The best and worst years

So while I was talking with my friend about Bionicle years a question popped into my mind. I know most of the disliked years like 2005, 2009 and 2010, but those are objective. I wanted to know some of the TTV Fans’ perspective on the years. From worst to best, how do you rate the Bionicle years? (counting G2) Whether its story, sets or even lime joints or remodeled joints.
Here’s my opinion:
12: 2005 (for it being filler)
11: 2010 (Not that cool to me)
10: 2016 (Journey to bad endings)
9: 2009 (Didn’t like it as much as other years)
8: 2015 (Same reason as 2009)
7: 2008 (Good year story wise, bad year if you count everything else)
6: 2003 (Didn’t live up to the standards 01 and 02 set, but still good)
5: 2004 (Great year for Bionicle)
4: 2007 (Awesome story, awesome sets, poor Kongu)
3: 2006 (Love the story, love the sets)
2: 2002 (Not as great as 2001, but still a great year)
1: 2001 (Greats story, characters, atmosphere, etc. LOVE IT)

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I disagree with '08. It’s one of my favorite years set and story wise, but that’s my opinion. I’d give it a rank of 3-4. Just about everything else I agree with.

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I loved 06-08, but I found G2 to be awful outside of the Toa sets.

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anyways, from the years I care about

  1. 2008: I got into bionicle, Tahu Mistika looks pretty cool when you haven’t seen the Mata and Nuva forms. Heck, I still really like how he looks. Plus Twilight Takanuva is another of my favorite sets. And then there’s those amazing vehicle sets

  2. 2015: Story was meh, but the sets were arguably some of the best toa sets we’ve gotten. Not to mention that the protectors and Skull warriors are coolio too.

  3. 2009 had Gresh, one of my favorite Glatorian design wise. plus glatorain mata nui and stuff

  4. 2016: Unity is interesting, but a let down after 2015. especially the villains. Ketar is underrated tho.

  5. 2010: Do I need to explain this?..

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  1. 2001 - mnog is p cool
  2. 2002 - the templar web animations are p cool and the comic reached its peak
  3. 2003 - i really like the bohrok kal, ok???
  4. 2004 - neat worldbuilding
  5. 2015 - cool webisodes that set up a cool story
  6. 2006 - weird blizzard of a soft reboot thats just kind of fascinating
  7. 2009 - neat worldbuilding
  8. 2010 - “you did all you could” - kopaka
  9. 2005 - they had a thing they wanted to do that was kind of interesting. but not for a whole year
  10. 2008 - for a finale, this sure is a boring slog of samey battles with nothing happening. at least mata nui happens
  11. 2016 - “you did all you could” - kopaka
  12. 2007 - you could have put the only thing that happened this year at the end of 2006
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Greatest to least. (excluding g2)

  1. 2006 - the year I got into bionicle, I absolutely love the story and the sets. It brought my favorite villains of all time, the piraka (the gang’s on the loose) and some amazing titans.

  2. 2004 - The Toa Metru are arguably the best g1 Toa sets and I like the movie. Great year for Bionicle.

  3. 2001 - I personally think 2001 is a bit overrated, but with good reason. The rahi sets are fantastic, the Toa are iconic, and the whole year was good. I really wish I was around the Bionicle scene at this time. (Though I would have been a newborn haha I’d probably eat the pieces)

  4. 2007 - Had some good titans. Not as good as '06, but still pretty decent. I hate the Mahri, so that’s why '07 isn’t higher on my list.

  5. 2002 - This year gave us the Bohrok. The Bohrok are awesome. So many functions.

  6. 2003 - TAKUUUUUAAAAAAAA (I don’t like the Rahkshi or the Bohrok-Kal very much)

  7. 2008 - Other than the Mistake-ah, this year was okay.

  8. 2005 - Why does this exist?

  9. 2009 - Wasted potential.

  10. 2010 - God awful.

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  1. 2007 because i love underwater stuff

Cant be bothered to really do the rest tbh just wanted to talk about 2007

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The 5 best years of bionicle G1 in my opinion

rating system 5-1 1 being the best 5 being decent

nr 5 2001 I know this is not a popular opinion but because the main draw of 2001 is the rahi
and the mnog and the story in m opinion is decent enough

nr 4 2008 this year has alot going for it interms of sets the main draw is the larger ones because face it most makuta looks good and the av/shadow matoran are decent but the toa is mostly meh. Story wise this year is great mata nui’s awakening reveal of the makuta species and other plot twist.

nr 3 2003 yeah why do i like 2003 so much well the sets are great and is personally mostly nostalgia but the sets are great to bad i never got takua and pewku or jaller and guuko but interms of story and sets thou i like the bohrok kal i dont think their that amazing and their story ark is meh. Because of the later half of 2003 i consider it good enough.

nr 2 2006 this was a though choice since i really like 2007 alot aswell but i have to say that since there is so much simularities between the years i think that 2006 deserve this spot on the list.

nr 1 2004 This year is my favourite due too nostalgia for the most part but i really think the story was great due to how many questions it answered and how it introduced us to a new location. Interms of sets the toa metru were great they were a well deserved upgrade of the toa builds the matoran good lokking but lacking features except the disk launchers and the vahki in my opinion works really they are suposed to be these mass produced robo cops and the sets really get that look across. Yeah this post is getting to long so number 1 goes to 2004 for reasons.

