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I was talking to a couple of kids the other day, aged around eleven or twelve years old. The subject of Bionicle came up:"You know they're not making Bionicles any more, right?" said one."Yeah, I heard about that," I said. "But they still make something similar, right?""They make Hero Factory, which is kinda lame. " he said."The TV show is really bad. I mean, they all have guns and stuff, but because it's a kids' show, they can't actually shoot properly. They keep missing each other. ALL THE TIME." said his friend."They're like stormtroopers!"The kids still liked Bionicle sets, and still played with them, but neither of them had bought any Hero Factory sets. But from what I could tell, neither of them had been particularly interested in the Bionicle story- they didn't even seem to know the characters' names. However, they had encountered Hero Factory's storyline, and it was apparently enough to deter them from buying the sets.Now, this isn't necessarily a criticism of Hero Factory, since they might have just as easily been put off Bionicle if they'd happened to watch The Legend Reborn. But I think it illustrates how having a good- or bad- story can affect a child's enthusiasm for buying toys. Now, maybe it's just that Hero Factory is pitched at a slightly younger audience, but I think a few tweaks to the story and a different approach to the TV show would make it more compatible with kids over the age of ten.Another example- Beyblades. They're pretty ordinary as far as toys go- they're little more than dressed-up spinning tops. They didn't sell well in some Australia when they first came out...until Australian TV started showing the cartoon. Suddenly, everyone wanted one, and my mother spent several hours outside Toys 'R' Us in a long line just so my little brother could have a Master Dragoon for Christmas.So, for you, how do the Bionicle and Hero Factory storylines affect which toys you buy?
