@ThoughtLash said:
"Loved these guys. I've always wanted the bootleg Bomonga with the Darth Vader head."

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that.

@Robot99 said: "It was repetitive even by Bionicle standards."

True, but I didn't mind it when the little helper dudes were repetitive (which they always were). They weren't too expensive, and you could collect the set without breaking the bank.

Bionicle never appealed to me, not because of the convoluted story or some strange ideas about what is and isn't Lego. Bionicle -- right from the very beginning -- always felt very cynical, to me. I get that Lego was facing dire financial straits, at this point, but the fact they were desperate for cash was picked up, by me, because Bionicle felt like a desperate cash grab. Collect six of the exact same figure, but with minor colour variations, and then six months later, collect another six of the exact same figure, but with even more minor colour variations.

What's that Wayland Smithers quote? "It's the exact same doll." "But she's got a new hat!"

I understand that Bionicle was one of the things that saved Lego. Call me a hypocrite if you wish because, yeah, I liked the little helper dudes (particularly the ones with the disc launchers. I put them on platforms and made them art deco public sculptures for my Lego City parks). When Bionicle initially came out, I had just finished high school, and had started a job to earn income for myself, so maybe I was reassessing my spending habits, in terms of toys.

But no, there was a cynical edge to Bionicle that I could never get past.

@ThoughtLash said:
"Loved these guys. I've always wanted the bootleg Bomonga with the Darth Vader head."

As compared to the official Tahu Nuva with the Darth Vader head?

Man, I completely forgot about coming back here for RSotD, I was too excited about that absolutely phenomenal episode of Skeleton Crew that dropped last night and talking about it on Discord for about an hour.

Yeah, this little dude is just there. I love the fact that he's just like a little ball of coal; truly amazing timing.

@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"All the Bionicle fans get coal!"

I wonder what Huwbot did to end up on the naughty list like this

Do you guys think we'll be getting a Clickits Christmas this year? ;)

@Zordboy said:
" @Robot99 said: "It was repetitive even by Bionicle standards."

True, but I didn't mind it when the little helper dudes were repetitive (which they always were). They weren't too expensive, and you could collect the set without breaking the bank.

Bionicle never appealed to me, not because of the convoluted story or some strange ideas about what is and isn't Lego. Bionicle -- right from the very beginning -- always felt very cynical, to me. I get that Lego was facing dire financial straits, at this point, but the fact they were desperate for cash was picked up, by me, because Bionicle felt like a desperate cash grab. Collect six of the exact same figure, but with minor colour variations, and then six months later, collect another six of the exact same figure, but with even more minor colour variations.

What's that Wayland Smithers quote? "It's the exact same doll." "But she's got a new hat!"

I understand that Bionicle was one of the things that saved Lego. Call me a hypocrite if you wish because, yeah, I liked the little helper dudes (particularly the ones with the disc launchers. I put them on platforms and made them art deco public sculptures for my Lego City parks). When Bionicle initially came out, I had just finished high school, and had started a job to earn income for myself, so maybe I was reassessing my spending habits, in terms of toys.

But no, there was a cynical edge to Bionicle that I could never get past."

There actually was small details in build differentiating all the hero figures from each other until 2004. 2004 was the first time they just were straight up the same build with all the same pieces, only weapons and mask switched out.

"My staff is a bomb.
My powers are a bomb.
Even my name is a bomb!"
*The 'bom' falls from the name and explodes.

-Onga, formerly Bomonga.

This is probably the only series in the history of Bionicle that I completely and intentionally skipped. With no masks, interesting parts, unique collectibles, or distinguishing features between them, I've never bothered to own any of the Rahaga, even on the aftermarket.

@ThoughtLash said:
"Loved these guys. I've always wanted the bootleg Bomonga with the Darth Vader head."

Oh I NEED to see that

Ah yes, the Rahaga. The love child between a Matoran and a Rahkshi.

@whiteghost said:
"This is probably the only series in the history of Bionicle that I completely and intentionally skipped. With no masks, interesting parts, unique collectibles, or distinguishing features between them, I've never bothered to own any of the Rahaga, even on the aftermarket."

Same. At one point I found the complete set of all six on a flea market. At the time I was nearing max capacity so I sold them to make room along with many of my other Bionicle sets.

I re-acquired nearly all of my old bionicle collection again, but the four remaining Visorak (after my original first two which I have since obtained again) and six rahaga just don't beckon me enough to make me want to get them again.
The thing is, because I got those as groups there's not any one in particular I feel like getting again. And it seems overkill to get all six rahaga and all six visorak again.

love the Rahaga, truly the underdogs of the small Bionicle sets

@Eightcoins8 said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @Robot99 said: "It was repetitive even by Bionicle standards."

True, but I didn't mind it when the little helper dudes were repetitive (which they always were). They weren't too expensive, and you could collect the set without breaking the bank.

