To me, the best form Bionicle can come back in is as a Technic sub-theme that leverages System blocks, plates, etc to form armor and weapons. Their molds/frames would be for the needed Technic/system crossover or ball joint type elements.

they are lame and only nerds like them... Throwbots are much cooler, their boss has a motor bike...

this is the best camera work of all the reviews ive seen for the set. things like following the path through the gate and bridge. its the closest thing to seeing it in real life. thank you!

Bionicle would go better if we just get easter eggs and gwps, mixed and probably bad reception from all places linked to the Bionicle name

Sounds like a heretic

The outro for tthis feels kind of patronizing...

bionicle can't come back because lego generally destroys moulds if they aren't used within 5 years

they honestly could try a rerelease of the toa mata sets, where only the mask and weapons weapons would be different molds, heck do the old mask collecting run where you reprint each kanohi in the 6 colors so really only the wepons would be the odd out parts

maybe is too quick to jump to conclusion. maybe lego will bring back bionicle as a brick form just like ninjago and dreams or like 2023 let's pray for that 🙏🏿🙏🏿who knows. nobody can see the future.

really weird to mention the failure of G2, the failure of the Star Wars figures, to not mention the failure of Hero Factory, and to not at least off-handedly consider the possibility that the newer CCBS itself is a key part of these failures. especially when you do mention that the new constraction figures, not using the CCBS, appear to have more staying power than any of those other lines...

I agree and disagree on the story issues with bringing Bionicle back.While of course it would come back as a reboot, I don't think the complexity of a long running story is as big of an issue now as it was during Bionicle, simply by way of the internet being more easily accessible then it was in the 2000's. Now, could they streamline it from G1 and reign in issues that G1 had like the conflicting sources, the lack of a central reference point, the overly complex language and random characters that were nobodies coming back and being super important? Absolutely yes, will not deny that for a moment. But with how accessible older information is now, I don't think a long, ongoing story is as big of a problem now as it has been in the past.

Honestly I just want Bionicle to come to Fortnite as skins. I don't care how much it would cost to get them, I'd pay.

Yeah, I figured a lot of it would be the sheer mold requirements. Without a previous action figures theme to lift parts from like Bionicle started off with Throwbots, they'd have to create a prohibitive number of new molds to just get started. And while the Kanohi Masks sold magnificently in the Pokemon craze and the multimedia project was novel and exciting, the current market is dramatically different nowadays. I'd still really like to see an Icons set with Bionicle at some point, maybe like the Tahu GWP. While the 80's retro sets are cool, I and many other collectors hold significant nostalgia for the 2000's original Lego themes.

I mean the simple answer is yes they very much can as the setting heck even the main story of Bionicle has the legs for it... Like imaignbe a seqaul based around Meta Nui's adavtures now he is back in action? Also like they did with the recent GWP love letter to the first Bionicle Movie they could just use the Lego system as a base and not use technic more then anmy system set does... Or they could make a "new" system using both tectonic and system which would allow seamless use of both systems in one... Also let's be honest the biggest reason Lego hasn't returned to Bionicle is the Lego mech sub theme(?)... Like why put in the afford iyt took to make bioincle to be a mmasive success when they can much more cost effecnty do the "same" thing but as a bloted character pack instead?

Pure glaze 🙏🏾 😭

I'm curious though, what's stopping them from just shrinking bionicle technic and herofactory ccbs parts to the point where you can connect them with mixel ball and socket joints ? The idea came to me thanks to lego technic minifgures and bootleg herofactory figures where they're just so small that their ball and socket joints are between full on constraction and almost mixel/system joints. I'm always a sucker for constractions meet minifgures kind of scenerios because in my eye that is the lego equivalent of transformers meeting humans basically. That and also the idea of shrinking constraction figures to technic minifigure scale or slightly smaller opens the possibly of making background setting for the characters which would be an awesome image for mocers and stopmotion animators. The problem with bionicle and herofactory is that since they're constraction figures the sets usually only comes with parts to build the character and probably their weapons and some vehicles and not much else which is kind of a shame because bionicle and herofactory has some neat locations that is just begging to be translated into physical sets. The problem with constraction figures is that you get the character and character only and repeating that same process probably made certain people tired of having the same character but in ninjago despite having getting minifigures that are based on the same characters multiple times people do not get tired of it because ninjago sets usually comes with background setting related stuff like locations and vehicles that does not take as much space as say bionicle or herofactory vehicles where that vehicle builds need to be large in order to make space for the constraction figures to fit in and it's just one. So yeah, this is why I really want lego or somebody else who have experience in designing physical lego parts into reality try that concept, the concept of mini-constraction or MiniStractions,NOT translating constraction figures into minifgures but rather shrinking down constraction parts to the point where you can build a constraction figure that is small enough that it can interact with lego system minifig or mixel socket and ball joints and somewhere above or below technic minifig scale (ie : nine bricks or two lego minifigs tall according to some people).

