Bionicle 2001 and beyond: An essay of personal thoughts.

[JINZONINGEN73]

I liked Jaller as a set, but not as what Jaller used to be.

I agree it'd look cool fighting alongside Tahu, but his name should be like "Fire Guy" or something...

...too different from the character it's supposedly derived from. Very not credible and silly.

[Zarkan]

Of all the LEGO fandoms Bionicle fans seen to be the most combative

I agree. It seems that in the system forums here and at other places, people generally are very friendly and agree on a lot of stuff. However, when it comes to Bionicle, there are always very stark opinions and a lot of arguments (even on BZP!). It's probably because Bionicle is so different from most of the other themes, and has been turned into a sort of obsessive, nitpicky passion - like starwars and transformers.

I agree it'd look cool fighting alongside Tahu, but his name should be like "Fire Guy" or something...

...too different from the character it's supposedly derived from. Very not credible and silly.

I actually think that considering what we could have gotten (I.e. Inika form), Jaller is decent. The colors are still somewhat similar (yes, it's orange, but orange is very similar to yellow) - and he actually still has a crab with him, which IMO is a homage back to 2003.

Besides, you've gotta remember that Matoran to Toa transformations generally are very varried, at least storyline wise. When a Matoran transforms into a Toa, his mask, tools, and armor all change to signify more power. Toa to Toa 2.0 trasnformations IMO are of bigger concern, which is why we all are so miffed with the Toa Mistika.

[Clonie]

...except not.

Dude, there has got to be a better analogy for that.

What's wrong with it? I was just saying, it's obvious that BIONICLE is the most-debated LEGO theme, just as red is obviously the reddest colour...

For God's sake, we're even arguing about this.

[Algernon]

Hah. Point taken.

[Dovchenko]

Here's my thoughts that no one cares about.

2001-2002: Prime time Bionicle, Gears, MNOLG was amazing artwise, made me feel like I was in Bionicle Universe. Amazing but often overlooked sets, Rahi were great but did not sell. Toa sold, Mcdonalds ads worked, and all was good in the world. Bohrok came out, sold well. Va were a failure. Large sets good, did better than last year. Toa Nuva sell the best in this time period. Mask Packs very very popular. Amazing story told in online episodes.

2003: Not as prime time but somewhat pleasing nonetheless. Bohrok Kal failed miserably. Rahkshi were good and sold reasonably, though they became bargain bin buddies. Large sets sold very well in comparison, just as good as the Rahkshi. MNOLG 2 was an instant hit, but then failed shortly after due to tech errors. Game hated worldwide. New movie raised Bionicle awareness. Everyone pumped for rumours of a new place. Story failed.

2004: Fairly well advertised but worse than 2003. Vahki did not sell, failed and rammed their way into bargain bins. Toa sold reasonably. Disk Launcher packs failed. Matoran failed. Titans and special sets were instant hits, some of the best large sets of the year. A very nice story, for Bionicle, though not as great as the Technic/Bionicle years of 2001/2002. Online games were okay. Kanoka club an okay idea. Movie didn't make too much of a difference.

2005: Not well advertised. Worse than 2004 but not the worst year. Toa and Visorak sold reasonably. Rahaga failed. Titans very high quality yet again, sold reasonably. Stayed on LEGO shop for a long amount of time. Again, Movie didn't make too much of a difference. First year of mini-fig Bionicle, failed miserably. Reasonable story.

2006: Honestly, the best year. Piraka sold reasonably. Toa sold well. Matoran didn't sell well. Great if not perfect Titans. Good comics. Bionicle Heroes raises some awareness. Zamor Collectables fail. Best advertising and story, a great place with awesome online support. Large dragon set sold very well as a Target Exclusive. Fig-Bionicle failed again. Good story.

2007: Didn't participate much, but Matoran sold better than most years. At first Barraki sold, but then failed. Toa sold very well. Titans very high quality, little advertising and no movie to show. Minifig-Bionicle failed. Great story.

2008: Odd story but reasonable characters. Phantoka sold though the reuse of the basic body frame annoyed many. Matoran sold well. Mistika selling well, though hated by many. Titans sold, reintroduction of vehicles from 2001-2003. Good story.

2009: ???

[VBBN]

Here's my thoughts that no one cares about.

