New York Comic Con 2014 Exclusive Bionicle Panel

[Hapori Tohu]

BZPower was able to attend the LEGO Bionicle panel at New York Comic Con 2014. The Bionicle team of Steen Lindeberg (Marketing Director), Cerim Manovi (Creative Director), Zdenko Oliver Santini (Art Director), and Rob Johnson (US Brand Manager) talked about the process of bringing the theme back, designing the sets, and creating the animated shorts to help promote them. Continue on to watch it for yourself!

 

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[Makuta_of_Oz]

LANGUAGE WARNING AT THE 7 MINUTE MARK!

[Lyichir]

LANGUAGE WARNING AT THE 7 MINUTE MARK!

Ha, almost forgot about that bit.

 

Maybe BZP needs to make an exception to the linked content rules for official Lego employee statements.

[ToaJaller77]

"We've created a  -load of sketches..."

 

Oh, LEGO. I'm gonna like this new story team.

 

That aside, lots of awesome info at the panel. Looking forward to it. Also reboot  !

[END]

Had to turn down my volume at the beginning due to the celebrating.

I found this coverage very enjoyable.

 

One little typo (kind of)- they were not the first to see outside LEGO (due to leaked pictures that came out over the past months) but officially they were the first outside the company and both officially and unofficially in person, which must have been awesome.

[Lenny7092]

Awesome video! Oh, yeah! Whoo-hoo! We got a lot of sweet information about Bionicle 2015, and they pretty much answered our questions about it. I had a feeling that it is most likely a reboot, and it turns out that it really is. Plus, we get to know that each the sets is going to have at least two functions. And also, we are going to have a short web series for Bionicle, similar to Mixels, and its animation looks like either Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesome-ness or the 2013 Teen Titans TV show. Man, all of these things make me feel super-excited for next year! Hooray!

Although we lost many things from Bionicle since it is a reboot, we do have great stuff about it.

But there are some things that we don't know about:

1. Will the characters be voiced in the new upcoming web series?

2. How will we wrap up the original story where Velika is doing his killing spree.

3. What will happen to Hero Factory now that Bionicle is coming back? What about the other themes? Can Lego keep two constraction sets at the same time?

4. Will Bionicle try to be successful in 2015? Well, I hope it does.

Hopefully, these questions will be answered in some time.

[Black Six]

1. Will the characters be voiced in the new upcoming web series?

There will be a single narrator, but they will give different voices/intonations to the characters.

 

2. How will we wrap up the original story where Velika is doing his killing spree.

Since this is a reboot, I don't know that we'll ever find that out.

 

4. Will Bionicle try to be successful in 2015? Well, I hope it does.

Hopefully, these questions will be answered in some time.

I'm sure that's the intent. Why would they not want to be successful?

[fishers64]

 

LANGUAGE WARNING AT THE 7 MINUTE MARK!

Ha, almost forgot about that bit.

 

Maybe BZP needs to make an exception to the linked content rules for official Lego employee statements.

 

Come on, that isn't the worst. The leaked content policy was violated a mere 5 minutes in.

[xccj]

Very informative video, a fun watch for any Bionicle fan.

 

There's a lot to be excited about. It's cool to see that they went for the original stuff for inspiration (and not the Nuva/Phantoka/Mistika) as well as the MNOLG. There are some disappointing things to me personally, but it makes sense from their perspective of simplifying the story, which is something that it needs. (I always liked the various mask names and powers, but cutting down on those makes sense.) I'm also kind of sad that the story is going to be presented in 90 second animations or whatever. I mean, we used to get animations of that length in the original theme, and although they told "a story" they didn't tell "the story" but I suppose the books will help in that regard. I understand that it's optimistic to expect a full TV show, but like a 2-4 episode mini series like Hero Factory got would've been nice. (I guess this is similar to the Mixels, but I've honestly not followed their story so don't know how well that's played out.)

 

So I guess that while I have some complaints, it's because I'm still comparing it to the original year, and that doesn't mean I'm not excited to see it come back. Thanks for the awesome video Andrew!

 

[Alloywarrior]

That girl cosplaying as Wild Style looks pretty hot.

 

Oh and Bionicle's return = Epic Winnnnnnn! I love that Mask of Creation, the fact that they actually brought back Makuta, (though sadly no matoran, Mata Nui or Turaga. R.I.P. Nokama) I like this new Ekimu guy, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what direction they take the story. (Inb4 Makuta Awakens, steals the Mask of Creation and assumes the mantle of Ekimu... then we discover Okoto is actually Mata Nui's giant robotic face! )

Edited October 11, 2014 by Alloywarrior

[OnuaNut]

What a great panel! With 2015 onward being a reboot, there's a lot of potential to have fun with our beloved Toa in a brand new way. I'm excited for all the possibilities!

 

Seeing the video really gave some great insight to the tone of our New Bionicle, as well as showing the passion that exists behind-the-scenes. It's wonderful to see how much respect there is for the past and the clear desire to please old and new fans alike. 

[Kaxix]

Thanks for the video!

I'm hoping for a better villain apart from the spiders. So far, we actually don't know if Makuta has awaken or not yet.

