The biggest thing about Exo Force for me was that it really tried to do something different. Lego had never really dipped into Anime, or dedicated a theme to mecha, or had such a cold, unfeeling villain. But Exo Force did all that. (Oh, the color scheme for the robots special forces division was awesome too! Love lime green and black together.)
I remember when these came out and I was running errands with my grandfather at a department store and he doted on me so we went to the toy section. saw these wicked cool mechs and immediately wanted to have one, grandfather said okay pick one and I picked the white one initially, but I legit took 20min to decide between the white and the red one once at the register my grandfather saw me still comparing the two sets from the back of the box and he went back and just grabbed the red one as well I still remember that. Miss you grandpa
Exo-Force was a big hit at our house right behind Bionicle. My son had all of the first wave and many hours were spent saving the humans from the robots.
Exo Force is the earliest theme I remember having the “lego dream” about. Going to Toys R Us and seeing a whole shelf of existing sets and sets that never existed years after it retired. Loved this theme
@@scruffmaster0185 Same. Late 2000’s, my parents could only afford the small sets. Now I’m adult with some money, and all the sets I want still too expensive.
Exo-Force was an absolute gem of a theme! Completely unique at the time, and criminally underrated nowadays. The Manga style heads and hairs were fantastic and haven't been matched since, while the mecha helped set up for modern mechs in themes like Marvel and Ninjago. Exo-Force, I salute you!
E-lo! I'm the one of the artists for the motion comics in the Exo-force website. I did the pencils while another artist, Ernest, did the inks which where then colored and then animated in flash (Geez, does anyone still remember flash?) I also drew the main character art on the manual at 5:10. I love your revisit of the line, it was one of the most fun gigs I ever had. So much that I actually also bought most of the wave 1 sets and made my own mechs and vehicles.
Lego was really at its prime back in 2006-2012. I really miss their original themes, they were all bangers through that time, especially the Space Ones.
I am honestly blown away by the alternate builts of this theme. Every single one looks so well thought through and could easily be a set on their own. Id love for Lego to go back to simpler buildings with more variety possible.
Considering the fact that some of these alt or combo models were Canon to the story events, you could easily see these all as canon in some way, such as maybe the Humans or Robots taking the standard Battle Machines they already have reusing the parts in new ways, such as the Sentry Walker I can see the Robots easily mass producing those with the hordes of Sentry units they already had, sendign the walkers out to battle and seeing how effective they are.
I'll definitely have to do a video covering the alt builds once I make my way through all the main models. I never built them as a kid, so it'll be fun to experience them for the first time!
Hearing you call them “Galidor joints” in this video made my day! 😊 I loved watching your retrospective on these sets here - great “Revisiting” video, as always!
Out of the entire Lego catalog I think a lot of exo force sets offer the most bang for your buck. A lot of the drone sets feel like they are the physical size of a modern $70 set. Especially the striking venom from the next wave, that set is obnoxiously big and pretty cheap. Don't look at the piece counts though.
this is a theme i totally forgot i had. considering i had most of the first and second wave. the fortress and the big spider thing with lots of guns i remember being really fun.
@@CheeseyStudios That set was amazing, especially since I found it years after release in a toy store for 50€. It was a blast to build, and to play with!
As a proud Thunder Fury owner from back in the day, I appreciated that parts usage even as a 11ish year old and I still use that technique for machine guns to this day
@@tracytron7162 if you want to get really technical, the M134 Minigun is a specific design and designation of rotary machine gun, being an American-made six-barrelled electrically-powered weapon chambered for 7.62×51mm NATO. As a eight-barrelled weapon in a futuristic, Japanese-inspired setting that is likely supposed to be an energy weapon, it can't be considered a Minigun.
Ah man, Exo Force! I managed to snag a few of the first sets after I entered my "anime phase" as a teen. Absolutely loved them, BENDABLE KNEES, and those hair pieces are so great!
Lol, yah bendable knees is something modern mechs are sorely lacking. Especially the newest ones desighned like Ninjago Core mechs, jeez I HATE those, they don't have bendable knees OR ELBOWS, and sometimes not even rotating hands. LIke I get not havign bendable knees for say MASSIVE mechs, fine. But ones this small not having them is rediculous.
I always liked that this line got mech designs right where most modern ones fell short. They had a ton of character, clever parts usage, and did so much in spite of a much more limited pool of parts. I wish we got more like them outside lines like Ninjago or marvel. I’d even like to just see designers take a crack at this line one more time with modern parts
The Uplink and Sentry were some of my first Lego sets and I still have them to this day, I also had the collectors guide which is where I got all my information about the story from. It’s definitely one of the coolest and most unique Lego themes to this day in my opinion
I have the Stealth Hunter, Fire Vulture & Sonic Phantom and I have to say until today still I love them. Sadly I lost the Hikaru figure when I was a kid but I'm planning to replace it as soon as I get the opportunity plus getting the rest of the models which I always wanted. I'm from Chile (Southamerica) and back in the day I could buy all of these at a near Walmart surprisingly at the same price as in the USA. It's good to know the Exo Force community is still alive. Greetings.
Exo-Force was what basically brought me out of my "Dark age" of Lego. From 2003 to 2006 I barely bought any sets, if any. I was too focused on my x-box and gaming in general, but seeing those mechs was jaw-dropping for me. I still remember the first I ever saw (and bought on the spot) was Fire Vulture. I so wish they would bring it back, but then again Ninjago and Monkey Kid already make mechs like you mentioned, in a way, Exo-Force was the grandfather of the mechs in those themes.
I have such fond memories of exoforce even though I was really young at the time. looking back at it now just makes me appreciate the artistry of the lego designers even more. an immediate thought i had upon revisiting is how perfect the exoforce stickers (although not necessarily the parts they're supposed to go on) would be absolutely perfect for fleshing out any cyberpunk moc. that banner especially looks like something straight out of bladerunner. great video!
