(this is an irl picture of the man that sent @Winger into cardiac arrest
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The simple, basic, no-nonsense fact-of-the-matter-at-hand is this:
Faber was the creative director and partner at Advance, one of the largest advertising agencies in Denmark, who worked with Lego and other brands consistently and brought us specifically Bionicle. It’s important to note that he was a Partner, ergo the man knows a thing or two about marketing.
It’s important to note that just being “The guy who came up with Bionicle” doesn’t mean he’ll immediately get a meeting to pitch his product/idea to anyone, because unless you have something more to go along with that, all you have it “20 years ago I did a thing.”
It’s also important to note that Bionicle as a fandom has been not only surviving, but thriving for 20 years, through two different generations. This is, by definition, a captive audience - there is nothing else like Bionicle out there, and it is unlikely there ever will be.
Why do I mention all this? Because it’s important context for why Faber is doing what he’s doing, the way he’s doing it, and why the fandom is generally reacting negatively at this point.
The long and short of it is that Faber needs us, not the other way around. The Bionicle fandom with its’ tens of thousands of potential consumers is a huge resource for anyone trying to pitch a product. “We have an existing fanbase of 10,000+ who’ve been screaming for years that they want this product” is absolutely bonkers. Now, a cynic (or a realist, or even just someone with some experience in the field) would probably say that a huge portion of Faber’s Bionicle-Related content serves the purpose of both inspiring the fandom, and hopefully proving that there is interest for whatever Faber intended to pitch.
This is not exploitation in and of itself, however the vague, cryptic messages from Faber, the allusions to some grand event or new product being produced, etc etc, have led individuals within the fandom to believe that Faber is bringing back Bionicle.
Do those individuals necessarily have a leg to stand on? No. Faber has never offered anything concrete with his intentions. This is a double edged sword.
On the one hand, it’s unfair to expect anything massive like a Bionicle G3 from Faber based solely on concept art. On the other had, it’s also unfair for Faber to, whether intentionally or not, string along his fanbase (whom, i might add, have been constantly asking what he’s working on.)
Ghid is correct when he says Faber is terrible at PR. Sure, you can’t talk specifics about projects before they’re negotiated, but you can usually say “Things are in the works.” You can also confirm the negative, that you do in fact intend solely to inspire people, if that was your intention from the start.
Faber has done none of these things. And his deleted posts and their captions are arguably the worst examples of this.
You cannot tell me that those three images together are not intended to be Bionicle, or to hype up the Bionicle fandom.
The caption for the first image (BIO)?
The caption for the last image (LE)?
Now i admit to not having the middle image screenshotted, but please. Starting a string of images with “A puzzle with Infinite Pieces… joining the process will bring Unity” before ending with “Some Puzzels (sic) are never ment (sic) to be finished.” Is a little bit… odd, no?
My point is simply thus: Does Faber owe the community a delivered product? No. Do the people that believe he does need to check-spectations? Probably.
Does that mean that Faber’s handling of the fandom and it’s very obviously rabid base is beyond criticism? Absolutely not.
Faber has done what every good marketer does - built a fanbase and then tried to, one way or another, leverage them. The danger in doing so is that when you build a fanbase around a product, that fanbase expects that product. Nowhere is this more obvious than with Bionicle and Lego, where just because you’re a fan of Bionicle doesn’t mean you have to love everything Lego puts out, or vice versa.
If you’re going to tease it, especially as one of the progenitors of the entire theme/concept, you have to be prepared for the fact that people are going to assume you’re going to give them more. Faber has been vague from the start on whether or not he’s trying to bring back Bionicle, or just revive interest in the setting and inspire creation.
Literally all he has to do is be 100% up front and clear about his intentions. No one faults him for taking 2 years to get moving on a project, because we all know it takes time to develop and produce things. However, people are absolutely allowed to fault the lack of clarity after 2 years. If his goal is to find a partner to create a new era of Bionicle, he can absolutely say that without jeopardizing any negotiations. He can absolutely tell us “It’s going to be a lengthy process, but my goal is to create the next generation of Bionicle.” He can also tell us “I have no intention of creating a new Bionicle, instead I aim solely to inspire the fans of my previous work.”
A little clarity goes a long way - and defending the lack thereof in a man who’s spent 30+ years in Advertising is kind of like defending a Mechanic who’s been in the business for 30 years and absolutely destroyed your engine after an oil change.
Should the community check their expectations? Absolutely. Should Faber tell us what he’s actually intending with this? Yes.
The community outrage and the feelings of having their excitement exploited in some way or another are absolutely valid. Every content creator knows the risks of vagueposting to your fanbase.
It’s either that or Faber learned absolutely nothing over the course of his career. Which is in its’ own way a disappointing and terrible thought.
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I think he’s saying that just because Eljay has been accused of gaslighting, doesn’t justify throwing the term at a completely different person.
That’s how I understood it, at least; I could be wrong.
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What, twice? In a month?
@Kini_Hawkeye this has got to stop.
…For a product of Faber’s scale, meant as a niche only a specific and blindingly steadfast fanbase will readily gobble up.
