:

Well ninjago sold well in its first years right?

Yes, but how do you think they would have sold in the early 2000s, when Lego already had other Castle and ninja sets, and (in my opinion) better themes? Not to mention Exo-Force coming out in the mid 2000s.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Bambi

[Bioniclefan7782]

14 minutes ago, Bambi said:

Yes, but how do you think they would have sold in the early 2000s, when Lego already had other Castle and ninja sets, and (in my opinion) better themes? Not to mention Exo-Force coming out in the mid 2000s.

Well at the time this existed https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Jack-Stone

[Bambi]

12 minutes ago, Bioniclefan7782 said:

Well at the time this existed https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Jack-Stone

So did Alpha Team, Island, Orient Expedition, and so on, not to mention Knights' Kingdom would come out in '04. Quite a diverse lineup at the time.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Bambi

[Bioniclefan7782]

10 hours ago, Bambi said:

So did Alpha Team, Island, Orient Expedition, and so on, not to mention Knights' Kingdom would come out in '04. Quite a diverse lineup at the time.

well those themes did not sell very good

[Bambi]

8 minutes ago, Bioniclefan7782 said:

well those themes did not sell very good

You think Ninjago would have been an exception?

[Bioniclefan7782]

1 minute ago, Bambi said:

You think Ninjago would have been an exception?

No

[Bambi]

1 minute ago, Bioniclefan7782 said:

No

Well then I'm not sure where you're trying to go with this conversation.  Ninjago might have sold well when it came out, but I don't think it would have saved Lego the way Bionicle did if it had come out at that time.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Bambi

[Bioniclefan7782]

18 minutes ago, Bambi said:

Well then I'm not sure where you're trying to go with this conversation.  Ninjago might have sold well when it came out, but I don't think it would have saved Lego the way Bionicle did if it had come out at that time.

yeah you have a point