Recently, there has been a lot of confusion on BZP over the plans for an alternate model of Jetrax in the November LEGO Magazine. Apparently, a lot of people have thought that refers to the yellow Jetrax store exclusive set, so I thought it was time for a little Alternate Model 101:

Q. What is an alternate model?

A. It's a new model built using pieces of an existing one.

Q. Would the yellow Jetrax be considered an alternate model?

A. No. You cannot build yellow Jetrax using pieces from existing 2008 models, because none of the sets have those pieces in yellow. If you have to paint existing pieces to build the model, it's not an alternate model

Q. What is the difference between a LEGO Magazine alternate model and the yellow Jetrax?

A. Besides what's already been stated, a LEGO Magazine alternate model is designed exclusively for Club by our Master Model Builders. Instructions are provided either in the magazine or on LEGO Club website. Club alternate models are not for sale in any store, though obviously the models they are based off of are.

Yellow Jetrax is a store exclusive model. It has its own packaging, it's for sale, and it includes its instructions just as any other LEGO set does.

So to sum up -- if we were doing a page showing the yellow Jetrax, it would not be referred to an alternate model page in the magazine, more likely as a feature page (since it shows an existing set available for sale with its instructions included). An alt. model page features a new model constructed using pieces from an existing one, with instructions available only through LEGO Club.

Make sense?

In honor of the 30th birthday of the minifigure, here is a quick contest -- winner gets an exclusive surprise BIONICLE prize! Post your answers in response to this entry, and first one to get it right wins -- question is:

1) Two Hollywood celebrities have been made into LEGO mini-figures twice, as different characters. Name the actors and the characters.

WE HAVE A WINNER! Congratulations to lisa garber -- lisa, PM me your mailing address so I can send you your prize.

Greg

-- Saw the first animatics for the 2009 movie, with voice actors -- nice. Hard to judge what the animation will be like from it, but it's obvious that the director is very skilled and the acting is good. Not sure if the voices are final cast or not.

-- Working on the screen treatment for the 2010 movie now, along with the first 2009 comic book and the first 2009 chapter book.

-- If ~Bio~ is out there, you sent me a PM with a question, but it says you have chosen not to be contacted by board Messenger, so I cannot send you a reply.


Greg

With the latest round of supposed set names and images floating around on the Net, I am getting a lot of PMs asking about 2009 sets, names, and a few about story. In a few cases, I have been able to provide answers, in many more cases I cannot. And most BZPers know that they cannot expect answers on the next year's product this early in the year before.

So that said, I am not going to spend time writing "I can't discuss this" over and over to people who already know that. PMs asking me about 2009 will, until further notice, simply not get answers. I cannot very well ask BZP to respect LEGO's policy re: leaked info (real or not) and then disrespect the policy myself by commenting here.

So if you are planning to send me "Real or fake?" PMs or anything like that re: 2009 sets, please don't waste your time. You won't receive a response until LEGO Company clears me to discuss next year, which won't be for a few months at least.

Greg

Some of you may have read that BZP member Nuhrii the Metruan made some suggestions regarding the name of the Mangai/Mangaia which I really liked and told him could be official.

Ever since, I am getting buried in PMs from other people trying to find other uses for existing names or "explain" other storyline things, in hopes of getting to say they came up with something official too.

I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I really don't have the time for this. Having to go through these suggestion PMs is taking time away from answering questions, not to mention working on 2009 story bible and 2010 story summary. Everything in BIONICLE does not need an extensive explanation and every term does not need to be used multiple times -- and even if they did, I have no room to work any of it into story at this late date.

So while I praise you for your imagination, I need you guys to cool it. I'm not soliciting suggestions for this stuff right now and I don't really have time to evaluate them fairly.

Greg

Just a note that I am not going to be around much the next few weeks -- I leave for Comic-Con Wednesday and will not have Internet access, and then I am moving when I get back. So expect waits for answers to Q's.

Greg

Another library event to announce -- Saturday, October 18th, 11:00 am at the Fairfield-Nichols branch of the Trumbull library in CT.

Also -- if you send me a PM, please make sure your settings are set up to get messages back. Lately, people have sent me lists of questions and when I respond, I get a message that they have chosen not to be contactable by Messenger. As a result, I waste my time answering and they can't get their answers.

