Best Inika.

I’ve got three of this guy. Him and Hahli specifically seem extremely common, while the other four not so much. Definitely my least favourite of the Inika. I just find his colour scheme really bland compared to the rest.

@MCLegoboy said:
"Alright, we got ourselves a streak going, can we pull off another hat trick?"

Forget that. I reckon a double-hat trick is in order.

@CarolinaOnMyMind said:
"My favorite Toa.
Along with all the other Toa. And of course the non-Toa Bionicles I also know so much about. Also Matui. This is the best Matui. And maybe one of the greatest Rahkshi and/or non-Rahkshi ever.
On top of that, lore. "

Makooti the Bionic Man you mean :P hehehehe https://youtu.be/9jDv9czINjQ

@xboxtravis7992
Exactly.

You guys and gals have likely surmised I'm a true-blue BIONICLE fan by now thanks to my comments in the forums and on these RSotD articles that feature sets from the theme, but even I am sort of at the end of words for another set in the same series. As observed above, the Toa Inika were part of that revolutionary transition firmly away from anything Technic in the figures and into nothing but ball joints. But it wore out its welcome fast thanks to the "clone" nature of the Piraka and Toa Inika.

By the summer of 2006, I was in awe of the Inika, and ordered Matoro and Nuparu as soon as I was able. They were impressive sets with their light-up swords and multi-shot Zamor launchers, but with Hahli next, the repetitive nature of the builds wore out the novelties. The hammer fell when my sister, in total good faith and love, gifted me the remaining three Toa Inika on my birthday, cleverly hiding them around the house so I could go on my own "quest" to find them. It was fun, and I thanked her profusely, but as I was building them, the process became rote and not very fun. Kongu here was one of those three, and I really only remember being very glad I was finished with the whole collection so expediently.

That's it today. Don't feel like repeating myself on Kongu beyond what I've already written elsewhere.

@Lego_Lord_Mayorca:
That’s irony for you...

@xboxtravis7992 said:
"I did mention the Nuva masks are often criticized earlier with Pohatu Nuva on RSoTD, but the Inika masks being made of rubbery material are almost even more panned by the fandom, and its not hard to see why. Kongu probably has the worst one of the bunch, an attempt at asymmetry that just looks odd. 2007 returned to hard plastic masks, so the 2006 ones remain an oddity in the franchise's run."
Yeah the Inika masks were the worst-looking ones to me just for their expressions. At least it made the Piraka look edgy, but for the Toa it just made them look goofy. I wasn't even aware the masks were rubbery until you mentioned it. And wow that makes me hate them even more.

I have a really funny story involving this set. Back in 2006, my parents bought me Kongu and after a couple months I lost him mysteriously (I still have no idea where he went). Then a couple months later, I think it was around Christmas, I had him gifted to me again by some relatives, who had no idea that I ever had him before (or, for that matter, that I had lost him). That being said, the whole story ended in the happiest way possible.

I happen to have this set. I was big on Bionicle when I was a kid, but now I'm thinking of selling those.

@Arnoldos said:
"I happen to have this set. I was big on Bionicle when I was a kid, but now I'm thinking of selling those."

Why sell them? There are still a lot of things you can do with them... My advice would be to keep them around.

@LegoDavid said:
" @Arnoldos said:
"I happen to have this set. I was big on Bionicle when I was a kid, but now I'm thinking of selling those."

Why sell them? There are still a lot of things you can do with them... My advice would be to keep them around. "

I have no use for Bionicle. I only keep Lego on display and I prefer to display some old Lego System themes, like Adventurers.

I remember this guy’s mask standing in fir Karzahni’s Olisi...which makes me all the sadder we never got an actual one.

@Arnoldos what do you have in your collection, if I may ask?

@ElephantKnight said:
"Jaller had trans orange sockets.

Matoro had trans blue sockets.

I really REALLY wish Kongu had trans Neon green sockets. I think it would make his colour pallet more palatable, and of course, Trans Neon green sockets would be so useful for making Bionicles in a certain colour scheme.

And while on that thought, Nuparu could have had trans black, Hahli could have had trans white, and Hewkii could have had trans Yellow. Adding trans to all the Toa Inika could have made them fit the 'energized' feel that the story game them.

