That’s definitely true, and the licensed Harry Potter line helped too, but Bionicle did outsell both of them for five years in a row.
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I’m not saying it wasn’t important, I’m just pointing out that it wasn’t a solo job.
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Well, here goes my two cents.
I got into BIONICLE way late in the game (Never got a G1 set, but I did get the Mantax happy meal) And I first got on the website during 2008, but that was all halted by HF and my obsession with it. It was not until 2014-ish that I got into G1, and by then I could see that it was not prefect in the slightest, but I enjoyed it for what it was.
the whole “blinded by nostalgia” argument is rarely used well, and is just a cheap way of dismissing someone’s opinion and childhood memories. It is a overused phrase that this community fell in love with when G2 was coming around, just to ignore haters with various degrees of facts and opinions.
BIONICLE is a toyline, made for children. Most everyone got into it as a child, which is why nostalgia is a important factor to include in this discussion, it is a hard thing to measure, but it’s effect on opinions can’t be ignored. no toyline is perfect, nothing ever is, however because we were kids at the time, it was the coolest thing ever and we just carry that sentiment because we are LEGO fans, we have a bit more inner child then everyone else.
I honestly have problems buying LEGO sets nowadays, just because I know I can use Bricklink and my own abilities to make something better for less money, but I am a critical teenager on a tight budget, not a 8 year old who wants a cool toy to play with. I LOVED Furno 1.0, he was my favorite toy for a while, even though as a set…it was lackluster. Because it was cool and meaningful to me, which is what matters.
(sorry for rambly rambling)
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######I thought I was the last…
Really well stated, though…
@Chilly I would like to friendly debate you on some of your claims, one fan to another, instead of just going up against your broad statements above. After all, I am not going going to pretend Bionicle is perfect.
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I just want the Bionicle community to go back to the way it was, back before we had argument after argument about whether some part of Bionicle was good or not. Now it is nearly impossible to unite the fanbase that was divided because of G2. Although if we try to unite them, someone will bring up something about G2 and it will fall apart again.
What I’m saying is can we stop arguing about this dumb toyline and actually start liking it again as a community?
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Well, that would mean throwing away opinions that some may have regarding the line (both incarnations) Which would only hurt the community further. We need to just accept that other people are…well…people, people with other opinions and arguing over opinions gets nobody anywhere.
You can’t just say “alright everybody, lets throw away years of valid opinons, facts, experiences, nostalgia and bias just so everyone can unlock their third eye and learn to ride unicorns and shoot rainbows”…that’s not how the world works.
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I hope this never happens. Conflict can create understanding, and understanding can allow us to learn something and improve.
Some people may take things too far, but you just have to learn to live with that.
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Then take it to PM. There’s no need to have a specific argument between users in a topic like this.
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I couldn’t begin to agree more; the core of every debate, when done with kind intentions, is a desire to understand your own position more deeply, and possibly the other person’s as well.
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I agree with the above statements regarding dialogue and discussion being incredibly important in regards to coming to an understanding. That kind of stuff is imperative to conversation and seeing as how we’re on a Message Board… that’s kind of the most significant thing.
That being said, I also do sympathize with @Xephix and understand the desire to just enjoy the BIONICLE franchise rather than overthink and critique it. While I can’t say I agree, as I spend at least a small part of every day thinking about BIONICLE and breaking it down, there is something to be said for just enjoying the theme without having to hyper-analyze every detail, and in the end, the choice about how to approach it comes down to the individual.
One thing that must be remembered, though, is that every person participating in a discussion about BIONICLE, positive or negative, liked it enough at one point in their lives to bother commenting on it. No matter the topic of discussion, or the opinion that someone might have on G1, G2, or the franchise as a whole, we’re all here because of a present (or past) love for BIONICLE. The way people choose to express that, in the end, is up to them.
-Mesonak
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Really now? I have seen a lot of middle opinions, where someone likes ■■■■■■■■■■■■■ then hates something else. That to me sounds more realistic, and healthy. (granted I dont go on any other Bionicle social media outlet expect this one, due to people just nonsensical on others to a considerable amount to the point of annoyance…so at least on the Message Boards people are cool.)
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Why couldn’t you PM me about this instead of calling me out?
I didn’t PM you because I wanted to stress the importance of my post, and broadcast it to users at large. Previous posts in this topic have featured spitting matches between users, and as Eljay stated above:
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Got that right. While I disagree with the blind praise part, Bionicle is liked a lot more by it’s fans who have been with it for a while, compared to fans.