2001-2002: Prime time Bionicle, Gears, MNOLG was amazing artwise, made me feel like I was in Bionicle Universe. Amazing but often overlooked sets, Rahi were great but did not sell. Toa sold, Mcdonalds ads worked, and all was good in the world. Bohrok came out, sold well. Va were a failure. Large sets good, did better than last year. Toa Nuva sell the best in this time period. Mask Packs very very popular. Amazing story told in online episodes.

Va a failure? Not at all. They sold just as well as matoran.

2003: Not as prime time but somewhat pleasing nonetheless. Bohrok Kal failed miserably. Rahkshi were good and sold reasonably, though they became bargain bin buddies. Large sets sold very well in comparison, just as good as the Rahkshi. MNOLG 2 was an instant hit, but then failed shortly after due to tech errors. Game hated worldwide. New movie raised Bionicle awareness. Everyone pumped for rumours of a new place. Story failed.

Agreed on the Kal. Now, what is this story fails? The movie was the story, and that seemed to do quite well.

2004: Fairly well advertised but worse than 2003. Vahki did not sell, failed and rammed their way into bargain bins. Toa sold reasonably. Disk Launcher packs failed. Matoran failed. Titans and special sets were instant hits, some of the best large sets of the year. A very nice story, for Bionicle, though not as great as the Technic/Bionicle years of 2001/2002. Online games were okay. Kanoka club an okay idea. Movie didn't make too much of a difference.

What is this? The Movie set up the mask of time, a vital part of the nuva storyline, trying to prevent the bohrok kal from freeing the barahg.

2005: Not well advertised. Worse than 2004 but not the worst year. Toa and Visorak sold reasonably. Rahaga failed. Titans very high quality yet again, sold reasonably. Stayed on LEGO shop for a long amount of time. Again, Movie didn't make too much of a difference. First year of mini-fig Bionicle, failed miserably. Reasonable story.

Now, the mini-fig bionicles didn't fail. Or else TLC wouldn't have continued them for two more years.

2006: Honestly, the best year. Piraka sold reasonably. Toa sold well. Matoran didn't sell well. Great if not perfect Titans. Good comics. Bionicle Heroes raises some awareness. Zamor Collectables fail. Best advertising and story, a great place with awesome online support. Large dragon set sold very well as a Target Exclusive. Fig-Bionicle failed again. Good story.

The one thig I disagree with here is the comics. The first few were okay, however, the artist was making them look strange and quite frankly toothpicks.

2007: Didn't participate much, but Matoran sold better than most years. At first Barraki sold, but then failed. Toa sold very well. Titans very high quality, little advertising and no movie to show. Minifig-Bionicle failed. Great story.

I don't see what you mean by the Barraki. They did fine for the year. And the playsets did fine.

2008: Odd story but reasonable characters. Phantoka sold though the reuse of the basic body frame annoyed many. Matoran sold well. Mistika selling well, though hated by many. Titans sold, reintroduction of vehicles from 2001-2003. Good story

.

Agreed.

[Dovchenko]

Va a failure? Not at all. They sold just as well as matoran.

Can't agree. The Mctoran sold wildly, people ran out to get them before they were gone. The Va were pretty mediocre and smelt of bargain bin the moment they were released. No offence.

Agreed on the Kal. Now, what is this story fails? The movie was the story, and that seemed to do quite well.

First of all... by failed, I mean sales. Quite honestly, I don't like 2007-2008 that much. The movies not making much of a difference is simple... the first movie was revolutionary for Greg and people watched it. The second one... not so much, even if I really liked it as an overall movie (not joking). The third was already gone. The upcoming fourth will hopefully learn from the previous 3 and aim for older audiences but... there's only so much LEGO can do. The movies really didn't do much, save attract a few more fans. And please current fans. But moviewise, it's like the Barbie movies were. Absolutely no advertisement, news only on BZPOWER and the official websites... besides, they were disappointing to some fans and honestly... the story was pretty much based on a 75 minute animated movie.

What is this? The Movie set up the mask of time, a vital part of the nuva storyline, trying to prevent the bohrok kal from freeing the barahg.

The movie also pleased fans and explained the story. Movies don't sell, sets do. Movies aren't supposed to sell, just make fans happy and maybe, just maybe add to a currently huge fanbase. 2004 had the best movie and nicest story but again... the Vahki were seemingly ditched despite being so awesome in the movie. Mask of Time... part of the Nuva storyline, just like you said. That was behind us for now and sure, I loved to find out its past. But come on, Matau intervenes with an absolutely hilarious one-liner and Whenua is made to look stupid? The legendary Vahi is suddenly forgotten. It was a good movie especially that Turaga Dume... but really, wasn't it a bit uneccesary?

