Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[MakutaDreadscythe]

Well, excluding the gamefaqs-calibre game of vocal ping pong.

The leaks, whether fake or not, I feel are a good thing, because it opens up discussion. What would Bionicle be like if it was rebooted now with all the new part variety.

As for the Hero Factory thing, well two things could happen. We could have a Stars-esque line that wraps things up, albeit shoddily. The other option is as an alternate constraction line that coexists. Bionicle would be more figure based while Hero Factory would be based on the mech style they used for this year's sets.

[TheGreatSpirit]

Well, excluding the gamefaqs-calibre game of vocal ping pong.

The leaks, whether fake or not, I feel are a good thing, because it opens up discussion. What would Bionicle be like if it was rebooted now with all the new part variety.

As for the Hero Factory thing, well two things could happen. We could have a Stars-esque line that wraps things up, albeit shoddily. The other option is as an alternate constraction line that coexists. Bionicle would be more figure based while Hero Factory would be based on the mech style they used for this year's sets.

Those do seem like the most likely options, assuming that there is a 2015 wave.

If it goes the minifigure route, then I wonder what they will do. I don't think they can keep doing mechs (one year, in my opinion, is enough).

Edited July 16, 2014 by TheGreatSpirit

[Aethersprite]

All this nonsensical arguing aside, is anyone else worried about the fate of Hero Factory? Aside from the lack of evidence of a 2015 wave so far, there are also a lot of cliffhangers that were never addressed (kinda like Bionicle actually). Do you guys think that Lego will just skip a closing wave altogether and just "quietly" cancel it?

Lack of evidence of a 2015 wave? Heck, even Star Wars' 2015 sets haven't been leaked/hinted at yet. It's too early to tell. If anything, the fact that the Bionicle 2015 pictures were leaked this early makes it more suspicious. Assuming Bionicle is indeed returning, the date of its leak is more of an anomaly than anything.

[Bitl]

Well, excluding the gamefaqs-calibre game of vocal ping pong.

The leaks, whether fake or not, I feel are a good thing, because it opens up discussion. What would Bionicle be like if it was rebooted now with all the new part variety.

As for the Hero Factory thing, well two things could happen. We could have a Stars-esque line that wraps things up, albeit shoddily. The other option is as an alternate constraction line that coexists. Bionicle would be more figure based while Hero Factory would be based on the mech style they used for this year's sets.

But there is one thing: We don't know if Hero Factory will have any more sets after Bionicle/the next contraction line comes out.

Another thing is if "Bionicle" is a codename for a different series entirely, but I don't know if LEGO would do that.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Bitl

[TheGreatSpirit]

Lack of evidence of a 2015 wave? Heck, even Star Wars' 2015 sets haven't been leaked/hinted at yet. It's too early to tell. If anything, the fact that the Bionicle 2015 pictures were leaked this early makes it more suspicious. Assuming Bionicle is indeed returning, the date of its leak is more of an anomaly than anything.

Ah, I see. This is the first year where I've actively followed a leak, so forgive me if I say things that are too early to tell

[King of Nynrah]

The leaker obviously decided to leak the Bionicle info for next year instead of Star Wars and HF because there's so much more interest in it. Just look at how much this topic has spiked up since the initial leaks. I don't think posting has ever increased this dramatically, or this magnitude of new members joining, for any HF leaks.

Or it could have just been what he himself was most interested in

[bacem]

Those do seem like the most likely options, assuming that there is a 2015 wave.

If it goes the minifigure route, then I wonder what they will do. I don't think they can keep doing mechs (one year, in my opinion, is enough).

maybe doing something similiar with exo-force? it won't be limited with mech, but also other battle machine like jet or tank, except using CCBS.

[BrickBuilder3213]

The Skull Spider set seems to use Vezon's mask in the foreground, on the lower half of the box art.

[Agent Fusion]

Allow me to check...

I can see where you are coming from, but I don't see it.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Agent Fusion

[TheGreatSpirit]

The Skull Spider set seems to use Vezon's mask in the foreground, on the lower half of the box art.

I believe that mold has been loooong gone from official production. Maybe someone with an extensive knowledge of Lego molds can comment on this (cough*AANCHIR*cough)

maybe doing something similiar with exo-force? it won't be limited with mech, but also other battle machine like jet or tank, except using CCBS.

