What is the worst thing lego could do with bionicle 2015?

[Saint-14]

Spend 10+ years looking for the One Mask...

[masterchirox580]

 

 

 

 

What's the worst thing Lego HAS done to Bionicle?

Um not enough brown on Pohatu and lewa being called master of jungle and not master of air, I can't think of anything else.

 

The new Pohatu has about as much Dark Orange as Lewa has Bright Green. In fact, the new Pohatu technically has more Dark Orange pieces than the original had Earth Orange (Mata Brown) pieces. Six Dark Orange pieces on the new Pohatu, and only four Earth Orange pieces on the original Pohatu. All things considered, if that's the worst LEGO has done so far, I think that's pretty good!

 

If I had to list what I think the worst they've done is, I think I'd list two things: the hard-to-read text formatting on the teaser site, and making the blue eyes on Tahu, Kopaka, and some of the Protectors Tr. Light Blue instead of Tr. Fluorescent Blue. The former is fixable, and the latter is an extremely minor quibble. Tr. Light Blue looks fine, but a fluorescent color could have been so much better!

 

Yeah but I hate the way he has two different coloured arms(one brown one silver)if they made the other arm brown I wouldn't have any problems with him. And yes I agree the new bionicle is almost perfect.

 

Since he uses the same parts for his upper and lower arms, you could easily swap his pieces around so each arm has one beam and one shell in each color, instead of beams and shells in just one of the colors.

 

I like asymmetry like this (CHI Panthar pulls it off quite nicely so it looks like he has one "energized power arm", so to speak), but it is a bit strange on Pohatu since both his arms have the same weapon. In fairness, since only his right arm is geared, you could interpret that as his "throwing arm" as an explanation for the different armor and beam colors.

 

Well I could use those brown pieces that came with ogre to fix up his colour scheme.

[Aanchir]

 

 

 

 

 

What's the worst thing Lego HAS done to Bionicle?

Um not enough brown on Pohatu and lewa being called master of jungle and not master of air, I can't think of anything else.

 

The new Pohatu has about as much Dark Orange as Lewa has Bright Green. In fact, the new Pohatu technically has more Dark Orange pieces than the original had Earth Orange (Mata Brown) pieces. Six Dark Orange pieces on the new Pohatu, and only four Earth Orange pieces on the original Pohatu. All things considered, if that's the worst LEGO has done so far, I think that's pretty good!

 

If I had to list what I think the worst they've done is, I think I'd list two things: the hard-to-read text formatting on the teaser site, and making the blue eyes on Tahu, Kopaka, and some of the Protectors Tr. Light Blue instead of Tr. Fluorescent Blue. The former is fixable, and the latter is an extremely minor quibble. Tr. Light Blue looks fine, but a fluorescent color could have been so much better!

 

Yeah but I hate the way he has two different coloured arms(one brown one silver)if they made the other arm brown I wouldn't have any problems with him. And yes I agree the new bionicle is almost perfect.

 

Since he uses the same parts for his upper and lower arms, you could easily swap his pieces around so each arm has one beam and one shell in each color, instead of beams and shells in just one of the colors.

 

I like asymmetry like this (CHI Panthar pulls it off quite nicely so it looks like he has one "energized power arm", so to speak), but it is a bit strange on Pohatu since both his arms have the same weapon. In fairness, since only his right arm is geared, you could interpret that as his "throwing arm" as an explanation for the different armor and beam colors.

 

Well I could use those brown pieces that came with ogre to fix up his colour scheme.

 

They wouldn't be quite the same as the color he uses normally. Ogrum uses Reddish Brown (same color as Avak) while the new Pohatu uses Dark Orange (the same color as Hewkii's original mask).

[masterchirox580]

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's the worst thing Lego HAS done to Bionicle?

Um not enough brown on Pohatu and lewa being called master of jungle and not master of air, I can't think of anything else.

 

The new Pohatu has about as much Dark Orange as Lewa has Bright Green. In fact, the new Pohatu technically has more Dark Orange pieces than the original had Earth Orange (Mata Brown) pieces. Six Dark Orange pieces on the new Pohatu, and only four Earth Orange pieces on the original Pohatu. All things considered, if that's the worst LEGO has done so far, I think that's pretty good!

