The Toa Metru ~ 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back... 

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

I commend your bravery in posting this video. This is like the Bionicle equivalent of saying Empire Strikes Back is the worst OG Star Wars film...hey, wait...

Real Bionicle is when you dislocate your joints and crawl into a tube.

wow I didn't know olivia rodrigo was so interested in the design sensibilities of bionicle, she was a great guest-star on the video!

I'll have you know I did NOT read the blurb before posting! I'm a criminal!

I have a special viewpoint to share with you. In my country, Bionicle became widely available with the Metru Nui release. While I already knew of the Bionicle and was fascinated with the mask part of the toy, I could not get my hands on them at all. So when I got the Toa Metru and saw that their masks didn't just loosely fit in, but where basically their heads, I was kinda confused, but realised that the previous iteration probably had some issues and that's why they changed. Seeing as how all further sets did not have an emphasis on masks, this is what Bionicle became for me. I did get the chance to get the older models as Chinese knockoffs and quickly became annoyed with their lack of opposability. As a kid all I wanted was to play with action figures that moved, not static statues. By far the best figures for that were the Rakshi. Honestly not topped to this day. The second best were the water level Toa (the one you said are unique in the video). So while the masks are a core feature of the draw of Bionicle and one which I wished I could enjoy, I did not have a chance to play with them so they attained some sort of mythical status of long gone play features instead of the defining part of the toy. I assume a lot of other fans are in similar situations. That's why the Toa Metru hold a special place in our heart. They were the first. Also the huge amount of cross promotion with video games in cereal or the movie which was way better than the first for a 10 year-olds mind. Obviously the first movie is a way better movie, but the second one has spectacle and big enemies and robots. To me that was the height of Bionicle. Sure I followed the story and played the games until the end, but this is the period I remember as the hey day of Bionicle. All your criticisms are valid, but seen through the lens of someone who got to play with the first generation. That's probably why disagreements might appear with other people.

Olivia being a Bionicle fan and singing live about them is the dimension I want to live in.

i find 2006's lore excuse for the faceless heads really funny. in-canon their unmasked faces just glow so bright it blinds everyone, and the masks are.. alive kind of??

Ah-ah-ah! Gali Mata has broad shoulders (still a good look in my eyes, gives her an warrior princess vibe) Funny enough, I DID give my Toa Metru secondary colors for a few years… but I eventually decided it was too loud for the shaping of the armor and just clashed too obnoxiously, switching back to the grey as a mid tone.

In retrospect, I realize I was basically a Bionicle genwunner, even if I wasn't an especially vocal one. The original designs just "looked right" to me, and what came after, including the Metru which I believed I owned two of, lost more and more of that charm as they went on.

I'm just happy we get to talk about Bionicles again. The masks where always my favorite part, still have some.

One thing that I do love about the metru( and I can’t really explain why) is the fact that they have angled shoulders. There was something just so cool about those back then.

I think the biggest set back for the toa metru for me was the standardization of the toa bodies. The Mata were unique across each toa having subtle quirks between body styles. The metru toa where basically the same body but with different masks and toa tools.

"When mask became faces, Bionicle ceased to be Bionicle"... It was the bravest and hottest take I've ever heard about Bionicle. And gosh, it feels almost criminally right...

Slugger and bionicle together warms my heart

I see your point at 17:16 but raise you with the fact that their weapons actually work under water. The Mahri series really brought back after gen 4 Inika, especially with each set, both heros and villains being unique. The Mahri and the Barraki were phenomenal returns to form, but once again soured by the Phantoka.

I played the 2001 Nestlé CD-ROM so many times, but my first set was Toa Vakama. Metru Nui and its heroes have long held a tender spot in my heart for being the first of the theme I could get my hands on, and for painting a wondrous vision of a city filled with vibrant life and deadly intrigue. ..But I wouldn't say the Metru build is top of my personal list when it comes to playability. Trying to aim Vakama's disk launcher always led to his other arm flopping around, the angled shoulder connection made it difficult to get Nokama to hit that blades-out swimming pose, and any time I wanted them to do anything outside of a walking motion I had to realign the gears. Their masks bothered me, because outside of Nokama's Rau it didn't feel like there was a clear through line to the Noble Masks of their old age. And yet, I love them dearly. I even still keep Lhikan built with his delectable color scheme. The way their proportions feel "grown up" compared to their Matoran hit just right. Their drab, uniform grey gave them a sense of seriousness to a kid my age. They will always be classics to me. But thank you for sharing your own criticisms! I could feel some of them in my bones for sure