Tell me I'm wrong."
I think Nuparu would have been better with the trans-orange, personally. As a Matoran in the 8556 Boxor vehicle, his main distinguishing feature was his orange mask; so as much as it was fantastic to see one of my favourite Matoran was now a Toa, the lack of any orange on his design has always felt like a little bit of a design misstep to me.

Granted, NONE of the Inika kept any of their Matoran colour schemes. And Nuparu had lost the orange mask by then, anyway, in Karzahni's realm. But still, it would have been a nice call-back. Then Jaller could have had trans-yellow instead... trans-neon green would, like you say, have been great for Kongu, a nice call-back to his Matoran form's lime pieces. Not sure where that would leave Hewkii, if colours didn't want to be repeated, since I don't believe there's been a trans-tan colour, but...

I definitely like the idea, for sure! The Inika's colour schemes have never quite sat right with me, so I'd be completely on board with those changes ^^

@SearchlightRG said:
"I remember this guy’s mask standing in fir Karzahni’s Olisi...which makes me all the sadder we never got an actual one.

@Arnoldos what do you have in your collection, if I may ask?"

Not much, as I can only afford a few sets off Bricklink a year.
The sets I buy now are those that were released "before my time" and I mostly remember them from Lego games (Lego Rock Raiders, Lego Island, Lego Racers, Lego Stunt Rally, Lego Loco).
Currently it's:
3 Adventurers sets (2 Dino Island sets and 1 Desert set)
2 Rock Raiders sets,
1 Island Xtreme Stunts set (no Pepper unfortunately)
4 Town Race sets (the ones Lego Stunt Rally was based on),
and some lesser Town (roadplates, Arctic, Leisure) and Space (UFO, Insectoids, Life on Mars) sets.

Majority of my collection is Lego City as I played with it a lot when I was a kid but I don't keep it on display.
I'm planning on buying one of those Vario display cases to keep the dust off.

@Arnoldos said:
" @LegoDavid said:
" @Arnoldos said:
"I happen to have this set. I was big on Bionicle when I was a kid, but now I'm thinking of selling those."

Why sell them? There are still a lot of things you can do with them... My advice would be to keep them around. "

I have no use for Bionicle. I only keep Lego on display and I prefer to display some old Lego System themes, like Adventurers."

You can also keep your Bionicle sets on display, because let's face it, they look cool. If not that, you could just take them apart and build some MOCs with them.

@Arnoldos said:
" @SearchlightRG said:
"I remember this guy’s mask standing in fir Karzahni’s Olisi...which makes me all the sadder we never got an actual one.

@Arnoldos what do you have in your collection, if I may ask?"

Not much, as I can only afford a few sets off Bricklink a year.
The sets I buy now are those that were released "before my time" and I mostly remember them from Lego games (Lego Rock Raiders, Lego Island, Lego Racers, Lego Stunt Rally, Lego Loco).
Currently it's:
3 Adventurers sets (2 Dino Island sets and 1 Desert set)
2 Rock Raiders sets,
1 Island Xtreme Stunts set (no Pepper unfortunately)
4 Town Race sets (the ones Lego Stunt Rally was based on),
and some lesser Town (roadplates, Arctic, Leisure) and Space (UFO, Insectoids, Life on Mars) sets.

Majority of my collection is Lego City as I played with it a lot when I was a kid but I don't keep it on display.
I'm planning on buying one of those Vario display cases to keep the dust off.
"

So what Bionicle sets do you have that you “have no use for”, exactly?

So I'm a bit late to the party but, here's the lore anyway!

On the island of Mata Nui there were six elemental villages in which the Matoran lived. Le-Koro was a village in the trees and home to the Matoran of Air, along with their unique army, the Gukko Force. The Gukko Force consisted of Matoran riders atop gigantic flying birds known as Gukko, and they were the fastest traveling army on the island. Leader of the Gukko Force was Kongu, atop his mighty steed Ka!

While on Mata Nui Kongu assisted our heroes in various adventures. With help of Takua he lead a raid of the Nui-Rama hive to free the Le-Koro people. When the Bohrok swarms used parasitic Krana to mindcontrol Le-Koro, only Kongu and Tamaru survived, and with the help of Nuparu's Boxor invention they helped retake the village.

