@@Chuked I'd argue that it comes very close to anime style, with similar storytelling and tropes. And there are even some episodes animated in a Japanese style.
Ey, I'm the penciler for the first 2 years of animated comics and hero portraits on the boxart. I wasn't the original artist they hired but due to production issues they replaced the original art team and me, my inker and colorist took over. Thanks for featuring Exo-Force! It was such a fun gig as I'm also a big fan of mecha anime. (I also made my own mechs out of several year 1 and 2 sets.)
Holy crap, dude. One comic artist to another, it is amazing to hear from someone on the team. Glad to know working on Exo-Force was such a positive experience for you while it lasted. It definitely isn't the sort of thing they'd bring back nowadays, what with changing trends and marketing.
Likewise! It was my first chance to ever work for Lego as well so that's hitting two birds with one stone for me. I am glad that it sort of became the godfather design of modern Lego mecha. =)
That is awesome to hear. =) I am glad that my work has influenced someone the same way previous artists have influenced me. And so I hope your own talent and creativity will inspire others as well, let's keep the ball rolling!
For me that theme was Rock Raiders, even though I don't have any of the sets (just had the PS1 game, and later the PC one). It's just a really awesome unique sci-fi setting.
I was largely a Bionicle kid, but I always thought the Exo-Force sets were super cool and creative. The use of binoculars to make gun turrets and the brick-built guns using all kinds of weird parts were really neat.
Ah yes, the cinematic commercial that felt like the first season of an anime condensed into five minutes. Only got three sets from this one, one big mech and the first two little ones, but man I loved mechs back in the days of games like Mech Assault, so I was hyped for this stuff.
Exo-Force, Knights Kingdom (wave 2), and Bionicle (Piraka & Inika) were what introduced me to my first Lego sets. It was one heck of a first impression.
About halfway through the video you mention the alternate build options. Personally my main problem with Lego now a days is that they don’t do this any more. What makes Lego a unique toy line is that you can build and rebuild, which they’ve seemingly forgot about. They need to bring back rebuilding options on the back of the box or in the instructions or online.
Unfortunately, I doubt they'd do it these days. A lot of the parts to make non-creator or MC sets flashy require specialized elements that can only go together so many ways. You might be able to mirror the model (like I've done with the Solo Speeder) or change the colours around. But 'official' alternate builds are probably a thing of the past.
I remember Exo-Force, even though I never got any of the sets. I remember looking at the sets and being like "Hey, that looks cool," but I never got around to getting any. A friend of mine had some of them, and they were pretty cool. Man, LEGO was weird back then. Still kinda is, but not as much for better or worse.
I only got one when they were on the shelves, and it wasn't even for me. I got one of the small ones for a friend's birthday, who was into mechs. Apparently he was moderately insulted I would give him a "Neon Genesis ripoff" at first, but grew to love it. At least, until he regifted it to his gf's little brother who was into LEGO.
Welp... I didn't buy a bunch, just one (cuz they're a bit expensive, since where I live Exo-Force never came out, and I never heard of it before this video, and now I just found out this would've been my favorite Lego theme if I had known it at the time), but still. You're influencing me to like older Lego themes even more than I already do. * ^ *
@@MaxRamos8 You'll always have the Lego tax (Lego as a whole tends to be a pretty pricey brand) but the older sets were far more attainable for similar complexity and piece counts.
Oh god, I remember this theme. Loved it. Second favorite to Bionicle, growing up. Followed the comics religiously. Only had a few sets, that colossal Sentai Fortress set, the Mobile Defense Tank, and the Sonic Phantom. Each one was a gift, either birthday or Christmas. That first one took 2 days to build, and it was a centerpiece of my bedroom for a long time. Good times. Really hope Lego brings something like this back one day.
Exo force is probably my childhood favorite Lego theme. I'm almost glad it ended when it did, as I liked all three waves that they released. If it had gone on longer, they may have had more time to ruin it.
Somebody might have said this already but I’m convinced that the stealth hunter is a macross reference. It’s a white robot specializing in aerial combat, with jet-like wings, a primary color accent, and a pilot who’s name is hikaru. Maybe I’m grasping at straws, but I smell VF-1J.
I was a huge fan of bionicle and exo-force in their prime. Despite bionicle being the more popular one, all my friends and I were drawing and sketching exo-force all the time. Such a basic concept as a robot with guns had a huge creative potential for us. I still have some of the drawings today. It was simply awesome to be influenced by something so unique and good looking at that time!
I've seen this video a year ago, and I had a few lego exo-force sets. Now I've begun to complete the whole collection. These videos give so much nostalgia that they make you want to go back in time when things were different and the world looked much smaller than today.
I really liked the setting of exo force "The split mountain". I however never heard of a/that comic/TV series. It is also the only series wich I actually bought a lot from. First year only thought. For the piece count: It is was not only cheap, but you get a lot of air so it looks extra big.
And some of the pieces were pretty rare. Only sad thing about the setting is that we never saw the wrap up. Fortunately the community quite got creative.
Anyone who uses that spiral staircase axle as a cannon barrel got it from Exo-Force, directly or otherwise. I didn’t even know the original use for that part until I looked it up for this comment. And now, a moment of silence for everyone who did *this*.
I’m so glad you called out that build technique at the end. I remember combining my two sets and being really upset when I couldn’t get those pieces apart again.
