So I was thinking, we’ve all speculated a lot recently that the only way Bionicle/Constraction would come back in the modern age would be as a System theme, because all the previous CCBS and Constraction molds are no longer around. But what exactly would those hypothetical System Constraction sets look like, practically speaking?
Here are the three main points I think those hypothetical System Constraction sets need to achieve:
-Their price needs to be in the 10$-15$ range, with 20$ being the maximum, while the sets being around the same size and offering the same value as a regular Constraction set.
-They need to use as few specialized pieces as they can, in a way LEGO could realistically produce today, without compromising on the Constration style (1 new mask mold and one new weapon piece are permited at max).
-The builds need to be distinct from the average Mech/Mixel system builds, in a way that they actually feel like “Constraction”.
Post and discuss your own ideas, or even feel free to attempt making MOCs of your own that you feel LEGO could realistically produce if they were to hypothetically do it.
For starters, this is personally what I think the ideal Bionicle System set would look like:
What do you think? Could Bionicle come back in this way? Or would this particular style require too many pieces and exceed the 20$ limit? If so, what would your suggestions be for reducing the price of such a set?
Iliad’s Toa Kopaka has some rather expensive pieces, but overall it costs about the same as that $20 threshold. Biggest thing is that it’s not a toy; its fragility mandates it be a highly posable display piece.
imma gonna be honest - bionicle as we know it is not coming back
as much as i love to imagine, lego is not ‘hinting’ or attempting for bionicle to return, because really they do more stuff with lines like castle and space, people dont really talk about them returning (as far as im aware)
i love bionicle, and i love the community’s enthusiasm towards taking what small things we get into something beautiful, such as Skrunkle Tahu. and i still think that its one of the best parts of this community, to the point i dont even know if we need bionicle to come back, because it never really left thanks to this community.
the only ways i could see bionicle return are in 2 ways
as a sub-theme for something like ideas, creater 3in1 or a GWP. these feel the post feasible since thats what Castle, Space and pirates have been getting lately, but really only 1 or 2 sets
In a ‘spiritual successor’ sort of way, not bionicle itself but somthing similar. a cross between g2 and HeroFactory, but with similarities such as character names or somthin. i myself do not see bionicle itself returning, but maybe something like it.
One thing that would be clear is that it would be in this style, mostly system with some technic sprinkled in
Idk, i want bionicle to return, or something like it, a story with some action-figure robots with an engaging and exciting story - but im not lego, idk
thanks for coming to my ted-talk, i think the moc could work but maybe slightly smaller to fit a 10-20 dollar pricing!
This seems like a bit of an arbitrary point to me. If anything current system mech/figure builds are more traditionally constraction-like than ever before given all of the big specialized pieces they’ve been introducing for them.
LEGO clearly isn’t opposed to making new constraction-style pieces, they’re just more reliant on system and less character/theme specific now.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying future constraction sets are should be entirely composed of pieces like this, but I think it’s reasonable for them to have a strong presence.
Price wise I think It’d be best for the main “canister size” figures to lean into the 10-15 range. 20 feels like a bit much to me especially if we’re talking about collecting 6 characters. As cool as the G2 toa were, I really don’t want a repeat of those late CCBS era pricepoints.
The moc you showed doesn’t really seem like a good example of what a viable set could be. Maybe it seems like a 20 dollar set in terms of size (ignoring the base) but I feel like the degree of complexity and part count would drive it up to 30 or even 40. not to mention the various fragile and/or illegal connections being used.
It’s a cool display statue but it doesn’t seem even remotely viable as a sturdy and playable toy.
I already know that. The reason I made this topic is just to speculate potential ways Constraction could return in a system way. Even if it is a completely different theme. Any ideas you have are welcome, even if they have nothing to do with Bionicle.
The reason I said that was because I wouldn’t want this hypothetical new theme to just be a reskinned Marvel/Ninjago Mechs. Strangely enough, I have seen a lot of people in the community call those sets “the new Construction” and I don’t agree with that. Too me, those sets are pure system, and honestly I can’t unsee them as being anything than just “mechs”. They don’t have a whole lot resembling “Constraction” about them.
Though to be clear, the pieces introduced in those sets could be used quite effectively in creating more Constraction-esque sets.
Perhaps another possible idea would be to make use of the various Technic parts that are still in production, like this MOC does:
This particular MOC does use a few CCBS parts, but I feel like those could easily be switched out for something made out of System or Technic. And overall, the build looks quite sturdy and posable, and the part count seems rather low from what I can see too. I really don’t see how this would retail for more than 15$ at most.
I’ve heard the whole existing technic parts refrain a few places before, but I just don’t think it would work, especially at an affordable scale and reasonable level of complexity. (If someone is willing to make a moc that can prove me wrong though, be my guest.) The moc you showed relies too much on retired parts to really be an effective demonstration of the concept imo.
I don’t think it’s really realistic to expect either. While we’ve seen plenty of constraction-like system sets, technic has barely even entertained the notion of doing anything other than realistic modern day vehicles recently. (I suppose there is mindstorms, but that’s apparently retired again now.)
System has precedent, Current technic doesn’t.
Incorporating some technic can have good results but I don’t think primarily technic is the way to go.
I beg to differ though a figure that consists entirely of system parts would be more expensive due to the number of pieces.
Not to mention that lego had already been made and is still making a plethora of robots/mech-suit sets that a new construction line would struggle to stand out from the line-up.
(which might could prevent it from succeeding on the market.)
True, but that alone does not necessarily mean they would never think about using it again for something else.
We have to wait and see, though.
To be honest, I think the pricing is going to be quite a big obstacle in the way of getting full on System-Constraction. The design philosophy of System sets has always has been (especially recently) centered around using a lot of small pieces, which although the build itself may not look very big, the amount of pieces used will inevitably bump up the price.
