I finished (or maybe I’m just halfway through?) a series of Piraka and Toa Inika tributes/revamps.
Had lots of fun, and heaps of nostalgia, reading through those ancient Bionicle texts then figuring out how I could be most faithful to each character.
Which one of these is your favourite?
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These are fantastic! Kongu and Matoro are by far my favorites
These are all awesome! Definitely heavily stylized, but absurdly cool interpretations. I feel like Hakann, Vezok, and Nuparu really capture the essence of the characters in particular - I love how you’ve styled the faces and the clothing on them, and the physique is great.
The other three are just as cool, but less immediately recognizable as the characters they represent (except maybe Avak, - he just looks a bit too unintelligent compared to how I read him, although you’ve totally succeeded in portraying him the way you’ve pictured the character.)
Very sophisticated technique on display, as well. Hakann and Vezok are so detailed they almost look like painted artwork rather than lego models. Very well done - I can’t stop looking at them and noticing cool new details and nods to the characters.
Love the baseplates too!
EDIT: Upon getting a better look at them through the linked gallery, I’m now much more sold on Avak and Kongu - the smaller images didn’t preserve some of the details as well and I didn’t quite pick up the direction they were going for. And Matoro is still awesome (especially that sword!) - just less recognizable as the character than the rest of them.
“What’s this wheel on me crotch for? It’s drivin’ me nuts!”
Sick revamps. I love how much more personality comes across here. Is there a chance we can see the other Piraka and Inika to complete the crew?
I think it’s clear bully boy Hakann is the best.
Amazig! I would not guessed the toa correctly if I needed to, though. Maybe masks should be more recognizable. But Piraka are totally perfect. There are even 2 perfect things: the concept itself and the realization.
These are amazing!
Excellent builds! I’d have to say my favorite is probably Matoro. I like that you used the old school colors for the Toa. I like the direction you went with Nuparu but I feel like he fell a bit short of the others (still not a bad MOC by any means). It would be cool to see some more in this style, especially Jaller.
Would have been super awesome to have those Piraka as bosses in Bionicle Heroes! (or any other game - their level of detail and personality would work in Borderlands or Overwatch too 
)
@Toa-of-Snow Thanks for giving them a second chance! 
I’d say it was easier to decide on ideas for the Piraka, while for the Toa I cherry-picked aspects from each of their three forms.
In my eyes Kongu and Nuparu’s characters were mostly fleshed out as Matoran, hence my emphasis on their 2001-2 Mctoran identities.
On the other hand, Matoro’s character developed/darkened dramatically during 2006-7, nudging me to move away from that in favour of an ‘edgier’ look!
Thanks everyone! 
@SirKeksalot Wow, my body was not ready for such a powerful pun.
I’ve got plenty of ideas for the other 6, hopefully I can turn those ideas into mocs soon!
@Maethorneth Totally agree, in terms of both ‘Concept’ and ‘Realization’ as @Lesnichiy put it.
I’ll have to revisit Nuparu before the next batch; currently thinking the waist is the main place to tidy up, and I could add more features to reference the ‘Boxor’.
These look absolutely incredible! I think I saw avak on a top ten mocs of the week from brickvault.
Inspiring and impressive work!
These are stunning! The artistic interpretations go with the characters so well. Even if some might be more recognizable than others, they all stand out for different reasons.
These are so amazing…I’m speechless…
Nuparu and Avak are my favorites. Nuparu is just an excellent character redesign, the colors pop so much more than the original figure, and the added details like the drill, the lenses, the coat, and the mustache/beard fit him perfectly as a wacky inventor. Avak just has such a unique shape that I’ve never seen on a Bionicle figure before.
To be honest, though, I think Matoro is my least favorite here. The “edgy” look is really cool, and he’s super well-built, but I don’t really see “edgy” as describing his character. When he became an Inika, and even after becoming a Mahri, Matoro was doubtful of himself and introverted, but he had that heroic spark that led him to sacrifice himself for his friends not once, but twice. The edgy look exudes self-importance and confidence, neither of which are traits Matoro ever had. He was the underdog who always had to wrestle with secrets.
I’m begging you now to do the others! I need to see them all lined up next to each other! They truly stand out as characters here, I’m always a big fan of that!
@optimus_priminski Ooh nice, I’m famous!
The ‘extreme sort of warrior type figure from Doom’ take is pretty funny; despite that I’m happy Constraction builds are getting featured alongside system ones.
@Jitil824 Thank you, I’ve always enjoyed doing revamps/tributes like these.
It’s always a trade-off between preserving aspects of the old characters, and introducing my own ideas to make it stand out from the rest.
I have a love/ hate relationship with that pun.
@Pakari The ‘engineer’ archetype is always fun, I’m pleased with how much those tools and eyepieces contribute to both Nuparu and Avak.
Once I get some time I’d love to take more photos of battle scenes and Piraka mug-shots, and I’m already envisioning my 6v6 setup at next years local Lego show!
That’s a very reasonable stance, Matoro is Bionicle’s quintessential ‘hero’ after all!
I’ll have to read through the Legends again, but the impression I got was:
Matoro started out as kind and selfless, but conflict with the Piraka, Barraki and Teridax actually did lead him to become quite ruthless/amoral, as well as substantially more independent/assertive.
Yet, despite everything he went through, he never lost his original qualities, and it was a combination of all of this that enabled him to follow the destiny the Mask of Life required.
That said, I totally could’ve made him too edgy in this case ahaha.
It’s good food for thought, I’m sure more can be said for either case!
I love that Avak has headphones.
“Matoran should be seen, and not heard,” Avak growled.
“And even ‘seen’ is debatable.”
I’ve seen your builds on Twitter and I think they are absolutely incredible! So much detail, so many awesome part-usages fantastic work.
P.S. While the figures are fantastic on their own, the little pedestals make them stand out even more
