Aanchir

Since the entry period ends tomorrow, it could be that a lot of people posting last-minute entries (like my brother did this morning) is creating a level of traffic that the site is struggling with. Hope it is resolved soon and y'all can get your entries in!

I wouldn't assume this. While Mixels is a co-production between LEGO and Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network's involvement extends beyond just the show. How do we know that they won't just continue to promote Mixels via CN-produced apps like they've previously been doing alongside the show? After all, Cartoon Network has lately been expanding their mobile app development, including apps that do not tie in with any of their existing shows. It's not that I find it hard to believe that Mixels could end after a three-year, nine-wave run. That's a respectable run, and it's not hard to imagine that LEGO and Cartoon Network might both be ready and willing to move on to other projects once their contract together expires. But I wouldn't assume the sets can't exist without the show. If they do end Mixels, I hope they plan to introduce something else similarly quirky, useful, and affordable.

Technic and Duplo are both building systems AND themes. For example, this year's Bucket Wheel Excavator and Porsche 911 GT3 RS sets use Technic as a building system, and are also part of the Technic theme. The LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set and the Lord of Skull Spiders both use Technic as a building system, but are not a part of the Technic theme. Duplo is not used outside the Duplo theme as often as Technic is used outside the Technic theme, but there are LEGO Education sets that are Duplo-based but not branded as part of the Duplo theme, just as there are LEGO Education sets that are Technic-based but not branded as part of the Technic theme. Whether or not Ninjago and Nexo Knights trace their roots to previous ninja and castle themes, they still indisputably qualify as new and distinct IPs. Even Bionicle itself didn't spring up out of nowhere — it originated as a spin-off of the Technic theme, the Toa were inspired by the Slizer/Throwbots sets that came before them, and the Rahi were inspired by the LEGO Technic Competition/Cyber-Slam sets. What made Bionicle a distinct intellectual property was not just its branding but also its premise, world, and characters. Ninjago likewise has a decidedly different premise, world, and characters than the Ninja theme that came before it, and Nexo Knights has a decidedly different premise, world, and characters than any previous Castle themes. Is that really anything new, though? After all, LEGO Star Wars had ten Technic buildable figures of its own from 2000 to 2003. But those were still some of Bionicle G1's most successful years. If the popularity of LEGO Star Wars were an existential threat to LEGO Bionicle then you'd expect that to have been a problem in those years as well, but that doesn't seem to have been the case. It's also worth noting that part of the reason Bionicle was created in the first place was as a response to LEGO Star Wars. LEGO wanted a theme with that kind of brand strength without the same financial obligation to license-holders. That factor has not changed — LEGO still has to pay royalties for every licensed set they sell, so they have as much financial incentive as ever to create and maintain their own IPs. LEGO actually did have a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme running alongside Ninjago in 2013 and 2014, and there were about as many Ninja Turtles sets those years as there were Ninjago sets (six in 2013 and nine in 2014). Ninja Turtles is an extensive IP that has survived for decades, and the LEGO Ninja Turtles sets tied in with a successful and highly acclaimed cartoon on Nickelodeon as well as a big-budget, high-grossing theatrical film. By contrast, Ninjago had no new TV episodes to promote it in 2013, and only eight episodes in 2014. But of those two, Ninjago is the one that ended up persisting, reclaiming its place as one of the LEGO Group's top themes and becoming evergreen. LEGO chose not to renew their license for TMNT building toys, effectively surrendering it one of their biggest competitors, Mega Bloks. So needless to say, Ninjago's success can't simply be chalked up to a lack of licensed competition.

"The one line that LEGO made and created themselves?" No idea what you mean by that. Bionicle is just one of MANY lines that LEGO created themselves, including City, Friends, Ninjago, Elves, Technic, Creator, and Nexo Knights. And contrary to your assumption that LEGO's success is "concentrated" in licensed themes, the truth is that licensed sets make up no more than a third of the LEGO Group's business, a status quo that has held steady for over a decade. Of the LEGO Group's five top-selling themes last year, only one (Star Wars) was licensed, three (City, Friends, and Ninjago) were non-licensed, and one (Duplo) was a mix of both. The LEGO Group's portfolio of non-licensed themes is far more successful today than it was before Bionicle G1 began! Clearly, it wasn't Bionicle's originality that did it in, nor is LEGO in any way biased towards licensed themes when it comes to what properties they invest in.

