h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Legend of Bionicle - A773994
Author: Maxwell Smart - U197007

The guide does not have a detailed explanation of this topic, or a detailed anything for that matter, so I thought I would put it up for review.

Bionicle seems to be a purely fictional, commercial 'Legend' and as such may not be suitable for the Edited Guide. But I don't know anything about it, and I could be wrong. The web link seems to be a commercial site from which you buy Lego products, so it probably wouldn't be allowed here.

I agree with Bels.

I don't see anything wrong with putting a description of Lego products in the Guide, but this presents the Lego marketing blurb as if it were a genuine legend. I don't think your article mentions Lego anywhere in it, even though that is what it is about.

I think this should be rewritten as "Lego Bionicles" and should give an introduction to what the Bionicles are, rather than what Lego say they are in the legend.

I think what has been said already is fair comment and would strongly suggest that you cut back the marketing material. I'm not claiming any kind of expertise here, but you might want to refer to my entry on Star Wars Lego (which obviously I'm going to have to revise soon... but that's another matter altogether) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A577037.

You should avoid suggesting that people look elsewhere for information that you could easily include in the article - like references to the Bohrak. Equally, you should be aware that your article may need to be altered rght up to the last moment - I believe there are new Bionicle Toa coming out soon.

You definitely need to cut back some of the descriptive comment because, on first reading, it felt like very little of the content was anything more than regurgitated Lego background information. You need to inject some personal views and notes into the article.

To add substance to the article it would also seem ideal to mention the law suit threatened against Lego by several Maori tribes from New Zealand. The tribes legal representative claimed the company was abusing real Polynesian terms and legends in the marketing of their Bionicle product and that this was offensive to their culture.

You might also want to expand the coverage of the article to include the fact that this was Lego's first major launch into true multi-media marketing. While computer games has appeared previously, Bionicles have spawned collectible card games, collectible masks, a DC comic book and a thriving online community and interactive gameworld.

And many of the original Bionicles, the Toa, included a small CD-ROM (one of those 8 cm ones) with the legend in Multimedia form.

Ooo, yeah. It felt like AOL when the kids really started wanting to collect these things... in multiple copies. Mini-coasters for all the family!!

Yeah... Bionicles has been a step outside of the norm for Lego - and to a degree they have been biten back for it with the Maori stuff. Unlike previous Lego that gave you numerous sets with some background thought and left you to come up with the rest of the world; Bionicles constructed a whole world for you.

Seems like Agent 86 has 'left the building'....

I hope he comes back.

In the meantime, I'd need a secondant to remove this thread to the entry.

HELL
(in a deep-PR mission)

Off to the Flea Market? I'll second, if that's what you're suggesting... Mind I'll probably pick this one up from there if no one else dives for it.

The Apprentice

thanks for that, apprentice!


*seconding*