Things could have been better if G1 hadn’t stopped.

[Lenny7092]

What it says here. If G1 hadn’t stopped, we could have gotten what it was planned. I mean, here’s what I think it could have happened: 

If the G1 toy line hadn’t been cancelled in 2010, the fifth Bionicle direct-to-video movie could have happened in 2010. It was going to be about Mata Nui and his friends going on a journey to find the Valley of the Maze and look for something in there that could power up Mata Nui’s giant body’s prototype. We could have gotten sets for the everyone (six medium sets for Glatorian, one of them being Mata Nui, five for the Elemental Lords, one for a heroic Skrall, and a large set for the Elemental Lord of Rock) who appeared in a script of the movie that that Greg Farshtey gave us in December 2009 (well, improve it in some parts to make a better plot). There would be a serial about what were the other characters doing during these events. 

If Hero Factory is in the question, this shouldn’t affect HF, now would it? HF could have a TV season with much more than 4 22-minute episodes in 2010, like 10-13 episodes, like how Ninjago happened. If Bionicle and Hero Factory were doing well, Greg would have the right to say that G1 and HF share the same universe (I believe he can if the themes come back beautifully. It’s business by Lego). It would have much more budget and be much better than what we got.

Of course, there was going to be a sixth Bionicle direct-to-video movie in 2011, it would be about Mata Nui, Ackar, and Kiina, trying to survive Bota Magna’s dinosaur-like creatures, as the fifth movie’s script ended with, and probably then the events of the 2010 story arc, where Teridax attacked Bara Magna and the Stars sets were, happened. The Stars sets would have more sets and all would stay being tall and have bend-able limbs, like the 2009 sets. Perhaps sets that just could be remakes fo the old ones, like how Ninjago’s Legacy sets happened. Hero Factory’s 2011 waves shouldn’t be affected, but again, more episodes. 

In 2012, we would have the two serials, The Power That Be and The Yesterday Quest, happened and have endings somehow. We could have gotten the gender-lock in the Matoran species be completely broken, sort of like how Orde happened and how the Av-Matoran happened. We could have gotten more sets for characters who didn’t get sets, like Lariska, rather than just relying on canonization contests. HF’s 2012-2014 waves shouldn’t be affected, but again, more episodes. We could get more “Bionicle Legacy” sets along the way. Maybe with more serials that take place after Teridax’s attack on Bara Magna, and have G1’s unresolved stuff resolved. Plus, HF could have its story finished and have its unresolved stuff resolved, and its episodes would have gotten in Nickelodeon rather than NickToons. 

G1 would also have its own versions of the events of G2 and G2-exclusive characters, like Ekimu, Protectors, Skull Creatures, Elemental Creatures, and Umarak. They could have gotten much more budget, like giving each Toa Master/Uniter their own Skull Villain, Shadow Trap, and Elemental Beast. The Journey to One would do the same as HF (the animation can stay where it is, but make it look actually 3D rather than 2D) and not be in Netflix and be on Cartoon Network, instead.

We could have gotten a story where characters from Bionicle and Hero Factory meet and do time-traveling on their past events that we experienced to fight against a common foe or more, like how Sonic Generations and Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time happened, to end their whole story. Plus, more Legacy sets for Bionicle and Hero Factory. Perhaps a live-action cinematic universe, TV show similar to Ninjago’s, and a video game. Those could have been glorious, and when G1 was doing so good in its time, I always dreamed of that. Even some of you must have dreamt the same thing. Such wasted potential.  I know that some people like you would say “oh, it would be terrible if G1 hadn’t been canceled in 2010”, but this is my point of view. Please respect that. I hope you understand that. 

What do you think would G1 do if its toy line hadn’t been cancelled?

Edited August 18, 2021 by Lenny7092
The last sentience needed spell check.

[Nato G]

I was really hoping this wouldn't be yet another thread pushing your G1/HF campaign. 

