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Happy 15th anniversary, Bionicle!:D


Lenny7092

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Hi, guys!:) Did you know that in July 2001 that Bionicle was first launched (in the US)? Well, today is July 1st, so this month is Bionicle's 15th anniversary! Man, it's a teenager!

 

Let's talk about its life. When Lego was having a problem that could lead to bankruptcy, it needed a Lego theme with an original story, so it created the theme that we know and love, Bionicle. It came from another theme called Technic, as it is got some of the same pieces and is a subtheme of Technic, but with new ones, like torsos, limbs, weapons, heads, eye-brain things, and masks. The Bionicle sets also include functions and gear systems. Bionicle saved Lego from bankruptcy, and was launched in 2001.

 

Throughout the toy line's first run, there is the G1 story, which is extremely long, and is about bio-mechanical heroes fighting against forces of evil and going in quests find magical things, protect and save people, and restore a destroyed planet. The toy line ran from 2001 to 2010 because it got cancelled by Lego in 2010 when Lego is having an economic problem in 2009. Poor Bionicle. :(

After that, the Bionicle toy line was replace by another theme called Hero Factory in 2010 to keep the constraction figure category alive. Along the way, the G1 storyline still continued as it has new stories, starting from the second half of 2010, and a writer named Greg Farshtey was writing them. However, sadly, the storyline stopped in the middle of 2011 with some cliffhangers. It had never continued since.:(

 

In 2014, which was 4 and a half years after the end of the Bionicle toy line, it was announced in New York Comic Con that Bionicle comes back in the beginning of 2015, but as a reboot. It was a very great time for us Bionicle fans.:D In 2015, Bionicle replaced Hero Factory for some reason, and the new Bionicle story begins again as G2. In the reboot, it is about six bio-mechanical heroes called the Toa coming to the island of Okoto to fight the forces of evil, including the Skull Creatures and Umarak. They also have to find the magical and powerful masks called the Masks of Power, which are the Mask of Creation, Mask of Control, and Mask of Ultimate Power. As of now, after finding the Mask of Creation, the Toa are about to fight against Umarak, who wears the Mask of Control, which was used by the evil Makuta to turn him into a monster called the Destroyer.

 

Bionicle is 15 years old. It has been a great, fun, and awesome journey for us, and still is now. Throughout its life, there are so many sets of various kinds, like small sets, medium sets, canisters, boxes, large and titan sets, play sets with minifigures, vehicle sets, and combiner sets, like Takutanuva, Ultimate Dume, Voporak, Irnakk, and Vezon and Kardas,. In the beginning of G1, there were always gear systems and stiff limbs, but as G1 went on, the sets became more flexible with bendable limbs and abandoned the gear systems. They also got new pieces with new molds. They always have many interesting weapons, like masks and weapons. The 2009 sets even have this action figure game as they have life counters on them. When Bionicle returned in 2015, the sets came with the CCBS system and combined the returned gear systems and bendable parts along with new Bionicle-and-CCBS-mixed pieces.

There are collectibles that have small valuable pieces like Kanohi masks, Krana, Kraata, Kanoka disks, Rhotuka spinners, Zamor spheres, and Sea Squids, too.

The sets in general came in various good colors, even though they don't have much purple until 2015. Plus, there weren't sets for G1 characters who don't have official physical descriptions.

 

There are also media that support the toy line, and they include online games, video games, a computer game called The Legend of Mata Nui (which was cancelled, sadly), board games, app games, four direct-to-video movies, clothes and accessories, chapter books, comic books, graphic novels, online animations, commercials, and a Netflix TV show called The Journey to One. The media made the toy line a big franchise.

 

Bionicle has inspired many people. They made MOCs and fanbase websites, like us as BZPower and Mask of Destiny website. There were also a lot of contests that made fans to expand the G1 story with MOCs and their own stories, whether they can be consider canon or not. We are always ambitious to get, build, and play with them. We always have emotions toward the G1 and G2 stories. We, the fans, also draw pictures of Bionicle stuff, too. I, for example, drew superheroes inspired by the Toa.

Bionicle is always in my hearts.

Bionicle have also gone popular over its G1 years. It even appeared in The Lego Movie for a split second (it only featured the Toa Mata).

There are many franchises that remind us of Bionicle, like Steven Universe, Hero Factory, and Ninjago. Who knew that we have so much nostalgia, based on one of our favorite childhood things, which is Bionicle?:) Even Bionicle G2 has some G1 things and references.

 

There are some things that looked like that they celebrated Bionicle's other anniversaries or just for references or coincidences. Here the list of this stuff:

2006: Bionicle's 5th anniversary - how the Piraka arrived to Voya Nui with the Toa Mata's canisters is like how the 2001 storyline (Bionicle first storyline) began: the Toa Mata came to the island of Mata Nui with their canisters.