Soon, with the Toa's help, the Matoran uncovered their ancestral home of Metru Nui. However, upon returning to it they found a dark secret. The Great Spirit was dying. The Turaga kept this secret from the Matoran, but sent the Toa Nuva on a quest to the far of island of Voya Nui to collect the legendary Mask of Life and bring back the Great Spirit.

But the Nuva weren't the first with this idea. Six criminals, known as the Piraka, had already arrived on Voya Nui in search of the Mask of Life. They posed as Toa to gain the Matoran's trust, and eventually used Zamor Spheres filled with the Makuta's Antidermis to infect and mind control the populous. When the Toa Nuva arrived they were quickly defeated and imprisoned by the Piraka.

As weeks rolled on, the Matoran of Metru Nui noticed their Toa were missing. Jaller, Captain of the Ta-Koro guard, lead a city wide strike were the Matoran stopped working and demanded answers. Eventually, Turaga Nokama came clean and informed Jaller of the Toa Nuva's mission to Voya Nui. Fearing the worst, Jaller decided to take the quest into his own hands, and assembled a team of six brave Matoran (including Kongu) to follow the Toa to Voya Nui and save the day.

The trip was not easy, however. The Matoran soon found themselves in Karzahni, the literal hell of the Matoran Universe. It's deranged ruler imprisoned the six visitors and stole their masks, giving them new and twisted ones. Eventually, with the help of a local Matoran of Light, the six got ahold of Toa Canisters, and launched toward Voya Nui.

When they reached Voya Nui something strange happened. The Red Star, an important Star for prophecy crafting, shot a bolt of lightning at the six canisters! The Matoran inside were transformed, and became Toa themselves. The Toa Inika (which translates to "Heroes Imbued with the Energy of a Star") emerged on Voya Nui in new bodies with new powers they didn't know how to control.

Not only had the Red Star granted the Toa Inika with elemental powers, it also gave them the power of electricity! The Inika soon met the island's Matoran survivors, who had discovered Energized Protodermis could cure people infected by the Makuta. Armed with curing Zamor Launchers the Inika set out to free the Matoran, save the Nuva, stop the Piraka, and find the Mask of Light.

As a Toa Inika, Kongu wore the Kanohi Suletu, the Mask of Telepathy, which allowed him to read and link the thoughts of others. He was quite jealous, however, of Nuparu, who had gained a Mask of Flight!

After many trials and tribulations, the Toa came face to face with the Mask of Light's final guardian, Vezon and his legendary steed Fenrakk. During the battle Kongu made a great discovery, the Mask of Light was sentient! Not only that, but it thought that Toa Matoro would be a much better host then Vezon. Kongu linked Vezon and the Masks minds to share these thoughts. Vezon grew jealous and enraged, and while distracted with the thoughts of loosing immortality was defeated.

The Toa had no time to celebrate, the Mask of Life split of Vezon and zoomed out of the Chamber of Life, and plunged itself into the ocean! The Toa followed and were soon mutated by the mask to able to breath underwater, gaining new mask powers in the process. They redubbed themselves

The Toa had no time to celebrate, the Mask of Life split off Vezon and zoomed out of the Chamber of Life, and plunged itself into the ocean! The Toa followed and were soon mutated by the mask to able to breath underwater, gaining new mask powers in the process. They redubbed themselves the Toa Mahri, after the underwater city they took shelter in.

While exploring the depths, the Mahri found a stash of Cordak Blasters. Gattling guns mixed with torpedos. Unlike his brothers, Kongu adopted the ideology of "two hands, two guns" and carried a pair of the weapons into battle. As a Mahri he wore the Kanohi Zatth, the Mask of Summoning, which allows him to summon nearby Rahi to his location (although, not always to his aid.) During a notable battle, Kongu summoned a 40 foot long eel, but the monster could not be controlled and nearly killed the Toa along with their enemies.

At the end of the Mahri Nui arc, Matoro sacrificed himself to the Mask of Life in order to bring the Great Spirit back from the dead. With his final wish, Matoro sent his five team mates back to Metru Nui safe and sound, and went down in legends as the Universe's greatest hero.

Compared to other Matoran and Toa of Air, Kongu wasn't nearly as light hearted or humorous. His position in the Gukko Force made him very militaristic and professional. Eventually though, his time around Toa Lewa taught him to be more care free and jovial, and as a Toa he attempted to bring some levity to his team and their mission.