Nothing that isn't Star Wars has ever been advertised as Ultimate Collectors' Series. There was the Ultimate Collectors' Edition Batmobile, but it wasn't really in a series with anything until The Tumbler came out last year, and that one no longer used the Ultimate Collectors' Edition moniker. Nevertheless, the current definition for Ultimate Collectors' Series (and honestly, the only clear-cut definition it's ever had) is "any large Direct-to-Consumer Star Wars set". So the equivalent of UCS for other themes would certainly include sets like the Temple of Airjitzu, Haunted House, Firehouse Headquarters, Tower of Orthanc, Classic TV Series Batcave, SHIELD Helicarrier, etc.

I don't really plan to get any of these sets, but I'm most impressed with the Hovertank and the AT-ST. Both seem to have a very good size and piece count for their US prices, as well as really great builds. The Hovertank is probably my favorite new vehicle I've seen from Rogue One so far, because it feels really true to the "used future" aesthetic of the original trilogy without feeling too derivative of previous vehicles. Seriously, if I didn't know any better, you could tell me that it had shown up in the background of scenes from all three original trilogy movies and I'd believe you. The set is really basic in terms of play features, but the build makes great use of different building techniques to create interesting shapes and textures. The AT-ST, by comparison, is a great re-imagining of an original trilogy vehicle. It feels the most authentic of any LEGO version of the AT_ST besides the Ultimate Collectors' Series version from 2006 in terms of shaping and details. My biggest concern is that it might be too big — in the original trilogy, at least, AT-STs were 8.6 meters tall, or between five and five and a half times the height of an average adult. This one is between five and a half and six times the height of a minifigure. Plus, it will be hard for any AT-AT model to feel appropriate in size next to this one, since AT-ATs are supposed to tower over not just people but also smaller walkers!

I love Jyn, even though her outfit doesn't wow me as much as Rey's did with its more exciting colors and that stylish textile element. Kinda frustrated that she'll be $25, since she has mostly the same proportions as Rey, but I guess it makes sense since Jyn has more elaborate weapons, more stuff built onto her back, and more new molds. She still has a better piece count than previous $25 figures. Her head sculpt is great, though I'm frustrated that LEGO chose to give her headgear, since as with Rey and Poe, it limits the head's potential for reuse. The new torso shell seems about as limited as the previous Star Wars torso shell, but it has good proportions and good printing, and should be useful for future female characters in this series. She has some nice recolors too. K-2SO has an amazingly creative build that makes heavy use of Technic, which is probably why he's got the best piece count for his price point out of all the Star Wars buildable figures to date. This article is the first thing that really sheds light on his function, which sounds about the same as Skull Basher's, which I loved. I appreciate the variety in functions! The Death Trooper is the one figure I'm sort of "meh" on. As classy as they look, monochrome trooper builds bore me, and while this figure mixes it up with a decorated pauldron and some sort of ammo or explosives over their chest, it doesn't overcome that bland color scheme. Even Phasma and the First Order Stormtrooper had more contrast, plus a more nostalgic look. The new thigh shell used on all three figures is interesting, though its benefit over existing shells feels kind of limited. I don't know if the curves are necessary, and I don't like how it's mounted to the sides, which makes the thighs seem very narrow from the front. At least this shell has connection points besides the ball snap, unlike the shin and torso shells on previous Star Wars buildable figures. Overall, Jyn is the character I'm most looking forward to. All three figures are well-designed, but Jyn is the only one with an exciting color scheme, which has played a big role in all my Star Wars buildable figure purchases so far. I know monochrome troopers are very much A Thing in Star Wars, but I hope future series of buildable figures feature more color variety than this series does.

