How did you acquire your Tohunga sets?

[Rooster Nui]

So, I've started this topic for both myself and others on BZPower to discuss how they got their Tohunga sets.

 

Normally Bionicle sets couldn't be purchased at McDonald's, but as many of you know, the 2001 Matoran sets which were initially known as Tohunga in 2001 and still are by some people today, could've been purchased at McDonald's. These sets are based on the characters Jaller, Macku, Onepu, Hewkii, Kongu, Matoro and Hafu (which can be included because of being released while known as a Tohunga).

 

However, not everyone may have gotten these at McDonald's and may have gotten them elsewhere, such as a garage sale, Ebay or Bricklink.

 

I got my first Tohunga, Matoro, from a McDonald's which was in walking distance from the field that my older brother played soccor on. Myself, my brother and my sister each got one Matoro polybag. That was the day that I not only got my first Bionicle set, but also my first Lego set ever.

 

The only other Tohunga I've gotten is Hafu with the Power Pack via Bricklink about three or four years ago. 

 

So, if you want to, share your experience/s and discuss below.

[bioniclepluslotr]

I saw Macku at a friend's house once. I took it.

[doodleloot]

The first Tohunga I got was Nuparu who came with the Boxor. Since I live in Germany there was no way for me to get the McDonald's Tohunga at the time. I always wanted them though but never really got a chance to have one. Until I saw a Tohunga Kongu on eBay Germany in around 2009 and bought him. A few months later Jala popped up on eBay too and I got two of him, so I could use my parts to build Takua. 

Then last year I decided to finally order a full set from Lithuania for around 40 bucks. 

[Hewkii8730]

Went on eBay got a big box of lego got all of then exept Kongu which I have now it was awesome

[emily]

I got Onepu from the original promotion, but I couldn't convince my parents to take me to McDonalds for another one after that. Luckily my mother is a frequenter of second hand stores and by checking out the toy sections in those I had amassed a fair collection of Tohunga parts by 2003. I held on to those for years before ordering the rest of the necessary parts from Bricklink - as well as the parts to build a lot of other Tohunga.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Pereki

[Munty]

This is an interesting topic. I actually bricklinked the majority of my own set but could never find JAla's red arms! Recently I scored a whole duplicate set off a big Italian listing on ebay. They were missing a few bits (and are now missing Jala's red arms too!!!) but I now have two sets

[Wolfrenz0]

My first (and onlly) was Kongu. got him on Ebay a few months back. Nifty little thing he is.

[Toa Doublebee]

Onepu from Boxor.  I plan to get more though. ALOT more. Probably from Ebay, maybe Bricklink.

edit: Now that I think about it, I lost Onepu many years ago. I don't know where/how. :c

Edited January 30, 2015 by Toa Doublebee

[Krisha]

I'll ask McDonalds on Twitter if they have some Mctoran saved somewhere...

[Zeb]

I got Macku's body + Gali Mata's Kaukau from an unofficial Lego-selling store called "Minifigs Bricks and More". The parts were in this huge table filled with random Lego parts. I bought a whole ziploc-bagfull of mostly Constraction-related parts, and built Hahli's 2001-2002 form, which technically isn't an actual set but there weren't any Hunas so yeah. I later added one of those System 3-flower parts + 2 of the flowers, stuck it into one of the gaps on the top of her head, and made her look like her appearance at the end of the 2002 Bohrok Animations.

[Nescent]

I got a few from McDonalds (I remember buying a bunch of Happy Meals because I really wanted Onepu), but in like 2005 I gave my Bionicle collection to a friend. A few years later a family friend gave me his old collection, and that included Huki, Maku, and Kongu. I still have Huki and Maku, but I sold Kongu when I lost interest in Bionicle.

 

I've still never owned Onepu.

[McNugget]

i dont have tohunga

[Toa Smoke Monster]

My parents took me to McDonalds a lot when the Tohunga were being given out. I managed to get all of them except for Hewkii.

[Rooster Nui]

I saw Macku at a friend's house once. I took it.

It's not the most appropriate action but hey, at least you got a set out of it. Still, don't do that, it's not very nice.

 

I'll ask McDonalds on Twitter if they have some Mctoran saved somewhere...

I'm not so sure if they'll have a direct response to that. I'd be surprised if they do.

 

My first (and onlly) was Kongu. got him on Ebay a few months back. Nifty little thing he is.

Yes, I'd say they are indeed nifty and cool. However, they've gone from cheap to expensive, but I guess they're now easier to find on the internet.

[Ballom Nom Nom]

I got two Kongu and Hewkii at McDonalds, and acquired a third Kongu, Onepu, and Jaller from a friend, IIRC. I also bought Matoro's mask on BrickLink for completion, as I got the 2003 version of Macku.

 

~B~

[Tuuli]

I remember getting tons from McDonalds, but sadly over the years none of them besides Maku made it... (And even lost an arm) before I started trying to collect them again sometime during the 2009 era, and I got all 6 originals and Hafu then from EBay. But now I can get even more from piece bins and secondhand Lego retailers, and I've now massed up an entire army of Tohunga!

[Xan]

I got them from Ebay. I won't say who as I don't want to annoy Munty again.

 

[Tuuli]

I saw Macku at a friend's house once. I took it.

