Honestly my favorite design for the Toa was the Toa Mata. But if I had to choose between Metru and Inika, I’d choose Metru.
1 Like
I can’t exactly agree that Metru is predominant though, seeing how it only existed for a year, which is something that even the Toa Mata build exceeds. But that’s just a nitpick
As for the point of this discussion, while the Inika/Piraka builds are considered to be the standard for how the action figure is supposed to pose, there’s a major grievance that I had with it ever since 2007 - proportions. It shows up the most with sets like Hewkii Mahri, Gali Mistika and Mata Nui - basically any set that has arms same length as, if not longer than, the legs. Naturally, it would’ve been a simple fix of using shorter arms and whatnot, but the discussion is about what happened, not would could’ve happen (even if it was, both torsos are disproportionate, both is short height and great width).
While, in other hand, the Metru build actually looks humanoid (though I’d want the arms to be just a stud longer). Sure, you do have the unfortunate inability to turn gears independently, you do get a more refined aesthetic, realistic humanoid proportions and a bit more creative playground, seeing how there’s a bunch of things one can do to add a bit of a special touch, where as pretty much anything you put on an inika build makes it seem too bulky or too awkward to function on good days, if not straight up misshapen/not fit for a stoic hero character archetype.
As someone who prefers overall look and possibility to an arm function, I say inika.
The inika build characters looked so skimpy and cheap to me. Never liked them, even when they were new. I never bothered getting any. Metru is pretty good, but their feet are massive. Then again all BIONICLE characters have abnormally large feet so that children can stand them up. There really wasn’t anything the designers could do about it.
I like the Metru build better stylistically, but for parts, the Inika build is MUCH more versatile.
oof, both have their ups and downs. Personally I think there is or was a lot of untouched ground when it came to the Inika build, which is really the only reason I would choose it over the Metru build as they are honestly equal in my eyes. Tho, I use more custom builds now, which are coincidentally shaped to look like the Metru build.
because the Metru build is more proportionally accurate.
I personally prefer to Inika build. It allows you to build bigger and more poseable characters.