Top Ten Years of Lego Bionicle

The LEGO BIONICLE construction toy line has been around the sun about ten times now, but has hit around 11 different years. But out of all these years, which is the best? The toys and story from all the different years make this a tough one, but what do you think?
The Top Ten
1 2006 2006 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2006th year based on the Common Era/Anno Domini designations. It is the 6th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 7th year of the 2000s decade.

The stakes were high that year! The heroes were up against a pack of thugs led by a guy who was nearly indestructible, and both sides were looking for a powerful mask that could bend gods to its will. We got to meet and fight the mask's guardians while also getting an okay video game and some playsets made of Lego bricks. This year was plain exciting, and it deserves a somewhat decent spot on the list. 2006 was good, but the ones above it are better.

2006 was the year of change. It introduced a brand new style of build (the Inika/Piraka build), and the new piece count was surprisingly high. It introduced the most reliable type of ranged weapon so far, the Zamor sphere launcher, which never failed, unlike the Kanoka and Rhotuka. The light-up functions were fun as well!

This year brought a more serious tone to the franchise, kicking off the Ignition Trilogy, which was arguably the best era of Bionicle. The commercials were among the best of all Bionicle ads, with only the '07 ones being slightly better. Titan builds were revolutionized with the introduction of the new ball piece, which ended up being used in almost every titan set and custom MOC as soon as it was released. This piece also became the backbone of the character and creature building system, which was used by Hero Factory and Gen 2 Bionicle as well.

Also, the Piraka were the very first Bionicle canister villains to all have individual personalities. Along with the Inika sets, all of them managed to have a separate look and feel despite being clone sets. The Bionicle Heroes video game also launched this year, making it by far the best Bionicle video game so far.

2 2007 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2007th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 7th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 8th year of the 2000s decade.

This is only slightly better than 2001 for me. It does slightly better because, despite not having the awe and mystery of the first year, the stakes were higher than ever. The story was gripping, and the characters were wonderful. Not to mention some heart-wrenching sacrifices and just flat-out cool-looking sets. I love this, and it was the first year I truly became a Bionicle fan, which then later caused me to backtrack and look at the older years.

This year makes me hate lime green. The sets were pretty cool (I mean, who doesn't like an underwater theme?), but if they had lime green joints, they were bound to crack. We got creepy villains, okay Toa, and a bunch of big, tough guys that looked menacing despite being made of plastic pieces. Why so low? We hardly got much of a story until the latter half of the year, but it's better than what 2015 produced.

3 2001 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2001st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 1st year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2000s decade.

Approach any hardcore Bionicle fan and ask them what the best year of the run was. Chances are, they'll say 2001, 2002, or 2003. Truth be told, 2001 was a perfect year. There are way too many good things about it to list, but I'll try my best to summarize: six heroes, a mysterious island, dangerous animals, 36 masks to collect, comics, chapter books, an epic online game, and a ton of advertising. This year was taken very seriously at the time, and no other year received that kind of dedication.

While all three of the "Golden Years" were fantastic, 2001 stands out as the best year of the franchise. It set the tone with its atmosphere of mystery and intrigue, and the juxtaposition of technological beings in a primitive setting - of bright colors and dark themes. It felt like a mature story idea, targeted well at the right age group. While other years tried to do similar things, 2001 nailed the appeal, the story, the sets, and overall success.

4 2004 2004 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2004th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations

Such an unforgettable year. Six elemental Toa warriors were pitted against bounty hunters, an army of robot police, and an evil giant with massive wings, claws, and teeth, all in a sprawling city filled with danger at every turn. And a movie that details some of it? Yes, please!

5 2003 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2003rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 3rd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2000s decade.

This year was likely planned to be the last year of the run, so it went out with a bang. Dangerous lizard men with destructive powers, a gold-armored man on a flying vehicle, and a formidable main villain made for an exciting year. We also received a mediocre movie to tie in with the sets, making the year feel complete.

This year was definitely the best as far as collectibles go.

