Why Bionicle?

[PutYaGunsOn]

My friend got me a Tahu as a late birthday present back in '01. Then I got a bunch of other sets, played MNOLG, read the comics, waited patiently for and watched the movies, and until about mid-'05, it was my favorite thing ever. I pretty much knew the whole story from '01-'04 like the back of my hand...now it's got too many random organizations and alternate universes. Maybe one or two alternate universes is fine (I love alternate universes), but too many is confusing.

[PDPsi HAN]

I saw Lewa Nuva on a shelf back in 03 or 04. Hooked ever since.

[dee.3x3]

When I was just a little kid, I got the mctoran with my happy meals. I collected them all, got hooked into BIONICLE and ended up being a major fan of it.I then got roped into LEGO, then Star Wars.It goes to show that actually GOOD promotional toys are worth having.

[Neelh]

I used to hate it, actually. It absorbed my brother and he didn't pay attention to me anymore. Then I discovered that Gali was a girl, and on a trip to Toys'R'Us, my Grandma bought me Vhisola and my brother Ahkmou. I learnt about the story from my brother, and when he drifted out of it, so did I. Then I was just walking in Sainsbury's, with my brother and his friend, and I saw TLR.Seriously, I almost started crying. I just read the back, and got it for my brother's birthday. Two months later, I discovered BZPower. Bionicle is now in the closest part of my heart, next to Vocaloid, which is still a little further out than it.

Edited May 16, 2012 by Neelh

[Indigogeek]

I got inot it when I was about 4, because my friend told me about it. All of the above for me. Even now I still love it, and I feel it was more than a toy line.

[WeatherDragon]

My sister subscribed us to LEGO Magazine in early 2007. The first issue we recieved was the one with all 6 Barraki on the front. After I dismissed that as just another LEGO theme, I found the comic.I read the comic.I was hooked into it, a range of action figures who had epic colors, weapons, and personallities. My first ever set was Toa Lesovikk, and then I read the books, then I looked up the history of BIONICLE.

[P962]

the sets and the story obviously. Like many fans, the 01-03 story and all the mythical aspects and mystery was what got me hooked. In fact, i loved bionicle so much that i decided to create a manga based off the early years. If it wasn't for bionicle, i probably would have never even considered creating a manga in the first place( not to mention have the will to keep it running)

[WeatherDragon]

Oh, the internet games pulled me in, as well.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Spinjitzu Master

[Rahkshi Guurahk]

I saw a set.(Pridak) That simple.

Edited May 22, 2012 by rahkshi guurahk

[Toa Of Virtues]

For my fifth birthday i got a lehvak kal and the rest is history. I have gotten nearly every bionicle set since then. Back then, however, i was just intrested in their designs, functions, and their general concepts. It wasn't untill recent years i started appreciating bionicle for its storyline.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Toa Of Virtues

[MVahi13]

Just came across some when I was 5 years old and enjoyed collecting them until a few years back.

[Artifox]

As a kid, I loved the new Technic sets Lego came out with in the late 90's. I was into Slizers, Roboriders and the Dinosaur sets. My first memory of Bionicle was me sitting in my room staring at a Turgaga Matau box.

[Taka Nuvia]

The sets, play value, story - everything. As bonesiii said, 'All of the above'. I started getting disinterested in the story in '08 because they made the return of the Nuva, and then they completely went away from the MU to Bara Magna. But I always loved the poseability of the sets, building them, and the originality of the story and the characters.

Oh how I hate playing the "Quote and agree"-game. But it's so true. Even until the part about '08 onwards. (Although, '08 Takanuva was one of the BIONICLE highlights for me. xD)I should add the movies to the list, though, because I really really enjoyed them, and always eagerly anticipated the next one.

[<Reverb>]

The sets, storyline, playability, movies, comics, and the bionicle online games. Though 09' kinda made my interest go down like a bunch. From the MU to Bara Magna then to Glatorian who don't use Kanohi? Kinda lost me there.~Gravity

[GeluNumber1]

Why Bionicle? Really because I liked to put things together. When I first saw Bionicle, I saw that it was a construction toy, much like the previous toy I built with. And after that, I was hooked on. Yes, the story is great, but the pieces' possibilities are endless. BZPower also helped me stay interested in it. =)

[Konuju]

I first got Gali in a Christmas present exchange and I loved the use of the gears and the great story described in the paper that came with the canister. My brother and I collected the rest of the Toa and we even got Maku at McDonalds (we have about three of them because that's the only set they had at the time). We would make our own story based on the pictures on the story paper that came in the canisters -- it wasn't until about mid-2002 that I finally visited bionicle.com and found out about the official story. After that, I loved it even more. MNOLG was great, the Bohrok animations were awesome, and the sets were incredibly fun. When the books started coming out in 2003 I got into the story even more. After 2005 I didn't buy the sets as much... just a few sets that looked cool, although I did get all of the Toa Nuva in 2008. What really kept me interested in Bionicle, though, was the story.

[Phauxx Lightning]

They were the first LEGO sets that I actually got, and they just stuck.

