Why Lego CAN'T Bring Back Bionicle

At long last, I answer one of the biggest questions: Why won't LEGO bring BIONICLE back?

[questforfuturecreativity]

Dear Chris/Duckbricks and the amazing Bionicle community. I really enjoy this detailed deepdive into the possible/impossible return of Bionicle. Having been involved through the entire biological chronicle it has truly been a legendary creative journey now reaching 25 years. It was all the right pieces and ideas at the right time that made Bionicle magic. It is living proof of how collective creativity can change everything. From individual lives to big challenges for international companies. My core learning from this adventure is that creative community can move and change anything. It can create hope, change, value and purpose. We all have different experiences and wishes for what Bionicle could be if it returned and I agree with you Chris that it is highly unlikely that Bionicle returns as a regular LEGO property, it is out of our hands, BUT we, the community hold a common ability and knowledge straight from the legend itself, "together we are strong" - This is a force of nature that I have been powered by ever since. I have worked and put everything into keeping the dream and collective alive and I believe we can create something new and amazing on a global scale with big potential for addressing important challenges in our time and the near future. This is the time before time and we are all the Great Beings, laying the foundation for the future. We decide if it is a hopeful, creative future or a passive AI machine build. We are what inspires the future Toa. We are the creative Rebels of Nature who know and love the feeling of being on an epic adventure. Lets keep this magic ability alive in a growing creative community founded on Bionicle with the ability to go anywhere and redefine play, toys, and gaming. We are the heroes of This NOW. lets make the PAST a PRESENT for the FUTURE:)

[acertainredpanda]

This man just walked downstairs, backwars, and didn't hit a thing in the way.

[anthrorangerxcosplaydigita]

2000s kids have adult money now, it's time for generation 3

[Kopaka-epug]

What most people don’t know is that duck bricks actually films this walking forward and speaking backward, then he reverses the footage for us viewers!

[Levitz]

When you love something, you need to set it free. The toy industry isnt what it was in the early 00s when Bionicle came out. This is a great video, thank you.

[takuame]

Sold about 90% of my bionicle collection back when I was around 20 (it was a very large storage bins worth, like the kind you buy at home depot), to try fixing a rusted out pickup that I ended up having to scrap that same year. Regret it till this day. But the buyer i sold it to was actually a huge fan himself and had just had a son. He told me his plans for introducing him to bionicle as he grew up. I mourn my loss sometimes, but I know it went to give a kid as much joy as i had actually makes me happy.

[icepl]

what i personally worry about is constraction
old bionicle parts are only aging and will keep breaking more and more and we arent getting any new ones. i dont want fans to run out of parts for their creations.

[rickamsler]

The other huge bonus that bionicle had was that the bionicle comics came for free with the already free logo magazine.

I was a huge fan of bionicle growing up. But I almost certainly wouldn't have been if I didn't get a monthly comic that feeds me constant story updates.

There is also the fact that most of G1 ran at minimum cost. The original Toa, I think, had under 50 parts (maybe even under 30. It has been a minute since I counted), so LEGO made bank on selling these relatively tiny sets. And then they had the bigger side sets that were part of the content, but not necessary for most play.

[Shade]

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.

[nihili]

54:41 collectible minifigs is also a way for designers to sneak in parts they need. They've done that multiple times already, it's quite funny

[Animating_Andy]

Will Lego prove DuckBricks wrong by announcing Bionicle gen 3 for 2026?

[NickonPlanetRipple]

G2 definitely shouldn't have released for another 5 years at least. Of course, by then CCBS may've still faltered with other lines like Star Wars and Bionicle may've come back in a very different form, or not at all. Last year, I recollected the G2 Masters, Uniters, Protectors, Creatures, Skulls and Beasts, and fell in love with them all over again. The gimmicks, the builds, the COLORS... it even got away with comparatively few new pieces, reusing masks, textures and weapons intelligently, and in some ways 2016 was even better than 2015. Innovative new limb constructions, new methods of articulation, more technic. Constraction, as an art form, was evolving so fast and then it just.... stopped. If only we had at least one more year to see what else they were cooking.

