Released in 2004, the Toa Metru are often regarded as a high point in the Bionicle franchise – taking the Technic sensibilities of the Toa Mata & Toa Nuva and improving upon them with greater action figure potential. However, does this position really hold up to scrutiny? Let’s find out!
Episode photography and other resources: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VXZxRd29iicXyxCYQMidm3LlAw6BAhop?usp=drive_link
Special thank you to Baraklava for creating such amazing Bionicle themed music!
https://baraklava.bandcamp.com/track/tribal-isle
Other sources used in this video (in no particular order):
https://youtu.be/Bcoeu9yg1-s
https://youtu.be/3gDVDPjpGdY
https://board.ttvchannel.com/t/metru-styled-toa-ignika-moc/48084
https://youtu.be/I33DaRNP31Q
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Introduction
2:02 Context for Discussion
2:42 Greater Articulation
6:05 Alternate Weapon Modes
7:01 Clone Construction
7:50 New Adaptation, Old Characters
8:49 Impossible Body Standards
10:11 Oh yeah, the Colours…
11:05 The Toa Hagah have joined the chat.
12:02 My Experience with these toys in 2004
13:38 The Heart of the Matter
15:30 The Makings of a Toa
18:01 Olivia Rodrigo has joined the chat.
18:34 Conclusion
Looking for the tunes used in this video? Check them out for free right here: https://rrslugger.bandcamp.com/album/r-r-sluggers-rock-raiders-mix-tape
For quality retro Lego conversation in the best online community I have ever been a part of, you can join the discussion on the Manic Miners Discord: https://discord.gg/na3rQmv
Interested in the history and research that goes into videos just like this one? You can join the discussion in the Lego Research Realm Discord: https://discord.gg/VtD99kYvUj
I created the photography, stop motion animation, and music in this video. Original artwork by Brett Halland. Thanks for watching!
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Hey folks, PLEASE READ this little blurb before leaving me a comment about the video.
Obviously, the topic I'm presenting here is going to generate some disagreement, so I think it's important to remember that at the end of the day, these are just plastic toys that we all enjoy as a shared hobby. There's no need to take it personally if someone doesn't like the same toys as you, nor is there a reason to believe that your preference for one is more important that someone else's preference for another.
I welcome discussion and will read even the longest novel that Bionicle fans are always so keen to write me, but I also ask that if you're going down that path, please watch through the video a second time before doing so. There's a good chance that I may have already addressed one of your points in the video or on-screen text and I think there's just too much going on in this one to catch every little detail the first time through. Thank you! 😊
While there are some objective truths that can be claimed (such as the Toa Metru objectively have more points of articulation than the Mata/Nuva), the vast majority of this debate boils down to preference, and no one's opinion on the matter is more valid than another's – not mine, not yours.
Lastly, I'm also aware that there are "lore reasons" for certain things I take issue with in this video. Personally, I don't see that as a compelling stance; the lore is written retroactively to justify decisions made with the toys. Had the Toa Metru toys more accurately adhered to the individual characteristics of the Turaga they sought to emulate, the lore would have supported this decision. Had masks continued to be a play feature and the main focus of Bionicle going forward, the lore would have supported this too. In my opinion, lore arguments are totally moot.
Anyways, thanks for reading and watching the video! Hopefully we can still be friends even if we don't like the same Bionicles. 😉
Next week, we return to the Orient Expedition!
~ Slugger
After watching the Toa Metru video twice now, I can't think of much to comment other than:
– I totally understand your points.
– I'm sorry for making a ~~video~~ audio recording sloppily speculating what irked you about the Metru design.
– ah, so that was your voice at the end singing! I sincerely thought it was another person like the one who helped on Summer of Slug intros or the Last Time intros of Time Cruisers
My sentiments exactly. I remember having nearly the same exact thought process, even as far to picking up Wenua as the 3rd wave Toa of my choice. The added articulation looked cool to me, so I wanted to give them a shot. But ultimately I was disappointed, and had basically no interest in Bionicle past this point.