6 2008 2008 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2008th year based on the Common Era/Anno Domini designations. It is the 8th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 9th year of the 2000s decade.

Bat people in the sky and bug people in the swamp? And all we have to stop them are air vehicles, guns, blades, jet packs, and little people who can ride on our backs? Suit up, boys. This was truly a great year. The sets were meh, but the story was enough to keep us hooked. This was the final battle before the final battle, and boy, was there hype. While the overload of gray and silver was a tad nauseating, 2008 had its moments and the good sets that secure its title as one of the best BIONICLE years.

7 2002 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2002nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 2nd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 3rd year of the 2000s decade.

Destructive machines, parasitic mask-faces, exo-suits, and twin T-Rexes - need I say more? The year was topped off with the 2001 heroes receiving shiny, new upgrades, so that's a plus.

While I personally wasn't old enough to know about or buy BIONICLE sets when they debuted in this year, I have since gone back and bought some of the sets online, as well as read some of the comics. In my opinion, 2002 was BIONICLE's best year, even surpassing 2001.

The Bohrok were not only awesome and dangerous villains, but they were also the best canister sets we ever received, featuring a great mix of functions. The Titans this year were amazing. Although there weren't as many of them compared to the previous year's Rahi, they were arguably better sets. And of course, who could forget the Toa Nuva? This year's Toa greatly improved upon what we received the previous year, boasting cool new armor, improved gear functions, and dual-feature weapons.

2001 may have started it all, but 2002 added so much more depth to the story and characters, as well as to the island of Mata Nui itself. The year also had a somewhat darker tone while still maintaining the colorful exterior that we know and love. I haven't yet read all the comics, but from what I have read, they are definitely worth your time, featuring an exciting story and amazing visuals.

Where 2001 had the Mata Nui online game, 2002 offered the Bohrok animations. While they were admittedly not quite as cool, they were still great for getting to know the story and seeing our favorite characters in action. I especially enjoyed the fact that the Matoran played a much larger role in the story, having to fend for themselves while the Toa were underground fighting the Bahrag.

In conclusion, I believe that 2002 should receive the love it deserves and be recognized as equal to, or dare I say, better than 2001. It truly is a great year with more to offer in terms of quality and quantity than some give it credit for.

8 2005 2005 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2005th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations. It was the 6th year of the 2000s decade.

This year had a horribly rushed story, mediocre-looking Toa, and a movie so short you'll need a mere hour of spare time to watch it, but it was awesome anyway. The mediocre sets were forgivable if you could just edit them, and the good ones were definitely memorable.

9 2015 2015 (MMXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2015th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 15th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 6th year of the 2010s decade.

After being dormant from 2011-2014, BIONICLE returned with awesome new sets and a godawful story. The sets are nothing to sneeze at, but the story is the reason why 2015 ranks so low on the list. That, and 2001 makes this year look like a slow start.

Cool sets. Needs a better story. This has a lot of potential!

The sets are good, but the story lacks heart.

10 2009 2009 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2009th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations. It was the 10th and final year of the 2000s decade.

This could have been a whole new beginning for a big story in Bionicle by introducing us to a new world with new characters, not to mention the awesome, colorful, and easily breakable sets. But since the conclusion of the other story was very cliffhanging, nobody could turn away. Just because this year doesn't have the original characters and bad pieces doesn't mean it was bad. It was turned down due to fans demanding to see their beloved characters, which was also one of the few causes of Bionicle's rushed and poor ending.

The Contenders
11 2010 2010 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2010th year based on Anno Domini/Common Era designations. It is the 10th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 1st year of the 2010s decade.

This year was a horrible year for BIONICLE, but it's here in case people think it's better than 2009, which it's not. 2010 was a disappointing year with a whopping six sets, all of them small, and an okay story to go with it. BIONICLE's first run ended pretty well, but left off with a ton of potential to keep going. What's done is done, and 2015 leaves us with a shred of hope.

12 2016 2016 (MMXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2016th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 16th year of the 3rd millennium, the 16th year of the 21st century, and the 7th year of the 2010s decade.
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