Story-wise, I'd personally like to see Bionicle revived as an anthology series. Bara Magna proves that the motifs of Bionicle are versatile enough to be set on new worlds with their own denizens and mythos, even jumping from Maori names to Latin, so that's how I'd do it. Every few years, just soft reboot to a new setting and new characters with a few common traits- cyborgs, elements, headgear. But.... I'm not most Bionicle fans. While I can appreciate different building systems and new characters, for many Bionicle is JUST Tahu, Kopaka and co on a tropical island. But at the same time, G2 proved that just that recognition ISN'T enough. If Bionicle came back, I'd want it to be fresh, because that freshness, that newness is itself the thing I'm nostalgic about. The feeling of stepping into an alien world with its own peoples and stories.

But.... as you've proven in this video, Bionicle just isn't an easy theme to get right, and lego is in no position to try again. We can blame lego for shooting themselves in the foot by expecting us to do the marketing heavy lifting for them through word of mouth, we can blame retailers for not being willing to carry it again, we can blame some older Bionicle fans who were involved for not giving CCBS a chance, we can blame more recent lego fans brought onboard by The Lego Movie for only giving bricks a chance, we ALL let Bionicle down in some way. It was a perfect storm that killed it.

[USBYDProductions]

35:20 I don't actually buy this

Lego appears by all accounts to be a package deal at major retailors, and let's be real here, that means walmart and target.

I've never seen a walmart or target with a selection notably different from each other, and if a set isn't intended to be exclusive to Online or the Lego store, you're gonna find it there.

Besides, you really think the product acquisitions manager, who's no doubt worked at the store for less than 8 months in a stepping stone field, is gonna pay attention to the individual sales reports of their most significant "package deal" brand partnerships from 10 to 15 years ago?

[watsedhaene]

Even though Bionicle has been gone for so long, it's still the most amazing fandom of any Lego theme ever. Very proud of this community.

[DushBig]

"But it won't make us that much money"


Do it anyway.

[Redence]

I have never been that involved with bionicle, but 17 seconds in and I can already tell thes is going to be one of the most interesting lego videos I have ever watched

[nihili]

18:57 hard disagree. Especially at the start of the story.
Later it did became a thing, but I remember people begging for more mask recolours. I strongly believe that mask packs should have stayed as collectible for wach wave.

And first two waves, with matorans being so easy to amass by just swapping masks was such brilliant choice.

I would strongly argue that only bigger sets warranted exclusive parts, and even then I would love to see them recoloured.

[The_Zorkinator]

If I had a nickel for every time Lego had a major theme set before time had a name, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

[KiwiKJ]

It's actually really nice to hear how honest you are in this video. We all love Bionicle through and through, but the truth of the matter is that it just isn't viable for Lego to produce anymore. On the other hand; the community is still alive and thriving. 3D printing is such a huge part of the community now, it's easier than ever to make your own pieces and make your own new sets. The canonization contests are amazing for that and it's incredible that a lego theme that is as old as Bionicle is, to still be loved this much to this day.
All I really hope for is that one day Lego will see that they do not need the IP anymore and maybe sell it to another company (hint hint wink wink Nui Ventures)

[Monarth]

I would prefer to have a spiritual successor to Bionicle, but nothing will feel like Bionicle to me if it's not Technic-based as Bionicle was. I see growing potential in Technic as there's an increasing number of small panel pieces and whatnots. The two things that could tie it all together would be technic-compatible towball (mixel) sockets and more custom-built (maybe modular?) head designs, which would lessen the need for new molds.

I actually made mocs of some G1 rahi in a more technic/mixel style as part of a collab, but also to kind of make a point of the concept. Utilizing stud shooters with towball sockets kind of provided the sockets I wanted without technically using system.