For me, simply being Technic-built figures was enough to "be Bionicle" to me, since Technic as a building system allowed for so much creativity in the builds that I didn't get to see in any other Lego theme, during or since. Galidor or traditional action figures would never allow me to seamlessly mix and match parts from the Rahi and vehicles together with the main characters. That said, I will admit that as someone who grew up with 2006-onwards Bionicle, I always did yearn for more collectible masks, as opposed to having each mold be specialized per character - that was something that always drew me in during the fiction, and looking back at the older toys. That said, having a gear system to smack masks off, *that* always felt like a gimmick to me that I could do without, even as a kid. Being able to play with the toys with any poses I wished to get them in, and having the gimmicks all be self-contained like the disk launchers, spinners, blasters, and (my favorite) the Tridax pods, was always preferable, as it meant "the toy gimmick" wouldn't be intrusive in the build of the actual toy, plus they'd work on a narrative level as simply "being functional representations of the in-story weapons", lol. Anyways the Kanoka disks could've used more individuality, but their concept and play feature rocked, so hush you, haver-of-poor-taste. On the note of fiction though, I heavily disagree with your gripes about Metru Nui as a setting - firstly you tremendously miss the point of prequel stories in general, thinking none of it matters if you know "everyone turns out okay" - bro, we all already know the heroes are going to turn out okay in nearly every story ever made, because otherwise there wouldn't be a satisfying plot; the ending isn't the point, "it's about the journey"; and in the case of prequels, also adding extra context or new wrinkles to enhance existing stories. to this day, Metru Nui is probably still one of the most creative and compelling sci-fi settings I know of: the transport hub of Le-Metru with all its suspended water tunnels being a gigantic transport hub, Ta-Metru being a literal enormous furnace, Onu-Metru's mazelike archives, the great coliseum with its modular floor and nonsensically-tall tower, the island surrounded on all sides by liquid metal, and so much more make it feel both lively and curiosity-piquing, especially with the narrative of it being a 1984-esque police state that also somehow plays home to ungodly creatures like the Morbuzakh vines, numerous gigantic dragons that could easily level the entire city, and whatever things stalk the spiraling tunnels like the Krahka (literally Bionicle's The Thing). Knowing that all of this grande and dramatic nonsense existed in the distant/recent past of a setting as humble-yet-mysterious as Mata Nui, which itself played home to several previously-unknown terrors literally climbing out from the depths like the Bohrok and Rahkshi, only adds to the intrigue of the overall setting, if you asked me.

I am a Toa Metru fan but I agree completely with all your criticisms of the sets except the colors - I totally see what you're saying about how people might just like the greys for familiarity, but I personally love the more muted and urban look because I think it fit in so well with the new city setting. That's also why I think I'm more lenient with the homogenized look, though I do wish they had some sort of variety. Personally I stayed with Bionicle during the shift to Metru Nui. It was jarring for sure, but this strange city existing underground mixed with the knowledge that there was some upcoming tragic ending to this tale? That was more than enough to keep me invested in the story. IMO the story started to fall apart around 2007 when we got too many filler fight scenes and character interactions became quips and the serials introduced a million new subplots that went nowhere. I'm also not a fan at all of the Mahri sets, and I think even lower of the 2008 sets so that's about when I lost interest in the franchise.

as someone that fell into the Lego dark age right before the Bionicle era, i find this history very interesting.

They used a double balljoint holder as upperarm yet they didn't use the upper balljoint. It would have solve the armlength problem and the posebility.

Honestly so refreshing to see such a levelheaded analysis of Metru. The shoulders were so limiting and less fun for play! Love your vids, Slugger.

AMAZING video. A lot of these points are exactly why I, as an adult, have only really cared to collect sets from 2001-2003, despite the WHOLE Bionicle story being a large part of my childhood that I am still very fond of.