 

If I had to list what I think the worst they've done is, I think I'd list two things: the hard-to-read text formatting on the teaser site, and making the blue eyes on Tahu, Kopaka, and some of the Protectors Tr. Light Blue instead of Tr. Fluorescent Blue. The former is fixable, and the latter is an extremely minor quibble. Tr. Light Blue looks fine, but a fluorescent color could have been so much better!

 

Yeah but I hate the way he has two different coloured arms(one brown one silver)if they made the other arm brown I wouldn't have any problems with him. And yes I agree the new bionicle is almost perfect.

 

Since he uses the same parts for his upper and lower arms, you could easily swap his pieces around so each arm has one beam and one shell in each color, instead of beams and shells in just one of the colors.

 

I like asymmetry like this (CHI Panthar pulls it off quite nicely so it looks like he has one "energized power arm", so to speak), but it is a bit strange on Pohatu since both his arms have the same weapon. In fairness, since only his right arm is geared, you could interpret that as his "throwing arm" as an explanation for the different armor and beam colors.

 

Well I could use those brown pieces that came with ogre to fix up his colour scheme.

 

They wouldn't be quite the same as the color he uses normally. Ogrum uses Reddish Brown (same color as Avak) while the new Pohatu uses Dark Orange (the same color as Hewkii's original mask).

 

Darn it!

[Blueblur21]

I think the worst thing they could do to this series is make it too childish. I get that it's LEGO, and I'm not asking for a Nolan-type series, but there is a fine line between Bionicle and LEGO Friends.

[bioniclepluslotr]

Gali is a man.

[ThatRandomMatoran]

Make it not unique in anyway and get rid of the whole "tribal" aspect that made the origional Bionicle so appealing.

[masterchirox580]

Gali is a man.

Do you mean that literally in which no she is still a woman, if you mean it in the sense of say if Gali had her gender changed then yeah that would suck, especially when considering the already bad gender ratio.

[JungleSlizer]

The worst thing? Okoto-Metru-Nui under Okoto.

[Lyichir]

I think the worst thing they could do to this series is make it too childish. I get that it's LEGO, and I'm not asking for a Nolan-type series, but there is a fine line between Bionicle and LEGO Friends.

Wait, seriously? Where exactly is that fine line drawn? Would a slightly more complex (or less "childish") story for Lego Friends suddenly make Lego Friends indistinguishable from Bionicle?

 

I would much rather have a "childish" Bionicle than the "teenagerish" Bionicle that Lego seemed to be going for in some of the theme's later years. I say "teenagerish" because that conveys how a lot of Bionicle's darker turns felt—not actually mature in any profound way, but putting on pretensions of dark, edgy maturity to help convince kids who feel too "cool" or "grown up" for regular Lego to get interested (or stay interested) in Bionicle. I'm not keen on that kind of insincere pandering, not now that I'm an adult and have realized that there's nothing more immature than scorn for "childish" things.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Lyichir

[LhikanHau]

Adding cheap cheese to cut costs (mask of ULTIMATE Powah cheese), dumb down the plot because dumb people spend more, and raising set costs to get more profits.

 

It's a very cynical view, but that's my most extreme opinion, and uh... it's happening now?

[Aanchir]

Adding cheap cheese to cut costs (mask of ULTIMATE Powah cheese), dumb down the plot because dumb people spend more, and raising set costs to get more profits.

 

It's a very cynical view, but that's my most extreme opinion, and uh... it's happening now?

Didn't take much to convince you that liking the old BIONICLE makes you better than everybody else, huh? There are plenty of intelligent people who really like the new direction the sets and story seem to be taking.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Dumb people spend more? What are you even talking about

[Lyichir]

Dumb people spend more? What are you even talking about

It's obvious what they mean. Dumb people are less careful about how they spend their money, and dumb people are especially drawn to dumb stories...

 

Wait, hang on. I have just been informed that stories are not, in fact, written with the intention of being dumb, and that GOOD stories are more effective at creating fans regardless of how smart or dumb those fans are. And that fans, in fact, prefer to spend money on good things? Hmmm... yeah, I have no idea what they might have been getting at.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Lyichir

[Blueblur21]

We must have different views then, because the later years of Bionicle were far better than the early years. The story became more complex, the characters became more well rounded, and everything was just so much more greater than the old times. 2006-2009 had the best arcs and sets.

