I took a gamble and drove up to Berlin, Maryland to the “GROM” event at Exodus Skatepark (more about that later) on the chance that I would find the 2003 BIONICLE® Unleashed Tour East Coast Van. The gamble paid off because MAKUTA (the van, not the evil spirit brother of Mata Nui) was there. Calling MAKUTA the “East Coast Van” is a bit of a misnomer because the van is appearing all over the eastern half of North America, not just the coast.

Here we have the left, back, right, and front sides of the van.

These are some close-up pictures of the detail on the van. Of course, the RAHKSHI hood ornament is the most distinctive element. The TAKANUVA symbol and MAKUTA symbols are new to me. MoD reader ShadowCat notes that the blue-green symbol in the middle meshes the “T” and “M” symbols together.

Wondering what to do with your BIONICLE stickers? Stick them on your hubcaps!

Virtually all of the van is covered with BIONICLE images. In case you are looking for the van with a helicopter, you should know the top is decorated with some of the Wall of History in the front and the RAHKSHI symbol toward the back.

Of course, all of the goodies are on the inside. On the right side, there is a large-screen TV hooked to a DVD player showing clips from the upcoming Mask of Light video and BIONICLE: The Game videogame releases. And in the back is a diorama (featuring the RAHKSHI, MAKUTA, and TAKANUVA sets) surrounded by images from the BIONICLE comics.

I hope to have more about my visit posted in another article soon.