Bionicle never appealed to me, not because of the convoluted story or some strange ideas about what is and isn't Lego. Bionicle -- right from the very beginning -- always felt very cynical, to me. I get that Lego was facing dire financial straits, at this point, but the fact they were desperate for cash was picked up, by me, because Bionicle felt like a desperate cash grab. Collect six of the exact same figure, but with minor colour variations, and then six months later, collect another six of the exact same figure, but with even more minor colour variations.

What's that Wayland Smithers quote? "It's the exact same doll." "But she's got a new hat!"

I understand that Bionicle was one of the things that saved Lego. Call me a hypocrite if you wish because, yeah, I liked the little helper dudes (particularly the ones with the disc launchers. I put them on platforms and made them art deco public sculptures for my Lego City parks). When Bionicle initially came out, I had just finished high school, and had started a job to earn income for myself, so maybe I was reassessing my spending habits, in terms of toys.

But no, there was a cynical edge to Bionicle that I could never get past."

There actually was small details in build differentiating all the hero figures from each other until 2004. 2004 was the first time they just were straight up the same build with all the same pieces, only weapons and mask switched out."

At least the Toa Metru torsos were designed to allow different heights.

@Spectron256 said:" @ChazTheMinifig said:"Ah yes, the Rahaga. The love child between a Matoran and a Rahkshi."

I mean, the Rahaga were literally Toa that were mutated by Roodaka's Rhotuka spinners, and [the Rahaga] got their name from a portmanteau of "Rahkshi" and "Hagah"."

Until that particular detail was revealed, people thought it meant "Rahi Turaga," because the Rahaga were described as beast tamers.

Rahaga Bohonga the Bonkle. Genius.

I gotta say, even as a non-BONKLE fan I always appreciate the conversations. Even the smallest sets spark serious, considered discussions.

I think I have one of these rahaga. Probably survived my childhood by virtue of not having any parts interesting enough to disassemble it for

@Alia_of_AGL said:
"The Rahaga might be boring with the reliance on reused molds aside from the year's gimmick, but I will always, *always* lament the death of impulse/HTO variety in modern Lego and prop up Bionicle's tradition of having six of them a year (usually) as a key part of their success. To an outsider looking in, having six color variants of mostly the same thing on a shelf might look cynical, but from kids with siblings' perspective, they're cheap, colorful, allow for equitable play if bought in multiples, and made for wonderful stocking stuffers - each kid could get a small Bionicle treat in their favorite color/element and make it a tradition.

Merry Christmas!"

This is all very true and to be respected. However, ALL other small sets did it better than the Rahaga. The latter series just phoned it in.

@Zordboy said:
"Collect six of the exact same figure, but with minor colour variations, and then six months later, collect another six of the exact same figure, but with even more minor colour variations."

The only Bionicles that really fit this description are the Bohrok and Bohrok-Kal, but it absolutely is a fair criticism of them. Other similar, closely-released groups had more variation between and within.

@whiteghost said:
" @Alia_of_AGL said:
"The Rahaga might be boring with the reliance on reused molds aside from the year's gimmick, but I will always, *always* lament the death of impulse/HTO variety in modern Lego and prop up Bionicle's tradition of having six of them a year (usually) as a key part of their success. To an outsider looking in, having six color variants of mostly the same thing on a shelf might look cynical, but from kids with siblings' perspective, they're cheap, colorful, allow for equitable play if bought in multiples, and made for wonderful stocking stuffers - each kid could get a small Bionicle treat in their favorite color/element and make it a tradition.

Merry Christmas!"

This is all very true and to be respected. However, ALL other small sets did it better than the Rahaga. The latter series just phoned it in."
The Bohrok Va had even less about them that was new, but I guess their repurposed action feature was a bit more inventive.

I had the white Rahaga (Kualsi?), which I appreciated as a socket joint donor for the Takanuva I made, at least.

Huh…guess GSR must be busy with the holiday.

Bomonga was a Toa of Earth who was chosen to join the Toa Hagah, an order of elite bodyguards serving the Brotherhood of Makuta. Bomonga was one of six Toa chosen to protect Makuta Teridax, the leader of the Brotherhood. His equipment included a Kanohi Mask of Growth, which allowed him to grow up to 60 feet in size. Bomonga also carried the Seismic Spear, his Elemental tool, and a Rhotuka launcher shield of unspecified power.

Eventually, Bomonga and his teammates discovered the villainy of their employer and acted against him. They succeeded in stealing the Kanohi Avohkii, Great Mask of Light, and in defeating Teridax himself in battle. Unfortunately. Bomonga and three of the others were captured and mutated into the hideous Rahaga. Their remaining teammates, Norik and Iruini, were able to free them, but the two of them joined their friends as the unsightly hybrid creatures.

As a Rahaga, Bomonga specialized in trapping Rahi that were active at night, gifted at concealment, and/or insects. His taciturn nature and preference for working by himself contributed to his being nicknamed “Quiet-Night” by his fellow Rahaga. These six fought a silent war against the encroaching Visorak horde, moving from land to land and doing what they could to thwart the monsters. This task was all the more personal as Roodaka, viceroy of the horde, was the one responsible for the Rahaga’s monstrous appearances.

