I think its unfair to say Star Wars saved LEGO, while yes it gave them the confidence to do attempt their own story themes such as Bionicle. However in terms of profitability and sustainability at the companys worst Star Wars and Harry Potter both failed meanwhile Bionicle singlehandedly kept LEGO over the red. Had it not been for Bionicle LEGO wouldn't be with us today.
Also another factually incorrect statement. Faber wasn't enlisted to work on Bionicle, it was Faber who pitched Bionicle. First in 1996 as the concept cybots which were Technic system hybrid action figures. Then later the idea of a technic action figure was tested with both Roboriders and Slizers/throwbots. The seemingly successful concept of technic action figures were then pitched again with a greater emphasis on story and was later developed into Bionicle.
I'd argue that, while Bionicle definitely kept LEGO going during hard times post-2001, it was Star Wars that ensured there was even a company around to launch Bionicle in the first place. Definitely underestimated Faber's role in the genesis of the franchise; I'll probably have to do a whole video just dedicated to him.
I think the books are a thing that was largely limited to already more dedicated audiences. To a great extent, it was the digital material like the free promo CDs and online content like MNOG/MNOG2 that reached massive audiences.
I was gonna say there was a bionicle cameo in a green lantern comic. I forget who is involved, but one character is seen looking at multiple rifts to different universes of which one had Tahu, Pohatu and Gali present. Putting bionicle into the dceu isin't out of the realm of possibility
I fell in love with Bionicle thanks to the Mata Nui Online game. As such, I only really cared for the very first wave. Despite this, to this day, they hold a very special place in my heart. It was just such a unique experience... The Myst inspired flash game did a perfect job conveying the mysterious and magical atmosphere of the early wave. Nothing since has ever captured the same feeling. Can't wait to see where the fan games go. There are two separate projects, both based on the first wave and heavily inspired by the flash game, that are in the works right now.
I know that Bionicle will never make a resurgence, but I do wish they'd at least rerelease the classic sets. Modern writers can never make the same magic as they did in the past but kids today should still have the chance to experience the characters and wonder.
Bionicle G3 was leaked & is set release in 2025. So nope. And the majority of G1 parts' molds have been destroyed & replaced with new ones. Creating new molds are expensive -- but what's even more expensive is keeping unnecessary & outdated molds around. Not to mention how dumb that'd be from a business perspective...
I will never forget how I felt when Vakama proclaimed: "You are not the first Toa!" Or any of the other reveal bombs they dropped on us thorough Bionicle. The main thing that always kept me so hooked on Bionicle was not just the story itself, but the way they told that story. They didn't just dump it all on you at once. They set up a whole pile of mysteries at the beginning, then very slowly revealed the answers. But, every time they answered a question, it ended up presenting even more questions. This let them keep the mysterious atmosphere going for a very long time. And that only worked because they clearly had a solid idea of what they wanted that story to be from the very beginning, and stuck to it the entire time. Like how they clearly knew what Mata-Nui's body really was from the very beginning. Even though they didn't reveal the truth to us until 10 years later, all the clues had been there from the beginning. The realization of all those clues was what made that revelation such an incredible finale to the whole story. That's why we all got so invested in it. All of that made it feel like you were an integral part of the adventure. You weren't just watching someone else solve the mystery, you were there trying to solve it along with them. This is why there were a million fan theories about every single part of the story whenever something new was revealed. LEGO did everything they could to encourage that kind of participation. And that kind of involvement creates an audience that will last forever. Its what transformed it from a mere toy line, into a modern legend. So, even now, 13 years later, many of us still have dreams about a new wave of Bionicle sets coming out. Because the legend will never die.
At 2:34, Bionicle was actually first launched as a test market in Australia in December 2000, before being released in European markets in early 2001. They didn't release in North America until June of that year, and the Toa Mata and Tohunga (McToran) were actually released the latest in that year.
the Vakama set in the background is making kid me jealous lol. He was my favorite character from the books but I never was able to get my hands on a single Toa Metru sadly
I love how cozy your filming spot is, right in the corner with some books and old items next to you. Please keep it that way instead of a big, cold, empty and professional filming spot like most.
Bionicle wasn't just my childhood, but it's the franchise that truly kickstarted my love of fantasy lore and worldbuilding, and some part of it will stay with me the rest of my life. Even if I was dumb enough to donate most of my collection to the church yard sale in my Dark Ages (and it would be ridiculously expensive to try to recreate it now), I did save my most influential MOCs, including my entry for the BrickMaster Toa contest (which actually won me a Toa Lhikan and Kikanalo set) and several models of characters from a silly sprite comic I did on BZPower back in the day. Even today, the seeds of Bionicle still sprout within the complex ecosystem of my creative process. I should probably save that last line.