Exo force brought us more than we credit them for and I love it Edit: so I found out you can buy a lot of these sets for pretty cheap and you can switch the batteries I. Cores
I mean this one: www.amazon.com/LEGO-4285039-Exo-Force-Striking-Venom/dp/B000B74EIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529272267&sr=8-1&keywords=Exo+Force+Striking+Venom
Chessversarius ohh yeah I think my best friend had this set as well. We had so much fun playing with exo-force back then lol. I meant this set btw: www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=8764-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0}
I grew up in a below average income home. Single working mom etc, but now that you mention those prices I DID have an insane amount of these sets. Seeing this video fills me with huge amounts of nostalgia, thank you.
If they were to reboot Exo Force now they would have so much to work with. They have the CCBS system which is ridiculously versatile and loads more parts to work with, mech figures will always have a market (especially ones with such a high level of customization). They were really on to something with the last 2 waves of Hero Factory and those sets were great fun to build, they could probably get another steady franchise going with it like they have with Ninjago.
I've beeen working on mechs for an "updated" re run- but they are mochs of a different asthetic so I'm not sure if the product line would still be exoforce or just a relaunch under a new name (see all of there product lines wit "mars" in the name).
oh man, lego Exo Force. To this day, this is still my favorite series. This was the series that sparked my love of legos cus I got the sonic phantom one Christmas. after i built it, something about it just clicked with me. i played with that set, all day long and didn’t put it down once and my love for legos was born. Every single birthday wish, christmas list, and allowance i saved up, went towards getting a new exo force set. and lastly, this series was the reason i decided to try and steal something from a store for the very first time... i stole an Uplink set by hiding it in my backpack one day when we went to walmart after my mother picked me up from school. and i passed it off to my mom by saying I, get this, got it as a reward for being the principal’s assistant for the week... to this day, i have no idea why my mom bought that lie and how i got away with stealing it with that flimsy ass lie... :s not my best moment, but hey, i got away with it, and I still have that Uplink set to this day. this series gave me so many good memories, even though its long retired and i hated to see it go, it still remains as my favorite lego series.
Man, I can imagine this sort of style of Lego eventually getting a resurgience. Especially if the folks at Japan kind of take a liking to it, as sort of a call-back to campy, robot action-based media and all that.
You'd have to contend with Gundam over in Japan. And maybe that was partially why Exo-Force never really took off; it just couldn't compete with the established mecha model kit fanbase.
@@blam320 Perhaps. Though, considering how more intricate and stuff they can be, I suppose the Lego sets could always be like a starting point for some younger or more inexperienced folks, that are interested in model making.
Has anyone ever noticed that the hero factory tower from lego hero factory looks like the sentai mountain? Does Exo force and HF possibly take place in the same universe?
Power Rangers and Ninjago are a tight fit, and for coincidence... Zhane from Power Rangers in Space = Zane Cole (Wild Force) = Cole Lloyd becoming evil then a hero and eventually the leader of the team = Tommy's Green Ranger Story
Very nice video mate! A strong nostalgic feel to be honest, comes back when remembering the way of how the story developed. These were the nicest lego sets I got in my youth.
i was literally thinking of this weird lego evangelion ripoff YESTERDAY. and low and behold, look at my notifications. i didn't even search 'Exo-Force' or anything. TH-cam just read my mind
The coolest Lego theme ever! I wish I was able to obtain these when I was a kid but my parents couldn’t afford it, at least I can watch these kinds of videos though!
Those dead light bricks can be revived! They use CR927 button cells which are readily available and pretty cheap. Just takes a little careful work with a small screwdriver to open the part up.
Wow. I think this was the first line that I purchased as many of the sets as I could have. I still have all of them, and I loved the series. I can't believe it's been a decade since then. This was a pretty big part of my childhood, and I've used "Exo" as my online name in some form for years now, directly inspired by this series.
I remember my younger self going NUTS over exoforce, one of my favourite lego theme ever, altough I had a need for proper Lego Star Wars distribution in my area, those mechs were just too awesome for my childy little brain, and still to this day I look at this like one of the best themes to ever come out of Lego
Exo Force was actually the first, really cool weapon thing from lego. I think this was the time we started using technic elements as guns. The design was cool, the stories and mechs too. Really a legendary theme you need to name
I know I'm 5 years too late but this I'm about to say is still very much relevant. 16:54 Yes it was. It was a shallow marketing gimmick to sell toys, that's what every single lego original ip is at least at the begining, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. We're here for the cool sets, the world building, the lore and the media. With Bionicle for example we got all of those things because it had time to develop. Can't say the same for exo-force (sadly). Something having a cult following and a wiki doesn't mean it isn't shallow and money driven, more so when we're talking about Lego, and it being that way is not a bad thing. We can have nice things that are just nice and that's it, we don't need to find meaning everywhere :/
4:29 oh boy. I remember this big thing. I even remember when I first got it. It was a Friday, the prior 2 days I just had a big test. I was really worried about failing it. Then I got the grades and I did extremely well on it. Then earlier in the day my dad had to go to the store. When he came home, he had got all he needed. Then he called me into the back room and what he pulled from the bag was the set in 4:29. I was really excited to get and it was a childhood toy. And in 2011 I even found its alternative build, built that, kept it for a hell of a long time, then just recently built it back into its original form.
I got into Lego literally the year Exo-Force ended, which sucks because a lot of the sets look really good. So many good mech designs, and they're all so affordable.
exo force was the biggest part of my childhood i just want to rebuild every set now wich btw is about 80% from all of them oh boi i just want to buy all sets i dont have now..
These where some of the first lego sets I actually owned and I still have a bunch of them laying around in parts... I should rebuild them at some point. The only sad part is that because there are a lot of stickers which they have worn out. Also "the dragonfly is my favorite" I see you're a man of culture as well
I can relate with the rebuilding part. I am planning to fix up old city train. The worn stickers are unfortunately, but maybe they can be found on the Internet, or there might be fitting placeholder?
