But I love them anyway.

~EW~

I do like the Toa Mata as characters, and as sets they are interesting memories, but I agree wholeheartedly with most of the points in this blog entry.

Not sure who's arguing against this, especially today when the Stars do such an innovative job appeasing the nostalgia that brings about most of these arguments.

If you ever leave BZP, I will cry for the logic that has been lost.

I use the argument that they had the best masks and tools ever.

~Bunda

I use the argument that they had the best masks and tools ever.

 

~Bunda

This. Not to mention the diverse characters. Now it's like all Toa are serious business heroes and the bad guys are all "fsjal GONA STEEL UR UNIVERSE"

I use the argument that they had the best masks and tools ever.

 

~Bunda

This. Not to mention the diverse characters. Now it's like all Toa are serious business heroes and the bad guys are all "fsjal GONA STEEL UR UNIVERSE"

Exactly.

I like them because they at first don't know much of each other. They weren't friends at first but knew they had to save the island.

Also, it was alot less complicated back then. In 2001, it was '6 heroes, 1 evil, hundreds of villagers and masks of power'. Now it's 'Hundreds of toa, thousands of evils, millions of matoran, weapons, artifacts, rahi, special masks, the flying lizard drinking my SoBe...'. Another reason was because the matoran could be customized. We didn't know their voices or their origins, either.

Tl;Dr: I like the Mata best because they were back when Bionicle was simpler.

This. Not to mention the diverse characters. Now it's like all Toa are serious business heroes and the bad guys are all "fsjal GONA STEEL UR UNIVERSE"

Exactly.

Tl;Dr: I like the Mata best because they were back when Bionicle was simpler.

You do realize that has nothing to do with whether the sets were great, right? I agree that the characters were definitely some of the greatest (mostly because they weren't rushed and in a hectic universe, but still), but using this to justify the sets' greatness is at least as bad as the ones Bfahome posted.

I agree with you so much Bfahome. Like. I personally didn't like the Mata because tbh they weren't very good sets. I like their masks and weapons, yes. But I didn't like the sets. Because of this people bring up the ALL the arguments you presented. So glad you posted this <3

The Toa Mata may be the first Bionicle sets, but of course, they are not the best. Bionicle designs have improved and declined, and improved again over the years. However, when Lego decides to revive the characters that started the franchise, they had better do it well. I realize that just because a new incarnation comes out, it doesn't change who that character is, or their place in the canon. But, due to the nostalgia goggles many fans wear, the Phantoka and Mistika Newva instantly suck because they are completely different. I understand this. But, Lego didn't need to make the changes so drastic. Heck, even a simple color change would've improved the toys by leaps and bounds.

I don't have anything against Stars Tahu, I do think he is a god design(same with Taka)

I disliked the '08 Tahu, though.

Not because it was a different design, but because I felt it was untrue to the character

The Tahu of old was a Toa that wielded Swords, Not shields, that was Kopaka

Ah.

The Toa Mata were awesome.

They were awesome because they were designed for very specific purposes.

1- Smack each others' masks off.

2- Combine to make bigger guys who could also smack each others' masks off.

3- Smack other sets' masks off.

4- Leave the possibilities totally endless for anyone who's not so fond of smacking each others' masks off.

But you gotta admit, smacking each others' masks off is pretty fun (or at least hilarious). =P

Plus, they looked cool. I love the Mata masks even now, and their weapons - sorry, tools XD - were cool, and if you didn't particularly like them you could change 'em up.

And, the Toa Mata encouraged different ways to use pieces. Look at Tahu's left arm, or Pohatu's torso block, or the freaky head-hands on the Toa Kaita. They inspired creativity; it was cool.

I liked them then, I liked them all throughout BIONICLE and I like them now. If the new sets looked more like the Toa Mata, it'd really be pointless, since I don't think the gears and functions are coming back. Nonetheless, I do think they'd look pretty cool. But that's me.

I use the argument that they had the best masks and tools ever.

 

~Bunda

This. Not to mention the diverse characters. Now it's like all Toa are serious business heroes and the bad guys are all "fsjal GONA STEEL UR UNIVERSE"

I disagree. The Toa Mahri were certainly not all serious business, nor were the Toa Metru. You've got Kongu, who deliberately sticks humor into stressful situations to ease pressure (the explanation made 2007's books beautiful since until then I was afraid that he had stopped being "serious business" since he ceased to be a gung-ho Matoran warrior). Then you've got Matau, who was even more ludicrous than Lewa. Not sure how many more "lighthearted" characters you could add without making a bunch of Lewa and Pohatu clones. And not sure how there's any lack of variety even among the typical Toa who take their jobs seriously (the Toa Mahri, again, were a stunning example).

There's also, of course, the fact that most Toa we know are characters from 2001, and differ from their Matoran/Turaga personas only when it makes sense.

Toa Mata tools were pretty epic, though. Can't say I feel the same about the masks, although I have no major qualms about them. Also can't say I prefer Toa Mata tools over others, since many of the Inika tools win by their ingenious implied functions (which is the main reason I liked Toa Mata tools, as well).

[disagreement with serious businesstoa]

>implying that I followed the story all that well

But I love them anyway.

 

~EW~

Agreed. They shall always hold a special place in my heart or collection or somesuch thing.