I'd be glad if Mata Nui Ekimu won't sleep for eight years. 

Edited October 11, 2014 by Kaxix

[Chro]

 

1. Will the characters be voiced in the new upcoming web series?

There will be a single narrator, but they will give different voices/intonations to the characters.

 

Oh. That's mildly disappointing. Hopefully the animation and the overall style will make up for that. (I'm sure it will? Probably?)

 

 

 

LANGUAGE WARNING AT THE 7 MINUTE MARK!

Ha, almost forgot about that bit.

 

Maybe BZP needs to make an exception to the linked content rules for official Lego employee statements.

 

Come on, that isn't the worst. The leaked content policy was violated a mere 5 minutes in.

 

It wasn't leaked if it was released officially by Lego.

 

That girl cosplaying as Wild Style looks pretty hot.

@@Nukaya

[Iben]

"A Toa without weapons isn't a Toa".

 

This line put me at ease. Lets hope they keep this in mind and never go "dual blaster Kongu"-mode ever again

-Iben

[Lyichir]

"A Toa without weapons isn't a Toa".

 

This line put me at ease. Lets hope they keep this in mind and never go "dual blaster Kongu"-mode ever again

 

-Iben

I fail to see how a pair of giant gatling guns fail to qualify as "weapons".

[Lenny7092]

 

1. Will the characters be voiced in the new upcoming web series?

There will be a single narrator, but they will give different voices/intonations to the characters.

 

2. How will we wrap up the original story where Velika is doing his killing spree.

Since this is a reboot, I don't know that we'll ever find that out.

 

4. Will Bionicle try to be successful in 2015? Well, I hope it does.

Hopefully, these questions will be answered in some time.

I'm sure that's the intent. Why would they not want to be successful?

I asked if Bionicle will try to be successful in 2015 because Hero Factory had been doing poorly nowadays, and a lot of themes have their own TV shows and web shows, and I hope this would not be like 2010, where Bionicle ended because of Lego's money problem. I would not be want Bionicle to end shortly, either. This is all depends on Lego's budget in next year. Just saying my feelings.

Wildstyle looks very great in the video, anyway.

Also anyway, it looks like that Bionicle is getting a better and cooler start, similar to the Spider-Man movies and the Transformers franchise to come to think of them; the first appearance of Toa Mata, Makuta being jealous about his brother, Ekimu reminds me of Mata Nui and Artakha, the quest to find masks, the Protecters reminds me of Matoran, evil creatures infecting people by touching their faces, looking like the island of Mata Nui, and more. This is like 2001 again, but in a different way. Next year seems to have some elements from other years in the old Bionicle's time, like the Toa Mata having some Toa Nuva elements and Tahu having some elements of Toa Lhikan from 2004. It's too bad that we don't see other classic characters, like the Turaga, Takua/Takanuva, and the Great Spirit Mata Nui. Man, I miss these guys. They were great in the old Bionicle years in 2001-2010. Speaking of which, I wonder if the future will be kind of like the old Bionicle years again, like in 2016 will we get the Bohrok after the Toa Mata collected all the masks and defeated evil along the way, but we may not know, so we will see what the future holds.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Lenny7092

[Lyichir]

 

 

1. Will the characters be voiced in the new upcoming web series?

There will be a single narrator, but they will give different voices/intonations to the characters.

 

2. How will we wrap up the original story where Velika is doing his killing spree.

Since this is a reboot, I don't know that we'll ever find that out.

 

4. Will Bionicle try to be successful in 2015? Well, I hope it does.

Hopefully, these questions will be answered in some time.

I'm sure that's the intent. Why would they not want to be successful?

 

I asked if Bionicle will try to be successful in 2015 because Hero Factory had been doing poorly nowadays, and a lot of themes have their own TV shows and web shows, and I hope this would not be like 2010, where Bionicle ended because of Lego's money problem. I would not be want Bionicle to end shortly, either. This is all depends on Lego's budget in next year. Just saying my feelings.

Wildstyle looks very great in the video, anyway.

Also anyway, it looks like that Bionicle is getting a better and cooler start, similar to the Spider-Man movies and the Transformers franchise to come to think of them; the first appearance of Toa Mata, Makuta being jealous about his brother, Ekimu reminds me of Mata Nui and Artakha, the quest to find masks, the Protecters reminds me of Matoran, evil creatures infecting people by touching their faces, looking like the island of Mata Nui, and more. This is like 2001 again, but in a different way. Next year seems to have some elements from other years in the old Bionicle's time, like the Toa Mata having some Toa Nuva elements and Tahu having some elements of Toa Lhikan from 2004. It's too bad that we don't see other classic characters, like the Turaga, Takua/Takanuva, and the Great Spirit Mata Nui. Man, I miss these guys. They were great in the old Bionicle years in 2001-2010. Speaking of which, I wonder if the future will be kind of like the old Bionicle years again, like in 2016 will we get the Bohrok after the Toa Mata collected all the masks and defeated evil along the way, but we may not know, so we will see what the future holds.

