Bionicle Style Guide

[Torsti]

 Hello everybody.

 

 Thought I'd share this little thing I got when I was interning at the Bionicle design office in Billund in 2007. I was there for three months as a industrial design intern and helped with the 2009 Glatorian line. I actually designed Tarix. On my last day they wanted to give me something as a parting gift, so one of the guys took me down to this storage room and found this thing and gave it to me.

 

 Included in the guide is the sixty page guide it self, including two cd's with digital info (never played). A bag with Bionicle parts to make a Turahk figure (never opened) plus the instructions. A videotape with a short intro about Bionicle (never played). A small synopsis booklet, around 15 pages telling the story of the Bionicle warriors and legend. And then there is a folded A2 poster with a map of the Bionicle world with a big Bionicle logo on the backside. 

 

 I have included some photos...The first picture is the box it comes in. Picture two is the really nice outer case. Three is the outer case open. Pic four is the stuff that comes in the guide. Pic five is the Turahk figure bag and instructions. Number six is the video cassette. Pic seven is the small synopsis booklet. Eight is the folded poster and nine is the same poster unfolded.

 

 I found this thing again in my storage room last week and started looking around the net for more info on it, but found almost nothing. Only a few pictures of a beat up copy of the style guide folder it self with the pages but no cd's.

 But what I did find was this forum and judging by the looks of it, you guys really like Bionicle I can upload some more pictures if you want a closer look. Just tell me what you want to see. I don't think I want to sell this thing, but if you have any idea on worth, then I'm all ears. It's in super mint condition.

 Cheers and have a nice day.

 

 Torsti

 Denmark

 

[Gatanui]

Wow, that's really awesome! I'd really love to have something like that. Any chance you could show us the VHS, CD and booklet contents? I and surely many others would be extremely interested in all of them.

 

-Gata

Edited September 29, 2014 by Gatanui

[Torsti]

 Hey Gata

 

 That is going to be a little hard with the VHS since I haven't had a VCR in over ten years But I can take more photos of the booklet and check out those cd's for sure.

It's a little bit late here now, but I'll see what I can do tomorrow when I come home.

 

 Best regards

 

 Torsti

[Gatanui]

Awesome, I really look forward to it! Bummer about the VHS - maybe you'll come up with a solution, but no rush.

 

-Gata

[Lyichir]

That is absolutely incredible and I would love to get a look at it (if not own it altogether). The few peeks I've gotten at Bionicle style guides have delivered great insights into The Lego Group's vision for the Bionicle theme and how it would be conveyed visually.

 

Just as an example, one thing I learned from style guides was that Bionicle was not referred to as "LEGO Bionicle" at all during the theme's initial run, unlike just about every other Lego theme. In fact, rather than featuring the Lego logo in the top corner of the box like most Lego themes, it was usually shifted to the bottom edge of canisters or boxes. This, to me, is a good indicator of the sort of shame Lego had for its own brand during the hard times of the early 2000s: Not only was Bionicle a daring success in a time marked by other themes' failures, but Lego wanted the Bionicle brand to stand on its own and not be associated with their traditional building toys. In some ways, that was a smart move—the theme, after all, was partly meant to target kids who thought they had outgrown regular Lego. But it also served as somewhat of a deterrent for Bionicle fans from transitioning back into more complex or expensive Lego sets and themes, something I witnessed all too frequently when the theme ended and many fans swore off Lego entirely due to a misguided sense of "betrayal".

In any case, that's one of the things I admire about next year's upcoming Bionicle theme: It is in fact being marketed as "Lego Bionicle", showing how the company has risen from its troubles to a point where the Lego brand is an asset, not a liability.

[Aanchir]

Whoa! I knew that these existed, but I never thought I'd see one! I'd love to see more details!

[Pohatu: Uniter of Stone]

This is awesome! I'm sure you can find a VCR player- they sell them as a combination VCR/DVD near where I live.

[bioniclepluslotr]

Some stores like Walgreens let you take a VHS and upload it to a DVD.

[KopakaFan116]

Some stores like Walgreens let you take a VHS and upload it to a DVD.

Yes Torsti, you should do that!

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

That is an awesome package! Really nice design. 

 

And man, that stuff is golden. A VHS? Wow I feel old. It looks like there might be some nice goodies in there for us fans. Thanks for taking your time to share this with us.

 

And excellent job designing Tarix! Was this late 2007? They design sets two years in advance eh?

 

-NotS

[randomreviewerbros]

Wow that pack is heaps cool! Plus thats amazing you actually designed Tarix! 

How long did he take you to design???

I'd love to see some design concepts you had if you still have them

[Toa Smoke Monster]

It's been forever since I've seen a VHS tape. I assume that it was made in Bionicle's earlier years, because I don't think any company would still use VHS tapes in 2007. (Feel free to correct me on that if I'm wrong.)

