Obsolescence

BIONICLE is the epic story of heroes that have powers based on different elements such as fire, water, air, ice, earth, and stone fighting off evil bad guy people on a quest to restore peace and humanity.

But they aren't humans, dude.

A classic red Hau unevenly cropped out of an image and placed over top of a close-up picture Twizzlers.

"More Than Living" -Jess and the Ancient Ones

The Toys R Us here in Columbia, SC is typically pretty fantastic about putting stuff out very early and their selection is always top notch. Of course, the standard TRU price mark up is always in effect, so if it is not something that I wish to purchase immediatel upon release, I'll just go grab it at Target, which also usually has a quality selection.

 

 

 

 

All you need to know is that Than, Watashi Wa, and Windrider had no business being that amazing in the Q&A forum.

I love you too.

 

I remember when you were Than Matoran of the Village People.

 

What can I say, mistakes were made!

 

You were Than the Matoran of Anger when I joined.

 

That's what he was most of the time, except for one or two occasions where things got wacky.

A really strange science fiction story created to sell buildable action figures.

 

All you need to know is that Than, Watashi Wa, and Windrider had no business being that amazing in the Q&A forum.

I love you too.

 

I remember when you were Than Matoran of the Village People.

All anybody needs to know about the "Golden Age of BZPower" is one simple, powerful message:

 

"brakelatabasaasta feed me "

 

That, and maybe the burnmad emoticon.

LEGO should focus very heavily on marketing, especially stuff like Youtube videos and teaser sites. The relaunch of a once mega-popular brand is a scenario just begging for extensive viral marketing.

An iconic image from years past.

 

Really, lol? I've generally seen widespread love for it on here. Of course, tastes differ, but no, I don't think I could agree with that in any objective sense. And without it, we wouldn't have really had Bionicle as we know it, even though we didn't understand its influence until 2008. Unless you mean in the good sense -- crazy cool! But to each their own...

 

Anyways, like or dislike of the giant robot isn't necessary to answering if you want something else; for me, the fact that I loved it so much is part of why I voted for something else (surprise me) -- because I wouldn't want it to be overused or rehashed.

 

I honestly can't really say what my opinion on anything after the middle of '07 or so is because I more or less stopped following the story then. In any case, I agree that it would be better to try something else so that we don't know how everything will turn out beforehand.

No need. I was here when it all happened.

Can't go wrong with Swallow the Sun or Septicflesh. Personally, I've been on a Sabaton binge recently. So refreshing to hear power metal without high-pitch vocals.

It was psychotic. My first few years from 2004 to about 2007-ish were a blast. BZP was the first thing I checked upon waking up and the last thing I checked before going to sleep. The amount of passionate discussion about a toy line was incredibly impressive, but as has been said by others, it was not always wonderful. Beginning with the second wave of 2007 sets, I began feeling very unhappy with the direction the story and set design were taking. I spearheaded the 2001 nostalgia movement through my vitriolic blog, causing quite a bit of strife. (I was essentially equivalent to a radio shock jock.) I still stand by my assessment then that too many people were blindly accepting the lower quality product LEGO was producing without critically thinking about it, but in any case, the divide between old school and new school fans got pretty heated.

My activity really started to wane in late 2008 as my interest in Bionicle dropped to nearly nothing. I did pick up a few 2009 canister sets, but that was just for parts at that point. My interests had shifted towards Transformers and basketball, but beyond that, the age disparity between me and most other members started to get a bit grating. Sure, there were and still are some pretty mature younger folks here, but there were too many annoying early adolescents for my taste, so I left for good.

Regardless of how it ended for me the first time though, the excitement and intrigue has returned with the new iteration of Bionicle. I cannot say whether I will remain here once the new series officially releases as the site could very easily return to the chaotic pit that it was in the mid-2000s, but I'll give it a shot. It will never be like the Golden Days again. Not for me anyway. I and I think pretty much all of the old fans have grown up too much for that, but perhaps it could become a new great age for the next generation of young fans who will hopefully begin to trickle in over the next few months.

Start over with 2001 story, or at least something similar to it.

Don't bother finishing them.

A new one. Let's face it; the giant robot thing was kinda nuts. Something different is needed.

By the way, nice to see you're still here, Bones.

*EDIT* Color tags won't work for some reason.

Since he was my first ever Bionicle set, I must vote Onewa.

Brutaka. Goofy name, but a nice color scheme and a very intimidating look. Honestly, 2006 was a pretty good year. Yes, the Inika had their flaws, namely their narrow torsos and excessively long limbs, but at the time, the designs were unique and as advanced as we had ever gotten. The problems arose in the following years when those same designs were reused again and again and again.

Visorak. Great parts in a fantastic array of colors and a generally pleasing aesthetic.

So what types of media are you guys most looking forward to/most interested in seeing with this next generation of Bionicle? I for one have always enjoyed the books over the Movies and Comics. Of course, a whole new generation could open the doors on a whole new type of media. We could see a TV show for crying out loud!

 

Personally, I didn't like The Legend Reborn. I just finished watching all of the Bionicle movies last night, and I found that I even preferred Web of Shadows to TLR. The first three films just had a certain feel to them that I thought was missing from TLR. Of course, Mask of Light is obviously my favorite! So if there is going to be any video media (be it TV of Film) I'd like to see it done in the MoL style.

 

Anyway, what type of media would you like to see? That's my question to you, fellow riders of the hypetrain.

A TV show would be fun assuming it is up to par quality-wise with Ninjago. A show may eliminate the need for books, at least as the primary story-telling medium, but I do hope we get some books as well. And of course, comics are a must.

"Visionary" -Kobra and the Lotus

 

 

When it returns, we should have a sort of adopt-a-newbie thing, where a member who is more experienced with the old BIONICLE lore and stuff, can 'adopt' a member who is new to BIONICLE.

 

Oh mayn, I wanna adopt a newbie! There's just something about seeing somebody read through the books for the first time, with all the plot twists, seeing them understand characters, remember names and such...playing MNOG for the first time. I just love it. It's almost as good as if I were able to relive it myself.

 

We really do need a more welcoming home page. Something like...

 

WELCOME TO BZP. WE LIKE BONKLES. 

 

With flashing lights and colors and hype trains going all over the place and stuff. 

 

Well this site could add more "pazazze" considering how old it is.

 

I've got to say a massive no to that. The front page is iconic. It needs to stay as is.

I got rid of it, but it had all sets from 2001 to the first wave of 2007, with a few Mahri, the Phantoka, and a couple of '09 sets sprinkled in for their parts.

 

It will be a reboot. It would be near impossible to cohesively incorporate ten years of convoluted backstory into a new story without completely and utterly confusing new fans.

 

But this isn't true. It's completely possible to have a continuation; all you would have to do is describe the most recent/important events in the storyline.

 

Which are four years old at this point. It's been too long and, let's face it, the story went off the rails and completely insane starting in 2008. It would be better to just forget all the previous craziness and start over fresh.

I just hope the sets are designed well out the box. I no longer own my old Bionicle stuff and I didn't collect Hero Factory, so I can't really make any alterations to things I dislike.

The new Kobra and the Lotus somehow dropped back in June without me noticing. Haven't listened to it enough to form a full opinion yet, but thus far, I'd say it is a good album, if inferior to their fantastic prior effort.