Never realised how affordable Exo Force was back then. Altough I was a kid back then, I somehow passed the theme and only have one set (not of the first waves; my brother has another one).
Exo Force was a huge part of my childhood. I remember countless hours playing with these and the later sets and imagining the epic battles on Sentai Mountain. Thank you so much for this nostalgia trip ^^
That wedge armor is actually a bit older than exo-force; they were just the first theme to use the part unprinted. Its actual first appearance was from a Racers set in 2003, interestingly called Exo Stealth. Strange little coincidence there.
This is a great retrospective man, I never got any exo force sets, but I had friends who did, and when I was a kid I always loved looking at the sets in the catalogues. I honestly wish they would bring it back. Anime and Manag are so much more popular than they were back in the 2000s, I feel the line could honestly appeal to the new wave of people getting into the genre if they brought t back and adjusted it a bit to reflect less of the 90's shounen/battle mech style that Exo force seems to take clear inspiration from
What a great video. So many memories came back while watching this. Especially the ones of my grandma and me playing with these sets while she was in hospital for her cancer treatment. Man, you made me cry. Keep on making more great videos.
Out of all the original LEGO themes, I would have to say that I want a reboot/revisit of Exo-Force the most. Even if it was just a tribute thing like with the recent Blacktron and Bionicle stuff, the theme deserves it.
Even though I was already firmly a Star Wars kid at the time, I had quite a lot of Exo-Force - most of this first wave in fact, except for Thunder Fury and the gate battle. I have them all (re)assembled today, with Stealth Hunter proudly displayed in my Lego room. Definitely my favourite out of this selection. Exo-Force was a fun theme with a number of cool sets and parts, and as you said, the first time Lego properly dove into mechs. Looking forward to the series; we're off to a great start!
This series is probably what inspired my love for giant robots and mecha in general as a kid. I had the yellow mech from the Jungle wave, and it was awesome. It completely stood out compared to the other themes we had, which even included Lego Star Wars in it's prime. It was honestly _built_ different.
FINALLY, the day has come for Exo-force! 1:00 can't forget about the endless Marvel mechs. I wish I grew up with this gem of a theme as a kid. Really had no idea these sets had this much depth. The story, characters, and playability really is something special.
I'm overjoyed seeing my favorite theme get more love! All the childhood nostalgia's coming back. If you have the time, could you do a video showcasing all the alternate builds? I'd like to see what they all look like in glorious 3D since the instructions' prints don't do them justice.
You ve just given me such a nostalgic trip back to my childhood. My week couldn’t end any better. I thank you for this project and I look forward for the next episodes! ☺️
I love every mention of Dino Attack, as we just... Didn't get it here. In Europe we got Dino 2010, which replaced all the literal guns of Dino Attack with net launchers and stuff. It feels like the Dino series in 2012 is a halfway house between the two.
If you havent seen it cheesy, the knight's and magic anime (yes that's how they spelled it) reminds me a lot of exo force, except between nations instead of against robots. The main guy is a reincarnated otaku who loves mechs so much, he learns all he could about em and the first season is all about him building it. He looks SO happy when he finally gets the reactor blueprints, (they were a trade secret the kingdom protected so he had to help them) and seeing the terror in the eyes of the enemy as he attacks is so much fun. Dude's pretty much Ryo on steriods, the other nations call him the "devil."
The video I was looking forward to the most! It was a joy and nostalgis trip seeing slowly collect the sets in the background of your minecraft builds and other videos, and now to finally see it feels so wholesome. I did not get all sets (also due to me prioritizing bionicle), but I did have e.g all the main mechs like grand titan, minus the fire vulture which I really, really wanted but never got. Its also surreal to see the prices of them in 2023, I really think that if they came out now they could easily cost 25-30. Additionally, I am one of those proud owners who has an exo-force bed spread! As a kid I enjoyed this theme so much and remember having many, many battles with these mechs. The alternate builds were also quite fun, I often tried to build them just from looking at the pictures. I am happy that I still own these sets, and tend to keep them for a while. I never managed to get all sets, but at least have some from every wave. I look forward to the subsequent wave videos❤🙌
I still vividly remember my father introducing me to Exo-Force, when I got my first set back in 2006:"it's like Bionicle and Star Wars had a baby". He couldn't understand at the time but I was instantly hooked!
so much love for this theme and for your video. Really takes me back :') Can't wait to see your coverage of the next wave, especially that cool blue version of the Supernova!
Oh man, I feel very nostalgic lately and watch a lot of Lego content. Videos like yours make me realize how much Lego I had and how I loved playing and building back then. (Still do, just treated myself with the Watchtower from Funwhole). I was about 15 when this series came out and that was when my Lego obsession started to fade. But I’m sure I had at least those two small sets. Ach, good old times. Alpha Team (ice theme) was such a banger, my cousin and I had the entire collection and when I visited her in the holidays, you bet I brought all my sets along 😁
This kicks me right in the feels. My family had made a huge move in 2006 and my mom bought me almost every set listed. This video stirred up a lot of lost memories and I remember stringing these lego sets up to the ceiling with rope in action poses while listening to fallout boy. We had a huge yard sale and we donated all of those Legos to kids who were in need. I don't care about how much they are worth now but I really hope they gave other kids the memories that I had. Thank you for making this video
I loved the exo-force theme and it was a treat to have this video pop up in my recs for the nostalgia alone. Great video, looking forward to the next four :)
Man, this brings back so many memories! Definitely my favorite Lego theme. I never considered how much this theme pulls from Knights Kingdom. I had the 7700 set and the light blue Knights Kingdom knight (I can't remember his name). My brothers and I each had our own knight and later Exo-Force mech.
Thank you for the amazing and nostalgic video!!! I had the 2 small 5-dollar sets and I would take them apart to make new mech creations with my Bionicles but it's such a fun and imaginative theme!! Thank you again!! I got so happy seeing you bring out that magazine!!
