Where is that Toys R Us, I want to buy that Wall-E
AND THE BIONICLE SETS
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Those sets don’t appear to be on clearance. If that TRU wanted to get rid of those, they could easily have done so over the holiday season by marking them down right before Christmas.
But they didn’t.
So if that TRU didn’t want those sets gone, it rather implies that they wanted them right where they are.
Granted, I have no clue why that TRU would do that, but reason leads me to the conclusion that they simply don’t want to sell out of bionicle yet.
Which leads me to my next point. A great deal has been made over finding sets on clearance elsewhere, and how they haven’t been disappearing.
But we at TTV are an admittedly small sample for the entire planet. It maybe that Bionicle sold well in non-English speaking countries. For example, we saw Lego direct several magazine pages and exclusive mini models to countries in a language that was not English.
Very few here claimed to be from those countries, rather, the majority here lamented that they would be unable to purchase these easily.
Unless we can make contact with other Bionicle communities with a primary language that is not English, I think we should be cautious in how we analyze trends we are seeing, as they may not be indicative of the whole world.
This store did have that free Quake Beast deal from a while back, I should mention.
They probably haven’t gotten word of how bad it’s selling in other stores
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2 words:
Poor.
Distribution.
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Or it could be
Purposeful
Distribution.
My point is that we don’t know. The job of a company is to maximize profits, so I’m taking each action made by Lego, retailers, and TRU and assuming that it was made to make the most money.
I assume intent. Not mistakes.
They would purposefully make it difficult for people to buy their toys?
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They would distribute only in places where it turns a profit.
Bionicle wasn’t popular enough here to justify making and shipping the smaller guys here, but if they only did it in Bionicle’s most successful areas, they would make a killing. (As much as a killing can be made off of tiny sets at any rate.)
But that’s not how retailers entirely work? Retailers like TRU buy stock from Lego to sell in their stores. If they don’t buy it, all it says is that that don’t trust the toys will sell (possibly a result from the fact that American stores tend to get stock earlier, and the shelfwarming may have become more apparent).
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Lego can still choose where to sell.
Another issue factoring into this is that Lego can’t just make as much of something as it wants to instantly with no cost. Lego has had recently documented issues of being able to supply enough to keep up with demand.
Keeping this in mind, it’s probable that Lego could only make a limited number of these smaller sets. The next step was choosing where to sell them. They chose where Bionicle sold best, and only sold them to retailers there.
I know this isn’t the simplest explanation, but it makes more sense to me than saying that a multi-billion dollar company just had a series of ill-timed brain farts.
Lego makes profit based on whether retailers buy stock, not based on retailers selling it. Of course, better sales mean Lego will likely sell more stock in the future, but they profit based on supplying the toys, not directly selling them (save for Lego Stores and the online Lego retailer).
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There could be a Gen 3 which connects to Gen 1 or Gen 2 or both as a link BUT It would come out as a highly different thing with a new name like instead of Bionicle ír could be “Bonkle” ( just an Idea, don’t kill me please ) and it could have brand new characters, environment and kandscaoes to start with. It don’t have to be an island, does it? It could be a kingdom a realm or anything else that lays free on a wide landscape and isn’t limited by the ocean. A brand new start but the mysterious feeling would be the same. Any thoughts?
The cynical view of a G3 is they’d double down on simplification.
Instead of Tahu, Master of Fire, he’s now Big Fire Dude
The red villager set then would be Small Fire Dude
In G1, the first year had 36 masks (30 normal, 6 golden) for each Toa to find. G2 had only 6. It follows that G3 would consist of finding a single mask.
The plot is similarly simplified. The theme of unity comes about in that the Big Dudes have to work together to find the golden mask. By which I mean Big Fire Dude saw the golden mask once and just forgot to tell everyone.
One villain set is released through the entire 3-month run. It’s called Bad Guy.
The story, in its entirety, is shown in a 30-second ad that premieres on Youtube a month after cancellation.
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Bionicle will most likely return, it’s too big of name for Lego to keep dormant for too long.
For goodness sake, just look at Hasbro and Transformers. They keep coming out with a new series for that every 2 or 3 years it seems like.
Transformers has also had a pop culture phenomenon of a live action movie series along with being a fairly revolutionary toy in the mid 80’s…
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yeah.
this, along with the fact that it had a TV show, and thus, another way for kids to latch on to the series.