Mata Nui Online game, and the marketing material of the original Bionicle, heavily promoted a specific image: Robotic beings living on a mysterious island, living in small tribal societies, working together in harmony with nature, attacked by corrupted "animals", waiting for the prophesized warriors to come save them from an ambiguous villain. Wave 3 and onward this theme was completely abandoned in favor of a generic good robots versus bad robots theme that completely lost me. I love the very VERY early idea for Bionicle, which is best captured in the wave 1 Rahi builds and some of the prototype footage. The masks, the Toa and the Matoran were "sold" to me, thanks to the story told in the Mata Nui Online Game. I partook in some of the later media, such as the movies, but they didn't manage to hook me for the aforementioned reasons.
Although I was too old to really appreciate it, I think the Generation 2 Toa were amazing. They improved on everything about the Toa Mata that I didn't like: More involved builds, more difference between the Toa, better proportions, better articulation… But the world didn't have it's charm. The "skull villains" are a far cry from the corrupted animals of OG Mata Nui, and they really dropped the ball on the villagers by making them all look basically the same.
Hey Slugger, I know you have more ideas than time to make videos with; But if you're ever in an old school Bionicle mood, I highly encourage you to seek out builds for Bionicle creatures heavily featured in the earliest media that were never made into sets. Since LEGO was working with multiple studios (games, animations, marketing images) they seem to have sent out a set of predefined animals (small Rahi) for them to work with. They are heavily featured in the (rather bad) game boy game they released before the release of Toa (which Mata Nui Online Game is apparently a direct sequel to), as well as the unreleased game featuring the Toa (quests for Masks?). This person has a nice collection of images of them building the creatures (as interpreted from various pixelated sources) https://imgur.com/user/brickinui. I'm almost tempted to contact one of my college art teachers, who apparently worked on the cancelled game, to see if she has anything, but she didn't have much positive to say as all their work went down the drain in the end.
On an unrelated note; Recently picked up a couple of Slizers from my local old LEGO reseller. These things are so cool! You can absolutely see the design philosophy of Toa Mata in these. I almost prefer these builds for how unique they are to one another. Thank you for your video about them, as they would've likely escaped my radar otherwise.
Sadly Slugger, we have all been wrong (to an extend and certain points of view). The Metru didnt introduce the elbows. The Makuta Titan from 2003 had them in the form of the same limb construction the Rahkshi had (ironically his legs were stiff as they could get). One could argue some of the Rahi and mech suits also had moving elbows, but those were more technic punching gimmick feature than ball jointed elbows that you can move freely. Also the neck/head ball joint, that credit goes to the Bohrok Va, with again Makuta being the first one to use ball joints with an actual head underneath the mask. Heck even transitioning away from the mask popping gimmick sorta started with the Nuva, as their mask peg connection is noticeably firmer than the Mata/Turaga masks, ultimately leading up to Takanuva and his axel connection. If we could argue one thing about the later masks that did worse, its the fact that the axel connection resulted in Lego using a more softer plastic for the masks, which is far easier to scratch and flake than the harder plastic of the Mata/Nuva era. Plus the axel connections result in the creation of awkward dot holes on the mouth area. You can notice this if you compare Mata Tahu mask and the Stars Tahu mask. This is probably why they opted in redesigning the connection when creating the Mask of Life, as that mask required no random dot holes on the mask, hence why it has an axel hole that you can stick a 2L axel instead.
Slugger, you’re my favourite Lego Youtuber, and it’s because you have interesting and engaging videos like this one! It doesn’t matter if your opinions differ to mine, the quality of the video is always top tier and I know I’ll have a blast watching it.
Now that we’ve had a video on an aspect of Bionicle you didn’t like, how about another one with something you did like? Perhaps the mask feature and what it’s become today, with inflated prices? Or the immersive storytelling through the online games?
Whatever you put out next, I’ll be watching it no matter what, so thank you for your hard work!
the thing i don't like about the Metru wave is that we only have 1 recolor of only 1 of their masks
I was 6 when the Toa Mata first washed up on the shores of Mata Nui, and I was in the middle of college when they washed up once again, as the Toa Masters, on the island of Okoto.
I didn’t really read comics growing up, except for the Bionicle comics, of which I own every issue from start to finish.
I recognize all of the points you make here Slug, and I even agree with you that the Inika masks fundamentally failed because they were less mask, and more face.
However, I will disagree that gear functions are vital to Bionicle’s existence. The first couple years, Bionicle rode heavily on Technic’s coattails, and Lego’s foray into articulation still rudimentary.
To me, I can see the evolution that, as Bionicle design evolved, they relied less heavily on the gears, and instead integrated other play features into the designs.