Like everything ever.
This is a community built around bionicle and lego, it’d make no sense for someone to join who doesn’t like these things, so of course they will give it praise.
Now your other points
I’ll start this by saying that, according to this, it succeeded at what it was trying to be.
Also, when we got into bionicle we were under thirteen, and getting into it then and enjoying it left an lasting impression on the fans. of course looking back, it might not be that great, but we can’t just forget how great our under 13 year old selves thought it was.
But this isn’t targeted at adults or teens. Children are supposed to look at this, and say, “Wow, that’s cool, can I have it?” Lego doesn’t expect Adults to buy this, hence the age range of 7-13 (It’s probably wrong, but close enough).
Yes, Ekorak already made his posts about this, so I won’t say anything. but…[quote=“Chilly, post:1, topic:32276”]
The name of Bionicle isn’t the defined name of greatness, it’s only the name of a kid’s toy series that began in 2001.
[/quote]
Yet, in this post it’s like you expect it to be greatness.
If we had no Nostalgia, we wouldn’t be here. Therefore, asking this is like asking to not be a bionicle fan. Yes, facts help bring credibility to your arguments, but in the end these are just opinions.
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Seems like @Omega_Tahu, the message above me, and the TTV crew did not get the message seeing how they got defensive and had a “beef” with @Chilly when he called them out. Like a said I wanted a friendly debate with @Chilly, nobody on this message board is not worth hate since we are all fans of Lego. Since I will have to take it to the PM’s, apply the same rules to everyone here so this environment can be kept pure.
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You may be missing the point here. OT up there is continuing discussion and responding to Chilly who has made further points. He is not out-right requesting a one on one, which is something you could do in PM. If you want to discuss points with everyone here, you may. It’s meant for discussion. But if you solely want to debate this with Chilly for whatever reason and only discuss it with the topic starter, then it somewhat defeats the point of posting in this topic.
Additionally, we set out to address Chilly’s very inaccurate claims, which is perfectly within our right to do so. We also own the site, so we can do that regardless, and said message Slime posted has no bearing on how we respond to an accusation.
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Thank you for clarifying the difference. I am sorry for my obstinance.
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I would really like if people stopped complaining about the price to parts ratio of constraction sets next to system sets. How is it that a lego round stud has more value than a Stormer XL chestplate? It literally doesnt. Bionicle, and to the extend, constraction have larger pieces than system, they are also harder to make and are more durable. The same could be said for Technic which (besides small pins and axels just like in constraction) also have large pieces.
The price to parts ratio method of system is literally pointless to place in constraction and technic, those two branches should have their own way of valuing sets thats different from system method.
Also lets be honest, the targeted audience, the kids, (which are not late teens, young adults, and adults), they dont care much about the piece count or how constraction sets have “less” pieces than system (that type of calculating thing is not something you would see a kid doing). They would just like the set cause its cool to them and they want to play with it.
as someone who´s only exposure to bionicle came almost solely from the sets i Believe i´m in the minority of the current bionicle fanbase.
story has never interested me so i have never read any of the books put out by lego for any of their themes. it didn´t help either that the bionicle books never came out in my country as far as i know. so the only story content i got for bionicle was the Movies. which to be honest weren´t the best.
i got my first set in 04 so i didn´t experience the sets Before that until long after the line had ended. i also only got one larger set, Gadunka. and as i had no attachment to the characters of these strange robot people and with no real interest in collecting i started moccing. i still have some Pictures of the really terrible stuff i built back in 06-12. and i have to agree with most of the facts stated above about the sets. the fragile limb joints has cracked way too many times to Count. but as a kid the proportions never bothered me.
but most of the canister sets are actually pretty bad acording to me. the biggest problem for me is the complete lack of challenge in the builds of these sets. i could build an inika build blindfolded if you laid out the pieces in front of me. and that´s just not any fun. i also find myself disliking the overdesigned aesthetic of g1 and 2016 very often. i much prefer the smoother aesthetic of 2015.
i am quite indifferent to bionicle g1 now a Days but for some reason i still have an attachment to it. i don´t Believe it´s nostalgia as i have no specific memories of bionicle that gives such a feeling as i get from for example 2005 - 2009 city sets.
this is my longest purely text post yet
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