If wanting Bionicle to come back was The Five Stages of Grief, I've been in the Acceptance Phase for a good while now. I'm just fine holding onto the memories sharing them with others.

After Bionicle 2015 I hope LEGO leaves the theme alone. The Bionicles had printed parts, ugly and over the top creatures and a half baked story that feelt like a bad try to reboot it.

i would be happy with a new IP that focused on system built fighters. they have been doing a lot of prints with face parts & i think that’s a great alternative, they could even have a system using tiles for individual face elements so ppl could make it more original. bringing bionicle back should be minifigures or some nice one-off sets for older fans. beyond that they can’t recapture the original appeal for kids today

44:42 NGL I like these brick-built designs the most

Because they tried to bring it back before and it failed

in the reason why I brought that up was because the fact of 3D printing coming into its own you could use that technology to your advantage towards to make new molds to replace the old ones

are the mold issue I could say it would be easily overdone by just simply 3D scanning the original parts and then upgrading them from STL files

Thank you Protoman of ProtoRetro on the Transformers Slag Podcast, for doing what you always do and talk about molds... This is a duckbricks video?

Maybe LEGO cannot bring Bionicle back, but what if they bring something older and that something older are Slizers/Throwbots. Those sets have only uniqie mask prints and disk prints; story was basic. So atleast in my eyes Slizers/Throwbots if they give them proper story can be option which to bring back. Apologize for my english, because it is not main language.

Nah its going to happen

I will say, the commentary about G2Y2 shelfwarming at places like Walmart? I only ever saw the Beasts in my area. I saw a grand total of *six* Tahu Uniter sets, on a top 'storage' shelf at Walmart, and then nothing. Zero other sets for G2Y2. Like, yeah it didn't sell well. You couldn't *find them*.

its still so crazy to me, it would be like if DC just declared they weren't going to make superman anymore beacuse "well you know having action figures that are red AND blue is just.....too expensive" like how do you go from the number one comic in the world and being so powerful and then just declaring "I dont wanna"

I completely agree with you!! Its so funny how back when Gen 2 came out, most of us just didnt have the spare income to buy them but now im older I can buy old sets and parts from Facebook Marketplace! I started out with just the Bionicle from my childhood and grew! I actually just started planning a video about my Bionicle journey before I saw this, great work man! :) And YES! The Gen 2 toys themselves were a triumph! Shame about most of the other things though :)

I care more so about them making more movies and shows around G1, they still could make movies for the Ignika, continue the Glatoran stuff and even make a animated ending for the slides how they did a while ago. Sure, the Bionicle Legend reborn wasn't great to most people but nothings stopping them from doing stuff for the lines that's didn't get a movie or show

I don't have many bionicle parts, so I'm really excited for the mystery challenge

I know I can only speak for myself, but for me, Bionicle started to lose its charm when they *began* to standardize it into the universal frames with CCBS with snap-on parts. The industrial, utilitarian, highly greebled style was something I loved. I didn't even pay attention when G2 came out, because I didn't even hear about it until the series had been discontinued *a second time.* And after looking back at the sets, I still don't feel a great deal of interest in them outside of using some of their parts for MOCs. I do agree that some of the joints are definitely a great step in the right direction, but as a whole, I just really dislike the sets. And if they brought the series back again focusing on minifigs, or primarily brick-based, I'd be lying if I said I'd support it. With regards to many molds only being used in a single set - to me, this just reads like a failure from designers to use their catalogue of parts. The only parts that they should even have excuses to not reuse often are the masks, but there's still ways they can get uses out of those too, such as how they found many ways to reuse Tahu's original mask, or Makuta's mask.