The 5 meh years of bionicle g1 in my opinon

using same ratings system 5 decent 1 really mehg

nr 5 2007 simular to 2006 but good
nr 4 2002 great in it’s own way very simular to 2001
nr 3 2009 new location rushed a bit due to the cancelation in 2010
nr 2 2005 filler
nr 1 2010 rushed ending much like this post

  1. 2015: This year brought me back in Bionicle. The first time I bought an entire year of sets (compared to 2-3 sets in my previous HF years). I never knew about the complex story that bionicle had, because as a kid a only cared about the sets and the story wasn’t widely or at all available in my native language. But 2015 gave me access to both G1 and G2 storywise, as well having some of my favourite sets ever.

  2. 2001: Funny story, I am born at the end of 1999 and started playing with bionicles in 2004. Yet with my entry in story in 2015, I became to appreciate 01. MNOG is so well done. Great music, funny characters, good visual, awesome atmosphere. I have no nostalgia for this year, but I can see that it is very well done. I even bought all of the toa mata of bricklink, because I was curious how they would be as sets (they are very charming sets and so dusty that I can pose them without the gears getting in the way).

  3. 2004: As stated before, I started in this year and therefore have some insane nostalgia for it. This defined for me the esthetique of Bionicle. Dark colours and absurdly detailed pieces (I even held a grudge in the beginning for ccbs bionicle due to this, for its light colours and flat design, have grown past it though). I figured out a way to read the comics recently and started reading the ones for 04, as I had small comics that came with the matoran. I also recently got all of the matoran and toa for this year. It was more for completionist purposes, as I ownewd half of them already.

  4. 2002: A very well crafted year. I have recently been thinking what makes a great bionicle/action figure story and I concluded that 02 got really close to perfection. For a sequal year it is perfect. Up the villains, make the heroes use brain rather than brawn, release the villains first and powered up heroes later, collectibles that are functional in the story, make previous sets you own still useful, give scenarios of how the story goes, but enough space to let children create their own scenarios that don’t change the story. Long list I know. I have major respect for the story team. I’m still planning on getting the Bohrok (maybe also the Va).

  5. 2016: Good, yet setwise worse than 2015 in my opinion: Toa less actionfeatures and not as possable, due to lack of two weapon sets, as well as an unpleasing eshetique in my opinion (Hate the crystaling look and “grey anime hair”). Creatures, I’m not allowed to curse. Beasts, had to have more parts to make 2 of them work and only 3 released. G2 titan is terrible, but have already held a rant about it. Highlights: Kopaka (without Melum), Umarak the Hunter, Lava beast and some toa sized sets are good/decent. The story is in some regards better than 2015 (it has a flowing narrative and does not feel like two years crampt into one), but in some regards worse (journey to dissapointment, rehashing parts of 2015, mainly the first half).

Now the quick list, without well developed opinions or stories
2009: Didn’t care for story in this part of my life. Liked the sets, especially Gresh and Skrall. Would like to have owned more of the sets. Also it is brilliant that you can buy two sets and can make them fights in one wave, rather than wait for the villain wave or have one option for a villain.
2008: I really loved the esthetique as a kid. Loved the Makuta and toa phantoka. Someday when I have more money, I need the axalara in my life.
2003: Movie is decent. As a kid I desperatly wanted a rakshii, but I could never find one, even during periods where teens would sell their old toys. Nowadays I don’t have a need to get them, from what I have seen from reviews. I love their design more in the movie. The movie is entertaining enough, but the Kal story line destroys the beautiful flowing narrative from 01 till 03.
2007: Liked how the mahri and barraki looked when I was young. I own Maxilos and Spinax and have plans of rebuilding them soon, because of positive reviews and good memories. My brother owned Carapar and he was our favourite villain, because we gave him this ridicilious character.
2006: I own both Brutaka and Axonn. I have both build, but can’t find the love I have for both like I had before. Axonn has terrible friction problems, otherwise he would be a fantastic set. Brutaka looks great, but offers nothing other sets don’t have and I dislike the length of his weapon. I dislike(d) how the toa look and did not like most of the piraka either. The matoran I owned I loved though, but his pieces broke and I could not replace them (rip Piruk).
2005: I owned two toa, but never liked them. I don’t like the titans and the spinners are just the worst, because you can not play properly with the sets and always had pieces laying around.
2010: …

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I’m ranking mine in groups of quality, within a group the years can be in any order.

