ELEMENTS AND COLORS

• All: For the movie. It�s hard for characters to pick things up without opposable thumbs.
• JD: Animation - it�s easier to animate, give motion
• MTJ: We�ve actually wanted them for a long time, before the movie, this gave us a really good excuse
• AS: It takes a long time to build the system, now we can start on some of the other elements.
• JD: The thumb is in the middle so the hand can be used on both left and right hands.
• MTJ: The size is due to the system requirements, which is why it�s so long. The center of the ball and center of the axle is all based on a grid, so you can build with TECHNIC system elements too.
• All: The axle doesn�t go all the way through the hand because of too much friction.

• AS: Don�t get me started.
• MTJ: To avoid confusion. They�re color coded for the smaller children.
• CR: And to make them more visible in the building instruction.
• EF: I don�t like too many different colors in the sets, but it�s easier to build.
• AS: If you get a certain number of elements, it�s a big help.
• MTJ: We try to hide them as much as we can.
• MTJ: The sand color axle pin has no friction, and the blue one has more friction. So color means different things. There are also light gray and black pegs.
• JD: Black has friction...
• AS: And gray has no friction. One of them also is able to hold a rod.

• MTJ: Because they�re so GOOD.
• JD: Originally, they were built specifically to reduce the amount of actual building you have to do. Research said the kids didn�t want to build quite so much.
• AS: It was at the point we started seeing problems of packing elements. It was the amount of elements. The packing line wasn�t long enough to put all the pieces in!
• JD: It�s kind of like a brick in the system - part of the BIONICLE building system.
• AS: The torso is generic, and you can change what goes on the front or the back.
• JD: Piraka torso was meant to be used without armor; Inika torso was meant to have armor. That was the rationale I had for designing both of them.
• All: Cost.
• MTJ: And we also have a limited number of elements available for each launch.
• JD: Yes, we have to be specific about where we use new elements. We like to put the new elements up front, in your face - mask, weapons, etc. Using a new element on the torso takes away from that.
• EF: Depends on what we want to emphasize on the model.

• MTJ: It�s stainless steel!
• AS: We talked about it should look like a sharp weapon. Silver is associated with steel, it looks more sharp and metallic and dangerous.
• EF: When they�re not colored, it makes it easier to use the same element elsewhere.
• CR: It�s very neutral.
• JD: You also want the weapon to stand out from the model.
• MTJ: It�s also so kids can interchange the weapons between characters.
• EF: When you go elemental, it becomes unique to the character, and doesn�t fit with other characters.
• JD: It�s not like we get a good deal on silver. Oh, no!
• MTJ: I like silver.
• CR: On the model, it�s better to have them colored to the figure and element.
• AS: I agree it�s good to have it silver, but it depends on what it looks like. If it has flames, for example, it should be colored.
• EF: Different colors also trigger different types of stories.
• CR: Red makes the kids aggressive!

• All: Cost. Cost cost cost. It�s very very expensive.
• MTJ: We�d like to use them, but it�s dreadful expensive.
• JD: Absolutely we�d like to use these colors. The chrome elements we don�t use mostly because of the plastics we use. It�s only very few of them we can chrome.
• AS: It�s an order of magnitude more expensive.
• MTJ: It costs a lot.
• JD: Where do you want to use the money? On more elements, or add another shield or something?
• CR: It�s verdammt teuer.
• KM: I get the impression there�s an additional cost.
• All: YES.

• JD: There�s a purple color?
• AS: Personally, I don�t like purple AT ALL.
• MTJ: We�ve found it hard because purple doesn�t fit an element like fire or ice.
• CR: So we�d need a color change on elements.
• MTJ: Because AS doesn�t like it.
• JD: Doesn�t Prince have a copyright on it?
• EF: The lead designer didn�t want it.
• MTJ: I think it�s really because of the elemental powers, we already had six main colors chosen for the sets.

• JD: Part geometry wasn�t perfect.
• JD: The ball was actually the culprit.
• MTJ: There was also a bad year for plastic.
• EF: The ball cup was squeezing the element a bit, more than the older sockets.
• KM The lime green color was improperly mixed, so it was more brittle.
• MTJ: And AS never liked it.
• AS: No! Don�t make me into a bad guy here.
• EF: There was also a problem with the mold
• CR: Lime green is OK now.
• JD: It was a problem with the master batch of lime green, but it�s been fixed.
• All: We�re always looking at geometry, to optimize the parts

• JD: The brown didn�t sell well.

• JD: The original bright colors tend to look "younger" in a way. The look like they may appeal to a younger audience.
• EF: The darker shades tested well.
• MTJ: And they looked coolor.
• AS: Yeah! And we were actually going away from the elemental focus, and getting more edgy.
• MTJ: And we also need to make it different from the year before.
• AS: We also wanted to make it appeal to a higher age group.
• CR: We also get a stronger contrast when we use darker colors, there�s more differentiation in hue and tone.
• AS: When you sit with a product like BIONICLE, you get a feeling of quality.
• JD: How can a BIONICLE have the same color as a DUPLO?
• EF: Duplonicle!
• MTJ: You should register that as a trademark...

• MTJ: The original mask was supposed to fall off when playing the original game, but it was perceived as being a fault, of being poor quality.
• JD: The plus rod fits better in the system.
• EF: And it�s more sturdy.
• KM: What�s that about a game?
• JD: They were meant to battle each other with the arm swinging action.
• MTJ: They had a battle fencing function.
• JD: And did your opponent get the mask?
• MTJ: Yeah, but the mask just fell off all the time.

« Return to News