2010: Bionicle's tenth year - the Golden Armor gives me the idea that it is to celebrate Bionicle's tenth year.

2011: Bionicle's 10th anniversary - how Hero Factory's storyline, Savage Planet, is like reminds me of the 2001 storyline, too, because they both are about robotic heroes arriving from the sky to fight against an evil villain and his army of mind-controlled robotic animals in a jungle (perhaps to celebrate Bionicle's anniversary because HF replaced Bionicle to keep the constraction figure category alive?). You might that that the reason why HF's Rocka's armor is gold because it is to celebrate, too. Lol.:P I know 2011 is the year where Bionicle's G1 story stopped with cliffhangers, but let's look that the bright side by thinking about my comparison between the 2001 storyline and Savage Planet.

2015: Bionicle's fifteenth year - perhaps its return is used to celebrate Bionicle's fifteenth year.

 

Now the history is out of the way, let's talk about how do we celebrate Bionicle's 15th anniversary since we are fans of it. How are we going to do it? What great things would you wish Bionicle to have in the future? Well, here are some ideas based on my thoughts:

1. The story G1 story being continued and then ended.

2. An announcement of a video game, a place in Lego Dimensions, or a movie (hopefully a cinematic one)

3. A golden Bionicle statue or monument, like giant version of a Tahu set.

4. A TT game similar to Sonic Generations or a direct-to-video movie similar to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Turtles Forever, where the G1 heroes meet the G2 ones to travel to the Bionicle eras from 2001 to 2016 to stop a villainous Great Being named Velika from somehow altering time and space with the help of G1 and G2 villains from past and present. Perhaps it would take place. Sonic Generations celebrated Sonic's 20th anniversary in 2011 and Turtles Forever celebrated TMNT's 25th anniversary in 2009 like that, so I think it could work that way.

5. Some activity that we could do as a fan community.

6. Re-use and play with the Bionicle sets and media. For example, watching all four movies and the Netflix show.

7. Make a birthday cake.

8. Just the poster for the Netflix Season 2 episodes that Facebook showed today.

9. A video showing the history of Bionicle, similar to the Superman one in 2013 when it was celebrating Superman's 75th anniversary or to the Sonic one in this year, 2016, when it was celebrating Sonic's 25th anniversary.

 

Also, what is your best moment(s) and/or memory(ies) of Bionicle? For me, I like the 2001 line, the Toa Nuva, Takanuva, 2003 Makuta, the combiner sets, the 2006-2009 lines, Mask of Life, combining the 2008 Matoran sets with the 2008 Toa and Makuta canister sets, Axalara T9, Skorpio XV-1, the titan-sized Toa Mata Nui set in 2009, the movies, the awakening of the Great Spirit Mata Nui, the giant robot fight in 2010, the return of Bionicle in 2015, Mask Maker vs. Skull Grinder, combining the Great Elemental Creatures with the Toa Uniters and Umarak the Hunter, the Netflix TV show, 2016 Ekimu set, and Umarak the Destroyer.

 

I know it's a lot, but it's worth celebrating Bionicle's 15th anniversary. Aw, man! Bionicle is a teenager high school now!:D

 

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Plus, let's celebrate!:D

Edited by Lenny7092
  • Upvote 5

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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I wish LEGO would celebrate the 15th (big number!) in some way but I know they won't, which is sad but sensible, since they just rebooted last year and claiming a 15 year legacy would be confusing to newcomers. I would love a retrospective video or the like or a premium rerelease of the first comic (or a blu-ray collection) but I know they won't happen. Still, we can celebrate this in a big way on this site and on other fan sites, and that's enough I'd say.

 

So here's to a happy 15th, Bionicle! You have come a long way!

 

-NotS

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And to think, I became a fan of BIONICLE when I was only three years old....

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Quote: "Love has no fear, and no vengeance." |

:t: :m_o: :a: :i: :m: :r: :u: :k: :i: :i: | mEaHKlH.pngAndekas

 

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Happy 15th Anniversary, Bionicle!

 

Never had I ever experienced a toyline so innovative, and a story so compelling. Bionicle was one of the few compoments that helped me with my English skills, in terms of character development and creating engaging writing pieces. The sets also allowed myself to be more creative in my Lego building, through its character designs and functionality.

 

Although this idea would be easily rejected, I believe it would be a very cool idea for Lego to create a poll on our favourite Bionicle sets. The top 10 sets would then get rereleased by Lego as collectors items, to celebrate the 15th anniversary.