That's actually what I was thinking... although I hope these other battle machines are more inspired than the Evo Walker

[Gatanui]

Vezon's mask was last used in 2007 on Maxilos, if I recall, so it's most likely long gone.

-Gata

[Chro]

Or it could have just been what he himself was most interested in

Yep, leaker's a big Bionicle fan, and as far as I know he didn't have access to any "leak material" for other themes

[Leewan]

Bionicle would be more figure based while Hero Factory would be based on the mech style they used for this year's sets.

Why HF can't remain figure-based ? Because kids could believe that HF characters are Bonkles, and vice versa ?

HF co-existed with Super Heroes and Chima, and I don't think any kid mistook a theme for another.

[bacem]

Why HF can't remain figure-based ? Because kids could believe that HF characters are Bonkles, and vice versa ?

HF co-existed with Super Heroes and Chima, and I don't think any kid mistook a theme for another.

this is make sense too. lego would definitely put a big "bionicle" and "hero factory" title on the packaging anyway.

[TheGreatSpirit]

Why HF can't remain figure-based ? Because kids could believe that HF characters are Bonkles, and vice versa ?

HF co-existed with Super Heroes and Chima, and I don't think any kid mistook a theme for another.

Chima and Super Heroes are not robots. Hero Factory and Bionicle, in the general public's eyes, are both just buildable robots.

Edited July 16, 2014 by TheGreatSpirit

[Leewan]

Chima and Super Heroes are not robots. Hero Factory and Bionicle, in the general public's eyes, are both just buildable robots.

Hum... Yeah, you have a point there. But if they make the themes different enough so HF can be clearly recognized as HF, and Bionicle as Bionicle, it should work. Just like the last Castle theme and LotR. They were both medieval / castle themes, but had many differences. Another example could be any space theme which co-existed with Star Wars.

[VBBN]

You aren't the topic arbiter

No, but I am.

This topic comes up year after year, and it always ends in the same way- people disagree, people argue, it derails any thread it goes in, and then people start getting called sexist and it becomes a blockstorm of nonsense.

Discussing gender ratios and how you'd like to see them changed are a completely relevant topic to discuss in this thread. They are things you would like to see in 2015 and can be part of a civil conversation- Something I am not seeing here. There's a difference in how topics like this are discussed. Talking about how lego markets lines toward a certain gender or how it affects the story are one thing. Attacking other members, calling them "SJW," or bringing this to a personal level isn't for the forums, take it to messaging if you want to sort out these matters with someone. This goes for everyone.

[Kingslayer]

Hum... Yeah, you have a point there. But if they make the themes different enough so HF can be clearly recognized as HF, and Bionicle as Bionicle, it should work. Just like the last Castle theme and LotR. They were both medieval / castle themes, but had many differences. Another example could be any space theme which co-existed with Star Wars.

Not the same. SW is a huge franchise with an even larger fan base. Bionicle and HF would attract the same fans, causing lack of sales from both

[Shakar]

Hum... Yeah, you have a point there. But if they make the themes different enough so HF can be clearly recognized as HF, and Bionicle as Bionicle, it should work. Just like the last Castle theme and LotR. They were both medieval / castle themes, but had many differences. Another example could be any space theme which co-existed with Star Wars.

That's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how much it'd work.

Castle/Space managed to distinguish themselves from SW/LotR (and viceversa) through subtle elements that don't exist and/or are next to impossible to pull off with constraction.

The fleshie vs yellow figs divide obviously doesn't exist in constraction, and creating completely different colour schemes and patterns (licensed sets tend to use a darker, grittier colour palette) is much more harder to pull off due to the limited parts and colours of CCBS (compared to System).

Chima Ultrabuilds this year sorta managed to pull it off, but that was more due to them coming out in a year where HF tried out something completely different than usual constraction (going minifig scale and almost completely dropping the elemental themes). 2012 and 2013 Ultrabuilds weren't very different than the Breakout and Brain Attack sets, aside from the heads and some printed parts. Which is probably why they weren't very successful.