First time learning about the gearbox bypass 😮 Definitely missed that in the instructions

8:40 DID MY BOII SLUGGER JUST CALL A STORMTROOPER A CLONE TROOPER!?

I share a lot of the feelings about Bionicle here! Very well-written video, especially with the handful of humorous visuals paired with what you were saying. It was interesting to turn on the TV today and see a new R.R. Slugger video posted "8 seconds ago"... I don't remember what I turned it on to watch now! I'm sure this was better than whatever it was, though.

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!

I'm gonna be real, I wasn't expecting to be hit with a Spoony "BETRAYAL" clip. That one made me jump out my seat.

I think when it comes to the ‘newer’ building system that wasnt as compatible with mata era stuff is more of a futureproofing type deal especially when it comes to visual compatibility. The mata pieces are ridiculously specific and dont mesh well with other lego parts and you can see that on larger bionicle builds like makuta with all the jutting parts and exposed ball joints. The metru style of joint design could be better integrated into larger builds and maintain visual cohesion. What i think is ignored in this video about the metru year was the clearer focus on the titans and larger characters rather than large technic rahi. The system for the toa may be a little bit muddied down but these new parts made for other characters in bionicle going forward much more visually cohesive as well as allowed for better modification which is the whole appeal to lego over other toy brands. This and the masks being axles was more probably just focused on stability of play because thats something lego has focused on a lot more of as years went on. The masks were still removable as shown in lore and the movies. Its just a shame they did not make mask packs for metru era stuff. But theres probably a good monetary reason why they never went back to it from the mata era as recolours arent as cheap as youd necessarily think

14:30 So true. The mask is literally the most important part of a build. MOCs included. Its usually the hardest thing for me to figure out when trying to make one. To find the perfect fit for the character. It ties the entire build together.

Promises made, promises kept

I was born in 1999, & my first Bionicles were Toa Hordikas (as a birthday gift), but my favourite era of Bionicle is the pre-Nuva era

Lol I was simultaneously listening to your music and remembering how you're one of the other few detractors of the metru earlier this morning

Toa Metru were my Bionicles growing up, I loved the aesthetic and builds, but the Mata were definitely iconic!

EVERYONE COME QUICK! SLUGGER POSTED HIS VIDEO ABOUT THE TOA METRU!!!

No WAAAAAY I’m so happy you actually made it I’m commenting before I even watch it!

Honestly kinda crazy to hear you left Bionicle after Metru Nui, that's when I got my first set and thought the later 06-07 was deep.

I will say I think its telling that childhood me chose to build my toa metru to intentionally remove the gear function in the shoulders.

I love that song you made near the end!

honestly i never thought about it this hard. i just really liked all of them regardless of their features, bionicles just look cool no matter what to me.

funny, I was just talking to a friend about being kind of underwhelmed by the metru while rebuilding a box of bionicle parts I rediscovered at my parents' house. can't wait to watch this one after work!

I agree with your point on the reuse of parts between each other when it comes to the bohrok, vahki, etc Those are monsters meant to buy a bunch of, they aren't meant to be named characters Cannon fodder, not main villains

Mr. Slugger, you make the best Lego content. Legos were my first love as a hobby, and because of your sluggy words, I am going back to that hobby! Love you big guy! ❤️

I really need to get into Bionicle to feel the impact this video must have within the community. This was really awesome to listen to despite my lack of knowledge!

I love a good Slugger rant!

It’s funny because, as a system fan, I never even got bionicle. So I have no dog in the fight. I’m just invested for the entertainment factor of seeing Slugger’s passionate and articulate soliloquy and what it lets me know about the apparent views in the fanbase. The song was hilarious. Another brilliant video, my guy!

I appreciate Bionicle content and I appreciate you Slugger! Thanks for putting in a heap of work!