Apply this number to any other corporation trying to both sell overseas and establish a brand and you’re looking at a fad. You need much bigger numbers, even if only theoretical, because even 20,000 absolutely sure customers is not nearly as good as 200,000 maybe customers. Hook the 200K maybes. Find ways to draw attention from the demographic. Market research. Field tests.
My gosh I’ve only been employed as a graphic designer for two years and I want to die because I’m forced to know too much I don’t want to consider this constantly aaaaaaaaaaa
Yeah, that’s something I feel a lot of people who found points of contention misunderstood. Faber doesn’t need to tell us literally everything he’s going to be doing ever and show us the behind-the-scenes - over half of that is boring business babble nobody except a select few AFOLs are actually going to inspect with close interest. But he’s gotta tell us what the heck he wants to do. Does he want to make a product? Does he want to make a source of inspiration?
Like I said before, gentlemen, all he has to do is be .01% transparent and he’s in the clear for another two years, even.
Ok, yeah I see it now.
Still, Eljay can be given a little bit of grace in this scenario - once bitten, twice shy. You go through scummy manipulation once, you jump at anything remotely similar. Can’t say I don’t relate in some capacity.
Help I’m going off topic
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He did say his intetion with the project just not the end goal of it but its easy to neglect something like that when you have your head stuck in the dirt.
Again he never stated the end goal, he definately alluded to a want to make something Bionicle related or a spirutal successor but like life you need to be aware that things can change with time. Now Faber was aware of that and was dead set on clarifying that there wasn’t a Bionicle G3 confirmed when he did his stream.
Are fans entitled to be upset? generally yes but if you are upset over something because A. it hasn’t reached your expectations within a certain artifical deadline created by you or B. because you didn’t do the proper research to understand the thing to begin with, then no you don’t get to be upset. Because at that point you are dissappointing yourself or not educated enough in the subject to get the whole picture.
Now was there ways Faber could have handled the situation better? certainly, there is plenty of things he could have done. He could have communicated better, he could have clarify certain misconceptions from the first stream and what not but you can’t fault someone who tried to communicate his point when the person he talks to overlooks it because they don’t know if they are getting a product or not. So tell me how does someone who doesn’t have a particular endgoal in mind explain where his idea will end up? He don’t, he explains his intentions for the project he is working on and hope people will get hooked to that. Which spoiler alert he did. People just choose not to listen.
You can only truly string yourself along when you let your own expectations run wild. Faber cannot be responsible for your expectations no matter what, he isn’t you. Ultimately try watching the stream again with an open mind you’ll be suprised.
At this point I’m inclined to think that this whole thing has been blown out of proportion due to an attempt at manufacturing drama.
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So, uh, what’s his point? Since you seem to be the fan who would definitely not overlook a point, especially from someone notable in the community.
Hmm.
Really? I must’ve missed it. Quote? Screenshot? I’d like to be reminded where it was.
Here’s a possible one, though.
Something to do with a new Bionicle, it looks like…
Darn it, I forgot my textbook on Understanding the Danish Man’s Attempts at Advertising. I really shouldn’t have skipped the Discerning the Inner Mind through Vague Statements class.
Yes, I’m being needlessly abrasive with this, but you realize Kini’s post is the retort to your retort, correct? I could combat it entirely by quoting different points in it. Look:
I could keep going but Kini is typing and I think he’s got more to say… Or reiterate, since this post has pretty much everything.
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I know. It’s bad.
Accurate, though I should note it’s one of those “We already have X number of established customers in a market with Y potential customers and Z market share.”
10,000 Bionicle fans ready to buy is definitely a fad more than a “OMG MAKE IT NOW” product, but it’s also incredible for a single artist/concept dude with no current product.
So why can’t he be clear about that now? Why the vaguery, why the “Just be content with being along for the ride”? Why the “You’re on the beach wanting me to bring the wave to you” statements? If he never intended to have people believe what the very obviously not insignificant number of people were led to believe he was doing, should he not… i dunno, explain that? And reiterate upon it?
If i say something in a stream from two years ago, or a year ago, does it hold the same weight today? You yourself said things change.
You’re purposely misrepresenting my argument here. Faber doesn’t need to tell us 100% what he intends in full. He needs to give us the slightest hint of what he intends, just the briefest bit of clarity that will clean up the issue.
Let me be absolutely, irrevocably, 100% clear. I have zero issue with Faber himself. I have zero issue with what he’s done because ultimately, on a personal level, I literally do not care. He posts concept art, cool. That isn’t going to change that Bionicle coming back or not is a completely moot point to me personally.
However it also doesn’t change the fact that I do find his treatment of the community in this matter troubling, especially because Faber’s status in this community is based solely on the fact that he made Bionicle originally. Otherwise it would just be cool concept art, and no one would care about some greater plan or idea.
The fact of the matter remains that Faber has not only vague posted, but if the only information you have to rebut the fact that he’s been vague comes from a stream from well over a year ago, then he obviously has not been clear enough everywhere else, thus proving my point.
