For MOC-building purposes, I’d have to say that WHENUA probably currently offers the most potential of the TOA METRU. Black is easily the most common color in the TECHNIC line, and it’s also the most common color for BIONICLE™ parts, plus black looks good with everything. The weapons also look like they’d make decent landing gear, walker feet, or digging equipment for a Space MOC.

As far as the set goes, it’s a little on the plain side. The weapons are creatively designed to lock together into a drill shape (the instructions show WHENUA stretched like he’s flying, with the drill tip pointing forward), but the overall shape looks more like the edge of a disc than a drill-tip. The KANOHI would have a lot more potential if the tubes on the sides were just a little bigger, so as to allow a plus-rod to freely pass through them (by sheer coincidence, they are located at a 4-stud spacing). On the positive side, black is one of the very few colors that actually looks great with the new gunmetal grey color…but that’s because black looks good with everything.

WHENUA has the shortest torso possible without giving him a tail. The waist stem is fully inserted into the upper torso, which does dictate the order in which certain pieces have to be added, but it also gives the torso sides a cleaner, more uniform profile.

One other problem that I’ve noticed with the TOA METRU is that the softer plastic used for that chest coverplate makes it very difficult to remove without leaving scars, gouges, and dents in the exterior surface, so the only way that I’ve been able to find to cleanly remove it is to pry it off with a long plus-rod stuck down inside the chest cavity. While doing the photography for this review, I also discovered that it’s very easy to send that piece flying across the room when you’re removing it.