This video actually ended up just teaching me a lot about the different lines of Bionicle toys- I never knew much about the difference becauses I didn't know much about the lore and all of my Bionicle come from one massive yard sale lot I got when I was a kid. The rahkshi has and will always be my favorite in the entire series- I know they aren't the stars and portrayed as villain's but they were always my favorite for their articulation and cool sleak silhouette. The Bohrok would probably be a close second with their unique play features and Ability to become a ball I find them very cute- Suffice to say I was never the biggest Bionicle fan but I have always been more captivated by the designs of the villains than the heros. Edit: I know this has nothing to do with the main argument in the video but just wanted to gush about my favorite Bionicles :3 Also I totally agree with your soapbox on Masks being Bionicle- and thats coming from someone who didn't experience the launch, Didn't know the lore, and later bought Hero factory! The old faces are so Iconic and it always felt like the faces were all the same because they are all the same species but the masks being unique is what gives them personality! I WAS NOT thinking about powers and yet it still is what set Bionicle's apart from their villain's or even from later technic lines like hero factory- especially with the Slugs and rubbery bugs that could take over I always loved that feature

8:41 "These are not clone troopers from star wars" _Shows a stormtrooper on screen_ The subtle trolling is STRONG with this one lmao

We love you Slugger🐌

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)

The Rahi sets were peak Bionicle. They came in pairs and had Technic play features focused on knocking masks off Toa or other Rahi.

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

Thanks for sharing your opinion @RRSlugger / I was into Bionicle since 2001, but Toa Metru still are some of my favorites. I never cared about gear functions, and the lack of the articulation of the original sets was really a big issue for me, as I was into super poseable action figures growing up, and I just couldn’t overlook the fact that you can’t even turn their heads left and right. But. I do understand your issues with Toa Metru and I honestly agree with most of them, but I still love them, just like I love 2001-2003, even thought they lack articulation.

Calling a slug dense is like calling a meter fast.

Slugger wanted the smoke but ended up putting out the fire

I agree a lot despite being a metru fan, especially on the shoulder joints thing, but I wanna make something very clear. Though they axed the play feature and alt colour kanohi (mostly, there are a few exceptions), kanohi were still absolutely critical to the world and lore of bionicle. the vahi used in the movie was kinda an example of a mask that can be worn over other kanohi, and was the ultimate maguffin of vakama's arc. and of course the Ignika was the most important kanohi of all time and spanned 2 whole toa runs (the same toa sure but still) and a LOT of expanded lore going forward. It was really glatorian that did away with the mask powers for the most part, since they wear 'helmets' instead of kanohi. so in a way, you're factually incorrect. The spirit of your point rings true though. However, I think they did away with the mask gimmick becuase over time, that mouth connection would get weaker and the masks would just....fall off. consider the matoran of that line, same mask system, but becuase thost masks were a lot thinner, they would fall off during normal play A LOT. Vhisola was my first bionicle, and I was forever dropping and losing her mask. Personally, I actually dislike the gear functions, even the toa mata ones. though this comes from a place of playing with them more like actions figures as a kid, and posing them as a collector later (not to mention how annoying it is to do stop motion with earlier bionicles, needing stage wire and rigs and all that- though some pieces lost their friction regardless so, eh). I agree that the toa should look mechanically unique, but they should try to use as many of the same pieces as possible. recolours are super important for MOCs. I think what seperates early bionicle enjoyers with metru onwards enjoyers is ethos. for folks like myself, the emphasis isn't on technic or play or gear functions or masks (tho recolours are nice, and nowadays we can 3D print alt colour of movie/unreleased kanohi anyway), it was about the lore. the characters, the unfolding story, the background schemes and sideplots, and of course- the villains. Makuta is cool lets be real, hes as generic and mustache twirling as they come, at least in mask of light. meanwhile theres characters like vesok, who has to grapple with the fact that he's now incomplete becuase of the ignika, or zaktan, a cunning snake who gets turned into nanomachines. in fact the piraka in general were good villains (outside of bionicle heroes- good game it may be) becuase they all wanted to betray one another. It really parallels a villain group that existed around the same time- the phyrexian preators of magic the gathering. working together for tactical advantage but ultimately they despise and plot against one another. anyway I apologise for the essay. I am a HUGE fan of your work, videos and music alike.

This man is the villain of bionicle nostalgia lol Honestly we need less rose tinted glasses on bionicle in my opinion. That sentiment has prevented the community from truly accepting the reboot which if I’m honest, had better articulation and gear mechanics than we ever had.

Metru was a necessary stepping stone. ELBOWS and KNEES. I'm so mad at ninjago for this right now specifically.

14:18 you just articulated the weird feeling that old bionicle promotional material would give me all those years ago that I couldn't quite explain

That comment about the clones not having personalities stings.

