[joshdem]- The Toa Hagah: Bane of the Brotherhood - BIONICLE G1 Canon Contest #3

“Clad in armor forged from precious metals, and wielding both Toa Tools and Rhotuka Launchers, they were the elite.”

— Turaga Vakama, Origin of the Rahaga


Group Photo

Edit: I have learned that the group photo cannot act as the entry photo for each individual member and would have to be cropped, so here are my individual entry photos-
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Toa Bomonga
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Toa Gaaki
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Toa Pouks
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Toa Kualus
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Design Philosophy:
My intention in designing the Toa Hagah was do demonstrate parity as greatly as I could to reiterate their aura as a unified team, while still giving each member their own individuality to call back to their respective origins from different Toa Teams.
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With Toa Hagah Norik and Iruni’s armor and status as special LEGO 25th anniversary sets, I’ve always viewed the Toa Hagah as enigmatic of “Bionicle’s Greatest Hits”. I’ve thus applied this “best of” principle in designing and choosing the Toa Hagah’s armor and weapons.
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I designed the Toa Hagah so that each member has a different bone for the leg to signify and symbolize each member originating from a different Toa Team and homeland in the Matoran universe before being individually selected by the Brotherhood of Makuta to form the Toa Hagah team we have come to know now.
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I particularly avoided utilizing an Inika leg as the knee portion prevents a straight bend at 180°. The Piraka arm, while interesting in design, would result in an awkward connection to the foot and thus disrupt the parity in design with the other members of the Toa Hagah
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Regarding their armor, I designed it specifically so that no member of the Toa Hagah has a matching full set of armor, whether it be by color or shape. For example, Toa Bomonga has the same chest armor as Toa Norik due to that they the respective roles of deputy and leader. Despite the same chest armor, Toa Bomonga utilizes Knights Kingdom shoulder armor to better differentiate and idividualize him. The same reasoning applies to the rest of the members of the Toa Hagah
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Regarding armor color, I decided to stick to gold and silver so that the Hagah shields (which are quite rare) would not require painting. Automatically, I decided that Toa Gaaki and Toa Kualus could not have gold armor, so as to not confuse them for a Toa of Psionics and a Toa of Light respectively. With this stipulation requiring Toa Gaaki and Toa Kualus to have silver armor, that leaves Toa Bomonga and Toa Pouks to have gold armor, which I must say suits them well and gives Toa color-schemes that have not been presented before.
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Speaking of armor, the chest armor acts a representation of the Matoran species. The Metrutoran Chest Piece of course represents Matoran. The Gahlok-Kal Shield Chest Piece represents Bohrok, which we now know originate from select Av-Matoran pre-destined to transform into such Bohrok. Now only needing a chest piece to represent Toa, I chose the Inika Shoulder Armor which of course debuted with the Toa Inika.

I specifically chose the Inika Shoulder Piece as chest armor as not only does it suit Gaaki and Pouks quite well, but I am also a firm believer that armor such as Nuva Chests should stay exclusive to the Toa Nuva. The Toa Nuva are such unique characters within the Matoran Universe due to their exposure to Energized Protodermis, and thus I feel their armor should stay exclusive to them. Norik already breaks this rule with the shoulder armor, but so as to not break the parity, Pouks has the Nuva Shoulder Armor as well. I am such a staunch believer in exclusivity of the Nuva Chest Armor to the Toa Nuva that I plan to not utilize it in Axonn whenever I get around to revamping the set. I have a similar thought process when it comes to Hordika Chest Armor, which was also utilized in the Mahritoran and thus further disrupt the pattern/parity of the Toa Hagah.


The Spear Tips play into the “greatest hits” concept by selecting from weapons of BIONICLE 2002-2008, the era in the Matoran Universe prior to the story’s migration to Bara Magna.

Toa Norik and Toa Bomonga’s spear tips are those of Toa Gali Nuva and Toa Kopaka Nuva respectively (2002).Because Toa Norik does not have Toa Tahu Nuva’s Magma Sword, I designed it so that Toa Bomonga does not have Toa Onua Nuva’s Quake Breakers. I also eliminated Toa Tahu Nuva’s Magma Sword and Toa Gali Nuva’s Aqua Axe to avoid conflicting with Toa Norik’s spear. Toa Kopaka Nuva’s Ice Blade ultimately was the best choice for Bomonga’s Seismic Spear.