The price increase is definitely daunting but, as Lyi said, more than half of that is just catching up on eight years of inflation. And I can see why they wouldn't want to make monumental changes to a set that sold well enough to keep around for eight years. The minifigure updates are excellent (probably the best versions of these characters to date), and there are some other nice updates to the build, like using the new smaller spring-loaded shooter instead of a giant Technic shooter and improving the accuracy of the Emperor's throne room. The Dianoga and torture droid look a lot better than they did before, too. So is it worth $500? Maybe not, but that's less than 10% more than what you'd expect based on the cost of the previous version. And while it's frustrating not to get a truly "new" UCS set, this is a set that has long been out of date and in need of refreshing. I'm in no hurry to get this set, but if I were in the market for a Death Star in the first place I'd probably have bought the previous one. I guess we'll see if this one manages to stick around as long as the last one did! So you're saying LEGO should make up for two sets that feel like repeats of stuff we've had before with… a repeat of something else we've had before? I can definitely understand being underwhelmed by two repetitive UCS sets in a row, but I don't see how a third would solve that. A lot of us on the news team write LEGO news because, for the most part, it's something that excites us and makes us happy. Frankly, the BZPower news would feel a lot less real to me if I had to write everything with a stiff, unfeeling attitude. We're not writing about fluctuations in the cost of kitchen appliances here — we're writing about toys, games, and cartoons from a brand we enjoy.

Concerning recent themes like Ninjago, it's worth remembering that they came about in the age of social media, so a lack of dedicated forums shouldn't be taken as evidence for a lack of fan engagement. I see way more Ninjago-related activity on sites like Twitter and Tumblr than Bionicle-related activity, and I hear there's quite a large community of Ninjago fans on Instagram as well. That's not to say that the Bionicle fan community isn't still unusually strong. Just as one example, the Makuta contest on LEGO Rebrick has generated over 1500 submissions, far more than any previous Rebrick contest since the site was relaunched. But other themes shouldn't be sold short in terms of fan engagement just because their fan communities aren't organized in the same ways that Bionicle fans are. Frankly, even the Bionicle fan community is organized much differently than it used to be, and even if Bionicle returns to its former greatness at some point in the future, that won't necessarily mean a return to the type of forum culture that was typical a decade ago. For my part, I think hypothetically Bionicle could come back in the future, but that's with the condition that we have no idea what kind of cultural changes are in store in the future. LEGO wasn't able to bring Bionicle back in a way that really resonated with kids this time around, but that doesn't mean there won't ever be a strategy that will work better or a generation of kids that's more receptive to Bionicle's core concepts. So I'd go with "could go either way". As for whether I'd want it back… probably not right yet. Bionicle will probably always be important to me, so I'd definitely be open to it coming back in the future, but I don't see any kind of urgency to bringing it back when for all I know, entirely new concepts might be even more promising. Bionicle is a great theme, but not necessarily the greatest theme there's ever been, and certainly not the best theme there ever COULD be. So I'm not going to be waiting at the edge of my seat for new Bionicle when I could be enjoying whatever else the future has in store.

Never seen any full scans. I have seen pictures of the first issue and its gift set (Skull Scorpion) on the Brickset Forums (German edition, UK edition). I don't think I've seen any photos of Issue 2 yet, though I know some people have managed to build Agil (Ekimu's Falcon) from the preview pics in Issue 1.

It wouldn't be too difficult to add friction, would it? Maybe not as much as a ball joint would allow, but if you use two friction pins instead of cross axles that'd be a start.

Go back and re-read my initial post, I didn't make a single comment whatsoever about the concept art or "how much more work went into G1 than G2". I have continually hammered in my point that it's not that the teams of one worked harder than the other, but that they didn't truly understand the concept of Bionicle. I'm not sure if you even reading the same posts I wrote, because I never even mentioned the video either. I have consistently given a qualified argument about how one can put a lot of work and effort into something, and still not have the understanding to make a full hearted product. My main point, the first thing I posted about here was that we can't judge a product based on the concept art we've seen of it or what what we never got for the theme. A story should be successful enough to tell the story it wants in the medium and time it has. That was all I said. Again, it feels like you're putting words in my mouth and drawing conclusions based on things I've never said or even implied. I agree that they probably put a lot of work into the theme, and when going back and re-reading all of my posts there is nothing I ever said to imply the opposite. My apologies. I finally figured out what happened: I mistook Wazdakka's original post (the one that started this whole mess of a thread) with one of yours. He's the one who asserted that there was a lack of effort, not you — you just joined in partway through without me realizing that you were a newcomer to the conversation. It was complicated for me to keep track of who was who because up until around 6:00 yesterday evening I was browsing on my phone, which made it harder to scroll through previous posts as I was replying. Still, the fault for this confusion, and my subsequent misplaced frustration, is entirely on me. Please disregard my previous replies to you, and I hope you can forgive me for getting mixed up in this way.

