Lego Ideas 90th Anniversary Fan Vote

[Alegrispa]

Just now, MAB said:

Bionicle or s***ing on it? :-)

The latter. I'll edit it.

Edited January 22, 2021 by Alegrispa

[MAB]

This is also where hiding the votes in the next round is not going to help perception of what LEGO is doing.

If those votes continue, then Bionicle is clearly the favourite in a 1 from 30 contest. But will it be in a 1 from 3 contest, when it is much easier to vote against it. It could well win if only people interested in the three themes vote, but it could well lose in a 1 from 3 if people that don't like for Bionicle vote for their favourite of the two system themes left instead. And LEGO has already told us that they are going to make that contest non-transparent.

What will happen? Maybe they will just cancel it and make the 90th anniversary set based on Star Wars instead! After all, it will be the 45th anniversary of Star Wars, half LEGO's age.

 

[JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)]

Darn, it doesn't look good for Adventurers. 

And also a complete R.I.P for Time Cruisers and Spyrius. Now at some point after, I kinda wished I voted for them too instead of Bionicle. (As at that point, I couldn't really decide, so I landed on the latter.) But this definitely confirms that my votes for them won't do diddly-squat, unfortunately.

Yeah, I have to agree that this method of the poll is quite terrible. It's basically a glorified customer survey. And I also agree that it would be much better if the anniversary was a lineup. A set would be like for example, the Classic Castle but packed to the brim with references and stuffs of the various castle themes from the 80s and 90s. Same with Space and pirates too. Heck, even bringing in the Time Cruisers to advertise the line since it's a celebration of time and history would be really awesome.

It's one thing to make one anniversary set based on one theme. But splitting up the sub-themes just doesn't seem right. It's indeed too divisive. I would've been more comfortable with my votes (and not being fickle-minded) plus being quite excited on the prospect of checking out what's going to turn out of this. if the entries were much more solidly grouped.

17 hours ago, Modal said:

Seriously Bionicle, Classic Space, and Pirates are the 3 LEAST exciting themes for me. We literally just got a pirate dream set, Space is done to death, and Bionicle is...Bionicle. It doesn’t even feel like LEGO to a lot of people. Severely disappointed but whatever, guess I should just go in knowing the set isn’t going to be for me.

Glad the Gen Z’ers will enjoy their action figure though 

Personally, LEGO will have to make that figure really awesome enough to blow my mind for it to be worth it. Right now, except for a small twinge of hope, I don't have any faith that the figure would be good after seeing that Ideas Great Spirit Robot which is extremely not my cup of tea. A remake of the Toa Mata isn't appealing to me either.

But seeing it as an 18+ plus set, there's also a possibility that the set could be busts like those in Star Wars (Which is so not what I'm looking for in Bionicle). Or various trinkets such as the Nuva Cubes. (That does sound really cool to me, however, it isn't something I'd shelve out my money for.)

It's also partly based on said small twinge of hope that I voted for it. But seeing as how an 18+ set goes, I'm staring to see that's just wishful thinking and probably shouldn't have voted for it. If I'm proven wrong and got pleasantly surprised instead that would be great but we'll see.

Edited January 22, 2021 by JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)

[Abridge4u]

10 minutes ago, JJ Tong (zfogshooterz) said:

It's basically a glorified customer survey.

That sentence says it best.

Considering LEGO is 90, we should expect generational splits in the LEGO media as we do in music media being a prime example. Rock in the 1960s is not the same as the 1990s as the 2020s.

I did click Roebuck's link and it brought up a good point.

I don't think LEGO thought about the generational splits and I'm certainly NOT Gen Z.

[danth]

1 hour ago, Modal said:

Space is done to death

There hasn't been a Space theme since 2013. That was Galaxy Squad.

And no, neither Star Wars nor City space shuttles are Space themes.

Anyway, I want to see the rest of the results! I want to know the total votes for Space and Castle themes.

[Robert8]

Ok but Star Wars is a space theme

I get what you're saying but it totally is

 

 

I wonder if TLG could put out a space theme in setting different enough from Star Wars to able to have them both on the shelves. Maybe retro space stuff like atompunk or something

[koalayummies]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

https://www.stonewars.net/lego-news/interim-results-of-the-lego-ideas-90th-anniversary-survey/

Great analysis to break it down and point out things like more than a third (38.5%) of the Bionicle voters didn't vote for a second or third choice. 'Bionicle or no anniversary at all!'

And the totals of all space themes (28K) and all castle themes (21K) both beat bionicle's total.

Quote

In total, 28,666 new users registered on LEGO Ideas in the four days from January 17 to 20, which comes to an average of about 7,167 new users per day... Presumably, at least some of the new accounts have been created solely to participate in the poll. However, we assume that LEGO will certainly have this in mind in some way.

