I agree about the Hagah arms, but it was probably the only piece at the time that could’ve made the arms longer than the Metru ones.
Oh man, I love threads that open cans of worms like this.
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I’ll start with a a big one- while the early Rahi sets that were heavily technic based, such as the Tarakava, Manas, Bahrag etc, were cool, I don’t really like them as Bionicle sets. Granted, it’s partly a product of time; they came out when Bionicle was a Technic branded theme, and naturally they had poor articulation like most 2001 sets with the focus on functions. I’m not saying they are bad sets, I’ve just never really felt like they were Bionicle nor cared about them too much
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the Inika/Piraka style build was fantastic, it led to the elimination of “clone sets,” and was in essence, CCBS 1.0. Up until that point, we had a new “style” of building each year- to mata torso, the metru torso, the hordika torso, not to mention wacky designs for each set of villains. Yes, as Bionicle fans we all know how to put pieces together, but there’s no denying that each new wave of figures was wildly different from the last.
But the Inika build finally put us into a landscape where characters began to have a consistent size and articulation, and it was easier to mix and match pieces than before due to the more unified style of building. (As I said, hints of the CCBS idea). Beyond that, we stopped seeing clone builds, because LEGO could focus their time on creating new parts that would make each character unique, instead of using up their new parts budget to make ONE new looking body type and build style, which would then be replicated for the whole wave as clone sets. We saw this same thing in Hero Factory, the 2.0 hero’s started off as clones, but look at how far CCBS came since then once that initial building style was established.
I have no doubt that if the line continued, we would have seen new torsos, new shin/arm pieces, etc, but the Inika build was likely there to stay for many more years. And yeah, I think overall I prefer it to the earlier sets that Bionicle had put out. The only downside was the lack of interest that many builds had as a result; looking back, I remember seeing the first photos of a visor so or a hordika and going “wow how is that built!?” But with Inika builds, it was, “thats a cool way they modified it, but it’s just a modified Inika torso, I’m going to replicate it with my pieces”
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While I fully agree with this from a posability and aesthetic perspective, I’d like to append my own, equally unpopular opinion - that I do actually like the design choices of the '01 Rahi, like tractor tread feet and extendable necks, as well as masks cleverly integrated into the builds. Made them feel that much more alien and otherworldly, rather than just “Bionicle Tiger” and “Bionicle Lizard”.
The fact that the community still can’t really agree on what the Tarakava is supposed to be (crocodile is the best argument I’ve heard) I think is actually a good quality, because it grounds the fact that this world is unique and completely distinct from ours.
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I feel like the Tarakava are a mix of a bidpedal dinosaur, a kangaroo(with the boxing arms), and a crocodile/other aquatic lizard.
The Hordika have cool designs, specially the torso armour, and mahritoran proves it 
Also the Rhotuka spinner works very well, so underrated 
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Yeah, the Nui Jaga probably have the most articulation, solely due to their legs. I’m pretty sure only the Nui Rama and Nui Jaga have limb articulation. So yeah, I understand thinking they aren’t very Bionicle-y, but I personally think they’re great opponents to the Toa and Matoran/Turaga; being massive, intimidating creatures.
@gali.bestgirl I feel like the Hordika wouldn’t be as hated if you could bend their secondary arm, or even lower their arms, I like them outside of their arms. While yeah, the Rhotuka are good, you can’t aim them, and iirc, Sidorak and Keetongu are the only ones that can hold their rhotuka without risk of them falling.
Please don’t double post. -Eljay
My bad ^
Open axels, ball joints, and sockets almost never bug me
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I can understand certain instances of these, like piece count limitations, but I don’t understand when they’re exposed for absolutely no reason(when they could’ve been replaced with a smaller pin/axle) On a related note, I don’t understand people who complain about open pinholes/axle holes, I feel like it’s part of the aesthetic, and it’s ridiculous to want every single hole in a set filled in.
It might just be nostalgia but I prefer the 2009 glatorian helmet version of the mask of life over the larger one from 2008 (I know that design for the mask existed before that but it didn’t appear in any sets until 08).
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I really like the Toa Hordika, I think that asymmetry can look very cool, and for that reason I also like Toa Mahri Hewkii, in fact he is my second favorite of that team.
Recently I completed my Toa Mistika collection, and I have to say that I’m liking their designs quite a bit.
And finally, I’m really ok with sets with strange proportions (like really long arms) I like that they don’t have human proportions, makes the sets and the Bionicle Universe more unique.
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Aren’t those, you know, probably the two most important things that makes Onua Mistika not a good adaptation of Onua Nuva?
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That’s what I was thinking …
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I think they could’ve used the mata arms as well
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Yeah, true, but he’s still probably the best Mistika adaption.
i thought lewa was pretty good
Lewa isn’t mistika.
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it was the same set line more or less aight gimme a break 
My Mistika/Phantoka Tier list(as a good adaption from the original nuva set") goes:
Lewa, Onua, Kopaka, Tahu, Pohatu, Gali.
Lewa is probably the best '08 Nuva(Excluding Takanuva), but my favorites are Onua and Pohatu.
At least he’s not orange… 
Honestly, Gali’s the only one of the '08’s that bother me. The others could have been better, but I didn’t dislike any.
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ok, this has many flaws. First, the mctoran and kohlitoran have eyes, they’re just the same color as the head, just like the av-matoran. If you say that the mctoran and kohli matoran are blind, than the av-matoran are too. second, you said that the av-matoran can fly, meaning that their jetpacks actually work, wich they don’t. this would be fine, but you are making this as if the sets magicly become alive and start fighting. Third, in canon, all matoran are built the same. The exeption for this would be the marhitoran and the voyatoran for they have been changed by the mutagen and karzanhi. You need to pick a side, story aspects, or physical aspects. You can’t choose both.
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