If there's one thing the LEGO Group loves, it's bringing Bionicle back in every form but constraction figures since the theme ended a decade ago.
One of the 12 minifigures in 71052 Series 29 is one of the best Bionicle references to date, bringing the theme back to life in proper minifigure form. The Bionicle Cosplayer is by far not the first of the LEGO Group's methods of bringing back the theme, even outside of the odd reference here and there.
For 71052 Series 29, that's in the form of Bionicle's first proper minifigure. Though this specific iteration isn't actually Tahu, but someone cosplaying as them, it's a well-made cosplay that is near-indistinguishable from the real deal. That's aside from being a minifigure, rather than a constraction figure.
The LEGO Group's previous returns to Bionicle have been incredibly varied, mostly consisting of stickers referencing aspects of the theme from sets in Monkie Kid, Indiana Jones, City and much more. Some of these stickers have interesting lore implications, implying that the world of Bionicle exists either as a property or a real place within that theme.
Ignoring the implied lore drops, there have been 17 of these previous Bionicle references. That's not including the LEGO Insiders rewards featuring emblems from the theme.
Tahu has been the subject of most of these references, now depicted in 11 different LEGO figures of varying sizes. The constraction system has now been retired, meaning that the most recent versions have used System.
The likes of 40581 Bionicle Tahu and Takua, as well as 71052 Series 29's Bionicle Cosplayer, demonstrate that the theme's figures can still exist in the modern era of LEGO. The new minifigure series sets out to prove that Bionicle minifigures can work, after the theme tried similar scaled figures from 2005 to 2007.
A range of Bionicle playsets featuring smaller figures and System pieces were trialled for a few years but were never seen again after 2007. That's at least the case for Bionicle. Hero Factory's Invasion from Below experimented with the concept once more, but with Technic and constraction elements instead of those from System.
That concept is now being used for a third time in Series 29, but as a standalone Bionicle minifigure this time. It goes to show that Bionicle can exist in many forms in the current era of LEGO, just not constraction figures since the second generation of the theme ended years ago.
71052 Series 29 will launch on May 1 with 12 minifigures to collect. You can use Brick Search's minifigure scanner to find every minifigure you want in this series without the limits of the blind boxes. While you wait for the range to launch, check out our comprehensive review of the series here.
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