I don’t think they have to be renounced either, per se, but I do think that it’d be better to get some original stuff. G2 was doing pretty well, but I think it could’ve stood to be more “out there” - I was lamenting recently that the Lord of Skull Spiders was never fully characterized because he was the first non-humanoid major villain in BIONICLE apart from Nidhiki. If we had a BIONICLE that was less sci- and more -fantasy then that could be a really cool mix.
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yess
this is a good idea
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I think there is still precedent for these types of toys in general. Lego is a physical toy to play with, if the majority of people were using digital devices Lego wouldn’t be doing well, yet it’s still fine.
For Constraction specifically, I do think there is a market. Mixing action figures and normal Lego isn’t a bad idea, they just need to refine the idea. A clunky set or two is understandable, but entire waves with mediocre articulation or some other problem should be avoided. It might be competing with the big action figure companys, but what the opponents don’t have is specific Lego brands.
Bionicle can come back. However they need to make it actually appeal to new fans. G2 was just trying to sell the series off of nostalgia. Actually adding cool features that are specific to the Bionicle theme will give people reason to check out Bionicle.
How they should do it though is a whole other question. It should probably be detached from G1 and G2, like how G2 was mostly detached from G1. Lots of people don’t care for G2 so following uo on that is a bad idea, and G1 has so much story to the point where it can be too daunting for people to become new fans, since they have to catch up with so much.
As for the figures themselves they can reinvent and spice up the theme lots and lots, but I think consistency is important. A character shouldn’t be unrecognizable going from one wave to the next.
Now, the story is a big selling point. A reason why it’s hard to get into the story is that it’s spread across so much media. There needs to be one main source to consume it, so make that an animated show. Lego commonly does those for themes. There can still be books detailing and fleshing out portions of the world, but all the main events should be somewhere easily accessible.
Adding on to my point about the story, it should strike a balance between simple and confusing. I think there should be lots to explore and discover, however they should make it all understandable.
These are my thoughts.
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I would actually say that the original incarnation of Makuta would count as “The” (with capital “T”) non-humanoid BIONICLE antagonist.
But you’re right about the “less sci- and more -fantasy”.
Initially, BIONICLE started with an impeccable balance (again, balance!) of sci-fi/fantasy… But eventually, the theme ended up teetering too far out of balance into the sci-fi side. The entire philosophy behind the original Makuta was sublime, and exemplified the initial science-fantasy balance.
Indeed it is quite a question. I actually don’t think a revival has to be entirely detached from G1 (at least not like how G2 was). Think: more a return to roots rather than a “reboot”. That’s why it’ll be important to understand the roots.
I would go so far to say that a centralized story source should be of similar scope as the MNOG or what TLOMN would have been. Other than that, a centralized story would sap a lot of the discovery and “go and find” mystery of the BIONICLE story. So I believe a multimedia story combined with a culminating story source is the way to go.
Keeping the story/lore simple and yet rich (balanced) is another thing that BIONICLE had going for it when it first launched.
It may sound too purist or narrow-minded, but I insist on laser-focusing almost exclusively on 2001.
Of course I personally enjoyed other years in the original BIONICLE run. But, when it comes to identifying the BIONICLE template, the first year was most potent. In order to successfully branch out (honoring rather than merely trying to replicate 2001), a future BIONICLE would have to expressly take into account what made 01 so special in the first place.
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I think a BIONICLE that leaned further into fantasy than even the original draft could be cool. Give me magic alongside my elements.
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I am not sure how well the multimedia approach would work today. I think this particular aspect of the theme was more or less a product of its time, because during the 2000’s, LEGO had no idea how to properly convey their stories in order to sell their toys, so they experimented with a bunch of different mediums. Bionicle may have been a bit more refined in that aspect, but when you look at stuff like Knight’s Kingdom and Exo-Force, it becomes even more apparent.
Fast forward to 2011, when LEGO launches Ninjago with a centralized TV Show, and as they say, the rest is history.
I think having a centralized medium is the way to go in the modern era, especially with children’s attention spans getting shorter and shorter. The multimedia approach could work well if the IP is already well-established (Star Wars does it pretty well, I think), but you definitely shouldn’t be starting it that way. And even if it was multimedia, I’d imagine most people would still mostly keep up with only the main medium.
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I think if bonk comes back it needs a tv show. Like have short comics in the lego magazine still which point people towards the toys and tv show but focus on the main story. Then maybe a viddy game or two might help
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If they are able to do it in the form of a show in a similar format to ninjago I think it could work well. Journey to one was…meh at best so they would really have to push the theme but it could be possible.
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honestly would like to see animation closer to like mnog or the origional 2015 cartoony animations. I also think based on reviving bionicle you could totally make a bonkle show that works even if they do not have moving mouths
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this is good
I like this
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Really great point. A strange theme like BIONICLE would have to “earn its keep” in a manner of speaking. Especially after an extended period of dropping off the mainstream radar.
The thing with multimedia though, is - I think if it is done strategically and intentionally (not just flinging stuff to see what sticks) - it has a greater chance of reaching a wider audience and wider age-range. Different levels of accessibility. I think embracing multimedia would also almost act as a guardrail to help keep the balance of a simple yet multi-leveled storytelling world.
I’m personally very skeptical about how well a Ninjago-esque TV series would work for BIONICLE. BIONICLE has more gravitas than Ninjago. It is “darker”.
But something I have wondered about is: what if a BIONICLE show took inspiration from the episodic vignettes of the old Samurai Jack cartoon? That type of format could help break up the story linearity as well as help maintain mystique and a darker tone. Voice acting wouldn’t even be required for all the episodes! I could get behind an idea like this!
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So something like a load of serialized shorts? Telling a story without words, I like that idea a lot actually.
Kind of makes me think back to the old Bionicle commercials, like the Barraki one.
The Samurai Jack animation style would work really well for it as well now that you mention it.
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Or uh…My Little Pony…
What? Uh-
I unironically watched 4 seasons of that, it actually juggles development of 6 protagonists and even side characters pretty well! Trust me!
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The first few seasons were actually good and funny (john delancey as Discord being a reference to Q was fantastic)
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Yeah every episode he was in he stole the show. It was interesting how seasons would switch between: redeemable villain, unredeemable villain, with some like Discord staying as “chaotic neutral” perhaps. The formulas used in my opinion would translate well to a Bionicle show.
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I’m unsure how MLP handles its plot though. A BIONICLE show would ideally advance the plot with each episode rather than be a strictly episodic cartoon with a status quo, even if it only advances the plot in a small way.
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It’s why my suggestion wasn’t 100% serious, I stopped watching the show for a reason. Well, besides the flaws of the show, the fandom also was off putting…
But there are parts that would be useful to learn from, such as how 6 people with seemingly nothing in common can become a team and even be friends.
It’s been about 7? Years now so I can’t remember over arching plots but it did have some that spanned a few episodes at least, at least ones between two characters. The episodes frequently mixed things up with what two characters where the focus for the episode and how they help each other grow.
Of course that’s why one would borrow from a plethora of places, gathering the best ideas to make a Bionicle show.
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I love how a discussion of what kind of tv show a bionicle return should have turned into “but what if we made it like my little pony friendship is magic but with bonkles”
That’s not that big of a logical leap. It’s “what kind of TV show should Bionicle be” → “what if it was like MLP, the two are very similar”
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I think a theoretical Bionicle Show should focus more on the plot rather than random adventures for the character development (which is basically what MLP does). Too be fair, I’ve never been particularly fond of those types of “Adventure of the day” scenarios, and would rather have an epic story spanning several episodes, where each episodes builds up from what came before it, kind of like Stranger Things, for example.
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