Bionicle didn’t have that.
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And it will most likely never have that until LEGO has people in it willing to gamble and bet on a franchise like Bionicle and put resources into makign it successful…but there isnt any indicationt that thats gonna be the case. Lego System sets now are taking away the popularity even more from constraction than it already did, so why fund a failed brand when they can fund a successful brand? You may not like it, but thats how the world works.
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If Lego could have made the parts and sets to the standard that was shown in the artbook then I think G2 would have had no problem selling. I mean, there’s no denying that Umarak, for example, was a good set… but can you imagine if he actually looked like this.
I’m not saying I don’t want G3, I’m just saying that I would like a lot more interesting and adventurous designs and pieces if it does ever happen.
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Yeah, but Bionicle G1 did have the comic series, and the book series, as well as the online games and web stories.
Bionicle G2 just had, what, a few mini webisodes, a Netflix series, a couple of books and graphic novels?
G1 had memorable villains, while G2…ugh, all it had was Umarak, Mock-uta, Spooky Scary Skeletons, and HF IFB Wave 3…
Part of me would like to see a G3 series of Bionicle, but another part of me would like to see what else they can do with CCBS as a whole.
Hero Factory, for as bad as it was, was an excellent idea, and showed the full adaptability of CCBS as a whole.
Bionicle G2 and now Star Wars both have shown the further evolution of the line to heights the old G1 building system just barely reached.
If G3 does happen, I hope they take aspects of both G1 and G2 into it.
There are some things I like better in G1 (more elements, bigger world) and some things in G2 I like better (both genders in each element, not inside a ginormous robot’s guts).
Bionicle to me could actually be adapted to be far more than just a tale about biomechanical beings living on an island. G1 mentioned Mata Nui observing other worlds, why not have it based on one of these other worlds then? Or even have something based in outer space?
There’s a lot of potential in creating a new Bionicle, and if that concept art book is any indication, the desire is there.
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And here, my friends, is where my problem lies.
I do not want a G3. Not because I hate BIONICLE. Not even because I hated almost every G2 set.
Reason why? LEGO is no longer bold. They’ve lost a lot of the power that went into G1.
In G1, or simply “BIONICLE” (as I do not consider G2 an heir worthy of the title), everything had meaning. Main characters died, and it meant something. ANY character died and it meant something. I won’t hesitate to admit, Teridax’s death saddened me simply because he was a brilliantly designed character. He had motivations, reasons for his actions even beyond simply “he’s evil.”
How does this tie into the concept art?
That Umarak, while recognizable as the Umarak we got…is leagues better in every single way I can possible think of. He’s menacing, dark, imposing, and that living trap is downright disturbing. It’s very symbolic of what LEGO utterly failed to do for G2. They had the plan, and they didn’t go for it.
If LEGO decided to simply push the things that made BIONICLE strong: Motivations, consequences, well thought out characters who weren’t walking cliches, I do think it would have succeeded. Obviously, there’s still the question of the marketing power that they lacked, or the budget beyond wave 1, but in the state G2 came and went in, it felt soulless. I look at waves 2-4 and I see laziness, half-hearted designs, awkward gimmicks, and worst of all, false promises from the concept art.
My thoughts summed up?
If what we had gotten was the same quality as the concept art - and I know full well LEGO could have done so - we would have likely seen a very different outcome.
If the story hadn’t been afraid to actually go anywhere, and had something going for it other than cliche characters, an unsatisfying and generic storyline, and a pitiful excuse for a heroic sacrifice, then maybe I would let it go. But as it is, LEGO is not prepared for G3, and unless they get their act together regarding constraction as a whole, they never will be.
I realize all of this is harsh towards LEGO, but in the words of a wise man: It’s okay to critique the things you like. I say all of this out of a desire to see my childhood love put to rest, rather than beaten as the dead horse it has become.
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I’d like to start by saying that I agree with you.
I still can’t stand it when people do this, it’s not a fair comparison and you know it, comparing the 2 years of development that g2 got to the bloody decade of g1 is completely biased and unfair, I stand by the year-year comparison are years still inferior to the original? Yes, I’ll give you that, but comparing the baby steps of g2 to the adolescent strides of g1 is totally unfair.
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