Polls like these are indeed easily manipulated with automation, even the account creation process can be done with a bot.

[Merlo]

7 hours ago, koalayummies said:

Polls like these are indeed easily manipulated with automation, even the account creation process can be done with a bot.

Weigh the scoring according to account age and activity... *rubs his cat in an evil way*

[Stuartn]

7 hours ago, koalayummies said:

And the totals of all space themes (28K) and all castle themes (21K) both beat bionicle's total.

I think provided that a space or castle theme make it to the top three, bionicle would be beaten.

I am unsure why bionicle is extremely controversial in the first place. I don't want it, based on personal preference, but I am no more against it than spyrius, forestmen or any of the themes in the survey that I wouldn't want as a first preference.

I get bionicle is very different because its not system lego, but surely its lack of appeal to some is no more jarring than the lack of appeal of other themes people do not want, say aquazone to a castle fan, or M tron to a train fan.

I get that the reason may be that bionicle wouldn't be useful to some people, whereas system sets might be, regardless of what you actually want, but surely that is not an incentive to criticise bionicle over other themes with the same personal drawbacks.

The only other reason is that the complex storyline of bionicle would be difficult to re-establish, and to create appeal for AFOLs who weren't into it to start with, but surely this is similar to many other obscure themes.

I am very unsure why I just typed four paragraphs defending bionicle when I really don't want it, but I say good luck to whichever theme wins!

[danth]

9 hours ago, Robert8 said:

Ok but Star Wars is a space theme

I get what you're saying but it totally is

I said it's not a Space theme. Sure, it might be a space theme, but those are two totally different things!

But anyway, you know what I mean.

And more seriously, anyone who thinks Star War is Space, feel free to go to https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space and tell me how many Star Wars sets you find listed. I'll give you a hint. It's zero! Or go to https://www.bricklink.com/catalogTree.asp?itemType=S   and click on Space and tell me how many Star Wars sets you get. Again -- zero!

Star Wars is not Space.

[Stuartn]

2 minutes ago, danth said:

Star Wars is not Space.

Regardless of whether it is or isn't (I agree its different) it shouldn't really count anyway since this survey is about bringing back one of Lego's themes.

[Roebuck]

12 hours ago, Lira_Bricks said:

Where did you find that image?

10 hours ago, danth said:

Anyway, I want to see the rest of the results! I want to know the total votes for Space and Castle themes.

https://www.stonewars.de/news/lego-ideas-umfrage-zwischenstand/
https://www.stonewars.net/lego-news/interim-results-of-the-lego-ideas-90th-anniversary-survey/

"So the relevant question is: How many users have voted for at least one Castle subtheme?

• 23.738 users have voted for at least one Castle subtheme

How many users voted for at least one Space theme?

• 23.396 users voted for at least one Space subtheme"

So castle would have been in first place, space on a second if they only had one main category to vote for. Then a second vote for the most popular subtheme could have given us that

[Grover]

31 minutes ago, Roebuck said:

So castle would have been in first place, space on a second if they only had one main category to vote for. Then a second vote for the most popular subtheme could have given us that

Thank you for the links!

And yes, this is the problem with the way they broke up the categories.  I suspect if Bionicle had multiple sub themes to vote for on this survey it would also not fare as well.

[Merlo]

It seems logical if the sum of Castle themes win, they would make a Castle theme, but I don't know really.

For example, I like some Castle sets more than others, but I wouldn't really mind any of them.

Are there people that think different, e. g. that would for sure buy Forestmen but no way they would buy Black Falcons?

[Man with beard]

1 hour ago, Stuartn said:

I am unsure why bionicle is extremely controversial in the first place. I don't want it, based on personal preference, but I am no more against it than spyrius, forestmen or any of the themes in the survey that I wouldn't want as a first preference.

I get bionicle is very different because its not system lego, but surely its lack of appeal to some is no more jarring than the lack of appeal of other themes people do not want, say aquazone to a castle fan, or M tron to a train fan.

@Stuartn, it's worth noting that a third of Bionicle fans didn't vote for any of the System themes though. I'm definitely in agreement with you that non-BionicleFOLs need to stop hating on Bionicle, but the Bionicle fans don't exactly share our love for System stuff either.

It is a bit odd that Bionicle is still so polarizing (I don't own any Bionicle, but I think it's cool); however, this article by David C. Robertson says that Bionicle was created specifically to reach a demographic of boys who were not interested Lego's available products. Internally, they called this kind of boy "Bully Bob". I think Lego System and Lego Bionicle just appeal to different kinds of people, and that was the intent of Bionicle's designers!

I voted for Forestmen, Imperials, and Adventurers.

[Roebuck]

7 minutes ago, Merlo said:

It seems logical if the sum of Castle themes win, they would make a Castle theme, but I don't know really.