They should do Bionicle Minifigures. I'd buy that shit up

Honestly as someone who's recently been playing with Roboriders/Throwbots, and early Mata Nui era Bionicles. Honestly I think maybe a "Back to basics" approach might work along with aiming at a slightly more "Middle Ground" demographic as well for kids who maybe feel that they're a bit too old for say... A ninjago or system theme, but not old enough to fully take on a giant technic vehicle or Icons set. Like, those early sets were beautiful in just how efficiently they managed to make so many distinctive characters with a relatively limited palette of molds. Plus finding all the ways they integrated old Bionicle parts into other system sets at the time, too. Maybe some form of smaller System-Technic hybrid figure would work with maybe some basic scenery and such for the figures. Plus maybe a smaller set of masks that would be recolored and spread out through different sets for both efficiency and MoC potential as well. It's not perfect, but it's probably the best option we've got so far. Especially with the introduction of SCCBS and plenty of smaller technic and bionicle parts still in use today, too. Anyways, that's my two cents on the subject at least. Also I'm honestly surprised they never slipped a Tahu minfigure into a CMF yet given how many other CMFs are homages to past themes as well. Also, where'd you find that Studio Frima animation with the super stylized figure earlier in the video? That looked neat.

in terms of the masks, yeah that's tough. decals printed on reused molds would not be the same. the trick bionicle used in the mid 2000s of repurposing older masks for matorans or for pauldrons/knees on large builds could work to an extent, and printing on masks could be an option as well... it's probably a dirty word, but in another 5 or 10 years 3D printing as a mass-production technology might be far enough along that it could be used to print single-set masks. those masks alone would probably represent a good 10% of the price of the sets they're in. would that be up to lego's standards, especially for action figures that receive rough play? the rest of the bodies though, honestly, really do not need many custom molded pieces. lego's new constraction system is plently flexible enough to give us lots of different body shapes, and plenty-interesting designs atop that could be done with existing bricks and technic pieces. sturdy hands and feet may be a small challenge but one lego's designers could certainly meet. after the retail issue, the story seems to me honestly the biggest problem. a straight-up continuation of the original story is not an option, because the original story concluded! it finished! and finished quite well i think. a complete reboot would just alienate old fans, who are a demographic they'd need to get on board at least at first to get traction. the reasonable options are a prequel, a soft reboot / distant sequel, and a sort of retelling or parallel story. a prequel would probably satisfy die-hard fans the most but without the toa nuva they'd really lose a lot of name recognition. i guess they could expand on the plot point of the toa nuva training with what's-his-face in karda nui in the distant past before they were sealed in their canisters? a sequel runs into the problem of having to deal with the old lore, and forcing new fans to dig through a decade of novels. unless it's really really distant in the future, but then you hit the brand recognition problem again. honestly, a bit of a retelling/adaptation might really be a good route to go. in the first few years, the story being smattered across flash games and books and movies and lunchables exclusives was pretty confusing. if you just read the comics you have no idea where they got the golden masks from. having things done over again in a more concise way would, i think, be quite welcomed by more than a few fans. once you get into later arcs with the toa metrua and toa inika and the glatorians, there were more than enough parallel plots going on that they could choose to follow a different one entirely. the toa nuva had a whole separate adventure looking for the staff of artakha while the toa inika and matoro were doing their thing with the mask of life, and we never saw any toy sets from that. and while makuta was in control of the great robot, there was a great deal written about what the toa were doing inside the robot while mata nui was outside on spherus magna, and we never saw any toy sets of that either. there honestly is room to retread the same ground with new toys, which would be fine for new fans and would probably be the only thing die-hard old fans would ever really accept.

i want to share this to r/bioniclelego but im scared of the consequences of that decision

Franchises can't have in-depth lore nowadays, Gen Alpha don't want to think harder than they have to, and if they do its hit or miss, or their creators are held back from actually telling stories.