The excellent:

  • 2007: The story was good, the Pit was a cool setting. All the sets were quite good, particularly how they were all unique. The Barraki infighting was interesting

  • 2003: The best of the Toa Mata years. Rahkshi were excellent. Bohrok Kal were decent.

The good:

  • 2006: Loved the story and the Piraka gang were the best villains up to that point. But the sets were only average overall. The Inika were out of proportion and I didn’t like the new heads. However, we did get the best ever Titan of theme, Brutaka, but I didn’t like Umbra much.

  • 2001: The first year obviously had to be good in order to gain the following it did. The sets were very good, as was the world building. Characters were good. Story was just finding it’s feet however and was a little bare bones

  • 2002: A bit of a clone of 2001, however the Bohrok were very good and unique. The new Toa sets weren’t too bad, though a little lazy

  • 2015: Excellent sets, Toa were the best ever and the villains weren’t bad. The Protectors were also some of the best small sets. The story and world building were a bit bare bones, as well as very similar to 2001. What was there was good however, and a good starting point

  • 2008: I really enjoyed the settings and overall story, but the Toa were just mediocre. Too much silver, and Gali is now a dude? Also not very reminiscent of their original forms

  • 2004: The city of Metru Nui was good I think. It answered many questions and gave us a good story, interesting seeing Vakama and co. as Toa. However some details bugged me. Eg: how is Metru Nui a city if it only has 1000 inhabitants? Especially with it beingf the size it is described as, the population would be spread very thin, and that would make most the skyscrapers in Metru Nui nearly empty. Also some Titan sets werent great, such as Nidhiki and Krekka. But, the Metru were excellent Toa sets.

The mediocre:

  • 2016: The Toa sets were a mixed bag here sets wise and personality wise, some of their traits were at odds with their 2015 versions. The creatures were very good sets and the beasts were OK, they were at least creative I guess. I enjoyed the story and JtO, but the ending was far from being satisfactory

  • 2009: The setting was good, but underdeveloped. I liked the idea of the Glatorian and the overall story, though it appeared to be a bit disconnected on the whole. The sets were OK, nothing amazing, but Tuma was good. The new characters were also enjoyable

The bad:

  • 2005: The story was lackluster and I did not enjoy it. The Visorak were decent as sets and enemies however. But the Hordika were awful, as were the Titans (minus Keetongu). The whole plant thing though was what ruined it for me

  • 2010: As a finale it was lackluster and the sets were dire, very simplistic and a step down.

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Best: 2010
Worst: 2001

this is a joke so please don’t grab your pitchforks

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It’s hard for me to rank all of them, so I’ll just jump on the bandwagon of people pointing out that 2007 is the best year, primarily because the canister sets weren’t clones and we were given genuinely interesting villains for once, instead of just one or two villains and 6 identical mooks. It was also the year where the online serials started, and it ended with a truly climactic event.

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I don’t care that I may have unpopular opinions. Deal with it!

  1. 2004- Probably just out of nostalgia for Legends of Metru Nui
  2. 2001- Do I have to explain?
  3. 2007- Same reasons as everyone else.
  4. 2002/2003- Mask Of Light, Takanuva, the Toa Nuva, and the Bohrok were neato.
  5. 2006- Cool sets and story.
  6. 2005- You heard it here. I liked 2005. Something about the Rahaga and Web of Shadows intrigued me. Still not the best year by any means.
  7. 2008- I guess the games on Lego.com were neat and bring me back memories.
  8. 2009- Golden Garbage. The movie was supremely eh.
  9. 2010- Not good.
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Best: 2004

Case in point: I loved this year. The direction set design went with its greater emphasis on form and function really invited LEGO to a whole host of creative possibilities. Certainly some designs- i.e., Krekka and the Vahki, felt unpolished to an experimental degree, but they were still a lot of fun. The same can be said for the Toa Metru and Metrutoran, but I find they really set the bar in streamlining the many kinks from prior designs.

While 2015 came close to perfecting these issues, I still prefer 2004 for a host of other reasons. Namely the strength of its atmosphere and storytelling. I could gush on forever about why I find this an effective origin story, but to boil it down we’d learned enough to answer certain question though still retained a sense of mystery.

The city of Metru Nui was a lot of fun visually, despite a more urban focus, and I found myself invested in the various occupations held by the Matoran. Above all though, I loved the dystopian feel of it, really fitting with the overall tone of BIONICLE.

