GregF

This is really more of an FYI than anything else, as many of you already guessed this -- but to make it official, the grand prize winner of the BrickMaster Makuta Building Contest will be considered Makuta Miserix for the purposes of the story. Greg

Well, if you look at the big Matoran/Hydraxon/Jaller/Maxilos fight over the mask last year ... that was CGI before it was in story. Story was altered to match it. If I don't do that, we wind up with a situation where people are seeing one thing in CGI and something else in story, and left not sure which one really happened, etc. Makes things more confusing. Greg

Plot differences -- some actions have to be changed in the climax and the description of one location needs to change. Greg

Leah is on maternity leave, which lasts a year in Denmark -- so she won't be back before August 2008 at the earliest. Greg

Back from a brief trip to North Carolina (and warmth!) ... here's the news: 1) We had a one-night story meeting to discuss first half 2009 story. We got the bare bones figured out, now I have to get to work on the story bible. 2) We discussed any number of things, including beefing up BIONICLEstory.com in 2009 and possibly doing a serial or something similar that woud focus on the current universe while main story focuses on the new one next year ... I really like that idea, since there is no reason to believe we won't be bringing back current characters in future and it would be good to keep people "in touch" with them. 3) Binkmeister presented some great ideas for possible web content -- he has done a wonderful job since taking on the BIONICLE.com web producer role. 4) No new movie news, beyond that they are interviewing directors now. 5) BIONICLE Legends #11 is going to need some rewriting so it can match up with the CGI animation being done for second half 2008 commericals. And that's about it! Greg

Solaris -- Book sales pretty much just affect book sales. If book sales go bad, then the books will go away, whether BIONICLE is still around or not. It's a license deal, not something LEGO does, so it is purely up to Scholastic whether to continue doing them or not. Cleofan - Be patient, you will get your wish sooner rather than later. Freeze - Can't agree with you on the brown sets, unfortunately -- if "lots of fans" would come back for them, where were they when we had them? Brown sets have never sold well, dating back to 2001. Greg

And so you should, because if Axalara sells well, it sends the message that fans want more complex sets with those sorts of mechanisms. Greg

Nah, it won't, Cholie, and it's not really intended to. What it is intended to do is counter the idea some members have that they somehow have to buy sets, even if they don't like them, to be considered relevant to us. That's not the case. All those fans who didn't buy Vahki or Visorak were VERY relevant, because they sent us a message that the whole cloning thing had to stop. A fan who doesn't buy simply because he doesn't like a set or series of sets is still important, because depending on WHY he chose not to buy, we may be able to get him back as an active customer again. (Just as an aside -- the general rule in the toy business is that you can't get lapsed users back again, so don't even try. We don't wholly subscribe to this, because we see things like sales in 2008, which seem to indicate some lapsed users from 2007 have come back.) Greg

Recently, there was a very interesting discussion on BZP about people who no longer buy sets (what we in the biz call "lapsed users") and how much influence they can or can't have on product. There are, based on what I have seen, three main types of lapsed user. We will call them Joe, Bill, and Tom. All three have stopped buying BIONICLE sets, and all are in their teens, for the purposes of this example: Joe still thinks BIONICLE is interesting, but stopped buying sets in 2004 because he dislikes clone sets and the organic Inika masks, something he has made very clear in his posts. Bill still likes BIONICLE too, but stopped buying sets because he likes gear functions in the figures, brown stone figures, and clone sets. Tom is still interested in story, but his life has changed -- he has to save for college, he just got a car, and he has more demands on his money and his time than he had a few years ago when he was buying sets regularly. Now, of those three, who does BIONICLE have the best chance of getting back as a customer? Not Tom -- his priorities have changed, his needs and wants have changed, and he has had to make a choice between what his life demands now and buying sets. It's highly unlikely that we are going to be able to reactivate him as a customer. Bill is more likely, but much more problematic. We could get Bill back if we changed sets to suit his tastes. The problem is, his tastes run counter to everything our sales and market research tell us. Everything we know says that if we do a brown clone set with gears, it won't sell. Given that, we aren't going to do one, so it's likely Bill will not come back. Joe, on the other hand, is a different story. Like Bill, he would be willing to buy BIONICLE again if it suited his tastes. But the things he dislikes -- clone sets and organic masks -- are the same things the majority of the audience dislikes, based on sales and market research. Changing those things and so making the sets more to his liking is easier, because they are changes we need to make anyway for the market as a whole. There's no guarantee we will get him back, because he has found other things to spend his money on ... and the difficulty makes it less likely we will set out with a goal of reactivating him ... but there is at least a chance if he is still paying attention to the sets that he might buy again. So, you see, it's not just about "you buy or don't buy sets" -- it really comes down to WHY you're not buying, and what the chances are we will get you back. There are some Joes and Bills on BZP, and a lot of Toms, and Joe and Bill are the ones as a business you are more likely to talk about when you discuss reactivating lapsed users. Tom may well still have strong opinions on sets, but as a customer, he is most likely gone for the foreseeable future regardless of what we do. Greg

