Max_Nui Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 If you could travel back in time to purchase Bionicle, what year and season would you go back to? The rules are that you can only go back for one day, and you can only go to one retailer (i.e. Walmart, Toys R Us, etc.). Personally, I would go back to the Fall of 2003. I would go into Toys R Us and purchase every single Kanohi Nuva mask pack they had. I also would love to see the MoL memorabilia and purchase the Takutanuva set. What about you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 Call me basic, but I'd really like to go back to 2001, or maybe the early waves of 2002. For the pure purpose of being able to see what that initial "boom" was like, as a somewhat younger gal than a lot of people in the Bionicle community it just ended up passing me by by a few years, and seeing people's stories about it gives me a sort of secondhand nostalgia that I kinda wish I could understand more. Anyways, I'd basically just buy all the Toa again, as well as the Turaga an' Rahi, tho since I assume McDonalds is excluded as a retailer in this context then that means no McToran :c Oh well I'd also kinda want to observe the other products around me to really put into perspective HOW much Lego and the toy industry has rapidly changed in these two decades. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambi Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 Maybe 2003, because that year was probably the most hype for me. So much was going on at the time, like getting a Bionicle movie, console game, the Rahkshi were super cool, and the whole seventh Toa thing too. There was just a lot happening and little Bambi was so into it. Quote [my blog] [custom emotes] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xboxtravis Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 (edited) Late 2001 for me too. A chance to snap up as many mask packs as I can, get all the Tohunga sets as McDonalds toys and not secondhand prices, all the Rahi. Not to mention outside Bionicle I could finally have a chance to buy stuff like the Life on Mars sets... Although with that said, my second pick would be... 2016 actually. Bizarre I know, but I would rather have taken the chance to have gotten all the 2016 sets if I had known the line was about to be cancelled and the Bricklink prices would skyrocket then. Stock up on the sets on discount in early 2017 in toys r us for MOC parts too. I still don't have Storm and Quake Beast, along with half the creatures now five years later because I am still very carefully waiting to pay a reasonable price and not 4X MSRP on those sets (I got lucky to get Umarak the Destroyer and most of the Toa Uniters at MSRP last year though, very very lucky). Edited May 12, 2021 by Xboxtravis 1 Quote All aboard the hype train! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mukaukau Nuva Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 I'm not sure what year/era I would be tempted to choose. I was active & aware during 2006-2010, & I pretty much got most of the sets I wanted during those times (as well as a few that I kinda regret getting), so I wouldn't feel the need to go back for round two. 2001 & 2002 felt like ancient history to me at the time, so going back then to grab obscure stuff, like the Power Pack or random Kanohi packs would be right up my alley. I totally missed the collectables, & unlike the sets of that era, it's hard to 're-create' the experience by just re-building an old set. You'd have to actually open rogue Kanohi packs that managed to survive unopened for 20 years, but that feels flat-out irresponsible given how few sealed ones are left. Plus the chance of grabbing Muaka & Kane-Ra is just too good to pass up. The 2004 fan in me is tempted to pick that year for the chance to snag Ultimate Dume & the occasional Kanoka pack. Ultimate Dume always fascinated me as a kid, looking thru the encyclopedia. Now that I know that the 'exclusive mask' is just a weird misshapen helmet thing, & that Dume's mask is just a red-recolour of Norik's mask (I know Dume wore it 1st, but at the time I'd never seen the Dume set in person, while I had seen Toa Norik's), the set is obvs. less 'mysterious' for me than it was then. So yeah, 2001, for random hipster kitsch, no less. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TERIDAX941 Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 I'd go back to 2009 and grab Toa Mata Nui back when he was only $50, if only to grab the golden Ignika at that price (I could care less about the overall build, though it does look cool, if a bit lanky). Nowadays, that mask alone is really pricey and I can't justify spending that much money on a single mask. *sigh* maybe one day. 1 Quote Formerly Iron_Man5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesy Mac n Cheese Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 (edited) It’s a tough one, but realistically, I should probably narrow it down to one of the years with large, expensive sets I never got, and which have only increased in value in the aftermarket. Those would be 2001 (Manas, any toy retailer), late 2003 (Takutanuva, Toys ‘R’ Us) or late 2009 (Toa Mata Nui, LEGO Store or Shop at Home), and to a lesser extent late 2002 (Cahdok & Gahdok, any toy retailer). I ended up getting basically all the sets released from 2006 to 2008, so those three years can be completely eliminated. Edited