 

The outer case looks great, as well as all of its contents. Thanks for taking pictures of these and showing them to us!

[Rooster Nui]

Whoa, that is something very wonderful to have as a gift. I never knew such a thing existed and a VHS tape with the Bionicle logo on it is just cool looking at it. I didn't think that would exist either. I'm very curious as to what is shown in the VHS tape.

 

I love the design and appearence of Tarix, well done on that. He, along with Ackar and Strakk are my favorite Glatorian.

[Torsti]

 Hey guys

 

 Thank you for the Tarix compliments! I will take some more detailed photos of the guide and post them later today.

 

 -Bioniclepluslotr and KopakaFan116, I live in Denmark so no Walgreens here. But my friend likes ripping silly old action and horror movies from VHS to digital, so he might be able to help me. But unfortunately I wont see him for the next couple of weeks at least.

 

 -Nidhiki of the Shadows, Thank you. Yes I was there from November 2007 to February 2008. Yes, the sets are designed about eighteen months before they come out.

 

 -Toa Smoke Monster, no problem, it's my pleasure to share something like this with people who truly walue it. I'm pretty sure the guide I have is from 2003.

 

 -Randomreviewerbros, The development of the look took a couple of months and many tries. Sorry I can't show you anything that has not been published by the Lego group them selves. I take my contracts very seriously and also wouldn't want Lego's team of lawyers to come after me.

 But I can show you my final build for Tarix and the real concept behind the Stingray waterblades/shield, before it all had to jump through a few thousand loopholes at Lego where somebody didn't get the memo regarding the blades

 

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2014 by Torsti

[JrMasterModelBuilder]

This is awesome! Myself and many others would be very greatful if you could create disc images of the CD's you have! If you need any help with this, I would be happy to assist!

[Torsti]

 Hey guys

 

 Here is the whole synopsis booklet and a picture of the cd's and the back of the poster. I will check the cd's soon and talk with my friend about ripping the VHS. If you want some specific photos then please tell me and I'll see what I can do.

 

 Enjoy!

 

 Torsti

 

 

[Pohatu: Uniter of Stone]

That... was... awesome! I would assume that was canon, since it came officially from the Bionicle creators, and I greatly enjoyed reading it. You are very lucky to have this!

[Tea-rex]

Synopsis my donkey.

But, wow. Never knew this kind of stuff existed. A VHS. Man, that makes me feel older than I am XD. How nice of Lego though!

Great for you!

Wait, I found something - you posted the Kaita vs Mana pages twice

Edited September 30, 2014 by alijar

[JrMasterModelBuilder]

That synopsis is amazing! I haven't finished reading it yet, but pages 2 and 3 seem to be missing with 6 and 7 repeated in thier place. Can you add pictures of these pages?

Edited September 30, 2014 by JrMasterModelBuilder

[Torsti]

 Hmmm that's weird. Sorry about that. Here are pages 2 and 3

 

 

[MrStoneEdge]

Really nice stuff!

[scyther_grovyle]

Great stuff, and i also thank you for coming up with this. Don't open the turahk set, if it isn't already, as with him sealed it may have larger value, and turahk itself is easy to find opened. About the price, it's hard to set it for such a almost one-of-a-kind item, it's mainly dictated by the demand, but i guess that you could get min 150 bucks for it. I think that serious collectors like MaskCollector or ToaLihkanHordika would be interested

[TheSkeletonMan939]

This is amazing! Just when you think all the Bionicle media possible has surfaced, something from ten years ago pops up!

 

I'm excited to see what the contents of the CD and VHS tape are...

 

Also - Tarix was my favorite Glatorian. I really liked the way he looked. It must have been exciting for you to see him come to life in The Legend Reborn film.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

That is an amazing story booklet. I've only heard about the Toa Mata defeating their shadow doubles by absorbing them back into themselves, but I've never read it from a book before until now. And the pictures in it...they bring back many memories for me about the early years of Bionicle. 

 

Thanks again for posting this!

[Lenny7092]

That's awesome! I love these things that you are showing us. I never knew these things exist before, either! And also, I like Tarix, too. He's an awesome character, and his weapons are cool, too! I would love to see how he came to life in The Legend Reborn movie, too!

[randomreviewerbros]

 -Randomreviewerbros, The development of the look took a couple of months and many tries. Sorry I can't show you anything that has not been published by the Lego group them selves. I take my contracts very seriously and also wouldn't want Lego's team of lawyers to come after me.