Additionally the Chronicler’s Staff in Toa Iruni’s Cyclone Spear and the Earthshock Drill in Toa Kualus Sub-Zero Spear both debuted in 2004 in the Toa Lhikan & Kikanalo and Toa Whenua sets respectively. (The Chronicler’s staff had previously been packaged with BIONICLE: The Game, but was formally sold to the public in a BIONICLE Set until 2004.) These spear tips also both made an appearance with the Voyatoran in 2006 (Garan and Velika).

Lastly, the Twin Propeller in Toa Gaaki’s Tidal Spear and the Poisonous Fang in Toa Pouk’s Avalanche Spear both debuted in 2008 in Phantoka Toa Pohatu Nuva and Makuta Krika / Jetrax T6 respectively.
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Regarding eye color, I designed it so that each member of the Toa Hagah has a different eye color than the Toa of the corresponding member on the Toa Metru (and my Toa Mahri Revamp if you’re at all familiar with them), save for Toa Norik and Toa Vakama who have the same eye color (I would have to retcon Toa Norik’s eye color so that all their eye colors are different, but I feel it’s fine that Toa Norik and Toa Vakama have the same eye colors as they’re both leaders of their respective teams.
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Toa Norik- Light Green vs Toa Vakama- Light Green
Toa Bomonga- Light Blue vs Toa Whenua- Dark Green
Toa Gaaki- Dark Green vs Toa Nokama- Bright Orange
Toa Iruini- Bright Orange vs Toa Matau- Dark Red
Toa Kualus- Dark Blue vs Toa Nuju- Light Blue
Toa Pouks- Dark Red vs Toa Onewa- Dark Blue
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Toa Bomonga and Toa Kualus use the same newer/smooth Metru connector for purposes of parity, but you can substitute the older white Metru connector variant that came with Pridak in 2007.
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So there you have it you have some of the “best of” and “greatest hits” of BIONICLE with the Spear Tips: 2002-2004-2006-2008
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Select Scenes from the BIONICLE G1 Story
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The Gang Beats Up a Guy (Dark Mirror, Chapter 6, Colorized, 2008.)
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The Gang Loots a Dead Guy’s Corpse (Dark Mirror, Chapter 6, Colorized, 2008.)
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When some Boomers need to destroy the Colosseum and the Zoomers don’t take kindly to it (Dwellers in Darkness, Chapter 3, 2008.)
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“And I suppose you haven’t heard of the beasts of Mount Ihu, or the flame serpents of the Tren Krom Break , or even,” he dropped his voice for effect, “even the Kolhii creature of Ga-Wahi.” (Dark Mirror, Chapter 5, Colorized, 2008.)
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The Toa Hagah Standing at the front lines with their felllow Toa against Velika at the pivotal battle of the Great Being Civil War. (The Powers That Be, Penultimate Chapter, 2023)
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Toa Tahu (Mata) Variant picture if you prefer he not be transformed back into a Toa Nuva.
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Additional Photos

Toa Bomonga

Toa Bomonga






Toa Gaaki

Gaaki






Gaaki’s Kanohi makes her slightly taller, but without it she’s the same height as Iruni

Toa Pouks

Pouks






Toa Kualus

Kualus






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Paint?

Paint?

Paint?


These are all the parts that need to be painted for my Toa Hagah. I have kept the amount of painting to a minimum of 10 parts. You can minimize the amount to 8 parts if you choose not paint Toa Bomonga and Toa Gaaki’s Rhotuka and choose to keep them to Gold and Silver respectively (Doing so at least would not ruin the parity of each Toa Hagah having a different colored main Rhotuka).
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I in particular chose parts that were not too rare and thus would not be too blasphemous in painting.
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This is all the paint you will need: Rustoleum Flat Black, Krylon Matte Ink Blue, Rustoleum Metallic Finish Aluminum, and Artist’s Loft Metallic Bronze. Again you do not need the Black and Blue paints if you do not plan on painting Rhotuka. All of these paints can be found at your local Michael’s Craft Store. Rustoleum and Krylon products are also available at Home Depot, Walmart, Target, and Lowes. The Krylon Matte Ink Blue is a little bit more limited it seems in what stores in can be found, but if for sure is available at Michael’s and Lowe’s.
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Metallic Sharpies are a decent option as well for flat silver and old gold if you don’t want to go the paint route. Word of Warning: they will not work on resin, I tried. In addition, they do chip with play, so you’ll have to do touch ups in the future. Finer details will require the fine tip marker variants. You can find these almost anywhere like Staples or Amazon. But you probably already have these if you were a fan of old BioTube back in the day (shout out your favorite creator from back then, mine was Scotttjt (Toa Hydros))

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Consent Section

I give consent for my mask to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses?:

In order to pay tribute to our community’s hard-working 3-D Modelers, talented artists, and I the creator of these models, these are my guidelines regarding the Kanohi:

Bomonga and Gaaki: I consent for the Kanohi to be added to and expanded upon in design. You may widen or slim, add side panels, add a mouth portion, add horns like those of the G2 Mask of Control, etc.

