Good for 4 of your 6 Toa when in the story all 6 use them! Yeah...

She used to be my O-Toa. But then we broke up.

And of course, I'm now watching DuckBricks' complete Bionicle lore series, just so I have something more tangible and linear than a bunch of random-ass comics, videogames, and MOC contests to explain the most overrated theme ever.
So... time to fill the last few empty spaces in my brain with useless information that I'm probably gonna forget anyway

@MCLegoboy said:
"Good for 4 of your 6 Toa when in the story all 6 use them! Yeah..."

There were some "minor" modifications to even fit Pohatu inside.

It was weird how those things were first promoted as the next "big thing" in the story and then they turned out to be more or less completely useless!

Also intersting to see those are quite expensive nowadays compared to the Rahi, especially since the later ones came with exclusive masks.

Though the set was fun I'd say.

I seem to remember @PurpleDave posting picture of Exo-Toa modified for each Toa on Mask of Destiny. Whether he bought six of them, or modified the same one repeatedly, I don't recall.

Lore time!

The Exo-Toa were robotic suits of armor produced by/for the Brotherhood of Makuta. As their name suggests, they could serve as exo-suits for Toa. This increased the Toa's physical strength and gave them a few additional weapons to call upon, but apparently somewhat inhibited their elemental powers. Exo-Toa could also operate without a pilot, with the Brotherhood employing them as both guards and assault troops in various situations.

The most notable Exo-Toa were a set of six that were hidden beneath what became known as the island of Mata Nui, in the nest of the Bohrok Swarms. Found by the Toa Mata, they were used to battle Cahdok and Gahdok, the Bahrag queens. However, they were ultimately abandoned in favor of a combined elemental attack by the six Toa. Afterwards, these Exo-Toa became active and served to guard the seal on the prison of the Bahrag. However, they proved to be no match for the Bohrok-Kal, and were destroyed by the elite Bohrok warriors.

Nuparu, a renowned Matoran inventor, apparently salvaged the components of these Exo-Toa and brought them with him when he returned to Metru Nui. However, any project he may have envisioned concerning them, he became sidetracked from when he was one of six Matoran to become the Toa Inika and later Toa Mahri. In any case, it's not like the universe needed more Exo-Toa, as the Brotherhood and later Makuta Teridax alone still commanded large numbers of them and used them in their efforts to dominate the Matoran Universe. Hopefully someone responsible ended up with them after Teridax had his stolen robot head smashed in; there were enough dangerous mechanoids running loose on Spherus Magna as it was.

@MCLegoboy said:
"Good for 4 of your 6 Toa when in the story all 6 use them! Yeah..."

https://www.maskofdestiny.com/news/whew-2

Biggest problem I apparently had was finding enough sets to buy.

https://www.maskofdestiny.com/news/exo-marks-the-spot

Alternately, tweaks to Pohatu allow him to fit...

@TheOtherMike:
Article says I bought seven. I reported that I'd made tweaks for all six Toa, so the seventh was either to keep one stock, or to build an alt model (I can't even remember if there was one). I didn't mention an alt in the review, so I'm guessing it was about keeping a stock copy.

There were two LEGO sets that defined 2002 for me. One was Jango Fett's Slave I, and the other was this, the Exo-Toa. To this day, still one of my favorite and most cherished BIONICLE sets.

For me, there was a lot of anticipation and build-up for this set's release. I first saw it teased in the pages of a mini-comic that came with the Bohrok Tahnok I got in early April 2002. My internet usage was very sporadic back then, so I can be forgiven for not having seen this image months earlier. But as enthralled as I was with the Bohrok sets, the silhouette of this Technic-thing that could hold a Toa amazed me. All I had to go on was, "Summer 2002: EXO" (that last word written vertically in the BIONICLE alphabet). Immediately, my mind whirled at the thought of a suit of armor for my Toa figures. Would they need this to fight the Bohrok? And where would they get it?