I really dislike stickers in general, especially the LEGO ones, so I don't bother putting them on for another reason--the versatility of certain pieces if I want to take apart a model and rebuild it as something else.
Don't care what people says... these where probably one of my favorite sets... loved the robots, both minifig and the great ones... even if I only managed to get a few of these sets, they still are awsome for me
Exo-Force was such an underrated series. It was so creative and the pieces were INCREDIBLY interchangeable so I would make whole alt storylines where goodbois get their exosuit trashed and rely on fabricating parts from enemies’ suits to make it home. The pieces were so easy to play around with, I went beyond just making MOCs and made whole other sets like a pod racer set out of the pieces. The Exo-Force series had some of the best theming, coloration, and pieces used and I’ll die on this hill saying that!
17:21 Though not completely inaccessible with something like a paperclip, the alt build for the Uplink mech did basically the same thing to the shoulder guards. Still one of my favorite sets of all time. Excellent price, great look, amazing range of motion for the parts at the time. The opposing set to it unfortunately has a much more limited range of motion because of the way its feet are attached, and the way its arms are attached is weird, but Uplink is still great. One of the very few sets in existence to have those lever pieces have the lever in light blue-ish gray too..... If only mechs still had knees.
Thank you so much for making this video. Exo-Force was my favorite LEGO series as a kid and I collected almost all of them. Exo-Force will always have a special place in my heart. You are my favorite Legotuber by the way. I also have Autism and you are my biggest Lego role model. Keep it up. :)
Can someone please use this style of video on transformers? It would be so interesting going trough all the different toy lines such as animated and beast wars in depth, talking about all the cartoons and comics along side their respective continuities. It would also be really cool because there are so many transformer toy lines outside of America, Like brave, beast wars neo and transformers cloud! I know only 3 of the 25,000 people who are watching this video are going to read this comment, but come on, we need this! Someone has to do it! Nick on Planet Ripple? DiamondBolt? Criss McFeely? Anyone? Sigh...
Chris McFeely's likely your best bet for videos of this style on Transformers in general, but for toys in particular Thew Adams did an *impeccable* retrospective on Astrotrain toys.
I'd love a Transformers retrospective, but holy cow it'd be a nightmare to do so. Especially if you're gonna talk about everything since a good chunk of Transformers released are were released in the stupidest ways possible. And don't get me started on lucky draw figures.
EDIT: I can't believe I actually commented on this video one year ago and completely forgot about it lol Well I finally gave this video a complete watch, and honestly, I think you definitely did this justice :) And what you said at the end is absolutely true. Goofy as this line may have seemed, the people behind it clearly put a lot of heart into it, and it really shows. My brother and I were reminiscing over his Exo-Force obsession in the past a few days ago. He mentioned how whenever he planned to buy a new set, he would write it in a notebook called "War Funds", which he would also use to doodle combinations and his own story ideas after reading all the books and comics. Those were good times and I'm really glad you brought back this blast from the past Also press F to pay respects to our Striking Venom and Combat Crawler, our two cats destroyed them :(
I am just happy to see that pepople actually share the love for this Lego line, some of these sets are connected with my absolute love for Lego and seeing that they are actually not just great in my memory but also in other peoples memorys makes me happy.
Im imagining the decision to make exo force was inspired by the popularity of mecha anime but they just went up to one of the people at lego HQ who liked mecha anime and went "hey you like this stuff, could you write us a story or something" and the guy just goes "Finally, the recognition i DESERVE around here"
dude because of Exo force I started making my own mechs with left over parts it was a great time to be lego fan shame about sets these days never pushing people to think outside of the box
Holy shit this brings back so many memories, I was so young I hadn't reached the double digits lol. I had the mini dark green mech with the circular spin-y sword shield, but I especially loved the blue and white mech with the yellow sword I think one of my siblings owned, and of course the robots were cool minifigs (even if their long feet looked a bit weird) Anyway thanks for the trip down memory lane
*Facepalm. I have done this. I distinctly remember spending an entire day gently working at it because I refused to admit defeat. I did actually get it out though.
I've recently gotten inspired by Exo Force to do something similar- A secluded island has been split apart, ravaging the agriculture and wildlife slightly. On one side of the island, an AI advanced enough to make decisions other AIs couldn't, has made extremely advanced armies that live on one half of the island, militarized and organized, whereas the other side of the island has the human resistance, keeping the robots away from their side to the point of making bridges just to fight them. The "good guy" perspective of the story, is the robots. I'm still working on a name for this possible (web)comic, so if some people could reply their ideas, I might chose one. Also the main character, a simple drone, has two red stripes across his mech, his head, and his torso, One big stripe, and one little stripe. Oh hey and it's kinda inspired by things like Titanfall 2. Ok sorry, one more thing for The idea, rankings. These are the ranks of the robots Circle-drone(standard soldiers, or mech users) Triangle-Heavy Assault Droid or H.A.D. (like Drones, but their bodies are like mechs, their limbs and torso enlarged, but my brain goes immediately to connections like Minnow's machine when she's in it, like arm nubs connected to arm connection points) Square-Commander (Are much like Drones, but use much larger mechs, and are much more advanced weapons and AI) Star-General (like Square designations, but use much more supporting things, are much, much more heavily armored mechs, and have their own free will) No shape designation/octagon- support(They're just M.R.V.N. units, but instead of tube-like heads with screens at the end, like Circle and up, they have a much more humanoid head) Edit: Title name idea: *The Shattered Isle*
4:11 Iron Drone, not Copper 4:55 I've never read the story, but I *think* that was a safety percaution. If the mech is destroyed the robot may survive and can continue to fight, or use the knowledge of the battle to find and control a new mech, sort of like a detachable brain. Honestly in most of the sets it doesn't even look like the robot is controlling the mech, they just kinda plug in at the back of the head and start fighting. I gotta say that the first years heroes and the last years villains were my favorites. Generally speaking I much preferred the villains, they got a lot more crazy with the mechs' body types and the minifigures were more artistically compatible with other themes. Number one problem with this line was that there was never an *actual* anime. We had the comics, the books, and a few super cheesy online shorts, but not an actual show!