What you're proposing simply isn't possible, because G1 and HF never would have been running concurrently. Hero Factory was Bionicle's replacement, so much so that the first wave was literally marketed with "From the makers of Bionicle" on the boxes to win over fans. If Bionicle G1 hadn't been cancelled, Hero Factory wouldn't have happened. The constraction line has always been more of a niche market, and Lego wouldn't have risked diluting that further by pushing and running both themes simultaneously.

For a more current comparison, what would happen if Lego launched a new ninja-based theme right now, with its own animated show, comics, books, etc. while Ninjago is still going strong? It would be confusing and conflicting and hurt both themes. 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Whisper

[Lorentz]

7 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

We could have gotten a story where characters from Bionicle and Hero Factory meet and do time-traveling on their past events

Time travel automatically and irreparably ruins every story that it's added to. The only exception to this is if time travel is the focus of the main plot, like in Doctor Who or Travelers. Also, Bionicle and Hero Factory should never, ever meet. They would not work together in any non-parody scenario. Bionicle takes itself seriously, while Hero Factory does not. Putting them together would be utterly absurd and cause serious permanent damage to both continuities, if the crossover was even canon at all. Why do you wish that Bionicle's story became utter trash?

Next, obviously we'd all be happier if Bionicle wasn't cancelled. But it's been cancelled for over 10 years now. You have to let it go. 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Lorentz

[BionicleBean]

6 hours ago, Whisper said:

For a more current comparison, what would happen if Lego launched a new ninja-based theme right now, with its own animated show, comics, books, etc. while Ninjago is still going strong? It would be confusing and conflicting and hurt both themes. 

they did this, actually. it's called Monkie Kid.

i really liked hero factory, though i don't think the 2 themes sharing a universe

would really be a good thing. i'm sorry, but i just

don't get why one cancelled lego theme should share a

universe with another cancelled theme. i hope you can understand that.

[Nato G]

19 hours ago, Heyzorks said:

they did this, actually. it's called Monkie Kid.

I was... not aware of this. 

I did some reading, and it looks like it's based more on Chinese culture (ninjas are Japanese), and generally aimed at a lower age group. So I guess there's enough degrees of separation there for it to be able to function independently of Ninjago?

[Bambi]

I think Lego can get away with running two Ninja themes at the same time because they are system/brick sets, which obviously are Lego's bread and butter. But I don't know about two technic/constraction themes running simultaneously, since those have never really been quite as big.  Might not work out financially in the long run.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Bambi

[Sailor Wah!]

Quote

they did this, actually. it's called Monkie Kid.

How successful is Monkie Kid so far? Because Chima and Nexo Knights, two Ninjago-like themes that were running at the same time as Ninjago, were unsuccessful. 

[masterchirox580]

After discovering what happened to Lego Universe I can't help but feel like the theme was ended somewhat unjustly. Most indicators show the theme was still making a profit by 2009 but Lego decided to pull the plug anyway. Except for the fact that wasn't the whole story either. Greg Fashtey revealed that Lego actually made the decision to cancel the theme around autumn of 2008. They never really gave Bara Magna a chance to revitalise the theme. Frankly I don't think Lego ended it for practical reasons so much as I think it was ended for other reasons. One thing people often forget is that many of the Lego group's employees hated bionicle back in 2000. They felt it violated everything Lego stood for. It was focused on conflict and an established story which very heavily conflicted with their prior themes which had no real storyline and often times didn't even feature the whole battle in a box philosophy. I don't imagine all those employees are gone and I imagine they were waiting for a time to end bionicle as soon as they could. In 2007 it is known that the company overestimated the profits for the line and that this contributed to the decision to end it. By 2008 the company were no longer reliant on bionicle to keep the company afloat and as such I imagine its' end was more a result of internal company politics.