 

Bionicle didn't end because of a "money problem"—Lego was doing better financially when the theme ended than they had been around the theme's start. It ended because the theme's sales were declining, and that was largely because of older fans leaving without enough newer fans taking their place. Lego certainly doesn't have a money problem now, either—as of this year they're the most profitable, biggest, and most successful toy company in the world. From what I can tell, Hero Factory was not doing all that poorly either, as far as I can tell—sales may have been on the decline but that's to be expected of a theme in its fifth year, and the fact that the theme got a full line of sets this year suggests that Lego still had confidence in the theme's ability to carry the Constraction audience until Bionicle's return. In any case, it's looking like Bionicle will be Lego's "big-bang" theme next year, meaning that Lego will be devoting significant resources to promoting it. So while there's no telling whether the new Bionicle will last as long as the old one did, you can rest assured that Lego is doing everything they can to ensure its success.

[KopakaFan116]

"We've created a  -load of sketches..."

 

Oh, LEGO. I'm gonna like this new story team.

 

That aside, lots of awesome info at the panel. Looking forward to it. Also reboot  !

Wow. Seriously, coming from Lego, that isn't okay.

[Timeline15]

Can't tell if trolling or just stupid.... lego employees are more than allowed to swear if they want. This was an official panel, not a video to kids.

 

On a lighter note, I like where lego seem to be going with this. Bizarre how different the new masks ended up, given that lego seemed to be thinking very greatly about the old ones during the design process.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Timeline15

[avmatoran]

When, in the video, they showed the slide of the mask progression for Lewa and Gali, the masks actually make sense now. I'm not through with the video, but all in all, I'm pumped for this!

[Toa Green Ninja]

It was a panel at a convention. Plus, the team was fully aware that they were speaking to a room full of grown men...

 

Anyway, very jealous that I could not be there! We sure learned a lot about the upcoming reboot. I cannot wait until next year!

[Tahu: Spirit of the Mist]

This news is just awesome. Knew Hero Factory wouldn't last too long!

[Aanchir]

This news is just awesome. Knew Hero Factory wouldn't last too long!

It lasted four and a half years. That's longer than most non-evergreen LEGO themes. Edited October 11, 2014 by Aanchir

[Lenny7092]

 

This news is just awesome. Knew Hero Factory wouldn't last too long!

It lasted four and a half years. That's longer than most non-evergreen LEGO themes.

But we don't know if Hero Facotry had ended yet. I think we need an announcement that confirms that. Besides, Hero Factory looks like that it is ending, anyway.

[avmatoran]

How does it look like it is ending?

[Lenny7092]

How does it look like it is ending?

Since Hero Factory's TV show is doing poorly and Bionicle is coming back, we don't think Lego could hold two constraction themes at the same time as there are Chima and Ninjago still around. Plus, there is no announcement that Hero Factory is still continuing next year. So yeah, I think that's about it, but we are not sure, but we will find out sometime. Edited October 12, 2014 by Lenny7092

[Kohaku]

Honestly, one of the most fascinating things about the panel is how exclusive it was. This panel was not listed anywhere public, heck even one of the Marvel Panels was listed as Retailer's Only. This was one of the coolest panels I've been to in all my years as an NYCC attendee, it was a lot of fun and it got me way more excited than I expected to be.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

Skimmed through. Haha, the new team seems so relatable and great. They definitely respect the older audience and I love it. Thanks for sharing this - I will be watching the whole thing tonight!

 

-NotS

Edited October 12, 2014 by Nidhiki of the Shadows

[avmatoran]

The video is really pumping me up for new Bionicle. I like the new sets, pieces, and story. This new team seems like they know the challenge of making a reboot of Bionicle and seems up to said challenge. I am a fan of new Bionicle, I just cannot wait for an Ekimu set to be released, or really any set with a mask of Creation.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

Well, just watched the whole video. Wow that was exciting. First time seeing a press-conference dedicated to Bionicle and its fans and even though I was not there, I felt the enthusiasm from the new team. Bionicle is definitely in capable hands. Very fun, passionate individuals working on it, and it's great to know Christopher, Christian and Greg were main consultants from the previous line.

 

The sets are all awesome and seeing them in action here really highlights how fantastically designed they are. The return of gear functions along with the full posebility of later sets is unprecedented. The mask flipping mechanic is ingenious and the return of dual-functioning weapons and parasitic masks are nice nods to previous gimmicks.The stud-launcher on the Protectors seem to be excellent as well. I need to get all of them for sure haha. I love how the creative director encouraged the fans to yell out the names of the characters. This really was a bond between creators and the fans.

 

Seeing the conceptual, development and testing phase in slides was very informative as well. The acknowledgement of the roots, the steps to redesigning and the reasons behind aesthetics are really grounded. I love seeing this kind of stuff and I hope to see more of it as time goes on.

 

And finally, those animations look amazing. Great visual style and I can see it being very action-packed. The fact that it is based on MNOG-aesthetic made me squee. 

 

Also, the gold masks - do you think the combination weapon gimmick is actually a super mode the Toa receives from the power of the Golden Masks? That would give incentive to buy the Protectors - for the additional mode.

 

Loved the Q&A and overall atmosphere. Just seemed like an amazing time and I am so glad LEGO did this for the fans. 

 

-NotS