Exo force was a fucking VIBE when I was a kid! I had sooo much of these sets I completely forgot about and just now remembered after seeing the video! Thank you for bringing this memory back!
Exo-Force, Mars Mission, and Space Police are my all time favorite Lego sets. Even though I don't play with legos anymore, I wouldn't mind getting all the sets despite the ones I had got destroyed.
I'm 22 and I still build stuff(though I went into partial engineering and design) so it's a fun thing to do when I have no work or the internet is out.
I have to thank Exo-Force for starting my unhealthy obsession with mecha.
Same. Though Hero factory 2014 really took it to new heights in terms of obsession and addiction.
I have to thank exo force for getting me into lego
For me it was gundum transformers and exo lol also team rockets giant robots
I am the same
I thank it for starting my obsession with robots
Exo-Force: The most anime that Lego has ever been.
Bananamelon X9000 well yes should have hired a directer or Japanese artists or even studio trigger to make exo force an official anime
More than Ninjago?
John Davenport ninjago isn’t even close to anime lol
@@Chuked I'd argue that it comes very close to anime style, with similar storytelling and tropes. And there are even some episodes animated in a Japanese style.
All I can think of is the Berserk logo
Ey, I'm the penciler for the first 2 years of animated comics and hero portraits on the boxart. I wasn't the original artist they hired but due to production issues they replaced the original art team and me, my inker and colorist took over. Thanks for featuring Exo-Force! It was such a fun gig as I'm also a big fan of mecha anime. (I also made my own mechs out of several year 1 and 2 sets.)
Holy crap, dude. One comic artist to another, it is amazing to hear from someone on the team. Glad to know working on Exo-Force was such a positive experience for you while it lasted. It definitely isn't the sort of thing they'd bring back nowadays, what with changing trends and marketing.
Likewise! It was my first chance to ever work for Lego as well so that's hitting two birds with one stone for me. I am glad that it sort of became the godfather design of modern Lego mecha. =)
I'd just like to say thank you, those comics were a big part of my childhood and was the major catalyst that sparked my love for the mecha genre.
That is awesome to hear. =) I am glad that my work has influenced someone the same way previous artists have influenced me. And so I hope your own talent and creativity will inspire others as well, let's keep the ball rolling!
Hey, if you have any pictures of those custom mecha, I'd be ecstatic to see you show them off! 😄
“I don’t see any future episodes being as long as this one was.”
Mata Nui would like to speak with you.
that's not an episode, that's a movie.
@@henrypaleveda7760 that's not a movie, that's a whole generation.
@@TheRealBmanswan thats not a generation thats a whole era
@@TheRealBmanswan Technically it's 2 generations.
@@Mr.Foxhat get out
Exo-Force and Power Miners were the only sets that could, for a time, rival my obsession with Lego Star Wars
For me that theme was Rock Raiders, even though I don't have any of the sets (just had the PS1 game, and later the PC one). It's just a really awesome unique sci-fi setting.
Alasdair Black oh boy the sets and the games were amazing
I forgot about them 🥺
Power miners, Exo-Force, Aqua Raiders/Atlantis.
@@RampantBasilisk oooooo Aqua Raiders was AWESOME
@Thomas Lardinois Dude, I was EXACTLY THE SAME, those two themes were the onyl ones beside Star Wars! Happy to meet another man of culture! ;)
God i loved Exo-Force
I miss it
Same homie
Me too
So basically what you're saying is...
*Shinji get in the robot*
I got that reference
What
@@Tigoros136 Its a reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion.
@@danielzakgaim2764 oh ok
@@KeetorangeMyr JoJo dururum dururum dumdumdumdum dururum dururum dum
I was largely a Bionicle kid, but I always thought the Exo-Force sets were super cool and creative. The use of binoculars to make gun turrets and the brick-built guns using all kinds of weird parts were really neat.
Me and my brother ended up mixing the mechs with bionicle
Mike Rowe:"Fishing in the Bering Sea is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world."
*Robot loosely strapped to mecha's leg holding a gun:*
Char could've made perfect Zeong and stuck a few gun-toting Zakus to it's legs and it's enough to bring down Gundam once and for all.
Plastic Gear Solid
Met Productions Plastic Gear Solid, featuring Cobra from the Plastic Gear Solid series.
Yes
LoL
😀 that's perfect
Legos have changed...
Ah yes, the cinematic commercial that felt like the first season of an anime condensed into five minutes.
Only got three sets from this one, one big mech and the first two little ones, but man I loved mechs back in the days of games like Mech Assault, so I was hyped for this stuff.
Exo-Force, Knights Kingdom (wave 2), and Bionicle (Piraka & Inika) were what introduced me to my first Lego sets. It was one heck of a first impression.
Piraka and Inika trailers went hard
Me too
Same man. It was dope.
Same dude. Those were the times
Wait, are you me?
These mechs go for so much on the after-market. It just shows how loved the theme was.