A few items of interest today -- -- LEGO financial results were announced to the press today -- record profit last year. And so far this year, we can't keep stuff on the shelves, everything is selling well. -- Finished Part 3 of Mutran Chronicles -- you are FINALLY going to get some movement on that Blade Burrowers plotline! -- Dow Jones news ticker reports Wal-Mart Canada has come to an agreement with TLC and will go back to carrying LEGO sets, which is wonderful news. -- Still recovering from my trip to the UK -- feel like I have been eating non-stop since I got back Spent the weekend shopping and gaming, two of my favorite pastimes Greg

The meeting was supposed to be in Toronto, Ranna, but like I said, I didn't get to go -- had to go the UK instead. Greg

If my PM system was disabled, it wasn't done by me and I didn't ask the admins to do it -- so unless they did it on their own to save my mailbox the strain, I have no idea why it would not have been working. Greg

Hey guys, Back from my week in Henley-on-Thames, England, attending LEGO Club meetings. Productive meetings this time, but very long -- still, it is always nice to see the entire team, including Benie, Lina, Panja and Maaike, our European Club managers. Couple of notes from the trip -- -- BrickMaster subscriptions are on the rise, thanks to the addition of exclusive LEGO sets to the offer. -- We got to see a presentation on LEGO Universe, the new MMOG that's in the works -- very impressive. I am hoping to get to do some work with that project, if only on the promotional end. If you want to check out what is out in public, you can go to http://universe.lego.com -- It is probably going to take me a while to wade through the 66 PMs I got while I was gone, so if you sent something this week, please have patience. -- Starting work this week on a story bible for a new LEGO line slated to come out in 2009. I can't say anything about it, unfortunately, but I would imagine set images, etc. will be public sometime in the fall. I am also working with the LEGO Concept Lab on some ideas for 2010 and beyond, which is a lot of fun. (If I had not had the Club meetings scheduled, I would have been in Canada meeting with CL this week.) Greg

The debate over the beginning of the film really centers on how much of the end of 2008 do we feel it's necessary to show, and in what order. Greg

Hey guys, Just so everyone knows, I am offline from 2-11 through 2-15 -- I have LEGO Club meetings to attend. Other news -- 2009 story team meeting and set focus groups coming up at the beginning of March. Movie call this week -- we are still quibbling over the beginning of the picture, but everything else seems set. BIONICLE 12, due out in March, has been approved and is on its way to the printer. BIONICLE 13, which will be out in July, has been written early and is with DC -- my understanding is that Australia is going to be distributing that issue (not sure how) and so needed it early. Greg

Well, we'll see, Antrozek. Story and script-wise, I think it is the best film we have ever done. The characters dialogue is very true to them and the story makes sense -- no big plot holes or huge gaps. At this point, they have not yet chosen a director or started animation tests. So we will see how things look as the work starts in earnest on the film. Greg

Inika101 - Thanks for the interesting questions. Let me see if I can answer -- 1) For a wave of six sets, the set designers normally do about 10 models and show those to focus groups, and then they get narrowed down. Then a next wave goes through groups, gets modified, goes through another set of groups, etc. 2) Focus groups are set up by a market research firm employed for that purpose by LEGO ( which also does gorups for many other companies). LEGO will specify how many kids they want in each group, what age range, and how big of BIONICLE fans we want them to be, and then the research firm goes out and recruits the kids. Normally, focus groups are held in NYC, North Carolina, and Chicago. 3) Set designers normally go in knowing what the price of the set needs to be and what the budget for the set is. New pieces cost a lot of money, because of the need to make new molds, so if you want to add extra new pieces to a set, you need to take the money from somewhere (such as the packaging). So you do have to keep an eye on how many new pieces you are going to do per set.