Edited by Takama Metru
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BEHOLD.....THE DREAM TEAM! COMING SOON.... :o

 

 

 

 

~ Oh hi thar, here are some quotes: ~

 

 

"Where wisdom and valor fail, all that remains is faith. And it can overcome all" -Toa Mata Tahu, MNOG

 

"Sometimes a hero has to do something else besides beat the villans and come home covered in glory. Sometimes, he has to make a sacrifice so that a lot of people he's never met before and who don't know his name can live."

-Toa Hahli, Downfall

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Lego.com/shop now has a

  • Free Classic Knights set with purchases over $50.  If they can do that, why can't they have a promotion that comes with Tahu Mata or something?

Not only is there a major difference in size there, but also, the Classic Knights Set doesn't require re-introducing any discontinued molds, while the original Tahu would require at least nine (head, eyes, mask, torso, arm, leg, foot, hand, tool).

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Yeah, but I was thinking more of a collectors edition Tahu Mata, all in TEALLL

 

I'm all for more teal, but an all teal Tahu would look horrible. Gotta break up the teal with some other colour.

 

Also it wouldn't be Tahu anymore, just some teal dude with a fire sword and Hau. :v

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This is special especially for me considering I was born only a few days after the release of Bionicle. So in a few days I will be as old as the theme itself and it has always been a way for me to keep track of my age (not that i have problems with that). I may not have found Bionicle until 2004 but it still means a lot to me.

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15 years..

I remember going to a McDonald's 15 years ago and getting Maku/Macku as my happy meal toy. It was literally love at first sight with Bionicle for me.

Bionicle is the one thing that has had more of an impact on me than Halo. I can't even imagine who I would be without it.

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Does anyone want to play the Master Chief Collection with me? I'm trying to get a team going for ranked. PM for GT.

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15 years... man, it's been a long time.

I became a fan in 2005 - hey, 'tis my tenth anniversary! Hurrah!

I love pretty much every year of Bionicle, although the Stars sets were rather disappointing. Still, mustn't complain. We had a great time Bonkling our way through life, and those memories are no doubt treasured ones for all. Never has a children's toyline sparked such a story and background lore. I wish we'd had more time to explore Bara Magna - it had a really fascinating culture and history, and all that we got was great. A few more books like Raid on Vulcanus would've been great.

 

Still...

A HAPY PAPY BTHDAY TO BIONICLE!!!

LONG MAY YOU REIGN IN OUR HEARTS!!!

 

(anyone got plans for the Sweet 16 next year?)

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"Mutiny, Booty and Entropy"  - The Three Vices of the Frostelus

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I started with a Tahu Mata on the day of release from a Zany Brainy store. Over the years I dropped in and out of getting the sets, but I am working to have every main set from generation 2.

 

Zany Brainy!!!

 

Wow, I just went on a nostalgia trip. That's where I bought most of the Slizers sets.

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Thank you to the Dark Beings Banner and Avatar Shop for the banner! Brickshelf Gallery  BZPRPG Profiles 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Guys, I really love your posts about your memories of Bionicle. Bionicle made a very huge impact for us all. Super-great amount of nostalgia that we are having, too.:)

 

Interesting fact: When I looked at the end credits in Bionicle's Journey to One show, it says "2001-2016" (15 years). I'll bet that this could be Biobicle birthday gift from Lego: a TV show and every Bionicle fans always wanted. Just saying a theory. I know that we don't see Lego doing "Happy 15th anniversary, Bionicle" anywhere, but if it doesn't happen at all this year, well, let's be positive, like thinking about what I noticed in the TV show and that Makuta contest that started today from the Lego Company.:)

 

A teal Tahu? I never thought of that. Nice new color that we hadn't seen for a long time since Kongu in 2001, but Tahu is traditionally red, and I would prefer a re-release of the Tahu Mata set from 2001 as a collecter's edition set or a golden version of it or the whole Toa Mata team.

 

I am also planning that to further celebrate Bionicle's 15th anniversary, I am planning to make topics that are about best things in Bionicle, like:

1. Best Bionicle heroes

2. Best Bionicle villains

3. Best storylines

4. Best battles

5. Best final battles (I've seen YouTube videos involving Sonic the Hedgehog final boss battles, which Sonic fans are into)

6. Best Bionicle moments

 

We can also talk about Bionicle's future, too. Let's hope that Lego can make an announcement about how to celebrate Bionicle's 15th birthday in San Diego Comic Con, which is today, or New York Comic Con. It's like how Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is treated now in its 25th anniversary this year.:)

 

What do you think, fellas? What's currently going on with Bionicle, anyway?

Edited by Lenny7092

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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