Onua Nuva and the Exo-Toa
Monday, June 24th, 2002 at 12:39am by Kelly, BZPower Co-Owner
A few weeks ago KP placed each Toa in the Exo-Toa suit to see how they measured up. All but two readily fit: Onua was just a bit lowbrow, and Pohatu had the wrong body type.
But what about Onua Nuva?
Regardless of the storyline provided to KP (from the recent press kit we received) where the Toa ditch their Exo suits during their big dust-up with the Bahrag twins, there's little doubt that consumers will pair their Exo suits with the Nuva, once the latter are on sale. Since we have both, it was a fairly simple matter to see if our favorite earth-digger would now fit, when he didn't before.
This picture should tell the story.
It's still a bit of a snug fit with the chest armor on, but O. Nuva manages to squeeze in by sucking in a gut. The secret: a minor change in the position of his head connection (see below).
Note: O. Nuva's shoulder armor has been removed to provide a better comparison in structure and height.
If you look closely (below), you'll notice that O. Nuva's "neck" (outlined in red) actually attaches to his armor, rather than directly to his chest. The armor connection goes directly into the cross socket where his neck used to go, effectively raising it up just enough to allow the Exo's chest armor to click shut without hitting the mask. The Exo Toa instructions show Tahu Nuva's chest armor off, but that's not an option for Onua Nuva. That's also why he's such a snug fit.
So, while it doesn't fit with the official Bionicle storyline, the Exo is clearly intended for use with at least this Nuva. Who knows, LEGO may indeed find a way to bring back the short-lived usefulness of the Exo-Toa suits in future "chapters" of the Bionicle saga. It would be a shame to relegate the Exo to such a minor role, as the set is one of the better play values in the current product line. « Return to News |