[believe victims]

The story became too complex, according to its target audience. kids couldn't keep up with the shifting cast of protagonists and the needless plot threads slapped on to make sure every set character got a spot in the limelight.

 

I also don't think the characters became much more well-rounded. If anything, the constant shift between casts of characters meant none of them really got enough attention to make them more than 2-dimensional at best.

 

The sets are more of a matter of taste, though I was getting pretty sick of the Inika build being used pretty much whole-cloth between sets. Sets never really returned to the same amount of diversity the Barraki had after 2007, instead opting for just slapping a few unique armor ideas onto an otherwise-unchanged inika build for most sets. (most notably, five of the Glatorian Legends featured a straight-up Inika build, with two of them even having the exact same armor attached.) Of course, that gripe is nothing compared to the even worse, even more repetitive and clunky Av-toran build.

 

Plus, you know, the focus was more and more on stripping as much fantasy as they could from the story, which to me ruined the sci-fi/fantasy combination that drew me in to begin with. Yes, the robot was planned all along, but what about some of the other things? Too many attempts were made to explain things that never needed it. It didn't just add complexity, it both stripped away the magic and added needless bloat.

 

But again, the point is, this is a line for children. They want a story they can understand without needing to research every detail to understand what's going on. If the children don't understand it, they won't buy toys. And the story exists to sell toys.

[Blueblur21]

I know. And I do agree with you on some points. But let's remember that they can't keep churning out interesting and different body types each season.

 

Character wise I disagree.

 

I hold the Barraki in high regard because they were some of the most interesting and unique characters of their time. Who would have guessed that Kalmah's top eye was torn out by Pridak during a dispute? or that they six were actually ancient warlords banished because it took almost all of the forces of light and darkness to put them down? Say what you will about the building types but it's the backstory and lore that keeps fans interested behind the characters.

[believe victims]

They were interesting, but they also pushed the boundaries of appropriate amount of darkness for a children's toyline so much that one of them was designed with clear bloodstains on his mouth and tools and in canon they had to be explained as patterns to keep it kid-friendly. Besides that, it was hard to go two sentences in that year's books when discussing them without finding a description of death or deadliness, so much so it felt forced and exaggerated and ridiculous.

 

Say what you will, but there's a limit to how many pretentions of darkness and grittiness a childrens toyline should have.

[Lyichir]

We must have different views then, because the later years of Bionicle were far better than the early years. The story became more complex, the characters became more well rounded, and everything was just so much more greater than the old times. 2006-2009 had the best arcs and sets.

I would actually agree that in many ways, the later Bionicle story and sets were better. The Toa Metru and Inika got much better character development than the archetypal Toa Mata (whose main character development was learning to work together... and then forgetting it by the next year). The sets improved greatly over the blocky, gear-based sets of yesteryear, with knee and elbow articulation, and better joints for shoulders and waists.

 

But the problem was that while Bionicle got better, it also got BIGGER. All of a sudden you weren't just following one team of Toa, because there were serials focused on entirely different characters, some of whom had never carried the story before. And only rarely did a character cease to be a relevant part of the universe—even villains didn't die, but rather were captured and forced to work for the forces of good, or continued to wreak chaos in other parts of the universe. And for new fans? They'd have to work through years of books just to understand who the characters were and what had led them to the current point in the story.

 

The new Bionicle has a huge advantage over the old in that it can start fresh with new characters and a new story, but also can apply all the lessons learned over Bionicle's ten-year run. The sets have the classic gear functions, but without sacrificing the infinitely-improved poseability of later sets! The characters start from the ground up, only this time, the Toa are more well-rounded with more realistic flaws. And perhaps most importantly, the excess complexity of the old story can be trimmed away—not because the story won't ever introduce new characters or give the Toa new powers, but because Lego EXPECTS that to happen and wants to leave room for growth. And this way, the story will be able to remain more enjoyable for newcomers, instead of continuing to follow the old fans' favorite characters at the expense of new fans who need to learn who they are and why they're important.

