OFFICIAL 2016 Bionicle Topic

[Toa Imrukii]

So... is this the end?

 

The end? The end of what? What do you mean by this? (please explain, I am confused.)

[Rooster Nui]

If they do end it, which they probably won't until 2018, then I'd like a Ratchet & Clank Constraction theme to be its successor.  

 

Honestly, things can't be too bad if we're getting a form of story-telling that's roughly four times larger than what it was for the previous year.

[sydorack]

Am I reading the toy fair coverage wrong, or are we getting the summer wave in June and not August?

[abstractAgamid]

I do hope the theme will last for 4 years, but eh.

[randomreviewerbros]

What is everyone talking about?? Ending??? Of what??

The reboot hasn't been bad by any means, the set functions are absolutely on point this time around!

Although the G1 sets will always hold a special place in my heart, and will always be my favourites of all time!

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

I got Tahu Uniter of Fire and Ikir. Wow. The renders for these sets do not do them justice. At first, I was skeptical about the wave in general. But having them in person has made me a big fan of 2016. The build was so much fun and the detail is amazing. The figures themselves look fantastic. I love Tahu's mask and weapons and the waist-swivelling function is excellent. Ikir is a great companion to Tahu with his own fun build and function, and he looks aesthetically pleasing to boot. Together, their United form is one of the best things to come out of Bionicle in general. It just looks way too cool.

 

I might have to get all the 2016 winter sets now.

 

-NotS

[masterchirox580]

I've heard so many conflicting reports regarding sales. Though to be fair if the theme is ending that might explain the lack of new molds in the summer wave. I'm pretty sure with the netflix series we can expect to see a 2017 wave as lego is still trying to push G2. However though I'd say the possibility of an end after 2017 is looking increasingly likely. I think the continuation of bionicle G2 (and most likely bionicle as a whole) is dependent on the success of this year. 

[bohrokman]

reads page 19/20 while watching flash episode 23 the sad sad timing nooooooooooo!

[Owlexander]

[bohrokman]

bionicle is supposed to be a "terminal theme" says a credible source everyone freaks out bionicle dies we die

[Owlexander]

 

bionicle is supposed to be a "terminal theme" says a credible source everyone freaks out bionicle dies we die

 

To be fair, we only die if we let ourselves die. We can keep going on as a fandom (as much as I hate the word) so long as we keep doing what we love to do. Who knows, Bionicle might make another return as well!

[bohrokman]

 

 

bionicle is supposed to be a "terminal theme" says a credible source everyone freaks out bionicle dies we die

 

To be fair, we only die if we let ourselves die. We can keep going on as a fandom (as much as I hate the word) so long as we keep doing what we love to do. Who knows, Bionicle might make another return as well!

 

true I don't think they would do a gen 3 idk maybe they would do like constraction for other themes then again this all could end up not being true and everything is fine

Edited February 16, 2016 by bohrokman

[Owlexander]

 

 

 

bionicle is supposed to be a "terminal theme" says a credible source everyone freaks out bionicle dies we die

 

To be fair, we only die if we let ourselves die. We can keep going on as a fandom (as much as I hate the word) so long as we keep doing what we love to do. Who knows, Bionicle might make another return as well!

 

true I don't think they would do a gen 3 idk maybe they would do like constraction for other themes then again this all could end up not being true and everything is fine

 

I doubt they'll ever fully get rid of Bionicle. It's too good of a product to just throw out. It'll probably always be somewhere at LEGO HQ, probably stored as an idea if LEGO ever goes under again so they can whip something out.

[Pohaturon]

I think the doomsaying is a tad premature. Sales may be down in the US, but it's not like America is the world. Since the 2016 sets appeared in Hungary, they've been selling pretty well as far as I can see, and the 2015 sets have been sold out and restocked several times, and the few stragglers still around have kept their launch price, something rather rare in these parts.

We've seen some LEGO products not making their way to North America while being popular elsewhere.

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by Pohaturon

[Irrie]

I'd like to reemphasize that this could easily have been the result of a miscommunication. Talking to a Lego store employee isn't exactly the same as getting an official statement from Lego. 