I'm still not entirely sure that Lego should be considered the number one tire manufacturer given that most of their tires aren't compatible with standard automotive wheels.
I remember watching the original BMVs here on this very website over a decade ago and loving them to pieces. The makers of those BMVs were literally groundbreaking artists, and yet to this day nobody knows their real names.
By the Way Lego had story lines before like with Classic Space, Castle Western and Rock Raiders but as you said Bioncle was different... it was fpcused on it instead of being in the back ground... Like it's the difference between the Story tailing of the Super Mario games and the new Movie which is a reimagining of a story going back 40 years to Donkey Kong that wrapped up in Odessey. And like you said Nagogo is more of that focsused story and it has also done well. Regardless great video!
If I even used twitter, I would have made 3 more accounts to vote Bionicle on that poll. I had no idea there was anything beyond the movie and then online games, but I loved this franchise.
I didn’t have much money to spend on Bionicle when I was a teen. I remember that I once got a Slizer (throw-bot) once, it seemed like an interesting theme. I bought two of them. And I wanted to delve into whatever that odd looking thing was. But then they canceled the theme and started Bionicle. I felt kind of betrayed. So I just never got into Bionicle.
I picked up the legend returns second hand earlier this year just because BONKLE and I wasnt disappointed. It was BONKLE. BONKLE FOREVER!!!!!!z I'm happy the bonkle community stayed alive until I discovered og bionicle. As an -06 whose parents didn't care about bonkle I only found out when bionicle gen 2 was released. (the 2015 sets are nice, but not inventive and the gen 2 marketing is bad) But the experience is now forever on the internet so I got to have bonkle experiences and managed to get 5 og toa mata (no kopaka) and two unopened voya nui matorans. (Dalu's ankles broke but no problem) Cool to get to live in a time when bionicle community
Honestly, I'm glad it ended. The last thing I want is bionicle getting the Disney Star Wars treatment. I mean, they tried to reboot it, but it was mostly meh. Concept art was cool.
@@DoomguyIsGrinningAtYou. I can see that being a possibility but not everything has to die a depressing death, just look at the Doom IP the games are still alive and kicking strong
hahaha I remember having throwbots AND roboriders, but my dumb kid brain didn't understand why their respective disks/wheels weren't compatible so i broke a LOT of disks trying tos hove them in lmao
Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice. The LEGO of today can't reproduce what they did with BIONICLE the first time around; the market will never again be as open as it was to cross-platform marketing, and they'll never want to be anywhere near that desperate again anyway. They have Ninjago now. Have for over a decade now. Good for them.
"and the next year was... more of the same. If anything the year after that was... more of the same. and in 2006 it was... more of the same" gg amazing writing
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
I think its unfair to say Star Wars saved LEGO, while yes it gave them the confidence to do attempt their own story themes such as Bionicle. However in terms of profitability and sustainability at the companys worst Star Wars and Harry Potter both failed meanwhile Bionicle singlehandedly kept LEGO over the red. Had it not been for Bionicle LEGO wouldn't be with us today.
Also another factually incorrect statement. Faber wasn't enlisted to work on Bionicle, it was Faber who pitched Bionicle. First in 1996 as the concept cybots which were Technic system hybrid action figures. Then later the idea of a technic action figure was tested with both Roboriders and Slizers/throwbots. The seemingly successful concept of technic action figures were then pitched again with a greater emphasis on story and was later developed into Bionicle.
I'd argue that, while Bionicle definitely kept LEGO going during hard times post-2001, it was Star Wars that ensured there was even a company around to launch Bionicle in the first place. Definitely underestimated Faber's role in the genesis of the franchise; I'll probably have to do a whole video just dedicated to him.
@@patrickfrazier5324 alright. You're allowed to be objectively incorrect
Damn
Bollocks, they could have come up with another idea that was just as popular, you don't know, I don't know, no ones knows because it didn't happen.
I noticed how Bionicle has had a slow resurgence this year. It's nice to see but like, super weird
I really think the books were what gave the universe a solid grounding and authenticity, and to a lesser extent the comics. Greg Farshtey was amazing
Right? They really didn't need to go that hard, but those books were a genuine delight in how weird they got!
I think the books are a thing that was largely limited to already more dedicated audiences. To a great extent, it was the digital material like the free promo CDs and online content like MNOG/MNOG2 that reached massive audiences.
BioMediaProject's cataloguing of EVERYTHING Bionicle, everything that would have been totally lost otherwise, is legendary
I know, right? Such a gift for fans.
'I see your face before my eyes, I'm falling into darkness' still gives me goosebumps every time. Cryoshell's music aged quite well in my opinion.
Welp, time to boot them up again
Can't wait till they add Tahu and Makuta to the DCEU.
