Citations › Citation ID: 96

C96. BOOK: David C. Robertson, Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry (Crown, 2013), p. 155-156.

With its vibrant story line and rich universe of characters, Bionicle was also the company’s first successful, internally developed intellectual property, or IP. In a very real sense, Bionicle was the LEGO Group’s own, homegrown Star Wars, and it let LEGO take on the role of licensor and put the brand’s imprimatur on a plethora of products. Bionicle-crazed boys could snag a simple Bionicle toy with a Happy Meal (from McDonald’s), kick around in Bionicle sneakers (Nike), retrieve a Bionicle video game from a box of Honey Nut Cheerios (General Mills), show off their favorite brand with Bionicle lunchboxes (DNC), amp up their cool factor with Bionicle T-shirts, sneakers, and backpacks (Qubic Tripod), and dream their Bionicle dreams while tucked into Bionicle-themed bedding (Dryen). Because LEGO invented the Bionicle IP, all the royalties from the sales of all that merchandise flowed back to the company’s coffers.

Bionicle was the first LEGO IP with a strong enough story to support a vast selection of licensed products.