Another clue came from the URL teased: bionicle.com/exo. On that page, I was greeted by a huge image of the box art (as seen in this RSotD page). Comparing it to the silhouette in the mini-comic, I had some difficulty reconciling the two images. The angle, looking up at the armor, is strange, and I didn't understand while it looked like silver Bohrok Va head was where a Toa should go. But questions like this kept me fiercely curious about the actual set. Though Attack of the Clones sets ended up dominating my interest in May, the Exo-Toa started reclaiming my attention in the middle of that month when it was glimpsed in the pages of BIONICLE comic 6 , "Into the Nest". I won't bother summarizing everything, but one of the Toa, Lewa, recounts how his temporary possession by a Bohrok Krana gave him knowledge of the Bohrok swarms and things they had seen or knew about deep below Mata Nui. One of these was the Exo-Toa armor. "Armor, but more than armor...power greater than we have ever known." That last bit might have been alluding to the energized protodermis chambers, but it immediately put the Exo-Toa on my radar as a Big Freaking Deal.

Of course, the comic also had a couple of pages devoted to promoting the new summer sets, including the Bahrag, the Boxor vehicle (an Exo suit for the Matoran), and the Exo-Toa. From there, I learned the exciting features it contained (an electro rocket! A grappling arm!), not the least of which was that Toa figures could be placed inside. Curiously, a Toa figure not at all like the ones I currently owned was shown in the diagram. More on that in another post!

Back to the Exo-Toa, I was now rabid with anticipation for its release! I started paying more attention to BIONICLE fan sites to learn more about availability and I became a frequent lurker of Kanohi-Power.com. However, just as June was getting started, off I went to a 3 week summer camp! There would be no chance of spending that hard-earned "good grades" money on the Exo-Toa until possibly July! Impatient, I doodled images of the Exo-Toa often in my sketchbook that I took to camp.

While away, I read reviews of the set on Kanohi-Power.com. One of these in particular went into detail on which Toa figures could fit inside. I was definitely disappointed to see neither Pohatu nor Onua could fit without major modifications, but was encouraged to discover the upcoming Toa Nuva might have better fits throughout. Now at this point, my own imagination was going wild with where the BIONICLE story was going. No one seemed (at least online) quite sure as to what was going to happen next. Obviously, the Toa in their Exo-suits would fight the Bahrag, the queens of the Bohrok, but what happened next was unknown. With the awareness of the Toa Nuva, there were questions about whether these were the same as the Toa from 2001, just transformed, or entirely new characters replacing the originals. I even surmised, based on the preponderance of silver in all of the sets, that the Exo-Toa and Toa heroes would "blend" somehow, and the Toa Nuva were the result. Armored Toa with greater stature and strength.

[continued below]

These theories in mind, I finally returned home near the end of June. I managed to tag along on a grocery trip to Wal-Mart on June 30th, hoping to sneak away to find some of the new BIONICLE sets. I was rewarded, for there were a couple of Exo-Toa sitting in the LEGO aisle! I was able to buy one and got to building it as soon as I got home. Truly, it was as fun to build and play with as I had dreamed! Though only two of my Toa had the gold Kanohi, I still had fun placing Tahu, Kopaka, Gali, and Lewa inside the armor and blasting the one Bohrok I had. Even the instruction manuals were fascinating (two were included, one for the main model and one for a weird raptor alternate build) for they included beautiful CGI imagery of the Toa battle with the Bahrag. Curiously, they had shed their armor to blast the Bahrag with elemental energy. They sank into energized protodermis and emerged as Toa Nuva! But what happened to the Exo-Toa suits? And the Bahrag for that matter?

The ensuing comics in July and September didn't answer those questions, but they did fill in the narrative blanks. The Krana unlocked the doors to the inner sanctum of the Bahrag, as well as the rooms with the Exo-Toa. The Exo-Toa, for all of its power, hindered the Toa's elemental abilities. So they shed the armor to trap the Bahrag. That was still cool, but I was a little crestfallen to see how little utilized the Exo-Toa was after all.