Worst: 2006

2006 was a year I tried to get invested in; I bought a majority of the titans and came close to wanting some of the canister sets. But I’ve only purchased Hewkii and Zaktan, which goes to show I’m not a big fan. Much as I enjoyed the Inika build in 2007-08, I found its usage here unappealing. The Toa never really fit how I saw their respective characters (other than Hewkii), and the Piraka lacked much of the creative flair from prior villains. Posable as they were, the flat bodies and lanky proportions felt awkward to me, particularly with the bulbous zamor launcher. In essence, the three main Titans and Voyatoran are the only sets I hold any interest in.

The premise for 2006’s story was promising: Mata Nui was dying and the Toa Nuva had been absolutely pummeled. The erratic pacing left little room for developing many of the characters, and I found the dark tone was handled poorly.

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1: 2003
2: 2002
3: 2004
4: 2001
5: 2008
6: 2005
7: 2016
8: 2015
9: 2006
10: 2007
11: 2010
12: 2009

2007 at 10 what the heck
I need details

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Years I care about:
2001) Epic.
2009) Year I got into Bionicle, so I liked it. I liked the moral fluidity of the characters. (Skrall, pure evil – Gresh pure good, Vorox – pure neutral). Bara Magna was epic. My email signature once said “Sent from the Twin Villages of Tesara.”
2015) It CAME BACK!!
2016) nevermind
2008) Axalara T9. Nuff’ said.

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Welp, the story was good, but the fact that we lost a new location without enough time to know it better is a total mess. The Toa look like monsters. The sets are messy. The comics are a disaster. I really don’t think I need to continue.

Sure you aren’t talking about 06?

Because the Mahri were pretty cool looking, but the masks for the inikia were bad.

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I’m going to rate the years using a 1-10 system, 10 being the best.

2001 - 10/10 - 2001 was a perfect year, it served as a great introduction to the Bionicle, the mctoran, turaga, toa and rahi are all fun sets, mnog is a pure masterpiece and the collectible masks are great, I’m still trying to collect them all :slight_smile:

2002 - 7/10 - A good year, the bohrok were cool + iconic and the krana were good evil counterparts to kanohi, the toa nuva were ok, Tahu and Kopaka stood out, while the overs looked odd, the nuva masks, except for the hau and akaku weren’t that good to me, the titans were average, but atleast Boxor did make black mctoran arms cheaper on Bricklink!

2003 - 7/10 - a mixed year, the bohrok kal were cool, krana kal gave awesome new colours for the krana, and who coudl forget WMKK, SSKK, GPKK and VMKK, Iconic pieces right there! the Rahkshi, Makuta and Takanuva were excellent sets, but the mask of light movie was severley disappoiting, Jaller went from brave war commander to dim wit 5 year old and Takua went from Brave adventurer to plain weirdo, the rebuilt matoran are atrocities too, both in story and out.

2004 - 8/10 - Metru Nui was great, the toa metru are awesome innovative sets, it’s a shame there weren’t collectible masks, (imagine a metru mahiki in red!) but kanoka were fun collectibles too, the novels became more mainstream allowing for the story to be conveyed better, and the titans were good.

2005 - 6/10 - While I don’t think it is as horrible as others have pointed out, 2005 could have just not existed and not much would be different, but the visorak and horidka were ok sets, the combo models made from the titans were exceptional, while the titans were rather bland, plus 2 different gold kraahkan variants came from this year.

2006 - 7/10 - villains and titans were amazing in 2006, Axonn and Brutaka are amongst my favourite sets of all time, the piraka were neat, but the Inika and the voyatoran were horrific, the Inika masks were just disturbing and irrelevant and the voyatoran didn’t even change the mask colours!! (just imagine the red mahiki from earlier!)

2007 - 7/10 - A good year, Toa, villains, matoran and titans were all good, nothing much to say or complain about, Matoro’s death was pretty sad.

2008 - 4/10 - what were they thinking? I think this was more irrelevant than 2005, the nuva had their legacy ruined with those disturbing sets and the matoran have the blandest build known to man, the makuta were good, but why did they have to ruin Makuta himself by having him as some species, he was unique and cool, in my headcanon I see them as upgraded rahkshi.

2009 - 6/10 - Great potential, ruined ;(

2010 - 1//10 - the only good thing to come out of this was a few new pieces.

2015 - 8/10 - A good start, the sets were good, the story had room for improvement, but so did the first year of other themes, so an overall good year

2016 - 3/10 - A sad fate for bionicle, Journey to one had amazing animation but the writing is just horrific, the uniters I find bland, Ekimu and Umarak were cool sets, and the summer wave never even reached me so I cannot judge them

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