I simply picked up a flying, bad-guy robot piloted by something called a ‘Devastator’ as my first *ever* Lego set. The art was incredibly striking, intimidating, and showed the walls of a golden city in the background. I got to the end of the instructions and found that there was a full-colour comic in the back, showing a losing battle where these awesome coloured mechs actually took casualties, and one of them had its power core ripped out. The pacing and illustration had way more effort put into it than was necessary. Even after all these years, I still remember the characters and shots from that comic vividly. I continued to buy and play Lego for another ten years, but nothing ever quite felt like that first Exo-Force comic, and even though it’s incredibly worn nowadays from my childhood self, it’s one of my fondest memories from that time. It was just so damn cool. It didn’t need to exist, but so much love had been put into making sure it did. Going into adulthood, the spark of creativity and wonder those early Lego sets helped spark in me has been incredible. I’d like to create something like that for someone else, someday, and keep those instructions on my bookshelf as a reminder.
That's really cool. I can feel how this theme in particular oozes so much passion, and I think that's what made it so appealing to so many - even people like me, who up until Exo-Force really only cared about medieval themes!
@@CheeseyStudios I’d really love to see a second video if you’re working on it, and the style of your videos has a lot of passion it in themselves. Subscribed with the notifications on for anything you do in future, and looking forward to watching your other content, this is a really cool channel :)
Exo-force was what brought me into the lego hobby. Still have some of my old sets tucked away somewhere in my attic. Every now and then, I'd take a trip up there, open up bins full of my old stuff and start reminiscing about my younger days, back when adulting wasn't in the forefront of my mind.
Exo-Force was the line that brought me back to Lego after a 12-year gap. The box design jumped off the shelf, and a trip to the store for deodorant and dish soap suddenly included Grand Titan. A few months later, I had the entire first wave on display in my living room. 😅 Great video, can’t wait to watch more.
I remember so vividly how my aunt gifted me that orange Exo-Force set when I was 5. I assembled it, disassembled it, tried out this purple hair piece (it was a little bit too loose) on every minifigure I had, and then lost pretty much every piece of this set throughout the years. My aunty died of cancer shortly after she gifted me this set, and I didn't have much more to remember her for. But I think this is enough.
Oh the smile on my face from that pristine fire vulture in the thumbnail 😷 Love the excitement for each set too, though that's prominent in most of your videos haha
Can't wait for tge rest of these to show. I see them sitting in the back. I started my new lego life with exotic force to help quit smoking and to keep my mind busy while losing ny mom and dad to cancer and these have such a deep place in my heart and where so underrated.
I remember having some of these as a Kid, I just didn't remember what they where called. Thank you for making this video and bringing back those memories.
Excellent summary of the first wave. Loved how you showcased all the sets -- with great directing, lighting, music -- and even added extra details like their combiners and sticker count. Exo-Force was such a neat theme, but unfortunately, I only ever received one, and it was from a later wave. Still, one can really appreciate the uniqueness and charm of each set, and I think I can confidently say that LEGO's mechs nowadays (though really great at times) can't compete with these classics (especially with mechs now being SO common).
Darn this is cool! I remember being born bit too late to have any of these sets. It’s a neat memory, looking through old catalogs at some of those sets and thinking about how it feels to build one of them. The Mobile devastator was definitely memorable. Now, with the power of Bricklink and BrickBy brick, I can procure myself almost any of them and they are as cool as I imagined them. It’s actually a very good time, scrolling through the OG instructions and attempting to redesign a mech with more modern techniques and components. Also, Uplink.
Wow, I remember reading a couple of the Exo Force books a long time ago at my local library and it never occurred to me that this was an actual Lego line you could buy. Seeing the Stealth Hunter and Grand Titan brings me back, those books were a good read.
These sets were so cool to me back then and still are. Didn't know one of the sets had Toa Nuva armor in lime green, bet that'd be great for mocs! Looking forward to you covering the rest of the waves!
Even as an extremely young child I had loved mechs so exoforce was an absolute gem of a theme for me. I didn't get a lot of the set but I absolutely cherished my silver-blue devestator minifig and I still think its my favorite robot minifig lego has ever produced.
I had many of these as a kid. And some of I guess wave 2 which I hope we'll see. Man these were the coolest. Some of my current builds still use pieces I got from these guys.
Before your revisiting series I hardly knew about Exo Force and knights kingdom and all those themes, but it’s a delight to learn about them! Once again, you really should get some Papa Murpheys for this wonderful video.
Never owned any of these, but I used to want them a lot after discovering them on the Lego instructions archive thing back in the day. Its good to see a proper review of them!
It astounds me. I remember this theme so fondly, and yet.. I only had two sets. Uplink and Sentry. I always thought they were so much bigger, the mechs. They felt so much bigger and more substantial. I guess it goes to show how incredible the mind of a child can be.
That is kind of cool though. If you never had the larger mechs, you'd really have nothing to compare them too which probably kept those two all the more special!
Man, I remember getting every single set from the first wave growing up, even including the mountain base and the giant four legged spider walker later on. This video is making me want to go home and rebuild every single set I had, or maybe go rebuild one of the mechs in a more modernized build method
My favourite series, Revisiting! What an excellent introduction to the theme. I can't wait to see the episode featuring the excellent, not at all over the top Aero Booster (which is the first LEGO set I got from Bricklink, and got me out of my Dark Ages)
I had the stealth hunter as a kid. Honestly, most of my memories with it is finding the pieces in the buckets and wondering what I had that used these. Especially the blue hair. So I’m glad I found this video since it gave me the answers I needed. I think I’ll see if I can rebuild it. Minus the tube. I’m pretty sure that’s lost forever. Plus, I really love the robot minifigs. Those look amazing.
I still remember seeing these for the first time in December 2005 in Toys-R-Us and just starring at them thinking, "Whoa, Lego's really going here!" What an awesome wave of sets.