A single piece of evidence to the contrary is a fluke, not a compelling reason for why someone shouldn’t be criticized.
I recognize that there is plenty of negativity surrounding Faber and that people feel the need to defend him as a result. I get it, I do, because even to me a lot of the more… visceral reactions to his posts are more over-the-top than is warranted. However, my criticism of him doesn’t come from the place of a jilted Bionicle fan.
This happens to be what I do for a living. My criticism is professional, more than anything.
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His stream from like a year ago. Mentioned it earlier in this topic. Several times.
Sorry fogot we were an hive mind that can reach our on conclusions through what we are presented my bad./s
Okay, you’re right.
Jeez i typed that four different ways trying to make it not sound condescending because I agree with your point and I was wrong in my approach to the scenario, please work with me here
90% of my brainpower went into my two extra eyes
BECAUSE, KINI
WHERE WE’RE GOING
We must be interpreting it through different cultures. Nothing of that implied anything remotely definite and was as vague as not needing letters where we’re going.
Which is apparently to the deepest ring of h*eck
Nah, it just seems like you wouldn’t completely misunderstand a statement when it’s made by someone in the community with some level of status, since you seem to be a fan who is definitely not skewed in opinion like everyone else and who would definitely look at any statement with no prior bias or point of conflict.
Especially not any statements made by members with some minor status making any sort of comment directed specifically at you, about this topic, within the last hour.
Hint hint.
You get paid?
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Aight now it’s really going too far.
Only on Mondays 2 weeks after invoicing and only when sacrificing A Pearl Gold Kraahkan on an altar of Mata Canister Lids.
I do genuinely work for a communications consulting firm at the moment, and I do genuinely get paid to look at people’s websites/social media. I’m not saying I could do it better than Faber by any means, but I do have a level of experience in this that’s likely higher than your average TTVBoard member.
Or TTV member for that matter
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GIVE THAT TO ME
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But Cronk. They were Sacrificed to you.
Are you telling me Fedex lost the order again?
(Also I guess i should do the responsible thing and not feed into off topic memery?)
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I have not gotten a single one.
I hear some guy on an island with a volleyball has been getting them all…
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do not cite the holy movie
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What the heck is going on here, I thought people are talking about Faber’s recent teases not sacrificed Pearl Gold Kraahkan or ex-Mods.
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You aren’t making sense, those are synonyms.
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Thank you guys for this entertaining respite from the intense discussions.
Wilson!!! NoOoOo Wilsonnn!!! 
saddest cinematic character death
Also these recent discussions are very logical and reasonable. My thoughts are as before I’m not going to get angry at Faber for his convoluted approach and I’m going to come back when he’s done.
Mind you those hints of wanting the community to collaborate is a nice idea. Imagine if we just all worked together and made our own fun thing?
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Now for my true thoughts on this. I do believe Faber does have something to deliver. However, I think his approach of (if previous arguments are true) depending on fan backing isn’t the best way to do it. I know he’s said “true fans” would get behind him. However, I don’t think that is a reliable way to campaign for a revival.
Especially when particular fans like me would much rather BIONICLE be laid to rest and just have fan projects/MOCs/fanon keep the base alive. I have little reasons personally to want another revival, or back one for that matter. Especially with how poorly G2 was handled (which, to be fair, my perception is probably twisted because of the mess that was moderating the 2016 BIONICLE topic, Lord have mercy on me). If Faber can somehow convince me this is a good idea after much disappointment, I might catch on.
The problem is that he has not communicated enough with the community to sway me, even if I think he does have a product. If a fan like me cannot get invested into another revival, how does he expect a huge corporation like LEGO to listen to him? That is the question I think Faber needs to ponder if he truly desires to create a revival.
However, I’d also want to bring attention to the strange trend Lego has been going with nowadays. There has been a large increase in focusing on third party/collectors themes in the LEGO aisle when I have shopped. This includes the LEGO art and other things. Besides Ninjago’s mechs and stuff, there is not much hope for constraction there, and I’ve felt very little focus on the core LEGO evergreen themes.
This leads me to believe that LEGO has been focusing primarily on their licensed and collectable or even adult-oriented series. Which BIONICLE, if Faber envisions it like he once did 20 years ago, just does not fit in. It is too risky; LEGO plays it safe nowadays, with new Ninjago phases only being experimental. Perhaps there is a welcome expansion in Ideas (but those are often expensive, geared toward adults again) and Creator, but for sets oriented toward children? I have seen little.
This is a concern for LEGO itself, however, but my point is this: I don’t think LEGO desires to delve into risk these days, and Faber’s proposal is definitely risky considering he has no other baseline besides a few logos. But even if he did have something substantial, part of me wonders if LEGO would desire to delve into the risk again, like with G1 and G2.
TL;DR - Fan backing will not work, and LEGO will likely not endorse such a project because they are not risk takers at the moment. It’s a fruitless endeavor.
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You and many others here are fighting tooth and nail over one man botching an attempt at internet marketing and you expect the most vile toy fanbase in the multiverse to collaborate, no strings attached?
Well, you did say imagine. I guess I can do that.
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