The rebirth of LEGO® Bionicle

LEGO is arguably one of the leading manufacturers of set pieces in the world. It owes this incredible success to many subsidiary brands and lines of services. Bionicle is one of the first ones to gain the limelight. Dating back to the early 2000s, Bionicle was a successful LEGO line. 

It was a LEGO construction toy primarily focused on attracting 8 to 16-year-olds. Since its inception in 2001, Bionicle has recorded massive success in the Lego Technic series. It went on to become one of the company's best-selling properties. It even helped Lego avert a financial crisis in the late 1990s. 

Despite this considerable success, it's heartbreaking that fans no longer get to see more from this series anymore. Sadly, Bionicle reached its peak and was discontinued in 2010. However, there was a comeback in 2015, but this only lasted for another two years before Lego called it in for good. 

The Rise of LEGO Bionicle

Bionicle was birthed by a brilliant idea of the Lego Group in a move to survive its financial crisis. The group created this theme with an exciting storyline that would hook fans. The first piece, Star Wars, was a huge success, but they were forced to make an original story due to royalty payments.

Thanks to Christian Faber, Bionicle sprung into life as Cybots. It was first introduced as RoboRiders in 2000. Lego also added an elaborate story courtesy of two new writers, Swinnerton and Advance. The story featured half-organic, half-robotic characters. This was not unique, but it was also intriguing to the consumers. So it was widely accepted upon arrival to the Lego 'test market' in December 2000.

After its test market breakthrough, Lego officially launched Bionicle in 2001. This same year, Lego made £100 million. The franchise started developing, with new sets being released every six months. These included essential set pieces, vehicles, and action figures, most of which were small. The size gradually progressed, and the flexibility improved as the company released new sets.

Soon, there were several collectibles available for consumers in the market. Weapons, ammo, and Kanohi Mask became available as well. Due to the limited production, some of these pieces were rare to find, so they became even more valuable than the others. Anyone that owns the first sets of Bionicle characters now would own a fortune in the Lego world. 

Another impressive feature that aided Bionicle's success was the website points. There were withheld secret codes that granted access to the official Bionicle website. Users could use these codes to get 'Kanoka Points, 'a Bionicle currency that signified exclusive membership privileges.

Bionicle was labeled Lego's best-selling property. It grossed almost all of the company revenue in the previous years. It was the number one Lego Theme in 2003 and 2006, the most popular and higher seller. It also generated massive traffic to the Lego website, averaging over 1 million page views monthly.

The Fall of Bionicle

As successful as the franchise was, it's a surprise it could ever fall from the limelight. However, the bad news came on November 24, 2009, when Lego announced the discontinuation of Bionicle sets. It revealed that the 2010 sets would be the last set pieces consumers will see if Bionicle. This was owing to the need for more consumer interest and Bionicle reaching an all-time low in sales. 

To replace it, Lego launched the Hero Factory in 2010. This new model thrived on the existing Bionicle blueprints. It later evolved into the Character and Creature Building System (CCBS), for which Lego is now known. This was also what Bionicle's continuation thrived on in 2015.

In 2010, Greg Farshtey (one of the best Lego comic writers) was granted permission to continue the Bionicle storyline. The chapters would be made available on the official Bionicle website, BionicleStory.com. But this also stopped in 2011, and the website was shut down in 2013. 

The Rebirth of Bionicle

2012 marked the year of Bionicle's rebirth. Work began on how to revive the fallen franchise. Matt Betteker was assigned to the task of designing the new project. LEGO announced the comeback on 2014 September 19. The storyline followed the original one but relied on simpler lore.

Bionicle came back to life in January 2015. Fans were overjoyed with the toy critics and the impressive Bionicle franchise. However, the sets were criticized for their simplistic approach and undeveloped characters. 

Although the plan was to continue production till 2017, Lego had to discontinue the franchise in 2016 due to low sales. Multiple theories arose regarding the failed comeback. Fans believed Lego needed to orchestrate the marketing fully and relied on fans to do the work. The need for more exciting characters was also a potential reason for its failure.

However, despite the discontinuation, Bionicle remained popular. Lego mentioned it in the 90th-anniversary poll, where Bionicle won the round. Lego also celebrated the set in 2022, adding it as a gift with a purchased (GWP) set in 2023, which was a welcomed gesture by the fans.

But should LEGO Bionicle become a new theme in 2023? Vote below on what you think:

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