I loved these as a kid, I think I had every set from this wave aside from Supernova. Gundam meets Bionicle and Knights Kingdom was exactly what I was looking for at that age.
ah man, the first couple of minutes made me think of my childhood. i was born in the mid 90s and those were my childhood legos. I should still have them in some boxes but obviously in parts scattered.
This shit was my childhood. I loved the exo-force line, I never got to play with any of the sets, but I got to see them in product catalogue pages in the back of comic books I used to rent at my school's library when I was a child, and boy, just seeing these sets made me want them so badly. Truly a simpler time.
I miss the days of drooling over the catalogues with my brother too. It was almost a daily ritual. Planning and dreaming what we would do with the sets if we ever somehow got them...
The biggest thing about Exo Force for me was that it really tried to do something different. Lego had never really dipped into Anime, or dedicated a theme to mecha, or had such a cold, unfeeling villain. But Exo Force did all that. (Oh, the color scheme for the robots special forces division was awesome too! Love lime green and black together.)
It was such a bold move, and truly ahead of its time.
Exactly, and as a Asian who lives in Asia and growing with those things. Exo force fxxking rocks!!
Evil Ogel would like to object!
@@davidhalliganfilmsI'd say that's closer to classic cartoons than anime, something like Captain planet.
@@thunderspark1536 I'd say it's more of an "early 2000 western anime" style than a cartoon imho.
I remember when these came out and I was running errands with my grandfather at a department store and he doted on me so we went to the toy section.
saw these wicked cool mechs and immediately wanted to have one, grandfather said okay pick one and I picked the white one initially, but I legit took 20min to decide between the white and the red one
once at the register my grandfather saw me still comparing the two sets from the back of the box and he went back and just grabbed the red one as well
I still remember that. Miss you grandpa
That's such a wonderful memory
I love that story so much!!💖
Legendary grandpa, what an awesome core memory
W grandpa
Exo-Force was a big hit at our house right behind Bionicle. My son had all of the first wave and many hours were spent saving the humans from the robots.
That's awesome! It was certainly a hit for my brother and I too. I've got a lot of good memories from the theme!
Same with me and my brother growing up - Bionicle and Exo-Force right behind it.
Exo Force is the earliest theme I remember having the “lego dream” about. Going to Toys R Us and seeing a whole shelf of existing sets and sets that never existed years after it retired. Loved this theme
Wish I could’ve got my hands on some of these
@@scruffmaster0185
Same.
Late 2000’s, my parents could only afford the small sets. Now I’m adult with some money, and all the sets I want still too expensive.
For me it was Bionicle.
Exo-Force was an absolute gem of a theme! Completely unique at the time, and criminally underrated nowadays. The Manga style heads and hairs were fantastic and haven't been matched since, while the mecha helped set up for modern mechs in themes like Marvel and Ninjago. Exo-Force, I salute you!
The theme really did change the game. It was so bold and adventurous for its time, and I really do think the risk paid off.
Oh, no gem, i think. Mostly open cockpits, nude backsides, poor articulation with the big ones. But i agree with you in every other regard.
E-lo! I'm the one of the artists for the motion comics in the Exo-force website. I did the pencils while another artist, Ernest, did the inks which where then colored and then animated in flash (Geez, does anyone still remember flash?) I also drew the main character art on the manual at 5:10. I love your revisit of the line, it was one of the most fun gigs I ever had. So much that I actually also bought most of the wave 1 sets and made my own mechs and vehicles.
It was 84 years ago, but I still loved it 🫠
lol indeed
I don’t think it was 84 years ago
Am i missing the reference?
@@tenyearsinthejoint1 yes
@@tenyearsinthejoint1 "It's been 84 years" is a Titanic meme
Lego was really at its prime back in 2006-2012.
I really miss their original themes, they were all bangers through that time, especially the Space Ones.
It was a great time to be a kid - I feel like you couldn't go wrong. LEGO's in-house themes were so amazing. I miss them a lot.
I am honestly blown away by the alternate builts of this theme. Every single one looks so well thought through and could easily be a set on their own. Id love for Lego to go back to simpler buildings with more variety possible.
The alternate builds for the mech look so much cooler than the actual mechs
Considering the fact that some of these alt or combo models were Canon to the story events, you could easily see these all as canon in some way, such as maybe the Humans or Robots taking the standard Battle Machines they already have reusing the parts in new ways, such as the Sentry Walker I can see the Robots easily mass producing those with the hordes of Sentry units they already had, sendign the walkers out to battle and seeing how effective they are.
I'll definitely have to do a video covering the alt builds once I make my way through all the main models. I never built them as a kid, so it'll be fun to experience them for the first time!
For me, the best alternative building of all sets belongs to the mobile defence tank. It's simply astonishing...
Hearing you call them “Galidor joints” in this video made my day! 😊
I loved watching your retrospective on these sets here - great “Revisiting” video, as always!
Ha! I had hoped you'd catch that :)
That hockey helmet piece immediately brought back a mix of nostalgia and horror, those hockey robots had a I have no mouth and I want to scream vibe
Lolol you're so right 🤣
Out of the entire Lego catalog I think a lot of exo force sets offer the most bang for your buck. A lot of the drone sets feel like they are the physical size of a modern $70 set. Especially the striking venom from the next wave, that set is obnoxiously big and pretty cheap. Don't look at the piece counts though.
100% Sentai Fortress especially is one of those sets that even inflation-adjusted makes for an incredible deal. Can't wait to look at that next wave!
It definitely helped also that it wasn't a licensed set by someone else
this is a theme i totally forgot i had. considering i had most of the first and second wave. the fortress and the big spider thing with lots of guns i remember being really fun.
@@CheeseyStudios That set was amazing, especially since I found it years after release in a toy store for 50€. It was a blast to build, and to play with!