Tahu cameo in Creature Commandos; make it happen, James Gunn
@@patrickfrazier5324 hell yeah brother😂
@@patrickfrazier5324 if WB buys Transformers (although I think both franchises are owned by Viacom iirc) Tahu in Transformers would be🔥🔥🔥
@@patrickfrazier5324are you subbed to HeroaNuva or KnowledgeTower?
I was gonna say there was a bionicle cameo in a green lantern comic. I forget who is involved, but one character is seen looking at multiple rifts to different universes of which one had Tahu, Pohatu and Gali present. Putting bionicle into the dceu isin't out of the realm of possibility
I fell in love with Bionicle thanks to the Mata Nui Online game. As such, I only really cared for the very first wave. Despite this, to this day, they hold a very special place in my heart. It was just such a unique experience... The Myst inspired flash game did a perfect job conveying the mysterious and magical atmosphere of the early wave. Nothing since has ever captured the same feeling.
Can't wait to see where the fan games go. There are two separate projects, both based on the first wave and heavily inspired by the flash game, that are in the works right now.
I know that Bionicle will never make a resurgence, but I do wish they'd at least rerelease the classic sets. Modern writers can never make the same magic as they did in the past but kids today should still have the chance to experience the characters and wonder.
Bionicle G3 was leaked & is set release in 2025. So nope.
And the majority of G1 parts' molds have been destroyed & replaced with new ones. Creating new molds are expensive -- but what's even more expensive is keeping unnecessary & outdated molds around.
Not to mention how dumb that'd be from a business perspective...
@@rawmaw what about 3D Printing? i would want atleast to have the same level in detailed building.
@@xt3100 3D printings sucks ass
I will never forget how I felt when Vakama proclaimed: "You are not the first Toa!" Or any of the other reveal bombs they dropped on us thorough Bionicle.
The main thing that always kept me so hooked on Bionicle was not just the story itself, but the way they told that story. They didn't just dump it all on you at once. They set up a whole pile of mysteries at the beginning, then very slowly revealed the answers. But, every time they answered a question, it ended up presenting even more questions. This let them keep the mysterious atmosphere going for a very long time. And that only worked because they clearly had a solid idea of what they wanted that story to be from the very beginning, and stuck to it the entire time.
Like how they clearly knew what Mata-Nui's body really was from the very beginning. Even though they didn't reveal the truth to us until 10 years later, all the clues had been there from the beginning. The realization of all those clues was what made that revelation such an incredible finale to the whole story.
That's why we all got so invested in it. All of that made it feel like you were an integral part of the adventure. You weren't just watching someone else solve the mystery, you were there trying to solve it along with them. This is why there were a million fan theories about every single part of the story whenever something new was revealed. LEGO did everything they could to encourage that kind of participation. And that kind of involvement creates an audience that will last forever. Its what transformed it from a mere toy line, into a modern legend.
So, even now, 13 years later, many of us still have dreams about a new wave of Bionicle sets coming out. Because the legend will never die.
At 2:34, Bionicle was actually first launched as a test market in Australia in December 2000, before being released in European markets in early 2001. They didn't release in North America until June of that year, and the Toa Mata and Tohunga (McToran) were actually released the latest in that year.
To...hunga? That can't be a coincidence, right?
@@jakelee7083it wasn't. That's Polynesian. The Maori people sued LEGO to get them to stop using (some of) those names.
the songs were so good , the basis of morals was thaught by bionicle for kids in that era.
the Vakama set in the background is making kid me jealous lol. He was my favorite character from the books but I never was able to get my hands on a single Toa Metru sadly
The “moving on” song and the “creeping in my soul” from cryo shell are my musical definition of bionicle, that shit is hardwired in my brain
Damn those bionicle bike things were kinda sick tbh
I love how cozy your filming spot is, right in the corner with some books and old items next to you. Please keep it that way instead of a big, cold, empty and professional filming spot like most.
Bionicle wasn't just my childhood, but it's the franchise that truly kickstarted my love of fantasy lore and worldbuilding, and some part of it will stay with me the rest of my life. Even if I was dumb enough to donate most of my collection to the church yard sale in my Dark Ages (and it would be ridiculously expensive to try to recreate it now), I did save my most influential MOCs, including my entry for the BrickMaster Toa contest (which actually won me a Toa Lhikan and Kikanalo set) and several models of characters from a silly sprite comic I did on BZPower back in the day. Even today, the seeds of Bionicle still sprout within the complex ecosystem of my creative process.
I should probably save that last line.
And in that moment, Matoro felt no fear
1:30 that tire manufacturer fact still makes me chuckle😅
I enjoyed the video! You gained a new subscriber and i hope to see your channel grow!
I was not there for Bionicle. And now I am.
