Will Bionicle Return? Debate here!

I certainly hope you come to fulfill your dreams.

I think most of us also kind of want to do that,

Hopefully not for a good while, if we get any other constraction theme, I’d hope that it would be Hero Factory, then after that I wouldn’t mind a third Bionicle generation if it was done right

and please, don’t let it be Brickonicle, I’m in the minority here, but the thought of system Bionicle honestly turns my stomach

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I think that bionicle in its best form would be a unification of brick built, constraction, and technic. lots of brick to technic connectors, technic beams with mixel ball joints, brackets, greebling elements that look like the repeated design elements of the first series, etc. imagine that instead of the armor pieces from the CCBS you attach small technic and brick builds to a larger technic frame. My goal is to increase the possibilities for customization of the technic/constraction using bricks, not to make it a minifigure line with a bionicle story. Imagine the older bionicle sets with clear use of technic, but with more variation in appearance, and less dependence on metallic pieces.

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Well, here’s my stance:

As much as I would love for Bionicle to return, I doubt it will be back anytime soon, if at all.

First off, G1 was a major success, and widely popular with Lego fans. The theme had a run of 10 years, which is rare for a toyline, let alone a Lego toyline. That kind of success is hard to top with a second run, as we have seen with G2. Even if G2 didn’t flop, I doubt it wouldn’ve lasted longer than G1, or even last as long.

After G1 ended, it was “replaced” by Hero Factory. Although it’s been met with mixed reception by the Bionicle community, it seemed to be a fairly successful line. However, it only lasted for 5 years, only half as long as Bionicle G1.

When we had G2, I really wanted it to be great, to last even longer than G1. But it didn’t. The line only lasted for one year, and only 4 waves of sets were released. We never even got an official Makuta set or Mask of Ultimate Power, which was the least that Lego could’ve done before abruptly ending the theme. And to top it all off, the ending of G2’s story was very rushed and poorly written. Because of all these factors, both the Lego company and Bionicle fans still have a bad taste in their mouths from G2.

The most important factor to consider is profit and success rate . That was the biggest reason both G1 and G2 were cancelled, because at the end of the day, Lego is just a company that wants to make money. They’re not going to produce a toyline that most likely wouldn’t be successful, just to please fans.

There’s also the statistics to take into account. Bionicle G1 lasted for 10 years. Hero Factory ran for 5 years. And Bionicle G2, only ran for 2 measly years. See the progression? The success is smaller and shorter as the years go on. Lego sees this too, and they aren’t about to reboot a third incarnation of a line that did worse than Hero Factory on its second run.

At least, not right away. Because despite all of these negative aspects, Lego is aware that there is still a small, thriving community of dedicated Bionicle fans, who would be more than willing to buy more sets if the opportunity arose. So who knows, maybe in a few years we may see Bionicle’s return, or at least a constraction line similar to it. But for now, Lego is taking a rest from that genre.

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G1 was ended because sales were dropping exponentially. The story had become so confusing that really only those who didn’t care and those who had been there since the beginning would buy them. LEGO decided they needed to fix this. They canceled Bionicle before it hit rock bottom, but, in order to appease constraction hunger, they created HeroFactory while they worked on G2 in the background. HeroFactory had a simpler story, simpler dictionary, and was never really designed to last forever. G2 was always in the end supposed to cancel it. (At least, that’s what I remember from Autopsy)

It would have had to be amazing, Ninjago-level to last that long. The plan was for 3 years, and so we only lost one in all (two waves).

Well… yes and no.

You can’t really expect a company to make a desicion not based on making money. Every decision ever made by a business either will profit them in some way, or tear them down into economic ruin. Money should be in the company’s best interest, for its own life. It isn’t selfish, it’s just how businesses work.

Therefore, claiming the reason they were canceled is that LEGO wants money is essentially the same as saying that they were canceled because LEGO is a company. It’s true, the decision was made for the best interest of the company, but it doesn’t work as an answer. G2 sold poorly, most likely due to lack of care by LEGO for anything besides really cool sets (in my opinion). LEGO didn’t give G2 100% of their effort, and constraction is slowly dying anyways.

One of the best ways companies improve profits is by appealing to the fans. Fans aren’t going to buy what they don’t want, so LEGO will give the fans what they want. This is why Ninjago hasn’t been canceled, despite lasting for almost longer than Bionicle. LEGO listens to fans, much more now than ever (look at Ideas if you don’t believe me), and they’ll do things for the fans that can appeal newer audiences too (Ninjago Legacy). That is how the best original LEGO themes work, they attract new audiences as well as old ones. Bionicle just stopped making new ones after a while, and so G1 was canceled.

This is very true. Fans have to encourage LEGO to believe the theme would be successful first.

The downhill trend isn’t due to levels of success, as the later two were pretty much LEGO’s decision. Even if G2 sold great, we would have gotten only 3 years.