With the story they should've stuck with G1 and either have it continue where it left off with Mata Nuis sacrifice in restoring Baran Magna (butchered the name I know) or reset it to the very beginning but have it flow more concisely, not so many retcons (which would work well considering with the retcons already done they can write them into the narrative easily unlike back then). But either way, I'm furious to how Lego could've fumbled so badly, if I was there in a higher position I'd have said "guys, wait a bit longer before releasing Bionicle again. That'll give us time to work on the story and where we want to go, the sets and allow our other molds to go through and give our audience an idea of what Bionicle could look like with the new system we have for the time." Either way, I feel like if it was to return. They need to really focus down on the story.

They can't bring in back because it was racist as hell

バイオニクルは最も神秘的で洗練されたレゴだった スターウォーズのライトセーバーのような不思議な魅力がある

Bionicle 2028 seems confirmed.

Cost of early set:

I don't know what a lot of fans were doing in 2015, but for me, I was graduating highschool and joining the Navy. I completely missed the G2 line up and now if I want to buy them, I'd have to pay double or triple the price! If Lego released G3, I'd be a customer.

i was just wondering the other day about Bionicle when cleaning up for the new year & spotted my old toas, And just like that, the CEO of Bionicles flexes his collecion & comes out with this masterpiece of an answer. Astounding info & fair reasoning, i do still hold out hope that a new gen of kids will get to experience Bionicle G3, And considdering how kids are into anamatronic horror & crafting games. Bionicle might fit right in

What a great breakdown of the issues involved in trying to bring Bionicle back. I really liked the point about how the theme kind of snuck through, during a transitional period for Lego, and it makes me think that it is simply a product of another time. TLG doesn't approach molds the same way anymore- it sounds like designers must argue for every new mold they want. I also wonder if part of their argument has to be that the mold they desire can be reused well beyond its initial purpose. And if not, I wonder if it needs to be used extensively throughout a line, for several years, as he pointed out with some of the unique Ninjago and Dreamzzz molds. To try and make Bionicle again, and do it justice, would require a ton of molds. Even something like the original Toa Mata would need six different weapons, six different masks, a head, eyes, the body, two arms (one jointed, one for a weapon), legs, and feet, at least (this also assumes that the necessary gears, shoulder/hip joints, and Technic pins needed could be sourced from existing stock). This would mean around 20 unique molds, that would barely have any use outside of the line, because they are so specific. The other possibility, that Duck suggests towards the end, would be using a more System-based constraction style for the figures, which would cut down some of the molds needed. But, as he notes, that would sacrifice making another authentic Bionicle experience and may not sell as well because of that. It's a tough balancing act. Another good point he made was about capitalizing on Bionicle nostalgia, suggesting that G2 came too early to really take advantage of that (amongst several other flaws). This makes me think that the next 5-10 years might be the best time for Lego to bring this back, if they do it at all. It's far enough from the failure of G2, and the kids who grew up with the original Bionicle would be in their 30s or 40s- good ages for disposable income, and maybe introducing it to their kids. But then I have to wonder- what would a new Bionicle look like? For me, I was mostly into the first wave or two of Toa Mata and Matoran, and didn't really care about later waves. For younger fans, it might be the opposite. So what would Lego focus on? Or would they just go wild and make several years of unique molds again? It's hard to see that happening unless some market research shows a very compelling reason to do so, and the company has a serious change of heart. I have to agree with Duck, that there is just no chance of Lego bringing back Bionicle the way it was in the 2000s, with that scale of variety and scope- it doesn't fit their current business model, and they haven't been convinced that it could be viable again. Still, I wonder if there isn't some chance that Lego could bring it back, even for a wave, in a way that would satisfy so many of its fans.

Bionicle needs to be under the technic line making grander mechs. Grow the IP along with the fan base.

Would have loved to have seen like 10 airlock pieces trained together for the Galactic spaceship

Can you be more creative with your intros.. sheesh

I've long accepted that Bionicle can never return in any meaningfully recognizable form, and trying to remove it from its Technic origins and shoehorn it into the brick system just feels desperate and hollow. I'd much rather leave it in the past and hope Lego finds new ways to innovate in the same spirit that lead to them creating Bionicle in the first place.

The real question is who will win between the pizza car and the hot dog car? That is a true Chicago battle right there