After the Visorak occupied Metru Nui, Bomonga and his teammates rescued and allied themselves with the Toa Hordika. Following several adventures, Bomonga and all of the Rahaga except Norik were captured by a wayward Vakama. During the final battle against the horde, they were rescued by Norik and joined the fight. They then remained behind in Metru Nui as the Toa Metru carried the city’s Matoran to safety.

For the next thousand years or so, Bomonga and the others would divide their time between Metru Nui and aiding various lands attacked by the Visorak. They would later go to the aid of Xia, Roodaka’s homeland. While there, they would be restored to their Toa forms. There would be no rest for them, however, as they soon became embroiled in the Destiny War.

@RogueWhistler Kualus

I'm kind of sad @GSR_MataNui isn't here, as he usually is by now... I hope he's ok and just celebrating the holiday. I don't know what we'd do without our resident Bonkle lore master!

@Murdoch17 said:
"I'm kind of sad @GSR_MataNui isn't here, as he usually is by now... I hope he's ok and just celebrating the holiday. I don't know what we'd do without our resident Bonkle lore master!"
His lore dumps actually kind of double as an encyclopedia at this point - sometimes I'll be scrolling through the Bionicle stuff on this site, and think to myself, "who were these guys again?" At least one of the six will usually have already been RSotD, so I can just click on the link that says when it was RSotD and read GSR's lore. He's doing a world of work with these posts, I certainly don't mind if he's on break for the one day!

With that said, thanks for stepping up to the plate @SearchlightRG !

Not the Bionicle set that I just got for Christmas (that would be 8905 Thok), but still fitting from my point of view!

I'm honestly surprised at the dislike for the Rahaga here though. I always thought these little guys were super-cute (if yes, admittedly repetitive, especially when you bought them in a pack of five all at once as I did! But they were available in Argos as a five-pack a few weeks before their official UK street date. I was fine with the first three, but was definitely flagging by numbers four and five... and with Bomonga here being fifth, he's definitely not my favourite of the pack!) and the lack of new pieces didn't bother me at all. Never realised how much in the minority I was with that view.

That said, in hindsight I do kinda more like the idea of these guys being 'Rahkshi-Turaga'; I feel like that could have made for a quite novel story direction. I don't hate the Hagah flashback(-within-a-flashback) by any means, but 'more mutated Toa' just doesn't quite have the same interesting vibe as the idea that, just as Toa became Turaga upon completion of their destinies, so Rahkshi became Rahaga. Would have been very curious to see what the story would have done with them had it taken that direction instead, especially since Rahkshi had always been enemies, while these guys were allies of the Toa.

@magmafrost said:
" @ThoughtLash said:
"Loved these guys. I've always wanted the bootleg Bomonga with the Darth Vader head."

Oh I NEED to see that"

https://www.reasonablyclever.com/blog/2009/06/toybox-of-fail-soldier.html

@GSR_MataNui said:
"I know lore is short and late, had a hot date last night for the holidays, and now the actual holidays, but here's the basics!

The Toa Hagah used to be Makuta's bodyguards before they realized he was evil. When they tried to leave his Brotherhood they were mutated into these little gremlin creatures called Rahaga. They fled to the city of Metru Nui. When a bunch of giant spiders working for Makuta attacked the city the Rahaga helped the Toa of the city defend it.

Boomonga was the Hagah of Earth. As a Toa Hagah he wore the Mask of Growth that allowed him to grow an shrink between his regular size and 60 feet tall. As a Rahaga he could launch Rhotuka Spinners that flew silently and would paralyze a target.

Now if you'll excuse me I got a Tarakava to build! "
Return of the king!

The Rahaga might be the "worst" Bionicle small sets but I'll always appreciate them as a supply of socket joints in all the new Metru colors - dark red, dark green, dark blue, and light brown.

On the other hand, with black and white remaining unchanged, and with black sockets in particular being so common, this guy was unfortunately the most useless of the six.

An underrated aspect of the Rahaga was including Rahkshi heads in non-metallic colors (the Rahkshi themselves used metallic versions of the six basic 01–03 colors, which weren't always the best match for other parts).

@RogueWhistler said:
" @Zordboy said:
"Collect six of the exact same figure, but with minor colour variations, and then six months later, collect another six of the exact same figure, but with even more minor colour variations."

The only Bionicles that really fit this description are the Bohrok and Bohrok-Kal, but it absolutely is a fair criticism of them. Other similar, closely-released groups had more variation between and within."

The Metri Nui Matoran also had no variation, other than what mask they wore. Unless you count the disks, but those only varied in that each one was printed with a different design; they were all the same mold.

@ThoughtLash:
That…is definitely more Darth Vader than the Hau Nuva.

@Lyichir:
The only things I remember using the Rahkshi heads for were three hover bikes and Casey Jones’ hair. I could swap the latter for true black, but one of the hover ones used a color scheme that’s built around blue, so dark-blue won’t work.