Fast forward to March 2003 and as the Toa Nuva grappled with the Bohrok Kal, the Exo-Toa made a triumphant return! Turns out, they were not destroyed in the calamity of the Bahrags' defeat. Instead, they went into autopilot mode and guarded the key cube that locked the Bahrag's protodermic cage. The Bohrok Kal had to battle the Exo-Toa when they approached the cube. Though the armor put up a valiant effort, they were no match for the powers of the Kal. They were utterly destroyed.

In time, my own Exo-Toa armor toy was disassembled and put away. Some parts cracked, but I meticulously replaced them via eBay (I was not on Bricklink back then). I think I reassembled the set once as an adult, but since I didn't have a safe place to display it for long, took it apart again. But even though it has been bagged and boxed for several years now, I cherish it all the more. It evokes still the mystery and magic of not just BIONICLE, but those early years of adolescence and great journey I am still on to this day.

Yes yes I'm late. I was doing writing for an entirely different thing. Don't ask. I'll try to keep this brief which I might actually be able to do this time, these guys weren't around much.

Exo-Toa were powerful robotic suits of armor designed by the infamous Nynrah Ghosts for the Brotherhood of Makuta. These suits would eventually make up a decent bulk of the Brotherhood's army due how easily replaceable they were. They wore thick and heavy armor and were equipped with a powerful clawed arm and a rocket launcher.

They had two modes. Most normally ran in an autopilot mode manned by a rather simple and stupid A.I. that helped them overwhelm and crush threats to the Brotherhood. They could also be worn as a suit of armor by Toa warriors. Doing so greatly enhanced a Toa's durability and strength, but dampened their Elemental Power.

Six Exo-Toa were stationed at the Bohrok Nest so that the Bahrag Queens could be stopped if the swarms ever emerged early.

1,000 years after the Great Cataclysm the Bohrok did just that. The Toa Mata arrived in the Nest and discovered the suits. Originally they used them to fight the Queens, before Tahu realized the suits blocked their Elemental Power. The Toa shed the armor and used their Elements to create a Protodermis Seal around the Queens, stopping the swarm.

Soon after the Bohrok-Kal emerged to try and free the Queens. The Toa caught up the Kal just after they reached the Nest and witnessed the Exo-Toa's autopilot mode as they tried to fend off the Kal. Thanks in no small part to Gahlok-Kal's magnetism powers the robots were destroyed. When the Toa drove the Kal's powers wild to defeat them the suits got some post-mortem revenge when Gahlok-Kal magnetized them straight to itself and was crushed against the wall.

@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"And of course, I'm now watching DuckBricks' complete Bionicle lore series, just so I have something more tangible and linear than a bunch of random-ass comics, videogames, and MOC contests to explain the most overrated theme ever. "

Starting with DuckBricks is probably not a smart idea. His series is like 9 hours long and goes in Chronological Order (spoiling plot twists) and includes a lot of unnecessary details. If you're wanting an introduction to the world I'd recommend Pilot of Solace's BIONICLE in 60 seconds series

https://www.youtube.com/ @Pilot_of_Solace /search?query=bionicle%20in%2060%20seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnFE1Bz4TBI

He goes through each year in just 1-2 minutes only focusing on the main plot points. It makes everything else much easier to follow. (Start in 2001, keep going till 2010 obviously)

And if you find the story "random-ass"... just read the books. Seriously. Aside from the Tahtorak comic, the video of Mata Nui waking up, and the Journey's End Story Serial every single main plot beat is in the books. Even then those first two I'm only mentioning for cool factor, the story still makes sense without them. The comics and extra story serials are just fluff to buff up the world.

This guy turned them all into free to read PDFs
https://board.ttvchannel.com/t/biological-chronicle-the-complete-bionicle-collection/40909
Just pick Standard/Recommended for any option.

@Alia_of_AGL said:
"I always wanted at least one of these. Somehow they became one of the most expensive Mata Nui Saga sets aside from the Manas."

