If you’ve bought the any of the TOA sets, you’ve probably noticed that there are twice as many pages of instructions as you need to construct the matching TOA. The rest of the instructions show you how to build part of a really huge character called a TOA KAITA. At some point in the story the TOA characters will end up combining into these TOA KAITA to become even stronger than they are now so they can whomp on MAKUTA.

AKAMAI
This character can be created by following the instructions in the ONUA, POHATU, and TAHU books. He wields TAHU’s sword in his right hand, his left hand is a giant crab-like claw made of the TAHU and POHATU heads, he’s got POHATU’s super-toes on his feet, and ONUA’s claw hands fill in for pecs. The arms and head look rather tiny compared to the rest of the body, especially the legs. One minor improvement would be to use ONUA’s #1 plus-rod coupler instead of TAHU’s #2 plus-rod coupler as shown in the first instruction panel.

WAIRUHA
This character can be created by following the instructions in the GALI, LEWA, and KOPAKA books. He wields both LEWA’s axe and KOPAKA’s sword in his right hand and uses KOPAKA’s shield in his left. GALI’s hooks form the pecs. This model looks more proportional than the AKAMAI model as the torso isn’t quite as massive, the arms look longer, and the head doesn’t sit as far back from the front of the chest. I would suggest the same improvement as with AKAMAI, but the only leftover piece that would fit the job doesn’t have the same type of holes and it would prevent the leg gear-system from working.

There is also a combination form for the six TURAGA sets, but the best you get for those right now is a 1.5 inch tall picture of the completed model on the back of each TURAGA box. I’m extremely weird about mixing pieces from different LEGO sets, and I don’t have a spare set of TURAGA yet, so I haven’t made an attempt to throw a few hours at trying to decipher the picture. Yet.

Anyways, as you construct the TOA KAITA sets, you begin to understand some of the odd add-on pieces that don’t really do anything, like the chest balls on TAHU, LEWA, and KOPAKA, and the spikes on POHATU’s shins and GALI’s hips.