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Comments
Set numbers are a bit unusual. I wonder why there's a 49-set gap between #70728 and #70778.
But the site these came from has been a reliable source in the past, and there have been other rumors, leaks, and hints that seem roughly consistent with this list, so this list seems trustworthy to me.
Exactly. Doesn't make sense to have even had Hero Factory.
I remember the Bionicles being the last bit of Lego that held my interest before entering Dark Ages. It's not something I'd pay silly money in aftermarket prices to relive, but I'd love to rebut Kopaka so if this is all legit I'll probably end up rebuying all the original ones I had.
Lego has to stick to the original formula with this reboot. The first Bionicle figures were simple, yet they had some magical draw towards them. Maybe some more articulation would be nice, but I can't stress enough how they shouldn't go beyond that.
From what I've been able to tell, Hero Factory was successful in revitalizing interest in constraction. Its sales were probably never as good as BIONICLE sales were at the theme's peak, but I'm fairly confident that they were better than BIONICLE sales were towards 2009 or 2010. Plus, a fresh start gave the set designers license to innovate with different release patterns and a new building system. I'm sure some of those innovations will influence the new BIONICLE — in the very least, we've been assured that Hero Factory's character and creature building system is here to stay.
Interesting to hear people saying that BIONICLE was one of their last themes before their dark age. I often credit BIONICLE for why I didn't have a dark age. It's entirely possible that even without it I would have been a lifelong LEGO fan, but frankly, I was already a Technic fan when BIONICLE came out, and from then on quite a few of my LEGO purchases were made in part to enhance my BIONICLE collection. BIONICLE is the main reason I kept my LEGO Magazine subscription going all throughout my adolescent years, and continues to shape many of my interests.
My main reason for entering my dark ages was the fact that I was going into 8th grade and basically my interest shifted towards chasing girls haha. That was 2003, so almost 11 years later I couldn't resist the allure of Lego anymore. It also helps when you have a girlfriend who supports your hobbies!
If bionicle returns to its glory days then I will definitely be purchasing a few at the very least. Bionicle was really the main reason why I kept collecting for so long.
The question is, from a marketing point of view, what is the point of reviving the name 'Bionicle'. And to me it is just a name, because I don't think it's any different than Hero Factory (until someone kindly explains the difference to me). My guess is that parents (normal ones, not Lego-crazy ones) didn't notice when Bionicle was swapped with Hero Factory. Kids nowadays didn't grow up with Bionicle like I did, so who's to say that if Lego turns Hero Factory back into Bionicle, there won't be young adults ten years down the road weeping tears over the loss of Hero Factory?
The story differences are really huge as well. Hero Factory is basically a sci-fi superhero/crime-fighter storyline focusing on robot heroes who protect the galaxy from various villains and monsters. It did not have a whole lot of continuity tying the different story arcs together, besides that they shared the same heroes. BIONICLE was much more mythology-driven. There were lots of overarching mysteries that tied the story arcs together, and the overall tone was more "magical" than Hero Factory's. The heroes' goal in BIONICLE was not just to protect the Matoran villagers, but also to restore the power of the Great Spirit Mata Nui, who had been cast into a deep slumber by the evil sorceror known as Makuta. The final year's story dealt with the awakened Mata Nui finally confronting Makuta head-to-head and defeating him.
I don't think as many tears will be shed over Hero Factory as over BIONICLE on account of these story differences. Hero Factory's story isn't bad, but a lot of the bitterness over BIONICLE's cancellation was due to a lot of fans considering the 2010 BIONICLE storyline a lackluster finale to what had been an ongoing story arc. Hero Factory does not have the same kind of ongoing storyline, so isn't as badly in need of a "grand finale".