On the topic of BIONICLE in 2017… only if LEGO had a New Year’s Resolution to redeem G2 by releasing a Makuta set (different from JTO style maybe) with the Vahi, Mask of Time, Shadow Mask of Ultimate Power, and Golden Mask of Ultimate Power.
The update to BIONICLE.com is surprising… and yet it shouldn’t have been.
LEGO said they were going to update the BIONICLE Facebook Page and/or BIONICLE Website until the end of the year.
Now my thoughts in G2 altogether… I loved it.
I never really was into BIONICLE G1 sets when I first saw them. They just seemed like a bunch of TECHNIC pins and gears mashed into figures made of easily-breakable plastic. I was aware the theme existed, but it just wasn’t in my sights.
When HERO Factory first came out, the figures had more of a figure-like look to them. So I got Stormer and Von Nebula. While Stormer was made from the same kind of cheap-plastic from some of BIONICLE G1 (though I was unaware of it at the time,) Von Nebula showed me that TECHNIC Figures were actually characters in their own way.
I started looking back on G1 sets, and developed some intrest in BIONICLE, but not enough that I would go on eBAY and buy a Tahu Mata for $50.
Then, I learned about the reboot. I watched ‘The Legend’ and was intrigued by the story and then I watched some reviews of the G2 figures.I had to get at least one set. When I bought Kopaka Master of Ice, I decided to get the remaining six Toa. Then I got the Protectors. Then I got the Lord of Skull Spiders. Then… well, I bought all of the sets of G2 and some extra sets to build JTO Makuta.
But something else happened as well.
During my time as a G2 fan, I slowly started studying G1.
Maybe this was LEGO’s plan all along: Release G2 so G2 fans could reflect on G1. Then, the fans of G1 and G2 could come together to explain to LEGO what they want in a G3 of BIONICLE.
Here’s my stance. I’m not bitter about the cancellation and LEGO’s very questionable marketing decisions as well as their handling of the theme overall anymore. I’m also very open to the idea of the theme coming back later on.
All that said, if they ever do decide to bring it back, they need to stary from square one again, but this time understand that marketing and story/lore are the key to theme’s success. The media in question HAS to be high quality, and they need to give the story team a lot of breathing room. This is a theme that works best when it takes its own world and characters seriously.
If they can’t do that, for whatever stupid corporate reason they have, then they might as well just make a new theme entirely.
Like the TTV cast said, that is incredible out of context. There were a bunch of comments just like that related to other themes and such and Lego replied the EXACT same way.
I think the whole “there is too much G1 lore for kids to learn so the story can never be continued” is kind of a straw man argument.
Nobody is saying G2 should have tried to teach kids about G1; they are saying it should have been set in the set in the same continuity as G1, using some of the same characters etc.
It’s like how The Hobbit is a free-standing story from the Lord of the Rings. You don’t need to know what happens in the former to understand the latter, even though one continues the overarching story of the other. (eg. It’s fine to celebrate Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday in LOTR without the book telling you the names of the dwarves he once travelled with.)
If done properly, G2 could have continued G1’s story without needing new fans to pick up any pre-2015 story material, because not all stories have to start with the beginning of the universe and then list off every detail that’s happened since.
If anything, the existence of ten years of relevant backstory / comics / online games about G2’s characters may have given new fans something to stick around for, rather than them drifting away after they had watched the whole year’s content in 15 minutes… I certainly can’t imagine it could have made G2 end any sooner!
I understand where you’re coming from, personally I find no problem in uncovering past plots and stories in a franchise, it’s what got me invested into G1 actually. However, Lego as a company takes a different view regarding this topic since it is much easier (and more profitable on balance of probability) to start from scratch; they likely completely rebooted Bionicle because of that hanging doubt that G1’s lore would be too much for kids to take in; their stance on G2’s story execution corroborates my point.
That aside, I still believe restarting the G1 storyline from the exact point where it concluded wouldn’t be the altogether best move, as most of the story arcs were not all that smoothly redirected to an abrupt conclusion in the wake of G1’s cancellation. If you ask me, the best way in which G2’s storyline could be executed would be if it began with the events of the 2009 storyline, the Glatorian, the arrival of Mata Nui, and then progressed down the path Greg originally had planned for 2010 and the 5th Bionicle movie. Thus, we could, through Mata Nui’s journeys, gradually rediscover the Matoran Universe of G1 while keeping things interesting for newer fans (with G1 content of course being made readily available for those who wished to understand everything about Bionicle, in a sense like the Silmarillion).
Its like making a Sonic game, you can experiment all you want but ultimetly the best formula is one made and understood by fans (Sonic Mania). As said it can be applied to Bionicle and all the story decisions regarding it.
No wonder it didnt do well, they didnt cover even all the basics of why the theme was sucessful in the first place (aka why people liked it). Its like LEGO didnt even create the original Bionicle or even have the source material about the development of it. How on earth with all the jumpstart they had they screwed up royaly?
Its definitely not the kids and the generation gaps fault, its LEGOs fault for not researching their own theme and adapting almost everything good about it in the next generation.
Why is it that people praise the figures and artwork/artstyle, cause its the closests to that formula of researching the past while adapting for a new situation, the rest was a jumbled experiment that just harmed the brand.
That being said, I did enjoy the way they rebooted the story. To me, it gave me the same feeling the earlier years of Bionicle gave me, and I enjoyed the new characters and the way they changed the story.
Now, the story has a lot of plot-holes, there’s no denying that. However, for one reason or another, I am invested in what’s been given. The Toa arriving in comets instead of canisters, the element of Jungle replacing Air, Makuta being a Mask Maker, even the Skull Raiders. What they’ve tried to do with the story is really interesting to me, and really inspired me to see how they can work without the flaws the canon has, even if it’s affected by my personal taste. This theme introduces concepts that I thought made little appearance in G1: Conquering armies, necromancy, the island itself emitting elemental energy.
What I’m saying is although I like these ideas of how the story could’ve been, I do appreciate what the team was trying to do with their story and how much they wanted it to be as good as G1. They seem like fans of the line and wanted to reflect that in G2.
All these issues we’ve had with G2 have already been laid out for us to see. It’s pretty simple. Marketing, not having consistent canon, not allowing writers to have much breathing room, subpar summer sets, etc.
I still like G2 for what it was, but gosh they trashed it and destroyed it. They gave us a horrible ending. I feel bad myself for refusing to see the signs of the cancellation sooner. (Doesn’t mean those who DID have to brag and call us all idiots, like I’m sure a few did.)
I appreciated the sets and some of the cool lore elements though. Too bad they ruined it.
I’m definitely open for a G3 though, as long as they actually improve the marketing and storytelling.
I just want them to wait a few years since any kid who wasn’t aware G2 ever ended is gonna be confused as snot.
Moreover this is a great time for lego to go back and redecide what made the first Bionicle so good and use that to improve on the things that G2 did well.
My ideal G3 would simply be one that builds upon the foundations of both gens and learns from both of their mistakes.
If Lego does that I’d be a very happy power armored dude.
This has been said before, but there seems to be some confusion about the artbook going online digitally. As stated in the BS01 open letter, LEGO will be supplying BS01 with a high quality digital version to be uploaded on their site, not a scan, but the original version.
Anyways, you guys are in for a treat, I had a flip through earlier this week and it is pretty sweet!
Hey! Thanks man! Always nice to here from you. I actually didn’t know that A Lego was going to be giving out a digital version, any info on when that’ll be?
-NAH! BEONICLES ARE DEAD MAN!