Technic, on the other hand, seems to more or less have maintained the philosophy of using fewer, but larger pieces that allow you to get large, imposing vehicles without spending too much. So on that front, I think Technic would offer a better value to those seeking to get the Constraction experience without spending more than 15$ per figure at most.
Fair point, though Technic itself does actually have a precedent of using its system for something other than realistic vehicles. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s we got stuff like Slizers, Roboriders, and Cyberslam, which frankly I think are closer to what we would traditionally define as “Constraction” than anything System could hope to achieve. It is true that those lines are from a completely different era of LEGO, but the precedent still exists. Of course, whether LEGO will be willing to return to experimenting with Technic outside of their comfort zone remains an open question, but I don’t think we should completely rule out the possibility.
This Takanuva was built by a Lego designer to fit within the same price/piece count limitations as the recently-released Tahu & Takua GWP, which is marked as being $20 CAD.
I don’t think that really applies here, due to the scale of the figures; unless you’re making UCS-scale Bionicle sets, it’s still just going to end up being a bunch of small Technic pieces anyways.
That being said, I think there are two advantages to using Technic over system. The first is that it holds itself together better on a smaller scale than System; the second is simply the aesthetic. I know there’s a ton of debate on what the “Bionicle aesthetic” is, but I think most people will agree that the pin and axles of Technic fit it better than the smooth sides of System bricks. Yes, System definitely has technical-looking greebles, but then you get into the piece count issue mentioned above.
I remember hearing about this somewhere, but why exactly is that, again? Do we have any sources on why that is the case?
Well, for the record, LEGO does seem to often produce modified versions of some parts for no easily identifiable reason…
Just giving this as an example, I see no practical reason why they produced this particular mold, if they could have just used the regular brick with Technic pin holes instead. And this is just one of many examples. The point is, LEGO does seem to often modify pieces even when it may not be entirely practical to do so. What internal factors go into such decisions we cannot know, but we cannot rule out the possibility of getting modified Mixel joints either.
It’s for friction reasons. Only the colours they are already made in have consistent enough amounts of friction in order to support weight, as they could otherwise loosen or break over time. Seeing how certain colours of bricks like dark red and brown are notoriously prone to breaking, I can see why this was done.
This was first widely used in Life on Mars as the backbone of its widespread modular system - it was done so that you don’t end up with uneven amounts of Technic pins stuck in modules when you split them up.
What is somewhat odd and seems to contradict that, however, is that we still got this piece… Not only in black, but in several other colors:
Isn’t this made from the same material as all the other mixels joints? Why would they be able to recolor this particular piece, but not any of the other ones?
that one predates the modern mixel joint sockets, it was made primarily with loose connections for things like trailers and train cars in mind.
Also, if the new double ended ball piece from the latest marvel mech wave is anything to go by, LEGO doesn’t seem to have an issue with recoloring them in black, at least for the ball ends.
LEGO sticks primarily with the light and dark grey for each respective joint type so that people can easily tell them apart when looking through a large bin of them. They’ve started to break a little from that standardization though, as one of the socket pieces (2x2 with the socket on the long side) has been appearing in dark grey more often recently.
“ant-man IP reasons” seems to refer to this set LEGO 76051 Super Hero Airport Battle | Brickset
I guess someone somewhere along the chain thought that having the light grey sockets on those shoulders was unacceptable
This piece is typically used to hold together submodels that are taken apart and put together during play. Having the pins molded into the brick means that they always stay attached to the proper submodel, which is particularly important if the submodels are being reconstructed in different configurations.
Balls undergo less stress than the sockets. Plus, as others have said, this exact mold originated before the “Mixel joint” system, back when the towballs were really only used for loose trailer connections in vehicles; precision and friction didn’t really matter.
Getting back to the core of the conversation, The way I see it, there are two price/size brackets LEGO could approach current constraction from with system.
10-15 dollar “mixel” scale
Pros:
Cheap, close in price to canister sized G1 sets.
Smaller scale makes it easier to build scenery, vehicles, and large imposing villain/“titan” builds around such figures.
Cons:
Smaller scale leaves less room for detail
Realistic human physiques can be difficult to achieve (for Bionicle specifically this isn’t a problem, but it is still a factor worth taking into account)
At least for currently available mechs of this scale (which all carry the 6+ age rating), SCCBS seems to be the current standard for limb construction, meaning: no knees/elbows. (would a dedicated constraction line warrant getting a higher age rating?)
Arguably more faithful to the feel of traditional constraction figures, due to their heavier use of large technic balljoints.
More room for detail.
More room to incorperate functions.
LEGO already has a nice range of constraction style weapon pieces in circulation that fit this scale.
Cons:
Leans into late CCBS era prices.
Weight of figures and potential for them to fall over may require LEGO to limit their articulation in order to keep them stable. (i.e, limited ankle articulation or no knee articulation.) System constructions (especially modern ones) are generally more dense and thus heavier than the specialized technic parts of old.
Unofficial Examples: So far I’ve only finished one moc in this scale, my Lariska for the duckbricks fanon contest. (I plan to make more though!) I can’t really think of many that others have made off the top of my head.
I will mention Aaron Newman’s spectacular Knights of Mata Nui mocs, although I don’t think they’re the most realistic in terms of something LEGO would actually release, as cool as they are.
As is obvious by the quantity of mocs here I’ve been more invested in the lower pricepoint. While I am apprehensive to the idea of a new theme releasing figures primarily in the $20 range I do think that scale has a lot of potential for interesting builds, and I would like to experiment with it more in the future.
Maybe there’s potential in finding a happy medium between the two styles?