That "BETRAYAL" is very familiar! 8:08

Very great video. As someone who grew up primarily with the 01-03 era sets, I can understand how that period feels like the "golden era" of Bionicle. That being said, I think my personal definition of a "Bionicle" would come down to the ability to customize and build new models out of their pieces. Whether that be your own custom Toa, Tohunga, Rahi, or whatever, the essence of an "action figure that you can take apart" to such a level of detail is what Bionicle is to me. That's why I've always seen Bionicle as just as true of a part of LEGO as any other classic theme. Sure, some other toys would let you swap limbs or accessories, but the very nature of the Technic system allows for a fundamentally greater level of creative expression than anything else. That's why I had no issues with the sets from Hero Factory or G2. I can get out my bins of technic and CCBS pieces and make something entirely unique, regardless if the original set had collectible masks or working gear functions. In the end, Bionicle had such a big impact on so many fans at many different time periods and in many different ways; it's logical to expect different people to have different priorities of what they consider to be "true" Bionicle. Although the Metru may have been fairly disappointing for me as a kid, the fact that a generation of kids were able to play with those sets and make their own amazing creations with them is enough for me to consider the Metru a vital part of Bionicle's history. Bravo for making a video about Bionicle that doesn't repeat the same tired points of praise we constantly hear nor does it unjustifiably insult subjective opinions with "objective fact." It's nice hearing a well-articulated discussion that remains respectful while still being fresh and unique; that's a rarity in most online communities.

Ngl it’s actually super cool kinda seeing this side of the intrigue for bionicle. Like, my entry was with the web of shadows movie when I was a kid lmaoo, and I never really had a strong connection to the gear functions; leaned more with that customizable action figure end. So the mystery of finding the masks or with the mata shoulders being actual shoulder joints (((and not like, weird bicep curlers lmaoo))) is honestly a joy that I never fully considered, and am now maybe slightly jealous of but shhhh. Def gonna start messing around more with the technic side of things. Genuinely appreciate learning new ways to enjoy bionicle, even after all these years lol, so thank you!!

A Slugger Bionicle Video? Oh boy! I sure hope he didn't say anything rude about my hideously ugly, ugly, precious childeren :)

I respect the bravery of this hot take so I want to offer my own in response: When you said "Then they might as well be generic technic action figures", I would 100% prefer if that was what they were. When I was old enough to get Bionicles, hey were already in the "Hordika" phase, so I didn't really have an entry point for all this lore. Mom didn't think to pick up 3 generations worth of direct-to-dvd movies alongside the figure, the games didn't really shed much light on who the guys in my collection were, so any relevant Bionicle lore was out of my grasp. I think it's all baggage, and as an adult, knowing about the Maori appropriation and lawsuit kept me from even wanting to dive in. So yes, I'd rather have contextless robots than cyborg-skeletons with muscles you have to know you're supposed to imagine between the pieces.

omg! it's happening! the metru build slander has begun! XD i kid, looking forward in seeing what your take is.

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!!

The Toa Metru are the closest Bionicle ever got to “good looking” proportions. They certainly look orders of magnitude better than the wierd lanky Inika proportions that basically stuck around til the end.

The best thing about the toa metru were the electric toothbrush with a special piece to adapt bionicle masks to any toothbruh

Interesting thoughts right here. Great video!

SO TRUE BESTIE, excellent points I agree with entirely. Love seeing bionicle content from you!

I’ll give you props for the shoulder articulation and muted mono-color scheme. Everything else though is extremely subjective. Especially the masks. I’ve always thought the old masks were too flimsy when fitting on the head and the idea of collecting other masks and using them took away from the Toa’s unique identity. Additionally the Metru torso is better than the Mata torso. It has a lot more room to use for MOCs while still retaining gear functions. The Mata torso was great for gear functions but not much else. While I know this is subjective I really love the more streamlined design of the Toa Metru. It’s a form of visual storytelling to show “These Toa are a team from a different era”. While I do think some more unique pieces could’ve been used to further distinguish the Metru from one another, the overall look is great. I love the Nuva but I went out of my way to straighten Onua and Pohatu so they look more in line with the other Toa Nuva and not deformed. To be honest the video comes off as very purist by saying “All Bionicle after this era are not Bionicle”. The thing is, Bionicle is not just cool toys that are supposed to conform to a strict ruleset. It’s not the sole reason we bought them as kids. We bought them because they were cool toys coming from a cool universe. And this is going to be tangental, but I despise the “we know the narrator lives so the story is boring” critique. By that logic more than half of all stories are boring and pointless. Stories are not just interesting because of their outcomes. They’re interesting because of the characters and their struggles. How did the Turaga become Toa? What did they face? What kind of growth did they go through to become who they are? Don’t dismiss stories from the past. There’s my two cents. 0/10 my childhood is ruined and I’m shaking and crying rn.

