Idk anon, for many years it was one of the biggest toylines and had books, comics, video games, etc... most of the kids in my school (guys at least) played with them, built their own and traded pieces.
They were my jam. I liked them less when we got to the Metru but I was still reading until they stopped making them. Kopaka chads represent, frick Soi Wars for smothering the reboot.
fyucking yes, I remember the hype, and I couldn't wait for the first issue. I didn't manage to get them all, which was a pity for me, but frick yeah, I've read them all online years later
Even though I didn't get most of the Mahri Nui arc this still hit really hard
I also remember my mind being blown over Toa Ignika's introduction only to be disappointed that he didn't really do much (in the comic anyway, I didn't have access to the books then)
The way the media was distributed was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen any franchise do. Its like the suits at the top didn't realise it was all one big story, so the story got shredded and spread out over basically every form of media back in the day, and if you didn't go through the trouble of collecting every little piece of merch, you missed out on large chunks of the lore, which made it confusing as frick to follow.
People have done videos on youtube where they compile the story in order across all the media, and when its told like that, it makes sense, but the way Lego distributed it, it feels like Lego was actively against it being popular.
As for the story its self. I think its a really good thought out story, that got fricked by the way it was split up into games and videos and flash games, and the ending of the series was rushed when Lego suddenly canceled the last season, which forced the writers to crunch the last couple of pre planned seasons into one jumbled mess.
I didn't get to experience the actual story as it was being released bit by bit back in the day, but going back and deep diving through the lore, its actually a really well built story that follows a fascinating scifi story. The way they had slow reveals to what Mata Nui really was, was amazing story telling. And its something that could never be done the same way again, because everyone already knows what the twist is. Its like how M. Night Shyamalan can never write a super surprizing twist again, because after the first time he did it, everyone starts looking for the twist in his other movies.
Lego was basically in a hole when bionicle came out, they flirted with media but none really lent itself to a sweeping storyline like bionicle. A cartoon would’ve been ideal, but the designs are detailed so it’s need cgi, which was still pricy at the time. It’s like the creators were trying to use any new bit of media they could get to show lore and storyline. A less ambitious franchise would just retell the same story in the different media.
Ultimately, bionicle was a technic subline originally. The brick system will always be the company’s top priority. I don’t think Lego execs ever took it seriously, it was just something to try and scoop up the action figure audience
>A cartoon would’ve been ideal, but the designs are detailed so it’s need cgi
idk, the flash animations for MNOG and MNOG2 were pretty good. Simplified, but way better than the CGI from all the movies
Also moronic movie suits kept wanting "Kid gets isekai'd into Bionicle land" when early movie discussions were happening, so Lego went for direct to video to maintain creative control.
It wasn’t until I got proper internet and found the full breadth of the franchise
Before that I only knew a few scattered things, like one of the movies uploaded in full with trash quality on yt
Point being it stil remained memorable through the years
There are designers that definitely still like Bionicle enough to reference them in other sets as easter eggs, but I think the AFOLs that make up the upper leadership see Bionicle and CCBS and think "not muh Lego"
I grew up with it. The Mata Nui Online Game still instils in me such a powerful sense of nostalgia. Taking half an hour for it to load on my shitty dialup internet, just so I could check if there had been an update yet.
There's no way you could replicate the early mystery of BIONICLE, the way the internet is today.
Only the class weird kid liked bionacle.
Idk anon, for many years it was one of the biggest toylines and had books, comics, video games, etc... most of the kids in my school (guys at least) played with them, built their own and traded pieces.
They were my jam. I liked them less when we got to the Metru but I was still reading until they stopped making them. Kopaka chads represent, frick Soi Wars for smothering the reboot.
Can confirm, I was that weird kid.
Your parents just hated you
It has better lore than most actual series.
i was obsessed with them. really like how they expanded the story even if the metru nui parts are kinda akward.
To be honest, no.
Yeah! I still have most of my bionicle comics too.
fyucking yes, I remember the hype, and I couldn't wait for the first issue. I didn't manage to get them all, which was a pity for me, but frick yeah, I've read them all online years later
LEGO's salvation after the absolute failure that was Galidor.
I always thought it was cool since I got them for free with Lego magazine. Including comics free like that was a good idea
Sure did
Even though I didn't get most of the Mahri Nui arc this still hit really hard
I also remember my mind being blown over Toa Ignika's introduction only to be disappointed that he didn't really do much (in the comic anyway, I didn't have access to the books then)
The way the media was distributed was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen any franchise do. Its like the suits at the top didn't realise it was all one big story, so the story got shredded and spread out over basically every form of media back in the day, and if you didn't go through the trouble of collecting every little piece of merch, you missed out on large chunks of the lore, which made it confusing as frick to follow.
People have done videos on youtube where they compile the story in order across all the media, and when its told like that, it makes sense, but the way Lego distributed it, it feels like Lego was actively against it being popular.
As for the story its self. I think its a really good thought out story, that got fricked by the way it was split up into games and videos and flash games, and the ending of the series was rushed when Lego suddenly canceled the last season, which forced the writers to crunch the last couple of pre planned seasons into one jumbled mess.
I didn't get to experience the actual story as it was being released bit by bit back in the day, but going back and deep diving through the lore, its actually a really well built story that follows a fascinating scifi story. The way they had slow reveals to what Mata Nui really was, was amazing story telling. And its something that could never be done the same way again, because everyone already knows what the twist is. Its like how M. Night Shyamalan can never write a super surprizing twist again, because after the first time he did it, everyone starts looking for the twist in his other movies.
Lego was basically in a hole when bionicle came out, they flirted with media but none really lent itself to a sweeping storyline like bionicle. A cartoon would’ve been ideal, but the designs are detailed so it’s need cgi, which was still pricy at the time. It’s like the creators were trying to use any new bit of media they could get to show lore and storyline. A less ambitious franchise would just retell the same story in the different media.
Ultimately, bionicle was a technic subline originally. The brick system will always be the company’s top priority. I don’t think Lego execs ever took it seriously, it was just something to try and scoop up the action figure audience
>A cartoon would’ve been ideal, but the designs are detailed so it’s need cgi
idk, the flash animations for MNOG and MNOG2 were pretty good. Simplified, but way better than the CGI from all the movies
Also moronic movie suits kept wanting "Kid gets isekai'd into Bionicle land" when early movie discussions were happening, so Lego went for direct to video to maintain creative control.
It wasn’t until I got proper internet and found the full breadth of the franchise
Before that I only knew a few scattered things, like one of the movies uploaded in full with trash quality on yt
Point being it stil remained memorable through the years
Hope they bring it back
Absolutely.
Yeah same, but I doubt Lego likes it and the fans enough to do something like that
There are designers that definitely still like Bionicle enough to reference them in other sets as easter eggs, but I think the AFOLs that make up the upper leadership see Bionicle and CCBS and think "not muh Lego"
I grew up with it. The Mata Nui Online Game still instils in me such a powerful sense of nostalgia. Taking half an hour for it to load on my shitty dialup internet, just so I could check if there had been an update yet.
There's no way you could replicate the early mystery of BIONICLE, the way the internet is today.