My one complaint was some of weapons and arms were a tad flimsy
Can we talk about the literal MACHINE GUN included in set 7702 Thunder Fury made out of binoculars? gotta admit that's some pretty clever parts usage
There's some really great parts usage throughout these first two waves especially. Always makes me smile!
this trick has also been used for the gatling gun on the The Lone Ranger train set
As a proud Thunder Fury owner from back in the day, I appreciated that parts usage even as a 11ish year old and I still use that technique for machine guns to this day
You mean minigun or gatling gun?... Machine gun literally just means pretty much any automatic gun
@@tracytron7162 if you want to get really technical, the M134 Minigun is a specific design and designation of rotary machine gun, being an American-made six-barrelled electrically-powered weapon chambered for 7.62×51mm NATO. As a eight-barrelled weapon in a futuristic, Japanese-inspired setting that is likely supposed to be an energy weapon, it can't be considered a Minigun.
Unlocked a childhood memory i had totally forgotten with this video. Some of my favourite sets!
These are classics! I'm glad I've been able to take so many people back down memory lane.
Ah man, Exo Force! I managed to snag a few of the first sets after I entered my "anime phase" as a teen. Absolutely loved them, BENDABLE KNEES, and those hair pieces are so great!
Lol, yah bendable knees is something modern mechs are sorely lacking. Especially the newest ones desighned like Ninjago Core mechs, jeez I HATE those, they don't have bendable knees OR ELBOWS, and sometimes not even rotating hands. LIke I get not havign bendable knees for say MASSIVE mechs, fine. But ones this small not having them is rediculous.
Thanks for the throwback!
I grew up with the medium-size sets alongside BIONICLE, and it's only now that I learned you can eject the lightbrick lol
I'm pretty sure I never figured that feature out as a kid either 🤣 We were all too busy just making them light up!
I mean, same? I looooved Exo Force, was hoping a throwback like this was coming out soon. Also that lightbrick ejecting, jawdropping.
Same, I was too dense to notice the fearure, in my mocs I always used studded plates instead of tiles underneath the light bricks XD
I'M SAYINGGG
I always liked that this line got mech designs right where most modern ones fell short. They had a ton of character, clever parts usage, and did so much in spite of a much more limited pool of parts. I wish we got more like them outside lines like Ninjago or marvel. I’d even like to just see designers take a crack at this line one more time with modern parts
That's because they were going for military mecha as well as heavily leaning on Japanese mecha design traditions.
Stealth Hunter was my first and only exo-force set from wave 1. Seeing it in the Lego magazine is what got me into the exo-force line.
Getting little teasers in the magazine like that was the coolest thing ever
The Uplink and Sentry were some of my first Lego sets and I still have them to this day, I also had the collectors guide which is where I got all my information about the story from. It’s definitely one of the coolest and most unique Lego themes to this day in my opinion
I have the Stealth Hunter, Fire Vulture & Sonic Phantom and I have to say until today still I love them. Sadly I lost the Hikaru figure when I was a kid but I'm planning to replace it as soon as I get the opportunity plus getting the rest of the models which I always wanted. I'm from Chile (Southamerica) and back in the day I could buy all of these at a near Walmart surprisingly at the same price as in the USA. It's good to know the Exo Force community is still alive. Greetings.
The outpouring of love this theme has gotten over the years always makes me happy. It's clear many people remember it quite fondly!
Exo-Force was what basically brought me out of my "Dark age" of Lego. From 2003 to 2006 I barely bought any sets, if any. I was too focused on my x-box and gaming in general, but seeing those mechs was jaw-dropping for me. I still remember the first I ever saw (and bought on the spot) was Fire Vulture. I so wish they would bring it back, but then again Ninjago and Monkey Kid already make mechs like you mentioned, in a way, Exo-Force was the grandfather of the mechs in those themes.
Fire Vulture's so good! Glad that one caught your eye too
This is a solid exploration of this theme, I've been waiting for someone to make a good Exo-Force video! A true lost gem.
It really is! I'm really looking forward to covering the rest too.
I have such fond memories of exoforce even though I was really young at the time. looking back at it now just makes me appreciate the artistry of the lego designers even more.
an immediate thought i had upon revisiting is how perfect the exoforce stickers (although not necessarily the parts they're supposed to go on) would be absolutely perfect for fleshing out any cyberpunk moc. that banner especially looks like something straight out of bladerunner.
great video!
Some of the stickers are just so dope. Lots of fun detail! I could definitely see them being great for cyberpunk details.
These look incredible! How did I never hear of this? Beautiful, sleek designs that spark the imagination. Thank you for the presentation.
No problem! Really glad you enjoyed it!
Never realised how affordable Exo Force was back then. Altough I was a kid back then, I somehow passed the theme and only have one set (not of the first waves; my brother has another one).
Exo Force was a huge part of my childhood. I remember countless hours playing with these and the later sets and imagining the epic battles on Sentai Mountain. Thank you so much for this nostalgia trip ^^
Glad you enjoyed! Love that so many people have great memories of this theme too
That wedge armor is actually a bit older than exo-force; they were just the first theme to use the part unprinted. Its actual first appearance was from a Racers set in 2003, interestingly called Exo Stealth. Strange little coincidence there.
Oh! That's pretty cool. I had no idea that set even existed!
Exo-FOrce was my Childhood. great to see you revisit it.
This is a great retrospective man, I never got any exo force sets, but I had friends who did, and when I was a kid I always loved looking at the sets in the catalogues. I honestly wish they would bring it back. Anime and Manag are so much more popular than they were back in the 2000s, I feel the line could honestly appeal to the new wave of people getting into the genre if they brought t back and adjusted it a bit to reflect less of the 90's shounen/battle mech style that Exo force seems to take clear inspiration from
What a great video. So many memories came back while watching this. Especially the ones of my grandma and me playing with these sets while she was in hospital for her cancer treatment. Man, you made me cry.