[TheGreatSpirit]

Hum... Yeah, you have a point there. But if they make the themes different enough so HF can be clearly recognized as HF, and Bionicle as Bionicle, it should work. Just like the last Castle theme and LotR. They were both medieval / castle themes, but had many differences. Another example could be any space theme which co-existed with Star Wars.

That's a good idea. If Hero Factory and Bionicle can somehow manage to be distinguished from one another, then maybe it could work. Now the question is how that could be done

No, but I am.

This topic comes up year after year, and it always ends in the same way- people disagree, people argue, it derails any thread it goes in, and then people start getting called sexist and it becomes a blockstorm of nonsense.

Discussing gender ratios and how you'd like to see them changed are a completely relevant topic to discuss in this thread. They are things you would like to see in 2015 and can be part of a civil conversation- Something I am not seeing here. There's a difference in how topics like this are discussed. Talking about how lego markets lines toward a certain gender or how it affects the story are one thing. Attacking other members, calling them "SJW," or bringing this to a personal level isn't for the forums, take it to messaging if you want to sort out these matters with someone. This goes for everyone.

Thank you Based VBBN.

Edited July 16, 2014 by TheGreatSpirit

[Gatanui]

On the matter of gender, I wouldn't really like it if the original Toa (or any of the original characters) got their genders changed, simply because that's not how I knew them. However, I'm totally open for new female characters and a better gender ratio. Also, the rule that one element has exclusively male or female members was pretty stupid in my opinion, but I'm glad they got rid of that for the Bara Magna storyline (where there was still a great lack of female characters, though).

-Gata

[Transparency for Effect]

On the matter of gender, I wouldn't really like it if the original Toa (or any of the original characters) got their genders changed, simply because that's not how I knew them. However, I'm totally open for new female characters and a better gender ratio. Also, the rule that one element has exclusively male or female members was pretty stupid in my opinion, but I'm glad they got rid of that for the Bara Magna storyline (where there was still a great lack of female characters, though).

-Gata

Yeah, if anything it'd be lazy to just switch around the genders of characters to fix the ratio.

_{^{Plus the internet has enough Rule 63 as it is...}}

If this rumor is true then chances are as I asked above that a lot of it has to do with how good of a reception the Bionacle stuff has had on Netflix. It's a nostalgic property that falls into that same sort of area as Transformers. I would not be surprised to see a new line tied into a new Cartoon Network show. Why not someone has revived and repackaged pretty much every other 90's cartoon and toy property.

Besides Michael Bay needs a new project after TMNT!

Oh dear christ, no. I'd rather it'd stay dead. Now if you're talking Lord and MIller...

They would probably just make similar looking molds

Eh, fine by me.

Hum... Yeah, you have a point there. But if they make the themes different enough so HF can be clearly recognized as HF, and Bionicle as Bionicle, it should work. Just like the last Castle theme and LotR. They were both medieval / castle themes, but had many differences. Another example could be any space theme which co-existed with Star Wars.

Let's see, to the common consumer Bionicle would instead have things like...

• Collectible (or at least a great focus on) masks
  
• A greater focus on elements
  
• A different setting
  
• A consistent product style
  
• Specific groups of things, often in six
  

Care to add?

[MakutaDreadscythe]

Hum... Yeah, you have a point there. But if they make the themes different enough so HF can be clearly recognized as HF, and Bionicle as Bionicle, it should work. Just like the last Castle theme and LotR. They were both medieval / castle themes, but had many differences. Another example could be any space theme which co-existed with Star Wars.

It's not so much that they couldn't be differentiated, but for them to coexist and both be buildable robot-esque figures would come off to the consumer as incredibly redundant. By having a more mech style HF carves out a niche while Bionicle can be the more straightforward line.

[Agent Fusion]

Hero Factory would be more futuristic, and Bionicle would be closer to its tribal roots.

[Dorek]

Let's see, to the common consumer Bionicle would instead have things like...

• Collectible (or at least a great focus on) masks
  
• A greater focus on elements
  
• A different setting
  
• A consistent product style
  
• Specific groups of things, often in six
  

Care to add?

I'd love it if they did away with the "rule of 6", personally, but then again it didn't work out too well for Hero Factory... as long as the characters wouldn't fall by the wayside, it'd be good.

I mean, to the common consumer at this point BIONiCLE is a pretty unknown quantity; throw out the rulebook, I say, write a new one.