What I had meant by half-hearted was that there wasn't any real heart to G2. Not that their efforts were any less, but that it was lacking the spirit and understanding of what Bionicle is about. A reboot can be half-hearted even if the effort is not, because it's one thing to put work into something, but another to put the care and understanding into it necessary to make it feel alive and real. Again, that's not anything on the people working on it themselves. Yes, you took the words out of my post but without any real understanding of what they mean or what I'm trying to say. You seem to be missing my point. I didn't take issue with you calling the reboot half-hearted, even though I disagree. Rather, I took issue with you saying that this video showed how much more effort went into G1 than G2. Those were your exact words: more effort. And frankly, even if there was more effort in G1 than G2, this video doesn't show it. What this video showed was a brilliant portfolio of G1 concept work, but we've seen just as much concept art per year of G2 as this video shows per year of G1. While I have immense respect for Christian Faber's creative vision and how it enriched the core concepts of Bionicle, we've seen nothing to suggest that the Bionicle G2 concept artists put any less effort into their work than Christian Faber and his colleagues put into these samples. You seem to want to agree on this, and yet you don't seem to realize that your earlier comment said exactly the opposite. People can argue about the effectiveness of any creative work all day and all night, but it's when people start insinuating that a lack of effectiveness means creators didn't make enough of an effort that I get particularly bothered. And this is not me putting words into your mouth: you're the one who turned a discussion of an amazing video by a G1 concept artist into an indictment of his successors' efforts.

Your exact words were "Sadly, this video also goes to show how much more effort went into the original Bionicle than the half-hearted reboot." That's what I was replying to. YOUR implication that there was a lack of effort. How can you sit there and accuse me of putting words in your mouth when all I'm doing is responding to the exact words of your post? To me they just sound sensible, not silly. There's no need to make up a contrived-sounding word like "Skulverzahk" or whatever when you can just call things what they are. Mashing syllables together doesn't automatically make things sound more clever. Besides, to me, "Shadow Horde" sounds just as epic as a made-up word like "Rahkshi" ever could. It's not that having a lexicon is always bad. It can be, in excess. But this type of alien jargon is certainly not a necessary part of creating a an epic and legendary story. I've never known ANY story that ended up alienating me or my friends and family by using real words, but I have witnessed firsthand how storytelling can stumble into alienating or cringeworthy territory by using fantasy names for everything, whether or not it enhanced the story. I don't think you're blind, stupid, or a hater. I do think you were quite careless with your words if you can blame Bionicle G2's faults on lack of effort, and then a day later claim you never said the people making it didn't try hard. I don't particularly care if you dislike Bionicle G2, but don't blame it on a lack of effort if you don't genuinely believe it was a lack of effort, and don't get mad at me for assuming what you said was what you meant.

You don't have to defend it. But it'd be nice if you and others stopped condemning it for lack of care or effort, when we've seen all kinds of evidence of the hard work people put into developing it. Even if you think the end product was a severe letdown, even if it might never have lived up to G1 in your eyes even if it had continued, can we at least agree that the people making it put forth a solid effort?

The apparent hesitation to share the Makuta instructions mostly seems to be because they didn't really exist at first. LEGO generally doesn't make instructions for models that aren't intended as sets, aside from select combi models or alt models. Makuta from The Journey to One was not intended for retail, so even the sort of "half-instructions" LEGO shared with BS01 are an extra step the designers seemingly took in response to fan demand, not something they'd done or planned to do but were for some reason withholding.