I wish this series would get a reboot
About halfway through the video you mention the alternate build options. Personally my main problem with Lego now a days is that they don’t do this any more. What makes Lego a unique toy line is that you can build and rebuild, which they’ve seemingly forgot about. They need to bring back rebuilding options on the back of the box or in the instructions or online.
Indeed.
The last line I remember providing alternate builds were the Minecraft sets they did.
Yeah, it sucks that Alternate builds are relegated to Minecraft and Creator
Unfortunately, I doubt they'd do it these days. A lot of the parts to make non-creator or MC sets flashy require specialized elements that can only go together so many ways.
You might be able to mirror the model (like I've done with the Solo Speeder) or change the colours around. But 'official' alternate builds are probably a thing of the past.
I remember Exo-Force, even though I never got any of the sets. I remember looking at the sets and being like "Hey, that looks cool," but I never got around to getting any. A friend of mine had some of them, and they were pretty cool. Man, LEGO was weird back then. Still kinda is, but not as much for better or worse.
I only got one when they were on the shelves, and it wasn't even for me. I got one of the small ones for a friend's birthday, who was into mechs.
Apparently he was moderately insulted I would give him a "Neon Genesis ripoff" at first, but grew to love it.
At least, until he regifted it to his gf's little brother who was into LEGO.
I just bought a bunch of Exo-Force sets after watching this, *because* of this video... Nick you have influence over my purchasing habits!
DTinaglia Studios holy crap.
Welp... I didn't buy a bunch, just one (cuz they're a bit expensive, since where I live Exo-Force never came out, and I never heard of it before this video, and now I just found out this would've been my favorite Lego theme if I had known it at the time), but still. You're influencing me to like older Lego themes even more than I already do. * ^ *
But they do not work on broke people such as myself! AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA...ha... ha :(
I've finally found the root of what caused those purchases. Interesting. I always loved those sets, but never had any.
@@ShuhariP so relatable! This year I finally got one agents set. Finally.
Y'know, I never thought about how strange it was that the robots pilot mechs instead of just giving the mechs an onboard AI.
Oh yeah. Remember that time when monstrous sets, like the one in Exo Force, wasn't to overprized?
It was too expensive, the only set I ever got was the one with two mechs and an orange temple
@@MaxRamos8 You'll always have the Lego tax (Lego as a whole tends to be a pretty pricey brand) but the older sets were far more attainable for similar complexity and piece counts.
Yoo I had the blue small mech with the three turbine jetpack, no idea what he was called
Oh god, I remember this theme. Loved it. Second favorite to Bionicle, growing up. Followed the comics religiously. Only had a few sets, that colossal Sentai Fortress set, the Mobile Defense Tank, and the Sonic Phantom. Each one was a gift, either birthday or Christmas. That first one took 2 days to build, and it was a centerpiece of my bedroom for a long time. Good times. Really hope Lego brings something like this back one day.
Exo force is probably my childhood favorite Lego theme. I'm almost glad it ended when it did, as I liked all three waves that they released. If it had gone on longer, they may have had more time to ruin it.
13:41 Hang on a second... the mountain is called "Sentai Mountain"? Great little reference towards a possible inspiration there Lego
What refrance
@@garrettnorton309 Super Sentai: one of the biggest Tokusatsu series from Japan
@@tyrxian6452 ah ok
@@garrettnorton309 you might recognize them better by their American adaptation: Power Rangers
But won't kids not get the reference? I mean, we adults who like this stuff do. 🤔
Somebody might have said this already but I’m convinced that the stealth hunter is a macross reference.
It’s a white robot specializing in aerial combat, with jet-like wings, a primary color accent, and a pilot who’s name is hikaru. Maybe I’m grasping at straws, but I smell VF-1J.
This theme needs a remaster.
Yes! With all the new elements too!
Part of me wishes that LEGO should hire a Japanese artist to handle the minifigures and other artwork, but then again, there could be some criticism.
This was probably my favorite theme growing up next to star wars, thank you for bringing back this nostalgia.
I was a huge fan of bionicle and exo-force in their prime. Despite bionicle being the more popular one, all my friends and I were drawing and sketching exo-force all the time. Such a basic concept as a robot with guns had a huge creative potential for us. I still have some of the drawings today. It was simply awesome to be influenced by something so unique and good looking at that time!
I've seen this video a year ago, and I had a few lego exo-force sets. Now I've begun to complete the whole collection. These videos give so much nostalgia that they make you want to go back in time when things were different and the world looked much smaller than today.
Shout out to Exo Force for not only being an awesome but under rated series, but also sparking my unhealthy Gundam addiction
I was such a fan of ExoForce back in the day...
I can literally mouth along with those cartoons, even without the audio.
I really liked the setting of exo force "The split mountain". I however never heard of a/that comic/TV series.
It is also the only series wich I actually bought a lot from. First year only thought.
For the piece count: It is was not only cheap, but you get a lot of air so it looks extra big.
And some of the pieces were pretty rare.
Only sad thing about the setting is that we never saw the wrap up. Fortunately the community quite got creative.
7:37 - that´s my collection! There are actually a couple of MOCs in there as well.
"Oh wait, these are just the ninja turtles." Had me dying 😂
this is just a cheap lego ripoff of mobile suit gundam what did you expect
Ironically, LEGO did an actual TMNT line years later.
Anyone who uses that spiral staircase axle as a cannon barrel got it from Exo-Force, directly or otherwise. I didn’t even know the original use for that part until I looked it up for this comment.
And now, a moment of silence for everyone who did *this*.
Dark Spore I'd do it if it was in instructions
Oh I never knew that part was made for that.
I’m so glad you called out that build technique at the end. I remember combining my two sets and being really upset when I couldn’t get those pieces apart again.
