This might be true, but I wouldn’t jump that far just yet–we don’t know enough to say BIONICLE is doing well or poorly either way. The exclusivity deal could have been motivated by either one–either LEGO saw that the line was doing poorly in US stores outside of TRU and thus moved for a deal, or TRU saw its popularity in all stores and wanted to take all the profits for itself, thus initiating a deal. Personally, I lean towards a half-and-half scenario. I think BIONICLE did reasonably well last year, but LEGO saw that it was extremely popular in TRU–whereas it did slightly poorer sales in other retailers–and decided to make it exclusive there in order to maximize profit. Simply put, it’s a business venture–possibly even an experimental one–and I think LEGO’s using BIONICLE to test new marketing strategies to see what niche constraction most effectively fits…
The only thing that I’d have to query about that, is that if Bionicle was selling well enough that ToysRus wanted exclusivity, then wouldn’t it be in Lego’s best interests to keep it as a non-exclusive so they could move more stock?
Unsure exactly how it all works, I’ve studied business and finance for quite a while but not specifically relating to Lego… but in my view if there are less stores where you are selling your product, then that makes it more difficult for the consumer (customer) to buy it. Unless the deal with ToysRus is somehow more beneficial than the potential additional sales they could have by selling via many stores (Maybe its part of a package deal and we’ll see some other sets be ToysRus exclusive. I just remember that with G1 sets, the ToysRus exclusives weren’t for the entire theme, just a set or two.
I think to be honest that should be clear to Lego at this stage. Constraction toys are action figures that target two distinct groups - those who want playability and those who want cool looking models to pose - so they’d probably be best making the CCBS pieces look more intricate and improving the design while reducing the complexity with occasional sets that focus more on technic/system than CCBS and have a higher complexity.
###Something like the following;
The less complex CCBS focused sets would work well as action figures that could be targeted for a lot of ages, the level of detail of the pieces would give older fans a reason to buy the sets. An example is some of the Hero Factory sets, or simpler Bionicle G2 sets such as the Protectors.
The more complex mixed sets that combined CCBS/Technic would work well as more teen/adult targeted figures - things like Star Wars would probably benefit well from having this sort of situation. An example is K-2S0 from the upcoming Star Wars Ultra Builds that seems to focus more on system and technic to create a form rather than CCBS
I’m gonna completely digress to say I get some spankin’ new sets (Gali, Akida, and Fo-hatu) when I was on vacation. I guess I’ll give my two cents. but everyone probably has them anyways
Pohatu: Pohatu is good, mang. Real good. He’s got some nice colors, but a bit of distribution problems (mainly on his lower arms with the tr-neon green). All the other colors make it look like he’s actually wearing armor and clothing and stuff, with the tan being something like a cloak or tunic, the silver being boots, gloves and armor respectively, and so on. His arm design works wonderfully and gives a huge range of motion. His weapon looks unwieldy, but I see it as some kind of weighted-kusarigama/polearm hybrid. Overall, I give him a 9/10.
Gali: I had high hopes for Gali, but unfortunately she has a lot of problems that get in the way of the set. Positives first: I love the torso design, and the lengths taken to make he torso different, but still sturdy. I like orange as an accent much more than the yellow, and orange vorox armor is great to have. Her weapon is also neat looking, like a naginata modified with propeller/buzz saw and a hand-guard. I won’t discuss everything I like, so let’s get into the negatives. Her legs are haphazardly constructed, with so much exposed bone due to the crystal and vorox armors. They also have bad proportions, with the shins being much shorter than the thighs. Her arms are also a bit stubby due to the length of her torso.Her weapon, though, makes the stubby arms a bigger problem because of how long it is. Pohatu’s polearm had the perfect length to it, but Gali’s doesn’t even allow her arms to lay flat while she holds it (her shoulders are already thinner than pohatu’s anyways!). These problems sound small, but are quite big as they make the figure looks very… odd. I give her a 6.5/10. However, even with all these problems, I still enjoy Gali a lot and would recommend her, as she at least has wonderful pieces.