Not sure how you get that sense considering the abundance of G2 concept art we've been shown through the NYCC presentation, BrickFair New Jersey presentation, the Facebook page, designer videos, etc. Loads of effort was very clearly put into developing the design and feel of the G2 characters and world. Suggesting otherwise when we've seen so much of that concept and development art, and there's so much more we HAVEN'T seen, is an exercise in self-delusion. Obviously I don't meant that to diminish the importance of the concept art here, particularly since the G2 creators had ten years of precedent to base their concepts on and the G1 creators had to create their concepts from the ground up. And truthfully, a lot of G2 concept and development art began with research into Bionicle's roots and how to reinvent those iconic concepts for a new generation. And of course, it's worth remembering that while Faber did not play a leading role in developing Bionicle G2, he DID play a leading role in developing Hero Factory. And in his own words, "Having worked on both Bionicle and HF from the very beginning I can tell you that the work that went into creating the HF universe was much more deep than the early foundation of Bionicle." Just because Bionicle fans often fail to appreciate the LEGO Group's more recent themes doesn't mean any less work or effort went into developing them.

Well, my hope is that the people who stuck around might become more receptive to other LEGO themes. But that might not be all that realistic. We on the news team will continue to keep this place a reliable source for general LEGO news, but Bionicle's the only theme that's ever commanded consistent activity on the forums. Even without new Bionicle media or sets to discuss, I still think it'll remain the focus of this site's most active discussions and fan works.

Hmmm… Tough call! Depends on what you consider "impulse". If you mean, like, $10 or less, there aren't a whole lot of options. Your best bet would be either an Airjitzu flier ($10 each, but they're a year old so you might be able to find them cheaper), or Cole's Dragon. If you're willing to push to a $20 price point, Anacondrai Crusher is nice, but it's a year and a half old so might be tough to find. Sky Shark is more current, and has a great steampunk look and nice play features. But the set I'd most recommend to somebody who just wants a taste of Ninjago yet doesn't particularly care about the characters or story is definitely still the Master Wu Dragon. RRP is $40, but Target, Walmart, and Amazon currently all have it marked down to around $31 online and possibly even lower in brick-and-mortar stores (someone on the Brickset forums found it at a Walmart for $19 earlier this month). Not only is it a great model and a great parts pack, but it's designed by a BZPower member (Brickthing/Nicolaas Vás). Even at RRP, 575 parts including 5 figures is a steal. On clearance, it's even harder to turn down!

Well, personally, the story is one of the reasons why I find it difficult to get into Ninjago. I guess that's what the people who wanted to get into Bionicle around 2007-2008 must've felt... It can definitely be a bit daunting, but fortunately it doesn't seem to be hurting Ninjago as much as it was hurting Bionicle by that point. It probably helps that Ninjago made a bigger splash from the start, and the Ninjago storyline, while still continuity driven, has been a lot more linear. It's followed more or less the same main characters since day one, and the main story is told in one consistent format in a mostly chronological sequence. If you're interested in getting started on Ninjago for the first time, I'd recommend Netflix as a first option. You can watch the pilot and first three seasons — 36 episodes and 4 years of story — by getting a $8 monthly subscription ($10 for HD). If you have time to watch two episodes a day, one month should be more than enough time to get through everything there, and it should be enough to give you a sense of whether you want to follow the series any further. Seasons 4 and 5 (the next 20 episodes, telling the 2015 story) will probably be added to Netflix sometime this fall, and are also on DVD for less than $15 apiece. Alternatively, if you would rather start on the same page as everybody else, you could skip the current series and wait for The LEGO Ninjago Movie, which seems like it'll be an entirely new take on the universe and characters.

Well, I can't speak for stores everywhere, but this February upon entering my local Toys 'R' Us, you'd have been greeted first with a big LEGO Nexo Knights arch over the main aisle. Then, at the front of the LEGO department, which faces the entrance, you'd see giant panel displays advertising (from left to right) LEGO City, LEGO Nexo Knights, and LEGO Ninjago, with the corresponding sets shelved immediately beneath them. The center Nexo Knights panel even had a scannable Nexo Power. So I feel like in my area, at least, the LEGO in-house IPs get a fair shake.