[Prime Axiom]

 Do you guys remember this commercial? The following trailer embodies all that Bionicle is. This is what lego needs. 

 

 This is what lego needs to stay away from: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXqOIn41AdQ

[Aanchir]

Do you guys remember this commercial? The following trailer embodies all that Bionicle is. This is what lego needs.

Mmm, guns, chain-link fences, shallow platitudes, and generic, plucked-from-the-airwaves songs that have nothing to do with the franchise! Just what I like in my BIONICLE!

 

...Wait, no, that's not right at all.

[Blueblur21]

Move Along is far from generic. 2006 was great.

[believe victims]

can't wait for Macklemore to get kidnapped by the skull spiders so we can try to save him

 

that's the Bionicle we want back, right?

[Blueblur21]

I'm being serious. The song used for the Inika reflected their struggle against the Piraka and how desperate their mission was. It was a great choice and it fit the team perfectly and showed how they valued teamwork and all that heroic stuff.

 

And don't bang on Macklemore. That man has some credible rapping skills. You might not like him and that's fine but I'm sure he'd at least try to fight the spiders.

[believe victims]

i wasn't mocking macklemore (though i can't say i hold him in high esteem) as much as i was the whole Free the Band campaign, which is one of many factors that led to me being unable to take 2006 seriously at all in retrospect. (Another reason is the Piraka Rap, which would be the most hilariously awful song ever written for Bionicle if it weren't predated three years by Insane Bionicle Brain).

 

Move Along was chosen because it was popular, made by a well-known band, and has a vaguely inspirational message. I doubt it had anything to do with fitting the story perfectly, which I would say is only accomplished by how vague its message is, which is "move along".

[Blueblur21]

I understand if they chose something unrelated to the series, but as it is, Move Along fit. Yes, the Free The Band thing was silly, but it got Bionicle more exposure, didn't it?

[believe victims]

Apparently not enough, considering sales continued to decline.

[Blueblur21]

That wasn't the band's fault, though. You can blame that on the creative direction and vision of LEGO. I'm sure they could have thought out a much better campaign.

 

Also, sales were declining anyways. 2009 was gonna be the last year but they let it go on for two more years.

[Aanchir]

Lucina's post brings up something else to keep in mind about personal preferences about which BIONICLE years or promotional campaigns were best. Some of my favorite years of BIONICLE were 2007 and 2008. Not only were these some of my first years as an active participant in the online BIONICLE fan community, and some of my most productive years as a fan artist, but they also saw many years of foreshadowing finally begin to pay off.

 

But that doesn't mean that in different circumstances I couldn't have appreciated 2001 and 2002 just as much. And in fact, it is well known that 2002 was the BIONICLE theme's single most successful year, after which it experienced a long but profitable decline. So even if as a kid I didn't get as much out of 2002 as I got out of later years, there were clearly a lot of people who DID thoroughly enjoy that setting, and those characters, and that overall tone. It certainly wouldn't be a mistake for the new BIONICLE to try to evoke the old BIONICLE's most successful period as far as its designs and its brand strategy are concerned. Also, the LEGO Group is now able to bring in some of the lessons they learned in subsequent years, like how much kids like sets with thirteen points of articulation or how to bring greater diversity into sets' designs and color schemes.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Aanchir

[Prime Axiom]

 

Do you guys remember this commercial? The following trailer embodies all that Bionicle is. This is what lego needs.

Mmm, guns, chain-link fences, shallow platitudes, and generic, plucked-from-the-airwaves songs that have nothing to do with the franchise! Just what I like in my BIONICLE!

 

...Wait, no, that's not right at all.

 

 Guns were fine so long as it wasn't their main weapon. Face it, when it came out in 06, it was awesome. 

 

  I had zero problem with the speech. It was epic. 

 

 The songs were meant to give the year a tone. In which case, Move Along fit. The Inika came at a time where Mata Nui was dying, and the Nuva were just recently defeated. It set the tone for that year. No song had any association to Bionicle prior to it being associated with Bionicle. That's a non-argument. 