[Owlexander]

I'd like to reemphasize that this could easily have been the result of a miscommunication. Talking to a Lego store employee isn't exactly the same as getting an official statement from Lego. 

 

I think the doomsaying is a tad premature. Sales may be down in the US, but it's not like America is the world. Since the 2016 sets appeared in Hungary, they've been selling pretty well as far as I can see, and the 2015 sets have been sold out and restocked several times, and the few stragglers still around have kept their launch price, something rather rare in these parts.

We've seen some LEGO products not making their way to North America while being popular elsewhere.

 

 

I agree with both of these.

[Pohaturon]

Wife got me Ketar as a surprise present yesterday. I knew she's the one!

 

[Owlexander]

Wife got me Ketar as a surprise present yesterday. I knew she's the one!

 

 

Aww, that's cute. :3

[masterchirox580]

I do wonder how netflix are gonna handle the series they're making. I wonder if they're gonna take cues from the earlier direct-to-DVD films. I also wonder if netflix are picking up the series to appeal to people's nostalgia. I mean they got Peewee Herman and full house so I wonder if they're gonna try and pull off a nostalgia thing with bionicle. 

[Aanchir]

I do wonder how netflix are gonna handle the series they're making. I wonder if they're gonna take cues from the earlier direct-to-DVD films. I also wonder if netflix are picking up the series to appeal to people's nostalgia. I mean they got Peewee Herman and full house so I wonder if they're gonna try and pull off a nostalgia thing with bionicle.

Some of Netflix's original series are definitely designed to capitalize on nostalgia. Others, including some of their kids' series like Dinotrux, are much more recent properties that don't have nearly the same amount of nostalgic appeal. I have a feeling Bionicle falls somewhere in between. I have no doubt they looked at the viewership numbers of the previous Bionicle movies when deciding whether to carry the series, but it seems from the recent trailer like it is going to be doing its own thing rather than banking on people's nostalgia for and recognition of the original movies.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

 

Here is the Netflix Bionicle TV show trailer for those interested. 

 

I like Lewa and Kopaka's voices. I don't know if I like Umarak's voice yet though. I always imagined it to be a little deeper than it is shown here. But maybe it will grow on me as time goes on.

[Taria Pakari]

I really don't like Umarak's voice. Don't think it suits him.

[masterchirox580]

I really don't like the whole robotic voices thing. I mean they're supposed to be robots that are like humans. I'm not sure what to think of Kopaka's voice. It's deep but not as stern as I'd have liked. I think the voice would suit Onua better. Lewa I actually like. It sounds easy going without making him sound too high pitched (like Berix) or that weird hippy thing they went for in MOL. And Umarak needs to have a deeper voice. Hopefully Makuta's voice will make up for it. 

[Nescent]

I like the voice acting well enough, but yeah I agree that Umarak's is weak. His voice would have been more fitting for a Skull Warrior or something.

[emily]

The first designer video of the year and a new "Kids Video" are up on the BIONICLE site!

[Toa Imrukii]

I don't think people really know what "terminal theme" means, from my knowledge (which admittedly is limited) ir means something aling the lines of a core theme. But I'm not wntirely sure about that. In anycase, we should freak out about if BIONICLE G2 ends, it's not going to anytime soon, and thats a fact.

[Lyichir]

I don't think people really know what "terminal theme" means, from my knowledge (which admittedly is limited) ir means something aling the lines of a core theme. But I'm not wntirely sure about that. In anycase, we should freak out about if BIONICLE G2 ends, it's not going to anytime soon, and thats a fact.

 

To be honest I've never heard any such phrase used by anyone connected to Lego. But then again, I haven't ever known a Lego store employee to speak so freely about the future of a theme, particularly relating to something as consequential as a theme's imminent cancellation. Maybe I just don't go to the right stores.

 

I will say that this brings back memories of Kevin Hinkle talking about Ninjago ending back in 2012. We all know how that turned out—and I'd think that Kevin's position would make him more privy to news on that front than some random store employee. Maybe someone should ask him about it.

[Bfahome]

I'm pretty okay with all the voice stuff.  The fact that their mouths don't actually move makes the reverb not seem as bad as if they did, and Umarak's voice doesn't bother me terribly.  He's a hunter, not a tank, so he's not going to have a deep booming voice; I suspect they're saving that for his "Destroyer" form, if anything.