Exo force brought us more than we credit them for and I love it
Edit: so I found out you can buy a lot of these sets for pretty cheap and you can switch the batteries I. Cores
Not a single mention to Mobile Devastator? Probably the coolest Lego system set ever :D?!
hey man funny to see you here terraria and legos are a pretty dope combo
Can't beat my giant robot spider thingy
I have laying around here.
Chessversarius is it the one bionicle set?
I mean this one:
www.amazon.com/LEGO-4285039-Exo-Force-Striking-Venom/dp/B000B74EIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529272267&sr=8-1&keywords=Exo+Force+Striking+Venom
Chessversarius ohh yeah I think my best friend had this set as well. We had so much fun playing with exo-force back then lol.
I meant this set btw:
www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=8764-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0}
I grew up in a below average income home. Single working mom etc, but now that you mention those prices I DID have an insane amount of these sets. Seeing this video fills me with huge amounts of nostalgia, thank you.
Be awesome if they rebooted this theme. Of course I mean Lego has to have a group that will put a great deal of effort into it.
better late than never and that would be the catch 22
Yea. And it can be like more of a Action/comedy Lego show (if exo-force GOT ONE. But it would be more action.)
Just imagine the mecha designs with current parts
If they were to reboot Exo Force now they would have so much to work with.
They have the CCBS system which is ridiculously versatile and loads more parts to work with, mech figures will always have a market (especially ones with such a high level of customization).
They were really on to something with the last 2 waves of Hero Factory and those sets were great fun to build, they could probably get another steady franchise going with it like they have with Ninjago.
I've beeen working on mechs for an "updated" re run- but they are mochs of a different asthetic so I'm not sure if the product line would still be exoforce or just a relaunch under a new name (see all of there product lines wit "mars" in the name).
oh man, lego Exo Force. To this day, this is still my favorite series. This was the series that sparked my love of legos cus I got the sonic phantom one Christmas. after i built it, something about it just clicked with me. i played with that set, all day long and didn’t put it down once and my love for legos was born. Every single birthday wish, christmas list, and allowance i saved up, went towards getting a new exo force set. and lastly, this series was the reason i decided to try and steal something from a store for the very first time... i stole an Uplink set by hiding it in my backpack one day when we went to walmart after my mother picked me up from school. and i passed it off to my mom by saying I, get this, got it as a reward for being the principal’s assistant for the week... to this day, i have no idea why my mom bought that lie and how i got away with stealing it with that flimsy ass lie... :s not my best moment, but hey, i got away with it, and I still have that Uplink set to this day. this series gave me so many good memories, even though its long retired and i hated to see it go, it still remains as my favorite lego series.
I only got a few sets from this line, but I ADORED them. Still my favorite sets ever. I really wish these would come back.
We need another lego anime inspired theme. It would be nice to get really cool minifigures similar to the exo force ones and awesome creative vehicles
Man, I can imagine this sort of style of Lego eventually getting a resurgience. Especially if the folks at Japan kind of take a liking to it, as sort of a call-back to campy, robot action-based media and all that.
Love it so much
You'd have to contend with Gundam over in Japan. And maybe that was partially why Exo-Force never really took off; it just couldn't compete with the established mecha model kit fanbase.
@@blam320 Perhaps. Though, considering how more intricate and stuff they can be, I suppose the Lego sets could always be like a starting point for some younger or more inexperienced folks, that are interested in model making.
Exo-Force had such man, good pieces in their sets. Man usefull normal Legos and technic bricks. It was so awesome.
"Chicks Dig Giant Robots"I see you are a man of culture as well.
Has anyone ever noticed that the hero factory tower from lego hero factory looks like the sentai mountain? Does Exo force and HF possibly take place in the same universe?
ThekaisTzar - Pretty dark concept. I LOVE IT
•TheKaisTzar • yeah that’s what I was thinking too. Also Mecha Ones face form exo force at an angle looks like stormers face from HF
Peppa Pig and Super Mario are in the same universe
Ha! So the robots win in the end and then build *more* robots to be super heros! Holy crud, I think you just made me like HF again!
@@air-headedaviator1805tbf, the exo force robots seem to have different ideologies of that of the hero factory ones.
Very very very nice the Pacific rim song when describing the third wave!
After rewatching this I realized how similar Exo-Force is to Ninjago...
I used to compare TMNT to Ninjago, but I realized that I should’ve been comparing it to Exo Force.
Power Rangers and Ninjago are a tight fit, and for coincidence...
Zhane from Power Rangers in Space = Zane
Cole (Wild Force) = Cole
Lloyd becoming evil then a hero and eventually the leader of the team = Tommy's Green Ranger Story
Getting a serious nostalgic flashback right now.
I loved these so much and played hours and hours with them.
Very nice video mate! A strong nostalgic feel to be honest, comes back when remembering the way of how the story developed. These were the nicest lego sets I got in my youth.
i was literally thinking of this weird lego evangelion ripoff YESTERDAY. and low and behold, look at my notifications. i didn't even search 'Exo-Force' or anything. TH-cam just read my mind
The coolest Lego theme ever! I wish I was able to obtain these when I was a kid but my parents couldn’t afford it, at least I can watch these kinds of videos though!
Those dead light bricks can be revived! They use CR927 button cells which are readily available and pretty cheap. Just takes a little careful work with a small screwdriver to open the part up.
Finally! Video about my childhood favorite lego series
Yay one of my favorite themes. And I love how you did an entire part talking about the characters since my profile pic is Hikarus second year one!
