Bionicle is one of the biggest success stories of 21st-century Lego—one of the lines that, alongside the huge boost of the arrival of Lego Star Wars, helped the company escape the financial near-ruin of the late ’90s. And then, when it suddenly became one of the company’s most-missed sublines when it came to a shocking end in 2010. Now, Lego will finally have a new Bionicle product on store shelves for the first time in a decade—but don’t call it a comeback just yet.
Today Lego officially announced its 29th series of blind-box collectible minifigures, set to release in May. And while the latest set of 12 minifigures continues the usual eclectic mix of original characters expected of the non-licensed entries to the line—there’s everything from a chocolatier to a robot T. rex, and even a special Ninjago figure for the series’ 15th anniversary—the one that is going to have every Lego diehard talking (and hunting for boxes to open) is none other than a Bionicle figure.
Well, technically, it’s not a literal Bionicle character; it’s actually a normal Lego human cosplaying as the fan favorite Tahu—you can take his red mask off to reveal the covered-up smiling fella beneath, grinning presumably because he’s walked around a convention all day and had people go, “Whoa, Bionicle!” at him. As well as Tahu’s flaming sword, he even comes with a little cylindrical tube replicating a micro-scaled version of the packaging the classic Bionicle figures came in.
The minifigure marks the first time Lego has actually sold a Bionicle-related release on a wide level since 2016, when the rebooted take on the line, which had only just launched the year prior, was scrapped. In early 2023, Lego made a special brick-built set of Tahu and Takua to celebrate the franchise, but it was only available as a limited-time gift with purchase rather than as an actual standalone set that will sit on shelves like this new minifigure does.
It’s probably not the comeback Bionicle fans really want, but considering this year is the 25th anniversary of Bionicle‘s initial release, it’s at least something. Who knows, maybe Lego keeps a track on which minifigures perform best in each wave, and a boost of people hunting down the Bionicle cosplayer come May could be a sign for them to try revisiting the beloved action figure/transmedia series once more.
The Series 29 Lego Collectible Minifigures will go on sale May 1, for $5 per randomized blind box.
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