Manas were the most expensive Rahi, despite having a piece count that was closest to the third-most expensive Rahi set. They were also electronic, so you needed to feed them batteries. The Exo-Toa was not a character unto itself, nor did it include any, so it was an expensive accessory. Given a theme where kids frequently couldn't even keep up with the main warrior characters, neither of these was probably a fast mover. Based on the articles that I linked back to, I apparently even had difficulty finding enough to equip all six of my Toa, so they probably weren't ordered in large quantities either, which meant few would have hit clearance for a wider adoption base.

May the Exo-Force be with him.

I have fewer childhood memories attached to the Exo-Toa than to most of the sets from Bionicle's early run, mostly because - with the exception of the McToran who never made it to the UK, the Powerpack, and the playsets - it was maybe the only major set from 2001-2007 that I didn't get as a kid.

After being deeply invested in 2001, by '02 I was kinda just lagging along behind the Bionicle train. This was for a couple of reasons: one, of course, being the Attack of the Clones hype, especially since that was the first new Star Wars movie since I'd become a fan a year or so earlier; but the other was that in the UK we only got a vastly trimmed down story of Bionicle 2002. We received the first comic as expected but subsequently only getting a four-to-six page excerpt from the rest of the comics printed directly into Lego Club magazine instead of being separate little books packed in with the magazine (it wasn't until 2003 that we got the full comics again). As well as not being aware that the online animations existed until later, this wasn't enough new material to hold my attention at the time. I hopped back on the Bionicle train that October, when I had birthday money to spend and leapt at buying the Boxor in order to get my first Matoran, but even then the Exo-Toa didn't entice me.

Still, in subsequent years, the lack of Exo-Toa in my collection wasn't for lack of trying. 2004 was the year I decided to try and go full completionist on the main line of sets (excluding collectables / promotionals / etc.), and when I learned how to use eBay in 2006 that was when I really started to go back and fill the gaps in my collection. Still though, whenever I searched, the Exo-Toa eluded me; mostly, the copies I found were too expensive for me, despite managing to find the rest of the 2001 Rahi, and even the Bahrag, for prices that I thought were reasonable.

2008 was the year I gave up on Bionicle collecting - my interests were shifting anyway, but I also found myself disinterested in picking up all the Av-Matoran, or the larger battle vehicles - so I just decided to round off my collection there, with the Exo-Toa just being one of the few permanent holes in it. A couple of years later, while I was off at university, I decided to sell off a lot of my Bionicle collection, keeping only a few of my nostalgic favourites, so it seemed likely that I was never going to own an Exo-Toa, and I'd made my peace with that.

Then, a few years later, I found a cheap bag of mixed Bionicle lot in a charity shop. Feeling kinda nostalgic but not wanting to buy the sets again for myself, I figured I could appease that nostalgia and also make a few extra quid by rebuilding the sets to completion for fun, and then selling them individually on eBay, so I bought the lot. Then went on from there to a local cafe with my parents for lunch. While we were waiting for our order to arrive, I was idly played around with the sealed bag, trying to determine which sets I had got in there--

And something in the bag shifted to reveal a maybe 75% complete Exo-Toa!

I genuinely couldn't believe it. The one white whale of my childhood collection, had just landed right in my lap without me even realising it when I'd made the purchase! Needless to say, I kept that set for myself, slowly rebuilding it to completion via Bricklink, even as I sold the rest of the sets from the lot. My Lewa is its most frequent rider, being the only Toa who I have the gold mask for to match the scene in the comics, but Gali, Tahu and Kopaka have all taken their turns too, depending on my mood.

It's currently in pieces after I dismantled most of my sets in preparation for my move last year, but now I'm kinda thinking of rebuilding it...

@Murdoch17 said:
" @Eightcoins8 said:
" @AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"just so I have something more tangible and linear than a bunch of random-ass comics, videogames, and MOC contests to explain the most overrated theme ever. "

Since when is Bionicle part of the Classic Space theme?
"

You have most likely just angered the two most vocal groups of AFOLs. Just be glad you didn't mention Trains, otherwise you have angered the top 3."

Dude, you’re in for it, now. Castle is going to be pissed that you omitted them…