Regardless, Galva’s designs must be the base for your designs. You will work from these designs and add/subtract as you please within reason.
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Creator’s preference: I actually think Gaaki’s Mask of Clairvoyance is quite perfect already. For Bomonga’s Mask of Growth, I do request that the gaps on the side of the Kanohi be filled so that the head and brainstalk are not visible from the side.
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Pouks and Kualus: I give consent for my mask to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses, but the new artist-created Kanohi must be a completely new, unknown Kanohi (for example, Galva’s designs for the Hagah as we must assume they are in the shape of other Kanohi of unknown powers.). No Kanohi/Mask/helmets already appearing in a LEGO set may be utilized (e.g Hau, Miru, Huna, Knights Kingdom Helmets, Hero Factory Helmets, etc.). To reiterate, I only consent to completely, new Kanohi designs not based on existing Kanohi.
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This way, The Toa Hagah’s Kanohi will be split evenly three ways: LEGO-Designed (Toa Norik and Toa Iruini), Pre-Existing 3D-Modeled by Galva (Toa Bomonga and Toa Gaaki), and Art Portion Winner (Toa Kualus and Toa Pouks). Potentially Kualus may have the Kanohi he has here.
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I give consent for my metallic color choice to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses?:

Bomonga: No, the black and dark gold is too iconic and we haven’t had a Toa of Earth with this color scheme.

Reasoning- Gunmetal would give him the color scheme of a Toa of Magnetism and would require the majority of the armor to be painted. Silver would ruin the balance of the team and has appeared already with Toa Mahri Nuparu and Mistika Toa Onua Nuva.

Gaaki, Kualus, and Pouks: I consent for either (Pouks and Kualus) or (Gaaki and Kualus) armor to be changed to Gunmetal. If you are to change the armor color to Gunmetal, it must be for both members of the selected group.
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I give consent for my spear tip to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses?:

Yes I consent for my spear tip to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses. I would prefer you not as I feel I’ve put a lot of thought into my selections, but ultimately I won’t stand in your way.
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I do NOT consent for their eye colors to be changed.
(When building your own versions if you don’t have all 6 original Metru eye colors, I would suggest making Toa Gaaki and Toa Kualas’ eye color light green, and make Toa Bomonga and Toa Pouks’ eye color light orange.)
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Bonus
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Custom Kanohi by Galva

Custom Kanohi by Galva:

Mask of Clairvoyance (Toa Hagah Gaaki) -Lovice Commission- by Galva - Thingiverse

Mask of Rahi Control (Toa Hagah Kualus) -Lovice Commission- by Galva - Thingiverse

Mask of Growth (Toa Hagah Bomonga) by Galva - Thingiverse

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blue whenua

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Nice work, man! :slightly_smiling_face:
I really dig the symbolism you added into their torso armor, and the prototype Nuparu Inika Mask for Bomonga looks awesome. :+1:

Also, LoL to this:

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wow, i’m really impressed with these. you might have my vote tbh

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wow
very specific, you are.

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I might actually vote these, maybe.

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Pouks sus, he has a painted spear tip, whereas no one else does!!1!!
What? you say Blue Whenua is sus? Nah I saw him doing tasks in archive bro!

Jokes aside I like these, I don’t like painting but seeing as Krika’s blades are common I’m not apposed to the prospect of those being painted. Gaaki is my favourite here because of the consist smooth, streamlined texture and Ben 10 legs.
Good luck dude!

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I didn’t know kopakas nuva sword came in FDG

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Yeah, it was on one of the Alpha Team sets, they had a lot of recolors of the Nuva Weapons.

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Ah ok weird. I have never seen that before.
Edit: wait it isnt on bricklink. Whats up with that?