The Mata and Nuva’s play features were technic gears. The Rakshi and Metru integrated more overall articulation at the cost of lessened gear functions. The Hordika and Visorahk had limited gears, primarily using those gear teeth in a new form: the spinners. Inika/Piraka surrendered those gears to integrate a new play feature, electronics and glow-in-the-dark pieces, while re-engineering the spinner into a launcher. Then, realizing they maybe went a little too hard, we see that the Mahri and Phantoka/Mistika experimented with different launchers while cutting costs by cutting out the electronics and gitd to return to form in a way, bringing back the iconic Metru Head as the primary way to wear masks. And then Glatorian happened and everything went to sh*t. But, as you said, the Masters and Uniters improved on gear functions by integrating CCBS. It was never about just the gears, but experimenting with different ways to build and attempting to find an identity outside of just “gears and masks” (great band name btw).
If I can wax poetic a bit, I wish more builders did what I did, and combined the Masters and Uniters into singular forms. All of my reboot Toa have both the gear box AND the waste gear, and combine elements from both Toa in a way that makes them really feel unique and complete. Maybe I should remake/revisit those old videos? I did publish them on my channel nearly a decade ago now…
Another great Slugger video. You do bring great points about the soft reboot of Metru Nui era. I personally am mainly genwunner of Bonkles. Mata Nui era minus the rahkshi are simply the best (kraata suck and most rahkshi pieces do). I do see the problems of Metru but usually I compared them to vahki, hordika and inika, some of the worst waves we got. I so wish lego had kept making the mask packs. Would have upgraded the build your own character experience. I dont think it would have costed lego that much to reuse the mask molds. They got crazy with morbillion combinations of the gummy worms after all.
Yeah something always seemed off about how Metru builds are so widely loved. I never got convinced but I couldn't put my finger on exactly why. Now I know.
Your opinion might be controversial to some overly-nostalgic people, but you're correct. I might not agree to your later points about what Bionicle is, but I pretty much 100% agree with you on the Metru build.
It wouldn't even be that difficult to fix them without changing the joint types. Just use balljoints for the shoulders and swivels for the elbows, that would work way better than the other way around.
I've seen some MOCs give Metru builds shoulder balljoints. It looks just bad in a lot of examples (such as attaching the hand piece on the inner side of the upper arm and attaching a balljoint to that, it's just way too wide.
Also, the G2 sets were way superior to G1 ones. Not the story or the characters, the sets. And CCBS is much better than the old system, its true potential can be seen in the G2.
I can't really relate to your opinion on masks, but I can undertsand it. I think gear functions are cool but I barely ever put those in my MOCs to have more room to focus on the looks. They're a cool addition but are nowhere near being a requirement for me, they are usually worth sacrificing to achieve better shapes.
For context, I was born to witness the fall (last few years) of Bionicle (my 1st set was Kopaka Phantoka), the rise and fall of Hero Factory and the rise and fall of G2.
I get your points. From the start (in my case 2003) I was a huge bionicle baddies fanboy so I didnt ever think that much about the Toa and which ones I prefer. Please dont make a video trashtalking the visorak tho, you'd hurt my feelings :c 😂 Greetings from Germany!
Maybe giving them secondary color, don't putting the connector between the torso and the arm in an angle, more variety and better mask could make the true " slizer peak ingienere"
In another note, there is concept art of turaga LEWA showing the city to a new toa, and that toa looks like a true evolution of the toa mata/nuva
I think you’ve articulated this really well. I was a huge Bionicle fan back when they first emerged. Had most of the sets, was hyped beyond belief about The Mask of Life movie, especially the awesome sets they brought out for that like Makuta. I did buy some of the Metru when they came out, but I quickly fell out of love with them. The new plot wasn’t as interesting, and the designs were just meh. The loss of the collectible masks was a step in the wrong direction for sure. Another thing that I think was lost – and is something that Lego has suffered from from the mid-00s onwards – is the move away from simple towards over-designed parts/sets. As you said, the original Toa and Toraga all looked unique with simple part use and building techniques. The later Bionicle looked goofy with their over-designed masks and construction.
Of course, nostalgia probably plays a big part in my love for the first few waves of sets.
I’m pretty sure that’s click bait but I’ll rewatch the video a few times just to make sure. Lol
Slugger with the correct opinions as usual. Except of course for insinuating that clone troopers don't have personalities.