Akida: I got this guy on that one TRU sale, and I have to say I’m very impressed. This has gone on long enough, so I’ll make this one quick. Akida is excellent, above average, excelsior. His build is amazing, especially for a small set but it’s asymmetric, -6/10 . He has a fantastic selection of parts (never thought I’d see a mistika wing again.), at 120. The shadow trap is the best one out of them all. The only problems with akida are that possibility is limited to to lack of numerous joints, but that’s expected. 9.5/10 for the fish.
And there we go
I rambled for way too long
I think that fact is clear to LEGO. The exclusivity of BIONICLE to TRU would help them find the other important aspect of constraction’s niche status–where those two groups you described are most concentrated. My point is that BIONICLE becoming exclusive to TRU in the US indicates that LEGO has found that those groups are more likely to go to TRU than other retailers…
@ Toa_Heatwave I’d say it’s the same for all action figures honestly. I’ve gone to several stores and they usually only have a small amount from each wave no matter the toyline, regardless of brand. Action Figures most likely sell better at a dedicated toystores considering they’re already in the decline…
Edit: Anyone know what happened to those Bonkle Designer Interviews from Dorek and BZPower?
Maybe TRU is just trying to kill it! /s
IlluminaTRU Confirmed?
I’m not saying it looks nothing alike.
I’d be the last to deny it does look a lot like the MouP’s new shape. Because aside from that piston, it really does.
I’m just saying an argument (maybe not yours specifically) against it being a piece of the MoCr was that that piston on the bottom isn’t on the MoCr. But it’s also not on the MouP.
Sure, it has a piston at the mouth - going inward as it goes down. The piece Umarak is holding has a much larger piston going outward. The Moup’s Mouth piston also ends into the mouth, whereas on the Golden thing Umarak has, it ends into an extrusion.
Sorry if it seemed like I was singling out you specifically for an argument you may not even have made. I was simply making a counterargumnt to the “It’s the MouP” theory.
~W12~
So I got the Ketar Creature of Stone and Pohatu Uniter of Stone sets today.
Though I’ve heard many complaints about these sets, they’re actually really neat.
Ketar’s function can be really quick in a fight for Ketar’s life. I really enjoyed the build (but is it just my Uniter piece which is a little loose on Ketar?).
Anyways, while I can understand why people can complain about Ketar’s problems with posing because of no friction in the gears, I really like it. It seems to be showing off a bit of Ketar’s personality, like it doesn’t want to work with you or any Toa attempting to unite with it.
Speaking of Toa, Pohatu Uniter of Stone is really fun.
I love his color and his weapons.
His hip function (NO SQUEAKS! 
) really can give his rock-flail a wicked swing-attack.
When I saw his weapon for the first time, I thought the boulder and chain would go flying off, but surprisingly, it is actually very sturdy with its unique build.
Now for the Unity-function. I decided to have Ketar’s legs wrap around Pohatu’s chest, giving him a similar look to Lewa Master of Jungle. And it looks great!!!
On a scale of 1 to 10… Ketar and Pohatu add up to 9!
OVERALL, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU BUY THESE SETS!!!
EDIT:
Now I just need Terak, Onua, Akida and Gali…
EDIT- EDIT:
Uniter Pohatu looks menacing with Umarak the Destroyer’s Beast Mask of Control on his face.
The design itself is faulty, there’s no piece to lock it on it’s place.
Nope. Ketar is like that.
I guess so? I still find it to be a huge design flaw that could have easily been fixed.
I can’t agree on that one. More like a 6/10.
You can make Ketar un-wobbly by taking out the grey pin rod in Pohatu and instead placing it in the same place on Ketar’s piece if unification. Doesn’t make him any less meh, but it helps for those wanting to unite them but can’t because they get annoyed by the wibble-wobbles
Really? A 6/10?
The one set I would probably say deserves that rating would be the Russian exclusive Villain Pack… and that’s because I can’t get my hands on it.
Yeah a six outta ten. There’s a lot of flaws to Ketar I simply don’t like. He’s not a near perfect score. He’s far from that.
Ketar AND POHATU add up to 9.
(Although, HOW I divide the 9 points between the sets is for me to know… and you to speculate on/never find out.)
-LOL
Ketar simply is not a good set.
6/10 is a fair rating.
that’s old news
getwiththetimes
Hey guys, I dont want to do a doom gloom comment but the distribution company in my country is not going to sell Bionicles anymore because the sales were not good.
Some recomendations to get the sets?
What you think about this?