During 2010 I feel like there was a shift toward what I think many in the company saw as what Lego was supposed to be. The 2000s was a time of great experimentation for the company and produced some of its' most beloved themes. It also produced some of its more mature themes like bionicle, exo-force, and even knights kingdom II with their less humour driven stories. The company was seemingly evolving quite rapidly. But in 2010 we got Hero Factory. A humour based and more simplistic theme with less focus on story. And then we got ninjago which was much the same. And then Chima and so on. The company has seemingly juniorised itself a bit. I think this was possibly due to a traditionalist take over within the company. There were likely various players within the group who wanted to return the company to it's pre 2000 ways and you can see this with their current line up. A lot of the sets nowadays are not so focused on combat or themes of battle and warfare. There is obviously much more licenced stuff and the builds seem to be simpler. The website no longer features Lego characters but rather features images of smiling or laughing human children. The company is obviously doing quite well in this direction and if so, who am I to criticise.

My own personal preferences aside though I personally believe the theme was initially cancelled because of an internal changing of the guard. The company wanted to go away from its' much edgier image in the 2000s towards something that would be considered more appropriate for younger children. And bionicle was the poster boy for this darker image. If the company wanted to go into a new direction. bionicle had to go. Frankly I believe bionicle could have been doing just as well as it was in 2002 and they would have still cancelled it to make way for their new image. Some might ask "then why did Lego bring it back?". I imagine that was a last ditch effort to save constraction. By retreading old ground but in a way more in line with Legos' modern ethos. I don't think bionicle could have ever made it beyond 2010.

[Lorentz]

19 hours ago, masterchirox580 said:

Most indicators show the theme was still making a profit by 2009 but Lego decided to pull the plug anyway.

Which indicators are you referring to? It's common knowledge that Bionicle's sales were slowly declining since the peak in 2002, and that Lego decided to cancel it before they started losing money. Greg confirmed this many times.

  

19 hours ago, masterchirox580 said:

It was focused on conflict and an established story which very heavily conflicted with their prior themes

Because Star Wars totally wasn't focused on conflict or a story. All of Lego's most popular themes revolve around conflict and have established stories.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Lorentz

[BionicleBean]

On 8/22/2021 at 1:08 PM, Lorentz said:

Because Star Wars totally wasn't focused on conflict or a story.

well, the holiday special wasn't.

[(-Kopaka Toa of Ice-)]

On 8/26/2021 at 12:26 PM, Heyzorks said:

well, the holiday special wasn't.

That was such a big mess that i've never looked it up despite hearing about it. I'll rewatch the bad American Dad holiday 2 episode dvd specials The Most Adequate Christmas Ever and Rapture's Delight rather than any other franchise christmas specials.

[Eiji Hino]

are you familiar with the concept of seasonal rot?  the longer a thing goes on, the fewer fresh ideas the creative team has and the more mediocre that thing becomes as a result; if gone on long enough, the thing will eventually lose everything that made it special and will cease to attract new people to it.  bionicle G1 was already going through seasonal rot around the time the decision was made to end it.  allowing it to continue on and on for years like you so desperately want would invite so much more rot that, eventually, it would cease to become bionicle anymore.

was bionicle G1's end the glorious final outing we thought it deserved?  doubtful.  but at least it got its plug pulled on a satisfactory narrative note and a final wave of sets.  for something that was apparently making lego a fraction of its previous earnings at the time, that was extremely generous.

the best stories are ones that are allowed to come to an ending, and i think it's long past time for you to put the book down.

[Khirt21]

On 8/15/2021 at 4:57 PM, Lenny7092 said:

What do you think would G1 do if its toy line hadn’t been cancelled?

Then everything will go as planned for Greg Farshtey, its creator.

Hero Factory will then unite with Bionicle in the upcoming movie series, Bionicle: The Complete Saga.

 

******, everything is possible. Right, guys?

[Lorentz]

On 4/21/2022 at 3:26 PM, Khirt21 said:

Greg Farshtey, its creator.

Bionicle had been in the works for years before Greg got involved.