Nobody wants to admit that it never got better than the original 6. Also pretty insane that the best Lego YouTuber has so little subscribers. But glad I stumbled upon it before the eventual blow up (In a good way)!
I'd love to see a full Slugger video on Bionicle G2.
Bionicle to me is cool robot diver guys fighting cool robot fish guys underwater (I first got into it around Barraki)
Seems like you are just a 90s kid and fan of the first waves of Bionicle. I am, too, that's why I strongly relate to this humble slugs opinion. I too dropped of at Metro Nui. The origins on that island were so mysterious. Remember the CD ROMs? Those had an awesome atmosphere to them…
im with you bro. i feel the same way, and got out of bionicle at the same time. thanks for an interesting video!
WHERE CAN I GET THAT ALBUM OMG
My Bionicles are around the Mahri line and I completely understand your point with the masks. To me though, the emphasis on them lived on in some ways: storytelling rather than mechanics.
I was never a fan of play features, though they were really cool, the reson being I used to play with legos alone and did not need all the launchers and gear functions. Maybe that's why I like the later lines, not counting nostalgia.
This video is probably not meant for me, a bionicle fan. It's meant for those who like metru line and do not want to use reasons like 'nostalgia' while rationalizing their favourites.
Tell you what, even though I have no strong opinions on the metru beyond some fond memories and really enjoying the (extremely squandered) urban fantasy retheming, these are some valid points. Now if only we had toys that married the positives of the 01-03 toa (gearbox action and masks) and those of 04 and beyond (improved articulation), using a relatively standardized/cross-compatible parts system… oh wait that's just g2. Good thing people were needless harsh against those figures! I swear we don't know how good we had it until it was all gone.
Lol! Your falsetto is incredible! Not related to the videos topic, but combining your natural talents and creativity with your Lego interest are what keeps me patiently waiting and coming back for more. Thanks slugger!
Hawing watched the video with zero knowledge or connection to Bionicle, all I can say is: I like your funny words, Slugger Man!
Yknow I could try and give reasons as to why I disagree, but my least favourite Toa are the Inika and the Nuva… I have no leg to stand on. Lego made a diverse range of characters over the themes first 10 year run, and achieved aesthetics that resonated with some and not with others. They had features that did the same.
The old Thomas battery toys from TOMY had a very similar play system presented in those original Bionicals. The trains could freewheel and be pushed without power, but once the on switch was pushed it pushed a gear in that allowed the motor to take over. It’s a really good system, had no idea that those figures had it!
8:41 "These are not clone troopers from star wars" Shows a stormtrooper on screen
The subtle trolling is STRONG with this one lmao
You are so wholesome
I disagree with few things, but I'll dispute one
TORSO, this torso was ALMOST the best torso in the whole series, and i would argue it still would be IF shoulders were better designed.
Adding two points of articulation in shoulders, one being hinge and other being a socket connection would add both so much poseability, movement AND it could still work with gears. I will always defend the torso, as it is in my opinion a solid side grade for mata torso.
Inika torsos are too wide for me, they greately increase sized of the figures, and so toa just tower over their older siblings, which looks bad to me.
I'm not saying this torso is perfect, and i would argue that Hagah made best ise of it with stuff. If it was in use a bit more, i could see Lego creating parts that would fit that torso gap, and therefore help characters stand out more from each other.
Toa Hagah also fixed something you complained about, mainly arm lengths. It was such simple fix, i firmy believe designers went for uniform look on purpose. Which is unfortunate choice.
When it comes to colours, i agree, they needed secondary colours, and i feel like even lego agreed, since besides Hordika, most toa tend to have secondary colours. I can understand them not doing it with Hordika, but if Hordika had Visorak colours that would be cool. But it could risk being confusing as to why they took appearance of their enemies and all…
I like more vibrant colours tho, so there is that.
Overall, i don't like Metru builds. I love the story, i like characters, but my shelves aren't filed with them. I have bohroks, i have rahi, i might even get titans later, but when it comes to Toa, i still prefer two original waves. And i firmly believe if Metru torso was more compatible with Mata builds, they would have been better sets.
More colours would improve them.
But i will admit that ignika builds are superior figures. And i admit that they make for better toys, and Metru were just a massive leap in that direction.