To be honest, Swordsman, I have only seen a couple of the '09 ones in anything approaching final form -- most of the ones I saw last year were very early prototypes and have changed almost completely after three rounds of focus groups. So not enough info to form an opinion yet. Greg

Just some quick news -- -- A lot of people on here have been talking about a set they have seen with a Hydraxon mask on it and suggesting that is the 2008 BrickMaster exclusive set. It's not. No images of the BM exclusive set are on the net (I've looked), but I do have an image of it and it does not have a Hydraxon mask. The item number for this set is #20005 and we aren't even showing BMs what it looks like yet. The March issue will show what the May and July sets will look like, but the BIONICLE set is not until September. -- I will be appearing at the Butler & Dimmock Library on Main St. in Coventry, CT on Wednesday, April 16 at 2 pm. I'm going to to be talking about BIONICLE and they are also talking about doing some contests, though that is not firmed up yet. -- Will be back at Comic-Con again this year, looks like -- July 24-27, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA. -- Some 2009 set designs are now final, some are still in the process of being worked on. New script is out in Billund now, looks good. Greg

Serials, yes, biocast not yet

A few responses -- Uncle K -- By "bad years," I am referring to the years this decade where LEGO Company lost millions of dollars and was in danger of ending up, at best, a much smaller company if we were lucky. I am sure you are joking with your "who cares about sales" line -- we do. You can put out the best toys in the world, but if they don't sell, it doesn't matter -- you will just have the best toy designers on the unemployment line. ChocoLvr - In this case, "local" refers to "I can walk to it." Anything that is going to require extended travel someone is going to have to pay for, and at this point, neither LEGO nor Scholastic is inclined to do that (except for Comic-Con). So I stick to things within driving distance of where I live. Biobylon - LEGO doesn't have much say in this. The testers are chosen by the marketing research firm we employ. We specify how many boys of what age range and what level of enthusiasm for BIONICLE, but we do not actually pick them. Greg

No, it won't be for sale in the US (the only country that has BrickMaster) -- that would defeat the purpose of it, since the point is for it to be a BrickMaster-exclusive set in the US to drive BM subscription sales. And no, it won't be Miserix, it's a Rahi. Greg

Just some bits and pieces today -- -- The movie script is out with the folks in Denmark for a final read. I am expecting that we will pretty much have an approval by the end of the week or so. The ending is set, hopefully the beginning is too -- surprisingly, there has been more debate about how to start it than how to end it! -- It looks like the BrickMaster BIONICLE set will be out in the fall -- we are still looking into the possibility of getting it sold in non-BM countries. It will play a role in story, possibly a significant one, and should make its first appearance in either the Federation of Fear or Mutran Chronicles serials. -- The CEO of LEGO Group, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, wrote a wonderful post on our Intranet this week praising BIONICLE as "rocking and unique" and reaffirming the company's commitment to maintain the line's success. (If you haven't heard of Jorgen Vig, he has been running the company for a few years now and helped to turn it around from the few bad years we had early in the decade. I had the chance to meet him in person last year -- he's a really cool guy, very down to earth, and very open to talking with employees. He's very popular in the company.) -- My events calendar is SLOWLY filling up. I am in talks to do a program at a local library, trying to get some local Barnes and Noble signings scheduled, and of course, Comic-Con rears its head again at the end of July. -- 2009 sets are still in focus groups -- I think the last round of testing is the end of Feb. in North Carolina. Greg

Just my traditional January posting -- Please do not PM me questions re: the summer sets, as I am not allowed to talk about them. I know some of you have jumped ahead and gone looking for images purporting to be of those sets -- I cannot comment on them, including whether they are faked or leaked. I would be going against LEGO's rules and BZP's as well, neither of which I am going to do. We have six months before the summer sets hit shelves. Patience, grasshopper. Greg

Takanuva becomes a killer? Where does it say that? You guys really need to stop reading stuff in my posts that I haven't written Greg