For example, I like some Castle sets more than others, but I wouldn't really mind any of them.

Are there people that think different, e. g. that would for sure buy Forestmen but no way they would buy Black Falcons?

Unfortunately unless they reconsider I do not think they will sum them up.

Most people that voted for castle probably want a big castle set, a lot of the fractions was in the same sets, so it should have been no problem to include minifigs from several fractions in one set to make most fans happy

[astral brick]

IT question: how were they able to count the votes and the new users? How does it work?

[Lego David]

10 hours ago, koalayummies said:

Great analysis to break it down and point out things like more than a third (38.5%) of the Bionicle voters didn't vote for a second or third choice. 'Bionicle or no anniversary at all!'

 

11 minutes ago, Man with beard said:

, it's worth noting that a third of Bionicle fans didn't vote for any of the System themes though. I'm definitely in agreement with you that non-BionicleFOLs need to stop hating on Bionicle, but the Bionicle fans don't exactly share our love for System stuff either.

As someone who is part of the Bionicle community, I can explain exactly why most Bionicle fans voted for Bionicle and nothing else: Because Bionicle appeals to a much younger demographic than most of the other themes on the list (people between 18-30 years old), so the people voting for Bionicle wouldn't have had any other choices from their generation to vote for. If say, something like Knight's Kingdom II or Exo-Force would have been included (both lines that were out at the same time as Bionicle) I can assure you that a lot of Bionicle fans would have likely voted for those as well. Bionicle fans grew up in the 2000's, and Bionicle is the only theme available in the poll that they have a personal connection to. Unlike most of the older AFOLs who voted in the poll, they never grew up with any of those "Classic" lines, so therefore they have no reason to vote for any of them. 

[Kingriedak]

3 hours ago, Man with beard said:

but the Bionicle fans don't exactly share our love for System stuff either.

that might might have something to do with the vitriolic hatred that afols have toward them

[Lego David]

15 minutes ago, Kingriedak said:

that might might have something to do with the vitriolic hatred that afols have toward them

That may be a bit exaggerated, but still not far from the truth.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Lego David

[The Island Chronicles]

On 1/23/2021 at 5:44 AM, Kingriedak said:

that might might have something to do with the vitriolic hatred that afols have toward them

I know a lots of AFOLs who like Bionicle. I know a few who only collect Bionicle. None of them are 2000s babies. All of them early 90s babies. 

Personally, I'd want something town related. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by Brandon Pea

[Peppermint_M]

It was inevitable that a lot of votes would land on Bionicle. So many netziens are the age that thought of Bionicle as the super-de-duperist thing ever when they were kids. Then they outgrew it but did not continue as FOLs but now the nostalgia siren has got them voting. Not that they want to or will purchase a set.

It is frustrating, I would love to have a new Adventurers set, but it looks like it will lose out to construction. A theme/building system that only accounts for a fraction of what TLG produced.

[Heechee84]

With all due respect, I think the expectations of many AFOLs need to be tempered with cold, hard market reality.

Even if the fans move the heavens, the non-System Bionicle set they want will not be made, ever. The only way this theme would be chosen for the anniversary is in the form of a mosaic or perhaps a bust. I very much doubt it, though.

The set will be made for one of the main three themes - Space, Castle, Pirates. There is some chance for Adventurers, but very slim one. It will be the most generic, catch-all take on the themes. Forget the specialized subthemes. There is some market for Classic space or generic castle, but the M-Tron, Spyrius, Forestmen, Wolfpack are too niche, it will not happen.

[Lego David]

3 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

Not that they want to or will purchase a set.

The Bionicle community has been wanting a Bionicle anniversary set for years now. They even got a Bionicle LEGO Ideas project to 10k supporters, but it got denied. No wonder everyone is voting for Bionicle in this poll now, since they have another chance of getting that set they've always wanted. On top of that, a lot of Bionicle fans still continue as general FOLs today, so claiming that those fans won't buy the set is a bit of a bold claim. 

8 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

It is frustrating, I would love to have a new Adventurers set, but it looks like it will lose out to construction. A theme/building system that only accounts for a fraction of what TLG produced.

LEGO still reserves the authority to choose which set they will make from the top 3 most voted themes, so even if Bionicle will end up on the number 1 place, there is no guarantee they will choose it. In fact, the chances of TLG choosing Bionicle are very slim, because it would require them to bring back discontinued molds that they no longer have. I too am sorry that Adventurers didn't make it, but what can you do? The fanbase for that theme clearly wasn't as big as the other themes on the list. 

[Kingriedak]

28 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

Not that they want to or will purchase a set.

Speak for communities of themes that you're actually a part of

If its constraction, or any sort of a figure, Bionicle fans will likely buy it, if it's system, oh well, some will buy it, but I personally wont

Edited January 23, 2021 by Kingriedak