Hello everybody! Welcome to my review of the mighty Exo-Toa. This is my very first review, so feel free to offer constructive criticism later.
The Exo-Toa, set number 8557, is a Bionicle set released in 2002. It has 367 parts and the complete figure stands about 26 centimeter tall.
Articulation and poseability is limited. The legs are on click-hinge joints, which allows them to go back and forth and turn around, however since there are no knee or ankle joints it looks rather stiff. The arms have ball joints at the shoulders, with the left arm having a second joint at the blaster.
I used Nick to hold the Exo-Toa up since it wouldn’t stand on its own. Generally, this model already likes to topple over in a neutral position, so any pose is rather difficult.
The arms are interesting. On the right, we have a claw-hand: pressing on it makes it extend in a punching motion! Once you let go, it automatically snaps back via a rubber band. This is a very fun gimmick.
The left arm features a Technic competition style blaster. It shoots well and goes quite far!
Now, it’s time for this set’s namesake attraction: using it as an exo-suit for Toa! It’s designed to fit the Toa Mata and Nuva. I’ll demonstrate it with Lewa.
First, you spin one of the gears behind its shoulders to make the head slide back.
Next, press the orange part on its front to make the chest canopy open.
Now sit your Toa inside! Getting them inside can be a little tricky, but once done it’s a nice and snug fit. I like how the thighs flap down and become little foot platforms.
Close the canopy and done! Your Toa now has a cool battle suit!
Having a figure inside looks very nice and greatly adds to the Toa’s appearance - especially a spindly Mata build looks much more powerful.
But this also limits the articultaion even more. The legs are practically immobile now, save for some very small movement. But it looks very cool nevertheless, so I can ignore that!
This works with all Toa Mata and Nuva (you have to remove their armor though) besides Pohatu. His inverted torso does not properly fit inside, and his butt gear interferes with the seat. You can however just flip his torso around - that looks cursed on its own but it’s not noticeable when he pilots the Exo-Toa. And no, I don’t have a Kakama yet.
It’s all fun and games with the Toa Mata, but what about other constraction style figures? Can they use the exo-suit? Let’s find out!
A 1.0 hero fits pretty nicely, but you can’t close the canopy.
An Inika style figure goes in there quite well, but is way too tall - it just looks silly. Robot pants!
The same goes for Nick Bluetooth. Fits inside, but is too tall and thus looks out of place. But I assume Nick wouldn’t need this anyways, he could just glinch it himself.
It’s better with a Toa Metru, but the arms get in the way. Since they’re angled and on a gearbox, you can’t really make it fit. But with a few modifications, I think this could work!
Not so much with a knight. The lack of poseability and the general blockiness of the figure does not allow him to really sit in there.
And lastly, the new style of brick-built action figures that are currently available in stores! This does not work at all - I couldn’t really fit him inside and like Hahli and Nick, he’s way too tall nevertheless. And no, this is not a real set, but a Power Ranger MOC - however it is based on the Miles Moralses figure and has the same dimensions and articulation.
What’s interesting about this set is that it has very few Bionicle-specific parts! Most of it is just regular Technic, besides the Bohrok shield (which looks really nice in plain black!) on the canopy, the head and of course the ball joints.
The color scheme of the model is quite nice. While gray, black and silver with orange accents might sound pretty messy, it works very well in this case!
As for a final verdict, I’d say that it is a very nice model! Despite a lack of poseability, I think it is a very nice model both for play and display. It has fun features, a striking appearance and building the model is interesting because of many unique building techniques. It also has many nice parts, so even if you don’t like the model it’s a great parts pack for MOCs.
One downside is that it has balance issues and likes to topple over easily, so you need to pay attention as to how you make it stand. But the positives certainly outweigh the negatives in my opinion, so I say:
A great set!
Thank you for reading this far. What do you think of the Exo-Toa? Share your thoughts below! And again, I’m happy to receive constructive criticism so I can improve with future reviews. I hope you enjoyed!