Maybe when/if System sales aren't performing well? Surely it isn't coincidence that the original Bionicle was a huge hit when almost every other Lego line was faltering, and now the new one has faltered whilst System lines are selling very well. I wonder if - in the aftermath of The Lego Movie and in the midst of Ninjago and Elves, and the Star Wars, Jurassic World and superhero licenses - the new Bionicle just got a bit lost. Maybe. In any case, I don't think it makes much sense to go about anticipating some point where the LEGO Group's crisis in the late 90s and early naughts repeats itself, considering that the reasons for that crisis are now well-understood and the LEGO Group has taken many steps to ensure they don't make those same mistakes again. Bionicle is actually one of the things that helped teach LEGO how NOT to make those same mistakes, and its development has been adapted into a roadmap they use when developing any new IP. I dunno, I think there have been quite a few new original properties in the past several years. 2013 had Legends of Chima and Galaxy Squad. 2014 had Ultra Agents and Mixels. 2015 had Bionicle and Elves. 2016 has Nexo Knights. So yes, this is an off year in terms of having only one new original IP… but that might be to make up for the fact that so many IPs (City, Ninjago, Friends, Elves, Mixels, and Bionicle) continued from previous years. You might not consider all of these examples "comparable to Bionicle", of course, but all things considered the LEGO Group probably doesn't WANT all of their original IPs to be comparable to Bionicle — they want to differentiate their properties as much as possible so they cast as wide a net as possible. Furthermore, licensed products only make up roughly a third of the LEGO Group's business, and that's been the case for over a decade. While LEGO may be acquiring a wider range of licenses than in the past, particularly considering things like Dimensions and Ideas allowing them to use licenses without building entire themes around them, they aren't making up a substantially larger part of the company's market share than in the past.

Fair enough. But then the issue becomes how to make material that resonates with audiences. I say "that resonates with audiences" because I'm not convinced there's some objective aspect of Bionicle G1's storytelling that made it "good" and less successful themes "not good". I'm sure there are a lot of fans of Bionicle G1 who might consider LEGO Ninjago and LEGO Friends no better than Hero Factory when it comes to storytelling, but they're some of the LEGO Group's most successful ongoing IPs. Creating successful story material is certainly not just a matter of putting people with a track record for success at the helm. As I mentioned about Hero Factory, Christian Faber and his colleagues at Advance had considerable involvement in Hero Factory's creative direction, and Greg Farshtey wrote comics and chapter books for Hero Factory just as he had for Bionicle G1, but nevertheless, Hero Factory never achieved the same heights that Bionicle G1 had. And the Galidor TV series was helmed by Hollywood producer Tom Lynch, who the New York Times had praised as "The David E. Kelley of tween TV" for his streak of successful shows for 8–14-year-olds (he's still creating shows for Nickelodeon to this day). By contrast, the LEGO Ninjago TV special in 2011 was literally the first thing Dan and Kevin Hageman wrote that actually got produced: LEGO actually only offered them the gig after they were pulled off the writing team for The LEGO Movie so Phil Lord and Chris Miller could take over from them. I can't tell you how many people I've heard say "Bionicle can be great if they just hire *insert famous and successful person here* to write it!" but even if you do get a big-name writer on board, that's no guarantee that it'll take off. So back to the main question of the topic, sure, Bionicle could become a successful brand/IP once more with the right combination of factors. But that doesn't make it any easier to identify what those factors are, or how many are factors the creators of new Bionicle sets and media can control versus more capricious factors like what today's kids are interested in. The LEGO Group's successful IPs certainly don't become such purely by chance, but all the best writing and marketing in the world can't change the cultural landscape back to what it was in 2001. That's definitely a concern I have. Of course, it's also possible that the LEGO Group just hasn't hit upon the specific combination of factors it would take to make constraction resonate with today's kids again. Or that the shifting interests of kids might wind their way back to being more receptive to constraction themes on their own. In the very least we know the LEGO Group is definitely committed to exploring what the future of constraction might hold moving forward. But who knows when, if ever, we might see another constraction theme become as big a hit as Bionicle was in the early naughts? The failure of recent constraction themes to really be sustainable in the long term is definitely troubling for me as a fan of those themes. Remember, the LEGO Group's interest isn't in bringing back Bionicle specifically. There are definitely people at LEGO who would like Bionicle to get another chance one day, same as with other discontinued themes like Legends of Chima or Classic Space. But what initiatives they focus on in the future will be grounded on which seem the most promising at the time, not which ideas of the past "deserve" a second chance. If constraction gets its next big break through spin-offs of System IPs, that's not necessarily a bad thing as far as the LEGO Group is concerned, though I'm sure they'd like to make sure some of their own IPs like Ninjago and Nexo Knights are a part of that equation instead of just licensed ones like Star Wars.

