We've all been hearing it; Bionicle fans across the internet have been raving on about Bionicle 2015.
Naturally there are both cynical or enthusiastic fans on the subject. I myself would be one of the people who stands in a neutral zone on the subject. Am I excited? Maybe only a tad, but am certainly not one to jump on the hype train.
I'm glad to see that LEGO finally listened to its fans and brought back a name that so many have grown to love; however, I hold a certain amount of skepticism towards this.
Many would say they're glad to just have more pieces to play with and purchase; which, I'll admit the 2015 Bionicle sets aren't too bad, especially in comparison to Hero Factory. But the only reason they're more interesting in my eyes is because the masks and legs aren't so generic like HF. They hold more life to them, despite the fact that the sets still contain the same basic structure as the HF sets.
Bionicle 2015 compared to Hero Factory
My view on the toys themselves is kind of iffy. I'm glad that the sets are now back to a decent height, and more proportionate, but...they still seem to lack a certain charm that the old Bionicle sets contained. In simple terms, they still look kind of cheap because the HF structure they still have (but maybe that's just me). I likely won't be able to purchase any sets of 2015 anyway.
At least the new sets have some pretty cool looking heads (left image).
It's disappointing to know that LEGO melted the traditional Bionicle set molds. In fact, it appalls me. Such a waste of a perfectly good mold for a toy line that still seems to ring superior in design compared to what LEGO is now dishing out. I would never rid of something that would likely become a sought after toy and storyline once more.
The old sets of Bionicle just seem to contain more detail, more character, regardless of year (personally I loved the basic structures once it started hitting 2006 and older).
The only other reason the new sets disappoint me is because most HF parts are not friendly with basic Bionicle parts of the old sets. You can only make really cool stuff if you still have a hardy amount of traditional Bionicle pieces.
That's my opinion on the toys themselves and how I look at it.
Opinion On Storyline
I get that it's likely challenging for a company to end one story and then have to begin it again, but have to consider on how to please both traditional fans, while introducing and interesting new fans.
From the sounds of it so far, LEGO is changing up the story to something that branches off from the original Bionicle line, and seems to take a turn in another dimension or time. Granted, I'm interested to see what they come up with and how they plan to reintroduce the story to new readers, but my skepticism still remains.
A newer storyline that branches from original seems all right, though it drives me crazy that the cliff hanger in original story may remain a cliff hanger for the rest of history.
And from the sounds of it, some of the traditional artists/writers and designers who helped on the Bionicle storyline in the past are now on to new projects and are leaving the new Bionicle series up to new artists in LEGO. This makes me even more skeptical of the stories success, considering what LEGO offered before with the pitiful excuse for a story in Hero Factory. HF seemed to be lacking a large amount of creativity, and was absurdly vague. I hope that the writers who work at LEGO will stretch out that creativity further, so we don't end up with another Hero Factory with a golden label.
I'm also skeptical on the villain aspect of the story. Skull spiders don't seem that threatening, not like the Bohrok or Rahkshi. You go from original Bioncicle story where the foes are about the same size as the heroes, then you go to HF where the villains are twice the size of the heroes, then you get Bionicle 2015 where the threat is small compared to the hero (excluding the boss figure I guess).
I never wrote about how I looked at it when Bionicle was first canceled. When it went away and HF was brought around, lots of fans were naturally disappointed. But then in time, I got use to the fact Bionicle had been discontinued, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt that it was better not to ask LEGO to bring it back. Why? Because I felt that despite the fact it ended on a cliff hanger and was discontinued, at least it had ended before ideas were lost, and thus kept Bionicle golden and untouched as a story which has inspired so many. I saw how pitiful HF was, and all I could think is, if this is how simplistic LEGO wants to boil down, then what would they do to the traditional Bionicle storyline if they brought it back. Now that I see they have, I'm glad they left the original story alone and on its cliff hanger, essentially making that past series golden and open to possibilities.
That's my view on things so far, pretty sure I'm still a late fan of the older series.