 

Also I recently acquired Akida.  Decent set, not quite as exciting as I expected it would be, but still very swooshable.

[Ayliffe]

The latest Club magazine is now up online, and there's a one-page BIONICLE comic in it. However, this time it's in a very familiar art style...

 

 

The webisodes may not be totally dead yet, folks.

[The Hordika]

Umarak's voice is bothering other people too?
​I kinda wanted it to be deeper and more brutish. It would fit him a lot more. Lewa's voice is great. He sounds so much better than he did in MoL. I can't tell what Kopaka is saying though. I do like the voice.

​On the new sets though, I'm a little disappointed. Compared to the winter wave, it looks like a completely different line. Ekimu is a little too blue. Umarak the Destroyer looks really cool. I really dig the poseable fingers, and the Mask of Control looks really nice without horns.
​The Beasts are kind of underwelming. The gear functions are innovative, but the delivery is really weak. Lava Beast is by far the worst, and Quake and Storm Beast look pretty cool. The gear functions are really evolving

[evil_jaga_genius]

Why not robotic voices?  Now I really want to hear Gali's voice and see if it's anything like GLaDOS.

 

Umarak's voice is... okay.  But I'd have preferred him to have a soft, sing-song kind of voice instead of this mad supervillain who's had too much Mountain Dew voice.

 

If that makes any sense to anyone.

[Pohaturon]

I hoped Umarak would be more Megatron and less Starscream in terms of voice.

 

Or, you know, Harbinger ("Assuming Direct Control" = Mask of Control?)

 

[masterchirox580]

The latest Club magazine is now up online, and there's a one-page BIONICLE comic in it. However, this time it's in a very familiar art style...

 

 

The webisodes may not be totally dead yet, folks.

The art is still good but man they screwed up Tahu's personality in the comic strip. I really hope that's not how they represent him in other media. He's a hothead not a fun lover.

[believe victims]

Comes across as hot-headed to me; he's saying "this is getting boring" out of frustration, not an innate desire for fun.

 

That said, when you only have room for him to say five things, and most of it needs to be exposition/promotion, it's a little difficult to show character traits as well as you otherwise could.

[Nescent]

New chapter in the bionicle.com Explore section:

 

http://www.lego.com/en-us/bionicle/explore

 

Looks like this image is supposed to be displayed in the last section, but it doesn't seem to work.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Nescent

[Toa Smoke Monster]

New chapter in the bionicle.com Explore section:

 

http://www.lego.com/en-us/bionicle/explore

 

Looks like this image is supposed to be displayed in the last section, but it doesn't seem to work.

And the trend of stuff on the Bionicle website not functioning properly continues!

 

But in all seriousness, I was wondering why a image of Umarak didn't show up when I scrolled down to his info box on this. But at least the rest of it works.

[Lyichir]

 

New chapter in the bionicle.com Explore section:

 

http://www.lego.com/en-us/bionicle/explore

 

Looks like this image is supposed to be displayed in the last section, but it doesn't seem to work.

And the trend of stuff on the Bionicle website not functioning properly continues!

 

But in all seriousness, I was wondering why a image of Umarak didn't show up when I scrolled down to his info box on this. But at least the rest of it works.

 

 

It works now. I'd say that ~30 minutes is a pretty quick turnaround for a fix.

[Toa-Kal]

Whether the picture shows up or not actually depends on the aspect ratio of your screen/browser window. If your browser window is not wide enough, you cannot scroll down far enough and the final image will not show up. So, no, it's not fixed, it just does not affect everyone.

 

The previous chapter already had the same problem, btw.

[emily]

...and the second designer video is up on the main LEGO videos page.

[Lenny7092]

Hey, guys! Remember the app game, Bionicle: Mask of Control? It's out today in IOS, if anyone is interested. Check it out by going to the App Store, type Bionicle on the search tag, and you can see the game as you scroll down. It would be an exciting news for me and others who have IOS! Hooray for everyone who can use IOS to play the game that we were waiting for!

Edited February 24, 2016 by Lenny7092