Now, the mini-fig bionicles didn't fail. Or else TLC wouldn't have continued them for two more years.

Knights Kingdom II? Three years as well. The first year sucked, the second year sucked and last time I checked... the third year sucked. Sales-wise and... well, everything not Vladek's-Dark-Fortress/Mistlands-Tower wise. I don't remember mini's selling too well either.

The one thig I disagree with here is the comics. The first few were okay, however, the artist was making them look strange and quite frankly toothpicks.

Not much I can say... you like them or you don't, I guess I did and you didn't. You probably had the better choice, seeing as they DID look like toothpicks.

I don't see what you mean by the Barraki. They did fine for the year. And the playsets did fine.

Barraki... popular until the Mahri came out. Then, Barraki were marked down to four bucks. Good stories but... it's like the vanished come wave two.

Agreed.

So we are.

I can tell you like Bionicle quite a bit and though I lost interest last year, I refuse to say discouraging things to other members. There's nothing worse than someone who makes a backhand comment and makes the person worry for a few months. Besides, the only reason I hate those two years is because I'm a true 2001-2002 fan... and the past two years have been far from that.

[Clonie]

What did Greg have to do with Mask Of Light?

[commanderbly42]

At first, I really enjoyed this line. I especially loved the Bohrok and managed to get three of them. After the initial first year, I just found that it started to go downhill. Now, I'm not really a fan of the line at all but still have my cherished bohrok (albeit, 3000 miles away ). Now, I can't make heads or tails of what's going on now in Bionicle though.

[Dovchenko]

What did Greg have to do with Mask Of Light?

What did Greg have to do with Bionicle?

[Ikki o' Moopyville]

Greg had zip to do with the movies -- back then, he just wrote comics and the occasional book.

-Ikk

[Dovchenko]

True that... you people give him more credit than I think he deserves. Like come on he works hard to keep Bionicle up and running... but it's not like he's a god or something. He just does the story... which as VBBN said... wasn't so hot either. I'm getting sick of "Thanks Greg!" all the time, no offence, and we're idolizing a pretty mediocre writer like he's a huge author. Give it up... like Bionicle for Bionicle, and stop treating Greg like god already.

[Algernon]

The books have really bad writing in my opinion, which is a shame because MMOLG has surprisingly GOOD writing and I keep expecting those standards from the books.

Just another little observation of the differences between 2001 and the other waves: the Rahi. The Rahi were dangerous creatures made more threatening by the influence of Makuta through infected masks. The reason why this was cool is because you could make up your own Rahi without having it conflict with Bionicle storyline. There were dozens of Rahi creatures that never actually got released as sets. Nowadays there's six enemies and six alone for you to collect, and if you make up your own you feel like you're playing outside of Bionicle canon.

Also, Makuta was just so much cooler as a bodiless entity. Once the set came out I got so pissed- it totally ruined what used to be a really cool bad guy.

I also feel like the sense of mystery has been underplayed. In 2001, we had NO idea where the Toa came from. All we knew is that six robotic elemental knights had arrived on a wild, foreboding land to save the inhabitants from the menace of the bodiless Makuta. The obscurity lent Bionicle a real sense of mystic, tribal religion that was so original and captivating. After Metru-Nui, it lost a lot of this.

Edited July 23, 2008 by Algernon

[Zarkan]

The books have really bad writing in my opinion, which is a shame because MMOLG has surprisingly GOOD writing and I keep expecting those standards from the books.

I couldn't disagree more. Personally, I love all the Bionicle Adventure and Legend books. They have a great mix of action, dialogue, characters, and even some mystery. The MNOG on the other hand was mostly just the "asking questions and getting answers" variety, without much personality. Except for the cutscenes, which I agree were AWESOME.

True that... you people give him more credit than I think he deserves. Like come on he works hard to keep Bionicle up and running... but it's not like he's a god or something. He just does the story... which as VBBN said... wasn't so hot either. I'm getting sick of "Thanks Greg!" all the time, no offence, and we're idolizing a pretty mediocre writer like he's a huge author. Give it up... like Bionicle for Bionicle, and stop treating Greg like god already

We give him a lot of credit because he basically writes all the bionicle books and comics (which is a big job), plus he willingly answers all our questions on BZP - which amounts to hundreds a day. I'd like to see you try to do that.