Okay, well, now that I’ve gotten my thoughts out…

  1. Bionicle can return. LEGO just doesn’t think it will be successful. If they did, it would be probable for a G3.
  2. We, as fans, can be a huge part in this decision. Ninjago tried to cancel after… 2 or 3 years? I don’t remember. It didn’t. And that’s because of the fans. The fans have kept it alive and profiting for nearly 10 years now, and they even gave it a cinematic movie. It did poorly, the fans may not like it, but that’s more than Bionicle ever got. I’d consider selling half my collection to get an LCU Bionicle movie that was even just that good/bad.
  3. Bionicle could very well be System if it returns. I’m sad to say this, but Constraction may be dead. It may perturb some Technic elitists (I don’t know what to call them), but System is the future (as well as the past). I won’t say they would be mini figures, but they’d most likely incorporate System somewhere. Is that bad? Well, we don’t know, I guess. I’d definitely be interested in seeing this in concept.
  4. Bionicle may never come back. It just may not. Make it too complex, children are confused by it. Make it too simple, fans call it “childish.” Make it Constraction, children may not like it. Make it System, fans may despise it to the core. It’s hard to make Bionicle perfect again, and that may keep it from ever returning.

Now that I’ve made myself depressed, I hope for the dearest Bionicle can return in any way. I love it, but I never did when it was alive. As I’ve said. Multiple times. I don’t have any personal stories of Bionicle saving me from boredom as a kid. I’m just a simple Bionicle-loving TFOL, trying to make my way in a Bionicle-free universe.

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I think down the line Bionicle will return but I think Lego seemingly stopping the 2 decades long constraction themes all together is a matter of oversaturation of Constraction on the market rather than them deeming it useless.

If a Bionicle G3 happens or some other similar constraction line happens, it would be down the line (like 5 or 6 years from now) and might even use a whole new building system to coincide with it.

I’d like a Bionicle G3 to not necessarily rely on the old canon (maybe even using all new heroes and not rely on just the Toa Mata/Toa Nuva/Toa G2 gang) and even create a new world and new lore ala what 2009 was trying to accomplish though keeping some similarities to the old canon (collectable masks or something along those lines, elemental heroes etc.) Just so a new generation of kids and older fans who probably will have children by the time one would likely come out can have a distinctly new and yet still mysterious and wonderous magic like the Island of Mata Nui had for us all those years ago.

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In the interest of not getting too far into this…

I don’t think it will any time soon, nor do I think it should.

Bionicle was a staple of Lego for so long that there’s not enough nostalgia yet for people to actually buy into the next wave. G2’s existence was partially due to fans “proving” that there was interest, but then when it came back there was an overwhelming sense of “meh” from a community that felt the second attempt was nowhere near as good as the first.

If Bionicle comes back before there’s a chance for the name to actually be nostalgic, then it will go the way of all the other lines. It -might- get three years.

That and Ninjago needs to die before Bionicle comes back, and I would honestly rather see Lego do something new and exciting than rehash an old idea.

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You’re not wrong. If it becomes System should it return I won’t mind.

Besides constraction as a whole had a good 20 year run so perhaps Lego should wait a long time (5-8 years preferably) before they should ever do another Constraction line and even then I think it shouldn’t be Bionicle but perhaps a wholly new theme with it’s own style and lore to go with it.

I actually have my own ideas for how such a story would work…

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I think the main reason why G2 failed is that it was to soon. I think they should have waited at least ten, maximum twenty years before they rebooted or restarted. I think if they treated the franchise like how Hasbro treated transformers back in the nineties I think g2 would have a better chance. I think at the moment they should wait till the kids who liked bionicle start having kids around the age of 5 to 12 years old. Have the older fans tell the stories and continue the series.

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No. At least,not how we want it. It could come back, but it would be the same watered down story as G2. Lego needa to realize that the people asking for it to come back are all older than ten. They want something more mature, something with more substance. As far as I’m converned, Bionicle’s last hope died with G2.

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My crush calls me a realist
You guys have said I’m a cynic

But I don’t think it’ll ever come back, and I honestly don’t want it to

G1: relies on complex characters
HF: relies on simple characters
SW: relies on familiar characters
G2: relies on familiar names

What’d G3 be like?

Heroes have to stop Makuta again with his army of forgettable minions? Is this what people want? Another G2? Another flop? Another insult to the complex and emotional lore of G1?

I love G1, all of it, I don’t even hate non canon love and I have good guy and he isn’t that bad, my favourite sets are the Mistika and I never get tired of reading serials or hearing cryoshell

But there’ll never be another G1

Never

Ever

Not even ninjago whose lore is just ‘another random villain from Wu’s ever expanding history wants to destroy the universe’!

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Have you forgotten everything Harumi stood for

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yes I gave up on the show

I did too, until I watched those seasons.

You see, looking at how Ninjago has grown really gives me trust in LEGO. I thought the show was slowly getting worse and worse, season 8 picked right back up and 9 was actually great.

Perhaps Bionicle could follow a similar comeback?

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No

Bionicle is gone

It’s time we thought of LEGO’s future not past

Is Ninjago the next Bionicle is my main question, people love it but…

I’m too burned out from season 7 to really bother with Ninjago at this point tbh. Hands of Time was terrible.

Teh rih bull.

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Bionicle…Not anytime soon…or never

Hero Factory tho :smirk:

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I mean, we don’t even know it this is even Bionicle but if it is are you sure about that Squidward?

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The moment we expect it to be Bionicle G3 except it’s “Bio Recur Unit B4” will be the biggest thing this community has been thrown in the loop with.

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