May 12, 2021 by Cheesy Mac n Cheese Quote My friend went to Po-Wahi and all I got was this lousy rock. Blue sea...a Ruki leaps...the sound of water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taria Pakari Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 Gonna echo others and say 2001 to experience what it was like at the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Matoran with a Vahi Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 I want to say a random McDonalds in America, 2001. I don't know if it was the case in the States; but over here, if you bought a McDonalds kids meal, you could spend an extra £1 to get a second toy in addition to the free one... my parents did that for me all the time when there were promotions on that I was interested in! We never got the McToran in the UK, due to Bionicle having been released half a year ago here by that point; but if the option of buying additional toys was available in America as well, I would PROBABLY buy as many of them as they'd sell me... If that doesn't count, or wasn't the case, or they wouldn't sell a kids meal to an adult ()... then it'd have to be mid/late 2001, the local independent toy shop. Mainly for the Powerpack, and its little Hafu in particular. It was in stock there for a while, but I vaguely remember that my parents, quite understandably, didn't see the value in a Lego set that was 50% a music CD and only like eight actual pieces, so I never got it. Probably a handful of Kanohi packs too, for the nostalgia of tearing them open and seeing which cool mask recolours I got... it was a rare experience for me, and I kinda miss it a little. ...also just to relive the atmosphere in that toy shop, since the shop has been gone for many years now. But I can't guarantee that I wouldn't also be eyeing up some of the non-Bionicle 90s Lego sets that they still had in stock at the time, too. Particularly anything Ninja or Adventurers or Rock Raiders... xD 1 Quote "New legends awake, but old lessons must be remembered. For that is the way of the BIONICLE." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toa Hovoki Zehvor Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 (edited) On 5/11/2021 at 10:11 PM, Mukaukau Nuva said: 2001 & 2002 felt like ancient history to me at the time, so going back then to grab obscure stuff, like the Power Pack or random Kanohi packs would be right up my alley. I totally missed the collectables, & unlike the sets of that era, it's hard to 're-create' the experience by just re-building an old set. You'd have to actually open rogue Kanohi packs that managed to survive unopened for 20 years, but that feels flat-out irresponsible given how few sealed ones are left. Plus the chance of grabbing Muaka & Kane-Ra is just too good to pass up. Seconded! My rational answer is '01. I still don't have most of the Rahi and it will be EXTREMELY hard to find them without spending a mint going forward here. Additionally, I just know I'd have an amazing time collecting masks. If Bionicle ever does come back as a Lego line in some form I hope there will be some element of collectibility. Another reason to go back to '01 would be to fulfill my lifelong dream of assembling an army of mctoran (and enjoy some nuggets and apple slices while I'm at it). I'd also definitely do whatever I could to get my past self on the proto-squad. I'm still a little fuzzy about how that worked to be honest. I'd also consider going back and joining the hunt for a sterling silver Krana-Kal (anyone selling?), but I kind of feel like I'd just work myself into a frenzy and never find one so maybe it's for the best I wasn't aware of those until much later. My nostalgic answer is '06. I have all the sets so it doesn't make a ton of logical sense, but I would go right to my Bionicle happy place: the Lego aisle at Zellers (if you know, you know). Picking up those canisters, looking at the different Zamor colours, testing the Inika swords and the Piraka eyes, copying down the Kanoka Club codes on my notepad, looking longingly at Brutaka (who I wouldn't acquire for another 15 years)... it was just a special time for me as a Bionicle fan. Plus, I could pick up a ton of Exo-Force and classic Star Wars sets! EDIT: Wow, I just became a Tohunga! Cool stuff Edited May 13, 2021 by Toa Hovoki Zehvor Celebrating promotion to Tohunga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bioniclefan7782 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 I would go back to 2008 and tell them to make better pieces cuz you know they cracked a lot during that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taria Pakari Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 23 hours ago, That Matoran with a Vahi said: but over here, if you bought a McDonalds kids meal, you could spend an extra £1 to get a second toy in addition to the free one... I never knew that. Darn, missed opportunity to create an army of those spinny dragon toys they did... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostieM Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Lego store in 2007, I wouldn't have to worry about store exclusives and id probably still be able to get some older sets as well. the cool system stuff out around that time like the SpongeBob and exo-force sets would also be nice to get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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