[fauxname]

I remember seeing an ad for the Rahkshi and thinking that they were awesome. I forgot about them a few days later. Then, in 2005, I got a red Vahki for Christmas, quickly found out about the story through the comics, and was hooked.

[Nuparu1995]

I think the sets were more unique than those of any other line I'd seen, and the story was pretty much what sealed it for me.

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

Both Kopaka Mata's knight/robotic warrior design, was one of the coolest ideas lego had made since i collected the Throwbots/Slizers and Roboriders.But also the ideas of elemental powered individuals with magical masks and fighting a evil spirit seemed interesting as well.All of that got me hooked into the bionicle series

Edited June 18, 2012 by .-:Kopaka Nuva:-.

[Nuparu1995]

Both Kopaka Mata's knight/robotic warrior design, was one of the coolest ideas lego had made since i collected the Throwbots/Slizers and Roboriders.But also the ideas of elemental powered individuals with magical masks and fighting a evil spirit seemed interesting as well.All of that got me hooked into the bionicle series

Yeah, the Kanohi masks were a big factor for me, too!

[Aanchir]

To be honest, the Kanohi were one of my biggest misgivings about BIONICLE when it first started appearing in leaflets in LEGO Technic sets. I had previously collected Throwbots and Roboriders, which on the whole had much boxier and more mechanical-looking part designs. Seeing the Toa Mata with masks covered in organic-looking curves, not to mention their specialized weapon pieces, was a little bit shocking for me at first. The mythology really intrigued me, though. Later I took the plunge when the LEGO magazine had a special offer to get Tahu and Vakama, and after that I began to warm up to the Kanohi. Nowadays I prefer them to the printed faceshields and collectible disks/wheels of the previous two constraction themes, which felt a lot more gimmicky and (unlike the Kanohi) couldn't really serve any unique functions in MOCs.

[Pantera]

The Inika looked so cool that it got me hooked.

[JPNML]

The sets caught me first I was at a garage sale, and saw an odd, bright red and orange figure. I picked him up, and found some gears as well as him being fairly poseable. the year was 2005, and the people selling tahu had no clue what he was either. they let me buy him for 25 cents. i got hooked ever since, but lost interest in '08 as i was under peer pressure.

[The First Speaker]

Got into BIONICLE by the sets, but without the story I wouldn't be posting this. My interest in sets decayed long time before my interest in story did.

[Sinclair]

I saw an advert for the Rahkshi in a magazine back in '03, and I was hooked instantly. My parents got me some sets for Christmas, and I saw that they were good. Later, I became aware of the story after I watched Legends of Metru Nui with a friend, though I wasn't aware of anything more until I found this site via Google sometime around 2006 and began lurking.

Edited June 24, 2012 by Hardshell

[Silver the Hedgehog]

I was about 6-7 at the time. In 2006, I asked my aunt for an exo force set, she had gotten one, and said it was brown. I told her I wanted blue, being a silly age. Instead of exo force set, I got Vezok, and the brown exo force set. My mom had putten both together, and I had looked on the site, and figured out it was bionicle. I started collecting only my "Favorite" characters, only having Vezok, who scared me alot, and Halhi who I still sillily hated the fact she was a girl. In 2008 I started to collect more sets. In 2009 I decided I loved to collect all of them and got each 2009 set. For christmas I got older 2001-2003-2006 sets as well from amazon. In 2010, I had collected the last 6 star sets, and am now hoping it coul come back, but after the breakout cliffhanger, I don't think it wil happen. I also loved the story, and actually did jump into it, and still undestood what happened.

[Toa Lhikan Hordika]

"All of the above." All the stuff that made it great. Cool designs, poseability, originality, story, mystery, you name it. Even the collectibles and stuff were fun to a degree, heh.

That would pretty much sum it up for me. I think it mostly centered around the story for me, but that affected every other aspect of it for me. I was 11 when Bionicle first came out and I was already a lego fan. The first comic came out just before my 11th birthday and it really interested me. Due to me asking nicely and having good grades, my parents let me buy all 6 Toa and Turaga for my birthday.The sets were my favorite toys (and still are) and the story still interests me today. The story always captured my imagination and the sets almost seemed to give my imagination physical form. I loved building them, displaying them and collecting the collectibles.-

[FrozenFlash]

I had a bunch of old Lego sets before. One day, I went out shopping and I noticed Tahu Mata on the shelf in one of the stores. Wanting to try to get interested in another Lego theme, I got him. Soon, I liked playing around with him which eventually lead me to get more sets and become a Bionicle fan. In other words, the sets looked nice. Also, the story also kept me interested in Bionicle.

[CeeCee]

When I first got into Bionicle I never really got intersted in the story. Actually I used to make it a little city wjere every one got on but face real life problems like drug addiction, racism and homophobia(Yep, all in the mind of a 7 year old). When ever they played like the story told me too I would make it out as if they were shooting a movie. It was kind of cute. Now about 9 or 10 years have passed and I can deny that I dont get them out and play "city" once in a while

[man774]

My first set was nuhvak-va. I tried to put the krana on his face, but it didn't fit. So I bought another bohrok va. Didn't fit. so i bought a toa. Then the movie came out.(I was 4). Advertising did it's job, and the rest is history.