[Ecto]

Every other line in the books is "I'm a Toa of Earth, and I've seen worms sexier than you!!!"

[hewkii9]

Every other line in the books is "I'm a Toa of Earth, and I've seen worms sexier than you!!!"

What did you say about my mother? I'm a Toa of Ice, and you need some time to chill!

[Pencoin]

GRRRR im a Toa of Fire and i have a a short fuse and/or low confidence and im emo. EMO is cool!!!!

(pretty funny guys)

[maiq the liar]

i lost track of the plot around 2006.

[Lt. Col. Thok]

I agree with everything that is being said. Bionicle has turned into...well, lame. No more gears. I switched out of Bionicle at the end of '06 in disgust. '07 was a waste, so I regret buying it.

[VBBN]

What did you say about my mother? I'm a Toa of Ice, and you need some time to chill!

It's clobberin time!

lol

[Zarkan]

Every other line in the books is "I'm a Toa of Earth, and I've seen worms sexier than you!!!"

You've over-generalized beyond the point of anyone taking your comment seriously. I'm not trying to insult you, but honestly, that was a really weak argument IMO.

I agree with everything that is being said. Bionicle has turned into...well, lame. No more gears. I switched out of Bionicle at the end of '06 in disgust. '07 was a waste, so I regret buying it.

So basically having no gears means that Bionicle is lame? Come on guys - either explain why you think this stuff or at least say its your opinion. Stating personal opinions as fact is rude.

[Ikki o' Moopyville]

You've over-generalized beyond the point of anyone taking your comment seriously. I'm not trying to insult you, but honestly, that was a really weak argument IMO.

I sorta agree with him... There are a few standard so-called humorous lines that Greg uses in pretty much every comic, book, and serial, with slight variations. The rest of the dialogue is typically generic or stereotypical chatter without much depth to it. Take for instance Kongu, Lewa, and Matau -- they sound EXACTLY alike in all Greg's writings, complete with the horribly mutilated Treespeak.

It basically boils down to lack of character for the most part. Fortunately there's been some memorable ones lately -- the Barraki were a large step upwards from the Piraka, and Makuta such as Krika or Icarax win a lot of points by not talking silly.

"I r haev no friens! Onli enmies I havnt eated yet!"

-Ikk

Edited July 24, 2008 by Ikki o' Moopyville

[Ecto]

"You know, I've found things under rocks that have more guts than you Makuta do... and smell better, too. And I'm a Toa of Stone... I know rocks."

"You did not defeat the Toa Nuva--We simply found your company so boring, we chose to take a nap."

LAAAME

And sorry if I insulted you, Grievous. I'm just expressing my distaste with the storyline through example.

[Algernon]

So basically having no gears means that Bionicle is lame? Come on guys - either explain why you think this stuff or at least say its your opinion. Stating personal opinions as fact is rude.

He wasn't making a statement of fact. Personally, it annoys me when people say "but that's just my opinion" as though you couldn't have inferred as much from the content of the post. Just a personal pet peeve of mine.

Anyway, since Bionicle switched from gears and Technic mechanisms to pre-constructed gimmicks like the Midak Skyblasters, myself and others have felt that it was loosing a lot of what made it LEGO and not just a beefed-up Galidor. That's not the only thing that's made Bionicle "lame", really, but it's just another factor.

[Clonie]

You've over-generalized beyond the point of anyone taking your comment seriously. I'm not trying to insult you, but honestly, that was a really weak argument IMO.

Are you saying that seventy-four percent of dialogue isn't as lame as what Ecto posted?

"Lohrak! Lohrak???"

So basically having no gears means that Bionicle is lame?

Well not necessarily, but if you like gears, you're essentially boned.

"I r haev no friens! Onli enmies I havnt eated yet!"

Using lulztext doesn't exactly prove any points, but I still lol.

Not that that line isn't lame.

And sorry if I insulted you, Grievous. I'm just expressing my distaste with the storyline through example.

lulz pwnt

He wasn't making a statement of fact. Personally, it annoys me when people say "but that's just my opinion" as though you couldn't have inferred as much from the content of the post. Just a personal pet peeve of mine.

The above is true.