I just don't like that leap entirely, even if i consider torso to be last perfect bionicle torso
mannnnn your point about the importance of the masks reminds me a lot of what G2 had going for it, with the return to a mask-based function for their characters. Makes it all the more sad they didn’t follow through on the idea fully. Wonder if G2 would’ve fared better if there was a greater incentive to collect the different masks for collection/story reasons, like with the original Toa Mata?
I actually skipped this wave except for matau and vakama because i personally don’t like this wave for the toa. However, i loved the hordika. To me, hordika are the better sets. I often skipped over the metru era for MOCs.
didnt expect you to reference olivia rodrigo and even singing a whole blurb about it!! unironically 1sf3sb is my favorite song of hers so this was an instant watch! great work!!
I would like to say that 2015 Bionicle has that ideal play and display merge imo since you get a gear function and enough friciton to hold most poses
I respect the bravery of the Bionicle opinions, however I must take you to task for a completely different issue… huge walls of text flashed on screen for only a few seconds while I'm already trying to pay attention to your narration! I inevitably end up failing to absorb either chunk of information.
Love the videos, Slugger. Never change (aside from the text chunk thing).
I love the metru. Will have to agree with the slug man though. The metru were also the point were I believe we transitioned more towards the modern design of Bionicle with launchers being the play feature mostly. I love all of em, but still prefer the earlier designs. Hordika were cool though.
I think the metru head looks pretty decent on it's own, minus the slit for the eyestock, great video too!
My disagreement with the video mostly is that I don't view most of what is being presented as "negative" all that negative. I love both the Mata Nui era and older designs for different reasons. I get why people can prefer the older designs but really don't get the bashing of how the designs and story went forward. I see it more as a "you" problem and not so much a problem of the theme, haha. Different strokes for different folks, surely. But in the long run I think that we got some pretty special stuff from the theme that stemmed from the metru.
I've always been more intimate the original Toa over the following ones, it lost me the most when they stopped having head and just had a gradient on a blank thing and the "masks" were weird rubber faces you put on those blank things. I like the Toa Metru fairly well, but yeah, I agree with most of what you had to say, especially with how boring the colors are, grey and a muted color. Also, the lack of a mask that could get knocked off bothered me, one of my favorite features of early Bionicle was that feature, and how you could put a Kurata, those little rubber masks in the Boroks heads, onto a Toa and pretend they were being controlled by it! So many things were lost, and it never truly returned.
All this talk of Galidor, Slizers/Throwbots, constraction figures, and Bionicle, makes me wonder if you're ever going to tackle other non-brick building systems, like Znap. Someday, I want to make a MOC combining all the non-brick systems Lego attempted into a giant plastic Frankenstein's Monster.
I agree 100%
While I don't think the Metru were good Bionicle toys per se, I do think they were a necessary stepping stone in the theme's evolution. A Prototype if you will
I enjoy the Toa Metru because the theming for the whole wave has some amazing Y2K vibes but also bc Nuju was the first Bionicle I picked up. Certainly understand the disappointment of something you loved becoming something else though
An entire video about Metru builds, and not one mention of Lhikan. 😔
My cynical side says the reason you're seeing so much Metru love is that the fans who had them as kids are now just the right age to be arguing about them online
butnotoldenoughtoreflectontheir-nostalgia-.Anyway, I don't really have a horse in the Bionicle race. Aside from a few 1st and 2nd-gen Toa, I only have some Bohrok and I think I'm actually fonder of them on account of their fold-up action and snappy play feature.
My biggest takeaway from this video is that I kinda want a Rahkshi. I did not realise just how iconic their outline and poses are to me just from seeing them in catalogues.
I am so extremely happy that I have survived long enough to be a happy, healthy, well-adjusted 30 year old who can find such a breadth of well-articulated videos about extremely niche hobbies that I was ridiculed for loving as a child.
There's a beautiful karma to this, is all.
(Also I agree with all your points, especially from a Lore and practicality standpoint–Vakama's Kanohi disc aim was always a sore point for me since I could never keep his arm straight)
8:40 DID MY BOII SLUGGER JUST CALL A STORMTROOPER A CLONE TROOPER!?
I think this video is the first to express what I've felt about G2 for a while. I always preferred it over later waves of G1, but I never really could put a finger on why. This vid made me realize that's it's not just about the return to classic characters, it's about the return to classic design sensibilities. They had way more play functions, brighter colors, and a full, cohesive team. Great video as always!