[~T11~]

I was a dedicated LEGO fan even before BIONICLE. In the late 90s I had started getting into Technic sets, including Throwbots. When I first saw mention of BIONICLE,I wasn't sure about how I liked it. The masks felt specialized, the story seemed extremely unconventional, and I had gotten used to lines like Throwbots and Roboriders lasting for just a few expensive years before coming to an end. But I took a gamble when a LEGO Mania Magazine offered Tahu, Vakama, and a promotional mini-CD and took a dive (as my brother just described).Needless to say, I admired the ways the sets had improved on designs in Throwbots and Roboriders (it was nice to have sets that didn't rely on tiresome worm gears for their functionality). The story also proved compelling when I started to learn about that in greater depth.When Hero Factory came around, I saw the advantages of it, but having grown older it didn't have the same "tug". But as soon as the new building system showed up, I took another gamble by buying a set, and since then I have been a dedicated fan of that as well (though a bit more critical of it than I was of BIONICLE).

My story is almost exactly like yours. I bought all the Throwbots and RoboRiders when they came out, but in December of Y2K, I spotted Bionicle on LEGO's website and was instantly sold on the whole idea. The only problem was that Bionicle wouldn't be launched until the summer of 2001, so I was not a happy camper. To my surprise, the January edition of the LEGO magazine had the Tahu/Vakama early release combo offer on the back cover. Obviously, I jumped on it right away.Bionicle also came out at a big time in my life. Not only did I move homes that year, it was the year The Fellowship of the Ring was released in theaters, along with Disney's Atlantis (an inspiring film for my then eleven-year-old mind), and it was when I first played Majora's Mask.

[Liopleurodon]

I got a bunch of random Bionicle sets as a gift when I was 6 or so years old. At first, I was only interested in playing with the sets, but then I discovered the MNOG online, and got addicted to Bionicle.

[Klak]

How did you get into bionicle? What is it that kept you enthralled? Was it the story? or the play value? Basically, what made Bionicle Great?

Pretty much all of the above. My cousin got me into it way back in '01. He showed me Gali, then I got a Mctoran, eventually leading me to get Lewa. And the rest is history.

[avak3]

I got some of the 2001-2002 toys and I got hook'n on the building and the story.

[Enzee]

I just remember seeing the Lehvak set, got my dad to buy it for me, and the rest is history.

[mdiggler]

I remember my first bionicle- Lewa mata. Probably my first action figure, and a posable one at that. Heck, come to think of it, if it weren't for Bionicle, I might not have ever gotten into System Lego, either...

[Jean Valjean]

What bonesiii said, but to illustrate it a little better...I was a little kid, and McDonalds came out with these slinging things called Tohunga. Compared to everything else McDonalds had ever come out with (then and even now), they were so awesome. And they flung disks! They were action figures with actual playability! There was even an advertisement for it on TV, where boys were battling with them, their sister walked in, and they flung a disk at her. Being a girl, she wasn't amused. Being a boy, I thought I was so much better than girls for finding them cool.Skip ahead a little bit. I looked old for my age. Heck, I could have passed for a teenager, but the one time I visited a McDonalds while the Tohunga were out (there were no McDonalds where I lived), when I got a kid's meal they gave me toddler toys. How lame!But I did get my hands on this one comic. The Tohunga were with these larger versions of themselves, these Toa guys. How awesome! Then the Toa went off, and while they were gone the Tohunga met a Nui Jaga and trapped it. Part of their plan was turning into a Tohunga Nui, which was so cool! Much cooler than when Power Rangers did it with their zords.So then I began to wonder about these Toa guys, wondering how to get them (obviously, I hadn't checked out a local Wal*mart, since we didn't have those around, either). Part of me thought that they didn't even exist, but then one day I was at a swim meat (Double nostalgia! Bionicle and swim meets in one memory!) I came across a kid who had Kopaka and Onua, and they were cool in every way. I got to actually play with them and fight with them. After finding out that they were real, I wanted to get them so bad.Now unfortunately, I had to wait many years before getting the original Toa from assorted sources, so my interest was revived when I discovered Bionicle.com. The sight back then looked cool and dramatic, and it had all sorts of videos with dramatic music and scenery. There were cool games, and it was basically a youthful American boy's dream. It also helped that this was the first time I had been exposed to elementral powers, so it was a novel concept back then, not to mention the story went all-out with them, creating entire villages and landscapes with elemental themes.So once I found out that the sets had an ongoing storyline and comic strip, the suspense got me going.One more thing: Tahu surfing on a lava stream. You don't get more epic than that.Merida

[Waffles]

I believe I found BIONICLE through just general exploration of LEGO, but I lost interest around 2006, and then I joined the FOL community, and BZPower in 2008 after a friend got me into it. I was young when these things happened, so I don't remember them in detail.

[ObfuscatedCubeEntity]

It was related to Slizers, which in turn were related to RoboRiders. My first Bionicle set was Gali Mata, with a promo disc.