What Did the Bionicle Collectibles mean to You?

[JAG18]

So, the questions of this topic are simple, what did you think of the BIONICLE collectibles? Were they a throw away part of BIONICLE or a central reason you got into BIONICLE in the first place?

Were you excited about the "kollectibles" (Kanohi, Krana, Kratta, more Kanohi), but found yourself asking why did LEGO release a pack of Squids? Post your answers below.

 

My answers,

 

In the early days, the collectibles were a great way to get some cool parts, like masks, but I never had the funds to get very many and as such the collectibles never were a major part of my BIONICLE fandom.

That being said, I do feel like something was missing in BIONICLE when the colorful masks were replaced by Zamor spheres and Squid. I thought it was cool when the Stars showed up telling me to collect THE GOLDEN ARMOR, sure I always knew what I was getting, but it was still a nice nod back to the old collectibles.

[Click]

In the early days, when collectibles were cool pieces you couldn't really find anywhere else, I was too young to buy those, just because they didn't have cool figures. Once I was old enough to want those, I was stuck with the silly Zamor Spheres and Squids that, while they did provide rarer pieces, they weren't really as useful as the old Kanohi.

 

So, basically, I really liked the collectibles earlier on, and I'm still trying to get a few more Kanohi only available in those packs, but they became kind of pointless later on. I don't know why anyone would want another bunch of squids for a launcher that barely works unless they somehow lost all of them.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Click

[Just A Dot]

I felt Kanoka and Rhotuka were never as cool as their predecessors, because I couldn't find a list of all the Kanoka, and I doubted there were the several hundred possible combinations, and the Rhotuka had no story significance. Zamor and Squids were just plain lame. But everything before that, ESPECIALLY the 2001 Kanohi, was just plain awesome, and I really thought it was like, the coolest thing ever as a child.

Edited February 23, 2014 by Ghabulous Ghoti

[Tuuli]

My favorite collectable, of all time, is that mask of time. My other favorites are my squad of mctoran (McDonalds matoran) and they mean everything to me. Each has thier own character and personality and are simply fun to play with. I remember back when I first started bionicle and the mask packs were just amazing

[Aanchir]

For me, the collectibles packs were cheap ways to get masks and other parts other than the ones that came in the sets by default. But that's it. I was never really committed to getting a full collection of any collectible.

 

The Kanohi and Kanohi Nuva were the collectibles that interested me the most. I enjoyed lining up all my collectibles in the form of a chart/checklist, but I never really did anything useful with my Krana or Kraata (except Matoran MOCs like this one which used Vorahk's Kraata as abdominal muscles). The Kraata from the Rahkshi were far more useful than the ones from the Kraata packs because their colors tended to be better coordinated.

 

The Kanohi packs were a good source of extra Toa Mata heads and eyes, and I liked the canisters and stickers from the Kraata packs, though I never used them. I don't think I ever bought a single Kanoka or Rhotuka pack (I never really saw the point, since those weren't even building elements), but I did get some of the Zamor Sphere and Squid Ammo packs for the unique ammo colors.

 

Later on, it was easy for me to understand why the collectible packs didn't end up succeeding as a concept, and I never really shed any tears for them.

 

Nowadays, the LEGO Group has had more success in the blind-packaged collectibles market with the collectible minifigures, which actually provide a complete toy and the foundations of storytelling in a single package. They are just as fun as individual purchases as they are as an accessory for a larger LEGO collection. It's easy to see why these have succeeded where the BIONICLE collectible packs failed. It would be nice if the LEGO Group could achieve this same sense of a complete play experience in a blind-packaged product for the constraction market.

[Removed297]

They were a wonderful resource. I wish I'd been old enough to appreciate them back when they had Kanohi and such inside them.

 

With the varieties of colors, you could make convincingly "unique" mocs that were different from the main cast of characters, unlike in later years post-2003 were all we got were 1, maybe 2 different colors maximum of each new Kanohi mold.

It hurts even more with Hero Factory, which, despite having a great deal of room for imaginative Hero building in terms of its loose story, provides few recolors of Hero heads that would be such a boon to custom Hero-makers.

 

I suppose the LEGO Minifigures line is similar to the concept of mask packs, but less varied. It would be great if LEGO made a set of HF minifigure blind-bags, that held Heroes in a potential of at least 10 different colors, with 2 random masks per bag, one the color of the bagged Hero's limbs, the other a random color. That would give a nice variety of potential Hero types, and would encourage buying multiples with the 2nd randomly colored mask, which may go well with other purchases.

 

Oh LEGO, I love gambling for rare and precious loot, give me some constraction-figure related blind bags to purchase!

Edited February 24, 2014 by The Kumquat Alchemist

[Great Being Velika]

I missed out on the earliest collectibles, and zamors aren't really all that collectible. Now I'm trying to get a complete set of Kanohi, and it's HARD! I sure wish I'd gotten into Bionicle earlier....

Edited February 25, 2014 by The Real Slim Shady