Greg

Nothing too earth-shaking, just bits of news --

-- Probably the one of most import to you guys will be something I did yesterday -- the first ever official map of the BIONICLE universe. I sketched it out for a Polish BIONICLE guidebook set to come out this fall, and it will now be redrawn by some people who can actually draw So if there are Eastern European BIONICLE fans on here, expect to see some scans of it later this year.

-- Busy month just past, getting that book done for some very wonderful publishing folks over there, and a busy one coming up -- a library event, my birthday, Comic-Con, and closing on a new house. Then the big move, but hopefully by September things will calm down ... just in time for me to head to Denmark for a 2010 BIONICLE story meeting.

-- Spoke to Scholastic last week -- they are hopeful that the movie in 2009 will boost book sales. Meanwhile, sales are going okay in Germany and France and very well in Russia, as I understand it. Certainly the '03 movie did a lot for 2004 book sales -- I think BA #1 is still the best-selling book in the series.

Greg

We have already discussed the price increase on the BIONICLE canister figures in this space, but I am seeing a lot of people for whom it is apparently news. So I thought repeating some of what I said before might be a benefit to at least a few people (even if you guys know this, you can pass it on to people who do not).

Q. Why are BIONICLE canister prices going up?
A. The simple answer is that BIONICLE sets are costing more to buy because they are costing us more to make. Oil prices have doubled in the last two years and show no sign of going back down. That means the cost of producing plastic goes up; the cost of running molding machines goes up; the cost of getting packaging produced goes up; and the cost of transporting the sets to stores goes up.

When our manufacturing costs go up, we have two choices: keep prices where they are and make less profit on each sale (which we did for the last few years), or raise prices. If we don't make a profit on our sales, then there is no point in doing the line and we would just cancel it. Instead, we looked at which BIONICLE sets were most popular, and so the best able to survive a price increase, and bumped the prices up. We kept the prices the same for the more expensive sets.

Q. Why are they going up by so much?
A. Basically. because we held the line for a few years when we should have been raising prices. So now we have to do a bigger increase to get the prices where they should be.

Q. Are the prices of all BIONICLE sets going up?
A. No. Only the canister sets.

Q. Are the prices going to go up again in 2009?
A. There are no plans for price increase in 2009, no.

Q. I live outside of the US. Are my set prices going to go up too?
A. As far as I know, the answer is no. Prices in the US were lower than they should have been for years, which is why we have to do this increase. Customers in, say, Canada were already paying higher prices, so we don't need to increase theirs.

Q. Is this something just LEGO Company is doing?
A. No, it's a fact of economic life in 2008. Gas prices are up; food prices are up; prices of other toys and goods are up or soon will be. The dollar is weak, and so does not buy as much as it used to, and increasing energy costs mean anything that requires energy to produce or transport (in other words, everything) is going to go up.

Q. I think LEGO is just doing this to make a bigger profit!
A. No. LEGO Company is doing it to maintain the level of profit we had per set sale in the past. Keep in mind that LEGO does not get $12.99 for every canister set sold, because some of that money goes to the retailer and some of it goes to manufacturing. As manufacturing costs go up, you either have to ask the retailer to take less profit from the set or you have to take less -- unless you raise the price. That's why you are seeing prices up for everything everywhere.

Q. I am going to boycott BIONICLE sets so the price will go back down!
A. What you choose to spend money on is up to you, of course. But unless you think not buying a BIONICLE set is going to drive oil prices down, your boycott will only achieve two things: you won't have the sets, and if enough people follow your lead, the line will just get cancelled. Simple as that.

Q. This is the worst thing LEGO has ever done!
A. This is the most practical thing LEGO could do for the health and future of the line. Yes, it stings the wallet -- so does $4.30 gas and a $2.50 load of bread and a $3.50 comic book. But the alternative would have been no more BIONICLE at all, and I don't think anyone wants that.

Any other questions, feel free to send them along.

Greg

I finally got to see the animation test for the new movie last week -- wow.

For whatever my opinion is worth, it blows away any character animation ever done for BIONICLE and speaks to a lot of things BZPers have said they wanted in a new movie. If the whole movie can look like that, we are going to have quite a film.

The latest news I have heard is that a lot of concept art is done, voice recording should be done soon, and the studio is straining at the leash to get started on the script for the 2010 movie.

Greg