Bro I can't believe you didn't mention the creeps from the deep ad, that ad was revolutionary.
great vid by the way ;)
Great sum up my man, I have a fuck ton of Bionicles, LOVED the movies and the comics and cosplayed as them when I was a wee lad. FOR MATA NUI
5:23 You're saying that, as if the Voya-Nui Era wasn't the raddest shit.
Oh, I love the Ignition years! But the Piraka rap was just…not it
I'm still not entirely sure that Lego should be considered the number one tire manufacturer given that most of their tires aren't compatible with standard automotive wheels.
I remember watching the original BMVs here on this very website over a decade ago and loving them to pieces. The makers of those BMVs were literally groundbreaking artists, and yet to this day nobody knows their real names.
By the Way Lego had story lines before like with Classic Space, Castle Western and Rock Raiders but as you said Bioncle was different... it was fpcused on it instead of being in the back ground... Like it's the difference between the Story tailing of the Super Mario games and the new Movie which is a reimagining of a story going back 40 years to Donkey Kong that wrapped up in Odessey. And like you said Nagogo is more of that focsused story and it has also done well. Regardless great video!
Bionicles have a special place in my heart ❤
If I even used twitter, I would have made 3 more accounts to vote Bionicle on that poll. I had no idea there was anything beyond the movie and then online games, but I loved this franchise.
I was born when the bionicles started leaving stores… still sad about that
Lore of The Mad Genius of Bionicle's Marketing momentum 100
I didn’t have much money to spend on Bionicle when I was a teen.
I remember that I once got a Slizer (throw-bot) once, it seemed like an interesting theme. I bought two of them.
And I wanted to delve into whatever that odd looking thing was. But then they canceled the theme and started Bionicle.
I felt kind of betrayed. So I just never got into Bionicle.
No. No, no, no. The defining song to go with bionicle is "Hero" by AIK.
Uncommon opinion.
I’m super excited about a possible G3. The most interesting character is Dume, we’ve never seen him as a Toa
The piraka rap is peak fiction
I honestly thought the man in the thumbnail was the guy who voiced the Bionicle commercials 😬
Dunno if you ever wanna come on a sci-fi comedy talk show with a fellow Bionicle fan (grumblebricks here) but I'd love you as a guest!
I picked up the legend returns second hand earlier this year just because BONKLE and I wasnt disappointed. It was BONKLE.
BONKLE FOREVER!!!!!!z
I'm happy the bonkle community stayed alive until I discovered og bionicle.
As an -06 whose parents didn't care about bonkle I only found out when bionicle gen 2 was released. (the 2015 sets are nice, but not inventive and the gen 2 marketing is bad) But the experience is now forever on the internet so I got to have bonkle experiences and managed to get 5 og toa mata (no kopaka) and two unopened voya nui matorans. (Dalu's ankles broke but no problem)
Cool to get to live in a time when bionicle community
Bionicle may be a old franchise not worth keeping alive in the eyes of LEGO but the fans will pick up the torch
Honestly, I'm glad it ended. The last thing I want is bionicle getting the Disney Star Wars treatment.
I mean, they tried to reboot it, but it was mostly meh. Concept art was cool.
@@DoomguyIsGrinningAtYou. I can see that being a possibility but not everything has to die a depressing death, just look at the Doom IP the games are still alive and kicking strong
Wait what about what it takes to be a hero by all insane kids? That was around 2005.
How much Tylenol did the guy have to take from carrying the marketing?
My favorite movie was Legends of Metru Nui
I remember the last image’s worth of sets
Kind of disappointed that this video was just a general recap without much insight
If i had know they would be so desired i would've taken better care of mine to resell them 😭
hahaha I remember having throwbots AND roboriders, but my dumb kid brain didn't understand why their respective disks/wheels weren't compatible so i broke a LOT of disks trying tos hove them in lmao
i only have one thing to say: yo yo piraka
yo yo piraka
No he didn’t. Bionicles didn’t exist in my childhood.
It will be missed and Bionicle should not return
Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice.
The LEGO of today can't reproduce what they did with BIONICLE the first time around; the market will never again be as open as it was to cross-platform marketing, and they'll never want to be anywhere near that desperate again anyway.
They have Ninjago now. Have for over a decade now. Good for them.
I just hope we get a few rereleases of older sets so it's less expensive to collect for
@@BlackBloodCombatClub they destroyed most of the molds, too. 😒
@@a-s-greig For real? Aw man, that sucks.
"and the next year was... more of the same. If anything the year after that was... more of the same. and in 2006 it was... more of the same" gg amazing writing
Hello
lol james cameron fucking murdered for no particular reason
Faber is a creative impotent that hasn't made anything for the last 20 years and consistently tries riding the wave of Bionicle to clout
As opposed to you, who has created nothing.
How dare you. 🙂