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I foolishly assumed it was the Knights Kingdom Rascus sword
Uh yeah @Senit it’s in there…keep looking…

It’s not

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Cleaned up the formatting and the design philosophy sections, and have also added select scenes from the BIONICLE G1 Story. Hopefully is a good read if you feel like browsing through!

Also I’ve put up my upscaled version of the Toa Hagah for BIONICLE Upscale Series if y’all are interested:

@Seuss my favorite Toa Hagah member

@Jathru_Cranli Thank you so much! Just checked out your entry for the contest, and it’s really awesome! I also like how we ended up submitting around the same time and our entries ended up next to each other on the list lol. I might just have to make a chart like you to showcase my design philosophy. See you in the polls dude!

@Zepia Thanks! I hope my design philosophy helps me in the polls : )

@GoodGuy2006 Yeah the initial post was messy I’m not gonna lie haha. I’ve cleaned up the Design Philosophy and Consent sections; the consent section is my way of trying to appeal to the most amount of people possible while still compromising for myself and the community’s 3-D modelers.

@Rukah Thanks! If I get the votes, I won’t have to change my upscaled versions lol

@Axelford Yeah Pouks stole Tamna’s face, he’s been tossed. Also, I intentionally chose pieces to paint that aren’t rare/scarce so the most amount of people can make them. They could also possibly be 3D Printed, but I’ve also put in the consent section that the staffs may be changed.

@Racie02 @Senit I ended up painting a spare Toa Kopaka Nuva skate I had.

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Thanks!:slightly_smiling_face::+1:
See you there, as well!:+1:

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You have my vote

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thank you so much!
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And for anyone following this post or my other posts, my entries are up in the polls! Consider supporting me with your votes to hopefully make a dream of mind come true!
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https://board.ttvchannel.com/t/bomonga-poll-five/60824
Toa Bomonga Poll 5, Entry 15
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https://board.ttvchannel.com/t/gaaki-poll-five/60835
Toa Gaaki Poll 5, Entry 16
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https://board.ttvchannel.com/t/pouks-poll-five/60840
Toa Pouks Poll 5, Entry 16
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https://board.ttvchannel.com/t/kualus-poll-six/60830
Toa Kualus Poll 6, Entry 16
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The Toa Hagah: Bane of the Brotherhood, Full Post:

[joshdem]- The Toa Hagah: Bane of the Brotherhood - BIONICLE G1 Canon Contest #3 Lego Creations

Bomonga looks great!

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Thanks, Toa Bomonga is actually my favorite too and is the one I want to win the most haha

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Sorry these didn’t make it to the second round, man. These were well-built works of art.

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I appreciate it, yeah it kinda hurt to not even make it into the second round. I thought the design philosophy and even taking the pictures outside with natural light (like with Toa Krakua back in the day) would help work in my favor, but alas it wasn’t enough.
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I probably put myself at a disadvantage by posting on the last day of entry and not being more prepared and posting earlier in the contest (going out of my way to the get the gold paint and then paint the needed parts took some energy too admittedly). It also would have helped it seems to have a custom background like those used in the actual sets, but I have no experience in photoshop nor did I really have a desire to present my entries like this (I thought the outdoor shots would help differentiate my entries and work to my advantage).

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I’m still surprised though that I didn’t make it into the second round considering I was able to garner a decent amount of views on this post and promoted it on other platforms like Biogram and Reddit. I really felt I made a team that looked like LEGO really produced it and would get me enough votes, but such is life.
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In the end, I’m not too discouraged, just still a little bit sad and disappointed. The beautiful thing about BIONICLE is that your own ‘canon’ is yours to control and make fit with your own hands. It will be interesting to see how the final results affect (if at all) my revamp/upscale of the Toa Hagah (If we get better Kanohi, I’m for sure open to changing them, and I am considering changing two members’ armor color to Gunmetal for some added variety).
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I’ll perhaps give these canon contests another shot when we tackle the Yesterday Quest crew: Toa Orde, Toa Chiara, and Toa Zaria. I also see myself entering for Toa Varian as well. If I find the spark I may even build for Toa Tuyet (I plan on making all these Toa anyway for my upscale series, its just a matter of timing/inspiration).
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all in all, still interested to see what the outcome of this contest will be, will take this loss as a learning experience and apply what I’ve learned to future contests.

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I am sorry for your loss. I’m glad to see you have such a positive, constructive view towards it. I think a silver lining is perhaps some of the winning models can have their spears, masks etc. changed in a way that may match your models somewhat.

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