 But I can show you my final build for Tarix and the real concept behind the Stingray waterblades/shield, before it all had to jump through a few thousand loopholes at Lego where somebody didn't get the memo regarding the blades

 

 

 

 

haha i understand, but wow you did a really great job on Tarix, I remember getting him like yesterday and he remains one of my favorite figures of 2009, loved the color scheme you gave him, the classic Mata blue mixed with a darker royal blue and gold armor, you did a great job designing him!

Edited October 1, 2014 by randomreviewerbros

[Prehistoric_Echoes]

This is amazing. You are very lucky to own something like this. The insight into Bionicle's history and the pure nostalgic value of this is staggering. I don't think I'd be able to sell it were I in your position.

[Gatanui]

This is awesome. I am particularly fond of the fight against the Shadow Toa. BIONICLE 2015 will have a lot to live up to! I can't wait to see the rest of the content. Thank you so much for everything!

 

-Gata

[emily]

This is wonderful! Thank you.

 

The synopsis is undoubtedly written by Greg. It has his version of the Shadow Toa fight (which, incidentally, must've originated here when he was commissioned to write this in 2003). It's basically a predecessor to his books that began with Tales of the Masks later that year. His version of Hapka's works, condensed.

 

It also butchers the original version of the 2001 story and substitutes it with a new version, but that's nothing new. Greg didn't have access to the cancelled PC game, of course, and without it his only resource to work from was MNOLG, which he seemed to disregard a lot because it wasn't approved by the story team, even though Templar did an incredible job of integrating the game with the BIONICLE story proper. Even when Greg does allude to the game in the guide, he gets stuff wrong and shows that he didn't pay it much heed. A shame, really.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Pereki

[Kopekemaster]

Oh my goodness. This is amazing!

As you said, I think I saw a little bit of the style guide somewhere before, but nothing near this. This is awesome.

So, would the synopsis booklet basically be the mini story-bible for the years it runs for?

[Naota Takizawa]

I love it when the staff involved in the bionicle series releases concept art, drafts and prototypes of sets and other stories but this is awesome! I can't wait to see what's on those CDs and that VHS tape! We've become one step closer in unlocking more secrets of the bionicle universe!

[Shadow Destroyer]

I have no idea how much that gift box is worth, but I know it's something I would never sell if I somehow received it. (Now I just go to get a job at Lego! Haha) Thank you so much for posting this, and great work on Tarix! I enjoyed him a lot when he came out...

[Daniel the Finlander]

NOSTALGIA OVERLOAD

That synopsis is an awesome read, but it's a shame that you can't really show us the contents of the VHS tape :/

 

Anyways, I just wanted to say that you did a good job designing Tarix, he was one of the two glatorian I bothered buying

[Tuuli]

So will we be able to see the content on those discs sometime? Or just the story synopsis?

[Zidonaro]

Wow, they should have selled this stuff back in the days as regular products

[Turaga Majice]

That's really cool! The early 2009 lineup was a really solid one, and I rather like Tarix. Thanks for that! The rest of the stuff is quite cool. It always pleases and surprises me to see how much affection for BIONICLE the people within the company had. And presumably still have, since they're bringing it back.

[TheDarkSide]

Was this a product that was never released?

[Lady Takanuva]

First off, major kudos on designing my favorite Glatorian, style-wise. I love Tarix's blades, and he has a pretty nice body design. Also, gold and royal blue, can't go wrong.

I think it's pretty amazing that you received this. You must have been doing something right!

Also, I have to ask about the minifigure.

 

On another note:

I may be angering people, but I think I'll accept this version of the events of Mangaia as my personal cannon. It parses best, and I love the whole "overcoming your darkness" theme.

 

Also, May I point something out on page 14:

"Far below, Tahu heard the Toa of stone cry out. He swung his mighty fire axe and tore a gash in the side of the Mangai."

Earlier on they allude to Tahu's sword. Was he originally to have an axe in its place? I wonder...

[emily]

"Far below, Tahu heard the Toa of stone cry out. He swung his mighty fire axe and tore a gash in the side of the Mangai."

Earlier on they allude to Tahu's sword. Was he originally to have an axe in its place? I wonder...

As this was written in 2003 by someone uninvolved with BIONICLE's initial development, it was probably just a mistake. There's even late Doo Heads concept art where the character that would become Tahu has a fire sword, so it's been around about as long as Tahu has.

 

Was this a product that was never released?

This is a guide that would be given to partners of the LEGO Group, so they would know what BIONICLE was and how to present it to consumers.

[Aanchir]

On another note:

I may be angering people, but I think I'll accept this version of the events of Mangaia as my personal cannon. It parses best, and I love the whole "overcoming your darkness" theme.

I believe this IS supposed to be the canon explanation of events, and I agree it's by far the best. It misses out on Makuta's dark and philosophical monologue from the Mata Nui Online Game, but does not contradict it. And it provides better character development for the Toa than arguably any other official account of that story year.