I think a level to this that a lot of people neglect is that Bionicle G1 isn't the only huge new initiative that LEGO invested heavily in around that time. LEGO was pushing and heavily promoting new innovations left and right in the late 90s and early naughts. Bionicle G1 is, however, the only successful new initiative they invested heavily in at that time. Let's not forget that they followed up Bionicle G1's launch with Galidor, which remains pretty much the biggest failure they've ever had. Galidor wasn't at all lacking for "massive multi-media marketing" — it got a LEGO Club Magazine comic that was intended to be the start of an ongoing series, a 20-episode TV series, a month-long McDonalds promotion including toys and a mini-comic, an extremely detailed website full of mystery and world-building, an online adventure RPG, and a video game on several platforms. Galidor is what happens when LEGO attempts a marketing campaign like they had for Bionicle G1 without first taking steps to ensure that there's a big enough and receptive enough potential audience to justify that kind of campaign in the first place. Since then, the LEGO Group has been more cautious with their new innovations and look long and hard at what precedent can tell them about any new initiative's potential. LEGO Ninjago, for instance, started with a 44-minute TV special, not a full TV series, and probably wouldn't have gotten even that if its predecessor LEGO Atlantis hadn't done well with a 22-minute TV special, which it might not have gotten if Power Miners hadn't done well with a shorter 3-minute mini-movie, etc. Also, rather than rushing LEGO Ninjago to market ASAP, its launch was actually postponed a year so the creators could manage to get everything just right. There was extensive kid testing to make sure it really had the makings of a hit and wasn't just something "conventional wisdom" said would be a hit. And all that diligence paid off, with it achieving better single-year sales than any theme before it. The LEGO Group waited two years before launching another "big bang" theme like it, Legends of Chima, with a marketing profile further bolstered by Ninjago's monumental success. "But why didn't LEGO follow the same procedures in developing Bionicle G2 as they did with Ninjago?" some might ask. Well, in many respects, I imagine they did. But Bionicle G2 didn't come about at a time when its product category was seeing one success after another with both sets and marketing. It came about after Bionicle G1 had experienced a long decline and its intended replacement, Hero Factory, had declined even further. It would've been foolhardy to market it the same exact way Bionicle had been marketed in 2001 or even the way Hero Factory had been marketed in 2010. Rather, its marketing had to be informed by the most recent precedent for what resonated with today's kids and what didn't. Quoting from a post I made about Hero Factory on Eurobricks last week…

If anything, getting big-name actors for this and future Lego movies is probably easier than it was for The Lego Movie, now that Lego is a proven brand in Hollywood. Before The Lego Movie's success, a lot of high-profile actors would probably be apprehensive of doing a movie based on a toy, especially one like Lego that didn't originally come with any sort of story. But after The Lego Movie released to massive audience and critical appeal, actors who might otherwise be concerned about a Lego movie being a shameless cash-in or box-office poison will likely have a little more confidence in what the role has to offer. Besides that, it's important to remember that Jackie Chan appears in a lot of movies. He's appeared in over 100 different movies over the course of his career, and in the past decade he's taken on a fair number of voice roles, perhaps in part due to his age — it's tough for him to take on as many live-action, stunt-heavy action roles as he was once known for.