Keep on making more great videos.
Out of all the original LEGO themes, I would have to say that I want a reboot/revisit of Exo-Force the most. Even if it was just a tribute thing like with the recent Blacktron and Bionicle stuff, the theme deserves it.
Even though I was already firmly a Star Wars kid at the time, I had quite a lot of Exo-Force - most of this first wave in fact, except for Thunder Fury and the gate battle. I have them all (re)assembled today, with Stealth Hunter proudly displayed in my Lego room. Definitely my favourite out of this selection.
Exo-Force was a fun theme with a number of cool sets and parts, and as you said, the first time Lego properly dove into mechs. Looking forward to the series; we're off to a great start!
Can't wait to see more exo-force content! I have a ton of nostalgia for Uplink and Sentry along with other sets in later waves.
This series is probably what inspired my love for giant robots and mecha in general as a kid. I had the yellow mech from the Jungle wave, and it was awesome. It completely stood out compared to the other themes we had, which even included Lego Star Wars in it's prime. It was honestly _built_ different.
Ironically, the yellow jungle one was the LAST one I got just a few months ago! But I can see why you enjoyed it - it's an awesome mech!
FINALLY, the day has come for Exo-force! 1:00 can't forget about the endless Marvel mechs. I wish I grew up with this gem of a theme as a kid. Really had no idea these sets had this much depth. The story, characters, and playability really is something special.
There was a lot of passion poured into these in-house themes back in the day. It really made them so enjoyable and memorable!
My kind of content!! Thanks for the retrospective Caleb, I’m so excited to watch you recap the rest of the waves.
I'm very excited to get to the later waves too - all sorts of fun sets yet to come. :)
I'm overjoyed seeing my favorite theme get more love! All the childhood nostalgia's coming back. If you have the time, could you do a video showcasing all the alternate builds? I'd like to see what they all look like in glorious 3D since the instructions' prints don't do them justice.
I'd love to do the alt builds at some point! I never built them as a kid, so they'd be really fun to experience for the first time
You ve just given me such a nostalgic trip back to my childhood. My week couldn’t end any better. I thank you for this project and I look forward for the next episodes! ☺️
Really glad you enjoyed it! I'm excited to get to work in more episodes too ❤️
Cheesey, I can’t get enough of your content! You make such great videos.
Really appreciate it!
I love every mention of Dino Attack, as we just... Didn't get it here. In Europe we got Dino 2010, which replaced all the literal guns of Dino Attack with net launchers and stuff. It feels like the Dino series in 2012 is a halfway house between the two.
The whole Dino 2010 thing is so auls! LEGO would never do something like that today
If you havent seen it cheesy, the knight's and magic anime (yes that's how they spelled it) reminds me a lot of exo force, except between nations instead of against robots. The main guy is a reincarnated otaku who loves mechs so much, he learns all he could about em and the first season is all about him building it. He looks SO happy when he finally gets the reactor blueprints, (they were a trade secret the kingdom protected so he had to help them) and seeing the terror in the eyes of the enemy as he attacks is so much fun. Dude's pretty much Ryo on steriods, the other nations call him the "devil."
Finally, i have been waiting for so long for this video, always being teased with the mechs on the shelf behind you.
So glad I could finally get this uploaded too! Very much looking forward to future episodes :)
@@CheeseyStudios And you even got the Polybags i told you about, impressive
Exo force was great for the start of mechs. Great video and great job..
Thank you Grumpy!
The video I was looking forward to the most! It was a joy and nostalgis trip seeing slowly collect the sets in the background of your minecraft builds and other videos, and now to finally see it feels so wholesome. I did not get all sets (also due to me prioritizing bionicle), but I did have e.g all the main mechs like grand titan, minus the fire vulture which I really, really wanted but never got. Its also surreal to see the prices of them in 2023, I really think that if they came out now they could easily cost 25-30. Additionally, I am one of those proud owners who has an exo-force bed spread! As a kid I enjoyed this theme so much and remember having many, many battles with these mechs. The alternate builds were also quite fun, I often tried to build them just from looking at the pictures. I am happy that I still own these sets, and tend to keep them for a while. I never managed to get all sets, but at least have some from every wave. I look forward to the subsequent wave videos❤🙌
You owned the bed spread??? That's so epic 🤣 Glad this video brought back a lot of good memories for you!
I still vividly remember my father introducing me to Exo-Force, when I got my first set back in 2006:"it's like Bionicle and Star Wars had a baby".
He couldn't understand at the time but I was instantly hooked!
That's a very accurate description 😂
so much love for this theme and for your video. Really takes me back :')
Can't wait to see your coverage of the next wave, especially that cool blue version of the Supernova!
The video is about 80% done even! Very excited to share it with everyone
18:55 Funny how the Gate Guard uses the same face print as Hikaru, except it's missing the visor print, yet he looks surprisingly different.
Oh man, I feel very nostalgic lately and watch a lot of Lego content.
Videos like yours make me realize how much Lego I had and how I loved playing and building back then. (Still do, just treated myself with the Watchtower from Funwhole).
I was about 15 when this series came out and that was when my Lego obsession started to fade. But I’m sure I had at least those two small sets. Ach, good old times.
Alpha Team (ice theme) was such a banger, my cousin and I had the entire collection and when I visited her in the holidays, you bet I brought all my sets along 😁
Great roundup. As someone who owned a few of these sets as a kid, I was very delighted with this videos overview and nostalgia 😍
Really glad you enjoyed!
I loved these and really enjoyed seeing them through your eyes. You added so much context that I had no idea about.
Really glad you enjoyed this and got something out of it! Started working on episode 2 last night which is very exciting. It's such a fun theme!
