Recently, while lurking on Ebay (as one often does), I came across a new-in-box Tarakava set, being sold for less than the original retail value. Not owning a Tarakava myself (it has been on my list of sets to finish aquiring from the '01 wave for a while), I bought it in an instant. Today, it finally arrived in the mail, and I thought I’d share the experience for those of you who have never seen inside an original Bionicle box.
Unfortunately, one of the seals on the box had deteriorated due to age, but from what I could tell it had never been opened.
Inside, it was cool to see how differently LEGO was packaged back then. The boxes came with cardboard inserts to keep their shape and organize the parts. I never actually got any of the Rahi in 2001, just the Toa, so seeing this was a first for me.
Onto the contents- 4 bags of parts, 2 bags of large parts, some advertisements, and the instruction books.
I really thought it was cool that the bags were labeled with the “Bionicle” logo back then, and not just clear.
Another neat thing- the original story booklet (plus some advertisements). Really neat to see how it evolved from conception. At this time, the matoran were even still referenced as Tohunga!
Finally, a look inside the instruction books. These things were massive back then! LEGO definitely wasn’t optimizing production costs back then, but it gives the books a neat feel.
Now, onto building them! I may post photos when done. I hope you guys enjoyed this trip down memory lane, or your first time seeing inside a new 2001 box!
On another note, if you guys like this, tell me! I may consider opening some of my other mint sets I’ve been saving for a rainy day.