Wow. I think this was the first line that I purchased as many of the sets as I could have. I still have all of them, and I loved the series. I can't believe it's been a decade since then. This was a pretty big part of my childhood, and I've used "Exo" as my online name in some form for years now, directly inspired by this series.
I remember my younger self going NUTS over exoforce, one of my favourite lego theme ever, altough I had a need for proper Lego Star Wars distribution in my area, those mechs were just too awesome for my childy little brain, and still to this day I look at this like one of the best themes to ever come out of Lego
Exo Force was actually the first, really cool weapon thing from lego. I think this was the time we started using technic elements as guns. The design was cool, the stories and mechs too. Really a legendary theme you need to name
This is such a fever dream to me
I know I'm 5 years too late but this I'm about to say is still very much relevant.
16:54 Yes it was. It was a shallow marketing gimmick to sell toys, that's what every single lego original ip is at least at the begining, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. We're here for the cool sets, the world building, the lore and the media. With Bionicle for example we got all of those things because it had time to develop. Can't say the same for exo-force (sadly).
Something having a cult following and a wiki doesn't mean it isn't shallow and money driven, more so when we're talking about Lego, and it being that way is not a bad thing. We can have nice things that are just nice and that's it, we don't need to find meaning everywhere :/
God this brought back memories I didn’t even know existed, awesome video!
Thx for the nostalgia trip. Personally I love exo force season two the most
Beautifully scripted! Thank you
This is definitely my favorite LEGO theme
4:29 oh boy. I remember this big thing. I even remember when I first got it.
It was a Friday, the prior 2 days I just had a big test. I was really worried about failing it. Then I got the grades and I did extremely well on it. Then earlier in the day my dad had to go to the store. When he came home, he had got all he needed. Then he called me into the back room and what he pulled from the bag was the set in 4:29. I was really excited to get and it was a childhood toy. And in 2011 I even found its alternative build, built that, kept it for a hell of a long time, then just recently built it back into its original form.
You just revived the part of my childhood I had completely forgotten. Such nostalgia
This was one of my favorite series. Would've loved to see more of it.
I got into Lego literally the year Exo-Force ended, which sucks because a lot of the sets look really good. So many good mech designs, and they're all so affordable.
Well... were affordable.
@@NickonPlanetRipple True.
One of my favorite lego action/adventure themes. My interest in Gundam made this an instant need.
Exo-Force was my favorite Lego theme
exo force was the biggest part of my childhood i just want to rebuild every set now wich btw is about 80% from all of them oh boi i just want to buy all sets i dont have now..
Same I looked up the Iron Condor again the other day (I don't have that one) though they're all way too overpriced now that it's on retail x'D
Did you put them together now?
These where some of the first lego sets I actually owned and I still have a bunch of them laying around in parts... I should rebuild them at some point.
The only sad part is that because there are a lot of stickers which they have worn out.
Also "the dragonfly is my favorite"
I see you're a man of culture as well
I can relate with the rebuilding part.
I am planning to fix up old city train.
The worn stickers are unfortunately, but maybe they can be found on the Internet, or there might be fitting placeholder?
I really dislike stickers in general, especially the LEGO ones, so I don't bother putting them on for another reason--the versatility of certain pieces if I want to take apart a model and rebuild it as something else.
Oh boy I have another Nostalgia trip I miss the series heck I even still have a whole bunch of these parts from EXO Force.
Don't care what people says... these where probably one of my favorite sets... loved the robots, both minifig and the great ones... even if I only managed to get a few of these sets, they still are awsome for me
Exo-Force has gotta be one my favorite sets, ah those were some great memories. Along with inspiring me to build my own mechs.
Exo-Force was such an underrated series. It was so creative and the pieces were INCREDIBLY interchangeable so I would make whole alt storylines where goodbois get their exosuit trashed and rely on fabricating parts from enemies’ suits to make it home.
The pieces were so easy to play around with, I went beyond just making MOCs and made whole other sets like a pod racer set out of the pieces.
The Exo-Force series had some of the best theming, coloration, and pieces used and I’ll die on this hill saying that!
17:21 Though not completely inaccessible with something like a paperclip, the alt build for the Uplink mech did basically the same thing to the shoulder guards. Still one of my favorite sets of all time. Excellent price, great look, amazing range of motion for the parts at the time. The opposing set to it unfortunately has a much more limited range of motion because of the way its feet are attached, and the way its arms are attached is weird, but Uplink is still great. One of the very few sets in existence to have those lever pieces have the lever in light blue-ish gray too..... If only mechs still had knees.
Thank you so much for making this video. Exo-Force was my favorite LEGO series as a kid and I collected almost all of them. Exo-Force will always have a special place in my heart. You are my favorite Legotuber by the way. I also have Autism and you are my biggest Lego role model. Keep it up. :)
Interesting, so it's like bionicle, but with system. I never noticed that
«i don’t believe any other episodes will get this long”
Now, this didn’t age well, my man😄
Can someone please use this style of video on transformers?
It would be so interesting going trough all the different toy lines such as animated and beast wars in depth, talking about all the cartoons and comics along side their respective continuities. It would also be really cool because there are so many transformer toy lines outside of America, Like brave, beast wars neo and transformers cloud! I know only 3 of the 25,000 people who are watching this video are going to read this comment, but come on, we need this! Someone has to do it! Nick on Planet Ripple? DiamondBolt? Criss McFeely? Anyone?
Sigh...
Not me, sorry. Already have too much on my plate.
Chris McFeely's likely your best bet for videos of this style on Transformers in general, but for toys in particular Thew Adams did an *impeccable* retrospective on Astrotrain toys.
