I spent $250 on this book so you don’t have to… this was the single most interesting LEGO document I have ever read, revealing so many bizarre and strange concepts, ideas, projects, and more.
Free PDF Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K-Eb6fXPY4W7ayLiX9CJ8gMVogsdx1zI/view?usp=sharing
0:00 Intro
3:52 Prologue
8:34 Ch1 Seeing the System (Intro to LEGO Bricks, 3D Dimensions, etc)
12:13 Ch2 Rolling Along (Trains, Wheels, and why Molds are Destroyed)
30:04 Ch3 Populating the LEGO World (Minifigs, Minidolls, CMFs)
36:51 Ch4 Past, Present, and Future (Castle, Space, Pirates, Cancelled LEGO Romans theme, Vikings, Western, etc)
52:14 Ch5 Monorails and Rollercoasters (Development of movement systems)
57:23 Ch6 Everyday Life (Town, City, World City)
1:05:34 Ch7 Building at the Highest Level (Technic)
1:15:34 Ch8 New Worlds (BIONICLE, Star Wars, Galidor, Cancelled LEGO Genesis, Cybots, and more. VERY interesting section.)
1:41:01 Ch9 Playing with a Story (Exo Force, Vikings, KK2, Harry Potter, Alien Conquest, Power Miners original concept, Galaxy Squad, Aqua Raiders, etc)
1:56:13 Ch10 Big Bangs (Atlantis, Ninjago, Chima, Nexo Knights, LEGO Movie – incredible new insights and concept art)
2:33:41 Ch11 Everything is Awesome (Modern LEGO, Icons, AFOL-oriented sets)
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Haven't watched yet, but already thankful for the chapter divisions – those make large videos much easier to watch!
Giant set was gonna be the GSR
The thing I wasn't expecting about this book is how it manages to weave all of the different chapters together. I expected each chapter to be fairly stand-alone, but in reality, they build on each other–not because it was written that way, but because everything in the history of the LEGO company has influenced everything else, impacting and touching decisions up to the present day. The best part of the book is where it talks about how production "frames" were allotted to each theme for new parts & prints, and how designers would go around pitching their ideas to other themes, in hopes of acquiring more frames for their theme.
I had no idea that Dragons were supposed to have a gimmick, a Roman theme was in development and BIONICLE was responsible for the Technic Shell piece! BIONICLE is very much alive then thanks to the theme’s contribution to Technic.
BIONICLE SPUN-OFF FROM LEGO?!
Project Genesis has got to be one of the most interesting concepts ever to come out of The LEGO Group.
Star Wars is the reason for BIONICLE being on a tropical island?! But then they would go to the ‘hi-tech futuristic world’ with the introduction of Metru Nui and later of course what that era built up to: the Matoran Universe and how it was in a giant robot. So essentially the concept of ‘Constraction’ came full circle.
If BIONICLE became a company, (BIONICLE, Inc, BIONICLE Systems A/S?) would they be eventually acquired by Hasbro or Disney like everyone else in the Toy Industry?
So Hero Factory could’ve been a subtheme of BIONICLE?
Its so ironic that Lego rejected the unique mask/visor idea for Ninjago, seeing how later we would get it in Nexo Knights with all 4 of the knights having different visors for their helmets. Also those early Ninjago drawings look like Naruto, down to the military like ninja outfits, village metal plates on the foreheads, the use of ninja scrolls, and the backwards spikey hair. Its no wonder why Knights Kingdoms 2, Ninjago, and Nexo Knights felt like Bionicle, because thats what essentially they were, taking core inspirations from their most successful story theme to date.
Thanks for sharing the pdf Chris!!! It’s going to be a great read! Also enjoyed your quick flick through and giving us your thoughts.
Lol
Amazing that you shared the pdf! Will difinitely use it for my chima vids
How u get that book can anyone get it
How u get my hands on this physical book were csn I buy it
big thanks for the pdf
Ohno the curved angled slooooopes
4886 was indeed the inspiration for modular buildings, Jamie mentioned it in his 15 years of Modular Buildings overview
Hey Chris! This is your best video, unfortunatelly lasted less than 3 hours! Thanks for sharing the pdf's copy of the book! I find it super informative! I'm sure you can make a separete video about every chapter of the book.
Well, clearly it was Darth Plagueis' castle. And this was all related to the twist that Jar Jar Binks was a sith lord, but that plot got scrapped, so the set got scrapped as well.
Folks, this video is backwards again. Chris is reverse Talking. He’s walking up the stairs.
Dang, if Bionicle was going to go on for 20 years I can only imagine how much longer your Bionicle Retold series could've been lol
Kudos to both the anonymous user and Chris for the insights
1:38:50 I think that the "massive unspeakable model" has to be wholly original idea, as I feel like if it was something based on something from the real world, the designers would probably be able to mention it. I don't think Lego would not permit designers to reveal ideas for something like the empire state building out of technic. But I totally could see that if they planned on making something never seen before, perhaps even something associated with an in house theme. Obviously I'd like to think that they thought about making a giant Great Spirit robot, which might've benefitted from the 5×5, but I once again doubt that they'd keep that secret, especially with all of the other prototype Bionicle media we know about.
My very best, unqualified, guess is that it was part of perhaps a cancelled theme, or project. Perhaps it correlated with Genesis, perhaps not.
Also, unrelated, but (at least in some circles) it was known that Galidor was supposed to be the next big Lego theme. Galidor was supposed to be what Bionicle became, and then some. It's actually kinda a shame in my opinion, as I actually prefer Galidor's ratchets over Bionicle's sockets.
Hey duckbricks, how many years did you spend honing the skill of walking backwards to do it as confidently and expertly as you do
Jules Verne theme? Wow, and they had a complete line built for product testing. Where are the pictures??
What about frederator style video involving the content's of the book broken down into x number of facts videos.
It’s a shame it didn’t state at what point the BIONICLE Team was going to separate from LEGO, what if it was in 2008-2009 when sales were declining and the theme nearing cancellation or when sales were at their height in 2002? We would’ve gotten a TV series much sooner and the websites would’ve stayed up longer. BIONICLE had so much potential, more than any other toyline in existence, if it was successful enough for the team to suggest converting it into an independent brand.
What if that mysterious "largest LEGO model ever" was the World Trade Center, which was cancelled in 2001 and never spoken of again for… two very obvious reasons?
That was amazing! Thanks Chris!
I think my favourite insight was learning how large the success of Ninjago loomed over subsequent themes like Chima and Nexo Knights. It almost feels like it was squeezing out other ‘Warrior’ type themes. Thankfully Lego persevered and got another breakthrough success with Monkie Kid.
UFO (97) is missing!