These MOCs are by Skybird

We last featured one of Skybird’s MOCs back in December 2021, with his Nui-Maca. Although he seems to specialize in Rahi, Skybird’s Toa designs are pretty cool too. Each one starts with the same general torso design, a simple build using sockets and bohrock arms with a Toa Hordika plate overtop. This torso design makes for a great starting point, and is easily modified to suit a number of designs. Although he does use some custom masks (He notes 4 masks by Galva, and 1 by Rothanak, 4 of which he modified in Blender) and weapons (some of which he designed himself), the MOCs are otherwise easy to replicate with official parts.

I love how these MOCs take a bit of inspiration from their Mistika and Phantoka forms that occur later in the BIONICLE timeline. Although these details are more pronounced on others, particularly Pohatu, it lends more credence that these later forms could be continuities of the Toa Nuva. Technically, these changes are explained by the characters receiving adaptive armor and masks, but it’s still a cool design idea.

As far as constructive criticism goes, I do think some of these seem a little more “extra” than others. Gali in particular feels a little lacking compared to the effort that went into that excellent redesign of Pohatu’s claws and Onua’s working Quake Breakers. I might have tried adding a flip-out optical tool like the one featured on RealRed’s Onepu to Gali, referencing her phantoka mask’s asymmetrical eye. For Lewa, I think I’d try my hand at a larger fold-open glider, maybe using a cloth piece between two hinging blades. However, I feel like the lack of features on the other Toa is simply a matter of the source material not giving Skybird enough to go on.

You can find more of Skybird’s creations on Instagram, and Discord.

Update: Made some changes to clarify the custom masks and weapons used in the render.