7:08 removes everything distinct about the Toa Metru and complains about them being clones of each other

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.

My biggest gripe with the Toa Metru isn't even something that's their fault, but that Lego kept the dull dark colour palette for most sets until 2009. I think the dark colours fit the metru and hordika well, since they fit the tone and retro-futurist aesthetic, but losing out on the vibrant colours from 2001 most of the time is a real bummer. Now granted, this never bothered me as a child, but as an adult Bionicle MOCist now, the relative lack of vibrant Wave 1 colours really sucks to me.

What an insufferable opinion

I agree. The first generation Bionicles will always be my favorite, and just because we used their parts to build magical wards to guard to guard my daughters from monsters while they slept.

I share a very similar sentiment for the metru, albeit from the other end of the fence. For me, my love for bionicle came from the ways you could create and express. I got my first sets in 2009. And I wouldn't get a way to go online until 2012 or 2013, meaning by the time I became a full bionicle fan, the series was already over. Herofactory was around, and I enjoyed much of what it had to offer, but I usually found bionicle more exiting. So over the years I would acquire parts second hand, and I would get a lot of them. For me, the true joy was not to be found in the sets, but with the mocs you could make with them. The sets were like a tutorial to me, a way to teach you the basics of how to build. The real game was in the Mocs. And the bigger, the more complex, the more poseable, the more expressive you could make them, the better. To me bionicle was about the characters and the stories you made with them. Which leads me to what made me truly fall in love, the stop motion. When I think of the bionicle community I think of all the fan series that were made over the years. And my favorites were always the epic battles and intense action sequences that could be made. Of course, a design with a gearbox doesn't lend itself well to something like that, which is part of the reason I considered them a neat bonus at best, or a sacrifice at worst. Oddly, I don't hold the inika in high regards, their style didn't speak to me much and the colors were did even less. I consider 2007 and 2009, to be bionicles peak. Colorful, expressive, with a design that represents their personality. An art piece to themselves. No wonder I later got into illustration. The metru just didn't do anything for me. the masks were fine but few of the weapons spoke to me. the torso piece is an over specialized nightmare that makes it hard to use for anything other than its intended purpose, of which went against what made me a bionicle fan. And the rest of its parts that were useful could easily be found elsewhere that had much better pieces overall. This is in combination with most of what you brought up. I'll take 1 good shoulder over an elbow any day.

I also prefer "Bionicle the technic subtheme" over "Bionicle the construction figures theme". And yet, I think they are both fun and that's what is important to me.

Great video! Points well made! You definitely changed my mind (not that I had very strong opinions on the Toa Metru, they released just before I grew out of Bionicle. I just remembered being impressed that the Rakshi joints had been implemented on a Toa.)

8:41 "these are not clone troppers from star wars" *shows stormtroopers* Slug you really are playing with fire

Just the fact that this discussion about the Toa Metru is being had AT ALL is already saying volumes about the engineering that went into their toy designs. If you're in an Online Bionicle Space and you see this kind of design discussion and you can guess what it's about, what started it, etc with a more consistent accuracy than a coin flip then yeah, there's something going on there.

Nothing like sitting back and watching a slug finally explain his disgust towards the toa metru

Gotta say, I'm surprised this was about the toys, and not the characters. Can't wait to sink my teeth into this after work.

So much power in this video.