PUT THAT MATORAN DOWN!

[Shadow Destroyer]

I got all of them from McDonald's, except for Matoro. (It helps having siblings!)

[JMSOG]

a very lucky christmas when i was 5 XD i can only assume it was eBay or mcdonalds...Or burger king...i just realised i don't know where they were given out XD

[Nescent]

a very lucky christmas when i was 5 XD i can only assume it was eBay or mcdonalds...Or burger king...i just realised i don't know where they were given out XD

A Happy Meal toy is considered a very lucky Christmas present...only in Bionicle.

[Jacks]

Got Nuparu with the Boxor in 2002. After I got Hewkii & Macku in their '03 forms, I traded parts with a friend for the beige torso & arms and the same for light blue. Somehow acquired Jala sans head and mask, can't for the life of me remember how. Bought the PowerPack off Bricklink in 2005, bought Kongu on eBay in 2006. Last fall I bought a bunch of masks from BZP member Reya and have finally completed Jala.

[Toa Turing]

A friend gave me Onepu 5 or so years ago. About 2 years ago I bought parts for Macku, Kongu, and Hewkii off of Bricklink.

[Dorek]

Five from McDonald's, plus a spare Huki. Hafu from eBay.

 

Onepu from some random toy store in France in 2004 which was the greatest thing ever.

[Alucia]

I can honestly say that the Tohunga sets never became available round where I live, so i never knew about them till a few years ago.

I guess they are relativly rare now arnt they? Online i mean.

[Rooster Nui]

I can honestly say that the Tohunga sets never became available round where I live, so i never knew about them till a few years ago.

I guess they are relativly rare now arnt they? Online i mean.

Well, they aren't too rare, but it's really hard to find them sealed for a price below $8 USD. That's the main reason I haven't gotten any of the other ones.

[No Cash Value]

I got Onepu and Jaller from a cousin. Those are the only two I have.

[Doctor Makuta]

Got em all from Mcdonalds. I even remember the commercial.

[Toatapio Nuva]

The very first one I got was Hafu, via the power pack. One of the happiest days of my life. The second was Nuparu with the Boxor. The rest I got from ebay. I wanted them cause they were featured in the MNOG constantly.

[masterchirox580]

I don't even know if I have a full one, I live in the UK so it was impossible to get one at a Mcdonalds, years ago my father bought a giant box of loose bionicle parts from a couple years prior (and I think I got that box in 2004), in said box there are what I believe to be parts of the tohunga, so I kinda own one (maybe two). 

[The Skakdi Chronicler]

Lots of lego bins, which were lacking in Hewkii, Macku, and Hafu.

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

Easy enough, at one point i was on a vacation in with my family(cant remember what country it was in but most likely somewhere denmark but not legoland) and there was a limited quantity of tohunga giveaways but they only had Maku left. Years earlier i already owned the powerpack.

1,5 years later before 2006 came along i got the rest of the 5 tohunga sets for christmas including for christmas(my aunt had spotted them for cheap at a store for ISKR to USD equivalent of 4,99$ each) along with a pair of jeans.

 

Later i brokered a trade with Bzpower Flintsmith who had a interest in misprint masks(i had a much older account back then) if i remember and traded my tohunga(including powerpack hafu) and a few misprint masks in exchange for jaller and matoro inika who weren't available in my country yet.

[Sir Kohran]

 

 

Onepu from some random toy store in France in 2004 which was the greatest thing ever.

 

I wonder how that ended up there at that time?

 

I can honestly say that the Tohunga sets never became available round where I live, so i never knew about them till a few years ago.

I guess they are relativly rare now arnt they? Online i mean.

 

They're rare online or off. These sets were only available for (at most) two months in one continent.

[Saint-14]

Nuparu from the Boxor like most people, and at least three Kongu from McD's back in the day haha

 

I'm planning on buying Matoro soon, though, I need to have the precious for my shrine

 

Plus I'm going to buy some spare parts to create my own self-MOC Tohunga

[Elephant Knight]

I remember seeing the Mctoran one time going to Mcdonalds. Me and a couple of my siblings were very disappointed that we Never got them then. Some manye years later (Not really sure when. 2008ish?) I ordered Onepu and the Boxor off of Bricklink. have since bought many more Onu-Matoran parts, and have gotten a couple Ga Matoran parts, too.

[Daler99]

Back in 2007, I started my annual purchasing of classic sets off of ebay/bricklink.  In 2009 (I think), I got all six original McDonalds Tohunga SEALED off of eBay! :D   I still love those sets.   I wish McDonalds would do something similar with the villagers this year. (Or maybe LEGO could release villagers with the first wave of 2016? )

[Xabla]

I got the Protectors.   Seriously, I never had any interest in accquiring them. 2003 and 04 builds all the way!

[Element Lord of Milk]

I did get Maku from McDonald's, but over the years I lost all of her parts.

 

Most recently I've gotten Huki and Onepu in bits and pieces from Bricklink. I've also got several other Mctoran parts from there.

[UngluedBike]

All six sealed from a Latvian guy on eBay.

[MrSciFiGuy]

I WISH I got them from McDonalds. I have several from a fiend but he never took care of his legos so there are pieces missing. But I get mine occasionally on ebay, and have a sealed Kongu on my desk at work.