This kicks me right in the feels. My family had made a huge move in 2006 and my mom bought me almost every set listed. This video stirred up a lot of lost memories and I remember stringing these lego sets up to the ceiling with rope in action poses while listening to fallout boy. We had a huge yard sale and we donated all of those Legos to kids who were in need. I don't care about how much they are worth now but I really hope they gave other kids the memories that I had. Thank you for making this video
That's really wholesome ❤️ Hope they brought a lot of joy too! I love the idea of hanging them from the ceiling too for some epic action scenes
I loved the exo-force theme and it was a treat to have this video pop up in my recs for the nostalgia alone. Great video, looking forward to the next four :)
Man, this brings back so many memories! Definitely my favorite Lego theme.
I never considered how much this theme pulls from Knights Kingdom. I had the 7700 set and the light blue Knights Kingdom knight (I can't remember his name). My brothers and I each had our own knight and later Exo-Force mech.
Thank you for the amazing and nostalgic video!!! I had the 2 small 5-dollar sets and I would take them apart to make new mech creations with my Bionicles but it's such a fun and imaginative theme!! Thank you again!! I got so happy seeing you bring out that magazine!!
I do miss getting the magazines - those were always so much fun!
I simply picked up a flying, bad-guy robot piloted by something called a ‘Devastator’ as my first *ever* Lego set. The art was incredibly striking, intimidating, and showed the walls of a golden city in the background.
I got to the end of the instructions and found that there was a full-colour comic in the back, showing a losing battle where these awesome coloured mechs actually took casualties, and one of them had its power core ripped out. The pacing and illustration had way more effort put into it than was necessary.
Even after all these years, I still remember the characters and shots from that comic vividly. I continued to buy and play Lego for another ten years, but nothing ever quite felt like that first Exo-Force comic, and even though it’s incredibly worn nowadays from my childhood self, it’s one of my fondest memories from that time.
It was just so damn cool. It didn’t need to exist, but so much love had been put into making sure it did.
Going into adulthood, the spark of creativity and wonder those early Lego sets helped spark in me has been incredible. I’d like to create something like that for someone else, someday, and keep those instructions on my bookshelf as a reminder.
That's really cool. I can feel how this theme in particular oozes so much passion, and I think that's what made it so appealing to so many - even people like me, who up until Exo-Force really only cared about medieval themes!
@@CheeseyStudios I’d really love to see a second video if you’re working on it, and the style of your videos has a lot of passion it in themselves. Subscribed with the notifications on for anything you do in future, and looking forward to watching your other content, this is a really cool channel :)
Exo-force was what brought me into the lego hobby. Still have some of my old sets tucked away somewhere in my attic. Every now and then, I'd take a trip up there, open up bins full of my old stuff and start reminiscing about my younger days, back when adulting wasn't in the forefront of my mind.
That's great. Love that this theme gave so many others happy memories too :D
Exo-Force was the line that brought me back to Lego after a 12-year gap. The box design jumped off the shelf, and a trip to the store for deodorant and dish soap suddenly included Grand Titan. A few months later, I had the entire first wave on display in my living room. 😅
Great video, can’t wait to watch more.
I wish I had had a box or two to show in this video - I did love the packaging too! Excited to get to the remaining waves :)
I remember so vividly how my aunt gifted me that orange Exo-Force set when I was 5. I assembled it, disassembled it, tried out this purple hair piece (it was a little bit too loose) on every minifigure I had, and then lost pretty much every piece of this set throughout the years. My aunty died of cancer shortly after she gifted me this set, and I didn't have much more to remember her for. But I think this is enough.
I'm glad this theme gives you something to remember her by ❤️
Very nice moc in the beginning! Love the detail! Such a great theme to build mocs in. Great video👍
Thank you! I had a lot of fun building that little vignette, and would love to try my hand at revamping one of the larger mechs in the future
@@CheeseyStudios Great idea!
Oh the smile on my face from that pristine fire vulture in the thumbnail 😷
Love the excitement for each set too, though that's prominent in most of your videos haha
I love my LEGO, what can I say 🤣
Can't wait for tge rest of these to show. I see them sitting in the back. I started my new lego life with exotic force to help quit smoking and to keep my mind busy while losing ny mom and dad to cancer and these have such a deep place in my heart and where so underrated.
I remember having some of these as a Kid, I just didn't remember what they where called. Thank you for making this video and bringing back those memories.
It's my pleasure! Really glad you enjoyed
I had the Grand Titan, and my friend had the Stealth Hunter and the Fire Vulture. Fantastic sets. I wish I had all 4 of them, they are so iconic.
ive always loved these retrospective videos, good job man!
Appreciate it! These are my favorite videos to put together 😊
Still love Exo-Force so very much, it got me into mecha.
Such a great theme. Looking forward to doing more videos on it!
@@CheeseyStudios I look forward to it
I'm sick today and this video made my day better thx:)
I gotchu :) Hope you feel better soon!
I remember loving Exo-force and getting almost every wave 1 set, I still have the small orange mech sitting on my desk after all these years
That's awesome! Uplink's a classic
Phenomenal Video! We need more Exo Force content in the community.
Thank you! Hoping to drop lots more in the future too - love this theme!
YES! YES! YES! AMAZING video my man!!! Finally a comprehensive look at one of the most important sets in lego's development
Thank you ❤️❤️❤️
I loved playing the online game as a kid. Loved this theme and brought back CRAZY memories
I'm sure I played it, but I cannot for the life of me remember anything!
God I had so many of these. I loved this theme! The white mech and red mech were my favorite.
thank you so much for making these vidoes!!! can't wait for the 2nd wave
That's gonna be a really fun video :) Hope I can start filming soon!
Excellent summary of the first wave. Loved how you showcased all the sets -- with great directing, lighting, music -- and even added extra details like their combiners and sticker count. Exo-Force was such a neat theme, but unfortunately, I only ever received one, and it was from a later wave. Still, one can really appreciate the uniqueness and charm of each set, and I think I can confidently say that LEGO's mechs nowadays (though really great at times) can't compete with these classics (especially with mechs now being SO common).
