That said, when I actually get to building the Rahi, I get impatient for the model to be done. The Rahi (Nui-Rama, Nui-Jaga, Tarakava, Muaka, Kane-Ra, Manas) are the closest the Bionicle line comes to the Technic line of models from which Bionicle sprang, and their relative complexity is one of the facets that links them to Technic quite fundamentally. We could posit that the Rahi models were actually LEGO's attempt to bring older builders into the Bionicle line in much the same way that the Toa, with their action figure-esque style, would be better suited to bring in younger builders. If I'm anything to go by, it worked. But I still get impatient building them, and I'm not sure why. It could simply be that I've been building and dismantling these models for nearly 15 years, so the shine is off. Regardless, they represent a very interesting, innovative, and unique moment in Bionicle's history.
Early on in the line, the Rahi were relatively difficult to find, and were remarkably expensive, compared to the Toa and Turaga. The expense of these sets might be a reason that the very large sets disappeared for some time from later Bionicle iterations, or perhaps it was the success of the figure-based models that spurred the creation of the "titans" line of villains and heroes, models that still incorporated some Technic elements, but really were very much on the way to becoming Bionicle, as opposed to Technic. But before that happened, we had wild animals to build.
The main series of Rahi are well-known by this point. Giant mosquitoes, giant scorpions, water lizards, bulls, great cats, and giant crabs. All of these creatures were possessed by the Makuta and sent to stop the Toa from locating their Masks of Power. In the comics and books, the Rahi who had been taken over by Makuta were always identified by the corrupted masks they wore. Unfortunately, the only model to have such masks was Muaka. I would have loved to see the Manas or Tarakava with infected masks, though the variety of colours of the original masks that we do get as a result of the colour-schemes of the Rahi is quite wonderful. Of course, bearing in mind the expense of the sets, these masks fall into the realm of the most rare and collectible of the series.
(Note: I haven't yet dealt with the collectability of the generation 1 masks, which seems odd considering this is a collecting blog. I think the masks will require a post all their own, perhaps one that encompasses all of the masks of G1, from the early to the last.)
For this particular build through, the aspect of the Rahi sets that was most interesting for me were the combiner sets. The Nui-Kopen, combiner model of the two Nui Rama, is one of my favourite models of the whole line. While the Nui Rama themselves are individually interesting models, the Nui-Kopen really conveys the sense of malevolence one wants to see from a giant insect.
Missing from this particular build through are the Kuma Nui, combiner of Muaka and Kane-Ra, and the Mana Ko, combiner of the Manas. As both of these sets were very expensive, finding them on the secondary market is difficult. But if there's one thing a collector never wants to see, it's the end of his or her collection - having such difficult quarry to hunt down is part of the draw of collecting as a life. This said, what we do have in these pictures and in this build through are numerous official Rahi that were not sets, instructions for which came through either the LEGO website or the LEGO magazine.
The Mata Nui Cow, or Mukau, is easily the cutest model of the Bionicle series. Of real note here, however, are the Ranama and the Kirikori Nui, two models that not only combine Bionicle pieces, but also incorporate elements of the Bionicle forerunners, Throwbots (or Slizers) and Roboriders. As I noted in the previous post, the dearth of older sets makes building these ones difficult, and my own versions of these two Rahi incorporate most, but not all, of the pieces from the official instructions. When I'm tracking down bits for these combiner models, I'll hit a certain point where I feel that, with the pieces I do have that can be used as replacements, building the model minus some of the "official" pieces is worthwhile. For the Ranama, for example, I am missing two of the Throwbot "gearbox" body pieces in yellow. But that's all, so replacing them with the purple ones that you (might) see in the picture is not a big deal for me as a builder. A few of the combiner models I'll be looking at through this series share similar replacement parts, but that's only until I can track down the right pieces.
I think that's long enough for this post. I'll offer some final thoughts on the Rahi next time, as well as looking briefly at some of the ancillary merchandise that accompanied Bionicle at this early stage.
(Okay, two more. The Kahu (Nui-Jaga combiner) and the Dikapi, which basically is a Bionicle chicken.)
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