 

 

[Blueblur21]

Couldn't have said it better myself, Tohunga. And the Zamor Launchers (I love them!) made sense. They had an actual role in the story and were important rather than being a tacky accessory.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Blueblur21

[bioniclepluslotr]

The story became too complex not because of new characters but because of all this Giant Robot stuff that wasn't reflected at all in the sets. I didn't know there was a giant robot or that Teridax was alive until this summer. I just knew there were Glatorians because Mata Nui was sent to a new planet.

[Blueblur21]

Loved the Glatorian saga. Tarix is a true OG.

[believe victims]

The story became too complex not because of new characters but because of all this Giant Robot stuff that wasn't reflected at all in the sets. I didn't know there was a giant robot or that Teridax was alive until this summer. I just knew there were Glatorians because Mata Nui was sent to a new planet.

The Giant Robot stuff cannot possibly be the cause of the story becoming complex, considering Bionicle could have ended in its third year with the giant robot reveal and it still would have had sufficient foreshadowing to be pulled off. It was planned from the beginning, and definitely didn't have much of an effect on the complexity of the first three years.

 

Switching between new characters meant the Nuva couldn't appear in much of a major capacity until 2008, because there's no point in advertising characters you can't buy. The only time characters you couldn't buy got to shine was in the serials, which just added to the needless complexity, and left mangled ends of story that persisted until the end.

[Blueblur21]

Lucina, have I told you that I am utterly in love with you? Well.. not YOU personally, but...

 

Nevermind. I'm just being weird.  

 

 

 

 

Edit: Yeah, what? Stay on topic.

-Wind-

Edited October 17, 2014 by -Windrider-

[Prime Axiom]

Actually, Gali's 2015 form is probably one of the more feminine sets. At the very least, the set looks elegant. Her 2008 version could have passed for a Piraka.  

 

Edited October 17, 2014 by Prime Axiom

[Blueblur21]

YO YO PIRAKA!

[Aanchir]

Guns were fine so long as it wasn't their main weapon. Face it, when it came out in 06, it was awesome.

 

I had zero problem with the speech. It was epic.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not vehemently against either of those things. But they have diddly-squat to do with what made the BIONICLE theme unique or special. Change the weapon and power descriptions in the voiceover and it could have been used in a G.I. Joe, Ninja Turtles, or Skylanders commercial.

 

The songs were meant to give the year a tone. In which case, Move Along fit. The Inika came at a time where Mata Nui was dying, and the Nuva were just recently defeated. It set the tone for that year. No song had any association to Bionicle prior to it being associated with Bionicle. That's a non-argument.

That would be a strong argument if it were the least bit true. But it's not. All of the promotional songs by Cryoshell, as well as the instrumental songs from the BIONICLE Power Pack, were written specifically for their respective BIONICLE ad campaigns. Thus, they had a deliberate lyrical connection to the current story year, not just a coincidental one. Furthermore, because they were written for those particular ad campaigns, they were unique and special to the BIONICLE theme.

 

Songs like "Move Along" in 2006 and "Crashed" in 2007 were chosen for their popularity. Sure, the message of Move Along fits BIONICLE. That's because it has a universal, feel-good message about never giving in. It could have fit just about any company or franchise, and LEGO is not the only company to cash in on that universality. If it had been used in a He-Man or Transformers commercial, there would have been people in THOSE communities raving about how well it fit the franchise.

 

It's not that I think those songs weren't any good or that they weren't fitting. But again, they don't do anything to set BIONICLE apart from other brands.

Edited October 17, 2014 by Aanchir

[Blueblur21]

...It's a LEGO toyline, dude. I'm pretty sure people would be able to tell the difference between it and Transformers.

 

Also, He Man hasn't been relevant since 2002.

[Banana Gunz]

My goodness. The hate is real here.

 

Let's all remember how much of this reflects preference. What Bionicle was for one fan wasn't the same for all. 2006 could've been a fans favorite year. Is there anything to justify that their taste is wrong? Not really. It may not make sense to you, but it doesn't have to.

 

I personally enjoyed both the dark and lighter years of Bionicle. If you didn't, fine, but don't say that anything that wasn't inspiring or meaningful for you wasn't for some one else or shouldn't have been. Cause that's just not nice or even correct at all. 

Edited October 17, 2014 by Banana Gunz