Now that's one persuasive slug! I was at the perfect age for these toys and was totally swept up in their "cool factor" so I was definitely not thinking about the nuances of the building system or play features as a kid. The Rule of Cool had me firmly in its grasp and I was just jealous that I didn't have Vakama or Nuju because they were the coolest ones, I had "the girl Bionicle" which my brothers ribbed me for. Admittedly not as much as my kid brain thought they did, but once was enough! These sets definitely hold a special place in my heart, but I couldn't agree more with all your points. Modern parts and revamps make the sets much better... ...but yeah, modern. No contemporary method made the shoulders work better or the masks more fun. The time that one of the Metru masks did get a recolor was with a rare titan set and technically with a matoran that had a lighter blue mask than the original. Not very collectable or interesting. I've had the chance to purchase some custom recolors and I gotta say, huge missed opportunity for LEGO. I'll never understand the disk collecting, it just wasn't that interesting. I remember looking at old instructions and inserts for collectables for the Toa Mata and Nuva and being jealous that later waves didn't get that treatment. In the Legends of Metru Nui movie they even make a point to tie mask powers into the character development, further pulling masks into identity and away from interchangable powers that could boost a Toa in unique circumstances. I don't think the lore of Bionicle was too obtuse for kids to understand in later waves, I think that it became less and less tide to play functions and design in the actual sets. Anyway, loved the video as always. Keep on sluggin'. Or something like that?

Oh Mata Nui, at long last I bear witness to someone with a similar mindset! It is the very reason why I incorporate wild and outlandish gear functions in my builds. As I have a great appreciation towards the golden years of bionicle as well as G2.

The Toa Inika will always hold a special place in my heart. Bionicle Heroes was one of the first Videogames I ever played and defeated the final boss. Still need to 100% it though.

Hawing watched the video with zero knowledge or connection to Bionicle, all I can say is: I like your funny words, Slugger Man!

My opinion on the subject is radically different, but I agree on this point: Mask Packs and Technic play features should've been a staple throughout the whole line.

That voice was beautiful XD

I have to agree with your stance on the shoulders, not only as a fan today, but also as a child who grew up with the Toa Metru as their first bionicle line. I loved the look of these figures, but always lamented that they were stuck with only forward-facing action. As cool as the action features were for whacking each other with, I always figured I could do the exact same thing my moving the arms on my own, and meanwhile, being able to move their shoulders would have allowed for the same poseability and narrative-based play that I loved from the Inika later on.

For me, this has probably been the video I've been anticipating the most from this channel by far, I just as much enjoyed this video as I did the Power Miners video from months ago as well, even if I disagreed with one or two points from the video. Having now seen a comparison of the original Toa Metru sets next to modified versions with added secondary highlight colors, I can't unsee how dull the shared grey used across all the sets are, the orange highlights added to Vakama were something I never even realized I wanted especially lol

I find it really interesting that you place the set design as the highest qualifier for what makes Bionicle, well, Bionicle. As soon as you mentioned gear functions and focus on the masks as your high points of the series, I immediately thought “I bet he liked G2,” and a few moments later, I was proven right 😅 For me, the appeal of Bionicle was always in the story. Looking back now, the story was obviously just a way to link the toys together, but as a kid growing up with this stuff, that thought never entered my mind. I was fully invested in the story. I never really cared for the gear functions or even the mask collection (which were already on their way out when I got my first Bionicle sets in 2003), I just wanted these characters because I thought they looked cool, and later because I read about them in books and saw them in the movies. Anyway, long-winded comment just to say I find your perspective interesting in that it is almost opposite of mine. You view the story as accessory to the sets, I always viewed the sets as accessory to the story.

To be honest, I always felt that Technic action features were an attribute that carried over from Technic, not something that defined Bionicle as a whole. What defined Bionicle for me was the ball and socket joints.

Please make more bionicle videos. You have a hot take, and I want to hear more since it’s a very unique point of view. I have SO much nostalgia for bionicle I don’t think I will ever fully agree, but I love hearing your thoughts on this. Well thought out, very fair critique!

The emphasis on masks also helps in story telling.Makuta used Dume's mask to pose as him in the metru nui story line.Utilizing different masks for different scenarios is in part what makes it special.

The way we see bionicle is very different because I started collecting in 2007. I had to come back many years later to get sets before 2006. To me, the ignition trilogy is very much bionicle and almost more bionicle than anything else.

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!