I'd love a Transformers retrospective, but holy cow it'd be a nightmare to do so. Especially if you're gonna talk about everything since a good chunk of Transformers released are were released in the stupidest ways possible. And don't get me started on lucky draw figures.
Devon Bohner Transformers The Basics
EDIT: I can't believe I actually commented on this video one year ago and completely forgot about it lol
Well I finally gave this video a complete watch, and honestly, I think you definitely did this justice :) And what you said at the end is absolutely true. Goofy as this line may have seemed, the people behind it clearly put a lot of heart into it, and it really shows. My brother and I were reminiscing over his Exo-Force obsession in the past a few days ago. He mentioned how whenever he planned to buy a new set, he would write it in a notebook called "War Funds", which he would also use to doodle combinations and his own story ideas after reading all the books and comics. Those were good times and I'm really glad you brought back this blast from the past
Also press F to pay respects to our Striking Venom and Combat Crawler, our two cats destroyed them :(
Wish they would revisit this series
I am just happy to see that pepople actually share the love for this Lego line, some of these sets are connected with my absolute love for Lego and seeing that they are actually not just great in my memory but also in other peoples memorys makes me happy.
I used to love this back in the day. I was sad when it ended but, bionicle was still doing its thing so...
*Megas XLR intro plays in background*
I see you are a man of culture as well.
0:39 still gets me every time.
Im imagining the decision to make exo force was inspired by the popularity of mecha anime but they just went up to one of the people at lego HQ who liked mecha anime and went "hey you like this stuff, could you write us a story or something" and the guy just goes "Finally, the recognition i DESERVE around here"
The megas xlr theme 👌👌👌
dude because of Exo force I started making my own mechs with left over parts it was a great time to be lego fan shame about sets these days never pushing people to think outside of the box
0:43 what song was that?
Also I miss Exo-Force dearly. That was a really cool Lego line in need of a reboot
I think it's "Just Communication" from Gundam Wing.
Nick on Planet Ripple thanks
I remember my son getting interested in Bionicle along with Exo-Force this brings back some nice memories.
Ratchet joint ratchet joint
Holy shit this brings back so many memories, I was so young I hadn't reached the double digits lol. I had the mini dark green mech with the circular spin-y sword shield, but I especially loved the blue and white mech with the yellow sword I think one of my siblings owned, and of course the robots were cool minifigs (even if their long feet looked a bit weird)
Anyway thanks for the trip down memory lane
17:28 I do not like this picture. Its smug aura mocks me.
im guessing youve done that before XD
That is so painful to look at.
*Facepalm. I have done this. I distinctly remember spending an entire day gently working at it because I refused to admit defeat. I did actually get it out though.
congratulations
How will it ever get free!!???? AAAHHHH!!!!
I've recently gotten inspired by Exo Force to do something similar- A secluded island has been split apart, ravaging the agriculture and wildlife slightly. On one side of the island, an AI advanced enough to make decisions other AIs couldn't, has made extremely advanced armies that live on one half of the island, militarized and organized, whereas the other side of the island has the human resistance, keeping the robots away from their side to the point of making bridges just to fight them. The "good guy" perspective of the story, is the robots. I'm still working on a name for this possible (web)comic, so if some people could reply their ideas, I might chose one. Also the main character, a simple drone, has two red stripes across his mech, his head, and his torso, One big stripe, and one little stripe.
Oh hey and it's kinda inspired by things like Titanfall 2.
Ok sorry, one more thing for The idea, rankings. These are the ranks of the robots
Circle-drone(standard soldiers, or mech users)
Triangle-Heavy Assault Droid or H.A.D. (like Drones, but their bodies are like mechs, their limbs and torso enlarged, but my brain goes immediately to connections like Minnow's machine when she's in it, like arm nubs connected to arm connection points)
Square-Commander (Are much like Drones, but use much larger mechs, and are much more advanced weapons and AI)
Star-General (like Square designations, but use much more supporting things, are much, much more heavily armored mechs, and have their own free will)
No shape designation/octagon- support(They're just M.R.V.N. units, but instead of tube-like heads with screens at the end, like Circle and up, they have a much more humanoid head)
Edit: Title name idea: *The Shattered Isle*
So are the AIs treated like second class citizen by the humans Shatter Isle?
4:11 Iron Drone, not Copper
4:55 I've never read the story, but I *think* that was a safety percaution. If the mech is destroyed the robot may survive and can continue to fight, or use the knowledge of the battle to find and control a new mech, sort of like a detachable brain. Honestly in most of the sets it doesn't even look like the robot is controlling the mech, they just kinda plug in at the back of the head and start fighting.
I gotta say that the first years heroes and the last years villains were my favorites. Generally speaking I much preferred the villains, they got a lot more crazy with the mechs' body types and the minifigures were more artistically compatible with other themes.
Number one problem with this line was that there was never an *actual* anime. We had the comics, the books, and a few super cheesy online shorts, but not an actual show!
I know they're called Iron Drones. I was simply referring to the color. I guess I should've been clearer about that, but I'm not sure how.
Maybe Meca One could've reuploaded his conscience into a larger mecha like Ultron.
Exo force was a fucking VIBE when I was a kid! I had sooo much of these sets I completely forgot about and just now remembered after seeing the video! Thank you for bringing this memory back!
Glad we got that all sorted out!
Exo-Force, Mars Mission, and Space Police are my all time favorite Lego sets. Even though I don't play with legos anymore, I wouldn't mind getting all the sets despite the ones I had got destroyed.
I'm 22 and I still build stuff(though I went into partial engineering and design) so it's a fun thing to do when I have no work or the internet is out.
These were quite cheap, I miss that