Darn this is cool!
I remember being born bit too late to have any of these sets.
It’s a neat memory, looking through old catalogs at some of those sets and thinking about how it feels to build one of them.
The Mobile devastator was definitely memorable.
Now, with the power of Bricklink and BrickBy brick, I can procure myself almost any of them and they are as cool as I imagined them.
It’s actually a very good time, scrolling through the OG instructions and attempting to redesign a mech with more modern techniques and components.
Also, Uplink.
Yeah, with modern parts and techniques, you can make some truly epic Exo-Force mechs!
Oh man! Here it is! The one we’ve been waiting for!
Get hyppeeeddd
It's one of my favourite themes and introduced me to mechs as a kid, it was really special. I cannot wait to see the next videos about this theme ^^
Excited to make more videos on this theme too - so much to talk about yet!
This was a really fun theme, also great to see you at brickworld!!
I had an old Exo Force comic book I used to read all the time, even long after I lost the Lego. probably my favorite theme to this day
Wow, I remember reading a couple of the Exo Force books a long time ago at my local library and it never occurred to me that this was an actual Lego line you could buy. Seeing the Stealth Hunter and Grand Titan brings me back, those books were a good read.
These sets were so cool to me back then and still are. Didn't know one of the sets had Toa Nuva armor in lime green, bet that'd be great for mocs! Looking forward to you covering the rest of the waves!
So excited especially for the next wave. I'm hoping I can even start filming tomorrow!
@@CheeseyStudios looking forward to that! 🤩
Even as an extremely young child I had loved mechs so exoforce was an absolute gem of a theme for me. I didn't get a lot of the set but I absolutely cherished my silver-blue devestator minifig and I still think its my favorite robot minifig lego has ever produced.
The robot figures are so incredible. Love all the detail in their design!
They could probably do an officially licensed anime set now and it would sell pretty good.
Indeed. I wonder if they'd ever give that a try
Damn I loved Exoforce, now I have to look through all of my lego to find it. I just have to do it! Amazing video!
Yes I've been waiting for this! My favorite theme!
I had many of these as a kid. And some of I guess wave 2 which I hope we'll see. Man these were the coolest. Some of my current builds still use pieces I got from these guys.
Before your revisiting series I hardly knew about Exo Force and knights kingdom and all those themes, but it’s a delight to learn about them! Once again, you really should get some Papa Murpheys for this wonderful video.
I even got some coupons for Papa Murphy's in the mail today. I've gotta make it happen. Thank you 🤣
Yes! Been waiting for this one
I only had one exo force set, but it left enough of an impression on me that I now play both Imperial and Chaos Knights in Warhammer 40k
Exo-Force definitely helped define a generation. I think it really introduced us all to so many new things!
Never owned any of these, but I used to want them a lot after discovering them on the Lego instructions archive thing back in the day. Its good to see a proper review of them!
It's definitely something that needed to be shared with the world - it's such a unique LEGO theme!
It astounds me. I remember this theme so fondly, and yet.. I only had two sets.
Uplink and Sentry.
I always thought they were so much bigger, the mechs. They felt so much bigger and more substantial. I guess it goes to show how incredible the mind of a child can be.
That is kind of cool though. If you never had the larger mechs, you'd really have nothing to compare them too which probably kept those two all the more special!
@@CheeseyStudios Right?? It's stellar knowing how impactful 10 dollars of lego ended up being to me.
Yesss! You have no idea how long I waited
I've been really excited for this one too!
Man, I remember getting every single set from the first wave growing up, even including the mountain base and the giant four legged spider walker later on. This video is making me want to go home and rebuild every single set I had, or maybe go rebuild one of the mechs in a more modernized build method
The first two waves were bangers! Cannot wait to look at those larger sets - they're incredible.
My favourite series, Revisiting! What an excellent introduction to the theme. I can't wait to see the episode featuring the excellent, not at all over the top Aero Booster (which is the first LEGO set I got from Bricklink, and got me out of my Dark Ages)
Thank you! Aero Booster is so epic 🤣 Lots of great sets to come!
I had the stealth hunter as a kid. Honestly, most of my memories with it is finding the pieces in the buckets and wondering what I had that used these. Especially the blue hair.
So I’m glad I found this video since it gave me the answers I needed. I think I’ll see if I can rebuild it. Minus the tube. I’m pretty sure that’s lost forever. Plus, I really love the robot minifigs. Those look amazing.
The robots are peak minifig design. Not sure LEGO has ever made better robots!
I still remember seeing these for the first time in December 2005 in Toys-R-Us and just starring at them thinking, "Whoa, Lego's really going here!" What an awesome wave of sets.
The boxes were so cool! Definitely drew me in back in the day. Ah, I do miss Toys R Us...
I loved these as a kid, I think I had every set from this wave aside from Supernova. Gundam meets Bionicle and Knights Kingdom was exactly what I was looking for at that age.
It definitely hit me at the right time too. So glad I got to experience this theme! This first wave especially was all bangers
i totally forgot about these but i remember having the bigger hikaru mech set and absolutely loving it. the rubbery hair was so unique
I'm surprised they've never really remade anything like those hairpieces. They're so much fun!
ah man, the first couple of minutes made me think of my childhood. i was born in the mid 90s and those were my childhood legos. I should still have them in some boxes but obviously in parts scattered.
This shit was my childhood. I loved the exo-force line, I never got to play with any of the sets, but I got to see them in product catalogue pages in the back of comic books I used to rent at my school's library when I was a child, and boy, just seeing these sets made me want them so badly. Truly a simpler time.
I miss the days of drooling over the catalogues with my brother too. It was almost a daily ritual. Planning and dreaming what we would do with the sets if we ever somehow got them...
i remember getting Takeshi with the minigun mech, it brought so much life to my gray looking star wars collection
I do love that about original LEGO themes - they're always so colorful!